The Turkey has It's Day

I have always been fond of Thanksgiving.  No…it is not the hedonistic spread of glorious foodstuffs, although I do enjoy that aspect of it.  It just seems to me like the Thanksgiving holiday is more laid back and calm than the following Christmas season.  That statement is becoming less and less credible however, since the reality is that the Christmas season now begins before the Thanksgiving season.  Whatever…with a long weekend coming up and a newsworthy month coming to a close, I wanted to flush out my blog file and put up one more short post before we officially move into the Christmas season.

 

Among the many areas of American bureaucratic doings, there is little doubt that our national and local education efforts are in desperate need of a thoughtful, deliberate, transparent, and wide-ranging analysis.  We, as a nation and as parents, need to better serve our children and support them in their preparation for a future where they will be calling the shots.  It would appear that the incoming Trump Administration will, at a minimum, strongly consider some dramatic changes in the Department of Education.  It is also likely that on the heels of a national election where a large portion of the radical progressive agenda was soundly repudiated, education at the local level across our country will also be undergoing reconsideration.  I am hopeful that it will become more parent-centric and far less woke.  There is much to think about.

 

In my home state of Kentucky, this month’s general election ballot featured a state amendment regarding school choice; specifically, the use of state tax dollars to fund private schools and homeschooling.  I confess to being very conflicted on this issue.  While I strongly support the need for increased competition in education that might push our public schools towards better performance and offer education alternatives for everyone; I am reluctant to open the doors to potential fraud and abuse that will undoubtedly arise from a private sector surge in the business of education.  If our governments, both local and national, have been the custodians of the hot mess we now see in our education system, does it make a lot of sense to increase and enlarge their jurisdiction? 

 

Hopefully, our public school systems…at all levels…will take note of the increased scrutiny that is being placed upon them and enter into some serious self-reflection that will result in a much-improved product.

As I have written before…“education for education’s sake” is a luxury that few can afford.  It is way past the time when our kids in high school need to receive better counseling regarding the career choices they make following their graduation.  Piling up monstrous personal and/or subsidized debt in pursuit of a meaningless degree helps no one.  Let’s get back to the fundamental basics of education; let’s clean up our curriculum and focus on the realities of history, math, and science; and let’s remove the social aspects that have become interwoven into the system and shift back to a respect for parental influence and local control of education in America.  We must find a way to hold K-12 and advanced education administrators, teachers, and board members accountable for the quality of the education they deliver.

 

https://amgreatness.com/2024/11/22/make-education-great-again/

 

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/3237621/trump-administration-must-bring-higher-education-to-heel/

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/lets-stop-infantilizing-college-students/

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/how-to-improve-early-college-options/

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/another-bit-of-worthless-academic-research/

 

There can be little doubt that with the advent of a second Trump Administration, the direction and priorities of our government are going to be changing dramatically.  What will those changes entail?

 

What will be the approach to those changes?

 

http://jewishworldreview.com/1124/hanson112224.php

 

https://amgreatness.com/2024/11/23/tearing-the-leviathan-apart/

 

https://amgreatness.com/2024/11/24/inside-trumps-second-term-mission-to-dismantle-the-administrative-state/

 

https://reason.com/2024/11/21/doge-can-succeed-by-scaling-back-its-ambitions/

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/congress-must-join-in-musk-and-ramaswamys-doge-efforts/

 

In what areas will those changes occur?

 

National immigration policy: https://americanmind.org/salvo/needed-a-bipartisan-truth-commission-on-bidens-border-crisis/

 

The ever-widening area of government regulatory mission-creep and bloat: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/supreme-court/3239780/supreme-court-consider-another-major-test-federal-regulatory-power/

 

The inexcusable malfeasance of government debt, spending, and intrusive economic policy:

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/national-debt-surpasses-36-trillion/

 

https://reason.com/2024/11/25/biden-rushes-to-dole-out-chips-act-funds-before-leaving-office/

 

https://reason.com/2024/11/22/the-new-york-times-claimed-d-c-s-minimum-wage-hike-created-jobs-we-exposed-their-error/

