So today was my scheduled zoom call with the guys.\u00a0 It\u2019s a group of eight former employees of the old firm who formerly used to take the (very) long walk every morning (and sometimes afternoon) down to the cafeteria and back to talk about \u201cwork.\u201d\u00a0 None of us was truly Left and most of was were decidedly Right but we tolerated a certain amount of centrism on some topics.\u00a0 During the early years of the millennium, we were mostly hawkish and after Obama got in, we became increasingly angry over social issues like race and sexuality.<\/p>\n
But one thing always seemed true.\u00a0 We were disgruntled.\u00a0 Now back in 2016 I famously championed Donald Trump and took a lot of grief because of this.\u00a0 I made a small bet with one of my fellow coffee-walkers and when he had to pay up, he magnanimously framed the bill and hanged it on my wall for all to see.\u00a0 Out of fear of the cleaning staff stealing the cash I replaced it with a Donald Trump million-dollar bill.\u00a0 But the victory was very sweet.<\/p>\n
Over the four years of Trump\u2019s first presidency the tenor of our discussions varied but until 2020 they were generally on the optimistic side.\u00a0 But once George Floyd and then COVID laid waste to the country we slid into disgust and the November fake election was the last straw.\u00a0 Now whenever we got together (and after COVID it had to be remote) we uniformly despaired for the future of the country.\u00a0 I guess you could say the Biden presidency was the term of our \u201cresistance.\u201d\u00a0 Personally, we had our good and bad days.\u00a0 And also, we one by one left the old firm.\u00a0 But we valued the Wednesday zoom call and the solidarity it provided.\u00a0 Interestingly the most left-winged of our number had a quasi-conversion and in 2024 voted for Trump!\u00a0 Which we all considered a minor miracle.<\/p>\n
But over the course of 2024 it was easy to see that our optimism for the political future was increasing drastically.\u00a0 After the debate it was almost comical how excited everyone had become.\u00a0 And after the election it was something like the scene in the \u201cWizard of Oz\u201d when all the munchkins are dancing around singing about how \u201cthe wicked old witch at last is dead.\u201d\u00a0 And so as with everyone else on the Right we\u2019re almost ecstatic with the activity and results we\u2019re seeing in Washington as Trump and his merry band rip up all the floor boards in the deep state\u2019s hideout and dig up the pots of gold they\u2019ve stolen from the American people.<\/p>\n
And now it\u2019s gotten to the point where we\u2019re so jaded that even revolutionary change is not enough and instead, we\u2019re talking about ludicrous phantasmagorical things like eliminating the IRS and making the income tax a middle school math calculation like everyone pays 8% of their income or making it just a sales tax.\u00a0 Next, we\u2019ll be expecting Trump to announce that dunk tank with Democrats like Pelosi, Schumer and AOC in it that we can all get a chance at dunking.<\/p>\n
So, yeah, it\u2019s getting out of hand and that means we\u2019re about to hit a wall and will have to come back down to Earth.\u00a0 And that\u2019s fine.\u00a0 Life is mostly a serious matter and we shouldn\u2019t be walking around laughing like idiots for more than a few weeks anyway.<\/p>\n
But even if we calm down, let\u2019s look at what we\u2019ve gotten.\u00a0 We\u2019ve gotten back our hopes.\u00a0 We\u2019re looking at actual good news.\u00a0 There is a way <\/u><\/strong>to course-correct and shrink down the federal bureaucracy and eliminate the deficit and defang the security state.\u00a0 These are all wonderful things and way beyond what we expected from Trump just a scant few weeks ago.\u00a0 Trump has gotten the upper hand on the establishment uni-party.\u00a0 McConnell is a ghost of his former self and the Democrats have become a laughing stock without a path forward or a strategy for dealing with Trump other than hoping for some disaster to strike.\u00a0 They\u2019re probably praying to Gaia for COVID25 or something equally injurious.<\/p>\n So, at the call today we all acknowledged that the morale boost from all this winning is an enormous positive result above and beyond any and all of the actual policy changes that we enjoy.\u00a0 Joy has a value.\u00a0 Emotionally, psychologically and maybe even spiritually it enhances our lives and makes every part of our lives better.\u00a0 I go to sleep easier.\u00a0 I wake up more rested and I look at the world as a much better place.\u00a0 Even the bad things are better because I feel more in control of the world and more confident that I can repair whatever needs fixing.<\/p>\n The Trump bump is real.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" So today was my scheduled zoom call with the guys.\u00a0 It\u2019s a group of eight former employees of the old firm who formerly used to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[660,552,5,551,659,6],"tags":[16,2680],"class_list":["post-32438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-camera-reviews","category-country-music-reviews","category-current-events","category-music-reviews","category-photography-reviews","category-trump","tag-trump","tag-trumps-second-term"],"yoast_head":"\n