The Professionalism of the U.S. Military Is Threatened

by James E. Fanell & Bradley A. Thayer for The Federalist 

The weak performance of the Russian and Ukrainian militaries in the Russo-Ukrainian war underscores that military effectiveness is dependent upon many factors such as leadership, logistics, maintenance, and training which, in turn, depend upon possessing a professional military that can accurately assess its own weaknesses and flaws. To do so requires honesty by the military organization in its evaluation of itself and in what is reported to political leadership. The U.S. military is in danger of going down the same path and equally disastrous results.

In his study of civil-military relations, political scientist Samuel Huntington advanced the idea of objective civilian control—the military are professionals who obey civilian leadership. In turn, civilians recognize the appropriateness of not politicizing the military domain. Civilian control is assured if the officer corps is permitted to develop into a highly professional institution. With objective control, officers are given the necessary autonomy for operations for which they have expertise. Its opposite is a politicized military, what Huntington called subjective civilian control, as in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) where the Chinese Community Party (CCP) directly controls the military.

The history of the U.S. military in the Cold War is a testament to the concept of objective civilian control. For example, in the 1950s Admiral Hyman Rickover was entrusted with building and leading the U.S. Navy’s nuclear submarine forces without fear of being micromanaged by civilian leadership in Washington. Objective civilian control requires trust from the civilian leadership, and this trust is built by knowledge that the military commanders and forces have stark honesty within their profession.

Being honest regarding the failings of a military is difficult to achieve in the best of circumstances. It was during the Cold War, where professionalism was tested by General MacArthur’s disobedience to President Truman’s orders, and by the tremendous strains of the Vietnam War, including the horrors of My Lai and major problems with discipline and race relations in the last years of that conflict. But it is a testament to the military’s professionalism that it corrected its faults and recovered exceptionally. The U.S. Army generals of the 1970s, including William DePuy and Donn Starry, were able to reverse the rot that Vietnam caused and weather the difficulties of transitioning to the All-Volunteer Force.

Despite the tests of those prior military professionals, the present challenge for the U.S. military is that the country is enduring an ideological upheaval between traditional political liberalism and progressivism. As the historical cases of the French revolution and upheaval in the Red Army after Russia’s Bolshevik Revolution demonstrate, ideological fervor can often be the opponent of truth and objective civilian control precisely because the progressives want to politicize the military in order to re-make it accord with their ideology.

In these conditions, the U.S. must look to its past to understand what might be lost. A significant outcome of military professionalism during the Cold War was the positive environment for innovation made possible by institutions—the services, civilian and military leadership, industry, and defense intellectuals—willing to critique people, needs, objectives, and performance. All of which helped to sustain U.S. military effectiveness.

One of the hallmarks of the professionalization of the U.S. military is that it has objectively evaluated itself and thus improved its combat effectiveness, lethality, and ability to innovate. If it can continue to do so it will provide the U.S. with a major advantage over China in the present Cold War. A professional military is a strategic asymmetric advantage for the U.S. in its struggle against the PRC’s unrestricted warfare. To achieve a U.S. victory over the PRC, the U.S. must preserve its Cold War legacy of military professionalism.

The PRC is the enemy of the United States, and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is its principal weapon to destroy the ability of the U.S. to impede the regime’s goals. To aid the PLA in any manner is supreme folly but lamentably, this is what the U.S. military has done through its politicized policy of unconstrained military-to-military relationships, interestingly now suspended by the PRC. That suspension is a small mercy, but it would be wise for the U.S. if it would terminate all formal and informal mil-mil relationships with the PLA, encourage its allies to end them, to ensure that the PLA does not learn how to improve its combat effectiveness.

Today, given the ideological upheaval in the country, the U.S. Department of Defense must review its ability to be candid, competent, and straightforward, to determine whether safeguards are in place to preserve America’s national defense, including adapting and strengthening the institutions that undergird the department. This is necessary to protect servicemembers who offer professional critiques, most importantly of ideological sensitive topics and to do so without jeopardizing their career or prospects.

There is major concern among veterans that the U.S. officer corps is becoming increasingly politicized due to pressure from the Obama and Biden administrations. Given this pressure, now is an appropriate time for civilian and military leadership to remind themselves about the importance of objective civilian control and thus the need for civilian leadership to leave the military domain to the military. There is an opportunity for U.S. civilian and military leadership to have a renaissance in military professionalism if its civilian leadership will embrace this ethos and maintain the standards of honesty and trust exemplified during the Cold War.

