One prominent Democrat recently said that he was afraid many Democrats had refused to learn the lessons of November 5. The main lessons were that voters had priorities of economics and illegal immigration. On economics Kamala Harris had said that she would use price gouging accusations to investigate increased grocery store prices. The real reason is high inflation caused by increased government spending and higher fuel (thence transportation) prices. Regarding border security: several Democratic governors have said they will not cooperate with Trump's nominated border czar as he tries to evict illegal migrant thugs. Do they want to shield criminals from eviction while endangering their citizens such as in the nursing student Laken Riley's vicious murder case? One Republican senator said that Trump should withhold financial support from any state that declares itself a sanctuary state.
Trump's new administration has now largely taken shape. The initial candidate for replacing Merrick Garland as the nation's Attorney General was Matt Gaetz, a very improbable choice. The only reasoning that I can come up with for Trump's choice is that the future president wanted a bulldog to clean out the justice department. But Gaetz had too much potential baggage to survive appointment. Thus, he removed his name from consideration, probably with JD Vance's assistance. In Gaetz's place Trump has placed the highly qualified former Florida AG Pam Bondi as his selection. She too is a bulldog (sorry Mark Cuban!) who has the reputation of being "tough on crime." To pick just one example of Merrick Garland's biases and failures you need to look no further than his failure to prosecute dozens of protestors who gathered outside the residences of Supreme Court justices John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh. This followed the leaking of the information to overturn Roe vs. Wade. Without question Garland's failure to prosecute was a clear violation of the law. Other considerations are the voters' disgust with the incessant lawfare accusations against Donald Trump, starting with the Russian Collusion claims (that special counsel Robert Mueller dismissed after an extensive investigation) and continuing through the recent legal charges in New York and Georgia. Voters were sick of one party trying to prosecute their presidential opponent.
Another challenge is the replacement of the Director of the FBI. Christopher Wray carried out the very early morning raid on Trump's secure residence at Mar-a-Largo. The search was for purportedly unauthorized secret documents from his presidential time in the White House. Wray's men even rummaged through Melania Trump's bedroom closet. By contrast, when they finally searched Biden's unsecured garage, special prosecutor Robert Hur concluded that he shouldn't be charged because Biden was "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man, with a poor memory." When questioned in Congress, Wray's favorite response to interrogations was: "I have to be very careful here. This is a matter under investigation. So, I shouldn't comment." At time of writing no replacement for the FBI director has been nominated.
Some of the Left's most hostile opposition has been reserved for those appointees who had defected from their own party. R.F. Kennedy Jr. is nominated to head the Department of Health and Human Services. He is attacked for his stance on vaccinations, but it appears he will concentrate his efforts on securing a safe food supply for the nation. Other medical matters can be handled by the Surgeon General and other medical appointments. Tulsi Gabbard is another former Democrat. She is nominated to head the US Intelligence agency. As a former presidential candidate, she is well qualified for this position, but one opponent said Gabbard visited Syria in 2017 and "appeared to mirror Russian propaganda talking points." A supporter said this was ridiculous. I wonder why these accusations weren't raised when Tulsi was a Democrat!
The proposed appointment that must have most Democrats shaking in their shoes is for the new Department of Government Efficiency. Billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy would head this department without taking any salary. These highly successful businessmen have promised transparency. It has been said that some government workers show up for only 10 hours but claim a full 40-hour weekly wage. If that is true, then such practices will be exposed and the positions eliminated. Democrats love big government--they announced an addition of 87,000 IRS agents a year ago. There will be a huge fight. But if transparency exposes any excesses, the public will be on the side of reductions.
Peter Gilderson, Madison.
