Finding the Eye of the Storm

When dealing with all things Trumpian, one must acclimate oneself to residing in the chaotic environment of a political storm.  And if you must exist in a storm, then it is wise to seek out the peaceful, though transitory, calm of the eye.  This is the adjustment that Americans of all stripes are now making to our new president.  Our past experience has taken us to a place where we like to anticipate what is coming, how it will appear, and exactly what its consequences will be.  We like our politics to be predictable.  That has always been a flawed concept because reality dictates that if it is nothing else, politics is at its core uncertain. 

 

The massive egos of journalism’s political punditry have pushed well-known media personalities to think of themselves as not only experts in all things political, but also beings that are blessed with infallible judgment and understanding of what is to come.  Over the last decade or so, this dynamic has begun to fray and unravel.  The reemergence of Donald Trump and his current Administration has accelerated this trend to warp speed status.  Donald Trump has always been…and will always be…a creature of chaos.  His modus operandi is “seat of your pants”, instinctive decision making and “shoot from the hip” rhetoric.  Trump has been privileged to exercise this type of personal behavior and it has obviously served him quite well in his career pursuits.  It is clearly going to take America some time to get used to this type of governance. 

 

There is an old saying about “the means to an end”.  With Biden, there were no means and there were no ends.  It was like the Israelites wandering about in the wilderness.  With Trump, you might wonder if it is the means or if it is the ends; but you know damn well there is something happening.

 

I suspect that the bottom line is this: do not overreact to anything that Trump says or does at the moment he does it; let it settle for a bit.  One can never be sure why he is saying it or doing it and it is rather pointless to speculate about it.  The best practice is clearly to see how his words and actions play out over time, both short term and long term.  The main issue of concern I have always had with Donald Trump is not so much what he does, but rather how it does it.  The simple fact is that no one is going to change the how part of that equation.  Ergo, it would seem the best way to evaluate the performance of the Trump Administration is not to leap at every occurrence, but to judge the final results of the actions. 

 

For those of us who support Trump’s main policy thrusts, the good news is that he usually arrives at a point that we can find pleasing.  The bad news is that when you operate as he does…outside of normal political parameters…there is essentially no escape from owning the consequences.  His methods of operation pretty much remove the oft used political tricks of the past such as political double speak, obfuscation, and empty rhetoric.  I have faith in his overall policy initiatives and feel confident that they will take this nation where it needs to be.  The nagging fear that haunts me is that some of it…mainly his economic policies…will take longer to succeed and will not bear desirable fruit before the mid-term elections of 2026.  I shudder to even consider what the last two years of a Trump Administration would be like with a Democrat-controlled House and/or Senate.  Hold on tight, my friends…we are in for one exciting ride.

 

Thanks to the Biden Administration, Donald Trump was presented with a colossal mess in international foreign affairs upon his arrival in office.  The options he now commands for the Ukraine/Russia war game are far fewer in number than they were even two years ago and the simple fact is that his remedies for this catastrophic and disastrous conflict are severely limited.  There are few, if any, that would be considered good.  He is down to making the best of a bad situation and any reasonable person would understand that he should be given the leeway to work this conundrum out the best way he can.  He deserves that patience.    

 

What actually occurred in the infamous Oval Office meeting...  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhquAWlke2o

 

Different perspectives on the implications…

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/podcasts/the-editors/what-happened-in-the-oval-office/

 

https://reason.com/podcast/2025/03/03/trump-vs-zelenksyy-democracy-dies-in-drama/

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/carnival-of-fools/the-ground-is-shifting-underneath-our-feet/

 

https://thefederalist.com/2025/03/04/how-bidens-blank-check-for-ukraine-disastrously-bounced/

 

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2025/03/zelensky-climbs-down.php

 

https://americanmind.org/salvo/wars-end/

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/better-righteous-than-right-about-ukraine/

 

The leaders of our neighboring countries to the north and south can afford to speak recklessly and brashly about what they will or will not do about American policies concerning them; they are geographically protected by a U.S. military presence.  On the other hand, European and many NATO nations exist in the shadow of the Kremlin Bear and although they may occasionally be careless with their anti-American rhetoric…reality dictates that America is their guardian angel.  That will ultimately determine how they deal with Russian and Chinese aggression. 