The Cold War with the PRC will test U.S. civil-military relations as certainly as the struggle with the Soviet Union did. Unfortunately, it is an open question whether it will navigate those difficult waters as Cold War predecessors did. The Pentagon’s leadership must not deceive itself and permit political influences to supplant objective control through gradual erosion, by inadvertent, or by intentional explicitly ideological measures. The military domain must be sacrosanct in the U.S. civil-military relationship to provide the military effectiveness needed to deter and defeat the PRC if deterrence fails.

On the Fringe, Red Pill News, and more- July 4th (God Bless America!)

 

Hope you all had a wonderful day!

Hunter Biden Prosecutor Previously Worked for Hunter's Business Partner

Bonchie reporting for RedState  

Just how the Department of Justice came to give Hunter Biden a sweetheart plea deal, ignoring protocol and forgoing jail time, has become a question of keen interest for congressional members.

Now, a new report is adding more intrigue to the saga. According to The Daily Mail, one of the prosecutors who was intimately involved in formulating the controversial deal once worked directly for one of Hunter Biden’s business partners.

A prosecutor who signed off on the documents charging Hunter Biden with tax and gun crimes previously worked with one of the First Son’s business partners, DailyMail.com can reveal.

Delaware US Attorney David Weiss officially filed charges against the president’s son last Tuesday after a near five-year probe into his alleged tax crimes and foreign financial dealings.

Weiss’s deputy, Assistant United States Attorney Derek Hines, signed off on the charging documents alongside his boss and two other assistant US attorneys – indicating he has a central role in Hunter’s criminal prosecution.

According to Hines’s LinkedIn account, he previously worked as Special Counsel to ex-FBI director Louis Freeh at his private company, Freeh Group International Solutions, a lobbying and ‘risk management’ consultancy that teamed up with Hunter on overseas business currently under scrutiny by lawmakers.

United States Attorney for the District of Delaware David Weiss’ top lieutenant is Derek Hines, who serves as the Assistant United States Attorney in the same office. According to the report, Hines signed off on the charging Documents that ended up being such a boon for the president’s son.

That’s where the conflict of interest comes in. Hines once worked directly for Louis Freeh. Who is Freeh? He’s a former FBI director that was in business with Hunter Biden to the tune of a $3 million deal. Hines wasn’t just some random FBI employee either. He served as special counsel to Freeh, meaning that would have had a very close professional relationship.

This story is just astonishing to me. Even if one is to assume that Hines’ connections to Hunter Biden didn’t influence the deal, is there really any excuse for the federal government to be this incestuous? Am I really to believe that the DOJ couldn’t manage to put a full team of prosecutors on such a contentious case without one of them having a connection to Hunter Biden’s business dealings? AG Merrick Garland could have appointed a special counsel years ago to ensure none of this was an issue, and for that matter, so could both of Donald Trump’s attorneys general.

No one did, though, because this is all seen as normal in Washington. Backslaps, winks, and nods are the name of the game. Everyone knows everyone and has worked with everyone, and in some cases, that includes the people they are supposed to be prosecuting. Meanwhile, the rest of us are left to just “trust” that nothing untoward is going on as these social circles continually cross paths. Perhaps something should be done about that, regardless of what the aforementioned conflict of interest may or may not have amounted to.

What the Fourth of July Was Not ~ VDH

by Victor Davis Hanson for American Greatness 

Our national Fourth of July holiday—currently the nation’s 247^th since the first in 1776—marks the birth of the United States.

The iconic Declaration of Independence was published on the 4^th and largely written by Thomas Jefferson. Its core sentence would become among the most famous words in American history:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Those aspirations at the outset pledged the new American nation to hold to its promises “that all men are created equal.”

In other words, so-called white males established a foundational document whose inherent logic was that the millions of Americans not yet born—who would not necessarily look like them, or share their ancestry—would become their political equals.

Most nation founders do not envision the future of their country in terms that might not privilege those of their own tribe.

In contrast, today it would be difficult for a foreign national to become a full-fledged Chinese, Mexican, or Iranian citizen, with full equal rights, who either did not look like, or embrace a religion different from, the majority population.

What followed from the Declaration was a constant demand from many quarters for America to live up to its own exalted words.

Eighty-five years later, that promise culminated in a horrific Civil War that cost 700,000 American lives to remove the stain of slavery, and to honor the promise of the Fourth.

