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Now 100% T****-Free!
I wonder if we can comment about the current administration’s activities without using the T-word or alluding to things that, however sensational they might be, aren’t actually matters of policy, executive action, or law.
I really like Scott Pruitt over at EPA. I think his talk of streamlining the permitting process, ending the seemingly arbitrary authority of that agency to classify my backyard as a navigable waterway, and otherwise introducing some balance into an overzealous bureaucracy, is wonderful.
I don’t like trade sanctions, think they generally do more harm than good. More people use steel to build stuff here than are employed in the manufacture of the steel itself; far more people buy stuff made with steel than are harmed by foreign subsidies on the steel we import. I hope Mr. Kudlow — a fine choice as economic adviser, in my opinion — can maintain the pro-growth enthusiasm while discouraging too much flirtation with protectionist measures that ultimately raise the prices of US goods.
I think the tax cut was great, and I hope Congress can act to make the best parts of it permanent so that the reductions don’t automatically expire a few years from now. I do expect to see significant business investment (particularly in the area of industry that interests me personally, which is automation) as a consequence of the changes to depreciation rules.
Putin is a fiend. He was a fiend when ex-President Bush looked him in the eye, he was a fiend when ex-President Obama and Secretary Clinton tried to be his friend, and he’s a fiend now. We should sell as much coal and natural gas to Europe as we can, to undercut Russia and deprive Putin and his thugs of their chief source of revenue and decrease their influence over the continent.
Speaking of over there, I’m a huge Brexit enthusiast, and I hope we quickly solidify strong and open trading agreements with our cousins across the pond. The United Kingdom has plenty of problems; trading with us shouldn’t be one of them.
I look forward to the groundbreaking for the new US Embassy in Jerusalem. Faster, please.
Dealing with sanctuary cities, improving border security, appointing conservative judges, continuing to deregulate: there’s a lot that’s happening and a lot that needs to be done. Let’s encourage our congressmen to do it.
Speaking of Congress: it’s pretty much a given that the incumbent party takes a bath in the midterm, particularly when it runs both houses and the executive. That’s likely to happen this year; the Democrat-aligned press and entertainment industries and their relentless anti-GOP hostility will pretty much guarantee it — despite a promising economy and positive developments on the international front. So here’s hoping we get a lot done before then, and don’t lose our heads when and if a foolhardy and gullible electorate decides to put the scoundrels back in office.
There. That wasn’t so hard.
Published in Politics
The difference is that in that post the original poster needed tough advice.
Right. Okay.
So, border security. I’ve long wanted a wall/serious fence, even if it isn’t necessarily the most cost-effective way to secure the border. I like how tangible it is, and how, unlike more dynamic, high-tech systems, it’s obvious when a wall/fence is being neglected. I appreciate that this administration is willing to talk about border security, and I like the talk of responding to the so-called “sanctuary” movement: as much as I respect federalism, the integrity of our national borders is a federal responsibility and one the states should not be free to subvert.
I was listening to a bit of a recent debate in California, in which a woman who supports the sanctuary movement described its opposition as (surprise) like something “from Nazi Germany.” And it occurred to me that blatant disrespect for borders was one of the many sins of the Nazis, as they demonstrated time and again. The word “Nazi” now seems to be a universal pejorative on the left, applicable to anything one doesn’t like.
No, in that post, I was not asking for advice and was clear about it. I did get some that was well meaning in the thread and in PMs which helped. Telling me to “get over myself” was not helpful.
You like to act like you speak hard truths, but in reality, you just like to say nasty things.
Everyone is not as think headed as a Marine recruit. Or for that matter, any sort of Marine.
Have you considered maybe you need some tough advice as well? Telling somebody looking for work to “get over yourself” isn’t advice, it’s an insult. And if you’d taken the time to read and digest the OP here, it’s pretty clear the T-word referred to is the President. Instead you label the entire post “too obscure”.
If you don’t understand what the author is trying to say, then why comment at all? I ask that in full knowledge of the irony that I’ve done the same thing myself on a Mona column or two.
I’m happy to move on from this discussion, but please give it second thought or two before distilling “tough advice” to a grown man in the future.
Well, good. Hope that’s wrapped up.
On an unrelated topic, there’s something I’ve observed about the current political scene. I’m finding that I’m paying more attention — I suspect we all are — to the temperament, conservatism, etc., of various people in government than I have in a long time. I’m more aware of Cabinet officers right now, for example, than perhaps I’ve ever been. I listen to Nikki Haley and consider her future at the federal level. I think about Mike Pompeo at CIA — when was the last time I really paid much attention to who ran the CIA? It’s been awhile.
It would be interesting if we are more focused, now, on the way the members of the executive branch think, and if that focus allowed some of them to shine in ways that civil service rarely does, even at that level. It seems to be the opposite of a “me too” culture, which is more what we had under ex-President Obama. This could bode well for the next several years, as serious conservative Republicans get tested and presented to the electorate.
Being more aware of these people actually increases my confidence in the quality of our governance right now. Perhaps that’s wishful thinking, but it’s how I’m thinking nonetheless.
I’m not so much against The Wall as much as I worry that excessive focus on The Wall distracts from more effective proposals. People act like The Wall is the answer to all our immigration problems. If we don’t get The Wall then we haven’t accomplished anything, and to a lesser extent if we do get The Wall then we’ve addressed the problem. (Many more of the former than the latter, admittedly.) I understand wanting The Wall as a symbol, but on the list of things that have been proposed to fix the immigration system, The Wall is very very far down on the list. The RAISE Act and universal E-Verify should be the top priorities, IMO, and if passing those items means no Wall, then so be it.
Nope.
I figured most people got out of that stage in high school. I’d suggest you consult the first one of Gen. Mattis’s three rules.
Here’s some tough advice for you. The reason you have no friends is your fault, and no one else’s.
Ok. Now who’s being childish?
General Mattis would say go find a job and stop pretending it’s someone else’s “messaging” problem.
Yes, yes.
But let’s talk about education reform. Let’s talk about how the GOP got rid of the individual mandate, and what that means for Obamacare as a whole — and whether it’s even Constitutional now.
Let’s talk about how we killed so-called “net neutrality.”
Yes. I apologize for not catching the “T-word.” Tax? Trade? So now I know.
The Transpacific deal, no wait. That’s a T-word.
All I can say is I like Nikki Haley. She’s the classiest, smartest, toughest hombre I know, the hootenest, tootenest, shootenest bobcat tailed wildcat of the west. The fastest gun north, south, east aaaaand west of the pecos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuZcUk3GjfA
I don’t think it is at all constitutional, but then again neither is Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare.
I’d love to see a leader say:
Americans love these things, but they are not permitted. Let’s amend the Constitution o they are. Love to see how that beaten shook out.