 

https://justthenews.com/government/diplomacy/europeans-are-fueling-russias-war-effort-through-gas-purchases-while-their

 

https://americanmind.org/salvo/europe-must-listen-to-its-people/

 

One aspect of Donald Trump’s foreign policy that I enthusiastically embrace is the fact that he does not insist that our nation’s allies have to be like America…they don’t even have to like America.  But the one thing they must do if we are going to be partners…they must RESPECT America.

 

https://amgreatness.com/2025/03/01/trump-vance-and-the-new-new-world-order/

 

The obstacles to reshaping our nation’s government to shrink, become more efficient, and better conform to our Constitution is a herculean task that is fraught with ruthless opposition and endless complexities.  The Trump Administration is now fully engaged in that battle.

 

https://www.thefp.com/p/victor-davis-hanson-can-trump-reset

 

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/trump-delivers-address-joint-session-congress

 

Consider what it has inherited…

 

https://mrctv.org/blog/craig-bannister/postmortem-truth-about-biden-harris-economy

 

https://amgreatness.com/2025/03/01/dei-was-the-biggest-con-of-the-century/

 

https://americanmind.org/salvo/denizens-of-the-deep-state/

 

https://amgreatness.com/2025/03/03/who-really-politicized-the-pentagon/

 

Consider what it is trying to do to fix it…

 

https://nypost.com/2025/03/04/us-news/trumps-stiff-new-tariffs-on-canada-mexico-and-china-take-effect/

 

https://reason.com/2025/03/05/doge-and-congress-should-take-a-chainsaw-to-corporate-welfare/

 

https://amgreatness.com/2025/03/03/federal-employees-are-whining-again-and-this-time-no-ones-crying-with-them/

 

Whether it be the Department of Education, the U.S. Postal Service, USAID, or any other federal department or agency…the first question should always be: Is this something that the Government should be doing or is it something better left to the private sector?

 

https://www.newsmax.com/politics/musk/2025/03/05/id/1201610/

 

As we witnessed in his recent address to a joint session of Congress, there are some among us who will never accept Donald Trump as our President.  He and his Administration must mange to succeed in spite of them.

 

https://thefederalist.com/2025/03/05/trump-is-right-there-is-nothing-you-can-do-to-make-democrats-happy/

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/when-the-left-is-too-smug-even-for-the-new-york-times/

 

https://jonathanturley.org/2025/03/01/the-press-falls-to-another-record-low-in-public-trust/

 

https://www.jns.org/dont-mourn-the-demise-of-corporate-media-gatekeepers/

 

What You Do and How You Do It

I believe it fair to say that a healthy majority of the American people support Trump’s efforts to shrink the size of our government and make it more efficient.  It is perfectly legit for him to state that he was elected on that premise and he fully intends to pursue it.  That being said, the American people are notorious for supporting political initiatives without thinking them all the way through to their practical application impacts.  I think this is what Trump’s DOGE effort is encountering at this point and if he is not careful, it can significantly damage the momentum he has created for his ambitious crusade.  In this piece, I want to focus on the shrinking aspect and leave the efficiency angle for another day.

 

I spent 30 years working as a lower-level, civil service office manager.  I saw many presidents come and go over my career; I watched many politically-appointed State Directors serve short terms in their offices; and I experienced the phenomenon of each and every new president and congress believing that they had all the answers to all the questions.  They felt they could learn nothing of use from previous efforts to address the same problems and there was simply no point in consulting with career employees to gain any useful perspective on how certain reforms might impact operations.  

