By Ray DiLorenzo ——Bio and Archives--February 29, 2024
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For those who are unaware, Donald Trump grew up in Queens, NY, one of the boroughs of New York City. There are five: Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Staten Island, and Queens. Most of the attention goes to Manhattan, the land of the high rise, the Empire State Building, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Broadway, and Wall Street.
Growing up in New York City was an adventure, filled with the arts, museums, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and The Met. The Metropolitan Opera even came to our junior high school and performed.
Because New Yorkers have seen it all, they have a good sense for detecting BS. Where Chicago worships money, New Yorkers have a keen sense of the arts, and family, at least when I was growing up.
Brooklyn was the other destination, but a destination nonetheless. Some would say it has cachet. It was lauded, talked about, shown, and acclaimed in countless movies. It's the most populous county (Kings) in New York State and has the greatest pizza (no letters, please). Many famous people came from Brooklyn. Among them: Lena Horne, Woody Allen, Michael Jordan, Eddie Murphy, Mickey Rooney, Jerry Seinfeld, Rita Hayworth, Joan Rivers, Jackie Gleason, and yours truly. The last time I visited New York, as we were leaving Brooklyn to drive to Manhattan, we saw a big sign that read, 'Leaving Brooklyn, Forgetaboutit.'
For the Bronx, if it weren't for the Yankees, no one would go there. At least, that's what we thought. As a kid, we still didn't go to the Bronx because we had the Brooklyn Dodgers (Dem Bums). Emphasis on 'had.'
We knew Staten Island was a borough, part of New York City, but I never met anyone who actually lived there or even went there to find something you couldn't get in Brooklyn. It's weird that it's even part of New York City, It's closer to New Jersey. When tourist books advise taking the ferry to Staten Island (free), it is because taking one of the four toll bridges (three from New Jersey) can be expensive and very time consuming with all the traffic. To us, it was a mysterious, far-off place.
Now, you have Queens, somewhat of an enigmatic place. Most people who land in New York don't know they are in Queens. Both Kennedy and LaGuardia airports are in Queens. It is a spread-out part of the city. Some people tease Queens by saying more people in Queens are dead than alive. That's because Queens is the home of the largest cemetery in the United States, Calvary Cemetery, where over 3 million people are interred.
Since Queens, in many ways, resides in the shadows of Manhattan and Brooklyn, the people there can be a bit pushy. People in New York City live in a man-made world. There are many obstacles to almost anything you want to accomplish in the city, some natural, most fabricated, but it's a very can-do atmosphere, if you're strong. In Queens, you had the most balance between nature and the synthetic. The closest link to nature in Queens is the nearest golf course. My aunt and uncle lived in Queens, right next to a golf course. In Manhattan, it was Central Park, if you could see it from past the skyscrapers.
I'm sure Trump finds it odd that he is so misunderstood when it comes to dealing with foreign affairs or the economy. The oftentimes dumb, Maxine Waters (D-CA) has said many times, "That Trump he gonna get us in a war." As a native New Yorker, it is no mystery to me that his 'unpredictability' is a massive plus in our favor. Because Trump comes off as unpredictable, the bad guys are extremely cautious. They just don't know what to expect, so they do nothing.
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When Trump was president, North Korea was quiet, Russia was quiet, China was quiet, the Middle East was quiet, and Iran was quiet, much of it because, unlike Obama and Biden, Trump didn't give them any money. We were as far from war as we have been in many years. We were too busy rebuilding our economy, our military, and putting our people to work.
Trump's politics are reality politics. He accepts things for what they are and proceeds. Democrats look at the world and politics through a fantasy prism combined with a pure Machiavellian approach. They have no limits in their quest for power, and it's not power for the people. It's a power for themselves.
They fear Trump more than they fear death. It could mean the end of their power, their deep state, their hold on the American people, or maybe their freedom. Hillary did say in the oval office before the 2016 election, "We better win or we'll all hang from nooses."
An interesting statistic: According to Statista (source: US Census, 5/23), in 2020, there were 168.31 million registered voters in the United States. The Federal Election Commission claims that 81.3 million people voted for Biden, while 74.2 million voted for Trump with 2.9 million for others. That would be 158.4 million votes. Do the math. They want us to believe that the turnout in 2020 was 94%. The average turnout for the last eleven election cycles was 57.6%.
If one goes to Wikipedia, which is a wealth of disinformation, they say that 239.3 million people were eligible to vote, with 159.7 million people turning out for the election. First of all, I don't care how many people were eligible.
I want to know how many people were registered to vote. They don't say. Second, they claim 159.7 million people voted. If the US Census Bureau is correct, then the turnout was 95%, similar to my turnout figure. Who is lying, and what do they have to gain? I invite anyone to comment on my reasoning.
The number of Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents who believe the 2020 election was altered or that Joe Biden is an illegitimate president hovers at around 70%. About 40% of those believe there is solid evidence of the fraud. Those numbers aren't just bad for our nation, they are dangerous.
I cannot emphasize enough that if we lose the integrity of our elections, we have lost our country and made vain all those who gave their lives in its defense.
Biden's predictable nature has us at a big disadvantage. Nations know exactly what he will do, and they act accordingly. Now we have war knocking, and it's getting louder.
Biden's weakness, combined with his (and Obama's) bad policies, has made things much worse in Eastern Europe, Taiwan, the Middle East, our southern border, and our bank accounts. The war in Ukraine especially belongs to Biden. He would not reassure Putin that Ukraine would never be a NATO member. Understandably, Putin will never accept NATO missiles aimed at Moscow on his western border, just as we would not accept missiles in Cuba. I am convinced the war in Ukraine would not have happened if Trump had been president. Neither would the war in Gaza have happened. Is Trump perfect? Not at all, but Biden's weakness drove Russia to China, seriously emboldening our enemies, making them stronger, more willing to take chances.
Democrats love to scream that Trump will rule like a tyrant. That's just more fear mongering from Democrats. What rubbish! The founders were especially conscientious about tyranny. Our republic's checks and balances, federalism, and separation of powers have been in existence for nearly 250 years. Unfortunately, they function nearly too well, which can occasionally make it challenging to get anything done.
Calvin Coolidge said in 1925, "The business of America is business." And no one does it better than Donald Trump. And his deals favor the people, not putting them behind the eight ball—America First! Without America there is no free world.
Trump was the first candidate, president, and candidate again who talked about and continues to talk about what people really care about: getting tough on immigration, defending the working class, fair trade deals, and endless wars. Everyone else just talks about distractions. Trump took care of business, and now he has a political record that proves it.
As far as Trump's personality, I love his braggadocio. I expect it from a Queens guy, and anyway, I don't expect or desire to live with him. I just want Trump to make America Great Again. And I have no doubt that he can do it.
Where Trump got along with Putin and had respect for his position, the Democrats can't seem to hold back their contempt for Russia. In this world you either learn how to get along or march to war. Democrats never seem to visualize the end from the beginning. Like children, they only revel in their immediate benefits
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Ray DiLorenzo is a career pilot having retired after 22 years as a contract fire pilot with the California Department of Forestry (Cal-Fire). He is presently affiliated with Stand Up America US Foundation founded by Maj. Gen. Paul E. Vallely (Ret).