Dear Weekend Jolter,
Trump the dealmaker did the Abraham Accords. He inked the "safe third country" agreements to stem the flow of asylum-seekers. He signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. That Trump, aided by Senate allies, installed three conservatives on the Supreme Court, which would go on to overturn Roe and punch the regulatory state in the sternum by ending Chevron deference.
Trump the arsonist imposed the "Muslim ban" days into his first term, a process so chaotic that green-card holders were initially denied reentry. He set policy for transgender military service by tweet. He hired and fired Omarosa (among others). He took Putin's word for it on election-interference allegations and had a "perfect" phone call with Zelensky. That Trump lit a fire under the January 6 mob.
America, you get both Trumps. And you never get to choose which one shows up on a given day. Dealmaker Trump has been rolling out his cabinet picks at a relentless pace, ready to get to work. Arsonist Trump made sure that Matt Gaetz, RFK Jr., and Tulsi Gabbard were on the list, and threatened neutering the Senate to get his way.
In the end, Gaetz, the most controversial pick, had a shorter term in the Trump spotlight than did Anthony Scaramucci; the flamethrowing Florida man withdrew from consideration for attorney general on Thursday afternoon amid an ethics scandal and deep Senate opposition. But the weeklong episode was a preview of what the next four years will probably periodically be like. According to Marc Caputo's reporting, Trump was drawn to Gaetz for the DOJ job because, per an unnamed Trump adviser, while the other candidates talked about "vaunted legal theories," only Gaetz would say, "'Yeah, I'll go over there and start cuttin' f***in' heads.'"
In other words, the sell was Gaetz's destructive capacity. To one half of Donald Trump, that is an attractive quality.
Countless conservatives outside the president-elect’s inner circle warned that the pick would backfire. A House Ethics Committee report on Gaetz, not yet released, was a ticking bomb for his nomination. As former DOJ attorneys John Yoo and Robert Delahunty wrote, Trump would "frustrate the very forces of reform that he would unleash" with a nominee as unqualified and troubled as Gaetz, especially if he were to press forward with a misbegotten scheme to install him and possibly others via recess appointment. Yoo and Delahunty cautioned that the Senate could still have voted him down and thus deprived him of political legitimacy, "and Trump would have succeeded only in antagonizing the Senate" and imperiling his agenda. Phil Klein raised the related point that if Trump were to succeed in appointing Gaetz atop DOJ and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. atop HHS (which could yet happen) via an unconstitutional maneuver, they would both be vulnerable to legal challenge for any action taken. (ICYMI, Ed Whelan has also published a slew of pieces on why Trump's floated recess-appointment scheme is "bonkers" and neither chamber's leaders should go along with it.)
So, this is all to say: It's starting to feel like 2017. The sides of Trump are the proverbial box of chocolates. During this transition period, judging by the short-lived Gaetz experience, vengeance brought out the arsonist early, to direct timed bursts of pent-up fury at the establishment after years of fighting its emissaries in court. Trump should, though, heed the Joe Biden cautionary tale, as NR's editorial and Charles C. W. Cooke counsel, and not mistake voters' support for his agenda for a blank check.
Once Donald Trump's inner beasts are sated, dealmaker Trump might reemerge. Who knows, that Trump could get control of the border, reassert American strength abroad with the help of Marco Rubio and maybe even Pete Hegseth, snuff global conflagrations, unlock the full potential of American business while keeping inflation at bay, and tame the regulatory state.
And arsonist Trump will be waiting, if he does, to strike a match.
* * *
Oh, and before you go, and/or read on below, consider this one last appeal before we wrap up our webathon and head into Thanksgiving break. If you enjoy what you read here at National Review, and you'd like to chip in a little somethin' to help support our work, please do consider a donation. And if you've already given (from the looks of it, many of you have), thank you! Go enjoy that turkey.
NAME. RANK. LINK.