 

I have no illusion about my knowledge and experience gained from a federal employment career qualifying me as some type of expert on the DOGE targets of shrinking and improving our government; I am not.  But I can tell you for a fact that over the years, it is pretty clear for any reasonable person to see some undeniable truths that are simply too clear to ignore.  And yet…they continue to be ignored.   

 

The mission (what they do) of government departments and agencies is dictated by congressional legislation and the manner in which they deliver their services (how they do it) is managed by a large group of career (civil service) employees who are by and large supervised by a sizeable group of political (patronage appointees) employees.  As I have written before, the abuse of Executive Actions by recent presidents has to some degree warped this mode of operations; but the basic premise remains largely unchanged.  Ideally, political appointees arrive in their offices as people competent and qualified to do their jobs.  In a perfect world, they ease into their positions of authority and observe the lay of the land before reinventing the wheel with major and dramatic actions. The really smart ones take the time to locate quality career employees who can provide them with valuable insight as to how their departments and agencies currently function and how they have evolved over the years. 

 

Though it is somewhat an oversimplification, the DOGE effort at shrinking the government can be broken down into two broad categories known as rightsizing and downsizing.  Simply put, rightsizing is matching the proper number of personnel required to do the assigned tasks to the assigned tasks.  Downsizing is a result of a department or agency, in response to a prime directive from high levels of management, having to reduce its number of personnel or offices by a certain amount.  Sometimes these two processes occur simultaneously and sometimes that occur independent of each other.  But there are certain principles that should apply to either process BEFORE the process is implemented.

 

The primary issue to be addressed in any effort at government reform is whether or not the problem being addressed and the department/agency addressing it are necessary.  Is this a matter that the government (public sector) is uniquely qualified to confront at the expense of the taxpayer or is it a matter that is best left to the market place, driven by capitalistic principles (private sector)?  If the results of this consideration are that a department/agency is not required as part of our government, then the rightsizing and downsizing solutions are taken to the extreme. However, in most cases, and if the department/agency is determined to be vital to our government’s function, then the answer to the question is to reform it through a combination of legislation, rightsizing, and downsizing.  Legislation is the proper initial step remedy for this scenario.  The Executive Action is an often used aberration. Trump/Musk/DOGE must never lose sight of the fact that while many private sector business principles can apply seamlessly over to the public sector…many others simply do not transfer effectively.  

 

It is estimated there are 2.25 million civil servants working in our government in over 400 departments and agencies.  These are career employees and not political appointees.  If they pursue their jobs through to retirement, they will typically work within the system for 30 years or so.  It is patently foolish to arbitrarily prescribe a certain number of employees needed for a certain federal department or agency without first determining WHAT they should do and HOW they should do it.  Once those priorities are satisfied, then the first steps towards shrinking the personnel numbers are rightsizing and downsizing.  If you have an individual civil servant who has been a solid employee for 15-20 years and the department or agency in which they work is targeted for rightsizing or downsizing, then there are established procedures in place to decide who goes and who stays.  It is critical to the future of maintaining a reliable, competent, and experienced federal workforce that career employees be treated with fairness and respect.  Failure to do this will result in a federal workforce that is not of the quality that our government desires and needs to deliver its prescribed missions.

At this point, I want to briefly address the Musk idea of each employee submitting a weekly report of five things they did the previous week.  Within the civil service system, there exists an established method of performance review.  Over my career, they were multi-paged, extensive summaries of an employee's performance over, at a minimum, the previous year.  These reviews were conducted by an employee's immediate supervisor and were then entered into that employee's permanent employment file.  Their future promotion options and salary increases were based upon this review.  These reviews are also the basis for required employee performance improvement and, in extreme cases, employee dismissals.  There were times within my 30-year career when these reviews were required on a semi-annual basis.  If this process is executed properly, it is a very effective way to ensure adequate employee performance and address shortcomings on the job.  It was detailed, explicit, and time consuming.  There is really very little reason to add another layer of bureaucracy to this existing process; taking up valuable time that is better spent performing assigned tasks and duties.  If a federal employee is not doing their job, it is the responsibility of their immediate supervisor to bring them up to speed or, failing that, dismiss them.  If this protocol does not work, it is not a failure of the system; it is a failure of the supervisor.  

