Dems' childish antics a poor way to resist. Plus, bad advice for Zelenskyy. And, writing in support of affordable energy.

By Gary Abernathy

Democrats embarrass themselves at Trump speech

Photo by MIKE STOLL on Unsplash

Congressional Democrats embarrassed themselves Tuesday night in their efforts to push back against President Trump’s first weeks in office and his address to a joint session of Congress. Instead of leaving the impression of being adults standing on principle, they came off as petulant, unserious children.

Democrat Rep. Al Green from Texas set the tone by making a spectacle of himself, standing and shouting at Trump until he was removed from the chamber after House Speaker Mike Johnson called on the sergeant at arms to restore order. Green left relatively quietly as his fellow Democrats looked on. It all had the tone of performative art rather than spontaneous protest. Green knew what he was going to do, knew what the result would be, and he was happy to be out the door. Bye.

The Democrats’ decision to hold up little ping-pong paddles with various phrases written on them continued making them look like kindergartners. Their refusal to applaud even the most sympathetic guests in the gallery — including a 13-year-old battling cancer — made them seem cold and uncaring.

While Trump often goes too far in belittling his opponents, on this night he was entirely justified in calling out congressional Democrats to their faces for their sullenness and no-matter-what resistance. Democrats did themselves no favors with the American public.

A CBS-YouGov poll taken immediately after the speech found that a whopping 76 percent of viewers said they liked what Trump said. While it was a record-long speech, it stayed interesting throughout. It was one of Trump’s best performances.

Zelenskyy got terrible advice before White House meet

Photo by Tabrez Syed on Unsplash

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy obviously got some very bad advice prior to last Friday’s disastrous trip to the White House to meet with President Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance and other administration officials. Rather than show up, say thank you, sign the minerals deal, and move to the next phase of action, Zelenskyy — apparently following the advice of Trump-hating Democrats and seriously misreading the room — decided to lecture Trump and America on Russian history and insisted on having security guarantees that Trump is not going to make.

As Trump frankly pointed out, Zelenskyy is simply not in a position to make demands. European leaders can come to his defense all day long, but it doesn’t begin to compensate for what Ukraine needs and what the U.S. can uniquely supply. Right or wrong, Trump’s position on the war has always been crystal clear — he wants it to end, he wants the killing to stop, and he wants U.S. funding to be significantly reduced and Europe to step up and do more.

Zelenskyy’s posture seemed to significantly change this week, as perhaps — even if behind closed doors — European leaders gave him a dose of frank advice.

Ukraine is an ally and Russia is not. Those facts should not be forgotten. But as Trump points out, there is no end in sight, there is no victory to be had without other nations sending actual troops to fight in Ukraine, which no one has an interest in doing. Pouring more money into what is at best a stalemate is completely illogical.

Yes, it’s unfortunate to reward Russia for its aggression, but the hard truth is that a negotiated end to the fighting is in everyone’s best interest, as long as Trump’s belief that Vladimir Putin won’t cross him or renege on a deal holds true.

By the way, Trump’s approval rating ticked up after the Zelenksyy Oval Office blowup, according to the ABC News project538 poll.

Writing about affordable, reliable energy

Photo by Doris Morgan on Unsplash

I’m happy to be contributing columns to The Empowerment Alliance (TEA) in support of our nation’s most affordable and reliable energy resources. TEA advocates for realistic approaches to energy consumption and environmental conservation, particularly focusing on the benefits of natural gas.

I’ve known several people involved with TEA for many years, and I have long shared and often written about their belief that the effort to end the world’s most reliable sources of energy in favor of taxpayer-subsidized “alternative energy” sources is a recipe for disaster.

In my first column for TEA, I note that of all the big challenges President Trump is tackling, none are more important to our future — and really, the world’s future — than getting our energy policy right.