EDITORIALS
Enough is enough: Sanction the Disgraceful ICC
Gaetz is gone; now ditch the scheme that was threatened to install him: Drop the Recess Scheme
ARTICLES
Dan McLaughlin: After Gaetz, Senate Confirmations Still Can't Run on Rumors
Andrew McCarthy: Trump's Unconstitutional Recess-Appointment Scheme
Jim Geraghty: Pete Hegseth's Tattoo Isn't a Reason to Oppose Him
Jim Geraghty: The Mystery of the Harris Campaign's Runaway Spending
Rich Lowry: The Age of Whispered Conversations
Brittany Bernstein: Scientific American Editor Resigns after Blowing the Journal's Credibility on Progressive Cultural Obsessions
Brittany Bernstein: Californians Reject Proposal to Increase Minimum Wage for First Time in State History
Mike Coté: America Should Be Ready for Lame-Duck Chaos Abroad
James Lynch: Putin Lowers Nuclear-Strike Threshold as Ukraine Launches Long-Range Missiles into Russia
Dan Crenshaw: No, It's Not World War III. It's the Leverage Trump Needs
Abigail Anthony: Women's Volleyball Players Deprived of Scholarships, Physical Privacy Sue University System over Male Teammate
Paul D. Clement: Ted Olson, R.I.P.
LIGHTS. CAMERA. REVIEW.
Brian Allen enjoys a lovely backdrop but deems the Biennale lacking, intellectually. Still, plenty of vibrant works to look at — and watercolor “wall power”: At the Venice Biennale, the Woke Gondola Is Sinking
Armond White admires the "sociological restraint" of the Eastwood canon, and that includes his latest: Clint Eastwood's Lawfare Legal Brief
CAPITAL MATTERS
Where are the ad blockers when you need them? From Andrew Stuttaford : Crimes against Advertising: The Bud Lighting of Jaguar
FROM THE NEW, JANUARY 2025 ISSUE OF NR
Jeffrey Blehar: Yes, You Do Have to Hand It to Trump
Christine Rosen: The Democrats Have a Woman Problem
Charles C. W. Cooke: The Misinformation Racket
Jim Geraghty: The Great Right Hope
Philip Klein: What the Shift in the Jewish Vote Could Mean for the GOP
Peter Tonguette: The Wisdom of John Hughes
EXCERPTS SO CONCISE YOU CAN READ THEM BEFORE YOUR BATTERY DIES
The new issue of NR is out, and it's a — surprise! — postelection special. Mark Wright can show you around, and Christine Rosen's piece on Democrats' woman problem is a pretty good place to start:
A curious thing happened on the way to Kamala Harris's defeat by Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. The group that was supposed to pull her triumphantly across the finish line waving hot-pink Barbie-themed campaign signs, exuding joy, and adding their voices to the celebrity endorsements of Beyoncé, Oprah, and Taylor Swift ultimately failed her: American women.
This came as a shock to a campaign that had boasted in the run-up to Election Day that the well-regarded Selzer poll had Harris leading Trump by three points in the reliably red state of Iowa (he would beat her there by more than 13 points). The poll, reported the Des Moines Register, "shows that women — particularly those who are older or are politically independent — are driving the late shift toward Harris." This was supposed to be the "gender gap" election, when women, and especially young women, were motivated to turn out to support abortion and cast their votes for Harris, who made the issue the centerpiece of her campaign. It was one of the few policy matters on which she staked out a clear position.
And nationwide, "contrary to much pre-election discussion, Harris' margin among women was actually less than Biden's in 2020, 7 points for Harris vs. 12 points for Biden," Ruy Teixeira of the American Enterprise Institute found. As for young women, evidently no amount of "brat summer" posturing or Harris-themed TikTok dancing was enough to persuade them that Harris was the best option. "Women under 30 supported Biden by 32 points in 2020 but supported Harris by just 18 points in this election, a 14-point shift toward Trump," Teixeira noted. Harris performed far worse with women than had previous Democratic candidates, including both Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton, while Trump improved his showing among younger women, white women, and Hispanic women.
What went wrong for Harris?
In addition to her general lack of skill as a retail politician, Harris's campaign neglected to consider how its messaging would sound to women outside the world in which Harris lives, with its wealthy, well-educated, decidedly left-leaning Democratic voters.
Jim Geraghty breaks down this business with Pete Hegseth's tattoos. He notes that there are plenty of reasons one can fairly question his nomination to lead the DOD, but body art is not one of them:
You've seen particularly ignorant individuals on social media contending that Hegseth's Jerusalem cross tattoo is a swastika or an iron cross, because apparently all symbols with right angles look alike to these people.