If a thoughtful and deliberate process leads to a decision requiring the shrinking of personnel numbers in a department/agency, then the initial step in that direction should be a hiring freeze.  If you have too many employees, do not hire any new ones.  This will allow the department/agency to reduce its number of employees over time due to the natural attrition of retirements and people voluntarily leaving their jobs.  Over the last several years, the attrition rate for federal employees has been between 115,000 and 150,000 each year.  As you can plainly see, this is an extremely effective way to reduce the size of the federal workforce over time.  The downside is that when you have such a large workforce, time is not always available. Politicians love their quick solutions.

 

Another downsizing solution is the ability of civil service employees to transfer from one federal job to another…from one department/agency to another.  This is an extremely effective way to create reasonable career alternatives to displaced federal employees with a significant amount of service and who would like to continue their federal employment through to retirement.  A critical element is this particular process is that displaced federal employees seeking to fill federal job openings must be given priority status over candidates who are not currently federal employees; assuming they are qualified for the job opening.  As you can see, this option makes a lot of sense when you balance the need for a competent and experienced federal workforce with the obligation for fair treatment of employees with the necessity of reducing the overall number of federal employees.  Displaced federal employees are not always willing to uproot their lives and relocate to a new job location.  Sometimes the distance is small and sometimes the distance is large.  But the point is that the employee is given an option that can result in a win/win situation for both the employee and the government. They can take it or leave it.

 

The final procedure I want to address in the government’s downsizing toolbox is the use of federal employee buyouts.  It is simply a fact that oftentimes, it makes good fiscal sense to provide a current employee a modest financial incentive to voluntarily quit their job.   This can work because (A), it has been determined that a certain number of employees must be eliminated and (B) the employee’s choice to accept the modest buyout offer rather than work through to a full retirement can result in significant long term dollar savings for the employer (government).  In a broad sense, the buyout offer is the equivalent of the severance payment in the private sector.  It is a bridge to the employee’s next employment chapter in their life.  Over my 30 years as a federal employee, I saw the use of the buyout used many, many times.  The key to the effective use of the buyout is making certain that the position being vacated due to the buyout is not refilled. 

 

As you can readily see, once a proper determination is made by our elected officials that the size of our government must shrink; there are many sensible and reasonable options available to them to accomplish this goal.  The two fundamental requirements in making this process a productive effort that accomplishes targeting goals through the use of fair employee actions are…first to be wise in determining the need for federal departments/agencies and secondly…determining how many federal employees are needed to deliver the solution to that need. 

 

The Trump Administration is currently receiving high marks for its DOGE efforts.  However, I am concerned that in their haste to reform our government, they are both neglecting the fundamental questions of department/agency relevance and the existence of good options to achieve their employment targets.  I applaud their efforts and goals; goodness knows that our government is too large and highly inefficient.  However, some of the methods they are employing ignore both respect for career employee institutional knowledge/experience and proven methods that are readily available to them to accomplish their stated goals.  It is useful to note that as the portion of those 2.25 million federal employees that are dismissed or displaced has to deal with reordering the lives of their families, those impacted people will be scattered all across this country in every state and county.  The pain will be significant and it will be real.  Regardless of the perceived immediate need to do this, it is far more important to do it in a way that is thoughtful, deliberate, and fair to the people involved.

