Too many conservatives constantly stay on the defensive. They have no strategy, let alone tactical plans or a complete gamebook to go on offense and run up points. You don’t win by playing defense. You win by scoring points and controlling—dominating—the opponent or opposing team.
In recent articles in this publication, I have suggested we need to get serious and take back the four corners of deceit we have been dealt by progressive liberalism: in government, academia, media, and science.
Precisely how should we go about doing that?
Here is the beginning of a plan to do nothing less than dominate, starting in January 2023 and earnestly after the 2024 presidential election.
Doing this, as someone you all remember once said, “will make you get tired of winning.”
Let’s start with a definition, so we are all on the same page. In sports and in politics, offense, from Latin offendere, means to attack or strike against. It is the action of attacking or engaging an opponent. Republicans, at least conservative ones, need to capture and live by this definition.
By going on the attack, we can pick our battles and accomplish our goals. This is not a plan for the faint-hearted, RINOS, compromisers, or the bipartisan. Mitch McConnell, and those like him, need to be pushed out for this to accelerate. This is and has to be about winning, full-stop.
On a very high-level diplomatic visit to Communist China centered on trade and political-military issues just over a decade ago, led by Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, I was invited to be a lightning rod, the one assigned to ask all the super tough questions, to confront our communist nemeses and the leaders of their nefarious, illicit, totalitarian regime. I went for the jugular every time and did not relent. At the end of the delegation trip, Ridge said, “Ted Malloch should be made Secretary of Offense.” I am willing to do it again, full-time, when Republicans take office. They need a significant bunch of us who won’t sit back, fold our hands, placate adversaries—domestic and foreign—and who will play to win and keep winning.
I talked to a famous collegiate-level football coach about “going on offense” to get his views and to learn from his phenomenal success. Here is his prescription for staying on the offensive:
Get clear, and stay clear, about what you want. Intention and motivation are everything, he said. You can’t win without believing and willing yourself to win. That starts by being in tip-top shape and ready to roll right out of the gate.
Engage in all directions. If the other team doesn’t know where you are coming from and you act decisively, without hesitation, you can catch them off guard and overpower them. Do what they don’t necessarily expect. Never stop scoring points or let up.
Connect with all your people on every level. A team takes a set of individuals pulling together and being there for and with each other to find success. It takes extraordinary team effort to win consistently.
Know and work the general trends. You need to know what will work, test it, and execute. This involves realizing in advance what the other side does and where they are weakest. The data don’t lie. You don’t have to do much defense if you score every time.
Stay in tune with what you actually care most about. You can’t tire or let down your guard as the game proceeds. Get a second wind. Scoring, again and again, builds up fortitude and elan for winning. In the second half, do not relax but lay on the points.
Stay connected to your motivation. The motives for winning have to be front and center, and nothing can disrupt them. Connectedness is crucial. Every play, set of downs, quarter and minute, remind yourself of the real goal.
Tap into your network. The facts on the ground dictate the plays but using the fans, noise, attitude, and a larger community of believers counts for maybe one touchdown, so engage them.
Score and repeat, again and again.
A Seven-Point Agenda
So, in this “offensive spirit,” I have a list of seven things we as America First conservatives need to do as soon as possible to start the ball rolling. Please feel free to add to it as you see fit in the comments.
Let’s call this the MAGA Book of Political Offense.
First, personnel is the beginning; actually, it is everything. Without the best players in the right positions, you can’t compete. We need White House personnel who demand loyalty and do not cave into the RNC donor class, the political hacks, and the endless wannabees. Vet them, quiz them in person, look at their social media, do polygraphs, and have them sign contracts with ironclad non-compete clauses and sealed to secrecy. Be ready to go out of the chute.
Second, have a playbook in place. In 1980, Ronald Reagan had the Heritage Foundation do a big game book called Mandate for Leadership. We need that again, done by our side. It would spell out in grainy detail policy in dozens of areas with specific legislation, executive orders, and deregulation so that we all sing from the same hymnal. Launch it with gusto and fanfare.
Of course, this also means rolling back and rescinding everything Biden has tried to do. This cannot be piecemeal or half-baked. With the House and Senate in our purview, we can force Biden to become Mr. Veto. With enough Republicans, we could even override his vetoes before we take back the White House in 2024. The announced “Commitment to America” is a place to start but not the ending point.
Third, we drop the bomb on day one. We indict loads of criminal Democrats, commence the impeachment of slow Joe Biden, lying Alejandro Mayorkas, and meritless Merrick Garland, conduct hearings galore, and subpoena people and records. If they fail to appear or worse, we put them in jail. Fourth, we maintain the January 6 select committee, except appoint Representative Jim Banks (R-Ind.) as chairman and seat it with only loyal Republicans. Then call witnesses, starting with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
Also, let’s assemble a subcommittee to look into all the 2020 Antifa and Black Lives Matter riots. And we remove all the libelous, lying, and compromised Democrats from committees and positions where they have grandstanded.
Fourth, dispose of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and commence antitrust actions against big tech and big media.
Fifth, with a fully vetted list, we move immediately to install our appointees, judges, and people. No waiting or posturing. Get it all done in 30 days. Then fire FBI Director Christopher Wray, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, and Anthony Fauci. All three should be subjected to criminal investigation and, if appropriate, indicted.
Sixth, by using executive orders, we not only restore the pipelines and our energy independence in a way that cannot be undone but we also finish the border wall, stop illegal immigration, and work with Mexico to ensure the border remains secure. We freeze all federal hiring, use attrition, and remove 50,000 to 100,000 federal employees, saving billions of dollars.
Seventh, we pursue a vigorous America First foreign policy. That means leaving many international organizations, including the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Accords. It requires cutting foreign aid. Finally, it would mean departing the United Nations to start a new Council of Democracies. Anyone who has not paid into NATO is kicked out. No lag time or excuses.
Offering peace in the Middle East, we instruct Saudi Arabia to recognize Israel. Standing up to the European Union, we stop taking their orders and instead give them ours. We defend only our friends. Russia would be plied to settle in Ukraine, and there would be no deal whatsoever with wicked Iran, only the return of total sanctions.
We formally declare war on the Chinese Communist Party, not China. Among other things, this would prevent Chinese money and students from entering our universities and protect our valuable intellectual property from theft. And we make them pay in full for the Wuhan flu.
Don’t Forget the Culture
Culture may well be downstream from politics, but that is only a partial truth since, in my experience, the world over, politics also shapes culture. To ignore culture in our plan of offense would be a mistake.
In academic life, we have to mount a comeback. We need to depoliticize research in science, especially in the hard sciences. A place to begin is with new “scientific” appointments to head the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control, National Science Foundation, and like bodies.
We need to fully tax both university and endowment funds. School choice should be both a national and state priority. Disestablishing the public school monopoly is mandatory.
While America has no state religion, it supports religious freedom, and the founders knew that a polity without religious sentiment would not survive. We need to not only allow religious pluralism but actively encourage it as we once did in America.
With all of these goals satisfied, we will be victorious, and the offense will get all the praise. “How can we not believe in the greatness of America?” Reagan forcefully reminded us. “How can we not do what is right and needed to preserve this last best hope of man on Earth? After all our struggles to restore America, to revive confidence in our country, hope for our future—after all our hard-won victories earned through the patience and courage of every citizen—we cannot, must not, and will not turn. We will finish our job. How could we do less? We’re Americans.”