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/

 

 

Taking Stock and Looking Forward

It would appear that president-elect Donald Trump is taking a quite serious approach towards entering into his second term.  There are indications that in stark contrast to his first term, he is now well on the path to lining up solid and competent personnel for his administration, displaying a wise skepticism about how the current administration wants to “aid” in his transition to power, and he has gone on record with specific policy priorities even before assuming the office of the presidency.  All of these things, not to mention a unified (hopefully) majority Republican Congress, should get him off to a substantial and meaningful start to righting the ship of state for our American government.

 

After observing much of the post-election angst flowing from the progressive elements of the Democrat Party and their many allies, I feel the need to acknowledge my previous…and ongoing…reservations about Donald Trump and his capacity for bad decisions.  I believe it is important to appreciate that even though Trump won the Electoral College with a huge margin and narrowly won the popular vote, the swing states that actually swung the election in Trump’s favor were essentially all decided with very narrow margins.  Upon further inspection…Trump’s victory was decisive in its finality, but fragile in its composition.  America remains a politically-divided nation, but the feelings of the majority have now been made evident.  That does not mean that the minority should be irrelevant.

 

I remain an avid supporter of most Trump policies and continue to strongly believe that they are the best path forward for our nation.  However, it is foolish for folks, in the flush of victory, to overlook the potential for the lesser angels of Donald Trump to overtly influence his presidential decision-making.  Like all of us, Donald Trump does not deserve celestial wings and this election will not change that. 

 

We will never know for certain, but it is undeniable that much of the credit for Trump’s victory goes to his good fortune in running against an extremely weak candidate in Harris and the fact that the Democrat Party completely caved to its progressive elements and doubled-down on their wildly irrational and unpopular woke positions.   I truly believe that the people in charge of the Harris campaign thought that they represented the majority of Americans and were secure in their illusion of infallibility.  Would it have made any difference if Harris had clearly departed from Biden Administration policies and staked out more moderate positions?  Would the selection of a more moderate Democrat like Shapiro for VP have delivered PA for her and maybe influenced another blue wall state or two…or three?  We will never know.  We can simply be grateful for her bad decisions.  

 

I truly hope that Donald Trump appreciates the opportunity that lies before him to reshape this nation in a more constitutional model; the potential for that is truly historic.  I truly hope he assumes his lame-duck presidency with a full focus on policy and not on certain other non-productive pursuits.  Trump is gonna be Trump.  To his credit, that attitude won him this election.  But the early months of his second term will be a minefield of danger if he allows a swollen ego to dictate his Chief Executive actions.  The choice is clear: accomplishment or chaos.

 

While we reflect on this current election, it seems appropriate that we take a backward glance at what many refer to as “the steal”; the MAGA-driven proposition that the 2020 presidential race was stolen by the Democrats.  While acknowledging the obvious and documented irregularities in the 2020 race…most under the veil of pandemic concerns…I have continued to advocate that the continued verbal litigation of that event is counter-productive and should be filed away in the category of “lessons learned”.  Nonetheless, and pending the finality of all vote counts, it should be pointed out that when comparing the aggregate vote totals from 2016, 2020, and 2024…it appears obvious that something highly unusual took place in that 2020 election.  Looking at it from a 2016 perspective… “Where did all those Democrat votes come from?”  Looking at it from a 2024 perspective… “Where did all those Democrat votes go?”  Given the facts that are now before us, maybe it is wise not to remove the charge of larceny from the realm of possibilities.  The people who have stubbornly clung to the steal theory should perhaps be given a healthy dose of reflection and credibility…and those who have dismissed the steal theory as lunacy might want to be thinking about how to frame their mea culpa.  While nothing is definitive (that will be eternally elusive), the case for partisan shenanigans in the 2020 general election has been significantly bolstered by the aforementioned comparisons.

 

I questioned the Republican Party choice of Trump as their nominee and I questioned Trump’s selection of Vance as his VP.  I am delighted to admit that I was wrong about Vance.  He has proven to be an exceptional choice towards gaining a political win for Trump and he is proving to be an unusually authentic politician who may indeed have a promising future.  And while I will stick with my prior positions that the Republican Party had better presidential candidates to choose from other than Donald Trump; I will readily admit that it is very questionable whether or not DeSantis or Haley could have achieved the political victory that Donald Trump has secured.  Perhaps it is simply the fact that it took…and will take… someone like Donald Trump to jerk this nation back to its senses and turn our national direction towards a government that will better reflect our true organizational blueprint and our shared morals and ethics.  Flawed as he is, Donald Trump is leading our nation towards a new environment of common sense and reason.

 

It is common political (and social) sport to rip and tear at your opponent’s imperfections whilst minimizing or ignoring your own.  In the final hours of his mortal life, Jesus was betrayed three times by his disciple Peter; yet Peter was the rock upon which Christ built His church.  In no form or fashion do I intend to put our politicians on a plane with the disciples.  But if we are looking for perfect political leaders in this world, our quest is doomed to failure.  Our leaders, like all of us, are imperfect vessels who occupy a time and place in this universe and fulfill that role to the best of their abilities.  At this time and place…Donald Trump will fulfill his role as our country’s political leader.  We should all hope and pray for his success.

