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Just as the Founders intended, the American people have used their First Amendment rights and freedom to vote, and rebuked the Democrats for their political malfeasance and hubris. So definitive has been the message that the Donks are now devouring one another over who or what is to blame for the debacle. Of course, they’re avoiding the real causes of their political disaster––their long leftist project to “fundamentally transform America,” as Barack Obama infamously put it.
But we shouldn’t take this entertaining autophagy to mean we still don’t have a lot of hard work to do in order to solidify and strengthen our battered Constitutional order. Remember, tyranny never surrenders power easily.
The first order of business obviously rests with President Trump. He’s already made a good start by naming his campaign manager, Susan Wiles, his Chief of Staff. Her brilliant management of the campaign bespeaks the skills and temperament needed for the huge task of staffing the federal government with the right people who can repair the damage done over the past four years.
To do that, Trump must staff federal agencies and his cabinet not just with the competent and ethical, but also patriots and Constitutionalists rather than technocrats, opportunists, and feral careerists. The issue isn’t just partisanship, but the very nature of large-scale government bureaucracies that are not accountable to the citizens. Such institutions are vulnerable to “professional deformation”: the institution’s legitimate function displaced by its own self-serving narrative, which exists to determine hiring and promotion, and is prone to fossilization into received wisdom––that is, the proverbial “box” we’re supposed to think outside of.
Every one of the 4000 positions filled by presidential appointment should be replaced by employees who are thoroughly vetted––especially given how federal agencies and some of their leadership undermined Trump during his first term, and colluded with a left-wing media that functioned as press agents for the Democrats. The national security, military, and foreign policy bureaus are particularly critical for the country’s security and interests abroad, and its employees must be carefully selected, and swiftly fired when they fail.
Take, for example, the idealistic, “rules-based international order,” the stale orthodoxy of our foreign policy and defense agencies. The notion that “diplomatic engagement,” and multinational treaties and institutions can keep the peace and serve our national interests, has for decades not just failed, but allowed enemy states to double down on challenges to our power; or allies to work against our national interests while serving their own.
The best example of this malign dynamic is Iran’s ongoing development of nuclear weapons, which is close to success. Barack Obama and leaders from several other nations created the 2015 “Iran deal” that promised to keep the theocratic regime from achieving its aim. The West’s foreign policy establishments went along with this Chamberlain-class appeasement, and transferred billions of dollars to the Mullahs despite the intelligence provided by Israel that documented the continuous violations of the treaty. Trump’s new appointees should be chosen for their foreign policy realism.
Similarly, Pentagon appointments and hires must comprise those who reject DEI protocols, “systemic racism” race-hustlers, and “trans” identity promoters. All these dubious ideas have been endorsed by some progressives in the Pentagon, who should be replaced with those who don’t want to politicize our country’s services, but instead get back to training warriors for war-fighting.
This would be a big step toward improving the services’ dismal recruitment numbers at a time when our autocratic global rivals are planning for World War III. Trump’s Secretary of State and other State Department positions also must be closely vetted to keep out feckless idealists and political operatives, and instead choose those who want to restore our country’s foreign policy to its traditional realism about human nature and motivation.
With the foundation of the right personnel, the administration can start restoring our government to its Constitutional structure and ideals. For a century progressivism and left-wing influences have besmirched the Constitution, and tried to dismantle and weaken the Bill of Rights. These influences have taken over the Democrat Party, and accelerated these attacks. Most significant has been the assaults on the First Amendment’s right to free speech and worship. Thanks to Trump’s victory, this degradation of the cornerstones of our freedom can be stopped.
One reform that could strengthen those rights is putting more conditions on the $175 billion a year given to universities that are failing to teach these foundational principles. Campuses with policies that violate free speech, or in other ways violate the Constitution, should not be eligible for government grants. Nor should they be allowed to offload tuition expenses onto taxpayers through government subsidized student loans, which the Biden administration was eager to “forgive,” blatantly violating a Supreme Court ruling in the process.
