47

 You don't have to like him, but it's impossible to deny that Donald Trump is an astonishing man. The guy has had rogue prosecutors and corrupt judges on his ass for years. He's been hassled and pestered in civil courts in New York with the aim of destroying his businesses. He almost got his head blown off in Pennsylvania in July. Just about every member of the MSM has attempted to stop him with a fire hose of invective. And he's now the President-Elect.

I don't know how he does it, but I do have a few thoughts:

• Trump has exquisite taste in enemies. He has millions of them and he's turned every one of his tormentors into a cartoon figure and he's prevailed over everyone. 
• The Democrats may be good at tactics, but they are not adept at strategy. One of his principal foes, Chares Schumer, is the best example of this. He's known and dealt with Trump for over 40 years and for whatever reason, Schumer never seemed to figure out what makes Trump tick. Trump is a transactional person and if Schumer had schmoozed him during his first term in office, he could have steered Trump into a position or two where Trump would have pissed off his base because he wants to make deals. For reasons that will be left to the history books, Schumer instead decided to treat Trump as a mortal enemy. Had Schumer tried a more conciliatory approach, Trump's penchant for dealmaking would have brought Trump deep distress in the election of 2020.
• Because Trump has been so abused, he won't be looking to make deals this time and he's also figured out that he'll need some loyal lieutenants in his second term. You won't see guys like John Kelly sandbagging him this time around.
• There are certainly a few Donks who aren't sad about the result. One can imagine that Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer, Wes Moore and a few others are happy that Harris is out of the picture now, and she most assuredly is. The 2028 campaign has already begun.
•  We really need to do something about the mass psychosis of the Left. The distress I see on social media would be hilarious if it weren't so terrifying. Delusion is a growth industry in politics right now.

Justice Barrett

 Amy Coney Barrett is now a Supreme Court justice. This is good news for many reasons. A few observations:

Justice Barrett

• I don't know what happens with Roe v. Wade going forward, and neither does anyone else. A challenge may never reach the Supreme Court. In fact, that would be my guess.
• The two cases that matter more to me are Citizens United and Heller. Both of these are now safe for a generation or more.
• Liberals hate the result, because they have plans and they need the Supreme Court to make things happen for them. Even if John Roberts lets his freak flag fly and sides with the liberals going forward, he's going to be on the wrong side of 5-4 majorities in many instances. 
• Will the Dems pack the Court? They would like to, but I don't think Joe Biden is going to win the election, so it's moot at this point. But that's a subject for another post.
• Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer are morons. If the Dems are upset at what Cocaine Mitch McConnell has wrought, they need to remember why the judicial filibuster is gone. 
• My guess? Barrett will be one of the all-time greats on the Court. She is brilliant and principled. Her intellect is second to none. It's no surprise the Dems hate her, because she is the antidote to the dim cynicism of the modern Left.