“Only the Mediocre Are Always at Their Best”

DELRAY BEACH, FL – That quote by the late diplomat and author, Jean Giroudoux, “Only the Mediocre are Always at Their Best”, sort of describes what some of our leaders have expressed in the past. Remember when former President Barack Obama claimed that the United States was not an exceptional nation? He said we were no better than any other nation, which could be inferred that rather than being exceptional, we were just mediocre.

Compare President Obama’s rhetoric with that of President Trump, who at every opportunity praises our country to the hilt as being the “shining city upon a hill” (a phrase popularized by former President Ronald Reagan).  Contrary to what President Obama said, the United States is the most powerful, most prosperous, and most compassionate country in the world, therefore the most exceptional country. Why do people go through any means necessary to try to enter the United States, either legally or illegally, if our country was just an ordinary mediocre country? How many people are dying to migrate to Cuba or Venezuela, Socialist nirvana’s?

Look at what our country has accomplished since the election of President Trump. We have a booming economy with lower taxes for both companies and citizens, we have the lowest unemployment rates in history for blacks, Hispanics, Asians, women, and people with just a high school diploma.  Companies are coming back to our country after moving overseas in years past. Our GDP, during the past 3 years has hovered between 2.5% to 3%, which has increased the revenue take by the U.S. Treasury. During the 2016 presidential campaign, then President Obama scoffed at Donald Trump’s claim that our GDP should be over 3% by saying that we should be satisfied with a 2% GDP (which over the 8 years of President Obama our GDP did average less that 2%) and that to claim otherwise, candidate Trump would have to wave a “magic wand” in order to exceed that mediocre prognostication by Obama. I guess President Trump found that magic wand?

When President Obama claimed that we (the U.S.A.) were no longer exceptional, he implied that we should be “mediocre” so that other countries didn’t feel inferior to us. We have been the leader for most of the last century because we were “exceptional” in practically all aspects of life.  If it wasn’t for our exceptionalism, most all of Europe and parts of Asia would be speaking German now. If it wasn’t for our “exceptionalism”, the defeated Axis powers would still be living with the effects of the carnage brought forth by Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. If it wasn’t for our exceptionalism, most countries of the world would’ve had trouble rebuilding their countries from the natural disasters that befall them. We were there with an open hand and an unlimited pocketbook to help the unfortunates around the world. That is why we are “exceptional” and not just a mediocre country.

So yes, the quote by Jean Giroudoux does not apply to the United States because we are not “mediocre”, we are exceptional and damn well proud of it. Just ask the other countries of the world and the people who want to migrate here.