After watching several reruns of video of the January 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol, I decided not to write about it this week.  President Biden’s editorial in Monday’s Washington Post said enough about that sad day and the importance of remembering it.  In part, the president wrote:

“We must remember the wisdom of the adage that any nation that forgets its past is doomed to repeat it. We cannot accept a repeat of what occurred four years ago.

“An unrelenting effort has been underway to rewrite — even erase — the history of that day. To tell us we didn’t see what we all saw with our own eyes. To dismiss concerns about it as some kind of partisan obsession. To explain it away as a protest that just got out of hand.

“But on this day, we cannot forget. This is what we owe those who founded this nation, those who have fought for it and died for it.

“And we should commit to remembering Jan. 6, 2021, every year. To remember it as a day when our democracy was put to the test and prevailed. To remember that democracy — even in America — is never guaranteed.

“We should never forget it is our democracy that makes everything possible — our freedoms, our rights, our liberties, our dreams. And that it falls to every generation of Americans to defend and protect it.”

With President Biden’s words in mind, we need to move past January 6, 2021 and focus on the future.  Unfortunately, that future includes soon-to-be President Trump asking Congress to pass major parts of the  MAGA agenda in “one powerful bill.”  Trump wrote:

“Members of Congress are getting to work on one powerful Bill that will bring our Country back, and make it greater than ever before. We must Secure our Border, Unleash American Energy, and Renew the Trump Tax Cuts, which were the largest in History, but we will make it even better – NO TAX ON TIPS. IT WILL ALL BE MADE UP WITH TARIFFS, AND MUCH MORE, FROM COUNTRIES THAT HAVE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF THE U.S. FOR YEARS. Republicans must unite, and quickly deliver these Historic Victories for the American People. Get smart, tough, and send the Bill to my desk to sign as soon as possible. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

What is wrong here?  Everything. The Framers of the Constitution created a Congress to legislate the laws of the land and an Executive Branch of government to implement the law.  Trump is asking his slim majority in Congress to abdicate their responsibility to take his proposals, deliberate carefully on them, before passing them.

 If Congressional Republicans act on Trump’s none-too-subtle request, there likely would be no hearings, no analysis, no debate, and no opportunity for Democrats to offer amendments to one massive bill that would rewrite immigration policy, radically change energy policy, and extend the Trump 2017 tax cuts.  Unless the bill grants Trump massive, most likely unconstitutional discretion to implement the policies envisioned, the bill will be hundreds of pages long.

Congress must do its work as envisioned by the Framers of the Constitution.  They need to accept Trump’s proposals, analyze them for both programmatic and budgetary impact, hold hearings to receive input on the proposals from stakeholders, and consider the legislation in a deliberative manner.  Trump does not envision this.

On Monday, reports circulated that the President-Elect is inviting Congressional Republicans to Mar-a-Lago to discuss his plan of action.  Let’s hope that at least a few Republicans will not be blinded by the splendor of Mar-a-Lago.  Let’s hope they remember why they were elected to Congress and do their job.

J.E. Dean writes on politics, government, and, too infrequently, other subjects. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s List on Medium and Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack.

 

I will leave it to others to recount the many challenges of Jimmy Carter’s presidency. I recall some of them myself, most notably buying a car with an 18 percent auto loan. I also recall Carter’s “national malaise” speech, delivered by the president wearing a sweater in front of a lit White House fireplace. Carter turned down the heat in the White House during the energy crisis and was ridiculed for his efforts to reduce energy usage, just as he was blamed for failing to rescue the Iran hostages.

By the time Carter left office, he was labeled a failure. I don’t remember him as one, even though the presidency of his successor, Ronald Reagan, was seen by many as a rescue from an America in decline.

I don’t dispute the successes of the Reagan presidency, but I also credit Reagan with consciously working to destroy Carter’s credibility during the 1980 campaign. In many ways, Donald Trump borrowed a page from Reagan’s 1980 win in his treatment of Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and more than a dozen Republican primary challengers in three elections. 

I like to think that if Reagan were alive today, he might regret his harsh treatment of Carter because, on reflection, Carter wasn’t so much a bad president as an unlucky one. His heart was in the right place, and Carter was no clueless idiot. He just won the election at the wrong time.

