DEOs, DOGE, and Duh

There’s bound to be an epidemic in twisted media necks given the extreme flip in transparency between the bygone Biden Administration and the full-bore Trump Administration.  While the journalistic community was rarely fortunate enough to get a handful of mumbled musings from old Slow Joe, it is receiving a daily dose of stream of consciousness monologues from President Trump…and he even takes questions!  In a matter of less than a month, we have gone from hide the ball bureaucracy to in your face daily executive orders (DEOs).  Say what you will about Trump…he damn sure ain’t bashful.

 

The DOGE is rolling along at a pretty frenetic clip these days.  While there is a good deal of attention being paid to this relatively new and robust effort at eliminating governmental waste and improving federal efficiency, it should be noted that the DOGE is not a new federal entity.  Rather, it is a re-imagined effort originating from an empty federal suit.  Originally born from the nexus of the Obama Administration, it has been refashioned as a cudgel in the Trumpian attack on all things deemed governmentally wrong-headed, nonsensical, or poorly designed.  Whether it be Elon Musk or some other federal individual heading it up, the true test for DOGE will not be its initial efforts at taming our behemoth government, but rather it’s yet to be determined ability to transform the long-term mindset of a burgeoning bureaucracy.

 

And then there is the third “D” in this piece…the Duh.  I suppose it could have been the “dumb”, or “dimwitted”, or “dopey”, or simply “downright stupid”; but I will stick with Duh as a natural reaction to the lunacy of the progressive elements in the Democrat Party as they come to terms with Donald Trump owning them, toying with them, and driving them to yield so totally to their sophomoric tendencies.  Like many, I would simply note that given the evolution of the Democrat Party since the inception of Obama, it is really not a surprise to see this type of pathetic, clueless, and self-destructive reaction to a political ass-whooping.  Thus the use of the term “Duh”…as in, what else did you expect?

 

Let us expand a bit on some of these topics.

 

For instance…Trump’s approach to governing and the DEOs…

 

https://amgreatness.com/2025/02/09/beyond-executive-orders-a-blueprint-for-america-2-0/

 

https://americanmind.org/salvo/an-america-first-agenda/

 

How those opposed to it will react…

 

https://thefederalist.com/2025/02/11/ousted-from-power-by-voters-dems-turn-to-activist-judges-to-defy-trump/

 

http://jewishworldreview.com/0225/hammer021425.php

 

And how Trump might change the political landscape long-term…

 

https://americanmind.org/salvo/how-trump-can-secure-the-supreme-court-for-a-generation/

 

https://americanmind.org/salvo/golden-calf-of-the-grand-old-party/

 

https://amgreatness.com/2025/02/12/the-realignment-of-unions/

 

https://amgreatness.com/2025/02/13/the-latest-in-dei-crt-and-gender-issues/

 

https://amgreatness.com/2025/02/11/president-trumps-gaza-plan-might-just-work/

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/2025/02/jd-vances-strong-debut-in-paris/

 

Before there was the Department of Government Efficiency/DOGE, there was the United States Digital Service/USDS.

 

What it was: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Digital_Service

 

https://www.usds.gov/

 

What it is: https://doge.gov/

 

What it is doing…

 

https://amgreatness.com/2025/02/09/trump-musk-and-the-deep-state-the-battle-over-transparency-begins/

 

https://reason.com/2025/02/13/doge-is-good-its-not-enough/

 

https://thefederalist.com/2025/02/12/doge-is-uncovering-the-government-corruption-americas-media-spent-years-ignoring/

 

https://thefederalist.com/2025/02/10/media-should-investigate-federal-waste-instead-of-the-people-uncovering-it/

 

https://reason.com/2025/02/10/5-of-the-worst-usaid-scandals-in-history/

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-department-of-education-keep-it-or-demolish-it/

 

https://reason.com/2025/02/10/kill-the-federal-department-of-education/

 

https://freebeacon.com/campus/exclusive-at-the-university-of-michigan-dei-now-hides-in-office-of-community-culture/

 

Look…here is the deal: Trump’s definition of wasteful is spending on things that do not align with his priorities.  Yes, he will cut some spending.  Alas…he will also increase some spending.  I expect that the cuts and the increases will, in the long run, tend to even out.  Just like his Democrat counterparts, Trump takes the coward’s way out when he is confronted with entitlement spending.  And the hard, cold truth is that our nation’s debt and deficit spending jones will not be solved until someone in a leadership position has the courage to address the elephant in the room…entitlements.  I celebrate Trump’s DOGE because I largely agree with his spending priorities.  But I am sufficiently realistic to know that he is not cutting overall spending; rather, he is shifting overall spending. 

 

No doubt…there is a good deal of corruption in our government.  That much money cannot be sloshing around without some of it…a lot of it…spilling into someone’s pocket.  I would imagine that this particular brand of corruption is bipartisan in nature.  Perhaps it might be a bit more Democrat than Republican simply because there are more Democrats in the Deep State entity than Republicans.  If they are caught, they ought to be fried…regardless of their politics.

 

The most potentially beneficial magnifying glass wielded by DOGE will be the one held over government efficiency.  I worked for the government for 30 years and while I am not an expert, I know firsthand how wasteful the government can be.  I also know that, contrary to what some may believe, there are many government programs that are well conceived, well managed, and fairly well administered. DOGE needs to tread carefully, be thoughtful and deliberate, and exercise caution that it does not throw multiple babies out with the bath water.