I'm something of a fan of historical dramatizations, even if they play around with the history. It's entertaining, good fun, and interesting to pick apart the technical details. One of the best programs in this genre is HBO's series by producers Bruno Heller, William J. MacDonald, and John Milius, "Rome." While, yes, they played with the history some, the casting, costuming, and props, all were excellent. The storyline runs from the climax of Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul through his assassination and the rise of his adopted son, Octavian, to become effectively the first Roman emperor - so, the fall of the Roman Republic and the rise of the empire.
The series, which ran from 2005-2007, hass a wonderful scene early in the second season, after Caesar's funeral, where Mark Antony whipped the Roman people into a fury with his speech - which contemporary records say he did, more or less. Afterward, Mark Antony - wonderfully played by James Purefoy, with a remarkable mixture of malice and whimsy - cautions conspirators Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus to leave Rome, for their own safety. "We have the Senate and all the men of quality in the city with us," Cassius says in objection.
Antony leans in and, with a growl that ascends to a roar, replies "And I have an angry mob, that will roast and eat your 'men of quality' in the ashes of the Senate house!"
Of such moments are revolutions made. Now, the revolution here, led by the brutal Antony and the scheming Octavian, led to tyranny. But here, in the United States, we have another leader, who is the symptom of something larger, leading not an angry mob - not yet, at any rate - but a large portion of the American people who have just plain had enough. That leader, of course, is President Trump.
Julius Caesar's place in history is well-known: Warrior, conqueror, dictator. But what will Donald Trump's place in history be? If you had asked me 16 days ago, I may have answered differently than today. If you had asked me four years ago, I would have answered very differently. But what we have seen in the last 16 days has been stunning.
Since President Trump took office, his cabinet appointees have almost all been confirmed.
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This is a man who is putting a team together, and that team has hit the ground running. Military recruiting, with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at the helm in the Pentagon, is picking up dramatically.
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And he's started the process to get the horrific rate of federal spending under control - as well as restoring the rule of law to our borders and our immigration policy. What's more, he's riding roughshod over the people who are trying to stop him.
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The president has been wielding tariffs like a combination of club and negotiating tool. In stemming the flow of illegal immigrants, drugs, and other contraband, Mexico, Canada, and even Venezuela caved to the president's demands within hours. Canada and Mexico have meekly agreed to send their own troops to their borders with the U.S. - and Venezuela is paying for the repatriation flights for their own people.
All of that in a little over two weeks. Imagine what the next four years will bring.
President Trump, if he maintains this course and this pace, will be remembered by honest historians as the transformative president Barack Obama dreamed of being but never was. They tried to stop Trump, with lawsuits, phony impeachments, and even phonier criminal charges. People even tried to kill him - twice. And he won. He's still winning. There have been and will be setbacks, but the course is set.
He will leave our government smaller, cleaner, and more efficient. He will leave our military once more fit, lethal, and led by warfighters. He will leave our borders under control, and the rule of law returned to our immigration system. He will be the most consequential president since Ronald Reagan, and for this reason: Just as Ronald Reagan and his sunny optimism backed by iron determination was the right man for his time, so is the irascible, energetic, and determined Trump the right man for this time. He's not out to make friends. He's not out to make money - he already has enough. He's out to return the United States to safety and prosperity, and after the last 16 days, with this unprecedented record of wins, it looks as though he's well on his way.
That's what President Donald Trump will be remembered for. Winning. All of us. For leading people who only want good schools, good jobs, cheap gas, affordable houses, and safe streets. They don't care about gender ideology, carbon footprints, or printing transgender comic books for the Taliban.
The left fancies themselves to be Cassius's angry mob. They aren't. They are much more akin to the corrupt, dying remnants of the republic. They were elitists; the anti-Caesar faction actually called themselves the "Optimates," which translates roughly into "aristocrats" as opposed to Caesar's "Populares." In English - populists, or "the people." The left is also yesterday's news; their reaction to this last electoral beating is not to look to change their message, but to put forth that same tired, old message louder. That's not the stuff of which political comebacks are made. With luck, the Dems will never figure that out.
We still have almost four, full years ahead, of course, and many things could happen. But if President Trump keeps this up, his place in America's history as a transformative figure is secure.
