A Political Controlled Burn

I remember when I was stationed at Fort Riley near Manhattan, Kansas, my Mom did something she rarely, if ever, did. She took a plane ride out to visit me. Mom was not a big fan of airline travel. Back in the day, she preferred bus, train, or car. It was special to have Mom come out and spend time, especially to see her little granddaughter, Aubrey Elizabeth. Elizabeth was my Mom’s name. In those days, Manhattan, Kansas, did not have a thriving airport, so one had to do the two-and-a-half-hour drive down to Kansas City (MCI). Coming back to Manhattan, where we lived, the skies grew dark, and as we headed west from Topeka, we entered the wide-open Konza Prairie. Off in the distance, the night sky was illuminated. They were doing a controlled prairie burn. Mom, in her sweet Southern vernacular, kindly asked me if we were driving into hell. 

I explained what I had learned during my years stationed there in Kansas. A controlled burn is a planned, purposeful use of fire in a specified area that, in the Konza Prairie, returns nutrients to the soil, stimulates growth, improves foraging for wildlife, and reduces certain invasive plants and pest insects. It was not an uncontrolled wildfire but an intentional endeavor. 

As it is, we are almost a week after the 2026 midterm elections, which I see as a politically controlled burn. Now, I doubt that the Republicans wanted to, shall I borrow a title from the Talking Heads, “Burn(ing) Down the House.” But as my Mom looked out and saw what she described as hell, it was a process that spurred on better growth, restored nutrients, and safeguarded against invasive species. No, I am not in any way, shape, or form in a panic or worry mode about Tuesday, November 3, 2026. As a matter of fact, I remember the midterm election of November 2006. I was in Kandahar, Afghanistan, then. The Republicans got pummeled. George Bush had to contend with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid in his final two years. Then, in 2008, Barack Hussein Obama came to town, and the leftists expanded their majorities in the House and Senate. Then, in Obama’s first midterm election, November 2010, he got pummeled and lost 63 seats in the House, including yours truly. Quite amazing: in four years, from Kandahar, Afghanistan, to Capitol Hill. And we know that Obama would lose the Senate in 2014.

I do not have time to toss about in sackcloth and dirt, seeking out self-pity and despair. What we should do is recognize this moment and learn from it, just as our American Army learned from the debacle of 1943 in North Africa at Kasserine Pass. Here are several critical takeaways.

First and foremost, there has to be message discipline, and everyone needs to be on the same policy agenda. For this midterm election, the Trump administration should have been focused on the issues the American people are discussing in their homes: economy, domestic security, border security, and quality educational opportunities. You have to think about what Americans deal with every day and seek policies to alleviate those issues. And there has to be constant communication with the people. That means weekly “fireside chats,” but now leverage social media technology. I get tired of people complaining to me that the media lie. Then pummel the media with the truth, and go directly to the people. And that is where message discipline comes in: everyone together articulating the same points and accomplishments. Ya know, that is something leftists do very well, as students of Nazi Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels: “If you tell a lie often enough, over and over, it will eventually be taken as truth.” You can only beat that by telling the truth, over and over.

Next, I came on active duty in the Army a week after the Beirut barracks bombing of 23 October 1983. I despise the country that is the number-one sponsor of Islamic terrorism. If the decision to engage Iran was to be made, then yes, you degrade its capability and capacity to adversely affect the world and the region. I wrote an article for Townhall on 25 May 2026 titled “The Art of War, not the Deal.” Deals are business transactions. You don’t make a deal with folks who want you dead. If you embark on a combat operation, you had best have a phased plan of execution across the three levels of operations: strategic, operational, and tactical. You cannot do strategic military policy on a social media platform. Nor can you say one day we will obliterate, and the next day we will make a deal, negotiate, or make a memorandum of agreement. And let’s be honest, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff don’t have a steely-eyed killer look, which is what enemies understand and respect. If you’re gonna fight, then fight. America has struggled with half-measure warfare for far too long, and this Iranian endeavor is another chapter in that discouraging book.

Let’s do better with candidate selection. America needs statesmen and women. America needs principled constitutional conservatives who are impeccable communicators and possess a warrior spirit. This country is in a seminal battle of ideals, an ideological civil war, that we can ill afford to lose. The lines of this battle have been established, and there is no place for cowards, summer soldiers, and sunshine patriots. Republicans failed to deliver, especially on the SAVE America Act. In my home of Texas, Republicans aligned themselves with Democrats who chose the Speaker of the Texas House. The era of the Bush-Rove cabal of the GOP establishment is over. But also the era of populism is coming to an end. The only way to defeat the unholy alliance of Marxism/Islamism in America is a rededication to our founding principles, values, and ideals. America needs more men and women who know our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution, our history, and proudly express it to the people and stand with conviction, not being how-the-wind-blows type people.

Sometimes you lose, but you can learn more from a loss or failure than from victory. The leftists and their Islamist allies are going to gloat, overplay their hand, and go down the hill way over their skis. The question is, who will be there for the American people to turn to, not just in the next political cycle, but for decades to come. After the utter debacle at Kasserine Pass, General Eisenhower made the decision to relieve the previous corps commander and bring in a new fella, named General George S. Patton.

America, now is not the time for moaning and groaning. It is the time to “Ruck Up,” and let’s get at it. There’s a new generation awaiting their moment to lead. Let’s find them, teach, coach, mentor, and cultivate them, and begin the process of restoring this Constitutional Republic.

The fight is on!

Steadfast and Loyal.

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