Political Pistachio
By Douglas V. Gibbs
As the dust settles from another government shutdown, this one being the longest in American History, I find myself asking what went wrong. What would the Founding Fathers have thought about the whole affair?
Shutdowns are a modern day invention. In the early days of the Republic, Congress didn’t bundle the entire federal budget into one massive, bloated bill. They passed spending measures individually. The deliberations were transparent and the aim was to remain within the principles of the U.S. Constitution. Each appropriation stood on its own merit. If a program didn’t belong, it didn’t get funded. No hostage taking. No wheeling and dealing. No extortion. No omnibus monstrosities.
Today, we’ve traded principle for packaging. We cram transportation, defense, education, social programs and healthcare into one overstuffed legislative package and dare anyone to oppose it. The result? A single disagreement over even one small part of it can grind the entire government to a halt. Coercion by a machine that uses legislation to fuel its bureaucracy.
Would the Founding Fathers have sacrificed funding for military pay over a healthcare package? Most of these programs would have never passed constitutional muster in the first place had they been offered as an individual expenditure. When spending is decided bill by bill, unconstitutional expenditures find it more difficult to be passed. The most unconstitutional federal spending is achieved while hidden inside massive bills, more often than not present as a part of political ransom.
The Founding Fathers did not put all of their legislative eggs in one basket. Each item stood alone, was debated on its own merit, and was decided upon based on its own arguments. The Founding Fathers did not tolerate omnibus bills or earmarks, and nor should we.
— Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
By Douglas V. Gibbs
Welcome Home. Thank you for your service.
The average person does not understand the commitment our service members make when they take the oath to protect and defend the United States Constitution, and the United States of America. I don’t know about today’s generation, but my generation took it very seriously. While in the military I worked harder than I ever have since, and got the least amount of sleep per night than I have ever experienced. I was young. I went into the U.S. Navy at eighteen, and worked my way up to Petty Officer Third Class (E-4) before being discharged just a few months before my EAOS (End of Active Obligated Service) with service-connected injuries. I earned two Battle E ribbons. Though I was a personnelman, on my first ship I was thrown into the Deck Department, standing underway watches which included helm and lee helm (steering and speed).
The military pushes an individual to limits he never thought he could achieve. It was very hard, to say the least. But, as a member of your unit, you don’t even hesitate when it comes to accomplishing the tasks assigned to you. I just did it, because it was the right thing to do, and because that’s a part of what you signed up for.
After serving on the USS Chandler DDG-996 I was injured, and once I was able to go back to full duty I served on the USS Peoria LST-1183.
My wife asked me the other day, “What is the definition of a veteran.”
A veteran, I explained, is anyone who took the oath to serve, and spent any amount of time on active duty. There are different kinds of veterans. We have Veterans of Foreign Wars, we have peacetime veterans, and veterans who fill all kinds of slots in between. While, in my case, we had a few entanglements with the Soviet Union, and in the Persian Gulf, because there was no official military operation going on, I am officially a peacetime veteran. One might say a Cold War Veteran. According to the Veteran’s Affairs Office, only 7.3 percent of all living Americans have served in the military at some point in their lives. That’s approximately one in every thirteen people.
Today is Veteran’s Day. . . an opportunity for us to thank those few who were willing to take that oath.
The birth of Veteran’s Day goes back to the end of World War I in 1918. The Allied powers signed a cease-fire agreement with Germany at Rethondes, France on Nov. 11, 1918, bringing World War I to a close.
Between the two world wars, Nov. 11 was commemorated as Armistice Day in the United States, Great Britain, and France. After World War II ended, the holiday was recognized as a day of tribute to the veterans of both world wars.
Beginning in 1954, the United States designated Nov. 11 as Veterans Day to honor veterans of all U.S. wars.
Veterans have a special understanding of sacrifice, challenges, and recognizing opportunity when things seem to be dire.
During my term of military service, and after, I have seen my share of hardships, and difficulties. While I was in the military my injuries should have made me dead, but thanks to some very hard working medical personnel, I was given the opportunity to live again. As I stated, I worked my way back to full duty, and served on a second sea-going command. I, then, worked even harder to reestablish myself, to restore my dignity, and prove to everyone that I was fine. My evaluations rose to 4.0. On the USS Peoria I won the May 1987 Sailor of the Month Award, and later was runner-up for the Command Advancement Program. I not only worked in my rate, but also on the fire team, the security team, flight operations, amphibious operations, and I moved from Damage Control to The Bridge during General Quarters.
Veterans Day has become something very special, since our new president has taken office. I feel like the whole country has gotten to the point where they are happy to salute those of us who have served. As I stated earlier, I am not one to beat my chest, or demand a thank you, but it’s nice when that thank you is received.
I appreciate being a member of the military veteran brotherhood. I love it when I get a chance to talk to other veterans. We each have our own stories. We all took the same oath. We were, and are, committed to this country, and the service we were voluntarily willing to partake in. We have unwavering loyalty to our country that was founded on the firm foundation of divine Providence. While in the military, thanks to that service, as a young man I learned to understand the true meaning of honor, and what it was like to have an entire command of brothers around me. The training was fierce, and the hours would never have been acceptable in the world outside the military. It was grueling. It took everything I had to accomplish what I did.