 

Reigning in the out-of-control Department of Justice; that deep-state cesspool that has become politicized, bloated, irresponsible, inefficient, and overtly authoritarian: https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/all-things-trump/jack-smith-finally-ends-90-million-legal-assault-trump-leaves

 

Foreign policy: https://reason.com/2024/11/25/belated-loosening-of-restrictions-on-ukraine-leaves-world-stumbling-towards-greater-danger/

 

Three quick notes before closing out this piece…

 

Law and order…crime and punishment…justice and injustice…these are important points of an ongoing discussion across our nation, our culture, and our society.  These are complex issues that should be based on simple principles; but it seems nothing can be simple in today’s world: https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2024/11/what-really-happened.php

 

I will continue to periodically address what I consider to be one of, if not the most shameful farce ever perpetrated upon the American public by a national political party (read: Democrat) and their allies (read: mainstream media):

 

https://jonathanturley.org/2024/11/25/congresss-jan-6-investigation-looks-less-and-less-credible/

 

https://nypost.com/2024/11/24/opinion/tragic-ashli-babbitt-and-the-buried-jan-6-truth/

 

At this time of Thanksgiving, we should never forget that with the relatively few exceptions of uncontrollable circumstances…it is truly a privilege to live in this nation and have the multitude of blessings that the Good Lord has bestowed on each and every one of us.  The length, breadth, and depth of those blessings certainly vary from person to person, but…this has far more to do with man’s free will than it does with God’s will.  By and large…we all receive more than we give, and we should each seize every opportunity to even out that equation.

 

Political Potpourri and Around the Block

Gonna take a walk around the block on this post and hit a lot of varied and interesting topics.  There are so many good writers and journalists out there who seem to fall through the cracks sometimes; the ones that make the most noise are not always the ones we should be listening to.  I hope to point out a few of them in this piece.

 

With just a mention or two about the past election, I want to make an effort to put that behind and focus on the future and where our new president might lead us.  I am convinced that Donald Trump served as the vessel used by a majority of American voters to voice their displeasure with the direction our nation was heading.  Imperfect as he is…he clearly loves our country; he has a proven record from his past administration; and he was a clear and “new direction” candidate compared to the “status quo” Kamala Harris. 

 

Allow me to address one more issue before moving into the articles.  Trump is gonna be Trump.  I accept that his ego drives him to approach the presidency more like a monarch than a chief executive.  That is who he is and that is how he has accomplished what he has throughout his life.  I accept that given the historically-unfair treatment he received throughout his first term…from the deep state, from his own party, and from the liberal/progressive alliance…no one could blame this man for placing a huge priority on loyalty as a selection criterion for his new administration officials.  This time around, he is clearly bringing a gun (rather than a knife) to the gun fight.  He is a lame duck from day one and he must do everything within his power to hit the ground running when he takes office. 

 

The task that lies before him to clean up the mess made by the Biden Administration and its cronies is gargantuan.  The challenge is staggering and he has every right to recruit people who he deems reliable and that he can trust implicitly.  However, there are three quick points that I feel Trump is carelessly and irresponsibly tossing aside in his haste to get started on his critical mission.

 

The first one is his effort to by bypass the Senate confirmation process with recess appointments.  There is simply no excuse for this.  Our constitution plainly spells out the confirmation process; he has a Republican majority in the Senate to work with on his appointments; and this is neither the time nor place to disrespect the blueprint of our democracy in order to expedite the process according to his personal desires.  After witnessing the constitutional abuse heaped upon by our government by the Biden Administration, it is imperative that Trump demonstrate a new-found respect for the principles set forth in our democracy’s blueprint.  We should uphold the process.  We should trust the process.