My first experience with Carter came as a young Capitol Hill aide working under a moderate Republican Congressman who worked with Democrats and once told me that John F. Kennedy’s presidency had inspired him to enter politics.

President Carter’s Department of Justice proposed the reauthorization of two little-known federal statutes that sought to improve juvenile justice, prevent delinquency, and stem the problem of runaway and homeless youth. I worked with my Democratic Hill counterparts and Carter officials to contribute to a strong reauthorization bill that passed both houses of Congress with near-unanimous votes.

Sadly, such bipartisan cooperation is rare today. But in 1977, President Carter seemed to want to find common ground. Carter and his team, as well as the cooperation-minded Democrats on the Education and Labor Committee, made my job easy. Carter tried to work with Republicans even when it wasn’t necessary.

After the juvenile justice bill was approved by the House and Senate, President Carter signed it. A few days later, I received a letter from the White House, signed by President Carter, thanking me for my work on the bill. I had it framed, and it still hangs in my office.

I continued to work on bipartisan legislation until Carter left office, but that wasn’t my last contact with him. Later, in the early 1980s, I boarded a Delta flight from Washington National (not yet Reagan Airport) only to find President Carter seated two rows in front of me, accompanied by a pair of Secret Service agents. I nodded at President Carter as I passed his row.

I took my seat as the rest of the plane boarded. Then Carter did something unexpected. He stood up and asked the flight attendant if he could have a few minutes to greet the passengers before the plane backed off the gate. The answer was yes. Carter then personally greeted every passenger on the plane. Everyone was thrilled, especially me.

I followed Carter’s post-presidential work with admiration. No corporate boards for Carter. He preferred pounding nails for Habitat for Humanity, authoring books, and promoting fair elections in countries where voting fraud is a reality.

I will miss Jimmy Carter. I hope that as America prepares for the Carter State funeral on January 9, we will all think about his life. He deserved a Nobel Prize for his peace-building work, which resulted in the Camp David agreements. He also deserves respect and thanks for being a great man, including his work as our 39th president.

J.E. Dean writes on politics, government, and, too infrequently, other subjects. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s List on Medium and Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack.  

Seasons Greetings, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Joyous Kwanza. I hope I did not leave anyone out.

I wish you safe and happy holidays, hopefully with friends and family who have not spent most of the last two days at the airport or stuck in snow waiting for a road to be cleared.  The winter holidays are meant to be enjoyed. That is why this column is about the holidays rather than about politics.

The past year has been a challenge, but let’s not go into that except to extend our sympathies and prayers to the people killed or injured at the Christmas Market in Magdeburg, Germany. We didn’t need a reminder that we live in challenging times, but we got one anyway.

In recent weeks, I have noticed that most of us want to move past the political acrimony of the last two years. I am among them but am reminded that, “Freedom is not free.”  It must be earned. Nobody is going to make America or the world a more empathetic, healthier, freer place as a gift. That is why giving someone the gift subscription to The Economist or some other objective, well-researched source of news and information is such a worthy  gift. It is a gift that, if used as directed, makes the recipient a better citizen.

The winter holidays, regardless of which one you celebrate, are not about gifts, or shouldn’t be. They should be a time of reflection and camaraderie. Families separated by distance or misunderstanding sometimes reunite during the holidays. Friends who have “lapsed” reconnect, a gift that, with a little luck, keeps on giving.

During the holidays, we get to celebrate the existence of good,something that we need to be reminded of these days. It is also a time to imagine a world without hate, greed, lying, war, disease, and hunger. I like to think of Christmas as the official start of a season of hope.

These days we are deluged by reminders that somewhere, over the last couple of thousand years, Christmas has becomecommercialized. This is not just since the cartoon Santa Claus became popular. It started with Christmas becoming just another holiday on the annual calendar. Today, I know of families—good families of loving people—who celebrate Christmas but don’t invite Jesus or any other hint of the religious origin of the holiday into their special day. I find that sad.

Today I am going to do my part to make Christmas something other than a day off from work, a day to watch football or a day to watch Uncle Bob drink too much wine. I am not going to write a list of what was on the president-elect’s gift list or, even more charitably on my part, what he deserves to get. I am putting my usual snarkiness on ice. I have also resolved not to discuss politics, at all, during Christmas dinner.

