Bonchie
HOW PAIN IS COMING FOR THE DEMOCRATS
Early in Donald Trump's second term, reforming the bureaucratic state has become job number one. That's not surprising given the weaponization of government that personally targeted the president for years on end, doing everything it could to prevent him from ever returning to the White House.
Enter Elon Musk, whose Department of Government Efficiency has been hard at work uncovering the waste and abuse of taxpayer funds.
Unsurprisingly, that has sent Democrats into an apoplectic rage. That's because when they lose elections, they aren't supposed to actually lose.
With their power structure now being threatened, Democrats are lashing out, and unsurprisingly again, some lower-court judges are more than happy to play along with their gambit.
We'll see where this goes, but I'm going to make a prediction: Pain is coming for Democrats.
TWO ODES TO TRUMP
[TTPers know that beloved TTPer Yasuhiko Kimura has Stage 3 Esophageal Cancer. Many of you have already been kind enough to donate to the Help Yasuhiko Genku Kimura Heal from Cancer GoFundMe, for which he and his wife Mira Joy are deeply grateful. A fight for life often brings out talents unknown before. Thus Yasuhiko, a devotee of history’s great poets, has become a poet himself.
He has gifted us with Two Odes to Trump, one in the style of England’s most famous, John Milton (1608-1674), the other in that of England’s most idiosyncratic, William Blake (1757-1827). The common bond between them and Donald Trump is all three are champions of freedom. Thank you, Yasuhiko! Our prayers are with you.]
Miltonic Ode to Trump (Written in the political spirit and the poetical style of John Milton) Yasuhiko Genku Kimura
Of Man's first Freedom, and of Liberty, Through ages dim, where tyranny did dwell, I sing of Trump, whose valiant spirit free From despot's grasp, did lead with wisdom's spell
TRUMP IN GAZA: HIS FOUR-STAGE PLAN TO REPLACE TYRANNY AND TERROR WITH PEACE AND PROSPERITY
Looks like a job for Trump the Builder
For how much longer will the world’s conscience now allow for two million people to be held hostage by Hamas, crammed into a 140 square mile Strip, stuck between the sea and two countries who will not let them enter: Egypt and Israel?
I was in Israel on October 7 and share the trauma of a nation under attack from Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and others. Now,
Hamas has vowed more October 7 attacks.
No nation in the world would accept a permanent terror base on its border, with over 200 miles of tunnels hiding weapons and training for destruction.
In this context, it would be Einstein’s definition of madness to try all the old options all over again in Gaza. Now it is time to think differently, as Trump 47 certainly is. And in so doing, he is fully aware that we cannot be cruel to the Palestinians. That they are a people who deserve homes, dignity and peace.
DEMOCRATS WALLOW IN DENIAL
It’s been three months since Donald Trump and Republicans swept the 2024 elections — and Democrats haven’t learned a thing.
Here are three snapshots of a party wallowing in denial:
When the eight candidates running to head the Democratic National Committee were asked who among them believed that “racism and misogyny” were factors in Kamala Harris’ defeat, all eight raised their hands.
When congressional Dems gathered outside the headquarters of the rogue USAID agency that Trump plans to shrink or close, one of their lead speakers was the antisemitic terror defender and America-hater Rep. Ilhan Omar.
Then there’s New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who said Saturday (2/01) he was hiding an illegal immigrant in his house and challenged ICE, saying “good luck to the feds coming in to try to get her.”
I’ve long believed Trump has a gift for driving his opponents over the edge. Now we know that for sure.
LIVE LONG AND PROSPER
Durk Pearson
[Note by Jack: Last November 7, TTPers read Skye, learning of the passing of my dearest friend, Durk Pearson. In the months since, especially in light of all the messages and condolences I received from so many TTPers, I’ve been thinking of how to have a legacy for Durk on TTP.
“Skye” was Durk’s pen name for his TTP column, and when many of you learned who he was, you told his and Sandy’s book, Life Extension: A Practical Scientific Approach, changed your life for the better. So let me tell you about two friends of mine to whom Durk & Sandy were also dear.
They are fellow TTPers of many years, Greg and Michelle Pryor. Greg was an infielder for the Kansas City Royals when they won the World Series in 1985. Wanting to keep his health after retiring from the majors, he learned about the extraordinary life extension formulas Durk & Sandy were starting to produce. He and his wife Michelle went on to become their principal licensees.
As I have been using their Pearson & Shaw formulas for years now, I have invited them to carry on Durk and Sandy’s legacy with a column on TTP. We decided to name the column “Live Long and Prosper.” As huge fans of the original Star Trek series, any message or book they’d write always ended.
