Thune is the new Majority Leader, and I’m fine with it

The New Neo Posted on by

The new Senate Majority Leader is John Thune of South Dakota. The conservative wing of the party is very upset. I consider myself a conservative, and I’m not upset at all. Please bear with me while I explain.

Republicans have a majority in the new Senate, which is great. But it’s not a huge majority, which is typical of GOP Senate majorities of the last eighty years or so. And – as is also typical – that majority contains quite a few members who are not conservative, and some who are really not conservative such as Collins and Murkowski. And although Alaska certainly could and might someday elect a more conservative senator than Murkowski, for the moment she’s a senator. Collins, on the other hand, is different. Once she retires I doubt she’ll be replaced by a Republican at all. They’re not the only ones, either, although they may be the most visible and extreme. And the election of Thune isn’t some sort of secret betrayal; it’s a logical outcome of the makeup of the current Senate.

Thune is kind of middle-of-the-road as current GOP senators go. But he’s someone who’s been around long enough to know who’s who and how to pressure them, and he’s been the GOP whip since 2019.

A Senate Leader needs to be willing to push for the president’s agenda. But how is that accomplished, and what are the impediments to success? One of the most important requirements for the job – and one a lot of people ignore when they only look at where the leader falls on the political spectrum – is how well the person knows his or her fellow GOP members of the Senate.

I’m going to post a discussion of this issue by four savvy guys who’ve worked in politics for many years, are conservative, and also very knowledgeable IMHO. The podcast they have is called Ruthless, and I highly recommend it (they’re funny and entertaining, too). I discovered Ruthless during this election cycle, and they provided the best coverage of anyone I’ve seen.

Here is what they said on this issue before Thune was elected. I’ve cued it up just for that part, which is a bit less than seven minutes. I consider it an extremely insightful discussion on the question of who to elect as Majority Leader and why, and I strongly urge you to listen to it. If you have time I think you might enjoy the whole thing, but if not, then these seven minutes are well worth it (and if you speed it up it goes even more quickly):

So that’s why I look at Thune’s election quite calmly. He might just have been the best one for this particular job.

Roundup

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(1) The FEMA plot thickens. The woman who was fired for discriminating against homes with Trump signs in FEMA relief efforts says she’s the fall guy for a more comprehensive policy. The gist of her claim is this:

However, this doesn’t make total sense, since the text on which the accusations against her were based specifically said to avoid homes with Trump signs.

(2) Word is that Marco Rubio will be Secretary of State. That would mean that DeSantis would get to name his replacement in the Senate, and there would be a special election in 2026 for that person’s successor. The person appointed could be in the running in 2026, as well.

(3) Kristi Noem is Trump’s pick for head of Homeland Security.

(4) The new “border czar” will be Tom Horman:

Former acting ICE Director Tom Homan is “honored” to be tapped as the “border czar” for the incoming second Trump administration, and he’s prepared to do what it takes to get the crisis under control.

“I’ve been on this network for years complaining about what this administration did to this border. I’ve been yelling and screaming about it and what they need to do to fix it. So when the president asked me, ‘Would you come back and fix it?’ Of course. I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t. I’m honored the president asked me to come back and help solve this national security crisis, so I’m looking forward to it,” he told “Fox & Friends” Monday in his first interview since being tapped for the role.

“I think the calling is clear,” he continued, “I’ve got to go back and help because every morning… I’m pissed off with what this [Biden] administration did to the most secure border in my lifetime, so I’m going to go back and do what I can to fix it.”

(5) A bigger cast of characters:

(6) Casey of Pennsylvania still hasn’t conceded his Senate race.

The new Tory head has a request of the new British prime minister

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I link the cut of her jib:

RIP dancer Judith Jamison

The New Neo Posted on by

Statuesque Alvin Ailey dancer Judith Jamison has died at the age of 81. She was a towering figure in the dance world – pun intended, because she was very tall – and there are plenty of tributes. This is mine.

I first saw Jamison perform relatively early in her career, when I was in college some time in the late 1960s. I’d never even heard of the Alvin Ailey company, much less Jamison. But she was instantly noticeable and memorable because she was so unique. She didn’t have a conventional dancer’s body; she was taller and not especially turned-out, with extremely long arms and legs and a slightly thicker (but just slightly thicker) torso. But that wasn’t really it, although her height helped. The reason she was memorable was her stage presence, something you can’t define. Between her height and her ability to project that presence, she was a star from the very first moment.

I saw her dance many times. Most memorably, she had a prominent role in Ailey’s signature piece “Revelations.” I may have seen her dance that something like seven times, and then when she retired I saw some of her replacments. They were usually more beautiful, they were often quite tall (although not as tall as Jamison), and they were probably better dancers technically. But none could even begin to compare with her. The moment of Jamison’s running entrance in the “Wade In the Water” sequence, carrying a ruffled white parasol held impossibly high, was one of the most arresting theater experiences I can recall.

Unfortunately – and I mean very unfortunately – I cannot locate a single video of her in the role, which is odd because it certainly wouldn’t have been impossible to record it at the height of her fame in the 1970s. No one else compares, but here is the moment. Strangely enough, it’s the only video I could find of the piece that has the entrance, and it’s rather blurry. Nor, of course, is Jamison the person holding the parasol here. The entrance is at around 0:24. When Jamison did it, the audience used to let out a gasp:

The other moment that stands out in my mind is also in “Revelations,” when Jamison made her entrance in the “Rocka My Soul” (“The Day Is Past and Gone”) finale. The moment she stepped on the stage she established the character – a bossy but lovable lady with whom you didn’t mess. Her height once again gave her that commanding quality, and the large floppy hat completed the picture. Again, there is no footage of Jamison in the role. But here is a short clip of the dance; her entrance is at 23:04, but the person in the role here just doesn’t convey anything like the same authority and humor:

It’s interesting to me that the two moments of Jamison’s I recall best were entrances and not even really dance moves. But take it from me, they were absolutely wonderful and she was magnificent.

