The Very Real Threat of Liberal Arrogance.

Our nation is split on a partisan and politically philosophical basis.  The reality of that split can be readily discerned anytime a question is posed that has a binary choice between a clearly liberal or a clearly conservative response.  The poll (if conducted fairly) will invariably come out with relatively hardcore support on either side of around 40-45 percent.  These are people who will support their party’s candidate or position regardless. By that, I mean regardless of quality, regardless of reason, regardless of concern for country.  This partisan divide must be mitigated in order for our government to again function in the fashion as envisioned by our founding fathers.  Even though both the right and the left are subject to blind allegiance for their respective causes; it is the Liberal Left, supported wholly by the mainstream media and Democratic Party leadership, which is taking this crusade to dangerously high levels with potentially devastating consequences.  Let us consider some points…

It is now becoming more obvious on a daily basis that the whole world, the entire country, and both national political parties expected Hillary Clinton to win the 2016 Presidential election.  Had that come to pass, we certainly would not have spent the last year and a half discussing Russian Collusion.  When Donald Trump shocked the world by defeating Hillary Clinton, there were certain Democrats in the Obama Administration and National Party Leadership positions that refused to accept the will of the American electorate.  Quite simply, they decided to proactively implement a covert plan to subvert the duly-elected President in an attempt to (a) retain as much Obama Administration policy as possible and (b) run out the clock until the 2018 mid-term election and the 2020 Presidential election, at which time they would surely regain effective control of government.  Obama’s Justice Department, undoubtedly with the wink and nod approval of Obama, politically-weaponized federal agencies and existing FISA laws designed to protect our nation against terrorism.  It appears increasingly likely that spies were surreptitiously placed into the Trump Presidential Campaign.  Think about that for a moment; our government was using federal agencies and federal laws to conduct political espionage on the opposing political party during a Presidential campaign.  This is the kind of crap that Putin is continually guilty of and is rightly condemned for practicing.  This same core group of Democratic loyalists then proceeded to commandeer the FISA process (noting once again; it was designed to protect our nation from terrorists) with documents that were wholly unproven and funded by the Democratic Party.  They used these fake documents to apparently hoodwink selected federal judges into permitting secret surveillance on American citizens associated with Donald Trump.  The FISA process, which demands a likely crime commission at the front end of the process in order to proceed, was turned on its head.  It was an elaborate investigation and coup in search of an unspecified crime.  It was nothing less than the high jacking of federal institutions and laws for pure political purposes.  Once again …shades of the Kremlin.  A final thought revisited…if these people are this corrupt and unscrupulous when they are defeated and out of power; can you imagine the stuff they pull off when they control the government?  As flawed as he is, we may never fully appreciate the damage we avoided to our form of government by electing Donald Trump instead of Hillary Clinton.  Update: View this to get a good idea of equal justice under the Obama DOJ...
https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/05/clinton-email-trump-russia-probes-justice-department-double-standards/

Another battleground of Democrat-enabled liberalism is the Congressional obstruction we are witnessing.  The partisan and political delay tactics being implemented by Senate Democrats is unprecedented and it is doing serious damage to the ability of our government to function.  It is no doubt essential to have a vibrant and healthy political opposition to our Executive Branch and Congressional majority.  No single Party can long rule both branches of government without being corrupted by that awesome power and authority.  But there are limits to reasonable opposition and there are systems in place to implement that opposition.  The open warfare being declared by the Senate Democrats in bringing legislative progress to a halt through cloture, by using dilatory tactics to slow down normal Senate operations, and being unreasonably obstinate in approving obviously well-qualified political appointees is nothing short of disgusting, childish, and it borders on blind stupidity. 

There is no place in our society and culture where Liberal thought run amok is more apparent than in the Federal Judiciary.  These robed, self-righteous fools that are appointed for life and consider themselves judge/jury/executioner are cancers in our judicial system and threaten the very foundations upon which our nation was established.  The sad and plain truth is that these men and women are peppered throughout our court systems.  Lawyers or groups with a crusade know exactly which Judge to look for when they want to promote their cause du jour.  And no matter how ridiculous and unfounded their rulings might be, by the time the decisions work their way up to the SCOTUS for an overturn, the damage from the implementation of these personal liberal philosophies has already been realized.  Our Congress exists to author the laws under which we live and work.  It is the Judiciary’s role to rule on the propriety of that law; not to rewrite it to match their own liberal ideals.

There is a delicate balance between the rights of the Nation and the rights of the States.  This is a vital ingredient of our nation’s creation and must be constantly discussed and debated by men and women of good conscience.  But once again, there are limits beyond which the State should not extend its authorities above the Nation; lest the Nation crumbles.  There are several states, most notably California, who are pushing these limits to the max.  It is a process that has played out before in our history; but this time around and in our smaller, better connected culture, it seems to be more significant than ever before.  The aforementioned subversion of the Federal Judiciary by rogue Judges has complicated the resolution of this dilemma; but it will nonetheless play out in a proper and deliberate fashion.  There are few easy answers, many gray areas of right and wrong, and the final decisions must somehow preserve State’s rights while maintaining the Nation.  The greatest thing that can be done to enable this ongoing process is the return of the Federal Judiciary to its role as a swift, reliable, non-partisan arbiter of the balance between Federal Law and State Law.

