Trump the Disrupter Picks Some Cabinet Doozies - 11/14/2024

Trump is a disrupter. Let's start with 2016/17. Trump was new and let establishment people recommend staff for him. It was a disaster to him and his movement. The whole D.C. establishment worked, sometimes in shadows, other times in broad daylight, to thwart his agenda and protect the gravy-train status quo. People he was told could be trusted proved to NOT be trustworthy, many times feeling more qualified due to their experience than Trump to make decisions, they went behind his back. They attacked him. They leaked. Sometimes they told truths they had no authority to tell, other times they lied.

As Trump's candidacy advanced this time, I have advocated repeatedly that he clean house. And I mean clean house. Dee Oh Jay, Eff Bee Eye, See Aye Eh, etc., etc., etc.

This time around Trump knows he can't trust the scum in D.C. None of them. All the shrieking and wailing about his picks is because they know they'll have a harder time throwing shade, roadblocks, and law-fare at him to undermine his Presidency. All the right people hate these new picks. The more they hate them, the better I feel about them. My support of Trump was specifically a repudiation of the D.C. establishment and the status quo. My happiness is inversely proportional to their unhappiness. I'm pretty happy.

Matt Gaetz seems to be the highest lightning rod of the bunch. I'm not a huge fan, OK? But I like the pick, if for no other reason than it's Trump's big middle finger being pointed at the Dee Oh Jay and Eff Bee Eye.

I like Tulsi Gabbard at Dee En Eye. I hope the first thing she does is find out who put her on a terror watch list and outs them. The Gee Oh Pee traded warhawk Liz Cheney for Tulsi. Well played. Well played indeed.

I like the Pete Hegseth pick at Dee Oh Dee. A SecDef who isn't a slave to the Military-Industrial complex is a breath of fresh air. I suspect he will yank out the woke by the roots and get our military back to focused on it's core business, warmaking and war deterrence based on strength.

I love Tom Homan as border czar. Love him.

I love the Zeldin, Wiles, Noem, Radcliff, and Stefanik picks.

It's D.O.G.E. time!

For me the most interesting, in addition to Gaetz, are Elon and Vivek and their new Department of Government Efficiency. Clean the house, fellas. Some departments need a trimming badly. Others need to be eliminated, totally. And please, while you're at it, find out where all the "lost and missing" money goes. It ain't lost, it's stolen or hidden. I know you know that.

People who ignore history are damned to repeat it. With these picks, Trump is doing his best to ensure his first term was a learning experience that allows for MAXIMUM DISRUPTION in his second go-round. 

Fuck D.C., they have it coming. Let it rip, Mr. President. It's a whole new ballgame.

Post Election Thoughts, Some Quick Hitters - 11/12/2024

Mail in voting: I get that mail in voting is here to stay. Deadlines and processes need to be adjusted to make it work. Accepting mail in ballots received a week after the election? No. Accepting mail in ballots after Election Day with no postmark? No. I'm not a huge fan of drop boxes, either, but a mail in cutoff of 5 business days before Election Day, and making either early voting or drop box locations available afterward makes more sense to me.

Counting in AZ.

Still counting?: The only acceptable reason to be still counting today, one week after Election Day has passed is to do a recount in a race that was/is too close to ensure confidence in the outcome. Looking at you, CA, AZ, and PA. You should be embarrassed and ashamed.

Speaking of AZ, it's time to stick a fork in her. She's done.

Time to put Kari Lake on the bench, permanently: Kari Lake is articulate and attractive. She has also proven, hopefully for good, that the people of Arizona don't want her as their Governor or Senator. It's time to accept reality, Ms. Lake. You're done. That's why there's a fork in your back.

Trans agenda: The trans agenda hurt Democrats. Trump's advertising on the issue was devastating among some groups very important to Kamala Harris' chances. We can and must treat trans persons with love, kindness, decency, and respect AND at the same time recognize that genetic boys don't belong in girl's locker rooms or in girl's/women's sports competitions. Gender reassignment for minors is child abuse, and any action to advance gender reassignment of a minor without parental consent should be a crime and subject to criminal and civil punishment. This agenda is but one example of a political movement going too far. I saw an exchange from CNN where this guy went nuts because another panelist said Americans rejected boys in girls locker rooms and sports. How dare he misgender these 'girls'! Dude, you're the problem. When you wonder how she lost, look in the mirror.

Immigration and deportation: A couple of thoughts on immigration and deportation based on some stuff I read this morning and from my own thinking. Where and how to do deportation, and how to fund it? Start with the 1.5 million plus already slated for deportation by the Biden Administration. Add in any and every person here illegally who is guilty of violent crime, human, or drug trafficking. Plus, add in all those known to have criminal records from their country of origin. How to pay for it? Lemme put it this way: how much are we paying to pay for flights for immigrants, for housing for immigrants, for health care for immigrants, for food for immigrants, for cell phones for immigrants? Take the money from there and eliminate expenses associated with these deportees permanently. Should families be separated because a father or mother faces deportation? Not necessarily. As I've heard the incoming border czar, Mr. Homan say himself, we can deport the families together. Finish building the wall, please.