So welcome, Greg & Michelle! From now on, TTPers can look forward to great Pearson & Shaw nutritional information. I’m sure “Skye” would be pleased.]
Like many who have loved and respected Durk Pearson & Sandy Shaw over many years, we are sad that they have both passed. We miss our friends greatly.
My wife, Michelle, and I have been subscribers to the To The Point for several years. We were introduced to Dr. Wheeler/To The Point by our friends, Durk (Skye on TTP) & Sandy. In 1994, Durk & Sandy helped us form our company, Life Priority, to offer many of their Designer Food formulas that we had been using since 1991.
It is an honor to be asked to use this space to share the legacy of Durk Pearson & Sandy Shaw with you.
JD VANCE’S SUBLIME TAKEDOWN OF A POMPOUS BRIT ELITIST
An Oxford-educated British elitist picked an intellectual fight with an American “hillbilly” over the weekend, and guess who won? Yep, the “hillbilly”.
It was a showdown between JD Vance, the new American Vice President, and Rory Stewart, a podcaster. It started when Vance gave an interview to Fox News in which he outlined his Christian belief in a hierarchy of love.
With superb haughtiness, Rory took to X to accuse Vance of misunderstanding the Gospel of John. Vance’s order of love is “more pagan tribal” than Christian, he pronounced, like some pope of correct-think.
Vance fired back, and it was glorious.
BEYOND THE CANAL — THE REAL THREAT OF CHINA IN PANAMA
Marco Rubio meets Panama President José Raúl Mulino, Feb 2
Recent statements by U.S. President Donald Trump and Special Envoy for Latin America Mauricio Claver Carone, as well as the trip by Secretary of State Marco Rubio to Central America, have focused attention on the risks posed by the activities of China in Panama.
Aside from China’s low key military engagement with Panama, the real issue is the vast scope of its commercial presence there.
Beyond just the ports, China’s economic engagement and development of networks of personal influence and benefit in Panama have arguably facilitated its use of the country as Beijing’s global logistics and financial hub to promote its commercial advance in the region under conditions of limited transparency, with numerous shady dealings.
Further, beyond Panama’s government, virtually all of Panama’s most influential families have business dealings with PRC-based companies. You may be amazed at how deep China’s connections within Panama are.
NOMINEE FOR TOP CRIMINAL JUSTICE POSITION INTERVIEWED BY NATION’S TOP CRIMINALS
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In an electrifying several hours on Capitol Hill, a nominee for the nation's top criminal justice position was interviewed by the nation's top criminals.
Kash Patel, Trump's pick to lead the FBI, fielded questions from America's lowest and most despicable lawbreakers ahead of his confirmation vote in the Senate.
"I have serious concerns about your character, Mr. Patel," said Senator Whitehouse, a notorious DC criminal. "Based on things you've said in the past, it seems you want to turn the FBI into a law enforcement agency to be weaponized against criminals. I find this unsettling and deeply disqualifying."
Sources say Patel simply responded with a silent, unblinking stare.
Senator Amy Klobuchar, another dangerous lawbreaker who has thus far evaded capture by police, expressed similar concerns. "EEEEEEEEEEEE!" said Klobuchar in a forceful monologue during the hearing. "EEEEEEEEEEK EEEEEEEEKKKK!"
The rest of Klobuchar's statement was not recorded as technicians mercifully turned her microphone off.
At publishing time, Patel's fate was still up in the air as the gang of criminals deliberated on whether to confirm him.
In a related development, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-BigPharma) paused the hearing of RFK Jr. for HHS Secretary to announce that the next line of questions would be sponsored by Pfizer.
- Babylon Bee reporting
LATIN AMERICA LEARNS WHAT FAFO MEANS WITH TRUMP
In Latin America, word is out. And the word is FAFO. The polite version is “Fool Around – Find Out.” That first F stands for something else on Elon’s X.
Suddenly we are seeing a lot of them willingly cooperate with President Trump on the acceptance of repatriation flights for their own nationals in the U.S. illegally.
The reason looks pretty obvious: Nobody wants to be the next Petro.
President Trump's thrashing of far-left Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, who initially refused to take repatriation flights he had agreed to earlier, hollering like the pope about 'dignity,' before being forced to quickly reverse course and sing soprano, seems to have sent a message to the rest of Latin America's alien-exporting states, and now they're falling into line with Trump's agenda.
According to Reuters:
WHY DIDN’T THE DEMOCRATS STEAL THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION?
Many Trump supporters believe that Trump won the 2024 election because, this time, the vote for Trump was “too big to rig.”
Others dismiss the concern about “stolen elections” because Trump won the popular vote in addition to the electoral vote, plus a GOP majority in the U.S. House and Senate.