Let me close by wishing you, again, happy holidays. Let me also thank those of you who have regularly read these columns, especially readers who disagree with much of the stuff I write. Please know you are appreciated.  I consider your interest in my perspectives, and in the important political debates of our time, a gift.

J.E. Dean writes on politics, government, and, too infrequently, other subjects. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s List on Medium and Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack.  

Donald Trump enjoyed what may be his second biggest win of the year last Friday when ABC settled Trump’s defamation lawsuit against the network and its best-known anchor. The suit related to George Stephanopoulos saying Trump was found “liable for rape.”  ABC, through its foundation, agreed to contribute $15 million to the future Trump Presidential Library, cover $1 million in Trump’s legal fees, and issue an apology. 

The settlement surprised many in the media. While Trump was not found guilty of rape in the E. Jean Carroll case, the judge in the case wrote, “The finding that Ms. Carroll failed to prove that she was ‘raped’ within the meaning of the New York Penal Law does not mean that she failed to prove that Mr. Trump ‘raped’ her as many people commonly understand the word rape. Indeed, as the evidence at trial recounted below makes clear, the jury found that Mr. Trump in fact did exactly that.”

Trump’s victory over ABC was followed yesterday with a lawsuit against The Des Moines Register and pollster J. Ann Selzer over a poll held shortly before election day that indicated Kamala Harris leading Trump by 3 percent in Iowa. Trump won Iowa by 14 percent. . 

Before the election and during his first term in office, Trump threatened “fake news” outlets such as ABC and NBC with revocation of their broadcast licenses. He has also routinely ridiculed media personalities who dare to criticize him.

Earlier in his “career,” in 2006, Trump sued Warner Books and the author of a book titled The Art of Being the Donald, who wrote that Trump was only a millionaire, not a billionaire. Trump’s suit was dismissed.

In October 2022, Trump sued CNN for $2.75 billion. In part, the complaint read: “CNN has sought to use its massive influence – purportedly as a ‘trusted’ news source – to defame the Plaintiff in the minds of its viewers and readers for the purpose of defeating him politically, culminating in CNN claiming credit for ‘[getting] Trump out’ in the 2020 presidential election.”

Trump alleged the term “The Big Lie,” was “uttered” more than 7,700 times on the network from January 2021 to the date of the lawsuit.

In May 2023, Trump sued The Washington Post for $3.78 billion for publishing news relating to the finances of Truth Social, the social media platform that has become the go-to news outlet for the Trump transition. Trump alleged the Post acted with malice to undermine him politically.

There have been other lawsuits filed by Trump or his campaign, including actions against a Wisconsin TV station for running an ad that suggested that Trump had called the coronavirus a hoax, Bob Woodward, and CBS.

After January 20, 2025, will Trump attempt to silence his critics with further attacks on the free press? That is a worry all of us should have. And it gets worse. As traditional news outlets have lost ground to social media sites, podcasts, blogs, and other non-traditional news-sharing, those previously unregulated sources of information (and misinformation) could find themselves subject to new regulations or lawsuits intended to intimidate them against speaking out against Trump and his policies.

Trump’s threats to the media and anyone else criticizing him should be taken seriously. In the case of the media, I wonder whether the nature of the threats will change from lawsuits to governmental action after Inauguration Day.  Will Trump or soon-to-be FBI Director Kash Patel develop an enemies list? 

I also wonder whether the threats themselves will suffice to hush many, or even most, critics, even those outside the media but who may be known in their communities as Trump-haters. If Trump fails to close the IRS, will some of these people find themselves subject to tax audits?

It is ironic that Donald Trump is pursuing “dishonest” media. The Washington Post has cataloged more than 30,573 of what it calls “lies” told during Trump’s first term in the White House.

Remember when Donald Trump said that Senator Ted Cruz’s father was with John F. Kennedy’s assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, right before Oswald was shot? The implication was that Cruz’s father was somehow involved in the assassination. To my knowledge, Senator Cruz, today one of President-Elect Trump’s strongest supporters in the U.S. Senate, never sued for defamation.

J.E. Dean writes on politics, government, and, too infrequently, other subjects. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s List on Medium and Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack.

 

Donald Trump won the 2024 election, so why does he remain fixated on the people who attempted to hold him accountable for attempting to overturn the 2020 election and for fomenting the January 6 attack on the Capitol? Can’t Trump just enjoy his 2024 victory and move forward?

