A few days back, our friends at Paradigm (formerly Agora) dug this survey up from last year. With just seven days to a Trump 2.0 regime, we have to remember that we should NOT get our hopes us.

It is an interesting compendium, not just on expectations for The Donald. He is obviously a miracle worker on the scale of the Nazarene Himself in the eyes of many. But on what an interesting list it is: the things that Americans are really concerned about. And maybe even praying about.

Quite the list, eh?

It is disappointing, of course. There is nothing on the list about preserving our individual liberties, restoring the freedom siphoned away from us. (At a faster rate in the last 4-5 years than the past 50.) There is nothing about preserving our society, our culture, or even the basics of life for our children, grandchildren, and future generations.

And really, this list and the percentages are indicators of how naive – and how trusting – Americans are. To think that even if The Donald’s inauguration includes the Holy Spirit descending as a dove above his fading orange hair, that the President of the United States has all that much power. Or even influence to change these things.

Even the idea that a third of Americans think that Trump can heal political divisions in these Fifty States!

Perhaps the one possible way that The Donald could accomplish a half-dozen of these things would be if he went all-out libertarian. Followed the example of President Javier Milei. (Who admittedly has done, or at least started to do, some incredible things in the gem of South America.) But we can be certain that Trump will suffer far greater attacks by media and political opponents than Milei.

But it is not The Donald’s skills and abilities that we want to talk about. It is the continuing problem and damage to our lives, liberty, and property that American attitudes towards government foster.

We can see no way that any rational, God-fearing, and reasonably intelligent and somewhat educated person would EVER put their trust into any government. Much less hope that all these wonderful things would happen – regardless of whomever is sitting in the Oval Office. And even if he is not just a tool of a bizarre fraternity of powerful, vicious, greedy and power-hungry monsters in human form.

We won’t comment on that too much, or on how The Donald seems to be sliding into the same morass that has swallowed our nations for well over a century. The DC swamp is far more voracious – at least in a symbolic way – as the Darien or Everglades.

The best we can say and hope is that getting rid of at least some of the puppet-masters of Uncle Joe will grant us more time to find real solutions to our mess and our loss of liberty. Solutions that almost certainly require not just reducing the size and cost of government, but gutting the power of DC, all fifty State capitols, and the governments in every county, municipality, township, and special district here in this land of ours.