Bill Carmichael: Look upon President Trump with hope not hate

Half of Americans seem collectively to have lost their minds and are suffering from a severe mental condition known as TDS – Trump Derangement Syndrome.

Since the election in November there has been a self-indulgent orgy of shrieking, hysterical weeping, gnashing of teeth and renting of garments.

There have been calls for a vote recounts, for the election to be entirely re-run, for the US Supreme Court to intervene and even for the imposition of martial law and the suspension of all civil liberties to prevent Trump lawfully taking office.

There have been demonstrations, boycotts, assassination warnings and other threats of violence in a determined effort to delegitimise Trump before he has even set foot in the Oval Office.

The mainstream media, such as the New York Times, has abandoned any pretense at balance and fairness and has declared itself in opposition to the Trump presidency, and says it will resist and oppose him at every turn.

This is especially worrying to journalists of my generation who were brought up to believe the job of a reporter was to impartially state the facts and allow the readers to make up their own minds.

‘Celebrities’ – most of whom I admit I have never heard of – have been lining up to say they will not perform at Trump’s inauguration celebrations, even though most of them were not invited in the first place.

No showbiz awards ceremony is now complete without superannuated actresses in £1,000 frocks weeping into their prosecco over the plight of the poor and frantically signaling their anti-Trump credentials for all to see.

We had a taste of this in the UK after the Brexit vote when crybaby Remainiacs stamped their feet and trembled their bottom lips because a vote didn’t go the way they wanted.

It took the firm voice of nanny-in-chief Theresa May to tell them they had to be brave little soldiers and accept the democratic will of 17.4 million people.

But the US version of Project Whinge has been turbo-charged – I can honestly say I have never seen anything like it.

Trump is not everyone’s cup of tea, and he was not my first choice for president. And there are legitimate concerns about his presidency, particularly in relation to free trade and support for Nato.

But none of this even comes close to justifying the current wave of hysteria. Trump won fair and square. Fake news reports that the Russians “fixed” the election are little short of preposterous. The only sane response is to accept the election result and wish the new president well.

That is not going to happen for many people – and it is worth asking why. I think it is because this is not just a political defeat for the left, but a cultural one as well, and that is what they find most hard to take.

The political establishment and the cultural elite have grown used to telling us little people what to do – but now their authority is draining away.

In the US everyone from Meryl Streep to the New York Times told people to vote for Hillary Clinton, and the American people shrugged and voted for Trump.

In a similar fashion here in the UK everyone from Bob Geldof to George Osborne told us to vote Remain, and the British people shrugged and voted for Brexit.

Guess what, guys? Nobody cares what you think any more!

It could be the beginning of a sea change in political attitudes – and helps to explain why the entitled classes are thrashing about in such demented fury.

For me I am going to swallow my misgivings and wish Trump well. He has made some impressive picks for his cabinet and I hope if he surrounds himself with good people it will rein in his excesses.

And let us not forget he replaces the weakest and most ineffectual US president in living memory, who helped bring chaos to the Middle East and who heightened racial tensions at home.

So let us put aside bitterness and hate and look upon the next four years with a sense of hope and optimism.

Good luck and Godspeed to President Donald Trump!