The reality is that elections are still corruptible. While Democrats didn’t rig the presidential race this time around, the narrow congressional majority means that down-ballot races were still manipulated...something Democrats can and will do again.
However, the primary reason the Democrats allowed the swing states to conclude counting votes on election night was that the Democrats decided not to steal the 2024 presidential election to punish Biden and Kamala Harris for breaking ranks.
At the “Deep Party” Central Committee level of the Democrat party—at the level of Barack Obama, Klaus Schwab, and George Soros—the order went out that Harris needed to lose. Here’s why...
“TRUMP’S DONE 100 THINGS IN ONE DAY AND STARMER STILL HASNT DONE ANYTHING. WE NEED A TRUMP” SAY THE BRITISH
As someone who conducts focus groups for a living, I was hardly surprised by the poll this week that showed that so many British voters back Donald Trump’s agenda on issues such as migration and free speech.
That’s partly because of the state of public disaffection when it comes to successive governments’ handling of those issues in Britain.
But my lack of surprise was down to something else too. It has become clear from the work I do that many British voters admire Trump’s approach – on policy but, more importantly, on what amounts to his sheer determination.
“I don’t see why we’re all so [bothered] about making other people happy, but not ourselves as a country. Trump gets that,” a middle-aged man, a former Conservative voter, told me in Dudley last week. Another, a retired woman in Bury, said: “He’s done 100 things in one day and Starmer still hasn’t done anything. We need a Trump.”
TRUMP’S BAN ON GENDER TRANSITIONING HAS TURNED THE TIDE ON AN INDEFENSIBLE CULT
Change happens, according to the famous Hemingway quote about his bankruptcy, “gradually, then suddenly”. The same could now be said of the dismantling of gender ideology. Its moral bankruptcy, a decade of sterilizing and mutilating children’s bodies, looks to be over.
In the flurry of executive orders that Donald Trump has signed since re-entering the White House, here is the big one: prohibiting gender transitions for people under the age of 19.
“It is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures,” reads the executive order, entitled Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation.
This means no more puberty blockers, no more operations, double mastectomies, castration, “facial feminizations” and all the rest of it. No more irreversible “gender affirming care”.
How did we get to this? How did anyone think that telling children that they were born in the “wrong body,” and that those bodies could be surgically and chemically rearranged was sensible? But this is hardly the first time medics have caused harm.
THIS IS AMERICA FIRST – THE WORLD HAD BETTER TAKE NOTICE
Colombian plane leaving for California to bring back deported illegal aliens
With Donald Trump back in the White House, leaders across the world are sitting up. They will have to get used to something very new: an America unembarrassed about putting its own national interests first, and specifically in making the security of its borders one of the central aims of its foreign policy.
The South American nation of Colombia received an early preview of how President Trump will project US power. After initially refusing to accept US military planes carrying Colombian illegal migrants, Trump threatened a wave of tariffs and visa restrictions on the country’s political leadership unless it agreed to accept back its own citizens.
Within hours, Colombia had complied with Washington’s demands. The actions he is taking now to protect America’s national sovereignty should serve as a role model for the UK and nations across Europe who are facing the same challenges posed by mass migration.
A strong and revitalized America is great not only for the American people, but for the entire free world.
MELANIA MEANS BUSINESS
Official White House Portrait of the First Lady, January 27 2025
In 2017 it took almost three months for the White House to release an official portrait of the new First Lady who in a significant break from tradition had yet to move permanently into the executive mansion.
Previous Official Portrait of the First Lady, April 3 2017
Fast forward eight years and this time things, like so much else in Trump 2.0, look very different. A bold, confident, disciplined and always sharply tailored boss was the Melania that the public got today and, up until now, was a woman that only those who worked closest with her were allowed to see.
Melania’s lightning-fast pictorial statement - in bold black and white (another barrier breaking feature of the image) - makes clear that she too realizes that not only is there no time to waste in declaring herself part of a presidential triumvirate.
She is picture three in the line-up after her husband and his vice-president on the White House homepage.
LEGAL CHALLENGES TO TRUMP’S ENDING BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP FOR ILLEGALS ARE DOOMED TO FAIL
President Donald Trump was so busy on his first day in office that it’s been a challenge to cover everything that he did.
The best way to know which are the best ones to discuss is to look at the way Democrats are reacting to them. His pardon of J6 prisoners was a big one; they’re really up in arms about that.
Another one was his executive order ending birthright citizenship for children born to illegal immigrants in the United States. Now, Democrat attorneys general from 22 states are suing over the executive order.
The Democrat attorneys general and immigrant rights advocates say the question of birthright citizenship is settled law and that while presidents have broad authority, they are not kings.
