Dear Mr. President,
Congratulations on taking office! After the 18-month whirlwind of your winning campaign and transition, the hard work of governing now begins.
Let me implore you to govern as you campaigned – with a focus on the people and not the talking heads. Your success as a candidate arose from your ability to understand and connect with your fellow citizens and your success as President will continue to rely on that ability.
When we met in June, you told me “I really do want to be a good president.” I believed you then, but the next 1,460 days will be the proving ground for your intentions. The men and women you inspired to vote – many for the first time – will be more critical to the success of your presidency and our nation than they were to the viability of your campaign.
The mainstream media, working in cooperation with your political opponents, pulled out every trick in an attempt to destroy your candidacy, and they will do the same in hopes of imploding your presidency. You will survive only to the extent you maintain a direct line of communication with your fellow citizens, unfiltered by liberal media elites.
Our government “of the people, by the people, for the people” has been perverted by self-serving politicians and bureaucrats operating at all levels of government. While the District of Columbia was literally built on a swamp and is in metaphorical need of a 21st Century draining, the impact of ridding the federal bureaucracy of economy-eating, liberty-killing vermin will reverberate through our body politic.
“America is great because she is good,” wrote Alexis de Tocqueville. But under the corrupting influence of self-serving politicians from Washington to Austin, from the White House to city hall, that goodness has been tarnished and pawned for trinkets.
We’ve watched in horror as local and state entities have allowed their independence to be forfeited for the sake of a few coins from Washington. We’ve seen members of Congress steer questionable contracts to their hometown cronies funded by deficit spending.
As the commander-in-chief, your responsibility is to ensure the safety of our Republic. As the president, your duty is to uphold the Constitution. Your predecessor ignored threats to our nation while treating our sacred liberties as if they were gifts from government and not inalienable rights bestowed by God.
Ours was designed to be a self-governing nation, where representatives in government are the servants and not the masters. You can make America great again by restoring power to the people.
Ours was designed to be a nation of limited government. You can make America great again by compelling Congress to fix a tax code that penalizes honest work and encourages bad behavior.
Ours was designed to be a nation of sovereign states serving as laboratories of policy experimentation. You can make America great again by shuttering the unconstitutional agencies that regulate everything from oil and gas production to toilet operations.
Ours was designed to be a nation in which the rule of law, not the whims of men, reigned supreme. You can make America great again by punishing those who subvert our laws by shielding illegal aliens.
Ours was designed to be a nation where political speech was protected. You can make America great again by ripping out those agencies and policies that are used to silence citizens, while continuing to encourage a culture that opposes the scourge of political correctness.
There is so much that is right about America, but there is still so much work to be done. Fortunately, the weight of the future of the nation doesn’t rest upon your shoulders, but all of ours. The citizens of the United States share with you the burden of making America great, and will stand with you as long as you stand for them.
In Liberty,
Michael Quinn Sullivan
