AGENT ORANGE

It is clear that Donald Trump is not taking the mid-term election results well. He has claimed full credit for anyone who won and blamed everyone but himself for anyone who lost. He is taking cheap shots at anyone he thinks might possibly stand between him and the coveted Republican nomination for 2024. Some of them, like Glen Younkin, will fight back. Others, like Ron DeSantis will just ignore him. The usual class of RINOs are gathering to try and defeat Trump, one last time. It is understandable why so many people don’t like Trump. He is famous for tooting his own horn, failing to realize that, in some cases, he is just drowning out deserved praise he was already receiving. This is going to be interesting. One thing is certain, the Don is not likely to go quietly.

But the bigger problem is that we are already getting advice from RINO republicans famous for losing elections. They passionately believe that being reasonable and seeking compromise with Democrats is the secret to success. They are wrong. Democrats have zero interest in compromising with Republicans. During the last four years, while Nancy Pelosi was in charge, there was zero attempt to compromise about anything. Instead, bills were passed on strict party lines in both the House and the Senate. They got zero Republican support, other than from people like Liz Cheney, Mitt Romney and Lisa Murkowski who just love caving in, for the better good, just when victory is within grasp. One thing Republicans need to learn is to just do what you said you would do, without regard to how Democrats feel about anything. For one thing, this is necessary, because Democrats never ever compromise. They would rather the country fail than to see a Republican win. It is in their DNA.

Some have suggested that Republicans should focus on passing good laws and getting things done. That is naïve. Unless Republicans win control of the Senate, which now seems unlikely, the Senate will block everything, unless Republicans surrender in the worst conceivable way at the worst possible time. Then, even if they got by the Senate, Joe would promptly veto it anyway. So, what they should do is vote on what they want, and let the Democrats vote against it and move on. But they should also use the power of the Speakership to investigate things that desperately need investigation. They should start with reforming the January 6th committee, to investigate the failures by Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. They should form a committee to investigate election integrity, not by pretending there is nothing wrong, but rather by documenting the facts and exposing the American people, and the MSM to those facts. The facts, although ignored, are still facts. And they should also investigate Hunter Biden, and people like Adam Schiff and others. Democrats never hesitate to investigate a Republican. Republicans should not hesitate to investigate a Democrat who deserves it. The only difference is that Republicans should focus on facts and not hyperbole.

They absolutely should investigate election integrity and demand action to transform our elections to something that people can trust. They owe it to themselves, they owe it to the American people, and they even owe it to Democrats. Just do the right thing, for the right reason.

Barry Goldwater is given credit for saying that: “extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” That was actually written by his speech writer, Karl Hess. But it has never been truer. If we do not stand up for liberty, true liberty, then we are doomed. If we do not hold truly evil people accountable, then we are doomed. This does not mean that we should assume that all Democrats are evil and that all Republicans are virtuous. That is simply not true. But we must recognize those who have zero interest in playing by the rules and who are only interested in raw political power, with no regard to how it is achieved, and we must stop them.

Until Democrats start being willing to negotiate in good faith, Republicans should not negotiate with them. Compromising with evil is not a virtue.

Republicans need to change the messaging on abortion. They need to agree to limitations in the event of rape and incest and the life of the mother. Those cases are extremely rare, and they are not the real problem. The real problem is the thousands if not millions of abortions done primarily because the pregnancy is considered to be inconvenient. Most people are opposed to abortion, and if Republicans stop fighting about a small insignificant number of exceptions, they will leave Democrats with only one, losing argument, that abortion does not involve the killing of an innocent life. That is an argument they cannot win. We must take away the false moral argument based on an extremely small number of rare, but truly horrific circumstances allowing the truly evil to pretend this is the higher moral ground.

Finally, Republicans need to wake up. Democrats stole the 2020 election. They stole the 2022 midterms. They used the same methods, in the same places, in the same way. If they are not stopped, they will continue doing this. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me, fool me every time and welcome to CNN. We know exactly what Democrats do, when they do it, and where they do it. It is not that Republicans are pure as the driven snow, they aren’t, it is just that Democrats have perfected the art of the steal. Failure to realize that is an enormous mistake. If we really care, we need to develop a strategy to make this impossible. Before it happens, not after it happens. Every poll shows that the vast majority of Americans want fair and honest elections. That includes most Democrats.

Most of all, we must accept the reality that Donald Trump, agent Orange, has become an unnecessary distraction. We owe him a debt of gratitude, for addressing issues everyone else ignored and for keeping his promises. But, whether fair or not, Democrats and their fawning supporters in the MSM have made this all about Donald Trump. They hate him, and he lives within their heads. That is fun to watch, but this is bigger than any person, including Donald Trump. And, recently, he has forgotten what made him so effective and is increasingly focused solely on himself. It is easy to understand his frustration and anger. No one has been treated more unfairly than him. But the issues facing this country are far more important than any individual, and that includes Donald Trump.

He is unlikely to go quietly, but the values he fought for are far more important than the ego of one individual. We cannot be distracted from the vital issues facing us today, even by someone to whom we owe a debt of gratitude for having the courage and the wisdom to listen to those who had been ignored by both parties.

Agent Orange saved a lot of lives in Vietnam. It also killed a lot of servicemen who were exposed to it. Both are true, both are important.

TDM