Tim Fairbank

RE: Panicans, Doomsters and Saving America On this feast day of St. Thomas Massie, patron saint of all Panicans and Doomsters, I have some thoughts. Those of you who have followed me for a while know how upset I get about Panicans and Doomsters. These are people who voted MAGA but are upset that all their dreams did not come true one day after Inauguration Day. These people are SOOOOOO destructive to the MAGA movement and they are basically working—whether they realize it or not—to hand control back to Democrats. Their ignorance as to objective reality is their problem. For those ignorant MAGAs, I’d like to offer some important rules that color the reality you choose to ignore: 1. The country is split roughly 40/40/10 between Democrats, Republicans and “independents.” Democrats get a say. You might hate them. You might think they are bent on destroying America (they are). But they get a say, they get a vote and their ideas and desires cannot be totally ignored unless you like being a perpetual minority party. 2. “Independents” matter. Personally, I think so-called “independents” are people without a moral compass, but they must be dealt with no matter what. When a politician swings too far to the Right or to the Left, that politician loses because independents go the other way. As a result, ALL politicians must to some extent stay near the middle of the Overton Window, or they are out of office. 3. Remember the “separation of powers” class in high school? The United States’ government is DESIGNED to make it hard for any single branch (Executive, Legislative, Judicial) to bulldoze its way through to totally achieving its goals. Yes, this makes it very hard for President Trump to achieve his MAGA agenda. Don’t forget, however, that the same rules applied when President Applesauce was trying to push his America-hating, open borders, Marxist agenda. We WANT each branch to be a check on the others. It’s frustrating when your party controls a branch (or branches), but it also saves you from abject tyranny when your party does NOT control those branches. Policy entropy is by DESIGN. It’s how the Founders wanted it, and it has saved us from tyranny on so many occasions. Deal with it. 4. Congress and the federal judiciary have rules and practices that often hamstring a President in pushing his agenda through. Those rules are not part of the Constitution, but they are legal nonetheless. Changing those rules is hard and must be done within the scope of Rules #1, #2 and #3. Don’t like it? Want to change it? I feel ya. But those things simply cannot be done away with a snap of the fingers. They are an immutable reality, and the fact that you feel bad over these rules does not change them. Change is glacial. 5. Another thing that moves glacially is changes in public policy. Nothing happens overnight. It is a long, hard slog where incremental improvements are all an intelligent voter can realistically expect. It’s like a football team moving the ball down the field. 4 yard runs and a cloud of dust may feel unsatisfying, but ultimately they lead to a touchdown. I know, I know, “WHAT ABOUT OBAMACARE?” Even that was a glacial move. The Dems wanted single payer. They did not get it. They see the long game. They are inching there. But we play the long game too—gun rights are wildly better in 2026 than we could have ever hoped in 1996. Win. Win. Loss. Win. Loss. Loss. Win. Win. Win. Win. WIN. Moving public policy is like turning an aircraft carrier—it does not turn on a dime. Panicans and Doomsters, the things I said above are REALITIES. You can’t change them, no matter how hard you wish. No one can change them. No one. Ever. So long as the USA exists. Period. But what you CAN do is do everything you can to work within the immutable aspects of the system to pursue your policy goals. Many of you throw up your hands and walk away in disgust over what I am saying. Guess what? You are surrendering the field to your opponents. You are a quitter. Don’t be a quitter. Work vigorously within the unchangeable parameters of the system to achieve your goals. IT CAN BE DONE. Out.