Donald Trump sat down with Meet the Press host Kristin Welker last Sunday to discuss the Trump administration’s plans for the future. Those plans include the immediate imposition of tariffs on several countries, the start of mass deportations of migrant-criminals, extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts, and fighting crime. He did passably well in discussing those topics. Even if you disagree with Trump’s plans, it is appropriate for a president-elect to tell America what he plans to do.

Trump, unfortunately, was asked about January 6, 2021, and the 2020 election. As Welker likely expected, Trump repeated his false claim that he won in 2020, but, disturbingly, Trump called for the jailing of all members of the House Select Committee that investigated the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol. Members of the Committee include Senator-elect Adam Schiff (D-CA), who Trump called “a lowlife,” Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-NC), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Pete Aguilar (D-CA), Stephanie Murphy (D-FL), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Elaine Luria (D-VA), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), and former Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY). 

Trump accused the “unselect” committee with falsifying evidence and deleting recordings of interviews. In part, Trump said:

“Cheney did something that’s inexcusable, along with Thompson and the people on the un-select committee of political thugs and, you know, creeps. So, the unselect committee went through a year and a half of testimony. Wait. They deleted and destroyed all evidence of — that they found. You know why? Because Nancy Pelosi was guilty. Nancy Pelosi turned down 10,000 troops. You wouldn’t have had a J6 because other people were guilty. . .. Now, listen, this was a committee, a big deal. They lied. And what did they do? They deleted and destroyed a whole year and a half worth of testimony. Do you know that I can’t get — I think those people committed a major crime.”

Trump later told Welker that Bennie Thompson and everyone on the January 6 Committee “should go to jail.”

Importantly, throughout the Meet the Press interview, Trump was careful to avoid saying he would direct anticipated Attorney General Pam Bondi or anticipated FBI Director Kash Patel to pursue political opponents. He repeatedly expressed confidence they would “do the right thing.”

Nobody who served on the January 6 Committee committed crimes. Any effort to prosecute Committee members will fail. Nobody will be convicted, even if parts of the Committee’s final report are found to contain errors. And it is all but impossible to jail a member of Congress for anything they said or did as a member of the House of Representatives short of accepting bribes or killing someone.

Despite the likelihood of exoneration, if the Trump administration pursues criminal action against Liz Cheney and others perceived by Trump as political enemies, they will incur millions of dollars in legal fees, face years of legal proceedings, and otherwise have their lives severely disrupted. That is unfair. Filing spurious charges against Cheney and others is a form of punishment regardless of the ultimate outcome of the cases. 

Last Sunday Trump announced another former member of one of his legal teams defending him in various criminal cases earlier this year, Alina Habba has been named Counselor to the President. Trump writes: 

“Alina has been a tireless advocate for Justice, a fierce Defender of the Rule of Law, and an invaluable Advisor to my Campaign and Transition Team. She has been unwavering in her loyalty, and unmatched in her resolve – standing with me through numerous “trials,” battles, and countless days in Court. Few understand the Weaponization of the “Injustice” System better than Alina, who has fought relentlessly against the full force of Lawfare with courage and an unshakable commitment to Justice.”

Trump continues to evidence an obsession with retribution against legislators, judges and prosecutors who sought to hold him accountable. He is surrounding himself with officials and advisors who will pursue Liz Cheney and others even if he never personally directs such actions.

America will be ill-served if the Trump administration fulfills Trump’s promise of retribution. Such efforts will represent an abuse of power—dare I say it—for which Trump should be held accountable. 

J.E. Dean writes on politics, government, and, too infrequently, other subjects. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s List on Medium and Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack.

In June, Hunter Biden was convicted of three felonies for lying on a mandatory disclosure form while purchasing a gun. President Biden’s son lied about using or being addicted to illegal drugs.

Last September, Hunter Biden was convicted of three felonies and six misdemeanors for tax offenses, 

On June 6, President Biden announced he would not pardon Hunter or commute any sentence he might receive for his gun-related conviction. 

The President’s announcement in June was disappointing. While it was clear that felonies had been committed, the prosecution of Biden seemed motivated by something other than the pursuit of justice. And Hunter Biden was a recovering addict. His crimes, by his own admission, were the byproduct of his drug and alcohol abuse.