 

A couple of quick hits on the evolution of national education…

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/college-closures-are-nothing-to-worry-about/

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/college-doesnt-have-to-take-so-long/

 

The East European theatre of American foreign policy is in a critical state of flux and will have momentous implications for future generations…

 

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2025/02/the-german-election-green-dreams-in-the-dustbin.php

 

https://amgreatness.com/2025/02/21/temper-tantrums-by-zelensky-and-european-leaders-could-scuttle-trumps-ukraine-peace-efforts/

 

https://www.reuters.com/world/zelenskiy-plans-travel-us-meet-trump-minerals-deal-sources-say-2025-02-25/

 

So far…a refreshing change that we see in the Trump Administration as compared to the Biden Administration is the transformation of a censorship/disinformation-centric administration (Biden) to a free speech/transparent administration (Trump).  Although the AP/Gulf of America kerfuffle gives me pause about the sincerity of the Trump folks in this area…they have certainly changed the mood in the room.

 

https://jonathanturley.org/2025/02/24/the-american-ronin-how-displaced-disinformation-experts-are-seeking-new-opportunities-in-europe-and-academia/#more-229152

 

https://amgreatness.com/2025/02/23/the-three-amigos-give-a-progress-report/

 

You may not agree with what President Trump is trying to accomplish, but you have to admit that he is certainly not trying to hide it.

Congress is Our One Layer Cake

I have previously written about my disdain for Executive Orders (EOs).  Admittedly, there are times (like NOW) when EOs are used to unwind nonsensical federal rules and regulations and we get a sugar high reaction of celebration and joy.  Alas, the problem with sugar highs is that they go away when the sugar dissolves.  Also alas, the problem with EOs is that they get tossed out by subsequent Executives…i.e. Presidents.  Ergo, EOs are the sugar highs of the political world.

 

The sudden surge of Executive Orders began with Obama and has accelerated since that time.  Trump undid Obama’s EOs.  Biden undid Trump’s EOs.  Trump undoes Biden’s EOs.  Does anyone actually believe that the next Democrat president won’t undo Trump’s recent EOs (Yes…that will eventually occur)?  The rare and thoughtful application of Executive Orders is a remedy permitted by our Constitution that allows independent presidential actions necessitated by unusual circumstances…but yet respects the critical balance of power among our three branches of government.  The exercise of EOs we have witnessed by our last four presidential administrations is neither rare nor thoughtful.  Notwithstanding the wisdom and common sense exhibited by several of the EOs, they are nonetheless aberrations of the way our government is supposed to work and the spiraling use of them by our presidents is not a good trend for our nation.

 

Anyone who has ever attempted to bake a cake easily understands the additional challenges presented by building one layer upon another when creating this culinary product.  The layers must be uniform and symmetrical; the icing must be evenly distributed with just the right touch of flourish in just the right spots.  It might be easy for some, but the few times I have attempted it in my life…it has been quite a challenge.  Give me a single layer and I can reasonably manage it.  Give me one or two more layers and it gets comical real fast. 

 

In some ways, the method that our Congress uses to pass legislation is analogous to baking a cake.  Far too often, they stick to the one layer model.  Even when the subject of the debate is of critical importance, they pontificate endlessly, spouting empty and shallow platitudes.  In their ego-driven minds, the mere fact of doing something is far too often their singular goal.  Simply doing something often results in a watered-down bill that would be better off dying on the floor.  What their proper goal should be is doing something well.  They are too lazy, too simple-minded, or too frustrated to go for the two (wow…that’s a lot of 2s) or three-layer masterpiece that our country really needs.  That second and third layer requires a lot of thought, debate, compromise, and statesmanship and that is simply a bridge too far for today’s congressional representative. 

 

When our Legislative Branch fails to pass legislation that is complete, specific, and thoroughly detailed…it presents a significant degree of discretionary authority that is passed onto the Executive Branch and its army of political appointees; it is baked in the cake.  Since Obama, presidents and their minions have been far too eager to take this discretionary authority and run with it.  They have filled in the legislative gaps with their own political agendas and by doing so; have effectively usurped the authoritarian power that is constitutionally placed in the Legislative Branch.

 

Why would the House and Senate do this to themselves?  Why would they relegate themselves to being either lockstep disciples of a same-party regal president or the wailing and constant critics of an opposite-party pariah chief executive?  Why would they voluntarily relinquish the power, authority, and responsibility granted to them by our nation’s blueprint…handing it over to a governmental branch that is officially and legally designed to be nothing more than their equal…and certainly not their superior? 