It was more than I expected when I originally took that oath, and I was more than happy to partake in the rigorous duties.
As members of the American military we fought for every American’s freedom, and in the latest years, I have been very happy to see the emergence of groups like the Tea Party, MAGA, and President Trump, who have become a very loud voice for America. A voice for liberty. A voice for freedom. In short, it’s nice to be thanked, and know that the folks thanking me for my service truly mean it. God Bless America, God Bless America’s Military Veterans, and Happy Veteran’s Day 2025.
— Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
By Douglas V. Gibbs
I once had lunch with a “peaceful Muslim.” During the conversation she stated she heard I was an expert on the Constitution and asked if I could tell her something about the Constitution that she didn’t know. I responded, “In the Preamble the Constitution refers to the Blessings of Liberty, which is a nod to our Natural Rights, and by using the world ‘Blessings’ it is recognizing that our rights are given to us by God.” She immediately rebutted my statement. “No,” she said. “Rights are determined by government.” It was then that the conversation shifted to her Muslim faith, and that she was Palestinian. I have a strong opinion about Islam, seeing it as a counterfeit faith that is actually a political ideology that seeks global domination and has fooled its followers into blind faith by framing its authoritarian aims as being a religious destiny. She recoiled, claiming she did not adhere to radical Islamist teachings. She proclaimed herself to be a peaceful Muslim who simply wished to experience a peaceful coexistence with those who lived in America, and condemned terrorist activities by those who claimed to be participating in Islamic Jihad or Intifada. I then mentioned Israel. Immediately her face contorted from peaceful to raging hate. Her eyes narrowed, and she said, “Don’t you know that the Jews have control of all of the banking systems, and their Zionist imperialism seeks to control the entire world.” I smirked. Her response was pretty rich coming from a person who is a member of a religion that seeks a worldwide caliphate, and had just spent a few minutes trying to convince me she was peaceful. It was at that moment she got up and departed, not willing to continue the conversation with me.
Her term, “Zionist imperialism,” caught my attention. Anti-Zionist rhetoric conflates Zionism with racism, colonialism, and imperialism. All are distortions of what Zionism truly is, and these deceptions about what Zionism truly is first gained traction when a U.N. resolution equated Zionism with racism in 1975; a resolution that was later revoked. Critics of Israel and the Jewish people use “Zionist” as a slur, attempting to associate it with oppressive ideologies like Nazism. This is not only historically inaccurate, it’s morally corrosive.
Zionism is the belief that the Jewish people have a right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland. It began as a movement to establish a Jewish state, and continues today as support for Israel’s continued existence and security. It has never been a term associated by its proponents with imperial ambition. The movement emerged in the late 19th century in response to rising anti-Semitism and the lack of Jewish sovereignty. The term was coined by Nathan Birnbaum in 1890, and the movement was formalized by Theodor Herzl, who envisioned a Jewish state in his 1896 pamphlet Der Judenstaat.
The core aim was to establish a national homeland for Jews in the land of Israel, historically known as Zion. Nothing more.
During the early 20th century Jewish immigration to the region increased under the British Mandate, with Zionists working to build autonomous communities. After World War II, in 1948, the State of Israel was established, fulfilling the foundational goal of Zionism. Zionism evolved to include maintaining the continued existence of Israel, supporting Israel’s development, securing the future existence of the State of Israel, and protecting the right of Jews to live freely in their homeland.
Current Israeli President Isaac Herzog, son of Chaim Herzog (6th President of Israel who famously denounced the 1975 UN resolution equating Zionism with racism), said, “Zionism is nothing more – and nothing less – than the Jewish people’s sense of origin and destination in the land linked eternally with its name.”
As a Christian the rebirth of Israel was divinely ordained. Israel’s right to exist goes beyond being political. Israel has a right to exist also because of biblical and moral grounds. The rebirth of Israel fulfilled prophecy and is a matter of historical justice.
Some people in my circles have applied a replacement theology angle, arguing that the Israel of today is not the Israel of the Bible. Their disobedience, I have been told by some, and their rejection of the Messiah, transferred their birthright as God’s chosen people to the Christians. However, nothing could be further from the truth.