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There exists in Congress the need for a supermajority vote in order to pass certain legislative actions; a vote that requires 67 percent or more of the vote for passage.  The wisdom of this practice is that half plus one of the people should never impose their will over the other half minus one on issues that dramatically impact our nation’s fundamental principles and practices.    Liberal America has lost sight of this supermajority principle.  Like these Anti-Trump fevered Democrat holdovers from the Obama Administration that think they have a right…even an obligation…to subvert a new President’s initiatives, many Liberals are certain that they know better than each of us what is best for all of us.  They may be only two or three of ten, but the important point to them is that our world be fashioned and molded into their vision.  It does not occur to them that at some point, they do not have the right to change every single thing with which they disagree.  Some things are intrinsic to America and serve as the pillars of our country…or our culture…or our society…or our individual liberties.  In their minds, they are so damn smart that they must seize every opportunity to save the country and this world from itself.  They really do need to come to terms with the fact that if they cannot achieve something akin to a supermajority or an overwhelming confluence of public opinion, they need to accept one of two choices; either embrace their oft-espoused trait of tolerance and allow others to live according to their own values or simply find another place to live and work that better conforms with their personal inclinations.

Insidious is generally defined as working or spreading harm in a stealthy, subtle, cunning, or treacherous fashion.  The rabid form of Liberalism that has led to the phenomena that I have listed above is insidious to our nation.  It is dedicated to reshaping and redefining the very things that led people to American shores in search of personal, religious, and political freedom.  It is anathema to individual rights, accountability, and independence.  Liberal thought has a proper place in the United States as a ying to Conservatism’s yang.  It has no place or standing in any semblance of reasonable thought to dictate as a minority of thinking to the majority of American people how they should exist.  There are forms of government, and nations that practice them, that adhere to those liberal principles.  When the provisions and methods that are provided for in our democracy to espouse a point of view and implement orderly change fail to accomplish the national transformation that these uber-Liberals desire, they should exercise their freedom to export themselves to confines they might find more amenable.   

A Tragic Perversion of the Justice System.

Whether you are a Trump supporter or a Trump opponent, you should be very concerned about the developments that have occurred in Special Counsel Mueller’s Trump Campaign/Russian Collusion investigation.  As reflected in my writing, I am increasingly inclined to believe that the whole Steele Dossier Fantasy is a house of cards that is beginning to crumble.  Time will tell.

Notwithstanding the twists and turns taken by Mueller’s escapade over the last year or so, we are now at a critical moment in this nation’s history.  The NYTimes is reporting that there are several questions that the Special Counsel wants to present to the President.  And per that report, and if the President refuses to comply with his wishes, the Special Counsel is prepared to subpoena the President to force his deposition.  Contrary to some reports, there is no precedent for this situation.  This is an attempted abuse of power, a blatant demonstration of unequal justice, and a shameful example of placing personal politics above national concerns.  There have been presidential subpoenas in the past; but not involving the circumstances that we are witnessing with President Trump and this Special Counsel.  If this test of wills is brought to a head, there can be little doubt that the SCOTUS will eventually decide this issue.  And based on some SCOTUS decisions from recent years, that outcome is dicey at best. 

Two current articles by two of the most able observers available have addressed this most recent issue.  I would urge anyone interested in this episode to read them.  Victor Davis Hanson @  https://amgreatness.com/2018/05/04/what-if-mueller-questioned-barack-obama/ and Andrew McCarthy @ https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/05/mueller-probe-basis-for-criminal-investigation-should-be-revealed/.  These are men that are objective, intelligent, and well qualified to comment on this subject.

There are two incredibly important points that I find are repeatedly ignored in the discussion of this business.  The first is that the DOJ is subordinate to the Chief Executive; they work under his supervision.  The patronage appointments in the Department and its Agencies serve at the pleasure of the President.  Based on the behavior of Mueller’s team and many of the deep state holdovers in the DOJ, that is a fact that is either lost or ignored.  The simple truth is that our President is elected by the People; while DOJ appointees are elected by…nobody. They are appointed by individuals.  If you are a government employee and disagree with the President’s policies, it is not an option to subvert department and agency operations in order to sabotage the President’s initiatives.  The choice is to either do your job or resign; choosing instead to strongly oppose the President in the public sector as a private citizen.  Secondly, it remains absolutely remarkable to me that this entire Special Counsel carnival has no stated crime at its nucleus.  It is the very definition of an investigation in search of a crime.  It is based on a questionable document that was funded by the President’s political opponents.  It has been kept on life support by a rabidly anti-President media, a recalcitrant Democratic portion of Congress, and deep state renegade holdovers from the Obama administration.  It has crippled the legitimately-elected President of our nation for his first year and a half in office and shows every indication of doing so well into the future. 

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If actual crimes have been committed by President Trump or his campaign; then justice must be served and those guilty should be held accountable.  But if, as seems increasingly likely, this entire charade proves to be nothing more than the vindictive and treacherous strategy of a defeated Democratic presidential effort…it will surely go down in history as the greatest perversion of the justice system that has ever occurred.  And if that is the case, it is to the everlasting shame of those Democrats who have stood by in silence, and their media cohorts who have sold their souls to the Resist Trump Devil, while this mockery was committed in their name.  Also, there can be little doubt that it will be to the eternal detriment of our nation and its system of government.  If the will of the People, as expressed by their votes, can be supplanted or subverted by a handful of well-placed bureaucratic ideologues and a partisan and unprincipled press; then we no longer live in the country our founders envisioned. 