“The president cannot, with a stroke of a pen, write the 14th Amendment out of existence, period,” New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin said.
These challenges are doomed to fail.
TRUMP TO COMBAT SENATE DEMS SLOW-WALKING HIS CABINET APPOINTMENTS
Senate Democrats who are considering holding up the confirmations of President Donald Trump’s cabinet appointments might want to rethink that course of action.
The president recently threatened to adjourn Congress so he can make recess appointments for some of his nominees.
This move would be unprecedented and would likely meet with a chorus of wailing and gnashing of teeth from the left. However, it appears Trump is willing to make this gambit, according to CBS News.
The president has been eager to get the members of his cabinet confirmed. So far, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been the only official confirmed. The Senate is still set to vote on Pete Hegseth for Defense Secretary, Kristi Noem for Homeland Security, and John Ratcliffe for CIA Director.
Democrats have been slow-walking the process for Ratcliffe and could do the same for the other two nominees, according to CBS News.
There are questions as to whether Trump has the authority to adjourn Congress.
TIME TO ADMIT IT: TRUMP IS A GREAT PRESIDENT
Back at the Resolute Desk, the President signs Executive Orders
Back at the Resolute Desk, the President signs Executive Orders
[This essay is stunningly remarkable as it is written by the founding editor and global editor-in-chief of one of the most Woke Anti-Trump media outlets in Washington, POLITICO. It was published on politico.com yesterday (1/21) under his own name. He is neither groveling nor abusive. His is an honest recognition of reality. It is stunning nonetheless. –JW]
Donald J. Trump in his second inaugural address was everything his supporters hoped he would be:
In one light, it was all quite familiar. But the second occasion of Trump taking the oath of office also put him in an entirely new light.
For the first time, he is holding power under circumstances in which reasonable people cannot deny a basic fact: He is the greatest American figure of his era.
Great in this context is not about a subjective debate over whether he is a singularly righteous leader or a singularly menacing one. It is now simply an objective description about the dimensions of his record.
In other words, he is now a force of history.
DONALD TRUMP IS OUR PRESIDENT AND THE DEMOCRAT PARTY HAS NO IDEA WHAT TO DO
Democrats are in freefall.
As of Monday January 20, Donald J. Trump is officially the 47th president of the United States. He starts his second term in the Oval Office with a bang – rolling out dozens of executive orders fulfilling promises made to American voters -- and more popular than he has ever been.
Democrats have no idea how to respond. Their party is currently earning its lowest approval ratings ever, for good reason. It is guilty of perpetrating the greatest political scandal of our lifetimes -- pretending President Joe Biden was OK to run for another four years.
Their efforts to brand Donald Trump a threat to Democracy were a bust and their leadership is in disarray. They deserve every minute they serve in political purgatory.
A former communications director for Kamala Harris says Democrats "have got to burn down our image." He’s right. But then what?
PRESIDENT TRUMP GIVES VOTERS JUST WHAT THEY ASKED FOR
Donald Trump is once again President – and his second administration promises to be more Trumpian than ever.
Sworn in just after noon yesterday (1/20) – both the inauguration ceremony and his stick-swinging inauguration speech shielded from the cold inside the Capitol Building – he is essentially picking up where he left off. This time, however, Trump & Co have far more experience of how to navigate Washington’s corridors of power. They’re already showing it.
The past few weeks have seen Trump’s transition team prove its deftness in everything from foreign policy – that Gaza ceasefire – to a domestic agenda rife with executive orders promising to dismantle the vast DEI and identity politics network that former president Joe Biden and the Democrats had assembled with such alacrity.
And as Trump’s second inauguration speech made clear, he is only just getting started.
DONALD TRUMP WILL BE NO FRIEND OF THE KREMLIN
Vladimir Putin’s plan to outlast Joe Biden and an exhausted West has run into an unpleasant surprise – Donald Trump is surrounding himself with pro-Ukrainian hardliners.
Trump appears more willing than Biden ever was to throttle the Russian economy, if that is what it takes to force the Kremlin to accept peace on “America First” terms.
A new mood of relief – not yet optimism – is taking hold among Volodymyr Zelensky’s advisers in Kyiv. Europe’s diplomats are starting to wonder whether a Trump 2.0 presidency might not be such a bad outcome after all, at least when it comes to dealing with Russia.
“It is now absolutely clear that Trump is not going to throw Ukraine under a bus,” said Prof Alan Riley, a regional expert at the Atlantic Council.
Trump’s advisers have persuaded him, by the odd “Socratic method” that shapes policy at Mar-a-Lago, that a shabby American retreat from Ukraine would be orders of magnitude worse than Biden’s humiliation in Afghanistan, and also that the first line of defense against China lies in the Donbas.
