CenterlineRight

Saturday, October 17, 2026

The Dual Failings of Our Government

For several days now, I have thought about a short piece to feature this week and have kept coming up empty. So…I will talk about being sick. I am sick of politics. I am sick of the Middle East turmoil. I am sick of Russia invading Ukraine. I am sick of Canada’s Prime Minister trying to turn his nation into an Anti-American wonderland. I am sick of affordability and all it entails…especially high prices for no apparent reasons. I am sick of the Right, the Left, and all of the Middle. I am sick of all the variations of Karens and their judgmental attitudes towards all things in culture and society. I am sick of NIL, the 24-team playoff, and the obsolescence of the student athlete. I am sick of virtue signaling in all of its various forms and devices. I am sick of the reluctance so many have of speaking truth and common sense for fear of criticism, loathing, or damnation. In short…the world around me is making me weary and there seems to be no reprieve in sight. And then I ran across this short article and it reminded me about two of the top things that I am sick of. Here is the article: https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/elizabeth-warrens-condiment-consternation/ .

Senator Warren is from Massachusetts and likely reflects the attitudes of most folks she represents. She also epitomizes these two big gripes I have about our government. I do not mean the Democrat Government; nor do I mean the Republican Government. I mean our Government in general. The two failings I am talking about are both related to the loss of fiscal sanity. They would be number one: a pathetic and condemnable refusal to not only be honest and straightforward about government priorities…but to simply ignore the necessity of the premise altogether. My number two would be the now acceptable knee-jerk reaction of our Executive and Legislative branches to simply throw federal tax dollars at any problem…real or perceived…that might pop up on the public radar. Case in point is the aforementioned article regarding Senator Warren. Enough with worrying with the salt, pepper, and hot sauce…let’s take a look at federal spending.

Here is all you need to know about our current federal debt: https://www.truthinaccounting.org/about/our_national_debt?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=422306283&gbraid=0AAAAADmTUDVpu_zMBwIKniO7bqpikrAxE&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsK6y-5i_lwMVNy7UAR0X2jWgEAAYASAAEgI_BvD_BwE . As recently as the mid-1990s, our nation had a balanced federal budget and held substantial bipartisan conversations about not only balancing our federal budget, but also beginning to reduce/retire our federal debt. In the thirty years since, those sentiments have become obsolete.

About 27 percent of our federal budget is discretionary; the balance is baked in the cake through entitlement programs and debt interest. Yet the overwhelming majority of legislative time, effort, and media coverage are devoted to this 27 percent portion while the other 73 percent is permitted to expand out of control. It is a ticking bomb. Both Republicans and Democrats rail about what our federal tax dollars are spent on; but they never really discuss how much is spent. They are all cowards who flock to the sound bite, but flee from the context.

The only meaningful way to begin to address our national debt is to reform our entitlement spending in programs like Medicaid and Social Security. Both of these topics have proven far too hot for any politician of any stripe to address in a serious fashion. There is simply no elected official in WDC today with the courage, wisdom, and influence to help establish precisely what our government spending priorities should be. They are, by and large, a bunch of sniveling weaklings when it comes to fiscal accountability.

Government should not and cannot be the answer to all the problems that exist in America today. It must first decide…based on our Constitution…what its FUNDAMENTAL priorities should be and then, once that is determined, decide how to parcel out the LIMITED federal tax dollars to fund them. They do this by responsibly authoring and implementing TWELVE annual appropriation bills.

Failing to execute the primary and difficult task of setting priorities leads me to the second issue at hand; that being throwing money around like it never runs out. Oh wait a minute…the government prints the money, so I suppose…it never actually runs out. That is the sentiment that rules our governing bodies today. Our Executive and Legislative branches fall all over each other coming up with a list of our nation’s problems that only they…the elected elite of our society…can solve. And rather than prove the argument that it is a problem of such magnitude that ONLY the government can solve it, and having made that case, then proceeding to formulate a transparent and thoughtful plan to address the issue…they simply proclaim their magnificence by spending millions, billions, or trillions of federal tax dollars to solve it. The details of the SOLVING are not relevant to the authors of the spending bills or the media that covers it; the only important points to them are the ridiculous ACRONYMS naming the legislation and the amount of money being devoted to the effort (i.e. the special interest groups that benefit from it). In the eyes of WDC, money solves everything.