Throwing Away Our Treasures.

As all of those who have come before me, I grow older and I reflect on my life and the times that I have experienced.  It is a very natural and proper thing for our society and culture to experience change; to evolve and reflect the myriad attitudes and ideals of those that comprise our nation.  I suppose, therefore, it is inevitable that as we go through the cultural process of deciding what to throw out and what to keep, there will be many disagreements about where true and lasting value lies.  Some things that we as a society dispose of will lie dormant for a while and then reappear at a later date; the wheel being reinvented to the joy and amazement of many and the chagrin of others.  Every time this happens, especially in the area of fashion, I am amazed at how this Lazarus effect bestows upon the modern day participants the notion that they are the true discoverers and inventors of the phenomenon.  They somehow revel in the notion that even though this experience has been around the block a time or two, it is so uniquely new and different this time around that no one could possibly have ever done it quite as well before them. 

While this attitude demonstrates a careless ignorance of history, a possible disregard for tradition, and the arrogance of self importance; it also reflects the basic fact that every time an old idea is resurrected, it is typically done so with a new and personal twist that can arguably make it a new idea.  Perhaps the arrogance lies with the originators of the concept; us old school practitioners who resent our old habits being reworked and redesigned.  We live with the thought that it was just fine the first time around and there is always that old adage…if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.  We are, of course, wrong.  There is no law that prevents an old idea or concept from being reintroduced in a new, improved fashion.  However, it is also very true that the simple reintroduction itself does not always represent any improvement whatsoever.  Sometimes, the old ideas are basically trashed in their newer versions. 

Whichever the case may be, this recycling has been going on since the beginning of time and will continue into future generations; such is life.  My subject today is not the ideas that are brought back around to us from time to time; but rather those rare and unique items that we tend to casually discard and are then lost forever.  We seem to think that bringing stuff back around at a later date is an eternal option; but it is not.  Some things, when once discarded, are forever gone.  And most of the time, we do not realize this hard truth until that later date arrives when we would like to reclaim that old thing and suddenly discover that it is beyond our reach.  Things of this nature may be that relationship decision we made at one time in our past and the pages of life have turned well past it now, rendering the once in a lifetime choice nothing more than an ephemeral what if conundrum.  It might be the date we passed over in school, the job offer we turned down in our early life, or something as elementary as taking the day off to go fishing with a child or friend, rather than going in to work.  Our lives are all intertwined in this complex world that we inhabit and the six degrees of separation that connects us all can result in some pretty unpredictable situations.

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In my part of the country, I see this loss in the passing of huge, old barns that once graced the landscapes of my state.  As recently as thirty years ago, there were no fewer than a dozen grand old barns scattered throughout my home county of 500 square miles.  Going back to that time thirty years ago, some modest investments of time and labor could have preserved these treasures for future generations to view, utilize, and marvel upon.  But once that renovation window of opportunity passed, once the cornerstones settled and the beams rotted, the revitalization of the structure became a pipe dream.  These icons of a time past were then condemned to either the match or the bulldozer; either one an unworthy fate for such a marvelous achievement.  This same storyline plays out with lots of other articles of history and practices; some being preserved and perpetuated by concerned individuals and organizations that demonstrate appropriate respect for the dignity and importance of these treasures.  But the fact is that the old barns are mostly gone; very few people know the practice of crushing the cane and boiling up a mess of sorghum molasses; the beautiful, hand stitched quilts of the olden days are very rare and few seamstresses now possess that precious art.  We are a lesser people because we have lost many of these things.  The loss is not a criminal offense of which we should be prosecuted.  Rather, it is a tragic loss in judgment that we will all someday regret.   Just as we have failed miserably at the task of honoring and respecting our elders; we are equally failing to preserve many of the unique treasures of articles and practices bestowed upon us by our predecessors.

To my point…one of those things is cursive writing.   I do not know national statistics about this subject; but I do know that in my county, a decision has been made by school administrators to cease the teaching of cursive writing.  Now there are two areas that, due to my substantial lack of experience or expertise and the tremendously challenging aspects of the subjects, I strive (not always successfully) to avoid.   One of these is national foreign policy and the other is education.  Clearly, there are many more that I should consider taking a similar approach to, but that is fodder for another discussion.  The art of cursive (and it is, at its finest, an art) has been a staple of our nation since its inception.   Is the fact that the signing of a check will soon be obsolete or the fact that we now communicate through technology sufficient reason to issue a death sentence to the art of writing?  Do we fully realize that if our youth are not schooled in the practice of cursive, they will be unable to read the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the very Constitution of this nation?  And what happens when on those rare and unpredictable occasions, technology becomes unavailable to us?  Are we willing to simply accept that communicating in hard copy fashion is not an option when the system goes down?  Are we willing to embrace the idea that all our adult population will someday in the future be constrained to the practice of awkwardly printing individual letters when authoring a piece of correspondence?  Is it not somehow perversely devolving to set our scripting standards to crude print when it was once a pride of accomplishment to possess beautiful penmanship?  There is an undeniable elegance to fine cursive writing that print, no matter the theme of the font, will never approach. 