On Sunday, President Biden pardoned his son for all of  his felony convictions.  Biden’s grant of Executive Clemency also for “those offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014, through December 1, 2024.”  As a result of President Biden’s actions, Hunter Biden will not be going to jail and no longer has to worry about additional indictments or criminal proceedings relating to crimes he may have committed in the past. 

Was President Biden wrong in pardoning his son? No.

The President’s justification rings true:

“The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election. Then, a carefully negotiated plea deal, agreed to by the Department of Justice, unraveled in the court room – with a number of my political opponents in Congress taking credit for bringing political pressure through the process. Had the plea deal been held, it would have been a fair, reasonable resolution of Hunter’s cases.
 
No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son – and that is wrong. There has been an effort to break Hunter – who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution. In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me – and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.”

Critics of the President’s pardon, and there are many, suggest that the prosecution of Donald Trump for offenses relating to the January 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol and for removing federal documents, including top secret documents, was also politically motivated. I disagree with this argument, but it doesn’t matter. The charges against Trump have been dropped. And, most importantly, two wrongs don’t make a right.

Critics of the pardon also suggest that Biden has made it easier for Trump to use the pardon policy inappropriately.  That is malarky.  Trump needs no help in finding friends and family to pardon.  One of them, Charles Kushner, father-in-law to Ivanka Trump, was convicted of tax evasion, illegal campaign contributions, and witness tampering before being pardoned by Trump.  Last week, Mr. Kushner was nominated to serve as U.S. Ambassador to France. 

There are dozens of other examples from Trump’s first term in office that demonstrate that Trump has mastered the Art of the Pardon.  On January 20, 2025, or shortly thereafter, Trump will pardon individuals he calls the “January 6 hostages,” meaning people jailed after violently assaulting the Capitol in a failed attempt to keep Trump in power after he lost the 2020 election.

Nothing—and I mean nothing—Biden could do could justify Trump’s past pardons and, I expect, his future ones. And even if you disagree with Biden’s decision to pardon his son, two wrongs don’t make a right. Period. Full stop.

President Trump will do what he will do. As of noon January 20, 2025, President Trump will be free to issue pardons, as authorized under the Constitution. Let’s let those actions be judged on their merits. 

 J.E. Dean writes on politics, government, and, too infrequently, other subjects. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s List on Medium and Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack.

 

 

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I am thankful for a lot of things. I will get up early, send Thanksgiving Day greetings to several family members and good friends and get ready to celebrate this very special American holiday with family and with a 13-year-old Goldendoodle named Lucca.

When I sit down for dinner tomorrow, Lucca will be with me, sitting patiently at my side, hoping that I sneak her a piece of turkey. She knows I won’t do so immediately, but that eventually I will give in and offer her a small piece of turkey. Then she will saunter over to my wife where Lucca will repeat the drill. After dinner, Lucca will retreat to her favorite rug where she will listen to the conversation until she is ready to take an evening stroll and check out the neighborhood. I am thankful for Lucca. She is a family member and has earned the right to join our Thanksgiving dinner.

Lucca has been much loved since she first joined the family 13 years ago. She arrived as a puppy, an energetic 13-pound dog that was gentle from day one. She loves attention, even from complete strangers. Even at age 13, Lucca is occasionally stopped on walks by passers-by and told that she is beautiful. On occasion, Lucca responds by giving “kisses,” which are usually, but not always, welcomed.

Lucca demonstrates love and loyalty in the best possible ways. She senses If I have had a bad day and will lay down at my feet or next to my chair. She will patiently wait for me to rise and take her on a walk, immediately becoming excited and usually grabbing one of her many toys to play a Goldendoodle version of catch.

Like every Goldendoodle I have met, Lucca has a powerful nose and uses it. Walks are expeditions of discovery. She sniffs everything. When she detects the sign of another dog (you know what that sign is), she leaves her own sign for the other dog to discover on her own walk. A friend of mine who is a self-identified “dog-expert” told me that sniffing is one way that dogs communicate with each other.

Over the years, Lucca has had many adventures. Most of those have involved her running away. One might argue that we failed to train Lucca, but I disagree. Doodles of all types seem to be wanderers. She knows there is a world of scents waiting to be discovered and has seized every chance she has to seek them.

