Jon Reisman

The election results, the cabinet appointments, and the nationwide rightward realignment and rejection of woke DEI fascism in favor of merit, the rule of law, equal protection, and political and intellectual pluralism all led to a lot of Thanksgiving, albeit mostly silent for comity’s sake at the family holiday dinner. I especially enjoyed the decline and possible fall of MSNBC and the general cluelessness, panic, and frustration of the legacy media, who have not quite come to grips with the fact that they can no longer control the narrative and the culture. Democracy and free speech are great as long as you control the agenda and the remote control — lose control and they can bite you in the ass. Those are some pretty big chomp marks on the cheeks of the New York Times, Washington Post, NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, et al.

The mood of right-of-center America seems to be somewhere between irrational exuberance and cautious optimism. There is reason for both, but a reality check and resolve must precede them.

The reality is that it was a decisive election and a mandate for change. The country rejected the Democrats and chose a different path on the border, race, gender, climate, and culture. However, the country remains closely divided. If Trump governs competently, the immediate and short-run effect will be more leftist-driven division. Whether two years of competent right-of-center governance will be enough is likely the big question for the ‘26 midterms. If Trump does not govern competently from the center-right, democracy probably will die in darkness. Of course, that would probably contribute to the net-zero climate alarmist fantasy.

“Irrational Exuberance” is the term then Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan (Mr. Andrea Mitchell) used in 1996 to explain the stock market’s gains from the dot-com bubble. When the market and the economy perform well despite some underlying issues that should cause some doubt/caution, irrational exuberance is often blamed, especially when innovation and technological change seem to be charging the economy forward. 

Today there is reason for cautious optimism and confidence, but there are concerns about the national debt, Social Security insolvency, and troubled commercial real estate assets in many bank portfolios. That last is a consequence of Covid, remote work, and other factors, but just as overvalued mortgage assets caused more than a decade of difficulties for America’s financial markets, overvalued commercial real estate paper could have the same or even worse effect. The Government is not in a position to buy out those troubled assets as they did with bad mortgage securities (aka quantitative easing). In fact, with a $34 trillion national debt, increasing by $2-3 trillion a year — but what is another trillion or three anyways? — any new debt needs the most careful scrutiny. For a start, I suggest we tell the climate alarmist grifters that their demand for reparations and climate tithing is not going to happen. It is not enough, but a journey of a trillion miles starts with one step.

Here in Maine, Governor Mills and the Democrats are in control for two more years, if perhaps a little less firmly, so we’ll likely remain a DEI/climate-alarmist haven with ridiculous plans for an EV in every garage and .40/kWh electricity. I have a fantasy about Washington County declaring itself a Constitution Sanctuary County where the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 10th, and 14th Amendments (add more if you like) all still apply. It would be interesting and revealing to see how likely gubernatorial candidates respond to that. How about it, new Commissioners Burns and Howard?

The internment camps the Hallowell lefties were so worried Trump would put them in are much more likely to house Maine climate deniers and alleged fraudster purveyors of misinformation (I prefer realist, but I am a known thought felon ...). In fact, Attorney General Aaron Frey (he of the “inappropriate” workplace relationship with a subordinate) has emulated his predecessor Janet Mills in filing virtue-signaling “fraud” suits against the evil fossil fuel companies in hopes that it will protect and propel him back into the AG’s office when the Legislature votes this week. After all, it has worked for numerous Democratic pols, including Mills, Massachusetts Governor (and former AG) Maura Healey, Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, and many more. I await a nuanced policy position from my Democratic U.S. Representative and likely gubernatorial candidate Jared Golden with cautious optimism … and resolve.

Jon Reisman is an economist and policy analyst who retired from the University of Maine at Machias after 38 years. He resides on Cathance Lake in Cooper, where he is a Selectman and a Statler and Waldorf intern. Mr. Reisman’s views are his own, and he welcomes comments as letters to the editor here or to him directly via email at [email protected].