Please understand me…I readily acknowledge and am sympathetic to the time constraints placed upon our education administrators in today’s schools.  I realize that every single minute of every single school day is a precious commodity and must be utilized to the fullest extent possible in the preparation of our youth for their futures as productive citizens.  But I also am intimately aware of the many school activities that take up much of that precious time resource; such as band, athletics, many types of clubs, and other various non-curricular subjects.  Each of these endeavors has some merit on their own and can certainly contribute in some fashion to the healthy educational development of the kids.  But having acknowledged that, I also submit that a few minutes of each day, perhaps not even every day and perhaps for just one quarter or semester of each school year, could be found to teach our children how to read and write properly. Whether or not they choose to use it in their adult lives, the possession of cursive writing and reading skill is a tool that every child should have in their toolbox when they enter into the journeys of post-education.  It is arguably an integral part of this nation’s, this society’s, and this culture’s fabric and the wholesale loss of it would be a decision that we will ultimately regret. 

It is critically important…essential…that we focus on where we are going in this world; but we should never lose sight of where we have been.  I fervently hope that the mistakes and misdeeds or our past make us wiser and more responsible as a people in our futures.  I would also hope that we can somehow stop and give careful reflection on the wisdom of casually discarding many of the skills, practices, and items of our history that have made us who we are.  At the very least, there must be a few amongst us that carry the sparks of historical embers just in case a future generation wants to rekindle those flames.  That is an option that we must strive to make available to our children and their children. 

The Solution to Obstructionism.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has apparently had enough of Democratic contrariness and he is going to streamline the Senate confirmation process.  In my lifetime, there has never been obstruction like we are seeing in today’s Congress.  The partisan sparring between our two national parties has always involved a certain amount of Congressional gamesmanship; but the hatred and venom that has been directed towards the Trump Administration is reaching a point where some permanent changes are about to be wrought.  If someone on the Democratic side of the aisle does not soon step forward and exhibit some common sense in legislative matters, the Republicans are going to take some dramatic actions that will have ripple effects far into the future…to the detriment of both parties and our nation. 

The strategy of the Democrats is obvious.  They are using their deep state, carryover federal employees in various government agencies to do everything possible towards delaying Trump Administration policy initiatives.  This effort, combined with their obstruction in Congress, is calculated to minimize the possible changes by Republicans.  It is clearly the hope of the Democrats that having created this dysfunction in government until the mid-term elections or the next general election, they can then shift the power back to their liberal philosophy and continue with their Obama business as usual.  Another disappointing aspect of this Democratic tactic is the farcical circus surrounding the Trump Campaign/Russian Collusion investigation and all of the cottage industries that have sprung from it.  Not only has this sham helped to delay any significant policy progress from the Trump Administration; it has also served the dual purpose of deflecting appropriate and necessary attention to the DOJ and partisan abuses of power by the Obama Administration. 

I find myself terribly frustrated by the Republican’s apparent impotent responses to these obstructionist tactics and wonder aloud how with a Congressional majority and a sitting President, the Republicans cannot use the levers of power to at least mitigate these delaying tactics.  It is certainly a critical consideration that even though the Republicans are the majority party in the Senate, they fall short of the magic cloture-solving number of sixty votes and are continuously hamstrung by that threshold.  I am inclined to give McConnell a pass for this reason, while secretly hoping that he would at least show a bit more animation in his protests about Democratic chicanery.  Much more troubling to me is the failure of the Trump Administration to use their administrative tools to reshape federal departments and agencies into a force that will more readily implement a new and improved model for government operations.  I think that we have all, myself included, underestimated the power and influence of the deep state obstacle in trying to transform the federal administrative workforce.  Additionally, it is significant to note that Trump comes into the White House as an outsider and an outcast of his own party; bereft of the type of institutional support that most newly elected presidents enjoy.  

My belief is that Republicans are squishy; but at least they have the right policies.  Their continual habit of bringing a knife to a partisan gunfight is maddening; but they do, in the main, represent a more efficient and effective model for running this country.  The question that is hanging out there is how the Trump Administration can specifically, and the Republican Party in general, overcome this obstruction effort and get some real changes actually implemented before the current shelf life of a Republican majority expires?

The first order of business is to take care of business.  In spite of all the hurdles that may be placed before them, Trump and Congressional Republicans must accomplish legislative goals.  They have to demonstrate the ability to get things done in order to effectively contrast their policies with those of the Democrats.  If the policy discussions are confined to partisan wrangling and rhetoric, the debate devolves into misinformation and misdirection.  As we have seen from the tax reform legislation; it is necessary for new laws and policies to actually work their way into our everyday lives in order for the public to fully grasp their significance.  The Republican Congressional Leadership and the Trump Administration must reassess their approach to governing, use every tool in the box to move along their initiatives, and come to a sobering realization that their time in power is transient and may be coming to an end sooner than anyone thinks. 