 

It is because of all those 2s I mentioned earlier.  Above all else, they lust for power and longevity.  They are political animals and have lost sight of their clearly simple and admittedly complex task of passing 12 appropriation bills annually to keep our government running.  Twelve!  Not only that, but they have given up on writing legislation that reflects a clear and concise vision for the subject matter of the legislation.  America has 435 Representatives in the House and 100 Senators with hundreds of staffers.  The simple challenge is ONE APPROPRIATION BILL PER MONTH.  This … should … not … be … difficult.

 

The first layer of this legislative cake is the over-arching idea.  It might be national defense; it might be national health care; it might be national immigration policy.  The second layer builds upon that first layer with a plan that actually transforms this idea into a reality for our citizenry; a real solution for a real problem.  The third layer is on top and deservedly the most visible layer of all.  It is the federal workforce, the everyday civil servants that will be tasked with the delivery of these great ideas. 

 

Our Congress has devolved to the point where it spends all of its time and energy on the base layer, takes a quick celebratory lap around the Capitol kitchen, and then goes home to brag about their perceived accomplishment.  They send their masterpiece over to the White House and, in their minds…their cake is always blue ribbon worthy.  It is typically half-baked.  The second layer is never fully completed by Congress and the job of finishing it up falls upon the Executive Branch and its Cabinet Secretaries, along with their assorted Department Heads and Assistants.  They fill in the gaps through the use of EOs and administrative actions so that the great venture can continue its life and bend towards their own political agendas.  Sometimes their layer is consistent with the first; but many times it is quite different and simply serves to distort the sweet treat.  This two-layered effort that is clearly an unfinished confectionary product is now passed down to the grass-root grunts who will face off with the public and try to explain exactly how this bureaucratic bundle of complexity and contradiction will make their lives … so…much …better.  Far too often, the resulting cake is misshapen, slapped together, and frankly not too damn appetizing.

 

The correct response to this glut of EOs lies with Congress simply doing its job.  Stop baking dozens of cupcakes and assorted pastries when your only job is turning out twelve three-layer cakes.  Don’t stop at the single layer; take the time to add that second and third layer so it is a finished product.  Give the President the detailed map of what your legislation is supposed to solve and how that legislation is to be administered.  Do the work.  Do your job.  If Congress will do that, and if the Judicial Branch will support them as constitutionally required, then the President will have little choice but to do his or her job and stay off the Legislative Branch’s yard.  Or to put it another way…out of the Congressional Kitchen.

 

And of course…there are times when others get in the President’s kitchen: https://reason.com/2025/02/19/trump-has-good-reason-to-complain-about-limits-on-his-ability-to-fire-executive-officers/

 

There is a serious and timely national and international debate ongoing about what constitutes freedom of speech…

As CBS beclowns itself: https://jonathanturley.org/2025/02/18/the-american-moment-critics-prove-vances-point-on-the-threat-of-the-anti-free-speech-movement/#more-228902

Our Vice-President is shining on the world stage: https://jonathanturley.org/2025/02/17/the-threat-from-within-j-d-vance-delivers-a-historic-defense-of-free-speech/

 

Be careful Mr. President that you practice what you preach: https://reason.com/2025/02/14/trumps-white-house-says-gulf-of-mexico-is-misinformation/

 

A moment of moral clarity would be welcome from our President…

 

As I have written many times before, very few people are truly qualified to comment intelligently about America’s foreign policy.  The world of international politics is a multi-layered, onion-like challenge that requires wisdom, patience, experience, and courage.  The one place where a layman observer might venture in and make a valid comment is in the area of moral clarity.  I am not sufficiently studied to comment on the character of Zelenskyy; I simply understand that he is the recognized leader of Ukraine.  I have a difficult time understanding how these public comments by the Trump Administration serve to settle the Russia-Ukraine war: https://www.newsmax.com/world/globaltalk/zelenskyy-dictator-envoy/2025/02/20/id/1199788/