DONALD TRUMP INAUGURAL ADDRESS AS 47TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
The golden age of America begins right now.
From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. We will be the envy of every nation. And we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer.
During every single day of the Trump administration, I will, very simply, put America first. Our sovereignty will be reclaimed. Our safety will be restored. The scales of justice will be rebalanced. The vicious, violent and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end.
And our top priority will be to create a nation that is proud and prosperous and free.
America will soon be greater, stronger, and far more exceptional than ever before. I return to the presidency confident and optimistic that we are at the start of a thrilling new era of national success. A tide of change is sweeping the country. Sunlight is pouring over the entire world, and America has the chance to seize this opportunity like never before.
But first, we must be honest about the challenges we face. While they are plentiful, they will be annihilated by this great momentum that the world is now witnessing and the United States of America.
HOW TO TREAT DEMOCRAT CHILDREN PROPERLY AT A SENATE CONFIRMATION HEARING
One Democratic senator resorted to “toxic masculinity”—a cardinal sin on the left—by repeatedly talking over Bondi and mansplaining his partisan talking points.
But Bondi wasn’t having it. She clapped back at Senator Alex Padilla (D-California), leaving him looking like a… pic.twitter.com/apkOiQ7wKU— The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) January 15, 2025
Now that is how a BOSS treats unruly children. Pam Bondi deftly handled all the Dem nincompoops as she did Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA).
Several of Donald Trump’s most important cabinet nominees have now undergone confirmation hearings. I have watched them live in bits and pieces as I have been able, and have seen many clips posted here and elsewhere. Some obvious common threads emerge.
First, Trump’s nominees have uniformly done well. Pete Hegseth, Pam Bondi, Marco Rubio, Chris Wright, Scott Bessent, and Doug Bergum have all come across as competent and likable, in contrast to most of their Democrat interlocutors, who have been shrill at best, and often dim-witted. Very often.
My favorite moment so far might be when the bizarre Mazie Hirono asked Pam Bondi whether she had ever made any unwanted sexual advances. Bondi’s puzzlement was understandable.
HOW TRUMP TAKES ADVANTAGE OF RUSSIAN WEAKNESS AND EXHAUSTION
Putin Death Skull Banner across from Russian Embassy in Riga, Latvia
Putin Death Skull Banner across from Russian Embassy in Riga, Latvia
The Russian offensive in Donbas has stalled in the last few weeks to a crawl, and in the Kursk oblast, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s order to expel the Ukrainian forces remains a failure.
This at the cost of up to 2,000 dead or badly wounded Russians and North Koreans a day could create a favorable situation for an inaugurated Trump opening peace negotiations with Putin. Yet the Kremlin is signaling its full commitment to its maximalist demands of Ukraine’s capitulation (Rossiiskaya Gazeta, January 10).
The working assumption in Moscow appears to be that Washington D.C. must produce attractive incentives for Russia to agree on a pause in hostilities because Trump’s ability to generate pressure is limited (Svoboda.org, January 10). This confidence amounts to self-deception because Trump has at least four heavy-impact levers for compelling Putin to shift from ultimatums to reasonable flexibility and beyond.
BASIC MAKE-READY FOR URBAN UNREST: PART TWO
For the first part of this series, click here.
We are going more into tactics, techniques, and procedures here.
Know when to “dial up” and “dial down” when bad people disturb your peace. First, there is the rowdy street protest where occasional assaults and vandalism might occur, and then the other end of the spectrum, such as an October 7th style terror attack.
Just recently, people were celebrating the murder of a healthcare CEO and calling for the murder of Daniel Penny following his acquittal by a jury. Every situation is different—risks, opportunities, and what happens when/if you get caught; either by the authorities or others.
I know the recent election of Donald Trump may have, in the minds of some, limited the chances of this going as badly as I am writing about. Just remember the enemy has had decades to load their people into the system that we are trying to reform, and we hope Trump can fix this—but it’s not yet proven. We missed four years of Kamala and gigantic rear ends being shaken in our faces by less than five percent of the vote!
To be clear, I do not advise you to break any laws, nor condone your doing so; you have places like Texas and places like Taxachussetts, and what is a felony in one state may be innocent fun in another. You will have to decide what you ought/need to do and can do to stay alive. There are consequences for every choice.
JANUARY 20, 2025 – INDEPENDENCE DAY II
America’s Independence Day, observed annually on July 4, is a national holiday that honors the ratification of the Declaration of Independence. This pivotal document marked the founding of the United States of America and its liberation from British tyranny and oppression.
In the mid-1990s, a song with the same title was awarded Country Music Song of the Year. Performed by Martina McBride, it celebrates a woman’s liberation from her abusive husband.