 

As a second point…Trump certainly deserves to have his selected appointees approved.  However, there is a reason that our founders included the confirmation process in the constitution, and that is to insure that we have qualified, competent, and quality individuals serving in these positions of great power and influence.  To any objective observer, it is clear that in some cases Trump has allowed the loyalty quotient to override the importance of competence and quality.  There is no excuse for this to happen.  Donald Trump has a long and impressive list of individuals from which to select his administration personnel.  He has every right to pick the ones he wants; but those choices should have some background experience that clearly makes them competent to perform their duties.  Loyalty in and of itself does not, should not, and cannot compensate for incompetence.  Did we learn nothing from the Biden Administration follies?

 

And thirdly, Donald Trump must take full advantage of the fact that he enters office with a large dose of good will from the public and with his own party in control of Congress.  The Republican majorities in the Senate and House are not super-majority.  At some point, it will be essential to obtain bipartisan agreement in order to accomplish the changes necessary to bring our government back into proper form.  Trump will not accomplish this through executive actions.  Trump unwound Obama’s executive actions.  Biden unwound Trump’s executive actions.  Trump will unwind Biden’s executive actions. The point here is that executive actions are largely temporary in nature and do not effectively foster long-term and structural change in government.  That must be accomplished through legislation. 

 

It is understandable that any president would become exasperated with the foolishness that the Senate and House exhibits in the course of their proceedings.  But that does not change the fact that our constitution wisely requires that the Executive Branch work with the Legislative Branch, and under the auspices of the Judicial Branch to govern this nation.  Trump and his Administration need to do the heavy lifting necessary to partner with Congress and make the fundamental legislative changes needed to restore this government to its intended purpose. Perhaps this is a great opportunity to use Vice-President Vance as a congressional liaison.  As I mentioned before, Trump has always been self-reliant and that has served him well; but he has not been elected King.  He has been elected President.  We all want him to make some changes.  We all want him to clean house.  But we should all want him to do this in a fashion that respects our government and the great model our founders gave us for its functions.

 

So…what about those Trump nominees?

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/11/the-senate-should-assert-its-power-to-block-bad-nominees/

 

https://www.megynkelly.com/2024/11/18/what-to-know-about-controversy-surrounding-trump-picks-of-gabbard-rfk-hegseth-gaetz/

 

Whew…dodged that bullet: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/3237670/matt-gaetz-withdraws-attorney-general-nomination/

 

https://americanmind.org/salvo/kennedy-haters-relax/

 

https://reason.com/2024/11/20/trumps-energy-picks-are-refreshingly-competent/

 

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/energy/trumps-pick-energy-secretary-argues-fossil-fuels-are-integral-human

 

https://amgreatness.com/2024/11/20/sean-duffy-must-overhaul-the-department-of-transportation-in-trumps-second-term/

 

https://freebeacon.com/policy/rubio-and-the-return-of-the-monroe-doctrine/

 

https://www.newsmax.com/politics/trump-commerce-lutnick-elections-transition-cabinet/2024/11/19/id/1188733/

 

So…what is the future of the Department of Education?

 

https://amgreatness.com/2024/11/20/how-will-trump-handle-education-policy/

 

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/education/3232494/trump-wants-to-abolish-the-department-of-education/

 

https://www.newsmax.com/us/education-department-school/2024/11/21/id/1188941/

 

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/aft-randi-weingarten-linda-mcmahon/2024/11/20/id/1188784/

 

https://amgreatness.com/2024/11/16/saving-the-country-from-the-university/

 

And…how will Foreign Policy change to address the “world on fire” global environment?

 

https://www.newsmax.com/world/globaltalk/russia-ukraine-war/2024/11/21/id/1188923/

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/bidens-wishy-washy-support-for-ukraine-reaches-its-final-months/

 

https://www.newsmax.com/world/globaltalk/iran-funding-hamas/2024/11/19/id/1188595/

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/cia-official-charged-with-leaking-classified-documents-about-planned-israeli-strike-on-iran/

 

DOGE is the hot topic…but will it amount to anything?

 

https://reason.com/2024/11/15/doges-chances-are-slim-but-it-might-be-our-only-hope/

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/some-budget-cut-suggestions-for-the-new-administration/

 

https://reason.com/2024/11/14/to-cut-wasteful-spending-start-with-energy-subsidies/

 

Is the Economy going up…or down…or sideways? Hard choices on Federal Spending lie ahead.

