Don McLean wrote and sang American Pie 55 years ago. To most people, they know the song as “the day the music died.” You feel a little like that today, but for an entirely different reason, forced to face an undeniable reality. Try as he might, after suffering a decade of intense bludgeoning by the Beltway mob, Donald Trump has become — a politician. In 2015, while almost everyone you know snickered at his candidacy, you almost worshipped his style and guts. You ceaselessly championed the man for one reason and one reason only. He was not a politician. He was not a member of a ruling family. He was not an attorney. He represented the American Everyman — out in the street busting ass, a swaggering outsider, a gunslinger, daring to single-handedly face The Establishment. That was yesterday. Today, you received yet another snail mail broadside from politician Phil Berger, President Pro Tempore of the North Carolina Senate, a job he’s spending a fortune to keep. The question is: Do you think it’s his money? (Laugh here.). On one side of the mailer, you see photos of a grinning Berger and a thumbs up of Trump, with four Trump quotes. One quote states “He will Never Let You Down.” Urp. On the reverse side, a HUGE Trump photo with HUGE text: “TRUMP BACKS BERGER.” If you happen to be in Berger’s voting district, you’ve likely received at least 30 of these flyers, more than half of them attacking his political rival Sam Page, Sheriff of Rockingham County for the past 27 years. In the other mailers, Berger basically pounds his chest. Bragging is a colossal understatement. He takes credit for anything and everything good about North Carolina, displaying 3-4 photos of himself as The President’s bosom buddy. Simultaneously, his campaign against underdog Page is pure, unadulterated sleaze. You have to ask, “Why would a top, accomplished lawmaker armed with Trump’s enthusiastic backing stoop to throw mud?” According to Matilda, his animosity is indicative of someone in panic mode, with good reason.** Allegedly, Berger helped redistrict a NC county to benefit Republican election results. His reward is Trump’s “endorsement,” AKA, political payback. This was the (alleged) explanation Page heard when he spoke to the Man himself. Well, it smells; and for me, the stink sticks to his ubiquitous blue suit. If the Berger payback was that important, Trump’s people should at the very least be assured that he would not be tainted by being associated with political muck. To put this mess to bed, Berger so far has spent over $2M campaigning against an opponent who’s financially confined to social media and personal appearances. As the NC soap opera plays out, Trump closes the book on his second term’s first year. By any measure, it has been a study in what’s best about leadership. No way you’ll rag on him, despite the Berger gaffe. And you won’t talk perfection. Look at the record. Beginning day one, the man took hold of his punch list; and with extraordinary energy, set about getting the rejuvenation train rolling — energy, taxes, tariffs, inflation, border, bureaucracy, foreign wars, DEI, etc. etc. Yes, you would rather see Musk still at the DOGE wheel. Yes, you want to see a handful of federal agencies bite the dust. Meanwhile, Media is always poised to support whatever disruption the Dems can dredge up to derail the Donald Express. You and others are impatient. The debt is moving toward $40 trillion. Consumer prices are stubbornly high. And America’s socialists are stubbornly stupid, free to complain and attempt to change a young country that’s the envy of the old world. You may sing the blues today but admit it’s fleeting emotion. Frankly, you need to put aside gloom and doom and sincerely acknowledge politicians like Berger and Page who qualify for Theodore Roosevelt’s famous passage: Man in the Arena. It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena . . . who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short . . . again and again …….

Kudos, gentlemen.

** https://www.ncspin.com/poll-sam-page-up-by-ten-over-phil-berger

www.conventionofstates.com