Eric Ericson's Letter to Democrats. Better Than Mine Was Yesterday? - 11/8/2024

Another "Dear Democrats" letter. A good one.

Eric Ericson, a conservative media personality from Atlanta, posted this letter on X this morning. I'm disappointed in myself that I failed to mention the deception of the party in power and their state run media complex. Worth a look.

Dear Democrats,

You lost, in part, because your side of the aisle engaged in a cover-up of the sitting President’s cognitive decline. His staff, Cabinet Secretaries, members of Congress, and senior members of the press with access to Biden told everyone he was fine. They lied, and Biden got exposed on a debate stage. If you are not willing to hold your own side accountable for engaging in a coverup of the President’s decline, don’t expect Republicans to take you seriously about holding Donald Trump accountable.

In 2008, I launched an effort to find, identify, and drive from politics those people who were leaking damaging information about Sarah Palin to the press from inside the McCain campaign. Nichole Wallace herself told me my effort pushed her out of Republican politics.

It would help if you guys did the same thing now. Your own team lied to you all and to the American people about Joe Biden. Those people set you up for failure on Tuesday night. Before you blame Americans for rejecting you, maybe identify and oust the people who made that rejection possible. They are both in politics and the press.

If you are not willing to clean up your side, don’t expect Republicans to clean up theirs. It was not our side complicit in a coverup of historic proportions. It was the voices in the press who assured us Biden was better than ever and the Democrat politicians and appointees who hid him, excused him, and deflected for him.

To rebuild trust, perhaps demand accountability. People can’t trust a party that says the economy is fine when they’re also saying the president is fine and everyone can see with their own eyes that he is not. 

https://ewerickson.substack.com/p/dear-democrats

To My Democrat Friends (and former friends) - 11/7/2024

Many of you can't understand how it is I, or we, meaning our country, could elect someone as detestable as Donald Trump. Please read this very carefully. I mean this without animus or any form of gloating.

Yes, I voted for Donald Trump. He was not my first choice, but the GOP had a primary, and Governor Ron DeSantis didn't make the cut. Before I get to explaining my choice, there is one important thing I'd like to remind you of:

According to the New York Times right now, 6:10 p.m. EST, November 7th, Vice President Kamala Harris has 68,238,944 votes. Also according to the Times, in 2020 Joe Biden received 81,284,666. That's a difference of 13,045,722 votes. Some votes are still coming in, but it is safe to say she received at least 10,000,000 less votes in 2024 than Joe did in 2020. So, before you blame us Republicans and conservatives (oops, too late, you already have blamed us), be honest with yourself. 10 million votes didn't just magically appear in 2020 or disappear in 2024, did they? It's not my fault your party decided against a real, competitive primary process. Don't blame us for that shit.

Ok, so you've asked, "How is it I/we could possibly vote for such a horrible human being as Donald Trump?" The answer is in 3 parts:

1) I don't believe he's a rapist. I'm not going to argue it, I'm just saying I don't believe either the accuser nor the Prosecutor, Judge, or Jury. I don't believe them. I also don't accept that he's a felon. We'll see what the judge does later this month, but until sentencing, whether or not he's a felon remains to be seen. I don't care that you're already convinced, I'm not. Alvin Bragg took misdemeanors and contorted the law to suit his purpose. The judge was as far from even handed in rulings and jury instructions as is legally possible. 

Trump has his flaws, the biggest are in a tie between his mouth, his ego, and his thin skin. Yes he is far from perfect. I saw a friend post a comparison to Jesus a couple of weeks ago on Facebook. I didn't respond. If I did, the response would have simply been, "I'm not picking a church, I'm picking a President." But, along the same lines, I'm quite sure Jesus would object to the left's primary sacrament, abortion. Don't even try and tell me abortion isn't what energizes many, many women (and some men) on the left. I'm having a hard time imagining Jesus in a pink pussy hat protesting for more abortion rights.

Bottom line, I don't get my news where you do and I don't see Trump as perfect, far from it, but I do not see the Hitleresque demon that many of you do. I do not see that. Sorry. Last thing to mention on Trump and the election: did any of you Democrats watch his Joe Rogan interview? I think he came across very well. His humanity and humility came through. I'm guessing that very few of you watched. Who'd watch Hitler, right? Made up minds don't seek to be changed.

2) I do not support hardly any of the Democrat progressive agenda. Before I get into the candidate herself, I just don't buy the left's agenda. Immigration, economy, crime and safety, abortion (I was pro choice, pro life in my own life, but you went so far with it I can no longer say I'm in line with you at all), the list of disagreements is top to bottom.

I  don't hear even attempts at persuasive arguments for the things I disagree with. The advocacy is always the same: demonize me for disagreeing rather than making an argument to persuade me to agree. Fuck that. To put a bow on it, I DO like most of Trump's policies. I can separate his unlikable personality traits from his policies. You can't, I know. Sorry.