 

Ukraine is not a democracy like America.  It does however share many of the values that Americans hold dear.  Although the Ukrainian government might be corrupt, inept, and perhaps have a darker side…they are not the bad guys in this conflict.  Russian leadership is one small step away from the evil organization that I will discuss below in this piece that is known as Hamas.  They share essentially none of the values that Americans cling to.  They have repeatedly invaded their neighbors with impunity and barbarous intent…and with no apologies.  They are clearly the aggressors and the bad guys in this war.

 

I can appreciate the high degree of difficulty the Trump Administration is dealing with in trying solve this riddle.  Biden handed them a colossal mess and the European nations have been literal bystanders.  Trump’s bragging about how the war would not have occurred had he been president is self-serving and arrogant, but nonetheless bears some truth.  The manner in which the Biden Administration slow-walked U.S. aid to Ukraine early in the war was a crucial mistake and it bypassed an opportunity to end the war relatively quickly.  Instead, it has drug on for over three years with unimaginable carnage.

 

But Trump’s lecturing to the Ukrainian leaders should not be occurring in the public arena; this type of rhetoric should be behind closed doors in private negotiations.  Regardless of his remarks lauding the bravery of the Ukrainian people, they are also rightly offended by his clumsy comments regarding the status of their homeland.  If Trump wants to talk publicly about this war, I would love to see him stand up before the world and call out Russian leadership for being the barbarians and warmongers that they are; the same way he talks about Hamas.  I would love to hear him admire the courage and sacrifice of the Ukrainian people as they have defended their homeland; much as Americans did in their struggle for independence.  Yes, the conflict must end and yes, there must likely be some compromise on the part of the Ukrainians.  But let there be no mistake about it: Russia started this war; Russia is the bad guy in this conflict; and any settlement that does not shout those facts out to the world with conviction and clarity will only encourage future incursions by Russian leadership.

 

Trump’s DOGE continues to drain the swamp and turn over rocks…

 

https://amgreatness.com/2025/02/18/dont-let-up/

 

https://freebeacon.com/trump-administration/the-inspector-general-scandal-that-wasnt/

 

https://amgreatness.com/2025/02/15/cleaning-out-the-federal-stables-trump-style/

 

https://reason.com/2025/02/14/the-5-worst-things-about-the-consumer-financial-protection-bureau/

 

https://reason.com/2025/02/14/why-is-foreign-aid-going-to-american-farmers/

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/no-more-student-loan-forgiveness/

 

And it is driving the Democrats bat shit crazy…

 

https://jonathanturley.org/2025/02/19/were-winning-across-the-board-raskin-takes-a-slightly-premature-victory-lap-just-before-a-slew-of-court-losses/

 

https://amgreatness.com/2025/02/20/tom-hanks-margaret-brennan-and-the-european-ministers-reveal-it-all/

 

A few quick hits on the way out the door…

 

Competition in education can be a good thing: https://reason.com/2025/02/15/could-school-choice-work-at-the-federal-level/

 

Much like the Democrat Party, the NCAA continues to dig its hole deeper and expand its aura of irrelevance: https://sports.yahoo.com/sources-sec-big-ten-building-momentum-to-further-expand-college-football-playoff-to-14-or-16-teams-235759195.html

 

This organization should be exterminated:

 

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2025/02/the-bibas-murders.php

 

https://nypost.com/2025/02/20/world-news/hamas-releases-bodies-of-four-israelis-including-toddlers-kfir-ariel-bibas-and-their-mom-after-they-were-killed-in-gaza/

 

Reverse discrimination is still discrimination: https://reason.com/2025/02/20/education-department-orders-schools-to-stop-all-racial-discrimination/

 

An American National Immigration Policy must be established: https://americanmind.org/salvo/immigration-the-american-way/