For the last 35 days we have seen an almost unbroken streak of victories for the Trump administration with only slight temporary setbacks in the courts that are likely to become solid wins as well.

Tonight on the House floor Trump just got his biggest win by a single vote and if you want to know how he managed it think of this key moment from the movie/play 1776

In the drama Ben Franklin calls for a poll of the Pennsylvania delegation with Ben Franklin voting for independence and John Dickerson voting nay and the final decision being up to James Wilson who decides he doesn’t want to become “The man who prevented American independence.” and thus votes Yea! (Historically Franklin arranged for two delegates from PA to miss the vote thus giving him the majority needed to carry the state for independence but I digress…)

Something much like this happened in DC on Tuesday.

As I noted Donald Trump has been on a huge winning streak and his actions continue to poll incredibly well among the general population with well over 50% backing him and among GOP voters the number is in the high 90’s.

https://twitter.com/ForecasterEnten/status/1894424037129904413

The text

Why GOP members will be hesitant to fight Trump: “Republican [voters] love Donald Trump the way Grimace loves Ronald McDonald”… Trump’s net approval with the GOP is even higher than it was during his 1st term. Also, GOP voters trust Trump over Congressional GOP: 58%-22%.

Click the link to see the CNN video.

Bottom line Trump is REALLY popular so once Thomas Masse of KY noted he would be a “No” no matter what that meant that every single other holdout had the potential to become THE member of the GOP responsible not only for Trump’s first defeat of his term, but be the man or woman who gave the Democrats a lifeline when they are drowning.

In short their political career would be over.

That is the position that Trump and Johnson put them in and nobody proved willing to jump off that bridge.

So Trump gets another win. and the GOP agenda goes on.

I’m not sick of winning yet.

It’s amazing what a crackdown on illegal immigration can acomplish.

The Text:

The Roosevelt Hotel, which was used to house illegal aliens, is expected to close down operations in the coming months, according to NYC Mayor Eric Adams. The hotel has been used as an intake center and emergency shelter for over 232,000 illegal aliens. The hotel will likely no longer be used as a migrant shelter starting in June. Since becoming a shelter for illegal aliens, The Roosevelt Hotel has become a breeding ground for violent migrant gangs.

That’s what enforcing the law does.

Via the Jerusalem Post

Dude: He stepped in a puddle, all right. He’s the fellow we wanted. I guess this is his. A nice, fresh $50 gold piece. It’s just about what Burdette would figure a man’s life was worth. That’s earning money the hard way.
Sheriff Chance: Paid killer. Nice, fresh $50 gold piece. You, mister, you got one in your pocket?
Man who claimed the killer wasn’t there: Nobody paid me. Nobody!
Sheriff Chance: And nobody run in here, either, huh? [floors him with swing of his rifle barrel to the face]
Dude: Chance…
Sheriff Chance: Oh, I’m not gonna hurt him. Get up! [walking down the line of men] You’re all in it. The whole lot of you. You’re gonna get out of town. Take your boy here with you. You can tell Burdette you got Wheeler. You can tell him anybody else he sends, he’d better pay them more…because they’re gonna earn it.

Rio Bravo 1959

We now have it officially that our Palestinian friends have murdered the Bibas children and their mother (the father was released alive earlier) and will be returning their bodies along with the body of Oded Lifshitz today.

It will be interesting to see how apologists for the mass murders of Hamas , particularly those in the west and on US campus’ spin their kidnapping and murder of a six month old and three month old kid as just and right. Particularly since it can’t be denied that they were deliberately targeted and taken.

What’s even worse is their bodies are being traded for murderers and terrorists. Israel should from this day forward toss out life in prison and introduce the death penalty for terrorists so that they will never be in the position where you have to trade killers for the body of someone their allies kill.

I suspect the results of the autopsies on those children’s bodies will be almost as traumatic to the nation as their return.

I completely understand that Israel is doing all they can to get whoever is left alive back and that’s their call but the fact that they have not launched a war of extermination against these barbarians at their gates completely amazes me. If I was the PM of Israel and the lives and safety of the people of Israel were my responsibility the gloves would be off and as for humanitarian aid, food and water for those in Gaza? Not a drop, not a crumb for those who cheered, celebrated and still celebrate those who kidnapped those kids.