Also, there’s no reason taxpayers should give money to a university like Harvard–– coddler of anti-Semites and supporters of terrorism––that is flush with a $51 billion endowment. If Harvard and other universities are truly committed to “diversity,” then they should pay for their DEI admissions and hires, instead of overpaying their faculty and dolling up their campuses.
All these dysfunctions reflect the growth of a big-state technocracy: government not run according to the principles of the Constitution, all of which exist to protect the political freedom and equality of the citizens. The progressives, like other collectivist governments, have always wanted government controlled by “scientists” and “experts” who know better than citizens how to create “progress” and “social justice.”
In other words, the tyranny of the minority, the government clerks who are unaccountable to the electorate, and the slaves of scientism––bad ideas that are dressed up in the quantitative data and forbidding vocabulary of real science, but are in fact the products of politicized pseudo-science. Hence, they are dangerous to our country, even as they empower grifters and opportunists who wax fat on government subsidies and other transfers of taxpayer money.
Climate change, of course, is the obvious example. The dubious theory claims that human-created CO2 emissions will destroy civilization unless fossil-fuels––the cheap, abundant energy that has created modernity and enriched the West––are banished and replaced with unreliable “renewable energy.” As a result of these policies, created and promoted mostly by Democrats, higher energy prices have damaged our economy, and threatened our national security by empowering nations like China that have no intention of damaging their own economies by ostracizing fossil-fuels–– not when they can reap the benefits of cheap energy as their geopolitical Western rivals wreck their economies and make themselves vulnerable to their enemies.
Again, while staffing agencies like the EPA, the Trump administration should avoid anyone who buys into the “climate change” grift. As he proved in his first term, Donald Trump used executive orders and other tools to slow down this regulatory juggernaut. But for this issue and others, legislation is needed to strengthen the reforms required to correct such suicidal excesses.
Of course, that’s more easily said than done. The story of the United States has been its diversity, which from the beginning has been more complex than the race-hustlers’ recycled “scientific racism” obsession with physical differences. And we the people must not forget that we have the power to choose whom and what we vote for. Self-interest has always been the bane of self-government, but today it is empowered by secularism, affluence, leisure, politically corrupt legacy media, toxic social media, trashy entertainment, and failing educational institutions from kindergarten to university.
For all those dysfunctions, failures, and erosion of the Constitutional guardrails of our rights and freedoms, this election has demonstrated that diverse citizens of every stripe can make the right choice. To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, we’ve rescued our Constitutional Republic, now we have to keep it, and that will require diligence and holding our leaders accountable.
Jeff Bargholz says
Yes, we can’t “rest on our laurels” and assume life will be spiffy from now on. I can guarantee from 60 years of experience that ain’t gonna happen.
FRONT_TOWARD_ENEMY says
We ought to take bets on the subject of how much and in how many ways those voted into office, the chosen “servants of the people” are going to F things up this time.
We can’t really choose the best because the best is not in offer.
It’s like (a) you have the money for something, (b) you try in all the proper places that ought to sell the something and (c) you can’t find the something on offer so (d) you end up empty handed.
It’s like (1) you desperately need ammo, (2) you call for ammo but they can’t provide any, (3) you get to a couple of places where there ought to be at least some but you find none and then (3) you end up with nothing more than you had before.
It’s like we manage to win an election and get control of basically the three branches of government, against the fraud, against the whole MSM and culture and against the apathy, against all the disgruntled people that stay at home having had too much already of disappointments and betrayals, only to see another utter failure because the system was good as designed but for a different kind of people and this age and our leftoxenomorphisized culture can’t provide enough good men to save the day and because we really don’t want to win or we would be already doing it the right way instead of insisting on a way that doesn’t work anymore.
We ought to take bets.
I so much hope to be mistaken.
Snuffy Carter says
The first negative for Trump (or maybe the first attack on him) is that Rick Scott was not made the Senate leader. A secret ballot was done, but leaks say that Cruz, Holley. and Blackburn did not vote for Scott – unbelievable that these 3 aren’t fighting for America like our life and future depends on it.
Rob A says
I wouldn’t be to surprised. The deep state still wants Trump dead and though they may go quiet for awhile, they’re not going to give up. Trump is an outsider and they can’t have that.