Secondly; the American voters must take the time to study exactly what each national party stands for and make the effort to support the party of their choice.  These days do not allow us the luxury as citizens to have our ideal candidate before us on the ballot.  Unfortunately, we are oftentimes faced with the lesser of two evils.  But that uncomfortable choice pales in comparison to the larger facts of what the impact might be if one party’s vision of America is superior to the other.  Carefully consider what principles created the birth of this nation.  Think about the values you hold in your personal life and those of your family.  Think about the relationships between you and your government, at every level, and exactly how much involvement you are willing to give bureaucrats in your day-to-day living.  Think about what actions or services are intrinsically governmental in nature and what actions or services are best left to the private sectors of our society.  Think about whether the inherent and proper rights and dignity of the minority should permit them to impose laws of behavior and loss of liberties on the majority.  Think about the type of life your children will experience as they grow and mature; inheriting the environment that we, the American voters, are creating for them.   Honestly consider the state of this nation at the end of Obama’s two terms and what the election of Hillary Clinton would have done to perpetuate and further evolve that globalist vision of America.  The reality is that the Democratic Party has deserted the pragmatism of President Clinton, advanced far beyond the universal healthcare concepts of HillaryCare, and shifted well to the left of Obama’s liberal utopian ideals.  Just as our President is deeply flawed, so is the Republican Party.  Their policies are not bulletproof; they are susceptible to corruption and distraction; and they can be just as self-serving as any Democrat that ever lived.  But the hard truth is that the current state of Republican policy is far superior to that of the Democrats and it is critically important to preserve that policy through the maintenance of Republican majorities in the House and Senate.

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In a perfect world, a new and unique candidate will arise from the many 2020 presidential wannabes.  It will be a candidate that is motivated by a quest for a smaller and more efficient government.  It will be a leader that can both inspire the public and effectively manage the sprawling bureaucracy that is our government.  It will be a candidate that will speak in terms that are strong and principled, yet civil and respectful.   It will be an individual who has somehow discovered a method to bridge the partisan gap between our two national parties and restore some semblance of statesmanship in the WDC environment.  But, alas…we do not live in a perfect world.  Short of a highly unlikely indictment, impeachment, resignation or retirement, it is almost certain that Donald Trump will be the Republican candidate for President in 2020.  It is nearly as certain that given the way the liberal left has taken ownership of the Democratic Party, the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee will be about two small steps short of a socialist.  In our quest for perfection and our frustration with imperfection, we as voters must not lose sight of the fact that we can only vote for those candidates that are on the ballot.  Our government is more than one Senator or one Representative.   Our government is more than one President.  Our government is a reflection of the collective choices we make in selecting the people to run that government. 

It is my belief that the best direction for this nation, as things currently stand, is to hope that Donald Trump can somehow grow into his role as President and gain the respect that comes from real accomplishment.  I believe that as imperfect and flawed as the Republican Party is; they best represent the ideals that our nation was founded upon and can better manage the government of that nation.  I shudder to think about where this country would be today if Hillary Clinton had defeated Donald Trump and all of the revelations that have occurred over the last year had simply been papered over.  We will get the government we deserve.

What We Have Become.

Two “documents” have recently been released; the memoirs of ex-FBI Director James Comey and the Report of the Investigative General of the Department of Justice.  Comey’s book has sucked all of the oxygen out of the room while very little attention has been paid to the IG Report.  One is a collection of sanctimonious opinions from a terminated federal employee who has, without question, improperly leaked DOJ information to the media in surreptitious fashion, at a minimum played fast and loose with the truth surrounding multiple FBI investigations, and sprinkled his novel with material better suited for the National Enquirer.  The IG Report is a result of a months-long investigation by a non-partisan career professional that has had complete and total access to all of the facts surrounding that of which he speaks.  It is a scathing indictment of how Obama’s Department of Justice operated and unfortunately, it is likely only a harbinger of many more scandals to come.  It says something about us as a country that all of the public attention is focused on Comey’s effort and not that of the IG.

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The Inspector General is Michael E. Horowitz, an Obama appointee.  You can read his report yourself and draw your own judgment @ https://www.lawfareblog.com/document-doj-inspector-general-report-andrew-mccabe.  There can be little doubt that the Obama Administration, through the Department of Justice and Attorney General Loretta Lynch, did all it could to deflect any investigation into Hillary Clinton wrongdoing in advance of the last presidential election.  Additionally, Andrew McCabe, the recently terminated FBI Deputy Director who previously worked hand-in-glove with his supervisor James Comey, is undeniably exposed as little more than a partisan hack who has long been abusing his power and position in the DOJ for political purposes.

Comey, a self-professed paragon of virtue, served as FBI Director beginning in September of 2013, being appointed by Obama, until he was fired from that position by President Trump in May of 2017.  At various times over the last few years of his tenure, he was alternately praised and condemned by both Democrats and Republicans …depending on whose ox he was goring at the time.  Although he spent most of his early legal career as a government employee, he spent the time period of August 2005 up to his Obama appointment as a corporate lawyer on the east coast.  His anti-Trump dialogue is openly embraced by the mainstream media and all those associated with the Resist Trump movement.  Trump supporters and loyalists claim that his literary effort is little more than a pathetic, partisan swipe at the man who fired him.  Again…you read the book and you decide.

