“[Biden] has run as a restorationist candidate, one who will return Washington to normal after Trump…” — The Nation, 2/5/20

“What does the Presidency even mean after Trump? Can the office of the President ever return to normal?” — Slate, 1/22/20

“Do you think there is any way that the country gets back to, what I guess you and I would call, the old normal?” — Walter Isaacson, wistfully, to Ted Koppel, pbs, 1/28/20

You and I know what these people mean by “old normal”: the Washington establishment running things, with very little input from the American people.

That’s what really upsets them. You are beginning to have too much say in what’s going on, by virtue of electing Donald Trump. And President Trump is committing one of the greatest sins in politics. He is actually doing what he said he would. He’s fulfilling promises and achieving what the American people elected him to do. He’s representing them, and he’s improving the country — for everybody.

Why isn’t that a great new normal? Why isn’t record unemployment a great new normal? Why aren’t rising incomes, particularly in the lower income groups, a great new normal? Why isn’t America being a net exporter of energy, no longer dependent on foreign oil, the great new normal? Why isn’t reduced illegal immigration a great new normal? Why aren’t all the improvements that have happened in this country — culturally, socially, economically — the great new normal? What the hell “old normal” do these people want to return to, Barack Hussein O?

Speaking of which, get this headline from U.S. News & World Report: “U.S. Life Expectancy Rises for First Time in Four Years.” Well, what happened four years ago? Obama left office. Fatal drug overdoses dropped for the first time in nearly 30 years. Cancer-related deaths also declined. Folks, did you realize life expectancy was decreasing during the Obama Administration? Of course not: nobody reported it. So why isn’t a reversal of the bad news a great new normal? Why isn’t rising U.S. life expectancy the new standard?

Here’s another report, from The Daily Caller, of what should be a new-normal occurrence: “Mexico Deports Over 2,000 Caravan Migrants Back to Honduras.” Who else but Donald Trump could have leaned on Mexico to do this? “The … Mexican National Guard commissioned eight chartered planes and 34 buses to remove … the migrant caravan, roughly 1,064 Hondurans were deported by ground, another 1,239 deported by aircraft.” A pull quote from the story: “Mexico has made it clear that its territory will not be used as transit for illegal aliens to reach the United States.” Why isn’t this part of a burgeoning new normal? The question answers itself.

And there’s much more. According to a 2/18/20 release from DonaldJTrump.com (because if they don’t publicize it, who will?), the before-Trump/after-Trump contrast couldn’t be greater:

• In October 2016, the Consumer Confidence Board Index was at 98.6. In January 2020, it stood at 131.6.
• In November 2016, Gallup’s economic confidence index was at -11. In January 2020, it stood at +40.
• In January 2017, Rasmussen’s economic index was at 108.1. In January 2020, it stood at 147.8.
• In October 2016, the National Federation of Independent Business’s small-business optimism index was at 94.9. In January 2020, it stood at 104.3.
• In the fourth quarter of 2016, the Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index was 80. Today it stands at 132.

This isn’t theoretical. This is the great new normal that people are living and experiencing. To the classic question “Are you better off now than you were four years ago,” Americans are overwhelmingly answering “yes.” According to the latest Gallup numbers, 68 percent of Americans are satisfied with the economy; 84 percent are satisfied with the quality of life. Overall satisfaction with the country’s direction is at its highest point since 2005.

Gallup also found 63 percent approve of how President Trump, specifically, is handling the economy — the highest economic approval rating for a President since the 9/11 attacks. Incredibly, and sure to strike terror into Democrat hearts, 49 percent of nonwhites approve of Trump’s handling of the economy.

There is too much good news to report, but here is a sampling: “January Jobs Numbers: Nearly Double Expected Gain…” (The Western Journal); “New High of 90 Percent of Americans Satisfied With Personal Life” (Gallup); “Black Workers’ Wages Are Finally Rising” (The New York Times); “6.1 Million Individuals Off Food Stamps Under Donald Trump” (Breitbart); “Immigration to America Is Down. Wages Are Up” (The Economist).

With the stock market up 60 percent, unemployment the lowest in 50 years, and gas prices 32 percent below what they were eight years ago, according to aaa, this is the best economy in our lifetimes. The Economist notes, “In both 2018 and 2019 … wages rose by more than 3 percent, the fastest growth since before the recession a decade ago. Americans at the bottom of the labor market are doing especially well. In the past year the wages of those without a high school diploma have risen by nearly 10 percent.”

President Trump is presiding over peace and prosperity — for all. But what are Democrats promising to do? Dismantle it! You’ve got a member of the Democrat leadership, Rep. James Clyburn (D, SC), House Majority Whip, characterizing the economy as racial oppression: “I’m saying that the African American unemployment is not the lowest it’s ever been, unless you count slavery,” he said to Fox News on 2/18/20. “We were fully employed during slavery, so it all depends how you measure this…” Low unemployment numbers are just like slavery? Folks, this is certifiable.

And on 2/17/20 you’ve got Obama minion Dan Pfeiffer advising Democrat candidates in Politico how to attack the Trump economy: “Trump is vulnerable because of who benefits from his policies. Trump’s only major legislative accomplishment is a massive tax break for big corporations and Wall Street, which might be the most obvious and exploitable political vulnerability this century. During Trump’s Presidency, corporations have rarely made more money or paid less in taxes, yet middle- and working-class Americans are paying more for health care, food, college, and retirement while wages have barely budged.” Yada, yada, yada. Pure delusion.

So the Trump economy supposedly sucks — but then Democrats want to take credit for it. On 2/17/20 Obama tweeted, “Eleven years ago today, near the bottom of the worst recession in generations, I signed the Recovery Act, paving the way for more than a decade of economic growth and the longest streak of job creation in American history.” This is the same Obama who insisted in 2016 that those jobs “are just not gonna come back.” Because there was no magic wand, remember?

This “streak” is now threatened by Democrats who want to reverse all the Trump policies — the very policies that are unshackling the American people and creating what ought to be a new normal, not of permanent decline, not of “America’s best days are behind us.” Why shouldn’t these almost four years of economic revival become the new standard? Why shouldn’t the great new expectation be peace and prosperity?

You couldn’t have had a starker illustration of the choice that’s set before the nation than the final scene at the State of the Union address. Will America choose Nancy Pelosi, representing the bitter, seething, “old normal” Democrats, ripping up the speech — or President Trump’s inspiring new-normal declaration: “The best is yet to come”? No contest!

Photomontage created by The Limbaugh Letter. Photo of Trump ©2020 Susan Walsh/AP/Shutterstock; Money Photo ©2020 Inspiration GP