Yesterday, our Kathryn Lopez revealed she found a Jerusalem cross in her office. (It's been a while since I've peeked in Kathryn's office, but it would not shock me if a piece of the True Cross was under a pile of papers and books somewhere in there, too.)
I noted the appearance of the Jerusalem cross as part of the costumes in Ridley Scott's 2005 crusade movie, Kingdom of Heaven — does anyone think that was meant to be a subtle salute to white supremacy?
You know what other terms and symbols have, at various times and various corners of the country, become associated with white supremacy and hate groups, according to the Anti-Defamation League?
"100 percent," the number twelve, the number 13, the number 14, the number 18, the number 28, the number 38, the number 88, a white fist, boots and laces, the Celtic cross, the initials "EK," the Moon Man from 1980s McDonalds Commercials, the mathematical "not equal" sign, the word "Orion," various Norse runes, pit bulls, Thor's hammer (although it looks different from the Marvel Comics version), a triangle within a triangle, a skull and crossbones, and the triskelion — in one of my novels, my alter ego makes a joke about "the dyslexic Nazi party." Oh, and of course, the "okay" hand gesture.
Now, all those numbers, symbols, and objects pop up in all kinds of contexts that are entirely separate from white supremacy or white nationalism. You can hate Tom Brady if you want, but the issue is not that his uniform number is "12." Although I'm wishing I had known this decades ago; I could have blamed my lousy scores on math tests on a refusal to use any white-supremacist numbers.
When the ADL set up its database of symbols, the organization made clear that the symbols often had more than one meaning and not every use of them represented a covert or overt embrace of hateful movements or philosophies . . .
The ADL gets it; white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and filth of every stripe take commonplace symbols, gestures, and numbers and declare them "theirs." But this doesn't make every preceding or following use of those symbols, gestures, and numbers retroactively or subsequently evil. And because the accusation of being a member of a hate group is a serious, career-threatening one, it shouldn't be tossed around willy-nilly.
And yet, that accusation and its consequences have already affected Hegseth's life.
Following up on the theme of last weekend's newsletter, Brittany Bernstein reports on another electoral shock in California:
California will become the first state to reject a statewide minimum-wage increase in almost 30 years.
Californians voted down Proposition 32, a ballot measure to increase the minimum wage from $16 to $18, marking the first time in state history that voters rejected a statewide minimum-wage increase ballot measure. The proposition failed with 50.8 percent of voters rejecting the measure, with over 99 percent of the vote counted, according to the Associated Press.
Trade groups — including the California Chamber of Commerce, the California Restaurant Association, and the California Grocers Association — opposed the measure, arguing the ballot measure would have hurt small and family-owned businesses, increased prices for Californians, and jeopardized funding for public safety and education.
"It is important that policymakers hear the message being sent by the voters — stop using California consumers as guinea pigs for public policy experiments that make life more expensive for everyone," said Jot Condie, the president and CEO of the California Restaurant Association.
John Kabateck, the California state director of the National Federation of Independent Business, said voters "correctly saw Prop 32 as another broadside on the ever-shrinking budgets of working-class families."
Proposition 32 would have immediately raised the minimum wage for any business with 26 or more employees to $17 an hour. On January 1, the minimum wage would have increased again to a national high of $18 an hour. Roughly 40 California cities and counties already have minimum wages higher than the current statewide rate of $16, including six cities and counties that require minimums above $18 per hour as of this year.
Honorable Mention
From our friends over at National Review Institute, which is currently accepting applications for the Burke to Buckley program:
There are still a few spots left in National Review Institute’s Burke to Buckley Fellowship Program in Miami, New York City, and Philadelphia. Burke to Buckley is intended for mid-career professionals from a wide variety of professions and industries. Over eight sessions, a small cohort gathers to engage in discussions of first principles and their application to current issues. Experts from academia and National Review serve as moderators for each session. For more information and to apply, click here. Apply today!
CODA
In honor of the late Peter Sinfield, King Crimson lyricist and songwriter for many more, I present one of his many collaborations — from KC's second studio album, a song that is at once silly and sublime and that only the early '70s could have produced. It happens, also, to be one of my son's favorites. I speak of "Cat Food."
Happy Thanksgiving.
Megyn Kelly -> Pete Hegseth responds to 2017 rape accusation. 🔥 vol. 3, issue 13 | December 6, 2024 Quick Hits All the news you need in...
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