Moreover, senators and representatives are elected; the deep state is not. Elected officials serve the deep state and not the other way around. Think about that and ask yourself: who really controls America? We the people don’t; never did and never will.
Adam Smithyman says
Cruz voted for Scott in Wednesday’s official vote.
Spurwing Plover says
And the tyrants can count on their Minions in the M.S. Media Bottom Feeders
Annie45 says
President Trump is setting up the brand new Department of Government
Efficiency to be headed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy – with the
purpose of reining in regulations and cutting government waste, among
other things.
How this will impact areas in the U,S. government behemoth requiring
the solutions outlined in this article remains to be seen – especially
the unconstitutional, anti-individual freedom progressive quest for a
big state technocracy.
Mo de Profit says
A suddenly very coherent joe biden has declared that he will peacefully work to hand over the power to president elect Trump.
These bastards have lied about everything.
Rob A says
Biden is doing what he has been instructed to do and have no choice if he wants to live to see another birthday. At his age, an “accidental” pin prick leading to a sudden heart attack or a sudden fatal brain aneurysm and…… Adios Joe!
It’s been done many times before in the past. (Does anyone honestly believe that Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide in a prison cell outfitted with video cameras and 24/7 guards and no one saw a thing? Not even the video cameras?)
Biden has been around Washington DC long enough to know and understand that there are entities in this country that you do not and cannot say no to. The deep state are their servants.
Cat says
Protecting the vote- election integrity – is urgently important as it’s fundamental to everything you covered. And it is still in question. We cannot always count on a landslide that winds up shrinking through fraud to just squeaking by to combat the grift of self enriching “ progressivism” of the country destroying left.
Chris Shugart says
Fair. Astute. Completely correct. To add any more words would be unnecessary and redundant.
BLSinSC says
The SENATE had better ASSIST PRESIDENT TRUMP! There can be NO OTHER WAY! Very disappointing! This “secret” crap is just that – CRAP!! HOW do WE know how OUR Senators voted? One thing about Joe’s ILLEGAL Student Loan BRIBES! THEY WERE ILLEGAL and SHOULD NOT STAND! Send the little ones a LETTER – REGISTERED LETTER – informing them that the actions Joe took were ILLEGAL and therefor not VALID. Inform them that their BALANCES are REINSTATED but no Interest will be incurred since this was not THEIR fault! Now that will alienate the ALREADY alienated but it will show the Nation that WE mean business – FAIR and LEGAL!
Spirit of TJ says
Excellent article.
There are two particular divergent views in our time of what American governance should be:
The first view is that of the Founders, reflected in many laws, policies, governmental institutions, and embraced by millions of Americans today.
The Founding idea is that the United States of American is a compound constitutional republic. Also, government exists only to protect natural rights, against enemies both foreign and domestic.
The second view is that of the so-called Progressives, also embraced by millions of Americans.
The Progressives believe in democracy–the rule of the simple majority.
The Founders believed such a governmental arrangement would lead to the tyranny of the majority. But Progressives favor that structure, probably due to ignorance, and also the perceived opportunity for manipulation.
The Founders also subscribed to the concept of the electoral college. The Progressives have preferred direct democracy.
The Electoral College System absolutely reflects founding concern over a potential tyranny of the simple majority. But it also reflects the concept that when we vote, the citizens of fifty separate republics are casting their ballots.
So, the fifty republics ultimately select the United States President, not the simple majority vote.
But Democrats want to change all that. That is why many of them say, “in our democracy” and not, “in our republic.”
Yet, history shows us that democracy is manipulative and ultimately destructive.
Indeed, if the end state is democratic Socialism, wherein an unaccountable elite rule, then our liberties, way of life, and even quality of life might be destined for the ash heap of history.
The spirit of liberty must be forever vigilant while the Republic and freedom are forever protected.
Nerty Ivan says
If We the People, want to save our Republican form of GOVT, first and foremost, We The People need to save our American democracy.
This prescription is beyond clear …. as written in our Unanimous Declaration of 4 July 1776.