Commentary
Sinema’s Farewell
Seeing Arizona Republic columnist Phil Boas’s column on the departure of Sen. Krysten Sinema from the U.S. Senate reminded me of the copy of her farewell speech I tossed on my pile of stuff last week.
I haven’t been a fan of hers for obvious reasons, primarily because was a Democrat until recently when she became an Independent. She called on her colleagues to work together, build relationships, embrace compromise and to focus on consensus, not division.
I admired her for encouraging colleagues to be independent thinkers and putting their states, constituents and country ahead of party leaders and activists.
“When we work together, listen, compromise, and forget moderate movements forward, we’re doing exactly what our forefathers intended,” she said.
As Boas views it, “consensus is the mortar of lasting change because it requires ownership from both sides of the aisle.”
I disagree.
It sounds good, but it is what slows legislation. Making sausage is faster.
I like Margaret Thatcher’s view: “To me, consensus is the process of abandoning all beliefs, principles, values and policies. So, it seems it is something in which one believes and to no one objects.”
I mostly admired her for 2022 stand on the filibuster. “I will not support separate actions that worsen the underlying diseases of division infecting our country,” she said in defense of keeping the filibuster intact.
In her farewell speech, Sinema stated, “the filibuster ensures that the tyranny of the majority does not overrule the rights of the minority, regardless of who sits in the seat of power.”
Christopher Wray Will Resign
Americans have experienced two disgraced FBI directors in James Comey and now Christopher Wray, who will step down when Trump takes office next month.
Unfortunately, after removing Comey, our outsider 45th president, made the regrettable choice of replacing him with Wray, like his initial poor choice of Rex Tillerson to the head the State Department.
No longer an outsider with little knowledge of Washington, he has had help in selecting those who he wants in his administration. With the exception of Matt Gaetz, it appears that our 47th president will have an easier go at making American great again.
In “The Tragedy of Christopher Wray,” published in The Spectator, thirty-year veteran of the FBI, Thomas J. Baker writes about Wray missing the opportunity to restore the FBI to greatness. Baker recounted how Wray “clearly and publicly” missed opportunities to correct the underlaying cultural problem within the agency.
Emma Colton, writing in Fox News, cited five scandals in the FBI under Wray’s tenure, including the over-the-top raid of 30 armed agents on Mar-a-Lago,
The president elect believes that Kash Patel is the man to bring the FBI under control. He will be facing public testimony on the Hill soon.
Speaking of Gaetz …
… I noticed he was a guest speaker at Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point America Fest gathering in Phoenix last week. I think it would be best if Kirk, and President Trump, disassociated themselves from Gaetz.
I know, Bill Clinton and the Kennedy’s – Jack and Ted – also had reputations as womanizers and they are held in esteem by that other party. I’m just saying. Gaetz offers us nothing.
Have you noticed …
… how John Bolton still thinks we care what he has to say? In a span of just 16 days, the Wall Street Journal published two Bolton op-eds. Two weeks ago, writing “Kash Patel Doesn’t Belong at the FBI,” in which he repeated the left’s smear tactics of Patel and takes another slap at Trump’s belief in loyalty, wanting you to believe Patel will seek retribution on Trump’s behalf.
In his latest piece he offers “A U.N. Reform Plan for Trump and Stefanik,” as if “47,” Stefanic and Rubio are interested in his “Old Washington” advice.
She Gets It
“The cabinet that President-elect Donald Trump has assembled is a jumble of seemingly conflicting ideologies – populists and plutocrats, traditional conservatives and hard-right disrupters, even a couple of Democrats,” notes Wall Street Journal senior political correspondent Molly Ball.
She gets it, adding “As Washington braces for the incoming administration, the unconventional slate of nominees offers clues to how he plans to govern in an emboldened second term.”
I found Charlie Kirk’s view of the new cabinet “far more representative of the world views of the majority of the American body politic than any in recent memory,” an interesting observation. I recalled Biden describing his cabinet as “looking like America,” with DEI inclusions checked across the board.
Our Money, Not Theirs
The Biden administration is going out spending money like it’s theirs. Loaning billions to chip manufacturers and feeding the EV beast even though Americans don’t want them.
Three Maricopa County school districts received $8 million to invest in 27 electric school buses that range from $400,000 to $500,000 apiece. A new standard fossil fuel bus ranges from $135,000 to $150,000.
The administration fairyland claim states that the investment is part of a national effort to improve air quality, fight climate change and reduce transportation costs.
May God continue to bless the United States of America.