Our government is supposed to be BY the people and FOR the people. It is not. It is BY the lobbying dollars and FOR itself. If our federal government’s fiscal house will ever again begin to approach reasonable order, it will be because our elected leaders have come to terms with the harsh reality that government cannot be all things to all people and must therefore select its priorities carefully. It will also be because there will be a newfound effort among them to make hard decisions about WHO receives entitlements, the individual EXTENT of those entitlements, and the overall COST of those entitlements to the taxpayers who fund them. Pay close attention to the avalanche of political ads we will be inundated with over the next few weeks and decide for yourself…IS THERE ANY HOPE?

- - - - - -

Politics and the Mid-Term Elections…

https://lawliberty.org/book-review/progressive-buyers-remorse/

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-impossibility-of-independent-senators/

https://amgreatness.com/2026/10/14/long-concealed-facts-exonerate-nixon-and-require-sanctioning-the-unethical-prosecution/

https://americanmind.org/salvo/barack-of-ages/

https://reason.com/2026/10/14/a-trump-appointee-says-the-president-likely-violated-the-first-amendment-by-banishing-disfavored-journalists/

https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/10/12/republican-infighting-texas/

https://wsjfreeexpression.substack.com/p/politicians-play-orwells-word-games

Crime and Justice…

https://www.nationalreview.com/bench-memos/the-midterm-elections-and-judicial-nominations/

https://reason.com/2026/10/13/a-new-supreme-court-case-tests-the-limits-of-judicial-deference-to-federal-agencies/

https://shipwreckedcrew.substack.com/p/the-supreme-court-takes-up-issue

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/confirmations-in-the-lame-duck/

https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/democrats-praised-mar-lago-raid-2022-now-call-omar-search-weaponization

https://newsbusters.org/blogs/cnsnews/craig-bannister/2026/10/13/voters-even-democrats-strongly-support-local-police

Education…Education…Education…

https://reason.com/2026/10/14/college-still-has-a-future-but-its-no-longer-the-default-choice/

https://jamesgmartin.center/2026/10/higher-education-marketing-enrollment-cliff/

Foreign Policy and National Defense…

https://amgreatness.com/2026/10/15/the-same-old-same-old-european-runaround/

https://amgreatness.com/2026/10/13/what-might-have-saved-gaza/

https://www.civitasoutlook.com/research/the-fall-of-venezuela-29f77b11-3ad0-49e3-abfb-4e53db499870

Let us not forget exactly WHO invaded WHO…

https://reason.com/2026/10/15/blame-russia-not-zelenskyy-for-the-ukraine-wars-endless-slog/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-ukraine-intelligence-russia-war-missile-strikes-kyiv-power-outages/

https://www.newsmax.com/finance/streettalk/us-floats-unfreezing-russian-assets-to-revive-ukraine-peace-talks/2026/10/14/id/1272816/

The Economy…

https://www.nationalreview.com/2026/10/congresss-2-trillion-problem/

https://newsbusters.org/blogs/cnsnews/craig-bannister/2026/10/14/core-inflation-holds-steady-september-energy-costs-push

https://reason.com/2026/10/15/a-third-round-of-legally-dubious-tariffs/

Don’t take the media’s word for it, look at the facts and decide who saddled us with this chronic inflation cycle…

https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/current-inflation-rates/

Quick Hits on the Way out the Door…

The only way to eliminate our obsession with discrimination is to stop obsessing with race and ethnicity:

https://www.city-journal.org/article/us-census-race-ethnicity-sexual-orientation-question-trump

Sometimes…we simply have to laugh at ourselves:

https://thefederalist.com/2026/10/15/shane-gillis-outcry-shows-we-need-more-public-shaming-at-the-gym-and-everywhere/

America is increasingly dealing with a rural vs. urban dynamic. I am of the rural, but I do not resent, dislike, or wish ill of the urban. I simply choose to live in the country:

https://amgreatness.com/2026/10/12/the-splendor-of-rural-america/

It may be buried for now…but is it truly dead? Something to consider when voting next month:

https://americanmind.org/salvo/americas-net-zero-near-miss/

When NIL lunacy consumed collegiate sports, it was predictable that this would be the logical conclusion. It is all about the benjamins:

https://sports.yahoo.com/college-football/article/from-bcs-to-24-team-college-football-playoff-nobody-wants-by-not-listening-to-fans-232731161.html

And why not enjoy some tunes…

Summertime is coming to a close…hold the memories close…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6c8a90PWIM

One of the greatest American bands of all time…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEBwq4A1wsU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMIJuuk1SFs

Here’s one the biggest stories out of Texas…and it has NOTHING to do with politics…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJWnIFlYKjs

My favorite cover band from Kentucky goes where other cover bands dare not go…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHzRpVl17hM

Such a great writer and singer…what a career…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xowaOsutxA4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsBstLRQrvM

