Elections

Random Thoughts (5): Trump Bestriding the World

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Since the election (which was only four weeks ago), Trump has not only been more consequential on the world stage than Biden but he has been more visible, period. Perhaps we’ll see more of Biden over the next few weeks as there are still family members who are going to need pardons before Jan. 20.

No truth to the rumors that Chief of Staff-designate Susie Wiles (who, given that she is Pat Summerall’s daughter, probably had turducken for Thanksgiving) has been spending time in the West Wing and asking Biden people to step out of their offices and wait in the hall so she can take measurements and prep for the move-in. Wouldn’t surprise me though, seems like the Biden people, as with their boss, are just mailing it in.

Not Trump who has been super-busy on the world stage, getting things done. As Biden is flying on Air Force One to far-off Angola, presumably to walk-off into another jungle, Trump has been meeting world leaders and making demands. Shock and awe baby. Biden isn’t being overshadowed so much as buried.

I wonder if any world leaders still take Biden’s calls? Probably not. They’re too busy trying to get Trump on the phone.

1) First on the list was Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, flying to Mar-a-Lago to receive a tongue-lashing from Trump over tariff policy and the inability of Canada to patrol its southern border.

When Trudeau complained that Trump’s proposed tariffs would kill the Canadian economy, Trump answered that if that was the case then the US would annex Canada as the 51st state and Trudeau could become governor.

2) So on Saturday, France will officially reopen the newly restored Notre Dame Cathedral after a devastating fire wrecked it five years ago. It will be a grand social event and the US will be represented by Jill Biden for what will be her last international event as First Lady. Her turn to shine one more time during one of the great spectacles of the year.

So given what it will mean to her, of course French President Macron invites Trump. Why? Because they have important business to discuss, they need to plan the future. So not only is Macron telling Jill Biden that her husband is a has-been, but he is going out of his way to make sure she is overshadowed at the event of the year by the Sun King that is Trump.

I would pay good money if somebody could produce a Manning Cast-type production for Saturday with cameras following both Jill Biden and Trump around during the ceremony.

3) Trump reboots for 2024 the classic 1980 flick “Reagan and the Iranian Hostages” by announcing that there will be “all hell to pay” if the American hostages in Gaza are not released by January 20.

As the linked article reports, several of the families have felt that this type of a statement has been long overdue; there are Americans being held hostage by a genocidal terrorist organization and we’re treating them with kid gloves. Wonder no more. Trump is here.

Watch out, world. We’re only four weeks in and the inauguration is still almost seven weeks away.

Seth Barrett Tillman: “In Remembrance of P.J. O’Rourke: Let’s Make a List”

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You’re going to need a bigger list! Seth brings it.

Worth reading as usual.

Quote of the Day

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Dominic Cummings:

…Hopefully DOGE learns: nothing will happen without fast purges, like Twitter in week 1. And government is a SYSTEMS problem: it’s people, ideas, institutions and tools in that order but executed together.
 
Some places need rebuilding, some places need closing, some things need startups. E.g do not try to ‘reform’ USAF to do drones properly, incentives force the senior people to sabotage intelligent action – set up a new Drone Force outside USAF with new legal authority and totally outside existing procurement, HR, budget etc rules, with incentives to focus on engineering and saving $$, not DEI and cost-plus rackets for Boeing!
 
The core disaster in western states is the creation of PERMANENT BUREAUCRACIES — as Palmerston said to Queen Victoria in 1830s, this alien European system would be a disaster in England, making responsibility of ministers FAKE.
 
That’s what we have: FAKE meritocracy, FAKE responsibility, FAKE Cabinet government
 
But a vibe shift is coming fast across the west – covid & Ukraine & the old system’s pathological failures are pushing people to face fundamental change is needed. SW1 is being forced to confront the Vote Leave agenda coming to DC because the old regime is imploding everywhere…

What’s the Matter with Wisconsin?

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Curious about election result changes in one of the swing states, once Wikipedia had the final vote counts of the 2016 election (allowing a relatively simple copy to an Excel spreadsheet), I took a look at stats for Wisconsin’s two most recent presidential elections to see if I could spot signs of any trends. The exercise confirmed what I already knew about the divides in both parties – better than expected.

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Welcoming Hitler to the White House and Other Thoughts

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First, watching a smiling Joe Biden welcome Trump back to the White House caps off an eight-day period of whipsawed memory-holing. Leave aside that just a few weeks before, Biden was reported as calling the man next to him a fascist, the media has been legitimizing the American Hitler’s victory on a daily basis by alternating between breathlessly reporting his nominations and wailing about why they lost.

That’s not how you go about stopping Hitler.

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