Here are some excerpts:

But demanding unattainable emissions restrictions and committing trillions of dollars toward handouts and subsidies for unproven alternative technologies – all to replace the world’s most reliable and affordable energy sources – might have been the Biden-Harris administration’s most irreversible catastrophe, had they been given four more years to crystalize their dystopian nightmare. …

… While Trump can reverse many Biden administration initiatives by executive action, he will need Congress’ help to repeal legislation and undo the most lasting damage. But if funds earmarked for “clean energy” initiatives can’t be entirely recouped, the Trump administration should at least try to redirect them to projects that actually work.

For instance, natural gas is a proven energy source that is affordable, reliable, and clean. Natural gas already powers appliances in households in the U.S. and around the world. And experts – including those at the Energy Department – agree that existing vehicles can have their engines converted to operate on natural gas. …

… Thanks to U.S. voters last November, America and the world have been given a second chance to recalibrate our priorities. While he can build a record of accomplishment on a number of foreign and domestic fronts over the next four years, getting our energy policy right would be President Trump’s most meaningful achievement – now, and for generations to come.

You can read the column in its entirety at this link.

Random thoughts on this and that …

The Oscars

Did you watch the Oscar ceremony this week? Me neither. Had you seen any of the movies that won the major Oscars? Me neither.

Not that it would have stood a chance to win, but the Ronald Reagan biopic starring Dennis Quaid was better than anything actually nominated. Do you know why — aside from it being out of step with Hollywood politics these days — “Reagan” had no chance at being nominated?

As the Heritage Foundation notes:

To be eligible now for a Best Picture nomination, a film must meet at least two of four “inclusion standards.”

One ensures that “at least one of the lead actors or significant supporting actors … is from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group.” The list ranges from “African American” and “Hispanic or Latina/e/o/x” to “Pacific Islander” and “Southeast Asian.”

Race isn’t the only accepted category. You can also appease the Academy by ensuring that your cast, crew, or those who distribute or market the film are women, LGBTQ, or “people with cognitive or physical disabilities.”

In other words, the Oscar awards have nothing to do with merit or with great filmmaking. They have to do with checking enough woke boxes. The awards are more meaningless than ever.

Pete Rose

President Trump’s statement that he is considering a pardon for Pete Rose, and reports that Major League Baseball is considering lifting his lifetime ban, are cases of too little too late, especially from MLB.

Baseball will always live with the shame of refusing for decades to show compassion and forgiveness to Pete by inducting him into the Hall of Fame during his lifetime.

Roberts, Barrett Disappoint

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett are proving to be disappointing to anyone hoping for a consistently constitutional reading of issues by the Supreme Court.

On Wednesday, those two sided with the court’s three liberals to basically say that a mere district court can direct a president in regard to managing the executive branch of the federal government.

As Justice Samuel Alito wrote in dissent, “Does a single district-court judge who likely lacks jurisdiction have the unchecked power to compel the Government of the United States to pay out (and probably lose forever) 2 billion taxpayer dollars? The answer to that question should be an emphatic ‘No,’ but a majority of this Court apparently thinks otherwise. I am stunned.” Alito was joined in that opinion by justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

This is very bad news. It will be interesting to see how the Trump administration reacts. The three co-equal branches of government are made less co-equal when one branch (judicial) attempts to exert undue power and authority over another.

‘MAGA Republicans Are Already Normal’ — for yourself or for that friend or loved one confused about America today

“MAGA Republicans Are Already Normal — And Other Shocking Notions” is a great addition to the library of MAGA Trump supporters, or the perfect gift for non-MAGA friends and loved ones to help them make sense of the 2024 election results. It’s available on Amazon. Buy it here.

The book (actually much thicker than the illustrations above indicate — the hardcover and paperback are each 453 pages) is a compilation of many of the nearly 200 columns I wrote for the Washington Post from 2017 to 2023 (and a handful of columns I wrote about Trump for The (Hillsboro) Times-Gazette from 2015 to 2017). The columns cover a variety of topics, but they particularly focus on Trump’s rise to political prominence and help explain his appeal.

Here’s a link to a website dedicated to the book.

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