By grape_vein @Adobe Stock
The Good News: America’s Constitution Works
“The People have spoken, the Bastards.”
In Spectator US, Charles Lipton asks, “How much will Trump be able to get done?” Even if Republicans don’t win the House, which remains unsettled, Donald Trump will be able to get a lot done. With Republicans in control of the new Senate, all Trump’s appointments will be approved, including his picks for both the Executive Branch and the federal bench.
Justice Ginsburg Could Have Been Replaced
There are several crucial questions here. For the judiciary, the most important is whether several aging conservative justices on the High Court will retire, knowing Trump can replace them with a like-minded justice? Will they remember the long shadow of a very old Ruth Bader Ginsburg staying beyond the time when Democrats could (have replaced) her?
The most important cabinet positions are traditionally the secretaries of State and Treasury. Both will be critical again this time. But so will several more high-level positions. The most important are the attorney general, directors of the FBI, CIA and National Intelligence, the national security advisor, and the secretary of Homeland Security.
Build the Wall
Homeland Security will be in charge of building the wall with Mexico, which was more promised than delivered during Trump’s first term, and organizing the deportation of illegal immigrants, which Trump has also promised. The deportations will begin with violent criminal gangs and will require prompt judicial hearings, not a notice to return in four or five years for a court date.
It would go a long way if President Biden – or whoever is minding him – directed the Department of Justice to withdraw the current cases against Donald Trump now rather than wait for the new president to do so. The Biden administration should urge state courts to do the same thing.
A Government of Laws, Not of Men
Yes, that would infuriate Democrats, but here’s joe Biden’s self-serving reason to do this.
The more generous he is to Trump; the more likely Trump will be to pardon Joe Biden for any potential offenses and either pardon Hunter Biden or commute his expected jail term. To understand the political cost, remember how President Gerald Ford paid for his wise decision to pardon Richard Nixon. Ford’s opening lines of his address to the nation, explaining that decision, are worth repeating, “My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over. Our Constitution works; our great Republic is a government of laws and not of men.”
“During the first Trump term, the FBI and intelligence agencies played a crucial — and malign — role in undermining the president,” continues Mr. Lipton.
They cannot be allowed the same, secretive, unfettered, self-interested discretion this time. The problem is stopping them without impeding their essential duties. Those agencies are extremely difficult to control and have strong outside support, thanks to their close ties to Democrats in Congress, the Washington Post and New York Times. That’s why strong, fair-minded leaders for those agencies are crucial and why they must root out the partisan hacks at the mid- and lower- levels.
On foreign policy, America faces two big problems. Ukraine and Israel each has its own vexing, complex issues, neither of which are interconnected or easily solved.
- It is worth remembering that Trump lacks the power to impose a peace settlement on Ukraine, which has fought tenaciously to regain its territory. Yes, the US and its European partners can threaten to withhold weapons, ammunition and intelligence assets. That will get the warring parties to the table, but it will not ensure a stable peace if it leaves Putin’s regime in control of Ukrainian territory. (Ukraine) will want to retake it. (Putin) will want to expand from that base.
- Trump may have more success in the Middle East, doing what he did last time: building an anti-Iran coalition, primarily around Israel and Saudi Arabia, without putting boots on the ground. But the huge decision will be about Iran’s efforts to build a deliverable nuclear bomb. Taking out those facilities deep underground will almost certainly require American military assistance, which would draw the US into a very dangerous conflict. One question is whether Trump can use credible threats against Tehran to get most of what he wants without taking full-scale military action.
Then there is trade, and here America must not kid herself: Europe and China will both defend themselves by imposing counter-tariffs on American exports. Our neighbor to the South will fight back by refusing to help with border security.
Trump’s hard task will be to revitalize American manufacturing without sinking into a trade war.
Will There Be Crucifixions
Then there is the losing party. Democrats will be tempted to blame their loss on one bad candidate, one bad pick for vice president, and dreadful “wrong track” numbers for the current administration, which are hard for a member of that administration to escape.
The overriding questions for Democrats, writes Mr. Lipton, is whether they can move beyond blaming personalities (Biden and Harris), consider fundamental issues, and reshape the party to address them?
A pall has been cast over the Democrat Party: Voters in America were lied to about Joe Biden’s physical and cognitive fitness. It’s going to take time to square that circle.
Kamala Harris turned out to be the object lesson in what not to be. At NRO, Jeffrey Blehar notes, Every Democrat “should be downright scared to behave like her ever again. Everything that’s wrong with our modern politics somehow managed to coalesce into the form of her campaign. No wonder she managed to lose the popular vote to Donald Trump, of all people.”
Can the incoming administration accomplish most of the ambitious agenda Donald Trump has promised? Both sides of the aisle agree that Donald Trump has pulled off the most astounding political comeback in American political history. Mr. Lipton asks, can the newly elected president pull off a successful Trump administration?
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