Playing the game of “What if” has led to some of humankind’s greatest discoveries and achievements. It can also be a sorrowful acknowledgement of the status quo, an exercise of quiet desperation when time and opportunity are floating away like fall leaves.

As President Trump enters the fourth year of his presidency, I can’t help but ask the “what if” question about so many things, opportunities squandered over ambition, animosity, and partisan politics.

While Trump has accomplished much, I still see unfulfilled destiny, not quite reached, or initiatives that have destroyed and divided rather than built and unified. Let’s look at some examples.

What if President Obama and Hillary Clinton had been graceful losers, accepting the will of the American people? What if the Obama administration actually had assisted in a smooth transition for the Trump administration, providing guidance and wisdom and leaving partisan differences to the next election cycle? This is what previous presidential transitions looked like.

What if Obama’s intelligence chiefs and agencies had been hunting terrorists rather than spying on American citizens? Could the shootings in San Bernardino and Orlando have been prevented? What if these intel wizards had taken care of al-Baghdadi when they had the chance, rather than releasing him from prison in 2009? Kayla Mueller would still be alive. As might hundreds of others killed by ISIS butchers.

What if the Obama Justice Department had enforced immigration law rather than suing states that chose to follow existing law? How much would US taxpayers have saved if not forced to support the health and welfare, not to mention incarceration costs, of millions of illegals?

And Kate Steinle would still be alive.

What if James Comey had investigated true corruption, as in the Clinton emails and Foundation, and actual election interference from Ukraine, rather than wasting the president’s time with nonsensical allegations of golden showers in Moscow? Then setting out to seditiously destroy his presidency. How much true criminality was missed while the FBI boss was busy rigging an election?

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What if James Clapper and John Brennan, rather than cooking up a phony dossier and entrapping Trump officials, had used their intel resources to stop Chinese technological and intellectual spying? How many spies did they miss while consumed with stopping Trump from getting elected? What if they had focused on the war on terror rather than the war on Trump?

Was Peter Strzok, former FBI chief of counterespionage, paying any attention to those spying on America while busy endlessly texting his girlfriend Lisa Page and creating an “insurance policy” to stop a presidential candidate he didn’t like?

What if Loretta Lynch had actually enforced the law regarding Hillary Clinton’s mishandling of classified emails, showing America and the world that no one is above the law, even if their last name is Clinton? What if she had revered Lady Justice rather than spitting on her?

What if Paul Ryan, as House Speaker, had supported his president’s agenda, the will of Republican voters? Aside from a tax cut, what else did the GOP House do? Balanced budget? Defunding sanctuary cities or Planned Parenthood? Building a border wall? Nah.

What if my local Congressman, Mike Coffman, had supported Trump rather than promising to “stand up” to Trump? He might still be in Congress rather than now running for mayor of Aurora, Colorado.

What if John McCain had honored his endless campaign promises to repeal Obamacare and gave a thumbs up on the Senate floor, rather than a thumbs down, just to spite President Trump?

What if the 60 or so House Republicans who chose to retire because they didn’t like the president or thought he would be indicted by Robert Mueller had stayed on instead? The House would still be under GOP control and impeachment would be nothing but fantasy talk on CNN panels.

What if Democrats could accept the will of American voters in electing a president and work with him on issues they once championed? These include infrastructure, prescription drug costs, healthcare reform, gun violence, immigration reform, and a balanced budget. Since the House fell under Democrat control, they have done nothing except try to overturn the 2016 election. Any pretense of the House being a legislative body has been dispelled as they have accomplished nothing legislatively in the past year.

What if the Senate, still under Republican control, had held hearings or investigated anything with a fraction of the fervor of House Democrats? Are the Senate Judiciary and Intelligence committees investigating deep state sedition, or just sitting on their thumbs and running interference for the deep state?

Where are former GOP presidential candidates in the Senate, perhaps biding their time for another bite at the apple in 2024, getting on board the Trump train and becoming the MAGA heir apparent? Romney, Cruz, Rubio, and Paul, either castigating the president or hiding under their desks, afraid to support him.

What if the media could be fair and objective, rather than 95 percent negative toward Trump? What if their goal were to inform people rather than serve as the propaganda arm of the Democrat Party? What if the electorate were educated rather than brain washed? How much higher would Trump’s poll numbers be if the media didn’t uniformly and constantly criticize or lie about him?

Lastly are the NeverTrumpers, poisoned by hatred and envy of Trump, throwing their supposed core political beliefs away, attacking Trump, becoming completely irrelevant except as useful idiots for left-wing cable news shows. What if they celebrated a conservative in the White House, supported him and joined his movement?

I know, this all sounds silly, a Pollyannaish Kumbaya moment, channeling John Lennon’s “Imagine”. Indeed, it is. The above “what ifs” are as likely as flying cars and time travel next year.

But here is one “what if” that is as serious as a heart attack. What if President Trump is removed from office? What if he is defeated in 2020, replaced by one of the communists on the Democrat side?

Then it’s lights out for MAGA and American exceptionalism. The “what if” of wistful fantasy becomes the “what if” of liberty, freedom, and survival. Now is not the time to go wobbly, as Margaret Thatcher would say.

What if tyranny replaced liberty, ushered in by a political party hellbent on impeaching and removing a president, hoping they find some evidence of a high crime along the way?

President Trump has few friends in Washington, DC, as he learned during the World Series. But he does have an army of 65 million plus Americans. As the darkness from the left grows, his supporters need to stand strong and firm. Otherwise the real “what ifs” are too horrible to contemplate.

Brian C Joondeph, MD, is a Denver based physician, freelance writer and occasional radio talk show host whose pieces have appeared in American Thinker, Daily Caller, and other publications. Follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and QuodVerum.