 

https://reason.com/2024/11/18/social-security-approaches-its-day-of-reckoning/

 

https://reason.com/2024/11/15/the-national-debt-just-hit-36-trillion-does-trump-have-a-plan-to-control-it/

 

https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/16/business/50k-car-prices/index.html

 

The Biden Administration and the Democrats are going to squeeze all the progressive juice they can get before giving up the power.  They are celebrating and pleading on their way out.

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/bench-memos/republicans-must-stop-unworthy-judicial-nominees-during-the-senates-lame-duck-session/

 

https://justthenews.com/accountability/satweaponization-very-end-jim-jordan-probing-last-minute-biden-doj-blitzkreig

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/over-250-biden-administration-officials-flock-to-u-n-climate-conference-in-azerbaijan/

 

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/daily-memo/3231760/chuck-schumer-republicans-please-dont-do-to-us-what-we-were-going-to-do-to-you/

 

As for this “One”…don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.  Just…go…away.

 

https://amgreatness.com/2024/11/14/barack-obama-the-political-genius-that-wasnt/

 

And finally, here is a sad footnote to one of the largest political hoaxes in the history of our nation.  So many lives have been destroyed by this travesty and all for the simple pursuit of power and politics.

 

https://jonathanturley.org/2024/11/21/report-the-officer-who-killed-ashli-babbitt-had-a-long-history-of-disciplinary-and-training-problems/#more-225637

 

 

The Dust is Settling

Well….that happened.  Donald Trump shocked a large part of the political world once again by not just winning the presidency for a second time…but by winning the presidency so bigly.  The finality of his victory brought with it two very beneficial developments. 

 

First, it no doubt tamped down the very real possibility of violent protests across America and it also took the legs out from under those who might have questioned the election results on various technical grounds.  We have moved rather quickly from a brief Republican End Zone Dance to a Democrat Handwringing Pity Party to a Rapid Fire Appointing of a new Trump Administration.  The extraordinarily bitter contention that many anticipated in a post-election climate simply has not materialized; it just never had a chance to breathe.

 

Secondly, whether selected people choose to acknowledge it or not, the result of this election was a clear and emphatic repudiation of the progressive liberal Democrat movement and the entire menu of woke lunacy that it supports.  Four years is a lifetime in politics; but it would not be outrageous to predict that the Democrat presidential nominee we see in four years will be much less progressive-liberal (read Obama/Biden/Harris) and far more populist-liberal (read Clinton/Manchin/Shapiro).  This is an absolutely marvelous occurrence and, if true, a sound course correction for the Democrat Party.

 

After getting off to a very strong and promising start on cabinet head nominees and staffing hires, Trump seems to have gone off the rails with RFKjr, Noem, Gabbard, Hegseth, and Gaetz.  For one to have such an impressive list of available candidates and then make selections like these goes beyond the pale.  “To the victor goes the spoils” and all that…but for heaven’s sake, can we at least apply a standard to people who will run the largest departments in our government (and thus all the myriad agencies that lie below them) that is, at a minimum, marginally above that of the Biden/Harris Administration?  WTH?  I fear this is simply swapping one form of fevered incompetence for a different form of fevered incompetence. 

 

What a downer…picks like this sure does take some of the air out the celebration balloon.  It brings back bad memories of the non-policy, personnel-centric drama that was so prevalent in the first Trump Administration.  As the majority has decided, Trump was certainly the better of the two candidates…but he will not doubt have some downside.  It is unfortunate but true that chaos might compete with accomplishment throughout Trump’s four years.  Let us hope the better angels gain control and manage to maintain it.

 

As we begin to see the composition of a second Trump Administration take shape, it is worth one more look at this election.  Let’s consider three topics in this order: What exactly happened? ... Why it happened? … Where does it take us from here?

 

What exactly happened?

 

Trump wins the Electoral Vote 312 to 226.

Trump wins the Popular Vote 75.6M to 72.4M (still counting).

With slim majorities, Republicans control both the Senate and the House.

