Gen. George Patton was unsurpassed in delivering motivating speeches to his troops. In a series of speeches in 1944 and 1945, he reminded the young men of their winning heritage as Americans, and encouraged them to take this attitude with them on the battlefield: "When you were kids, you all admired the champion marble shooter, the fastest runner, the big-league ball players and the toughest boxers. Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time. That's why Americans have never lost and will never lose a war. The very thought of losing is hateful to Americans."
How lost would Gen. Patton be in today's United States when a once popular magazine elevates a loser like Colin Kaepernick to its "Citizen" of the year? Has our country become a nation of losers? I don't think so.
It's no secret that millions of American citizens who go to work every day, take responsibility for themselves and their families, and who love this country voted for Donald Trump to help us become winners again. Those people continue to support him, especially in Tennessee. According to a recent poll by Middle Tennessee State University, our formerly highly respected Sen. Corker has seen his ratings fall significantly following his open feud with President Trump, while the president's ratings remain steady at around 50 percent.
All of this happened despite a media war against Trump, the likes of which have never been witnessed. Read the negative headlines or the Trump-bashing political cartoons, and discover the cancer among us. The media should be honest brokers in presenting news, but they have lost all pretenses of honesty in slanting the news to fit their political purposes. Like NFL athlete-politicos who take a knee during our national anthem, they are destroying their own organizations. They are losers, and the American public is abandoning them.
The wealthy and egotistical Mr. Trump, an unlikely choice to carry the banner for average income American citizens, has done so quite successfully. Why? Because most Americans truly want to "Make America Great Again." Americans love a winner. They see winning strategies reflected in Trump's respect for the military and the flag, in tax reform for middle-income families, in opportunities for education for inner city kids, in his pursuit of fair trade policies to benefit American workers, and in sensible environmental policies. They cheer his campaign promise to drain the federal swamp of losers who get nothing done except to enrich themselves at taxpayer expense.
The great majority of Americans are not blind to the problems in our nation. They know our inner cities are a cesspool of crime, drugs, corruption, immorality and pitiful educational opportunities. They also recognize the failed policies of liberal politicians who make promises but do nothing to resolve those issues. They know the most threatening person to liberal policies is not a conservative white Republican, but a minority American who overcomes setbacks to achieve success. That person is no longer dependent on the Democrat Party. That person, to quote black economist Thomas Sowell, has left the Democratic plantation. That person is a winner, regardless of the color of his or her skin. Americans of all colors respect that person, and to suggest otherwise is a political ploy to continue the same tired liberal policies the left has repeated for generations.
Expect liberal politicians to continue to bash Trump because they have no new refreshing ideas that will lead to real progress and change. Instead, their strategy rests on the losing propositions of divisiveness and blame, bolstered by a compliant media. The times are changing. As Gen. Patton said, "Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser."
Roger Smith, a local author, is a frequent contributor to the Times Free Press.