Some of Lucca’s adventures have been something less than fun for her masters. On a visit to Florida, she wandered into a pond and attracted a (fortunately) juvenile alligator that attached itself to her tail. Lucca shook off the alligator and was rescued by a neighbor who delivered her back to us for an emergency trip to the vet. (I am thankful this Thanksgiving that so far this year there have been no alligator incidents.)

Lucca also once saved my life one night when I became very seriously ill and passed out on the floor. I was alone in the house. Lucca used her tongue to wake me up. I called the skilled and resolute EMT team at the Oxford Fire Department who took me to the hospital.

Now that Lucca is 13, I know that this may be her last Thanksgiving. Despite having the best possible veterinarian, arthritis and other ailments are catching up with her. By this time next year, I may be thankful for the memories Lucca left us, but it is not next year today.

Tomorrow I will thank Lucca for being a good dog and will give her a generous serving of turkey. Later in the evening, I will encourage her to roll over on her back so I can give her a good tummy rub.

J.E. Dean writes on politics, government, and, too infrequently, about a Goldendoodle named Lucca. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s List on Medium and Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack.

 

The writers at Saturday Night Live see the emerging Trump administration as ripe material. You know the drill. An old, obese, convicted felon with progressive dementia has won the presidency and starts surrounding himself with buffoons.

Although the president-elect doesn’t write much, he has a list of criteria to guide his selections. Nominees must be in your face, over-confident, inexperienced, 100 percent loyal to him, and have at least one skeleton in their closet.

 Such criteria for nominees ensure that, despite Trump’s personal decline, he will always consider himself superior to those who work for him. 

Since November 5, we have gotten a taste of the type of person who meets the criteria. People accused of sexual assault, with histories of substance abuse, who believe in conspiracy theories, and who don’t hesitate to call undocumented migrants garbage.

If Jeffrey Epstein were alive, one can imagine Trump appointing him to be Secretary of Education. 

Personnel decisions are not the only part of Trump 2.0 that is not funny. Have you read the social media posts of Trump’s new director of communications, former director of communications for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Steven Cheung? Mr. Cheung called Ron Desantis “a eunuch,” joked about President Biden needing his diaper changed, and ridiculed Nikki Haley for not ending her campaign against Trump when her defeat seemed all but certain. Cheung tweeted, “The Nikki Haley candidacy is just one giant masturbatory fantasy for Never Trumpers and Democrats.”

And Trump took time off from the task of building Trump 2.0 to attend a UFC fight — events where those lucky enough to be in front-row seats are sometimes splattered with the blood of bare-fisted fighters. Trump attended the event with Elon Musk (I don’t know if he was wearing an “Occupy Mars” t-shirt) and RFK, Jr. 

How many 78-year-old fans does “ultimate fighting” have? Will senior MAGA members start filling arenas? Will attendees get a choice between beer and Ensure?

The real comedy of Trump 2.0 will start when his underqualified team takes over on January 20, 2025. Screw-ups are all but certain, especially at the Departments of Defense, Justice, and HHS. And some may consider Tulsi Gabbard giving American secrets away to Russia funny. I don’t. And far from funny will be the damage that will be done to all parts of the U.S. government.

If we did not know better, we might believe that Trump remains so angry after being rejected by voters in 2000 that the retribution he promised to deliver, which will soon begin, will be directed against all of America, not just the justice system and media figures who criticized him. 

 J.E. Dean writes on politics, government, and, too infrequently, other subjects. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s List on Medium and Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack.

President-Elect Trump is hitting the ground running. Just over a week after winning the election, senior appointments are being announced. Susie Wiles will serve as Trump’s Chief of Staff. Stephen Miller, a speechwriter and policy advisor in the first Trump administration, is returning to duty as Deputy Chief-of-Staff for Policy. Tom Homan, also a first-term veteran, will return as “Border Czar.” Miller and Homan are known as “immigration hardliners.”

South Dakota’s puppy-killing governor, Kristi Noem, has been named as Secretary of Homeland Security. If America is attacked by vicious canines, Noem will be ready.

A wealthy “property investor” with no diplomatic or government experience, Steve Witkoff, has been named special envoy to the Middle East. I wonder if Mr. Witkoff could show us where Syria is on a map. Forgive me, but seeking peace in the Middle East might be better handled by an experienced diplomat.