“All men are created equal” further entailed another century of protest and reform, until the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s finally enshrined into law equality of opportunity statutes.

But note what the Declaration was not.

There was no full embrace of all the later French Revolutionary slogans of Liberté, égalité, fraternité.

Instead, the Declaration promised that all men should start out equally through guaranteed protections to live their lives as they please and ensure their liberty.

The new government made, then, no claims that all Americans must be egalitarian. There was no promise that Americans must be equal in all aspect of their lives—or else.

Such mandated sameness might threaten the idea of  “liberty,” and the ability of each citizen to pursue one’s own version of happiness.

Nor did the Declaration pledge a common “fraternity.” Americans were under no compulsion to embrace some collective brotherhood  or shared orthodox political sentiments.

So Americans would not be ensured an equality of result—or what we may know now as “equity.”

Unlike other revolutionary governments, the founders of America never promised to create utopian “new men” who would become alike in all aspects of their being.

The foundational date of our “new order” was canonized as 1776. Yet note it was not some pretentious Jacobin “Year 1”—as if everything in the past was to be erased.

Unlike revolutionary France’s 1789 “Declaration of the Rights of Man,” the American Declaration was far more modest in its confidence in what government could or should achieve.

Jefferson inserted no such French wording about government power concerning “social distinctions” or “disturbing the public order” or “in proportion to their means.”

Other republics birthed parliamentary systems.

They usually spawned multiple splinter parties. They were characterized by sudden creations and collapses of ruling governments, depending on volatile public mood swings.

Often backroom deals were common to appoint new presidents and prime ministers—or dismiss them.

Instead, our Constitution, in classical fashion, established a bicameral Congress, an executive president and a supreme court.

Their quite different powers were all checked and balanced by one another.

Then their prerogatives were further limited by a federal system of individual states’ rights to form their own laws not entailed by the Constitution.

Regularly scheduled elections, a formal Bill of Rights, a two-party system, and a single continuous Constitution naturally followed.

Few consensual governments have ever emulated the more difficult American model—and thus so far never achieved a 247-year continuity of a single republican system.

Certainly, Americans went through a variety of crises that challenged the viability of the Declaration—the Civil War, the Great Depression, two World Wars, the culture war of the 1960s, and the current woke revolution of the 2020s.

Terrible laws of discrimination were and are still sometimes passed contrary to both the Constitution and the Declaration.

But so far, the sparse wording of the Declaration has prevailed.

America’s Constitution was not hijacked by the likes of a French Napoleon.

There has been no Nazi take-over of our democracy as in 1930s Germany.

We have not been plagued by dozens of brief ad-hoc coalition governments akin to Italy’s volatility.

So on this Fourth let us cherish the Fourth of July for what it promised—and what it thankfully did not.

Celebrating July Fourth Rings Hollow Without Fidelity To America’s Founding Ideals

Let’s make this July Fourth a day of celebration of our founding ideals and a time of renewed commitment to engage and wake up our nation.

posted by Scott Powell at The Federalist

Too many Americans underappreciate the meaning of holidays such as July Fourth, also known as Independence Day. While some connect fireworks with the firing of cannons in the Revolutionary War, most forget that when the 56 members of the Continental Congress agreed to put pen to parchment and affirm the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, all knew that being a signatory put a death threat on their heads as traitors to Britain.

The War of Independence was in its second year by July 1776, and George Washington’s rag-tag colonial army was about half the size of the highly trained professional British army and the German mercenary troops fighting for the English. Additionally, Washington’s army was undertrained, underequipped, and underfunded.

The naval mismatch was even greater at the outset of the war. In the first year of the war, the Continental Navy had fewer than 10 converted merchant ships while the British amassed 250 dedicated warships, concentrated along the coastline and in ports between the Delaware Bay and Boston. Things appeared grim indeed for the patriot cause.

The last sentence of the Declaration of Independence before the space allotted for signatures reads, “…for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protections of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.” Indeed, July Fourth for the founders was a serious and somber occasion.

As we think about July Fourth, we should remember that America was first in human history to establish a free and independent constitutional republic based on two political and moral principles. First, the government was required to protect its citizens’ inalienable God-given freedom and rights, which would later be formalized in the Constitution’s Bill of Rights. Second, it was the first country to establish that the legitimacy of government resides exclusively in the people, who elect their leaders.