Presidential, Senate, and House results…state by state: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/

 

Nearly $1,500,000,000 (BILLION) spent by both parties combined in this presidential election: https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2024/11/the-daily-chart-cash-and-carry.php

 

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/election-integrity-movement-post-presidential-election-wins-and-future

 

https://thefederalist.com/2024/11/10/inside-the-brand-new-ballot-chasing-operation-that-helped-flip-republicans-the-senate/

 

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/3224686/this-weeks-elections-upon-further-review/

 

Why it happened?

 

https://amgreatness.com/2024/11/09/america-calls-for-sanity-and-prosperity/

 

http://jewishworldreview.com/1124/lowry111124.php

 

https://amgreatness.com/2024/11/11/the-fault-dear-democrats-is-in-yourselves/

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/11/its-leftism-stupid/

 

Where do we go from here?

 

https://jonathanturley.org/2024/11/12/remember-remember-the-5th-of-november-democrats-seem-to-be-moving-on-from-democracy/

 

https://amgreatness.com/2024/11/10/americas-victory-trumps-win-saved-america/

 

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/supreme-court/3221547/trump-election-conservative-supreme-court-majority/

 

https://americanmind.org/salvo/post-liberalism-is-here-to-stay/

 

https://amgreatness.com/2024/11/10/the-aftermath-trumps-victory-sparks-media-outrage-and-national-introspection/

 

https://amgreatness.com/2024/11/09/dawn-of-a-new-day/

 

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/wkdtrumps-day-one-dictatorship-look-his-opening-moves-wh

 

https://amgreatness.com/2024/11/08/making-america-safe-again-will-be-donald-trumps-highest-priority-as-president/

 

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/in_focus/3222097/trump-unchained-make-over-military/

 

https://justthenews.com/government/security/trumps-first-herculean-task-closing-border-heres-how-he-plans-do-it

 

https://reason.com/2024/11/08/how-donald-trump-and-elon-musk-could-cut-2-trillion-in-government-spending/

 

Change is coming to the Energy Sector:

 

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/energy/biden-left-energy-stockpiles-untouched-leadup-election-refilling-will-take

 

https://www.city-journal.org/article/green-grifters

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/wind-power-more-gloom/

 

Change is coming to the Economy:

 

https://www.newsmax.com/finance/streettalk/u-s-budget-deficit/2024/11/13/id/1187923/

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/milton-friedmans-revenge/

 

https://mrctv.org/blog/craig-bannister/job-growth-plummets-october-august-and-september-revised-down

 

https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/11/economy/manufactured-mobile-home-affordable-housing/index.html

 

Change is coming to the Legislative Branch:

 

https://americanmind.org/salvo/congress-in-search-of-itself/

 

https://thefederalist.com/2024/11/12/republicans-cant-afford-to-elect-another-mitch-mcconnell-as-senate-leader/

 

https://justthenews.com/government/congress/sen-john-thune-wins-senate-majority-leader-second-round-voting

 

Change is coming to the Judicial Branch:

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/11/keep-the-nine/

 

https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/09/politics/supreme-court-alito-thomas-trump-retirement/index.html

 

Change is coming to Education:

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/do-we-need-another-college-rating-system/

 

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/3166069/trump-is-right-abolish-department-education/

 

Will there be a “Resistance”:

 

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2024/11/obamas-poison.php

 

https://unherd.com/2024/11/how-trump-crushed-obamas-legacy/

 

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2024/11/its-time-for-him-to-go.php

 

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/jack-smith-doj-prosecute/2024/11/12/id/1187680/

 

https://jonathanturley.org/2024/11/11/the-second-resistance-movement-why-the-campaign-against-trump-this-time-is-different/#more-225265

 

https://www.city-journal.org/article/resisting-the-anti-trump-resistance

 

The “Challenges” that lie ahead:

 

https://reason.com/2024/11/08/want-to-lower-the-political-temperature-make-the-presidency-less-important/

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-three-historians-niall-ferguson-victor-davis-hanson-and-andrew-roberts/