I recall a story about a football coach -- I think it was Alabama legend Nick Saban -- who won a national championship and then came into work the next day to study game films and prepare for the next season.
That's how Republicans have to be. On the one hand, you have to act quickly, because it's a strong possibility Democrats will pick up seats in the 2026 midterm elections, as opposition parties do, despite the current left-wing disarray.
On the other hand, you want to govern so successfully that voters reward you with continued governing power. This is, in fact, possible -- not just because the Democrats are going to have trouble regrouping, but because Republicans can achieve wins.
Republicans face a challenge, in that Trump -- unexpectedly -- outperformed the Republican ticket in general. He won't be on the ballot in 2026 (or 2028), so the wins are going to have to be especially salient for Republicans to do well.
The top priorities must be:
- Closing the border
- Resolving wars in Europe and the Middle East
- Lowering inflation and improving economic optimism
These are all doable. There are many, many other things that Trump should do, but these are the priorities for voters who came to Trump from nontraditional backgrounds (disaffected whites, former Democrats, minorities).
What you don't want Democrats to be able to say is that the Republicans took the votes of these people for granted and then did what old-fashioned GOP elites had always wanted to do. Delivery has to be on everyone's mind.
The story of Noah is familiar; the details, less so.
Noah is often seen as an ambivalent figure. He was righteous -- but only for his generation. What was his deficiency?
One answer suggests itself: knowing that the world was about to be flooded, he built an Ark for the animals and for his own family -- but did not try to save anyone else or to convince them to repent and change their ways (the prophet Jonah, later, would share that reluctance).
Abraham, later, would set himself apart by arguing with God -- with the Lord Himself! -- against the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, saying that they should be saved if there were enough righteous people to be found (there were not).
Still, Noah was good enough -- and sometimes, that really is sufficient to save the world. We don't need heroes every time -- just ordinary decency.
Hi all -- as I noted last month, I'm going to be closing down my Locals page, at least for tips and subscriptions -- I may keep the page up and the posts as well, but I'm no longer going to be accepting any kind of payment.
Look for cancelation in the very near future. Thank you for your support!
An interesting weekend -- one of the last of Daylight Savings Time -- in which there is much to celebrate, much to contemplate, and a bit to worry about.
The Gaza peace deal is shaky, but holding, after the living hostages returned; the shutdown is still going on, with no end in sight; the China trade war is heating up; and the confrontation with Venezuela continues to escalate.
The "No Kings" protest was a dud, despite the media's attempt to inflate it. What I find fascinating is that the Democrats have basically stolen the rhetoric and the imagery of the Tea Party protests, circa 2009. They claim they are defending the Constitution -- just like the Tea Party did.
On the one hand, this is good. How wonderful to have a political system in which both sides, bitterly opposed though they are, articulate differences through the Constitution -- and not, as in so many other countries, outside it.
On the other, this is sheer hypocrisy for the Democrats. Not only did they malign the Tea Party as ...
