I rose through the ranks as a beat cop starting in the Detroit and Los Angeles Police Departments. I then served as police chief in three cities: Portland, ME; Cincinnati, OH; and then I returned home to Detroit, MI. I’ve seen every kind of crime, every kind of loss. I know what makes communities strong and what breaks them. I’ve seen despair, and I’ve seen hope. I know what makes streets safe — and I know what happens when violence runs rampant. One thing I know for sure: Leadership makes all the difference, and that starts at the top. In America today, that leadership is sorely lacking.
Under President Donald J. Trump the economy was stronger & the streets were safer — in fact the world was safer — while America’s southern border was being strengthened & American energy was being celebrated and utilized. It was a proud time to be an American.
Yet nearly three years after President Trump left office President Joe Biden has managed, almost miraculously, to reverse these achievements. Now, instead of an American revival, we witness city police departments struggling to hire enough recruits to offset attrition rates and maintain proper readiness, since men and women are understandably not eager to put their lives at risk everyday while their leader in Washington DC denigrates their sacrifices and vilifies their service.
Leadership matters, and our nation’s current cast of leadership is creating problems which are reverberating across the country.
Which is exactly why I, alongside millions, want President Trump to serve as President of the United States again. (RELATED: ADAM WEISS: Trump Makes Dominating The Competition Look Easy)
There are undoubtedly some young Americans on the Presidential-hopeful stage right now with bright futures, holding both great potential and original ideas, who demonstrate clearly that America has waiting in the wings the right men and women ready to continue serving and leading our country when their time ultimately arrives.
But President Trump being up by fifty points is no fluke — Americans remember the resounding success of his presidency, the signal of his policy achievements rather than the noise of the media spins, sharply juxtaposed with the failures of the Biden Administration currently in power. And while Americans know there is no clear, concise solution to fixing the problems plaguing America today, they do know there is an obviously clear step they can take to begin to fix those problems, and it is a step towards the voting booth to elect Donald Trump.
And Americans know two other seemingly obvious truths which somehow confound the media: firstly, as many indictments can be issued as the Justice Department can mass produce but in America a man is innocent until proven guilty, and secondly, no matter what the media and Democrats attempt to do to district Americans from problems, deep complex problems, which exist in our country, those problems are not going away and Americans suffer everyday because of their continued unchecked existence.
Take the inflation crushing Americans from coast to coast — the average household in July spent $709 more on goods and services than they did on that same basket of goods and services two years ago, and gas prices alone today are 68 cents higher than where they were two years ago.
This economic damage is shattering to Americans, but what might be even more insulting and bewildering is that instead of honesty from the Biden Administration, honesty that the daily burglarization of American pocketbooks is a real problem, instead of honesty the Biden White House press team doles out spin about America’s healthy economic environment and the resounding success of Bidenomics, as if they are intent on gaslighting their way to reelection. There is not even basic recognition of the dire economic problems, let alone acceptance of responsibility and eagerness to begin solving the issues. There is absolutely no leadership.
With rising crime and failing education systems, the playbooks are similar — obfuscate & ignore. In America today, from the most rural, off the map school district to the most desolate, forgotten urban elementary school, math and reading scores decline like clockwork, with reading scores dropping to their lowest levels since 1992 and math scores falling to their lowest recorded rates. And these failures in education tie directly into crime, with failed students entering the pipeline to the criminal underworld, which explains how car thefts in the first 6 months of 2023 are up over 100% from the same period in 2019. But where is the outrage emanating from President Biden?
While America is failing its children and ignoring the safety of its own citizens, Biden looks afar to Ukraine, sending hundreds billions of dollars which could be spent revitalizing schools and building a national student body capable of reading and writing and problem solving and ready to tackle the next generation of national problems. And American “leaders,” those entrenched in the Beltway who fashion themselves our brain trust, cheer President Biden on as he prints more currency without concern for the value of the dollars his own citizens require, without questioning whether such money would be more wisely spent combating the rising amounts of fentanyl pouring across our border, without questioning whether we are taking the steps necessary to ensure China does not overtake us on the global stage.
Leadership matters, and President Biden is not providing it, and Americans are suffering because of it, and change is needed today. (RELATED: RASHEED WALTERS: The Case For Donald Trump)
President Trump was not and is not perfect, and I very much doubt President Trump would ever claim infallibility, but he never saw a problem he was not ready to confront, and today Americans need to accept that problems are building up while Washington leaders are unready to confront them.
So President Trump needs to win this election, and while in Washington again he is going to need other leaders supporting him who are unafraid of these problems Biden has created, leaders ready and eager to work towards tackling the issues confronting America.
Leadership matters, and America needs leaders ready to state boldly the obvious: America is in trouble, but we are going to get to work and fix our country.
Chief James Craig is the former Police Chief in the City of Detroit from 2013 to 2021. He previously served as the Police Chief of Cincinnati, OH and Portland ME, and as a police officer in the City of Los Angeles.
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