Competence and Courage

Since the assassination attempt on Mr. Trump last Saturday, I have had several conversations about the absolute lack of competency that we have witnessed over the past three and a half years in the Biden administration. When Kamala—aka, Ms. Willi Brown was given the title “Border Czar,” was it because she had ever been competent at anything in her life? I am reminded of the Rudyard Kipling Poem THE LADIES, of the wife of the Jemadar sais—”she showed me the way to promotion and pay and I learned about women from her”. Has she done a great job in managing our border? Has she even been competent? What groundbreaking legislation did she sponsor as a Senator? In her role as a prosecutor in California did, she make her mark supporting the police and “law and order policies”. She presents a case before the court of public opinion of the “Peter Principle”. Don’t ask her about that theory or the name Willie Brown might come up!—cackle—cackle. She has risen to her level of incompetence several times over—and over…

What about our Brave warrior Admirals and Generals at the Pentagon? Very few of our military leaders have even seen combat. Most, not all, grew up in the bureaucracy of the military industrial complex and are at best bureaucratic middle managers with stars on their collars and in their eyes, always lusting for power and promotion. Was anyone fired after the Afghanistan retreat and the surrender? Morale, retentions, and enlistments are at all time lows in our military right now. Why? Because of incompetent leadership I say. And just what is our plan in The Ukraine? Are we following the path from advisor of proxies to police action, to total involvement? Seems like they have all read General Westmoreland’s several autobiographies.

What the heck are we doing in the “levant” and the Middle East? Cutting off our own oil resources from foreign customers only increases the price of Middle East and Russian oil thus funding our enemies and their militaries.

Are there any competent economists in the house?

Janet Yellen told us for two years that “inflation is transitory”. Competent? Economist?

The National Institutes of Health(NIH), Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) are so loaded down with professional and bureaucratic incompetence that there is no place for common sense and professional expertise. The same could be said about much of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare—though that is changing.

My Mother—God rest her soul, was a devout Christian Conservative Republican. It was hard at times to figure out the order of her devotions, but around election season I must say the order seemed to change hour to hour. I believe it safely could be stated that she was a “conservative Republican idealogue”.

After a few Old Fashions one night she opined that if she were to have to have brain surgery, she would require that her surgeon be a loyal Republican. I asked her what if there were no brain surgeon Republicans and she remained silent. I then asked her what if you had a world class communist brain surgeon or a very average Republican brain surgeon to choose from, who would you choose? She would have chosen the Republican. Maybe THAT is the definition of an idealogue.

Loyalty, allegiance to principle, aligning with the cardinal virtues are all important human traits that we should all respect and aspire too. But there comes a time when the rubber meets the road and when “competence and expertise” should be the overriding determinants of who one should hire or have operate on their brain or fly their plane. To not understand this can be catastrophic. The principle of meritocracy and the rewarding of excellence is the bases of how societies rise from the shoulders of those who came before them. Its how businesses get better. It is why there are no quotas on athletic teams.

This past week’s catastrophic failure of the Secret Service could be a metaphor for many of our Federal and State Agencies. The rank and file—agents in the Secret Service, FBI, and in our military are beyond competent and their virtues are unparalleled. They are deserving of leadership that matches the courage, loyalty, and yes, their competence.

There are many examples in history of competent people who were less than virtuous, who ended up leading and protecting their people. Think of King’s Cyrus and David. And there have been less than virtuous people who have sought forgiveness and received redemption and who have then gone on to lead and protect their people.

Political ideology aside, Mr. Biden and Mr. Obama have created a bureaucratic—deep state—leviathan, void of any competent leadership. Competence and courage are today missing in all aspects of our society. This is precisely what Mr. Trump understands and what he has to offer. He has built great sky scrapers and businesses that are still standing—competence. He has elevated people to high levels in his companies who can create great ideas and solve big problems. If they don’t perform, he finds others who will take their places. The mission is his primary focus. Sometimes people in positions of authority fail. They need to move on for the sake of both parties. This is a form of “creative destruction”. It is why competition is so important in allowing the cream to rise to the top. In both our Federal and State governments there is a lot of SOUR CREAM spoiling citizens lives.

We have big problems at all levels of government in our country. Corruption in government and lack of accountability of government to the citizens is something Mr. Trump is willing to fight for. What his supporters understand is that he is willing to FIGHT. So, few of our politicians and leaders in all aspects of our lives have the “warrior spirit” of Donald Trump. HE FIGHTS. HE is a Warrior. HE IS A POLITICAL LION. He is importantly—competent. He is precisely who we need at this point in time in our country.

Competence and Courage Sounds like our Founding Fathers.