'No Kings' wasn't no thing                  

During one episode of AMC's Mad Men, advertising savant Don Draper reassured a client worried about anti-construction protests and press naysayers. The client's project had proceeded on schedule despite loud critics, Don pointed out. Fret not. Because as annoying as the clatter seemed, it had zero practical consequence.

That TV moment was brought to thought by nationwide No Kings protests. They, too, were ear and eye abrasive, but ultimately impotent. All the corporate-churned placards, robotic call-and-response chantings, and subversive spectacles were as nothing.

President Trump remains in the White House; America is (and will always be) the world's leading superpower; domestic and international policies will still be determined by wise heads, rather than noisome brats of all ages and silly descriptions; law enforcement officers (including ICE) continue to enforce duly-passed statutes and safeguard the citizenry; and common sense yet prevails.

Most importantly, God's authority remains America's North Star.

No Kings lackwits would have observers believe our nation's founders were wicked, our culture and legal system irredeemably stained by long-passed and eternally dead injustices, and that President Trump is deceitful and ruinous to American interests.

(Ronald Reagan was a noble chief executive, but he did err in deinstitutionalizing the mad.)

A March 14 Economist report noted "GDP grew at 0.7% in the fourth quarter." Inflation was 3.0%, unemployment just 4.4%. The S&P 500 has risen to 9.6%. And a February CAPS/Harris poll reported 51% of respondents were confident our economy is strong.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt recently cited new IRS and Treasury Department data, that showed the average refund for 2026 tax-filers will be higher than in 2025. Newsweek cited "3, 700.00."

In February, the White House stated "President Donald J. Trump is delivering real, immediate relief to American families struggling with high housing costs as the national median rent falls to its lowest level since 2022."

Also: "This welcome news for renters comes as President Trump's agenda delivers falling mortgage rates (NBC News), record-breaking tax refunds (USA Today, CBS News, the Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, and CNBC), wage increases, and more - with much more relief on the way to make sure all Americans benefit."

Vehicle costs have also declined, giving auto manufacturers their best sales year since 2019 (Bloomberg).

Again, the White House: "Overall, goods-producing workers - the backbone of American industry - are on track to see their real annual earnings rise by $1,300 in President Trump's first full year in office. Mining and logging workers are on track for an increase of $2,000, construction workers are on track for an extra $1,400, and manufacturing workers are on track to gain $1,300."

The Redfin real estate brokerage firm reported mortgage rates dropped down to 6% in February and early March, the lowest rate in three and a half years.

Last December, the Trump administration announced agreements with nine major pharmaceutical companies. Drug companies will now charge U.S. purchasers the same low prices they have charged in foreign nations.

Iranian efforts to cultivate nuclear arms, with which to destroy entire lands of innocents, begged for scorched-earth demolishment. Commander Trump had the sand. And then some.

Of course, the new, grand bloom of patriotism in men's hearts cannot be mechanically gauged. The American mood, though, is now one of bristling pride in our Constitution, ideals, traditions, culture, and global preeminence.

Indications included the roaring throngs that packed candidate Trump's stadium rallies way past overflow, as well as his overwhelming victories in both electoral and popular votes.

Too, our commander in chief maintains impressive support, as verified by CNN and others' polling.

CAPS/Harris turned up 58% of respondents who endorse the principle of requiring proof of citizenship to vote. Other polling companies that registered support for voter ID include The Center Square (71%), Rasmussen (75%), McLaughlin and Associates (77%), Napolitan News Service (81%), Pew (83%), and Gallup (84%).

And reflect upon the return to sanity of President Trump's slamming tight the border and launching long-needed mass-deportations. Benefiting greatly are national security, safe neighborhoods, and efforts to crush drug and sex trafficking into America.

Cultural cohesivness, crucial for the survival of all nations, is again prized in our epic land.

So, ignore the circusy oddballs that milled through boulevards. Organizers claimed 8 million participants - a figure that might impress, except that some 77 million patriots made Trump's victory possible. 

The world still turns, and America will be just fine. Take it from Don Draper.

Truths finally told                                                                  

Set for May 20 issuance, Original Sin, by CNN's Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson of Axios, reportedly discloses how the Biden White House and legacy media quislings strove to conceal the 46th president's fast-ebbing intellectual capacity.

Readers will recall Biden was customarily shielded from inquisitors. Rare contemporaneous remarks he did publicly offer frequently required "clean-up" statements penned by aides.

Footage of Biden's characteristic tumbles, shuffling, wandering, and inexplicable attempts to shake hands with bare air were dismissed as "cheap fakes" by protective newsroom allies.

As commentator Gent Goldstein recently wrote, Tapper himself has soiled hands. He had "spent years downplaying concerns, dismissing critics, and shielding Biden from scrutiny." Tapper repeatedly attributed the debilitated chief executive's verbal stumbles to a supposed "stutter," rather than admitting obvious descent into irrevocable bewilderment.

"The timing of Tapper’s book...suggests an opportunistic cash grab rather than real journalism," Goldstein wrote.

Ron Klain was Biden White House chief of staff, and helped the 46th president prepare for his debate with Trump. In Uncharted: How Trump beat Biden, Harris, and the odds in the wildest campaign in history, author Chris Whipple wrote : "Klain was startled. He'd never seen Biden so exhausted and out of it. Biden was unaware of what was happening in his own campaign. Halfway through the session, Biden excused himself and went off to sit by the pool."

And only some 25 minutes had passed in one debate rehearsal, when Biden announced he was tired and turned in.

But in an Aug. 14 CNN appearance that followed Biden's howlingly execrable debate performance against Trump, Klain dutifully dissimulated to Anderson Cooper: "He's clearly up to the job. He's doing it everyday. He's doing it successfully."

At this writing, Americans still don't know who was operating the White House autopen and signing Biden's name on numerous critical documents.

Though I've never been behind the Washington curtain, I feel safe speculating that Biden's deterioration was for years an open secret, at least among sympathetic politicians and Tapper's fake media comrades.

No disrespect for those suffering mental diminishment is intended here. I do not broach this without personal familiarity.

Like millions of American families, mine was sadly touched by a parent's similar plight. My mother, Jean Russell Larson, authored numerous childrens' books as well as poetic and other writings for adult readers. She taught creative writing at various Iowa colleges.

And I owe her for what authorial skills I can summon.

My mother's eventual dire medical situation made this issue real for me in a torturous way. Because of that tragedy, I regard sufferers with compassion and understanding.

(And being 65, I am not unmindful that such beleaguerment might loom on my own doorstep, one day.) 

But the American presidency is the most powerful institution in the world. Those in that office wield tremendous authority. They conduct international affairs, enter into trade and other treaties, head our country's military, attend to the general welfare, request congressional authorization for warfare, and even have access to nuclear codes.

Such awesome responsibilty requires intellectual lucidity. It is a crime against the American people to entrust authority of that magnitude to a man clearly meandering in the mist of compromised capacity.

Immediately following the debate during which Biden performed so miserably against Trump, an event that illustrated the fact of Biden's lamentable, irreversible dilapidation, I prayed for him. Because, ideological differences aside, he was a fellow human being who was suffering. 

And I asked God to help him.

But not all were compassionate. Primary blame must be accorded Biden's own family members for permitting the abusive spectacle (and profiting from it), as well as Democrat Party operatives that manipulated the inarguably invalid wretch for contemptible purposes. 

Too, Biden supporters who were aware of his obvious handicap (or who at least had sound suspicions) share moral culpability for resultant devastation of America.

We won't know until the May release of Original Sin whether CNN Democrat shill Tapper concedes complicity in the cover-up. Smart money says he won't.