What are the commonalities? Oppression and abuse. Is anyone else sensing a strong stench of these in America, what used to be a shining city on a hill?
Could January 20, which is less than a week away, become Independence Day II for Americans who strive for freedom against a tyrannical federal government? The answer is Yes.
What would an Independence Day II in America look like? Eight years ago, the appetizer was served, but the main course begins next week.
WOKE DEI + GREEN NIHILISM = DRESDEN IN CALIFORNIA
Today’s cover January 14, 2025
Firebombing on the Pacific
Over 25,000 acres are ablaze in Los Angeles in the Pacific Palisades fire, a veritable living hell.
Some 12,000-plus structures were incinerated. More than 250,000 souls have been evacuated and are in need of shelter.
No one has really taken charge yet. And now even the woke culprits for the catastrophe are blame-gaming each other to determine who was the more incompetent, which in this case translates to the most woke.
No one knows how many have died; all know the number will escalate in the next few days. The eventual price tag of the ruin will exceed $200-300 billion. And there are still some fires that are completely uncontained.
The Los Angeles apocalypse was a multisystem, green-woke collapse—and a disastrous reminder that when Soviet-style, anti-meritocratic ideology permeates all aspects of modern life in California, disaster is inevitable.
First, note that the culprit of the catastrophe is not climate change; it is not Donald Trump. Those are excuses for arrogant incompetency and disdain for the public. And it is not racism or homophobia to fault those who paraded and virtue signaled their tribal identities so extraneous to their actual responsibilities for public safety.
PETE HEGSETH OPENING STATEMENT
Thank you Chairman Wicker, Ranking Member Reed, and all members of this Committee for the opportunity today. I am grateful for, and learned a great deal from, this "advise and consent" process. Should I be confirmed, I look forward to working with this Committee — Senators from both parties — to secure our nation…
It is an honor to come before this Committee as President Donald Trump's nominee for the office of Secretary of Defense. Two months ago, 77 million Americans gave President Trump a powerful mandate for change. To put America First — at home and abroad.
I want to thank President Trump for his faith in me, and his selfless leadership of our great Republic. The troops could have no better Commander-in-Chief than Donald Trump.
As I've said to many of you in our private meetings, when President Trump chose me for this position, the primary charge he gave me was — to bring the warrior culture back to the Department of Defense. He, like me, wants a Pentagon laser-focused on warfighting, lethality, meritocracy, standards, and readiness. That's it. That is my job.
To that end, if confirmed, I'm going to work with President Trump — and this committee — to:
TRUMP’S GREENLAND AND PANAMA SCHEME IS HIS MOST INGENIOUS REAL ESTATE DEAL YET
You know the old adage. There are three things to remember in the real estate business: location, location, location.
And who is a better student of the rough-and-tumble realty game than Donald Trump?
That's nearly all you need to know about the President-elect's recent vows to take Greenland and the Panama Canal, by (wink-wink) any means necessary.
In fact, Trump is sending a message to the world and America's enemies: We're serious about protecting the Western Hemisphere - again.
Statesmen since before Abraham Lincoln have looked both north and south to help safeguard our nation. Now it’s Trump’s turn. And he does know how to make a deal.
HOW PUTIN WENT FROM WEAKLING TO MONSTER AND STOLE $1 TRILLION FROM HIS OWN PEOPLE
Once, he was seen as our best hope for permanent peace between West and East. Today, he is the embodiment of evil, a monstrous dictator who threatens a nuclear holocaust that could obliterate Europe.
But when Vladimir Putin was named as successor to the drunken president Boris Yeltsin a quarter of a century ago, on New Year’s Eve in 1999, he was regarded both by the public and by the gangster oligarchs who controlled the economy as a political weakling.
A quarter of a century on, no one regards him as a weakling. Those who underestimated him have paid the price, often with their lives. So have untold millions of ordinary Russians. The toll of Russian dead and injured from the so-called ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine alone is approaching 800,000.
Putin has ruled his homeland for longer than any leader since Joseph Stalin, who was dictator for 30 years until his death in 1953. But Stalin held his country together through World War II. Putin has ripped it apart.
ZUCKERBERG GOES FULL MUSK
Mark Zuckerberg, January 7, 2025
As you watched above, yesterday (1/07) Mark Zuckerberg announced massive new changes at Meta, admitting the company went too far with censoring Americans.Elon Musk is the reason for the change. He bought Twitter and turned it into the best news aggregator on Earth. It is the No. 1 news app in 140 countries.
He taught a lesson to Zuckerberg, who had fallen for the sirene of censorship. The real power is in restraining yourself, not your customers. Adapt or die. Zuckerberg chose to move to Texas.