Modern Americans need to remember that prior nations around the world for thousands of years were undemocratic and hierarchical, with rulers and their inner circles at the top having the power and privileges while people at the bottom had few rights. Before America was established, freedom and rights as we understand and experience them simply did not exist. We must never forget the courage, determination, and godly principles that were necessary to establish the United States.

General George Washington was in New York, preparing its defense, when on July 6, 1776, a courier from Philadelphia arrived to deliver a copy of the Declaration of Independence that had been agreed upon by delegates of the Continental Congress just two days before. There were just two signatures on that document: John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress, and Secretary Charles Thomson. Because the odds of prevailing against the British were so low and the penalty for treason was death, it had been decided not to reveal the identities of the other 54 who had voted for the Declaration.  

Less than six months later, however, after Washington had back-to-back victories, defeating British forces in Trenton, New Jersey, the day after Christmas 1776, and then routing the British in nearby Princeton eight days later, the Continental Congress perceived that a trend toward victory had begun and decided to release the 56-signature Declaration and distribute it throughout the colonies.

As it turned out, Washington would lose more battles than he won, but he persisted for five more years, never doubting the patriot cause. Myriad developments that only providence could have arranged made Washington’s final victory at Yorktown possible in 1781.

In retrospect, what was more remarkable was not the reversal of odds resulting in the American military victory, but rather the spiritual power of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, which established that the rights of the people came from God and not the state and that the sovereign powers of the state would be shaped and limited by those inalienable rights of the citizens.

When God was progressively driven out of American culture starting 60-odd years ago, that void became filled with false idols and divisive influences such as cultural Marxism and critical race theory. Little wonder that average Americans today feel demoralized and confused about the self-destructive direction of the country. A corrupt ruling elite in America seems to have neither respect for the people’s welfare nor for the Constitution that served previous generations of Americans so well.

Everything can change if Americans align their interests with God, who assures us that in time truth will triumph over lies and good over evil. Just as success followed the resolve expressed on July 4, 1776, we too can tap into the same unstoppable spiritual power that enabled the founders to overcome impossible odds.

Coming full circle from the opening observation that many have an insufficient appreciation for the meaning behind holidays, when the term holiday originally came into usage it was synonymous with “holy day.” July Fourth is truly the American holy day for the reasons described.

It is axiomatic that almost everyone resists others seeking to deny or take away valuable possessions from him. Let’s make this July Fourth a day of celebration of our founding ideals but also a time of renewed commitment to engage and wake up our nation.

We know it’s time to resist creeping tyranny and reclaim precious possessions — our freedoms and rights. It’s time to become active in the patriot cause, knowing that — just as the sun comes up in the east — persistence, courage, and the truth of our cause are the shield and sword that assure victory.   

Team DeSantis Starting to Feel the Pressure of Unrealized Billionaire Expectations

posted by Sundance at Conservative Treehouse 

Despite numerous pontifications to the contrary, it was always going to go this way.  Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the idiot professional political consultants, those enlisted by the Sea Island billionaires to try and drag the $100 bill on a fishing string through the MAGA hood, were only going to fool the first few blocks of voters; after that, people wised up.

The problems are too numerous to encapsulate; however, for the sake of brevity they can be argued into three main buckets: (1) Fakery – the entire dishonest operation from the outset (triggered visibly in ’21, originating back in ’18) was based on deception, astroturf and false pretenses.  (2) The candidate just isn’t that good, is inauthentic in the extreme, zero private sector understanding, and is dependent on #1.  (3) Transparently a Big Club operation, surrounded by the most expensive deceptions the GOPe can muster.

I said last summer the DeSantis campaign would collapse upon itself as sunlight poured in.  That’s exactly what has been happening.  Despite their initial trust deposits, Florida Republican voters are now a case study in ‘not going to be fooled again’.  Once you see the strings on the marionettes, you can never return to that moment in the performance when you did not see them.  It doesn’t matter how good the stage presentation; the strings are visible, and continued pretending only makes it worse.

(Politico) – A top spokesperson for Ron DeSantis’ super PAC is sounding a decidedly dour note on the Florida governor’s presidential prospects, saying his campaign is facing an “uphill battle” and is trailing badly in the key nominating states.

[…] “Right now in national polling we are way behind, I’ll be the first to admit that,” [Steve] Cortes said in a Twitter spaces event that was recorded on Sunday night. “I believe in being blunt and honest. It’s an uphill battle but clearly Donald Trump is the runaway frontrunner.”

