Isaac Newton’s third law of motion reportedly states that for every activity, there is an equal and opposite reaction: If you push an object, for instance, the image pushes up against you with equal pressure.
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It turns out this is n’t just a law of physics.
It’s a rules of politicians.
President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks thus far have run the gamut from traditional and well-established ( Sen. Marco Rubio for Secretary of State, Rep. Mike Waltz for National Security Adviser, Chris Wright for Secretary of Energy, Brendan Carr for FCC Chairman ) to the more audacious and controversial ( former Rep. Matt Gaetz for Attorney General, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Health and Human Services Secretary ). They all share the same ideal as a detailed response to the excesses and vices of the Obama-Biden bureaucracy, which have plagued British politics for more than ten years.
Consider, as the most obvious case, Gaetz. Gaetz has served on the House Judiciary Committee both aggressively and effectively. He is charismatic and beautiful. He is likewise, as has been extensively reported, thoroughly disliked in the House of Representatives. His defenestration of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was unhappy with his colleagues, with some believing that he pursued McCarthy vengefully based on his criticism to McCarthy’s House Ethics research against him. He has been frequently portrayed as a dangerous power, an egotist who is more focused on the media than the operation of the House.
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And that’s exactly why Trump is picking him.
From Donald Trump’s second time in business, the Department of Justice has been a tool of vindictiveness. The DOJ has constantly exhibited opposition to his administration, from officials working with the FBI to reinvigorating the Mueller analysis to the Merrick Garland DOJ’s repeated abuse of his presidency. But Trump has chosen the person he believes may completely clear the organization.
Or consider RFK Jr.
RFK Jr. represents a slap in the face to the standard health formation. He has made a number of contentious remarks before, covering topics ranging from 5G to immunization. He is a response to the outrageous snub of a secretive elite, who crammed down COVID-19 propaganda on an industrial scale, tried to use the government’s control against their health foes, and even attempted to impose mandatory immunization on 80 million Americans. A health plan elite who has made themselves nuclear is RTK Jr.’s healthy response.
Trump has always been a backlash against the excesses of the past. Barack Obama tried to copy British politicians in his picture: high-handed, intersectional, and rich with totalitarian overtones. Trump intervened, and he removed the hero from his podium. By fundamentally reversing the contract between Americans and their government, Joe Biden attempted to transform British elections. Trump is returning to accept that never-requested change.
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Every political activity has a counterargument. If Republicans overreach in their own method, it’s doubtful that will also hold true in the future. But for the time, it’s important to realize that the Trumpian reaction has been well-earned.