 

A New Day…What Will It Bring?

I thought Trump would win; I hoped Trump would win; but I was scared to death that he would not.  I did not trust the American voters to accurately view the Democrat’s progressive mania as cancerous and I did not trust them to see Kamala Harris for the empty head that she is. Obama had fooled them once.  Biden had fooled them once again.  My MAGA wife kept telling me… “People are fed up with the crazy stuff and they will vote for change; they will vote for Trump”.  I would reply… “I hope you’re right, but I fear you are not.  You have a much higher opinion of the American voter than I do and Trump is Trump”. 

 

Thank goodness she was right.  My fear was ungrounded.  We have dodged a huge and terrible bullet and although we cannot be assured that Donald Trump will be an exemplary president…we can be damn sure that he will be better than what we have had for the last three-plus years and would have had for the next four with Harris.  What can we realistically hope for?  Where are some good places to begin?

 

Hire competent people:

 

https://americanmind.org/features/what-trump-should-do-if-he-wins/personnel-is-policy/

 

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/now-trumps-won-heres-who-may-come-white-house-him

 

https://nypost.com/2024/11/06/us-news/donald-trump-expected-to-be-in-meetings-after-victory/

 

https://americanmind.org/features/what-trump-should-do-if-he-wins/reward-friends-punish-enemies/

 

Prioritize federal spending; cut federal spending; shrink the government; reduce regulatory restraints; eliminate woke doctrine and impractical mandates in government affairs, thus allowing the marketplace to drive new business….all of this to free up the American economy so it can thrive and benefit all Americans.  Allow the rising tide to lift all ships:

 

https://mrctv.org/blog/craig-bannister/us-debt-jumps-473b-just-3-weeks-america-fast-lane-bankruptcy

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/cbo-likely-underestimating-the-rise-in-interest-rates-due-to-debt/

 

https://mrctv.org/blog/craig-bannister/treasury-calls-financial-inclusion-homeless-transgenders-ex-cons-immigrants

 

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/27/economy/wealthy-households-living-paycheck-to-paycheck/index.html

 

https://www.newsmax.com/finance/streettalk/wage-growth-inflation/2024/10/31/id/1186143/

 

https://mrctv.org/blog/craig-bannister/gdp-growth-slows-personal-savings-rate-falls-third-quarter

 

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2024/10/the-daily-chart-about-that-growth.php

 

https://justthenews.com/government/congress/emb10amhouse-oversight-widens-probe-newsguard-requests-information-government

 

https://reason.com/video/2024/10/29/greedflation-misuse-data/

 

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/energy/blade-failure-vineyard-wind-project-costs-manufacturer-700-million-more

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/u-s-gets-another-a-new-car-brand-how-american-is-scout/ar-AA1sSkGU?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=dac91eaf56d347bf83921b67c26b35d4&ei=120#

 

Get the federal government out of the education business; use federal funding to leverage changes in education that abandon DEI and trans madness and takes us back to fundamental and essential education; and by the way… eliminate the Department of Education:

 

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/in_focus/3206577/higher-education-bubble-finally-bursting-enrollment-decline/

 

https://jonathanturley.org/2024/10/28/the-thin-blue-line-university-professors-are-approaching-near-unanimity-as-a-democratic-lock/#more-224601

 

https://amgreatness.com/2024/10/27/from-the-classroom-to-congress-the-rise-of-anti-american-rhetoric-in-critical-race-theory/

 

https://www.jamesgmartin.center/2024/10/how-workforce-education-can-boost-earnings-and-fill-jobs/

 

From top to bottom…rebuild America’s military capacity to a position of global pre-eminence; put serious and competent people in charge of the Department of Defense and refit our forces so that they are prepared and equipped to do their jobs; reward our service personnel with fair pay and benefits, educational opportunities upon discharge, and exceptional material appreciation for those who serve in combat; find a Secretary of State that can work with our allies, stare down our enemies, use our strengths as an effective deterrent, and has the common sense and compassion to keep our young men and women out of harm’s way unless it is absolutely necessary:

 

https://www.thefp.com/p/should-the-us-still-police-the-world-d6b

 

https://amgreatness.com/2024/10/28/regional-conflict-vs-world-war-iii/

 

https://mrctv.org/blog/charles-kohlhaas/strategy-wishful-thinking

 

https://warontherocks.com/2024/10/russian-roulette-on-the-red-sea/

 

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2024/10/fettermans-clarity.php

 

https://whatthehellisgoingon.substack.com/p/wth-israels-strike-on-iran

 

https://amgreatness.com/2024/10/25/who-leaked-u-s-intelligence-on-a-possible-israel-attack-on-iran/

 

Effectively seal our southern border so that it has integrity; locate and remove illegal aliens that are criminals; foster a new and expansive bipartisan approach that will deal fairly, compassionately, and expeditiously with illegal aliens who are currently in our country…and will further establish a thoughtful, productive, and secure system that will govern our immigration policies into the future:

 

https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/more-3-million-border-crossers-cuba-haiti-nicaragua-venezuela