 And just last night, we learned Trump will have a “Department of Government Efficiency,” or DOGE, headed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. DOGE is the name of Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency. The new entity may not even be an official government agency but will be charged with cutting the federal budget by $2 trillion (over what period?) and identifying problematic regulations to get rid of. 

Neither Mr. Musk, a major beneficiary of federal contracts with Space X, nor Mr. Ramaswamy, have ever worked for the government, any government, at any level. Trump must have concluded both gentlemen are quick studies, just like himself.

And Pete Hegseth, described as an “anti-woke” Fox News commentator, has been nominated as the next Secretary of Defense. If you believe “wokism” is the number one national security threat to the U.S., be sure to send both Trump and Hegseth congratulatory notes.

Other appointments rumored include “Little” Marco Rubio as Secretary of State and Kash Patel, an extreme Trump loyalist who led efforts to fight Democrats’ investigations of Trump during his first term. Patel is under consideration for CIA director.

Eastern Shore residents (that should be all of us) worried about climate change should be particularly worried about Trump’s nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency, former Congressman Lee Zeldin. Politico commented: “At EPA, Zeldin will carry out Trump’s energy and environmental agenda, which includes pulling back Biden-era rules on climate and air pollution and potentially rescinding millions of dollars in funding for clean energy under the Inflation Reduction Act. And the administration is expected to take a more aggressive stance in challenging California’s autonomy in enforcing environmental standards that are more stringent than those set by the federal government — many of which picked up as models for more than a dozen other blue states.”

Other names circulating for appointments include right-wing extremist Laura Loomer, Jeffrey Clark, the former Department of Justice attorney who volunteered to help Trump overturn the 2020 election, and, of course, RFK, Jr. 

Did Trump learn nothing from the chaos of his first term? The clown cars 2017-21 have been replaced with buses. Kristi Noem as Homeland Security Secretary? Will Sarah Palin be named Ambassador to Russia or Hulk Hogan as director of the FBI?

This Trump administration is already differentiating itself from the first. Trump’s first transition into the presidency was a chaotic affair. He had not expected to win in 2016 and was slow in beginning the challenging process of putting a team together. His inexperience, and reliance on advisors he did not know well, led to dozens of appointments that, diplomatically described, “did not work out.”  

This time, the Trump transition is much better organized. With help from groups like The Heritage Foundation, which authored the Project 2025 policy agenda, RFK, Jr. and Elon Musk, potential appointees are being better screened. There will be fewer surprises ahead. 

Loyalty to himself, his family, and to the MAGA movement are non-negotiables. Any appointee questioning Trump or the MAGA agenda will be fired. Trump is assembling an administration to pursue an agenda that he expects will change America and its future—a transformation of the USA into the United States of MAGA. That is worrisome.

Early policy initiatives, many likely to be launched via Executive Orders on Inauguration Day, seek to remove regulatory obstacles to fracking and additional carbon-based fuel extraction. Trump’s “Border Czar” is likely to start implementing the administration’s top priority—mass deportations of “illegals,” including use of the U.S. military to catch, transport, and imprison “illegals” while they are “processed” and deported. The process is likely to be brutal and controversial. 

Trump has not yet announced nominees for the Education Department or HHS. This suggests that his plans to end funding to schools “promoting transgenderism” are not his top priority, but don’t forget today is only November 13.

Since election day, a surprising number of friends and acquaintances have told me they stopped watching the news after the election. They remain in shock and are tuning out news about the transition. I find this sad. Fear is gripping large parts of America. Will many of these people leave the US? I hope not. Opponents of Trump and his policies are needed here to fight against his policies.

In coming weeks, as the shock of Trump’s unexpected win and Republicans controlling the House and Senate subsides, opposition to Trump will grow. Environmentalists, civil rights leaders, scientists, and defenders of the Constitution and reproductive rights will become vocal and will protest. Inauguration day will see organized protests that will grow if Trump implements promises made during the campaign.

For the next two years, Donald Trump will reign over a unified government. Only the election of a Democratic Congress, or at least one chamber of Congress, will put the brakes on the Trump Train. Work on the 2026 election needs to begin now.

Democrats know they lost the 2024 election. There will be no insurrection this year, but Democrats also need to remember that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz received 71.8 million votes-48.07 percent. There was no landslide. There is no mandate for Project 2025 and the rest of Trump’s evolving agenda.