At a moment in time when the three most powerful forces for freedom and liberty on this planet, America/United Kingdom/France, have just executed an attack on a rogue regime in Syria, at the high level risk of escalating an already volatile situation into a more heated environment; after years of fiscal paralysis, when America’s economy is finally beginning to gain some momentum, realizing the growth of decent jobs and seeing the business sector flourish; when Congress has pitifully continued to demonstrate its absolute incompetence by failing to pass a budget, continually squawking about Russian meddling, and generally spending most of its time on things that are peripheral to its  primary functions; when illegal immigration is tearing this country apart and there continues to be no meaningful discussion or debate about  how federal immigration policy should be revised; in the midst of all of this…most all of the media want to talk about a book that discusses Trump’s hair, his possible tanning bed habits, the size of  his hands, and an assessment of his moral content from a disgruntled ex-employee of his (yes…I said that correctly; the FBI Director is hired by the Chief Executive and serves at his pleasure).

While the careful and professional investigative report of the IG is largely ignored, the critically important abuses of power that it exposes are simply skipped over by the media for the more salacious flavors of Donald Trump’s past romps with centerfold playmates and porn queens.  That we, as a nation, are obsessing with one of these revelations over the other is a very telling moment.  Partisanship is a fever that has forever fueled our two-party political system in America.  It is critical that we have two strong and vital political philosophies to serve as a governor on the other.  But when partisanship reaches the stage at which it now resides, permeating every aspect of our culture, with no one in either party showing the ability, or the courage, to stand up and call out the fever for what it is…then we have reached a very sad place indeed.  We deserve the government we elect.  We have elected a poor choice as President whose many flaws are barely exceeded by his choice of wise policies and qualified appointees.  The Democratic Party has devolved into a pathetic, writhing blob of bitching, moaning, and classless criticisms.  The Republican Party, having achieved a brief moment of supreme political positioning, has forsaken the principles which he has espoused for decades in return for a spineless, unprincipled quest for some type of public image and the paths of least resistance.  Our recently-fired FBI Director is hawking his tell-all book on the street corner, we are bombing a middle-eastern government into oblivion, the Democrats want to impeach our Republican President for eating the wrong cereal at breakfast, the Republicans in Congress continue their athletically-challenged exhibition of tripping over themselves, the federal budget expenditures continue to balloon far beyond expected revenues with no thought towards the hole we are digging ourselves, and…the beat goes on.  This is what we have become.

Is WDC Stuck in a Spin Cycle?

Between the Resist Trump movement by the Democrats in the House, the incompetence of the Republicans in the Senate, the blatant disregard for the rule of law in the Judiciary, the malfeasance from Obama holdovers in the civil service, and the unpredictable mayhem of the Trump White House, it is difficult to see how this WDC dysfunction moves in any direction but downward.  Is there anything at all that can be done to improve the effectiveness, efficiency, transparency, and ethical standards of our government and how it operates?  While there is certainly no silver bullet that will solve this dilemma overnight, there are some common sense steps and actions that might move the needle in the right direction.

Term Limits.  I know, I know…who in their right mind could possibly believe that our noble Senators and Representatives would actually vote themselves out of a job?  I cannot argue with that logic.  But simply because it does not seem likely or easily attainable does not make it unworthy of pursuit.  There can be little doubt that a large portion of the problems surrounding our Congress is the fact that powerful Congressional people have been corrupted by their length of service and they simply refuse to give it up.  Additionally, the longer they live and work in the WDC environment, the more out of touch they become with the people and the communities they are sent there to serve.  Every Senator harbors a secret ambition to become President and once that ambition is shriveled by reality, the notion remains that they would be a better President than the one in the White House.  The House was intended by the founders to be an ever-evolving body of citizens who took a bit of time from their routine lives to serve this nation.  Nowadays, every Representative appears to live with the impression that they were selected as the savior of divine government rather than the leading vote-getter from a handful of counties in their home state.  And the Presidents…they get elected to a four-year term and get no more than moved in the White House before they are running for re-election.  Every decision they seem to make is tinged with the impact it might have on the upcoming elections.  And of course, they all live under the illusion that they can remake this nation into that perfect ideal they hold in their infallible little heads. 

Give the President one, six-year term to accomplish their goals.  That is sufficient and it will eliminate having a campaigner-in-chief rather than a true Chief Executive.  Any Senator that serves more than three, six-year terms has forgotten what is like to be a regular citizen; they consider themselves royalty.  They are either actively running for a higher office or maneuvering around to benefit from someone else getting it.  EIGHTEEN years is sufficient.  And the House, where we have citizen representatives from our own home towns or areas…how long do they navigate about in WDC before they forget from whence they came and why they came?  These folks have to maintain a closer alliance with the homefolks because they represent such a smaller area with fewer people and serve far shorter terms in office.  If they are of sufficient caliber to be re-elected for six, two-year terms, I say let them have it.  But after twelve years in office, they should move on to another vocation. 

Biennial Budgeting.  This continuing fiscal circus of Keystone Kop impersonation that is being annually performed by our sitting Presidents and Congress has reached epic fail status.  The combination of sweetheart trades, omnibus packaging, continuing resolutions, and last minute annual appropriations panic composition has rendered the annual federal budgeting process a joke.  For whatever reason, Congress has proven itself clearly incapable of properly passing a federal budget prior to the year the spending plan is scheduled to be implemented.  This has led to ballooning deficits that neither party wants to acknowledge or discuss; a monstrous albatross that is being hung about the necks of our children.  It has led to extraneous and bizarre expenditures being shoveled into last minute legislation that nobody knows anything about…except those doing the shoveling.  It has led to federal agencies never being able to use good business practices to plan their staffing, their training, and their very missions in any type of responsible fashion.  It has gotten so bad that no one involved in the process feels any shame or accountability whatsoever for failing to perform the primary function for which they were elected.  A biennial budget will not solve all of the partisan wrangling that dogs the federal budget process; but if Congress and the President could ever manage to get just one biennial budget completed on time, prior to the implementation period, just think about what might be accomplished in the following two years.  Congress could actually hold real hearings and debates about priorities for federal spending.  Federal agencies could assimilate two-year plans of action about the best ways to implement legislation and law.  It is bound to clear up the water to some degree and it just…makes…good…sense.  Now most folks can only budget as far ahead as their reliable income will allow.   That is no problem for the government, however; if they need more money, they just print more money. 