I suspect that the Palestinians will never see another $ of US aid during the Trump years and I suspect our relationship with Qatar who funded this horror will reap some nasty consequences, but not as nasty as they deserve.

News like this really stretches my ability to follow Christ’s command to love enemies and pray for them because such people are enemies of all humanity. I’ll obey the non-optional doctrine but I’m not going to pretend that I like it.

Closing Thought One: I kind of wonder if the decision to kill the man’s wife and children and leave him alive was deliberate as it would inflict the maximum possible pain on any husband and father. The only think that would surprise me about such a decision would be Hamas having the restraint to do so.

Closing Thought Two: Anybody surprised at these actions by the Palestinians/arabs in general and Hamas in particular simply has not paid attention for the last 80 plus years. This is who they are, this is who they always have been. You can’t change them, you can only make the cost of acting like barbarians too prohibitive to contemplate.

Note: This was going to be an “Under the Fedora” column with this as the first item but writing it stopped me cold in my tracks. How can you talk about or quip about anything else? What is more important than this?

Yesterday’s snow and ice reminded me of my age as I came in huffing and puffing after two stints outside to clean what I can. The snow, combined with freezing rain combined with artic cold really did a number on me. The wife’s back door was frozen open which complicated the day even more.

With me a few months away from 62 and carrying a newly discovered heart aneurism I’m going to have to start thinking about alternatives to me being out there for hours.


Did I actually see CBS’s Margaret Brennan of CBS go on national television and try to blame the rise of the Third Reich on free speech?

Has the media actually reached that low a point in terms of either ignorance or spin?

When I see things like that as the son of a man who served in the Pacific in World War 2 I not only shake my head but I’m reminded just how smart IKE was in making sure every solider saw what had happened at the death camps to make such revisionist history.

In fairness as part of the requirements of free speech Brennan and all those who are trying to rewrite the history of world war 2 including people who are with us on other issues like Carlson and Owens are entitled to their opinions and have a right to express them.

And I have the right to either call bullshit or to point and them and laugh or maybe both.


It’s been interesting to see the Democrat pivot to try to proclaim themselves as against waste and fraud and yet completely apoplectic over it being publicly revealed.

It’s pretty hard to defend the indefensible particularly when you see that there is basically an entire class of people who were making very comfortable livings off of phony program and phony non-profits funded by taxpayers while knowing that a lot of the pols complaining about Musk & co have managed to become rich off of jobs that pay a lot less then their net worth.

The spin will continue until they can find some kind of alternative way to fight but you can be sure they’re not going to give up this wealth without a fight so once the spin is over the next tactic will come.


A lot of fuss was made about the US vs Canada hockey game and the booing of our national anthem.

Now historically there was plenty of trouble between the US and Canada not just the war of 1812 but some Irish invasions via the US of Canada that were beaten back in the late 19th century but since World War 1 we’ve gotten on like a house on fire.

I propose a simply deal with our Canadian neighbors based on something rather normal. Self interest.

Let Canada work toward the best interest of Canada and let America work toward the best interests of America if both sides do that we’ll end up with fair deals that we can all live with.


Finally there is a lot of talk about Elon Musk and his love child and a lot of people banging their chests pointing at the sin of adultery as proof he should not be celebrated for what he is doing in government.

I have three things to say about that.

First of all we are no longer the nation we once were. There was a time when such a thing might have been disqualifying under the old rules. We have however been told repeatedly by our friends on the left that such things doesn’t matter by our friends on the left and is not disqualifying for service. This argument was lost by those of us who were for the old rule in the same way that the argument against ending the filibuster was. Apparently now they don’t like the new rules. Too bad.

Second of all when you are working for an object you want the best qualified person to do that job. I don’t ask the man fixing my breaks, or cooking my meal in a restaurant or plowing my streets if he goes to confession and says the act of contrition. I want a person who can do the job and do it will. Musk is that person.

Finally let me say this. I am very glad I am not the richest man in the history of the world. Because as a long married man I suspect that such a position would attract the attention of a rather large amount of highly desirable women offering their favors would be the dictionary definition of the “proximate occasion of sin.”

I’m happy not to have to worry about such a temptation.