After Trump’s second re-election, America is returning to normal. The very next day after Congress confirmed Trump’s Electoral Vote victory, Zuckerberg made his announcement. That is no accident, comrades.
JANUARY 6, 2025 – THE REAL INSURRECTION BEGINS
BREAKING: Kamala Harris becomes the 1st woman to certify her own election loss pic.twitter.com/NmMQFWtEo1
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) January 6, 2025
The moment represents one of many surreal moments on a date—January 6—that the Biden regime, news media, and Democrat voters consider one of the darkest times in American history.
Four years ago, the ruling class in Washington attempted to commit what all evidence now points to as the premeditated murder of the MAGA movement. Powerful political and government saboteurs aligned to stoke the events of January 6, a four-hour disturbance those same saboteurs immediately branded an “insurrection.”
They failed. And four years later, the Real Insurrection begins.
JOE BIDEN AND GEORGE SOROS
President Joe Biden rewarded one of the Left’s most influential and infamous donors Saturday (1/04), giving the Presidential Medal of Freedom to George Soros.
The White House announced the honor in a list of 19 recipients, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and LGBTQ megadonor Tim Gill.
Biden framed Soros’ funding as philanthropy in service of “democracy” and “social justice.”
Soros bankrolled the “rogue prosecutor” soft-on-crime movement by funding the campaigns of local prosecutors who oppose the death penalty and use prosecutorial discretion to avoid charging crimes they consider minor but their victims don’t.
Crime rates have spiked across the country, particularly in Democrat-led cities, where murder rates have increased.
Yet it makes a perverse amount of sense that Biden would grant Soros the highest civilian honor—not because the billionaire has funded a movement that puts Americans in danger but because his massive funding network enabled Biden’s allies to implement their radical agenda through the administrative state.
CORRUPT JUDGE JUAN MERCHAN SHOULD BE SENTENCED, NOT PRESIDENT TRUMP
New York Judge Juan Merchan’s dogmatic refusal last Friday (1/03) to dismiss the misbegotten case against President-elect Donald Trump and, instead, proceed to sentencing on Jan. 10 is nothing more than a corrupt desperate attempt to brand him a “convicted felon” before in Inauguration.
At the same time, Merchan unwittingly concedes the folly of the entire prosecution by notifying the defendant that neither the court nor District Attorney Alvin Bragg will seek any meaningful punishment. Trump, the judge disingenuously advises, would receive an "unconditional discharge" with no incarceration, fine, or probation following the guilty verdicts by a Manhattan jury last May.
Never mind that state law does not support a jail sentence under these circumstances. Forget that the district attorney deliberately contorted statutes and mangled evidence to pursue a meritless prosecution that was motivated purely by political vengeance.
A competent or objective judge would have long ago tossed the Trump indictment in the garbage where it belonged. On its face, it was patently deficient, if not ludicrous, and a transparently politicized prosecution.
REPUBLICANS HAVE THE SLIMMEST HOUSE MAJORITY SINCE 1931 — WHAT IT MEANS
Tomorrow, January 3, a new Congress is sworn in. Immediately after, the House must elect of Speaker.
If no one quickly wins the gavel, certification of President-elect Trump’s victory on January 6 could be delayed. Rules then would make Senator Chuck Grassley the president. With no yet President, Vice-President nor Speaker of the House, presidential succession as specified in the Constitution designates the president of the Senate, which would be Grassley.
That is possible, but highly unlikely in practice, explained below. To be sworn on tomorrow are 219 Republicans and 215 Democrats (with one vacancy). Current and Trump-endorsed Mike Johnson must have a majority of 218.
However, at least one Republican is a confirmed no for Johnson. A second no would do Johnson in. The Wall Street Journal reports How Mike Johnson Could Lose the House Speaker Vote.
PUTIN CANNOT SURVIVE ANOTHER YEAR LIKE 2024
Black Swan over the Kremlin in 2025
As 2025 begins, pessimism about Ukraine’s fate hangs in the air and the stench of appeasement on the wind. I find myself mystified as to why, for it should be clear that the conflict has so far been an ignominious failure for President Vladimir Putin.
Unable to achieve the objective of subjugating his far smaller neighbor, he has instead inflicted enormous suffering on his own country and devastated its economy while undermining Russian prestige and strategic influence around the world.
Let us count the ways on how what was planned as a three-day “special operation” has turned into a three-year nightmare for Russia’s dictator.
PRESIDENT TRUMP! FORGET CANADA! WE BRITISH WANT TO BE YOUR 51ST STATE!
“The Briton... should cheerfully acquiesce in the decree of Destiny, and stand in betimes with the conquering American.” So said William Thomas Stead (1849-1912), the prominent Victorian newspaperman and strident reformer.