Here are two more great ones…they will not be replaced…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VOnyRhkFUM

At some point in our lives, we must all deal with loss. When that time arrives, our faith can sustain us…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCc7TCmKcwQ&list=RDBCc7TCmKcwQ&start_radio=1

Sunday, October 11, 2026

Understand Precisely Who is “NOT” on the Ballot

Tuesday, November 3, 2026 will be Election Day in America. Early voting in various forms has already commenced in several places and experience has taught us that all will not be settled with the passage of November 3. But at some point shortly thereafter, we will have a newly-elected House for the next two years and one-third of our Senate will be starting on their new 6-year terms. It is fair to say that at this point in time, the partisan control of both bodies is up for grabs.

It may come as a shock to many who only get their news in sound bites from the mainstream outlets, but Donald J. Trump is not on the ballot this year. His term as President will end at 12:00 PM ET on January 20, 2029. While the question of which national party will control the House and Senate for the next upcoming terms is certainly relevant, the reality is that barring the extraordinary outcome of either party gaining a super majority in Congress this November, Congress will be a subordinate player in the political fortune of our nation for 2027 and 2028.

The Democrat Party has sold its soul to the Liberal Progressive Left and is bereft of any character or common sense these days. Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) is deeply imbedded in their bones and it has consumed them with hatred and spite for all things Trump or Republican. Should they gain House control, three things will surely happen. First: Trump will be impeached…perhaps multiple times…with no conviction following in the Senate. Two: No meaningful legislation will occur due to the unlikelihood of Senate approval and the certainty of a Trump veto on Democrat initiatives. Three: Pure and unadulterated chaos will be the daily environment as the Democrat Party leaders battle not only Trump and the Republicans, but also the entrenched factions within their own Party. It will be a daily regimen of Trump Administration investigations and inter/intra-Party drama.

Should the Democrat Party also gain control of the Senate, there will not likely be confirmation of any Supreme Court Justice nominees that Trump might send their way. In fact, essentially all Trump appointee approvals will come to a screeching halt. With control of both Legislative bodies, the Democrats will repeatedly attempt workarounds to foist their partisan will on the Trump Administration…but it will be for naught. The Constitutional reality of power balance will essentially lead to a legislative…and operational…paralysis and stalemate. Should the Republicans hold Senate control, they will continue to approve most…but not all…Trump nominees. However, in addition to serving as a legislative firewall to the foolish product that will be churned out by the Democrat House, they will begin to distance themselves from their lame duck president and focus their Republican Party energies on the upcoming 2028 national elections.

It is regrettable that our national political parties have devolved down to their current states. The Democrats are bankrupted in a policy and moral sense. They have lost all sight of reason and common sense and are simply driven by their quest for power. The Republicans…those not hired by or essentially owned by Trump…have given up on Trump and are simply biding their time to first see how this year’s elections turn out, and then decide how they individually and collectively might improve their chances in the 2028 elections. Much like the Democrats, their primary objective is staying in power and maintaining control.

I have written many times on this site about term limits and the proposal of giving our president a single, six-year term. I deeply wish that this system had been in place for Donald Trump’s first term. I have grown so freaking weary of hearing Trump bloviate about this or that or everything in general. He has finally worn my last conservative nerve plumb in two. Donald Trump was the medicine this nation needed after eight dismal years of Barack Hussein Obama. We were a sick nation and the severity of our illness required a strong antidote. His unique combination of unconventional political leadership and damn the torpedoes management style was probably what was required to jar this nation out the complacency and bewilderment cast upon it by two Obama terms.

But once that fundamental shift was made and a new direction was established, America might very well have been better off with someone other than Trump in the White House. Of course, I am talking about someone other than Joe Biden. Six years would have been just about right for him to have completed his first-term policy initiatives. I say this because as we approach the end of his sixth year as president…I am convinced that his shelf life has expired. Donald Trump has not matured or grown in his service as president. He has become more arrogant, more conceited, more stubborn, more autocratic, more bombastic, and much more difficult to tolerate.

Presented with the unlikely and generous opportunity to serve a second, non-consecutive term as president and complete his policy agenda, he has instead focused evermore inwardly and much as his irrational opponents who are consumed with TDS, he is obsessed with himself. He long ago abandoned any allegiance to his political party, refusing to subjugate himself to any organization. He made the fundamental decision that he would use the Republicans as useful idiots when it served his purpose and toss them away…most times in an unceremonious fashion…when they were not subservient or useful. He hoisted himself on his own petard and all else be damned. The fact that this ascension path of his ego is nearing its zenith is confirmed by the bald-faced stupidity of his most recent rhetoric...case in point: https://nypost.com/2026/10/11/us-news/president-trump-toys-with-renaming-atlantic-and-pacific-trump-ocean/ . In the midst of a mid-term election battle with historically-high stakes, the degree of his self-unawareness and cluelessness is stunning.

