There’s a reason old quarterbacks don’t call plays from the locker room. Nobody cares. But in American politics, irrelevance is no deterrent to a microphone.
This week, yet again, a parade of yesterday’s political, military, and bureaucratic elites emerged to scold, wag fingers, and issue stern “warnings” about Donald Trump. It’s become a ritual. They’ve been out of power for a decade or more, but speak as though their word still carries thunder. Spoiler: it doesn’t.
Take Mike Pence. Once Trump’s running mate, now a national political afterthought, Pence recently blasted his former boss while speaking in Saudi Arabia. Yes, Saudi Arabia: an odd choice of setting for a man accusing Trump of being disrespectful to American veterans. According to Pence, Trump’s critique of past U.S. foreign policy was a “disservice to those who wore the uniform.”
Pence didn’t say that those same veterans spent decades executing failed policies championed by the people Trump criticized. His words weren’t meant to uplift troops; they were an attempt to remain relevant in a world that has mostly moved on from him.
And that’s the heart of it: this isn’t about Trump. It’s about attention. It’s about legacy. It’s about power that slipped away, and the addiction to the spotlight that never quite left.
Hillary Clinton is the high priestess of this ritualistic revival. She hasn’t stopped campaigning since the moment she lost in 2016. Every panel, podcast, and op-ed carries the same weary message: Trump is dangerous. Democracy is fragile. Only her worldview can preserve it.
Let’s rewind. This is the same Hillary Clinton who laughed on national television about the brutal death of Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, crowing, “We came, we saw, he died.” Her State Department’s fingerprints are all over the collapse of Libya, the rise of ISIS, and the destabilization of Syria. But sure, let’s pretend her opinions on democracy are profound and relevant.
She’s spent years projecting her political failure onto the American public, blaming misogyny, fake news, the FBI, Russia, third-party voters, and bad luck. The only thing she hasn’t done is look in the mirror.
Her continued presence in the national conversation isn’t insightful; it’s exhausting. Like an aging theater actor shouting over the final curtain, she refuses to exit the stage. And yet the media obliges her every monologue.
Then there’s Gen. Stanley McChrystal. Once revered as a no-nonsense commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, he is now relegated to sound bites defending bureaucracy over battlefield clarity. His recent swipe at Pete Hegseth for criticizing the military’s DEI obsession appeared tone-deaf, even sanctimonious.
McChrystal said Hegseth’s focus on DEI is a “distraction.” He didn’t mention that the military can’t meet recruiting goals, morale is plummeting, and retention is in freefall. Apparently, discussing root causes is off-limits if it offends the preferred narratives of retired brass.
This is the same McChrystal who was relieved of command in 2010 after disparaging the Obama administration in a Rolling Stone interview. That brush with political disgrace should have encouraged humility. Instead, he re-emerged in the Biden years to parrot the new orthodoxy: equity over excellence, narrative over results.
Like many of his contemporaries, McChrystal’s criticisms aren't policy-focused but tribal. Trump disrupted the power structure that once celebrated him. Now he fires darts from the cheap seats.
The list goes on:
So why are these figures still talking?
- Relevance: They miss being influential. They crave the attention that once came with holding office or command. Trump’s dominance in the news cycle offers them a chance to be heard again.
- Revenue: Outrage sells. Trump is a one-man stimulus plan for book deals, cable hits, and academic panel invites. Casting him as a villain keeps their brand alive.
- Revenge: During his presidency, many weaknesses, including weak policies, poor judgment, and personal flaws, were exposed. Their criticism is less about protecting the country and more about settling scores.
They say Trump is dangerous because they need him to be. Without him, they’re just names in footnotes. With him, they can pretend they’re defenders of the republic, rather than relics of a failed consensus.
If this chorus of the aggrieved had spoken with this much urgency when they were in power, maybe the country wouldn’t be in such a mess. But they were silent, complicit even. The:
And now that voters chose something different in 2016, and again in 2024, these ghosts rise up to scold them for it.
But the American people don’t need lectures from ghosts. They need results. They need jobs, security, and dignity. They don’t need John Brennan warning them about “authoritarianism” while defending the FBI’s raid on political opponents. They don’t need Hillary Clinton selling democracy like a used car. And they sure don’t need Mike Pence moralizing in Saudi Arabia.
It’s time for these voices to fade with grace, if they’re capable of it.
As Ronald Reagan once said, “When you can’t make them see the light, make them feel the heat.” Trump made the elite feel the heat. And they’ve been screaming ever since.
They aren’t thought leaders anymore. They’re hecklers. And like any heckler, they don’t deserve the spotlight. They deserve the usher.
Let the American people choose their future. And let the forgotten elites stew in their memories.
They had their turn. It didn’t end well.
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