President Trump Proclaims, “Golden Age” Has Arrived
I spent most of the day watching the inauguration ceremonies of President Donald J. Trump. It began early in the morning at St. Andrews Church and ended late in the evening with three Inaugural balls.
In 1981, Gerri and I took two of our children to the Inauguration of President Ronald Reagan. We were sitting in the outdoor mall when it was announced that the 41 hostages were released to freedom from Iran. It was a grand and glorious day. That evening we attended the ball at the Smithsonian. A highlight of our trip was viewing the historic showcase displays of all the first ladies’ gowns worn at prior balls. Certainly, Melania’s striking hat and suit will be front and center for many years to come.
Moving the ceremony into the Capitol rotunda was a wise move with serious frigid weather and unknown terrorist’s threats. The fences and security in Washington D.C. were incredible. I felt compassion for the police and uniformed service members standing guard along the president routes to the various locations. Trump’s stamina certainly was on display as he made speech after speech at the various venues throughout the day. His best speech was in the rotunda where he made his bold promises about the arrival of the “Golden Age” and started signing presidential orders later in the day on the stage of the Capital One Center.
Trump supporters are cheering him on, and he has a massive task ahead to accomplish a long list of challenges to make America great again. He has assembled a very talented team of cabinet nominees and already Senator Rubio has been named Secretary of State with 99 votes in the Senate for his approval. The Cuban related Senator was very impressive with his vast knowledge of foreign affairs at his Senate hearing.
Here in Colorado this state has turned a solid blue. The past four years have been golden for this state with massive federal dollars pouring into Colorado projects; $700 million just for the Floyd hill road project to straighten out a short distance of highway near Idaho Springs. I didn’t see Democrat Governor Polis or Senator Bennet or Hickenlooper at any of Monday’s events, but they are active at the Senate confirmation hearings. With having a very blue state, these three leaders have assisted the gravy train ride into this state. Colorado should benefit from increased oil production and mining activities. Many Colorado leading Republicans feel that currently running for office is a waste of time and money. Already, State Attorney General Phil Weiser has announced his candidacy for Governor in 2026. There will be some long-shot GOP candidates, but Weiser’s knowledge of water law will make him a very strong candidate.
Politics in Colorado is a striking conflict of rural residents versus the vast Denver Metro population. U.S. Representative Lauren Boebert, for example, represented vast Western Colorado, half the land mass of the state. Now she represents the Eastern Colorado plains, the other half of the State. A vast expanse of land comprised largely of farmers and ranchers who don’t like wolves. City folks who enjoy the rural recreation areas think otherwise. The economy in rural Colorado is challenging as rural towns continue to lose small family businesses. Rural folks have pickups and know how to find a Home Depot, a Walmart, or Costco in a front range city as local hometown family stores close. Rural newspapers have been failing because of lack of advertising, not news or readership, leaving vast news gaps in rural communities.
President Trump seems to have matured with age and historians are now describing what is the greatest comeback election in history. His scrapes with two assassination attempts and court challenges have made him tougher, and hopefully wiser. He wants peace through strength and believes that the best wars are ones that he can prevent.
It is my hope that he can survive future threats against his life, accomplish at least some of his promises to American voters and make America great again. Redemption is good even for a president of the United States and we hope and pray that he can bring peace and prosperity to all American citizens.
Judge him on his performance now and in the future.