Calling the DeSantis campaign, the “clear underdog,” he added: “In the first four states which matter tremendously, polls are a lot tighter, we are still clearly down. We’re down double digits, we have work to do.”

[…] “If we do not prevail — and I have every intent on winning, I didn’t sign up for this to come in second — but if we do not prevail I will tell you this, we will make President Trump better for having this kind of primary,” Cortes said. (read more)

Given the stakes in our nation, the political challenge against Donald Trump by professional Republicans should be taken in the correct context.

We The People are being targeted, attacked, vilified and put under social and economic assault by the extremists in a corrupt U.S. government. The attack approach against us is through President Donald Trump.

This is not a time for half-measures, pale pastels, pretending and some form of eloquent pontification in some esoteric/intellectual political arena. There are two sides – those who intend to destroy our nation (globalists) and those who are fighting to defend it (nationalists).

Those GOPe candidates, like Ron DeSantis, who are aligned with the Big Club corporations, are essentially aligned against our interests. If the Republicans truly wanted to preserve, protect and defend our republic, they would not be challenging the one man who leads and stands alone against the globalist horde. It really is that simple.

Those Republicans [fill_in_blank] who stand against us now, in any forum, construct, institution or structure of visible assembly, are as much the enemy as the collective leftists who are trying to destroy Donald Trump.

I have neither pity or mercy for any of them, nor their campaigns. Let them be cast forever into the pit of irrelevance.

“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom – go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!”

~ Sam Adams

NEWSWEEK – Having previously been touted as the GOP’s next presidential hopeful, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis‘ White House bid has been floundering over the past few months, with even Republican figures casting doubt on the future of his campaign.

[…] DeSantis’s unfavorable rating among potential voters has been steadily rising since late March, when he recorded a split 39.3 percent favorable rating. This includes the time after he confirmed his 2024 bid in late May in an error-strewn Twitter Space online announcement. (read more)

“It must be considered that there is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things. For the reformer has enemies in all those who profit by the old order, and only lukewarm defenders in all those who would profit by the new order”… “who do not truly believe in anything new until they have had the actual experience of it.”

‒ Niccolò Machiavelli

We will win this contest, not just because we must win – but also there is no option for our children.

You have heard me say three phrases repeatedly: (1) There are trillions of dollars at stake; (2) live your best life; and (3) always trust your instincts.

The first element is the baseline.  The economics of the thing is always the structural reason for the outcome of anything and everything connected to the thing.  In simpler times we said, ‘follow the money,’ the core essence of that phrase still exists; however, in recent times the people who are controlling the outcomes have been more subversive at hiding the mechanics of their finance.

The second element is the outcome of acceptance.  No one is coming to save you, us, or anything.  We are in this battle together, a diversity of humanity that just wants to be left alone and live in freedom; but we are also in this battle alone.  No one in a position of institutional power is in alignment with our desire for freedom.  Rather than despair at the reality, embrace life and live it as fully and completely as possible – while simultaneously not giving power to the dark imaginings that facilitate the goals of those in power.  Throw sand in their machinery when possible.

The last point speaks to the inherent strength that exists within the human species.  Turn off the noise; turn away from voices that push the illusions into view, and trust your natural instincts that were provided by a loving God.  Into this concept remember there is no such thing as misinformation, disinformation or malinformation; there is only information.  That information may take the form of truth or lies. Use your God given skills to decipher the difference, and when in doubt pause and pray for assistance and clarity.

It’s going to be ugly.

It is likely to be uncomfortable.

It is certain to be intense, gritty, bloody, fierce and filled with adrenaline.

As we share in a reminder every morning, “This is no small thing, to restore a republic after it has fallen into corruption. It may be that our task is impossible. Yet, if we do not try then how will we know it can’t be done? And if we do not try, it most certainly won’t be done. The Founders’ Republic, and the larger war for western civilization, will be lost.” 

I can assure you of only this, if we do not stand victorious it will not be because Donald J. Trump left anything on the battlefield.

2024 is MAGA burning the ships behind us.  This one is for all the marbles. This is not a place where tepid half-measures and gentlemanly pastels will suffice.  Get right with God, put on the armor, absorb the focus of fighting like the third monkey on the ramp to Noah’s ark, and get comfortable being uncomfortable.

Our ally is anyone who stands beside us, right now. Our enemy is anyone who doesn’t.