Oblivious to how his actions over the last two years might affect the political fortunes of his own party and, logically proceeding, the quality of living standards in America…he has conducted the Iran Conflict as if it were his own personal board game. He did the right thing, but got lost in doing it his way. He did the same thing with his personal tariff crusades that have worn thin with the public over time. His cavalier rhetoric, actions, and attitude have severely hamstrung his Republican Party and greatly diminished its political future. There is no doubt in my mind that Trump is totally consumed not with the future of America and its need for sound and effective policies, but rather with the whims and wishes of his own devilish id, ego, and superego.

For a conservative Independent that is not enthralled with all things Trump, I want to cry to the heavens…Wake up America! Trump is not on the ballot. You cannot give control of our government back to the Democrats. But this is an impossible task. It is spitting into the wind. It is seeking a dry spot in a hurricane. I steadfastly believe that it would be a monumental mistake for our nation to cede control of either legislative body to the Democrat Party. And while I hold out hope that perhaps a moderate Democrat will emerge from the wings and seize the party’s 2028 presidential nomination, I have little anticipation that the Democrat Party will offer up a presidential choice anywhere near the quality of someone like Marco Rubio or Ron DeSantis. But these concerns of mine are not shared by Donald Trump.

He is laser-focused on shaping his legacy over the next 26 months in a way that will somehow place his visage on Mount Rushmore. If the Republican Party’s superior…not perfect, but preferred…policy agenda is to continue into the foreseeable future and our nation is to avoid relapsing into the malaise of Obama/Biden/Liberal Progressive Madness…then voters must somehow figure out a way to tune out Donald Trump and focus on how they want our country to evolve.

Donald Trump is not on the ballot this fall.

He will be gone in January of 2029. We are not electing a President this November. Presidents come and go and their Executive Orders are implemented and overturned; but if we as voters create the possibility of a Democrat Party Liberal/Progressive government occupying both Congress and the White House…we run a very real risk of losing our way, our Constitution, and our very soul as a nation.

- - - - - - -

Politics and the Mid-Terms…

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fec-midterm-elections-quorum-campaign-finance-rules/

https://thefederalist.com/2026/10/07/heres-every-major-2026-ballot-initiative-you-need-to-know-about/

https://amgreatness.com/2026/10/07/steve-hiltons-hail-mary-in-democrat-dominated-california/

https://reason.com/2026/10/09/the-midterm-winner-will-be-whichever-party-americans-hate-less/

Be very careful about what you vote for…

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-rise-of-dumb-anti-innovation-job-saving-laws-in-blue-cities-and-states/

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/texas-senate-candidate-talaricos-public-platform-disguises-radical-ideology-and

https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/6138825-smith-no-kings-shirt/

Foreign Policy and National Defense…

https://amgreatness.com/2026/10/10/what-does-the-world-owe-the-pax-americana/

https://amgreatness.com/2026/10/05/while-others-talked-america-acted/

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2026/10/will-canada-break-apart.php

https://americanrefugees.substack.com/p/rubios-speech-was-meant-for-europe

https://freebeacon.com/columns/rubio-of-athens-on-the-urgency-to-embrace-western-virtues/

https://amgreatness.com/2026/10/11/the-west-at-a-crossroads-excellence-or-mediocrity/

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2026/10/rubio-a-generational-shift/

https://instapundit.substack.com/p/marco-goes-hard

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YqBmm8yaMI

https://www.newsnationnow.com/world/us-iran-war-houthis-saudi-arabia-yemen/

https://newsletter.amitsegal.net/p/its-noon-in-israel-the-saudis-need

Education…Education…Education…

The causes…

https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/10/06/aft-dues-funded-left-wing-infrastructure-from-center-for-american-progress-clinton-foundation/

https://jonathanturley.org/2026/10/06/the-education-cartel-and-the-blue-state-school-scam/#more-250035

https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/10/07/virginia-districts-students-below-grade/

https://jamesgmartin.center/2026/10/the-standardized-test-war-heats-up-again/

The effects…

https://freebeacon.com/campus/american-college-students-prefer-socialism-to-capitalism-survey-finds/

The challenges…

https://jamesgmartin.center/2026/10/the-myth-of-neutral-education/

https://jamesgmartin.center/2026/10/higher-ed-is-still-muddling-through-ai/

Governmental Operations…

https://www.nationalreview.com/2026/10/a-golden-opportunity-for-permitting-reform/

Sunday, October 4, 2026

Are You Still a Looney Tune…If Nobody Cares?

