It’s the end of another year and my postings today include a few items from my “to do” pile.

THE YEAR THAT WAS – The media and the Internet, and blogs like mine, will be reviewing the year that was … 2018. I choose not to do that. You can bet that most of the accomplishments of the Trump administration will not be covered.

I will just remind you of the website of his promises kept. Accomplishments are segmented under Economy and Jobs, Immigration, National Security and Defense, Foreign Policy, Land and Agriculture, Regulations and Law and Justice. If interested, CLICK HERE

WONDER WHY TRUMP IS hanging tough on the border wall issue? The latest Economist/YouGov.com poll found that 84 percent believe illegal immigration is a “problem” for the United States. Only 10 percent said it is “not a problem.”

DISAPPOINTMENT – Regular readers know that I frequently quote Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan, with whom I usually agree. Not so today. In her weekend column she asks Trump administration insiders to “come out of the shadows” and tell us what it’s really like to work in the Trump White House. Not anonymously – “I want them to put their name on it.”

“Turnover has been high in this administration. Many have been fired or resigned. They should tell us what they know,” Noonan espouses. “Trump supporters will not believe anyone who will not put his (or her) name on it. They will believe those whose motives are clear and constructive … serious people who gave an inexperienced president a chance, who joined his administration when others were reluctant, who put their careers on the line and tried to help the country.”

While Noonan readily admits the career risk they would be taking, she says that if they “do see this president as ultimately dangerous, you have a responsibility to say it. We need some noble rats.”

I disagree. As I have said many times, Donald Trump was elected to change “old Washington.” He debated and defeated 16 politicians with nothing new to offer the voters. As a business man, his mode of operating is different, more results oriented. The sluggish ways of Washington must be terribly frustrating to him, yet look what he has accomplished in his first two years.

Face it, how many lower level people in the administration have worked in the business environment? They easily move from one position to another; working for a legislator one day, to a department like the EPA the next, and who knows where next. Many are right out of college with a degree in political science.

On top of that, he has to deal with members of the Deep State, some of which have probably infiltrated the administration. Let’s not forget the RINOS who do not support his agenda.

Necessity has led the president to bring on experienced establishment people, like John Bolton and Mick Mulvaney. William Barr will be a welcome addition as attorney general.

No, Peggy, we don’t need “noble rats” to give their uneducated psychiatric opinions of the president.

IT’S NO SURPRISE that people and companies have been fleeing the high-tax states of the Northeast and headed for no-tax and low-tax states, friendly to business. Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Washington, Utah, Florida and Colorado were among states with the fastest job growth this past year, according to the Department of Labor.

Several states, including New York, Illinois and Minnesota will likely lose House seats after the 2020 reapportionment. Arizona, Florida and Texas will likely increase their representation.

DISINGENUOUS TO SAY THE LEAST – The next time you hear a Democrat say that the Republicans didn’t do anything about the border problem when they had control of the House and Senate, it’s okay to yell bulls**t at your TV screen, because you know (and so do they) that the Senate needed 10 Democrat votes to pass legislation.

YOU MAY NOT HAVE HEARD that President Trump signed an executive order to freeze the pay of federal workers in 2019 on Friday. “The move is consistent with Trump’s budget proposal and a notice to Congress in August, when he cited ‘serious economic conditions’ in cutting pay to civilian workers,” reports USA Today.

Of course, the federal employee unions are “shocked.”

The Senate passed a 1.9 percent increase, but the House did not act. The new Congress could vote to give federal employee a raise and are expected to do so. So, the president’s effort to put our nation on a fiscally sustainable course will probably be all for naught.

THE SILENCE IS DEAFENING – Why is it that California’s two Democrat senators, Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris reportedly have had nothing to say about the killing of the policeman by an illegal alien on Christmas Eve? You will recall that both of them opposed “Kate’s Law.”

AULD LANG SYNE – Yes, many of us sing this song on New Year’s Eve, but most people don’t really know what it means. Music historians have referred to it as the most famous song that nobody knows.

Sure, we sing “Should old acquaintances be forgot, and never brought to mind; should old acquaintances be forgot, and old lang syne,” but most of us hum through the other verses. Did you know that there are five verses from the Robert Burns poem?

And are you aware that the original phrase ‘Auld Lang Syne’ literally translates to “old long since,” which basically means “days gone by?”

Burns, it is said, took down the words from an old Scottish gentleman, but embellished it with lines about drinking. As Scots immigrated to America, Burns words were changed slightly.

Older generation readers know that it was Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians, who began performing the song on New Year’s Eve in 1939 and did so until 1977. It continues to be the version we most often hear today.

I’LL SIGN OFF FOR THE YEAR by telling you, my subscribers and supporters, you are my silent acquaintances that shall not be forgot. I appreciate you and wish you the very best in 2019. I’ll return with no resolutions, but a promise to bring you news you may not get elsewhere and, of course, my observations and opinions on the news.

            May God bless the United States of America.