Happy Independence Day! Trump is taking America back

Fifteen years ago, the U.S. was still recovering from the devastating 9/11 attack. The nation was already fighting a war in Afghanistan, while getting ready for another one in Iraq. Government was growing, with new agencies that were going to make us safe.

Inadvisedly, I chose that moment to write and release a book called "Taking America Back: A Radical Plan to Revive Freedom, Morality and Justice." To say it was ill-timed would be an understatement. Suffice it to say, it did not capture the imagination of the American public.

Here we are, though, in 2018, and, despite the occurrence of nothing short of a cultural revolution negatively impacting the country between 2009 and 2016, with the election of Donald J. Trump as president, we have a real chance to take America back in many of the ways I envisioned 15 years ago.

It's really quite remarkable what Donald Trump has accomplished in less than two years.

He is about to appoint his second Supreme Court justice that will likely shift the balance of power toward the Constitution, the rule of law, limited government, the sanctity of life, individual liberty, national sovereignty and common-sense justice.

He's broken all the rules – and he's hated for it. He has challenged the political establishment orthodoxy. He is closing the open border, reviving the forgotten notion that government is here to protect the rights and welfare of its citizens and enforcing the law.

The economy is percolating. He's bringing business and jobs back to America, just as he promised during his campaign. There's no more war on private property – at least from Washington.

One again, there's a patriotic president in office – one who unabashedly loves his country and doesn't make apologies for it.

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Honestly, it didn't even occur to me that one man could make such a difference in the direction of a nation, though I should have known it. It happened before between 1981 and 1988.

It took Jimmy Carter to give us Ronald Reagan. Maybe it took Barack Obama to give us Donald Trump.

Likewise, it took Obama to give my old book a chance for success.

What looked like a bomb in 2003 when it first came out actually took off during Obama's 2008 campaign and accelerated in his first two years in office. The book went through several editions, multiple printings and ended up selling more than 80,000 copies.

But it takes more than good ideas to turn a nation around. It takes leadership, determination, courage, confidence. And that's what Trump has provided in abundance.

I don't even think we can fully appreciate what he has already achieved and what he is capable of doing in the next two years. No matter how you look at it, whether you love him or hate him, you have to admit he's accomplished some amazing things – both in sweeping changes in domestic policy and in defying the odds and the conventional wisdom in foreign affairs.

He's been a game-changer in the Middle East, standing up for the one truly free, self-governed ally in the region, with his historic pivot toward Israel. It's now at least conceivable that the North Korean time bomb may be defused. Iran, a tyranny the U.S. tried to buy off during the Obama years, appears to be close to collapse due to internal dissent and economic paralysis.

Because of Trump, America commands respect around the world, again. The radical left fears him. That's why they will do anything to stop him.

He has lived up to his name by trumping his detractors and his enemies.

It's not time to stand down, though, and just leave it to Trump. That would be dangerous and foolhardy. He needs our vocal and visible support – not just in this patriotic, flag-waving season, but for the years ahead.

And, most of all, he needs our thanks, our encouragement and our prayers.

Related columns:

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July 4: Well, we're still mostly free by John Stossel