Jamison’s signature piece was her solo “Cry.” I never much cared for its choreography, but most people love it and at least it has been filmed. So here’s a little bit of footage of Jamison herself dancing the part; I couldn’t find any record of the whole thing, although it may exist:

RIP, Judith Jamison.

Two election night videos

The New Neo Posted on by

This one makes me marvel at the fact that Joy Reid is on national TV. “Many celebrities” equals “flawless campaign”? This is analysis?

And this one – well, it’s self-explanatory:

Those lovable uniters on the left advise Democrats to shun their friends and relatives who voted for Trump

The New Neo Posted on by

Of course they do.

I’d tell people who are that easily triggered to see a therapist, but the therapists are often the worst of all – as the above example indicates.

Another political change story

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I know little about this guy, and in fact hadn’t heard of him till last night, when YouTube decided this video might be something I’d like. Good old YouTube, always making with the helpful suggestions.

I clicked on it and was immediately taken with his accent. Love it! But I kept listening because he was describing the process of political change and especially how it feels, emotionally, to be on the other side of that Rubicon. So I’m posting it here:

Trump begins to make appointments

The New Neo Posted on by

The first one was his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, who had helped him make this year’s presidential campaign more effective.

Then there’s Elise Stefanik as UN ambassador. Personally, I’d rather we leave the UN, but until then, she’s a good choice – although it’s important to make sure that appointments coming from Congress not threaten the GOP’s majorities there. In Stefanik’s case there will be a special election. Her district’s election history can be found here, and from the look of it it seems that beginning in 2016 it became strongly Republican after having been Democrat. Interesting. I hope that holds.

Trump has also announced that he won’t be appointing either Pompeo or Haley to posts in his administration.

More appointments here:

Stephen Miller, one of [Trump’s] longest-serving top immigration advisers, [will be] deputy chief of staff for policy in the incoming White House. …

Tom Homan, the former head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, will become a “border czar” overseeing deportation policy.

This time Trump knows a lot more about DC and about who his friends and enemies are, compared to 2016. He doesn’t know everything, of course. But he’s a great deal more aware of the depth of the swamp.

And then there’s the race to replace McConnell as Senate Majority Leader, which is between Thune, Cornyn, and Scott. There’s a ton of scuttlebutt about it (see this sort of thing, for example). Who knows what’s really going on and more importantly what will be the result, but I think it’s safe to say that at the moment it’s Byzantine. I prefer Scott, but I have a hunch it will be Thune. I’d be happy to be proven wrong about that.

These are happy dilemmas, though, compared to the alternative, an election loss. Then we’d be facing many disastrous prospects, such as the end of the filibuster, and the passage of HR1 and DC statehood and court-packing.

Vance explains the Trump administration’s deportation policy – as of now

The New Neo Posted on by

It sounds a little bitty bit like Mitt Romney’s (yes, that Mitt Romney) “self-deportation” plan:

Romney suggested his administration would make it harder for illegal immigrants to get jobs, which would in turn lead them to seek work elsewhere.

More to the point, it has echoes of what Trump was saying during his 2016 campaign. Actually, he said a lot of things back then as a beginner feeling his way towards a policy during the 2016 campaign:

Donald Trump and his top aides have spent the last two weeks sowing confusion about what the status of the country’s 12 million illegal immigrants would be under a Trump administration. Would they all be deported, as Trump argued last year? Or would some have to go while others would be allowed to stay, as Trump has hinted in the “softening” of his position in recent days? …

First, Trump announced that he will aggressively move to deport criminal illegal immigrants — that is, immigrants who have committed crimes beyond the act of entering the country illegally. “We will begin moving them out day one, in joint operations with local, state and federal law enforcement,” Trump said. …

… Trump [also made a] statement that those here illegally would have “one route and only one route” to legal status … Everybody seeking legalization would have to leave and then return.

But then, a few short paragraphs later, Trump said that “in several years,” when tough enforcement measures are fully in place — not contemplated, not in the planning stage, but actually up and running — then “we will be in a position to consider the appropriate disposition of those who remain.”

So, as an old boyfriend of mine used to say, clear as mud. Then again, I think it was made intentionally unclear, and the same is true today. I’m not even saying that in a critical way. I simply think the problem of illegal immigration is so huge and so complex at this point that it makes sense to do the most important part first and then see if there’s a next step and what it would be. As Vance describes.

I think Trump is more serious about it now and also more aware of the difficulties. And I think the leftist fantasy of an expulsion of 20 million people is just that, a fantasy.

Oh, and back in 2012 – which, granted, was a long time ago – Trump criticized Romney’s “self-deportation” idea:

Donald Trump on Monday said Mitt Romney’s “maniacal” and “crazy” policy of “self-deportation,” alienated Asian and Hispanic voters and helped cost him the election. …

“Republicans didn’t have anything going for them with respect to Latinos and with respect to Asians,” the real estate mogul-turned-reality TV star said.

“The Democrats didn’t have a policy for dealing with illegal immigrants, but what they did have going for them is they weren’t mean-spirited about it,” Trump added. “They didn’t know what the policy was, but what they were is they were kind.”