I keep thinking that maybe — just maybe — our divided nation is ready to yank down the barriers that divide us.

Why not now? As tumultuous as the last election was, the result revealed definitive clarity on what motivated the voters. On the central issues such as border security, crime, inflation, and energy, voters in all sectors of ethnicity, age, and gender responded positively to the Trump campaign’s commonsense positions and cast their lot with the GOP.

Now, with the election behind us, the new president on a tear, and broad agreement on the direction of our country, is this not the perfect time to start building on that obvious common ground?

Evidently not. Despite broadly favorable public reaction to the changes in direction, Democrats and their media agents are frantically building new obstacles — “Trump-proofing” areas they control and finding sympathetic judges to block Trump’s executive orders. It’s 2016 Resistance 2.1.

We get it. They’ve suffered a devastating electoral loss. But given the Democrats’ obvious objective of recapturing the support of lost voters, why would they oppose the very things those lost voters like? In the first weeks of Donald Trump’s administration, we’ve seen an astonishing level of intensity and success at every turn. What’s not to like?

Here’s a quick scorecard:

• The border is effectively closed. Illegal border crossings in the past week have numbered a few hundred a day (with all apprehended), a reduction of well over 90%.

• We are ridding the country of illegal aliens who have committed violent crimes or are likely to do so, including gang members. This is just the beginning of a long, hard slog, with lots of difficulty ahead, but the ICE strategy of deporting the “worst first” is music to the ears of Americans fearing for their safety.

• Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has already identified billions of improper or unnecessary spending of taxpayer money, and the administration is plugging the holes, recovering wasted money where possible, and right-sizing bloated government organizations. These too are early steps in a long road, but with very promising results.

• The hostages held by Hamas (including some Americans) for 17 months are finally being freed. Six Americans held hostage by Venezuela (who had been ignored by the previous administration) have also been released.

• Biological males will no longer be able to participate in women’s sports or be permitted to intrude in women’s restrooms, locker rooms, or shower facilities, and female prisoners will no longer be forced to share spaces with biological male inmates who claim female identity.

• U.S. energy policy is adopting a balanced portfolio of fossil, nuclear, and renewable fuel sources and stepping away from the ineffective and economy-killing climate change agenda. Electric vehicle mandates and subsidies are being eliminated so that manufacturers can produce and sell cars that align with customer desires.

• America’s military is coming back from the doldrums, ready to face an ever more dangerous world. Military recruiting, a clear reflection of public sentiment about Defense Department personnel policies, has skyrocketed.

• DEI programs in government organizations are being eliminated, and much of private industry is following suit. This change is an overdue recognition that those well-intentioned programs, when mandated, had often created de facto quotas that were themselves racist or sexist.

• A reorganized Department of Justice, with new leadership at the attorney general and FBI director level, is purging completely the previous administration’s political lawfare policies and practices — a disgraceful chapter in American political history that demands reversal.

And the list goes on. All this has been done with urgency, enthusiasm, and truly remarkable transparency. Trump has been on the move night and day — meeting with world leaders, seeing American problem spots firsthand, and fielding questions from all comers, often on live TV.

To most Americans, it’s a breath of fresh air; they voted for change, and now they’re seeing it. The contrast between flank-speed Donald Trump and slow-motion Joe Biden is stunning. But in our deeply divided and highly combative political atmosphere, there will always be some who find things not to like.

Over the past few days, a subset of Democrat congressional representatives and senators have been in an absolute tizzy. We watched Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s awkward attempt — hand in hand with the ever-grumpy Maxine Waters — to lead a “We will win!” cheer. Exactly what they want to win, other than stifling the will of a majority of voters, is not clear.

Their number one target right now seems to be DOGE, but rather than fighting to continue the wasteful spending DOGE is revealing, they are attacking the process and the people who are doing the digging. Senator Elizabeth Warren calls DOGE a “wrecking ball” — fair enough, and arguably a needed one. They complain that those working (successfully) to find misused taxpayer funding are “unelected.” Do they not understand that the person who is directing the effort is Donald J. Trump, duly elected U.S. president and head of the executive branch, with full constitutional authority to structure it as he sees fit? They level particular dissatisfaction with Elon Musk, the genius who has moved mountains in just three weeks. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez believes him to be “the most unintelligent person” she’s ever met. Let that sink in for a moment.

The bottom line on this tempest in a teapot is twofold: (1) Politicians forever have promised to root out waste, fraud, and abuse in taxpayer funding, thereby getting maximum mileage from our hard-earned tax payment. Trump is doing just that, and he is now under fire for doing it too aggressively. (2) Most of the objections are coming from die-hard Trump haters, who dislike him more than they dislike what he’s doing.

Yes, there are plenty of problems ahead. But we’re on the right track, America. All aboard!