3) Joe Biden has dementia. How in the hell do you think I would have supported him? Kamala Harris talks in cliches and flower phrases, but says nearly nothing of substance. She was running for about 100 days, hid for the first 50, tried to make her case for 3 or so weeks, and spent the last 10 days attacking me, people like me, and our candidate as fascists, threats to democracy, and all kinds of stuff. She came across to me as an empty suit. The fact that she ducked Joe Rogan should be all you need to hear. Her failure to clearly articulate her agenda, and her unwillingness to be candid in any moment on the campaign trail left me feeling like she is an insincere, dishonest broker. How in the hell would you expect me to support her?

Honestly, I came to believe that whoever is pulling demented Joe's strings, which I know to you having unelected, hidden power brokers run our country YOUR way is fine, for me isn't okay, would pull her's. I became and remain convinced, had Kamala won, those same puppeteers hidden in the shadows would remain in charge. Not if I could help it!

To summarize, it was the Democrats who disappeared from 2020 who failed to elect Kamala Harris in 2024. For my vote it was a matter of not hating Trump like you do, not agreeing with her policies (which she failed to even try to persuade me on), liking Trump's polcies more, and lastly, my belief that Kamala Harris was an extremely weak candidate, the weakest I remember in my lifetime. She ran a lousy campaign. I'm not voting my country down the shitter because you don't like him and you might be mad at me.

To my friends who I am aware consider us Trump voters to be uneducated and stupid: Get over yourselves. Or don't. I really don't give a fuck.

Now What? A Day One To Do List for the 47th President - 11/6/2024

 

Trump elected 47th POTUS

Trump won. Now what? On day one, I hope Donald Trump will:

Pardon Hunter Biden.

Pardon all J6 people who were not specifically convicted of violent crimes or active participation in a conspiracy to stop the Electoral College process.

Permanently remove the security clearances of every one of the 51 intelligence officials who conspired to interfere with the 2020 Presidential Election. No exceptions.

Fire Jack Smith.

Fire the entire upper echelon of the DOJ,  FBI. intelligence community, and State Department. The entire unelected and unaccountable D.C. bureaucracy has to go.

Reinstate all the Executive Orders re: immigration that Joe Biden eliminated when he came into office.

Begin deportation of all illegal immigrants who have committed crimes since ingressing our country illegally. Also locate and deport the illegal immigrants who had violent criminal records in their home country before entering the US illegally.

There's more to do, but day one is a pretty busy one.

A Realignment? - 11/5/2024

An interesting thought came to me when I saw that the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire (LPNH) endorsed Donald Trump last night. There is a massive realignment going on, a shift unlike any before in my lifetime. How significant is the realignment?

Realignment

We've already seen, columnist and former right wing stalwart, Bill Crystal had gone over. Add Liz Cheney and a long list of other Neocons, and you see a big separation between Trump Republicans and the establishment.

As business has shifted away from factories toward high tech, so has the Democratic Party become owned and controlled by same.

Democrats have become the party of war, free speech crackdown, and punitive use of the D.C. bureaucracy to punish opponents.

Meanwhile, in addition to the Libertarian endorsement I mentioned above, Trump was endorsed by Elon Musk, who is a hero for preserving free speech at the former Twitter.

Last night, Joe Rogan, who previously had been opposed to Trump, also endorsed. Getting to actually speak to him, and also after conversing with Elon Musk about the election, Rogan came forward with a late endorsement.

Tulsi Gabbard, as recently as 2019, was a Democratic Party candidate for the Presidency. She's fully enlisted in Trump's camp.

Bobby Kennedy Jr. (RFKJ) was a Democratic Party candidate as recently as this past spring. He and his running mate, the impressive Nicole Shanahan, are fully on board with Trump.

What do Elon Musk, LPNH, Joe Rogan, Tulsi Gabbard, RFKJ, and Shanahan have in common?

None of them, not a one, are far right. None of them is a far right extremist.

Florida as Election Bellweather - 11/2/2024

Florida Results Will Foretell the Rest of the Story

Look no further. Here in Florida lies the answer. I'll make it short and sweet. Florida's results will come in early, and if you watch Florida, you'll have a good idea what to expect in te rest of the country.

If Harris wins FL by ANY Percentage: If Kamala Harris wins Florida (she is NOT going to win Florida), Trump and his supporters can fuggedaboudit. It's over. It means Kamala Harris will be the 47th POTUS.

If Trump wins FL by about 4% or less: It will be a long night for Trump and all the swing states will be in play for Harris. Advantage: Harris.

If Trump wins FL by only 5-6%: It will be a close election nationwide. The results will hinge on obscure districts in swing states that may not be done counting till Thursday or later. Coin toss.

If Trump wins FL bu 7-9%: Trump will win the election, but it will be close, long, and drawn out. Advantage: Trump.

If Trump wins FL by 10% or more: It will be a blowout for Trump nationally.

I'll be watching Florida Tuesday night. Sometime between 8:30 and 9:00 p.m., numbers will be rolling in from the panhandle. I'll have my popcorn, a few sweet snacks, and a nice cup of cappuccino. It's going to be a long night, but I'll already know: Florida will tell the story.