Methinks Thou Doth Protest Too Much

First, let me say that I respect the right of every American to engage in peaceful protest.  Many of my relatives, including my Dad, put themselves in harm's way to protect that right.

This post is about the reasons behind the protests and the outcome thereof.

From the time of Donald Trump's candidacy, the left turned out in droves to protest at his rallies and events.  Granted, many of them were paid by organized left-wing organizations, intending to disrupt his candidacy.

I'll also grant you that a number of his supporters also engaged in hooliganism, sometimes with his encouragement.  That encouragement is one of the reasons I couldn't bring myself to vote for him.

The protests intensified when he won the GOP nomination.  Protesters attempted to block people who wanted to hear what he had to say - some of whom had not yet made up their minds, but merely wanted to hear both candidates' views from their own mouths - from their equally hard-won right to hear him.

That's plain wrong.  There's an old saying about rights:  Your right to punch me in the face ends at my nose.  In other words, you have your rights, but when the exercise of your rights infringes upon mine, you no longer have your rights in that regard.  It's like the right-of-way at a roundabout or a four-way stop.

To not want people to hear what a political candidate might have to say borders on totalitarianism.  Had Trump supporters attempted to block people from hearing what Hillary had to say at her rallies, Godwin's Law would have been invoked post-haste.

At a protest in my home metro of Kansas City, a young woman actually punched a police horse in the jaw, for which she earned a face full of pepper spray.

My punishment would have been more severe:  mucking out the police horse stables, clad in shorts and barefoot, on her hands and knees.  With a spoon.  Ten hours a day for a year.

What was the outcome of those protests?  Nada.  Trump won the general election by a very comfortable electoral vote margin.

So the protesters turned to protesting the electoral system, saying that presidential elections should be decided by the popular vote.  Clearly, they didn't think it through (most of them couldn't even articulate the reasons behind the brilliantly designed electoral system, nor explain the distinction between federalism and a republic of states).  They didn't consider the ramifications of allowing some 50 U.S. counties to dictate who would lead the 3,000+ counties that make up this nation.

Nor would they.  All they care about is ensuring that a Democrat always occupies the White House.  But more on that later.  The bottom line is that the same people who called for replacing the electoral college with the popular vote would run headlong in the other direction if a Democrat won the electoral vote but lost the popular vote.  They would become the electoral college's staunchest defenders.

So, the protesters next turned their attention to the electors.  Electors in states like Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania - states that typically vote blue - received email, regular mail, phone calls and death threats.  At least one of them was stalked in his car.  They were implored to vote against the will of the majority of voters in their states, which would have represented an absolution of their duty.

Unsurprisingly, Hollywood got involved.  A bunch of celebrities, most of whom nobody recognized, led by Martin Sheen (you know, Charlie's dad - ever wonder where Charlie got his crazy?), made a video insisting that the electors be "patriots" and "do their duty."  In other words, they wanted them to absolve their obligation to vote the will of the majority of voters in their states, instead honoring the will of a handful of Hollywood celebrities.

Sadly, some of the electoral votes were public.  And the protesters showed up there, too.  In Wisconsin, after the electors fulfilled their responsibility, one apparently deranged woman jumped to her feet, screaming, "This is MY America!"

It reminded me of another crazy - Stephen the Irishman of Braveheart fame - when he declared, speaking of Ireland, "It's my island!"

The electors in all states did their jobs - in fact, more faithless electors abandoned Hillary than did Trump - and Trump won the electoral vote, fair and square.

So the protesters next turned their attention to the confirmation hearings of Trump appointees.  A guy in a KKK outfit showed up at Jeff Sessions' hearing (the same Jeff Sessions who bankrupted the Klan in Alabama).  Another seemingly deranged woman showed up at Rex Tillerson's hearing.  How did these people get in the room to begin with?

Bold prediction: the outcome of those protests will be nil.  Once the Dems have exacted their pound of flesh in terms of confirming Trump's appointees more slowly than the GOP confirmed Obama's, we're going to see every single Trump nominee confirmed.

So that brought us to Inauguration Day.  As if they could change the course of history, reverse a process to which America has held true since George Washington left office, they protested the inauguration.  It turned predictably violent.  They smashed the windows of a Starbucks.

Guess they really needed their hot cocoa.

But - Donald Trump was sworn in.  He is now President of the United States.  And guess what, protesters?  You can carry your signs and chant "Not my President" all you want, but until you renounce your citizenship, he is your President.  Just as Barack Obama was mine, in spite of my strong disagreement with his policies.

Let me explain what irks me the most about the inaugural protests.  Donald Trump is a businessman.  His campaign cost vastly less than Hillary Clinton's, yet he defeated her.  His transition came in ahead of schedule and under budget, and the new administration returned the unused funds to the Treasury, saving you and me, as taxpayers, millions of dollars.

This is what businessmen do.  Politicians don't care what their transitions and inaugurations cost.  To them, taxpayer money grows on trees.  But a businessman who's used to negotiating with contractors to build hotels ahead of schedule and under budget pays attention to the bottom line.  That's how Trump has been able to already get Boeing to agree to building Air Force One and fighter jets below the cost that America has paid in the past.  Previous Presidents didn't care what Boeing charged, they just paid the tab.  Trump negotiates.  And we the taxpayers benefit.

Likewise, his inauguration was intended to be frugal.  He had three inaugural balls, compared with double-digit numbers of balls for his three predecessors.  However, his inauguration was the most costly on record, at $200 million.  Why?

Increased security in preparation for the protesters, who, true to form, resorted to violence.  Last I heard, two D.C. policemen have been hospitalized as a result.  So these sore losers have cost you and me money.  That pisses me off.

And I say "sore losers" because what these protests are really about is the fact that too many on the left cannot accept the outcome of a free and fair election, if in that election, a Democrat does not win.  They want the White House in perpetuity.  They care not about the quality of leadership, but about the letter behind the name.

I have no doubt that the level of vitriol would not be as high if the Republican that won were not Donald Trump, who admittedly has been over the top in many of the things he said during the campaign.

But the vitriol would still be there.  The left will protest every election that does not go their way until the end of time.

That's okay.  The outcome will be the same.  Protest all they may, they will occasionally lose.  And no amount of signs, marches, broken windows or punched horses will affect that outcome.