Hail, Donald J. Trump, Conquering Hero

By David Samuel McCalmont

Compare the extraordinary cultural pull and gravitas of the incoming crowd with those now on the outside looking in. President-elect Donald Trump returned to Madison Square Garden as a victor in a house full of the New Bohemian class, strikingly juxtaposed against the effete cult of privileged Brahmins that surrounded his opponent and who were thought to be untouchable only a month before.

The president-elect arrived in a roar of overwhelming ovation in the jam-packed venue, greeted as a conqueror from the hinterland. The modern-day Maximus basked in the warmth and glow of his admirers to be sure but sheathed his sword – for the moment – with a gesturing olive branch for those who may have felt a bit intimidated by the adoring crowd.

True entertainment for the people is back in force in American politics. Trump’s surreal surrounding posse included Elon Musk, the richest man on the planet, Vivek Ramaswamy, the sharpest sword in a knife factory, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Tulsi Gabbard, two former Democrats who couldn't remain members of that corrupt political institution any longer. Also in Trump’s entourage was the humble but tough Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. 

Topping off the night was the UFC. heavyweight Titleist Jon Jones offering a Trumpian celebration dance – now de rigueur across the sporting world – and his championship belt to the uncontested popular-vote-winning president-elect.

There's going to be even more fun between now and January 20, 2025, but the serious entertainment has already begun, and will continue in earnest after everybody finishes doing the "Trump Shuffle" in the wee hours of January 21, 2025.

So, let me say a few things about Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, and their proposed Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE).

Targeting the Deep State Bureaucracy

DOGE, (named in honor of dogecoin, Elon Musk’s made-up-as-a-joke crypto currency) is the nuts and bolts of dismembering an out-of-control federal bureaucracy better known as the Deep State. We cannot begin to address the catastrophic issue of paying down and paying off the national debt or ending our addictive need for forever foreign wars if the bureaucracy continues to expand, making recipients of government largesse rich while simultaneously making the middle and working classes poor (and sometimes dead).

It can't be overstated how fortunate the American Republic is to have two extraordinary products of the American Dream working beside President-elect Trump in this endeavor. Both Musk and Ramaswamy have said that only small-government revolutionaries with high I.Q.s need apply for jobs in their department; success will be judged by how many federal agencies are deleted from existence or reduced to 20% of their present size.

Those making billions off the federal hog trough are unlikely to take this sitting down. On Day One, the reduction and even elimination of entire agencies can begin through White House executive orders. But the real lasting effects of this movement to shrink government must be legislated and codified by Capitol Hill and signed into law by the president. Otherwise, the next Democrat regime would have the ability to overturn all of Trump’s executive orders. Reinstating, however, canceled agencies permanently disenfranchised by congressional action, would require Democrats to go through Congress to again earn a department's legitimacy.

No easily done deal there.

Civil Service provides no protection for entire departments done away with by congressional fiat, though it does provide a legal shield against individuals targeted for firing for political reasons. The nation is awash with lawyers, so saving the Deep State from extinction could become a pro bono full-employment project for leftist Democrat legal aid societies.

It shouldn't be hard for most of them to locate friendly judges when shopping for injunctions against actions taken by DOGE. Ramaswamy correctly says that it takes a group of outsiders to dismantle these diseased bureaucratic monstrosities because the problem initially stemmed from politicians, civil servants, and federal contractors. who became native to the inherent corruptibility of the system.

Almost none of this massive expansion of federal power came about because of omnibus bills passed on Capitol Hill and signed into law by the White House. The U.S. Supreme Court issued rulings during the Biden years saying federal government regulatory growth not specifically earmarked by Congress is unconstitutional and can be dialed back.

A little is Good; Less is Better

It’ll be a lot of fun to watch, and not just in Madison Square Garden or at the upcoming Inaugural Balls. Grab a chair along the sidelines and watch the Deep State implode and explode before our eyes as Musk and Ramaswamy take their perfectly legal wrecking crews to agencies that should've never seen the light of day in the first place. Watching the unemployment lines for over-educated and vastly overpaid federal workers who never produced anything grow longer and longer just might set my heart on fire.

I'm going to grab a front-row seat.

The synergy at work here is less is better – no different than an obese person (such as Democrat apologist Michael Moore) losing 150 pounds. Moore with a shrinking megaphone and at least a million fewer Deep State bureaucrats to feed could easily lead to a higher quality of life for average citizens and an overall booming economy.

I almost began feeling sorry for the hastily declining land values in Montgomery County, MD, and Loudoun and Fairfax Counties, VA, that will result from so many people getting axed from their juicy do-nothing jobs with their obscene perks.

I guess there's always a downside to everything.

Whoops, that isn't really a downside, is it?

Let the games (fun) begin!