Thomas Paine said, “These are the times that try men’s [and women’s] souls.”  He added, “Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”

We are in for a hard conflict. I hope to live to see the triumph. 

 J.E. Dean writes on politics, government, and, too infrequently, other subjects. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s List on Medium and Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack.

Votes are still being tabulated this morning as I write this piece, but, to my disappointment, it appears Donald Trump may have won the 2024 election. That is a tragedy for our country and reason to fear for the future.

Some will say the election is behind us and that it is time to accept Trump returning to power. This is a mammoth lift for many of us, given who Trump is, the things he said during the election, and his agenda. I’m not there yet.

Franklin Roosevelt told America in his Inaugural address in 1933, “We have nothing to fear except fear itself.”  Sorry America, with another Trump presidency, we have a lot to fear. 

Earlier this week, I wrote drafts of two editorials, but neither fit the apparent outcome of the election. The first anticipated a Harris win, my now-embarrassing prediction. It was titled, “Hallelujah! Now Let’s Get to Work.” The piece offered Harris advice on how to reunite America. 

The other piece, anticipating a narrow Trump win, was titled, “Tell Me It Isn’t So.”  That piece expressed concern about Trump claiming a win despite the final vote, commented that throughout the campaign, Trump “hasn’t been right,” and shared the worry that if Trump won, J.D. Vance likely would be a future U.S. president.

I closed my piece expressing the hope that if Trump won, he would change. I wrote that one thing might prove Trump-doomsayers wrong: “The nasty, racist, misogynistic, lying Trump who has polluted our airways for the last two years could change. I would welcome that change, but don’t expect it. A 78-year-old man with discernible mental deterioration will not want to sit in the White House to oversee implementation of the policy agenda outlined in Project 2025. Deporting millions of “illegals,” many of whom have been in the United States for years, is not easy work. Will Trump want to forego rounds of golf to personally design the “deportation camps” required to implement the plan?”

Trump’s victory speech earlier this morning included a lengthy encomium to Elon Musk, the billionaire who pumped millions into the Trump campaign’s closing months and who has been promised a job in the new administration. Trump’s untethered comments about Musk are reason to worry. It looks like Musk got his money’s worth.

Why did Trump win? With advance apologies to some Trump voters, let me suggest that many Americans were not ready for a Black, South Asian woman president. Other Trump voters bought into the nasty Trump campaign message that Harris was “low IQ,” a communist (remember “Comrade Kamala?”) or believe that Trump kept America out of wars through skillful diplomacy. I could go on, but Trump’s campaign took advantage of naïve and lazy voters and unleashed the weapon of mass destruction of aggressive lying, discrediting the mainstream press and appealing to our fears and prejudices.

Trump is now president-elect, according to Fox News and what I expect will be a growing number of other news outlets. That makes today a sad day for America.  We appear to have elected a criminal to the White House who believes “America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate.”

In the coming days, we will read about Trump’s plans to dismiss pending criminal actions against him and to vacate his 34 felony convictions. He will also seek to end State criminal prosecutions against him. The “January 6 patriots,” or at least most of them, will soon be released from jail. 

I expect outrageous Trump political appointments, including RFK, Jr., Musk, and possibly the Federal Judge who dismissed the indictments brought against Trump for absconding with federal secret documents and handling them recklessly.  Will Judge Aileen Cannon be the next Attorney General? Given Trump’s top priorities, she would be a good choice.

I hope Trump does not follow through on his promises of retribution against Judges, prosecutors, the mainstream media, writers, and other political opponents, but expect it. The retribution may be executed subtly, but it will come.

Vladimir Putin is celebrating Trump’s election.  The probable president-elect has promised to end the war in Ukraine before Inauguration Day.  Yesterday was a sad day for Ukraine and democracy.  Trump is likely to hand a victory to Russia. 

I will also hope that Trump is not psychologically troubled as he has appeared on the campaign trail. I hope he remains healthy. The only thing worse than Trump in the White House is J.D. Vance.

The Apostle Paul in Galatians 6:7 said, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.” I fear that America is about to reap what was sowed in the 2024 election. May God help us.

Let me close on a positive note: Angela Alsobrooks has been elected to the U.S. Senate. Congratulations, Senator-Elect.  

 J.E. Dean is a retired attorney and public affairs consultant. He writes on politics, government, and, too infrequently, other subjects.