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The Due Process Industrial Complex: "Are We the Constitutional Crisis?"

Democrats, seemingly resigned to political irrelevance, have shifted from principled opposition to obstructionism. They are seeking to stall or block the Trump administration's fulfillment of voter will.  In the face of popular demand for mass deportation of illegal aliens they have positioned themselves as self-appointed experts on due process. Their demands for due process might hold greater totemic power if not undermined by apparent hypocrisy, having supported limited due process for January 6 defendants. The demand for due process is desperate political opportunism driven by faulty political calculus. This explains why a US senator and congressional representatives traveled to El Salvador over a single deported alien. They are demanding that illegal aliens receive more vetting for deportation than they received on entering the country under Biden. In 2016, 38% of Americans supported deporting all undocumented immigrants. Today that number is 56% . There is nothing quite like i...
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Democrats and the Fight Against the Middle Class

It has been somewhat difficult to place the opposition to Trump in a context where it all makes sense. The simplest explanation behind the difficulty is that there is no sense behind it. This is not to suggest that there is no sense in opposing Trump, although there is an argument to be made. There are no rational goals behind the opposition. His platform is more popular than he is. This opposition is not a response to what he is doing meant to generate support for Democrats. It is sound and fury, which may come to signify far more than is wished.  Instead of considering the opposition to DOGE, his sex recognition, DEI, and deportation Executive Orders as separate, it is better to see it all as a continuous spectrum. The most consistent element is that the opposition, lacking any principle, reacts to everything as if it is the one thing that will finally bring Trump down. In so doing, they select positions that are overwhelmingly unpopular. Being met with apathy seems to only ...
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Reflexive Derangement as Resistance

Immediately upon his second inauguration, President Trump set out to fulfill his campaign promises through executive orders. Among his commitments was to shrink the federal workforce, especially of those who have continued to work from home post-COVID. Among the government workers fired were 3-400 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) workers. Since the inauguration there have been a number of shocking airplane collisions and and near misses, starting just 9 days after the inauguration. On January 29 a US Black Hawk helicopter collided with a civilian jet near Ronald Reagan Airport. With each incident, the media returned to the question of how much the FAA staff cuts were responsible for what began to seem like an unprecedented number of accidents in a president's first two months.  The media coverage of this topic highlights the media and Democrat's approach to everything Trump does. It is not about the subject, it is always about the fact that it has happened under or because...
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As Go The Amish: The Election of Unintended Consequences

Starting immediately after Donald Trump's second win for the presidency, I saw Facebook post after post asking, "Why is this happening?" Because the answer is so obvious to me, I offered it. Several of the women asking the question blocked me, which has made clear the question isn't genuine. It should be. The actual question is, "Why was Trump's resounding win so surprising?" Through polling we knew the issues most important to the electorate. Agree or disagree with his solutions, Trump spoke about addressing those issues. Kamala employed Hillary Clinton's campaign strategy, she focused on Trump. One strategy spoke directly to voters. The other spoke directly to the legacy media, which ignored the issues most important to voters. For that reason, Kamala supporters, which includes those who have the highest trust in legacy media, especially those working in the industry, were the most surprised by the outcome. The short answer to why Trump won is that...
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It's Not About Cats or Haitians: Why It's Not Racist to Question Importing Millions of Poor Migrants

The most memorable moment of the first debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump was his assertion that in Springfield, OH "they are eating the dogs, the people that came in, they are eating the cats. They're eating the pets of the people that live there." The quote has inspired several surprisingly catchy songs and accusations of racism and xenophobia. The statement is based on assertions by residents of Springfield. It has supposedly been debunked because the city manager said he has no credible evidence of pets being taken, despite residents of the town continuing to suggest it is happening. Either they are lying because they hate Haitians or they are accurately describing their experience of the Haitian influx to their town. Are the descriptions xenophobic only if they are false or because they are shared publicly at all? Accusations of racism or xenophobia are reflexive responses to any possibly negative assertion about black or migrant subjects. It does not mat...
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Bravery Is a Choice, and Cowards Make Bad Leaders

In early September, Megyn Kelly interviewed four Minnesota veterans of the Iraq War. One of the veterans, Paul Herr, offered a memorable quote. "Fear is a reaction, bravery is a choice." Although he was talking about vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz and his decision to retire from the National Guard before fulfilling his commitment, it could easily apply to Kamala Harris and her campaign strategy. For anyone not paying attention due to the recent end of a coma, her strategy has been to avoid unscripted engagement with the press. In the time since becoming the nominee she has done only one interview. It was an hour or more edited to 16 minutes, she was accompanied by Tim Walz, and it featured very little follow up questioning. A growing chorus of political commentators are suggesting that she needs to talk more to the press to let the American people know who she is. The changing polling suggests that there is a growing awareness of her character and who she is from her cont...
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The Fog of Tik Tok War

On September 11, 2001, I awoke early to look at apartments across New York City. After visiting an apartment in Brooklyn I planned to never step into again, I stopped at a bodega for a coffee. On the small television behind the counter, the clerk was watching the news of a plane crashing into one of the World Trade Center towers.  Without listening closely, I assumed that it must have been a small craft and pilot error. In the moment, I could not conceive of it being deliberate. After hopping on the subway and reaching midtown, I heard about the second crash and hearsay of others near DC. From my vantage near the library I could see the columns of smoke rising from the towers, and watched them both eventually collapse. In the days and weeks that followed grew a sense of unity that was unique in my lifetime, a collective hurt stronger than our many differences. Much of the world offered its heartfelt support, despite our status as a fading superpower. That support faded over the yea...
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