The new sons and daughters of the revolution are going to look completely different.  The Green Dragon Tavern may be a church, a picnic table or a tailgate.  The assembly is not focused on the labels of the assembled.  We do not have time for that.  The mission is the purpose. The fight is wherever it surfaces. Delicate sensibilities must be dispatched like a feather in a hurricane.

With Donald Trump So Far Ahead in GOP Primary Race, Attention Turns to the Veepstakes

Duke reporting for RedState 

Even though I think it is so very premature to be talking about who is going to win the GOP nomination for president (Donald Trump?) in 2024, I think it is even crazier to talk about who would be the eventual nominee’s Veep choice. However, being that I’m a political junkie and I write for a political site, I am willing to suspend my normal rules of engagement to partake in a little bit of fun speculation.

Even though we are 15 months or just 490 days until that election happens.

As I was perusing some interesting articles to set aside for some light reading over the Independence Day holiday, I came across a story that caught my attention. This article speculates that the race for the vice presidency is already underway even though the GOP POTUS nominee has not even come close to being declared.

So imagine my surprise when I read this article here…

The 2024 election season is well underway, with numerous Republican candidates vying for the party’s nomination. However, there is another lesser-known competition beginning to take shape: the race to become the running mate of the eventual Republican nominee.

Dubbed the “2024 veepstakes,” this race is still in its early stages but is already stirring up speculation and intrigue. Observers are closely watching for any signs of jockeying among potential candidates, as their chances of landing on the ticket will largely depend on who secures the presidential nomination.

Sources familiar with South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem and Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds see them as strong contenders for the vice presidential pick. These assessments are reinforced by outside GOP strategists who weigh in on the matter.

Another possible option is former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, as well as South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, both of whom are currently running for president but face persistent rumors that they may actually be positioning themselves for the vice-presidential slot instead.

So if the ladies are in the running for VEEP, I guess I have to knock off the repeal of the 19th amendment jokes and get in some reps to be prepared if one of them becomes the second most powerful politician in the world.

Both of these ladies are well-liked and respected in their home states. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds won a reelection bid in 2022 with a solid 58 percent margin and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem scored a 62 percent margin in 2022.

If either one of these ladies were eventually to be picked by Donald Trump or possibly somebody else who might sneak up and win the nomination, they would be considered solid pics. No Republican running for the Presidential nominee spot has foolishly painted themselves in a corner like Joe Biden did in 2020 by essentially checking off some boxes to meet a quota.

We can see how well that has served Biden and the country so far, two and a half years into his presidency.

While I do not live in either Iowa or South Dakota but reside in the deep blue state of Michigan (Michigan Is a BLUE State and Lying About It Won’t Change That Fact), I Can Only Imagine the pure bliss the citizens of both of those states must experience living in a well-run state.

Currently, here in Michigan, our Governor is spearheading an effort to make it a crime to offend somebody by using the wrong pronouns. Proposed Michigan Pronoun Law Would Kill Gretchen Whitmer’s Chance at a National Role

An example of running things well, in my opinion, is how South Dakota Governor Noem might be the only member of any party to refuse money from the feds even though the president was a member of her own party.

Noem declined a request for an interview but through her spokesman said the state used the federal stimulus money “wisely” to aid the state during the pandemic.

Spokesman Ian Fury said in an email to News Watch that the governor approached use of federal pandemic funding in a conservative fashion. She rejected former President Donald Trump’s offer of extended unemployment benefits for state workers in August 2020 and also sent back more than $80 million in rental assistance.

“We focused on solving long-term problems with one-time investments rather than creating new government programs,” Fury wrote. “We are confident that we utilized that money more wisely than other states would have.”

Now I’m sure that there are others that are being considered to be the pick, like Nikki Haley or fellow South Carolinian Tim Scott, and the article above does list both of those people. Yet I think it’s fair to say that anybody with a pulse and an R after their name would do a much better job than the current administration that is in charge of the executive branch.

In fact, the way the current vice president, who happens to be a Democrat, is doing her job, I think former vice presidents of the Democrat Party, like Walter Mondale or Hubert Humphrey, would do a much better job than her in their current condition even though they are not actually alive.

That, of course, is just wild speculation, but being that I’m in the mood to speculate on who will be the Republican VP pick in 15 months, why not take it just a little farther?

You may have some questions comments or concerns about this article and I invite you to check my bio at the bottom of this page and contact me at all the places available and let me know what you think.