Stead looked at Britain’s colonial apotheosis with apprehension, understanding that the growth of new great powers meant “we can never again be the first.” This feared future has since come to be. Governing the world is, for us, yesterday’s dream.
The divergence between our two nations will only become more obvious as Britain flounders under Starmerism while America faces a rebirth under Trump’s Make America Great Again agenda. In short, we’d be lucky to be granted a deal like Trump’s (semi-) humorous offer to absorb Canada into the American Union as the 51st state.
CAN CHINA EVER WEED OUT CORRUPTION IN ITS MILITARY?
Try as he might, it is clear that Xi Jinping cannot rid his military of the insidious corruption that defines its workings much more than the count of warships and nuclear warheads ever can.
Another spate of Chinese military corruption cases serves as a reminder that a decades-long practice and culture of corruption continues to flourish within and among the ranks and relationships of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
Recent headlines of two more Chinese generals who are being investigated by Chinese Communist Party disciplinary authorities only repeat reports regularly found over the years in Chinese media about malfeasance in the military.
Promotions come with a price tag. Even basic enlistment requires bribes. Luxury properties both in China as well as internationally are owned by the relatives of the highest-ranking PLA officers. Procurement – always risky but fertile ground for illicit dealing – is rife with backhanders, inflated contract bidding, and other forms of bribery.
THE NEXT AMERICAN CENTURY IS NOW
Remember when Japan was predicted to overtake America? Back in the 1980s, Japan was the coming country. One “expert”, Herman Kahn predicted that Japan would surpass America as the world’s largest economy by 2000.
Today? Japan’s economy is a quarter the size of America’s. Today, of course, we’re told that the great ascending power is not Japan, but China.
By 2021, China’s GDP was almost 80 percent that of the US and the experts were telling us China would overtake America within a couple of decades. But look at what has happened since. China’s economy has peaked as a percentage of US output.
As recently as 2008, Europe’s economy was about the same size as the United States’. Today, America’s economy is twice the size of Europe’s. Home Depot, a single US company, eclipses all the new businesses created in the European Union since 1974.
So why are Japan, China and Europe all in their different ways underperforming America? Because each are, in their different ways, reverting back to a type of political economic tradition far less successful than America’s.
And with that tradition being revitalized by the new Trump Presidency, we should be on the cusp of an extraordinary period of progress and innovation in America.
JIMMY CARTER WAS NOT A GOOD MAN
MAGA CNN commentator Scott Jennings rails against President Carter, saying he had "a huge ego" and was a poor ex-president, despite him doing so much for the less fortunate, and he hated pomp and circumstance.
This is why nobody takes CNN seriously.pic.twitter.com/UHQdSGqCdM— Really American 🇺🇸 (@ReallyAmerican1) December 31, 2024
Upon the announcement Sunday (12/29) of Jimmy Carter’s death at age 100, a reporter asked outgoing president Joe Biden what incoming president Donald Trump could learn from Carter’s legacy. Biden had the indecency to say “Decency.”
Biden once set his sights high by trying to compare himself to FDR and JFK, now has to settle for being the second Carter.
On his way out the door, the media continues to insist that Biden is a good man. And that Carter, despite presiding over one of the worst administrations in history, was a good man.
Biden and Carter had many things in common, record unpopularity, crooked brothers, empowering Islamic terrorists, but decency was never one of them.
Joe Biden was not a good man. Neither was Jimmy Carter. Here are just a few of the reasons why.
WORLD’S MOST SECRETIVE SOCIETY APPOINTS NEW LEADER AS TRUMP SPARKS SEISMIC SHIFT IN GLOBAL ORDER
The Bilderberg Group - a secret organization of the global elite - is undergoing a leadership transformation as Donald Trump prepares to retake the White House.
The society, which consists of leaders in politics, industry, academia and the military, has selected former NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg to chair its 'steering committee.'
Founded in 1954, the Bilderberg group has long drawn fascination for its clandestine meetings at exclusive hotels and alpine resorts where attendees hold discussions on international relations, economics and security.
Heads of the CIA and MI6 have been among its members, while Henry Kissinger was a regular alongside the likes of Bill Clinton, Bill Gates and then-Prince Charles.
Now a major power shift is afoot as Stoltenberg, who attended his first Bilderberg summit in 2002, has been tapped for his expertise in transatlantic strategy.
Key among his Bilderberg colleagues is Trump insider Peter Thiel, boss of AI giant Palantir, whose technology has been used by Ukraine in the fight against Putin. A staunch supporter of Donald Trump, Thiel's influence has steadily grown within Bilderberg.