There is the old question…If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? I would like to expand this point and rephrase it visa vies today’s American culture and society…If a person does something stupid and no one is paying attention, is it stupid at all? We all realize that we have done a lot of dumb things in our lives that we carry as an embarrassment or as regret; but for most us…it is a fairly private thing because nobody beyond our personal friends or family cares about it. It is quite a different case when a celebrity or well-known individual screws up; it is front page news.

I have heard many times the saying…The higher up the ladder you climb, the more your ass shows. This is the harsh reality that comes with fame. What constitutes a foolish and silly mistake for a lesser known can turn into a monumental, life changing moment for a person who is in the spotlight. Those totally and understandable human faux pas moments that we see from Donald Trump, AOC, J.D. Vance, Bernie Sanders, Sydney Sweeney, Stephen A. Smith, Bruce Springsteen, Lebron James, and so many others…can potentially be career makers or career breakers. But for folks like you and me, they are simply momentary and inconsequential reflections of the human animal that we are.

Don’t get me wrong here…non-celebrity status is not carte blanche to do anything you like and then escape accountability; none of us should get a free pass for asinine behavior. But the reality is that most of us employ, either consciously or unconsciously, a double standard when it comes to judgment of common behavioral and oral mistakes. For ourselves, it is simply the occurrence of a momentary lapse of reason (thank you Pink Floyd). But for those musical, movie, political, internet stars that live their lives under the microscope…willingly so, I might add…the tolerance for error is much, much smaller.

Is this wrong? Should the shining stars among us be held to a higher standard than what applies to the dim bulbs? I would venture to say yes…to a certain degree. A conscious, thoughtful, and deliberate choice is made by a person when they pursue fame and notoriety. As the old saying goes…If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen. So when that certain politician does something crazy or says something outrageous, it is rather lame to explain it away by saying…I am only human. Yes…it is certainly true that you are only human; but you hold yourself out to be something more. The arrogance and conceit that so naturally comes…for most, if not all…to those who seek recognition and fortune is a calculated risk, and rightfully carries unnaturally intense scrutiny as the cost of doing business.

When an elected official suffers a medical problem, or goes through a divorce, or has a child get into trouble with the law; when an entertainer forgets they are good at singing or acting, but proceeds to irresponsibly put forth screeds of political and moral wisdom in an unsolicited fashion; when a minister or preacher is caught dead to rights with their hand in the till or on the ass of a parishioner…these are oftentimes fatal occurrences or mistakes. Are they simply human failings? Sure they are. Are they forgivable given the station of the one committing the act or caught up in the circumstances? Maybe not so much so.

The really good ones…the ones that somehow manage to maintain a modicum of their humility and basic human quality while being constantly told they are something special…they can get through these episodes. They somehow manage to express…in a clearly open and honest manner…regret and apologies for their bad actions or unfortunate incidences. These rare and naturally-sincere individuals are blessed with a personality and manner that grants them a legitimate pass not available to most others. There are also some among us who are adroit, shifty, and unfortunately able to fool most of us into believing they are among the authentic variety when they are actually among the Machiavellian variety. These are the truly dangerous ones.

There is a limit to how many times this real person escape mechanism can work; but it is usually good for a few rounds anyway. The width and depth of an episode certainly comes into play in this dynamic. But for most of us, when that certain person who has openly pursued a life within the spotlight and all the power and riches that flow from it…when that person messes up and then tries to explain it away in some type of pathetic poor little me fashion…the comeuppance and downfall can be quite deservedly devastating. We all enjoy far too often the game of casting judgment on others while failing to turn the camera back upon ourselves.

All in all, I suppose this is how it should be. Heaven knows that the human animal is an imperfect creature and we all carry our own personal foibles and weaknesses. We will never have a saint for president, senator, governor, or sheriff. Politics and the law will never be perfect; they are sometimes messy business. We simply have to be very careful when we pick from those among us to serve in these positions of power, authority, and influence. And as much as we can, we need to perhaps be more forgiving when the famous ones screw up and readily acknowledge their mistakes in an open and honest fashion. As for the others who carry the attitude that their shit don’t stink and a different standard applies to their actions or lives…they need to be voted out of office, we can stop watching their shows or movies, and we don’t have to listen to their music. It hurts sometimes because the best ones at what they do are often the worst ones at what they say. Such is life. It is a judgment that each of us makes on a daily basis and it makes the world go around.