QandO

Btw, a reminder … if you can’t access the main site of QandO, we’ve set up an alternate site on Blogger that lets you see our posts.  This is a result of the DDOS attacks we continue to suffer.   The alternate site is here. On to the blogging.  I’ve said, as have all of us, that we’re not Trump fans.  Always like to ensure everyone sees the cards on the table.  Of course we’re not Hillary fans nor were we Obama fans.  In fact, being on the libertarian side of things, we’ve rarely been fans of anyone in the White House. That said, I’m still enjoying the ugly melt-down on the left and in the media.  It is ugly.  And it’s getting uglier – something they’re likely to regret in a few years. As the elder statesman of QandO, I can, without fear of contradiction, tell you I’ve never seen such an infantile and childish reaction to an election.  Oh, I’ve seen nasty elections, for sure, but, after that, the half of the country that lost out hitched...

Good golly Miss Molly – what a hysterical weekend!  What we saw was a poorly rolled out EO (by that I mean it appears not to have been run through the normal channels of consultation which would have allowed the  responsible agencies to devise specific implementation plans ) and a whole lot of selective and opportunistic outrage. First the implementation. In an attempt to modify (within the rights of the executive) and enforce existing law, they made some unforced errors. Poor marks to the administration.  When you’re sending out something like that it would be nice if those who were to implement the actionable items had at least a passing familiarity of what was being required of them.  And when your chief of staff is saying one thing and one of your senior advisors is saying another about an issue, the lack of coordination appears fairly obvious. The green card nonsense was a disaster because of that lack of coordination. Got it.  Badly done. ...

WaPo is reporting “cracks” appearing between the GOP conservative wing and Trump.  Issue?   Trade and spending. Will Donald Trump coopt conservatives on Capitol Hill, or will he be coopted? This tug of war will be one of the most important storylines of 2017, and after a week of caving to the new president, there were glimmers yesterday that at least some principled conservatives in Congress will assert themselves after all. The differences appeared on two issues that are definitional to modern conservatism: spending and trade. Trump is unabashedly not conservative on these matters. He’s a nationalistic populist who believes in big government, as long as it’s doing what he wants (think eminent domain) and he’s the one who controls the spigot (e.g. a trillion-dollar “infrastructure” package designed to reward his cronies). The president even told  Fox News’s Sean Hannity  last night that balancing the budget is no longer one of his priorities. “A balanced bu...

As we watch the press anguish over Trump’s bad relations with them (and the inference that it’s all Trump’s fault), Jamie Dupree (one of my actual favorite newspeople) points to a reminder: I know most people think the news media is in the bag for Barack Obama.  But the natural friction between the press corps and a President is already in full view. “Press Relations Already Tense,” was the headline on politico.com last night. “Media Frustration Spills Into Briefing,” said another. How did this happen after only two days, you ask? Well, the battles started on the very first morning of President Obama’s term, as he went to the Oval Office. And the battle is simply the result of having a spoiled, entitled and coddled White House media corps.   Read the whole thing. Andrew McCarthy makes the case for withdrawing from TPP.   He says it was too protectionist and undermined American sovereignty.  It’s a good read.  He conducts a class on how thes...

The undeclared but glaringly obvious war between the "traditional" press and Trump continues to heat up.  Trump, it seems, made the claim that voting by illegal immigrants cost him the popular vote.  The press immediately claimed that there was no evidence that it happened and intimated it just wasn't even possible.   Jake Tapper is typical: CNN’s  Jake Tapper , and many other pundits, assert there is “no evidence” to support Trump’s belief about a large number of illegal votes cast in the election. But, as it turns out, that's probably not true. There is a basis for Trump's belief.  Now note, I'm giving Jake Tapper and other "pundits" the benefit of the doubt.  I'm not calling them liars.  I'm instead intimating they are ignorant.  Why? The best study on the subject — a study that meets the Daubert standards for admissible evidence in a jury trial in a legal courtroom —  provides substantial evidence that non-citizen voting alone like...

Is this temporary until a new director for the FBI can be found and confirmed?  If not, it's a big mistake: Comey will continue to stay on as FBI director in the Trump administration FBI Director James B. Comey, who is under a Department of Justice Inspector General investigation for his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, has told people he has been asked to stay in his post in the next administration, people familiar with the matter said. President Trump had notably declined to say during a post-election interview with "60 Minutes" whether he would retain the FBI director, saying he wanted to meet with Comey first. I find this man to have no credibility whatsoever and leaving him in as director of the FBI sends the wrong signal if your desire is to have the "rule of law" again be preeminent in the land. Oh, good.   The Trump administration will make the EPA "pay"  for the damage it did in the Gold King Mine spill: Citizen...

Well other than the pro-abortion women's march over the weekend, it was fairly quiet.  Always fun to watch entitled and privileged people act like they are oppressed and in danger of losing their "rights". Unconvinced isn't even an approximation of what I felt watching them. This was just another facet of the progressive tantrum that's been thrown since Trump's election. Apparently self-respect is a no-no when turning up for one of these events. Just leave it at home, shout cuss words, make explicit and degrading signs and dress like a body part. Somehow that will convey the "oppression" to which one is subjected in today's America. I'm sorry, it's all just so laughable. You could make endless memes with the pictures. It is another in a long line of spectacles that underline the reasons Trump now occupies the White House. Introspection is not something the left does much of, apparently. Well, wandering the the political wilderness may he...

The inauguration and seating of the 45th President of the United States, I mean. Interesting to watch the huge group of politicians act nicey-nice on the platform.  Even Hillary smiled.  That said, all that "nicey-nice" is what the "peaceful transfer of power" is all about.  And we've done it since 1789.  Tradition.  Ritual.  I was pleased to see it done again.  The actors acted according to script. The Trump speech.  I'd characterize it as a blue-collar populist speech with protectionist overtones.  He spoke to the nation, but he mostly spoke to those who elected him. Hopefully someone can wean him from the protectionism belief he seems to hold.  That does no country any good in real terms economically. Otherwise, a rah-rah speech designed to rally and reassure his supporters, in which, finally, the executive named the enemy - radical Islam - that the former administration wouldn't recognize.  Of course, that will be tak...