Less Patronage; More Career; Beef Up Hatch Act.  Increasingly, we are seeing a President assume their office in an environment soaked with partisan venom.  The party that is out of power seems intent on conducting guerilla warfare against the party that is in power; all for the purpose or intent to paralyze the majority party’s policy initiatives with no consideration for good and effective government.  Although I don’t believe I have ever seen this phenomenon rise to the current level we see in the Resist Trump movement; it has indeed gone on for decades and was very much in play during Obama’s two terms.  How can we tamp this down and spend more time governing with less time…organizing? 

It is estimated that each new President appoints about 3,000 people based on political considerations; commonly referred to as patronage appointments.  The upside to this type of hire is that a President gets to select people of like mind and inclination; people who think like he does and will hopefully be loyal to his ideals.  The downside is that even though we know these folks will be true believers, we can only hope they will be competent to fulfill their duties and responsibilities.  That is not always the case.  Many times, people are rewarded more for their monetary contributions to the candidate than they are for their intelligence, capabilities, and accomplishments.  A competent true believer can significantly improve the implementation of a new President’s agenda and serve the government well.  An incompetent political hack serves no useful purpose, destroys the morale and stability that may already be in place, and simply serves as a placeholder until the next President comes around.  A poorly appointed patronage employee is resented by the majority of career civil service employees who serve alongside and subordinate to them; creating a toxic atmosphere for effectiveness and efficiency. 

In addition to the quality problems associated with patronage appointments; there is also the delays created by the need for Congressional approvals.  Many of the patronage appointment positions are essential and critical to the good performance of our government; but they get bogged down in the Congressional review process due to partisan chicanery.  It is not unusual these days for many important political appointment positions to remain vacant well into the mid-term or later of a newly-elected President.  A thorough review needs to be conducted and many of these patronage appointments need to be converted to career civil service positions.  Let the federal hiring system serve its purpose to select the best people for the jobs and then let these people develop a career of accomplishment serving our government.  Just imagine the increased efficiency that would be gained from continuity alone as we transfer power from administration to administration with far less turnover in federal agency managers. Think about how much more time would be available to a new President to accomplish their vision for our nation if they can more quickly put their team in place to implement that vision. These actions would not require amendments to the Constitution; only a bi-partisan group of leaders (please…don’t injure yourself laughing) from Congress who are more interested in government that works than they are in rewarding their contributors.

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And if we are going to convert a significant number of these patronage appointments to career spots, then we must simultaneously (in the same piece of legislation) review and strengthen the Hatch Act.  Generally speaking, the Hatch Act is the set of rules applying to federal employees that is intended to keep politics out of the fashion in which they perform their duties.  It is designed to prevent political conflicts of interests and eliminate favoritism infections in the administration of government policies.  The Hatch Act has been somewhat diluted and marginalized over the last several administrations and the prosecution of its violations have been largely cherry picked by random accusers with political vendettas.  Based on what we have learned in recent revelations about the FISA program, the DOJ’s questionable behavior, and the blatant politicization of government agencies by the Obama administration; it is abundantly clear that the Hatch Act needs to be reviewed and strengthened to prevent the future political poisoning that has been occurring in the halls of our government.

If these three initiatives were to become reality, a President would come into office with full confidence that they could get their team in place in short order and begin the process of fulfilling his or her campaign promises.  They would not be looking ahead to insuring their own re-election and they should more intently focus on actual policy.  Over their term in office, they should be in a position to greatly influence three biennial budgets, which should dramatically enable them to put their policy ideals into actual practice.  They would have serving beneath them in the many and varied layers of government more professionals and fewer politicians than any President before them; and they could rely on the promise that those federal employees were interested in performing their appointed duties to the best of their abilities and not scoring political points for selfish reasons.  It might not be sufficient to entirely eliminate the current spin cycle; but it would absolutely slow it down and put it on a new path towards rediscovering some sense of gravity in this crazy, vertigoesque environment we are now experiencing.

Is the Political Ground Shifting or is the Universe Messing with Our Heads?

