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Democrats/socialists/communist (D/s/cs) remain shell-shocked by Donald Trump. Who could have imagined a politician keeping campaign promises? Worse, who could have imagined a politician really and truly dismantling the Deep State and returning power on loan from the people to the people rather than just slinging soaring rhetoric? That Trump is first and foremost a businessman and deal maker seems to have escaped their notice. That he really does seem to love America and Americans has not escaped their notice, and that, above all else, terrifies them.
The D/s/cs’s response, other than lawfare that they know they’re going to lose, has been to try to construct narratives. Their narratives, picked up and amplified by their media propaganda arm, have worked in the past, but not even their entire base trusts them or the media anymore, so those narratives are largely ineffective.
No one elected Elon Musk! The only elected people in DC are the President, Vice President, and Congress. Everyone else working there is appointed and loaned authority from their elected bosses. That’s a particularly stupid and deceptive narrative.
Musk is a billionaire! Your point? He, like Trump, is taking no salary and saving billions, perhaps trillions. Envy is an ugly character trait.
Musk’s DOGE operatives are just children! Your point? Many of the most consequential people in history, including American history, have been in their teens and early 20s. Age isn’t the real complaint; it’s their effectiveness in exposing fraud and other crimes. On July 4, 1776, the Marquis de Lafayette was 18, so was James Monroe. Alexander Hamilton was 21 and James Madison was 25.
Trump can’t let them have access to executive branch data! Yes, he can. Article II of the Constitution vests all executive authority in the President. He can loan some of that authority to his appointees to do the work of the Executive branch.
Image (edited) by Grok AI.
Trump can’t just fire people! Yes, he can, particularly if they’re Executive branch employees. He’s the boss, beholden to all the American people who elected him. Only a small portion of the people elect representatives and senators.
Trump can’t fire US Attorneys! Yes, he can. They’re Executive branch appointees, and presidents virtually always demand their resignations upon taking office.
Trump’s attacking and destroying the government! That would be the government he was elected to lead? The underlying narrative is any reduction in government workers or in government power is somehow illegitimate. The Founders would disagree.
Trump is provoking a constitutional crisis! By exercising his legitimate Article II powers? The only crisis is being provoked by D/s/cs who are trying to usurp the President’s lawful powers through insubordination, lying and lawfare.
Trump is staging a coup! Against himself? Against Americans who elected him via the Electoral College and the popular vote despite massive vote fraud? He’s reducing the size and power of government, which increases individual wealth and liberty. Every bit of power government has is on loan from the people on condition of good behavior. He’s not taking power from the people; he’s giving it back.
Government agencies are independent! Trump has no right to try to run them! No, they’re not and yes, he does. Those agencies are used to having no oversight, but they’ve always been under the power of the POTUS—every POTUS. Besides, people have rights; government has powers.
The Department of Justice is independent! Trump has no power to tell them what to do! Nope. Executive branch. Trump is constitutionally required to see that the laws are faithfully enforced. He can tell the DOJ what to do, right down to telling them a given prosecutorial choice is wrong and must be changed. It’s probably better if he doesn’t micromanage, but that depends on the DOJ being ethical and non-partisan. It isn’t, so DOJ attorneys who resign rather than obey lawful orders aren’t being noble and ethical. They’re demonstrating their lack of fidelity to the Constitution and/or their loyalty to the D/s/c Party. Good riddance to authoritarian trash.
Trump can’t refuse to spend money Congress wants to spend! This one is a bit trickier. Thanks to DOGE, we’re discovering billions Congress didn’t allocate flying off to break immigration law, funding terrorists and being stolen for all manner of illegal purposes presumably not intended by Congress. D/s/cs are, for the moment, in the self-imposed position of defending massive fraud and criminality. Do they really want to suggest a President has no power over national security? Immigration? Using taxpayer money to commit all manner of crimes? For the moment, they do. The Supreme Court is going to have to fine tune this one.
The list goes on and on, even as the Trump DOJ continues to prevail over a flood of lawfare attempts to subvert his constitutional authority. Ultimately, D/s/cs, and surely some Republicans, fear future DOGE revelations, which, if investigated and prosecuted by an honest FBI and DOJ have the very real potential to limit them to only their enumerated powers and to put them behind bars.
Even worse, instead of Congress giving bureaucrats unaccountable power to make law, regulate, and serve as judges over their regulations, Congress might have to actually do their jobs, perhaps even work 40-hour+ weeks.
The horror.
Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.