Winston Churchill died at age 90 in 1965; Donald Trump was born in 1946.  Churchill made his famous enigma statement in a 1939 radio broadcast.  It is fairly certain that Churchill was talking about Russia and not Donald Trump when he addressed the difficulty of understanding some geopolitical things.  But there can be little doubt that Donald Trump is, using Churchill’s words “…a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma…”  When one of his tweets goes south, or one of his off the cuff remarks seems unusually strange, or he gets too wrapped up in the moment at one of his rallies and goes off script with over the top hyperbole…when one of these things happen and it does not wear well on our President, he is firmly planted with the blame, derision, and ridicule that goes along with such a faux pas.  He is never given the benefit of a doubt.  However, when he pulls off a successful political maneuver or accomplishment (successful tax reform legislation, common sense deregulation, solid appointments of high consequence, foreign policy victories, winning the Presidency against overwhelming odds, etc.), few people give him clear credit for successfully planning and executing the winning strategy and many, in fact, simply explain it away as dumb luck or stumbling unintentionally into success.  I share this confusion on exactly how it is that he achieves many of his wins.  I am not certain if he is Machiavelli or Bozo the Clown…or some bizarre combination of the two.  Regardless of whether or not it is wisdom or happenstance, he has won quite a few battles since ascending to the Chief Executive’s office and the consequences of those victories are becoming more tangible each day.

A person would be rather foolish to predict with much confidence any political outcome of future events whatsoever.  The American political scene is in as much chaos and turmoil as I have seen in my lifetime and even those who have professionally covered this area for a substantial length of time typically throw up their hands these days and shrink from short or long-term prognostications.  And who can blame them?  But there are two WDC subplots that are simultaneously playing out which might lead to a monumental political earthquake later this year.  And that earthquake, if it occurs, could change the face of our nation for generations to come.

I have often marveled and expressed frustration in this blog over the lack of Democratic criticism towards Obama and his leftward lurching legacy he left behind for his national party. Repeatedly, a Democrat in a position of prominence will say or do something that is clearly and universally recognized as bad/stupid/just plain wrong and not a single, solitary, Democratic leader of influence will speak out against the offender.  The closest any of them have come is the final frustration being vented against Hillary Clinton’s never-ending victimhood tour.   Based on some fairly recent remarks, most of which remain anonymous, the Democrat Party has finally reached its limit on Clinton sympathy and now simply wants her to (in her words) go away.  In their minds, all of the angst energy she is expending on perpetually explaining her loss to Trump is sapping resource that could better be used in the Resist Trump effort.  But with the exception of Hillary, it seems no Democrat can commit any offense worthy of intra-party criticism so long as they remain faithful with blind allegiance to the Resist Movement.  Recent developments in the investigations of the Obama Administration/Justice Department and the cadre of Obama holdovers in the Trump Administration that have apparently been plotting, and executing, some apparent form of political treason appear to be headed towards some convincing evidence of wrongdoing; wrongdoing that may rise to the level of illegality and may thus result in criminal prosecutions.  As this twisted little tale of political intrigue plays out, and the rats begin to leap from the less buoyant Good Ship Get Trump, the players may begin to turn on each other.  The true story and the scope of wrongdoing might just begin to cascade out in unexpectedly major torrents, and those WDC Democrats who wish to continue their futures in national politics might actually begin to state the obvious…Some of our folks did some pretty rotten things.  The distance they can manage to put between themselves and those involved in these escapades might help them survive to fight another day.  But the incontrovertible fact is that if many of these Democrats are found to be complicit in clear anti-Trump wrongdoing, it cannot help but throw some positive vibes towards the President, who will undoubtedly seize every opportunity to scream to the heavens…I told you so!

At the same time these investigations are gaining momentum and the houses of cards are beginning to tumble, Trump is finding some traction in the execution of Presidential policy.  Either through karma or lessons learned from the Obamacare Repeal debacle, Trump and the Republicans pushed through tax reform legislation and spin as you might, it is bound to have an overall positive impact for the President and his Party’s national standing.  Trump has somehow managed to come out looking pretty reasonable on this DACA/Immigration debate also.  Be it ever so humble a beginning, the wall is starting.  North Korea, whether serious or not, appears to be approaching the negotiating table in a way no one anticipated.  Democrats will not be able to resist jumping in on this Infrastructure Legislation that is starting up and that is going to be a big PR effort for everyone involved (never underestimate the capacity of federal spending to unite Republican and Democratic Congresspersons!).  My point is that in spite of porn queen sexcapades, wholesale staff overhauls in this Administration, and the continuing sophomoric anti-Trump bias from the mainstream media, Trump is beginning to get the hang of this Presidential Thang and appears to be finding a rhythm that is leading to some success.  Given the obvious volatility of our President, who knows how his job performance report card will read over the next few months; but it is not beyond conceivable that he could parlay his early 2018 successes into a yearlong record of good economic numbers, domestic policy success, and foreign policy initiatives that can be spun in his favor. 

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And if these two things happen…if the investigative convictions begin to mount as Democrats call out their own crooks, if the country appears to be on the right track for the balance of this year and a case can be made that a major part of that success is due to President Trump and his policies…then how shocking will it be to everyone if the Republicans not only hold their Senate majority in the fall midterms, but miraculously also hold, or build on, their House majority status?  Imagine the enthusiasm, courage, and ambition that would accompany such political food fortune and think about the bold actions that such a Republican Congress might take.  Why, it would not be surprising to see such elusive targets as National Health Care Reform, Comprehensive Immigration Reform, and yes…even Entitlements Reform morph into something that resembles obtainable. 

On the other hand, as things stand today, we could also see the Republicans hold the Senate and Democrats seize a narrow majority status in the House; thus leading to at least two long and agonizing years of constant struggle and drama between Congress and the Executive Branch, and highlighted by impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives.  My friends, the next seven months will be very consequential indeed.