Christians adopted into God’s Grace through the blood of Jesus Christ. And while the only way to the Father is through Jesus, that does not mean that Israel has lost her place in God’s love for his children. As a father myself I see it in this way: Imagine a father with a prodigal son that has rejected him and has gone away to seek his own path. The son is disobedient, and even went as far to say that “you are not my father. I reject you.” While the father accepts his son’s proclamation, and honors it by not trying to force him back into the house, he never stops loving him and never stops hoping that someday his son will come to his senses. After the son departs, a new son is adopted by the couple, making the man a father over two sons. One by blood, and one by adoption. The father, if he is a good man, loves both sons no differently from each other. He does not cease to be the father of the biological son, even though that son may reject his dad in every way other than the one way he cannot – by blood. The adopted son, being more loyal to the father will receive all of the attention at that point. The love that people see will be between the father and his adopted son. The father will wish all of his love and hopes on the adopted son and assist him as he makes his way into adulthood, and beyond. But at no point will the biological son cease to be his child. The father will still love his original child, and if that child humbles himself and proclaims he desires to return the father will welcome him back with open arms. And even if that epiphany never happens, if the father has the means to protect his birth son should he know it fits a script that could lead his son back to him, he would do so without hesitation. But if the son remains in self-imposed exile and continues to reject his father, no matter how much his father loves him, the father’s attention will be on the adopted son more than that of his original son.
In line with my analogy, God loves Israel, and will protect Israel despite its disobedience. We must also recognize that the entire Old Testament is a story about Israel bouncing back and forth between obedience and disobedience – which means, in a sense, the Israel of today is exactly like the Israel of the Bible. God’s chosen people, his original children, remains to be Israel, and God loves them no differently than He always has. But Christians as the adopted children into the family also receives His attention, as they should, and much of His Will flows through them. But, despite Israel rejecting Christ, Israel remains God’s chosen people, and as a result on Earth Israel’s greatest allies are Christians, for they see Jews as siblings in the Family of God.
And it is Christians who see the words Zionism and Zionist for what they really are – mere words which mean that Israel has a right to exist.
— Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
By Douglas V. Gibbs
The government shutdown is nearing its end after 41 days, with Senate Democrats breaking ranks to support a Republican-led funding deal. This moment offers conservatives a morale boost and a blueprint for future unity.
During the gridlock we saw canceled flights, and mounting frustration, but the longest government shutdown in American history is finally on the verge of ending. And while the headlines may focus on legislative mechanics, the real story is one of political resolve and conservative encouragement.
The Senate’s vote to advance a short-term funding bill was razor-thin: 60–40. What made it historic wasn’t the numbers as much as it was that the eight Democrats who broke ranks did so by abandoning their party’s policy to “resist” as long as it took. That shift was very telling. It was a signal that tells us when Republicans stand together, they can win a game of political chicken.
For years, conservatives have been told to compromise, to yield, to play nice. But this shutdown proved that unity is strength. When Republicans refused to budge, Democrats blinked. The deal they ultimately accepted was not dramatically different from what had already been proposed weeks earlier. This time it was the Democrat Party’s turn to capitulate.
This should embolden the GOP. It should remind every conservative Congress Critter that standing firm isn’t obstruction. It’s leadership. The American people don’t want endless concessions. They want a clear contrast, and they want it to be fortified by conviction, and courage.
One of the most striking things to emerge once the light at the end of the tunnel regarding the shutdown came into view was the offer by President Trump of $10,000 bonuses to Air Traffic Controllers who stayed on the job despite the chaos. These men and women kept planes in the sky while Washington stalled on the ground. Their dedication deserves recognition, and their reward sends a message: when you hold the line, you’re not forgotten.
This precedent matters. If another shutdown looms, federal workers will remember that resolve pays off. And so will voters.
The Democrats’ retreat will not go unnoticed. Voters will ask: Why did they drag the country through 41 days of dysfunction only to accept a deal that was more or less already on the table? Why did they allow travel to collapse, food assistance to halt, and federal services to freeze only to concede without gaining anything in the end?
This isn’t just a policy failure in the eyes of many Democrats, but it is a political failure I believe will transfer over to the ballot box. And it’s a moment Republicans need to seize, not with gloating, but with purpose.
The shutdown may be ending, but the lessons are just beginning. Conservatives have learned that unity works. Workers have learned that resolve is rewarded. And voters have learned that political theater has consequences.
This is a testimony to President Trump’s firm resolve on issues. He’s rubbing off on the Republicans in Congress, and it’s a good thing. Trump knows what the rest of the GOP is learning: conviction beats compromise, and standing firm isn’t just encouraged, but expected.
— Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
By Douglas V. Gibbs
After 40 days of gridlock, furloughs, and mounting political pressure, the federal government appears poised to reopen. A bipartisan breakthrough in the U.S. Senate has cleared a key procedural hurdle, setting the stage for a final vote on a continuing resolution that would fund government operations through January 30, 2026.
The turning point came only three days after Democratic Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts blocked a symbolic measure that would have frozen congressional pay during the shutdown. Eight Democratic Senators joined Republicans in voting to invoke cloture, delivering the 60-vote supermajority needed to break the filibuster and advance the funding bill.
At the heart of the agreement is a revised continuing resolution that extends government funding, but reverses the Trump administration’s firings of furloughed federal employees. This provision, added to the House version of the resolution, will now be attached to the Senate bill for a swift vote.
The deal was spearheaded by Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine), but its success hinged on a cross-party coalition. Senators Angus King (I-Maine), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) played pivotal roles in brokering the compromise, navigating between progressive demands and Republican red lines.
For Republicans, the agreement’s appeal lies in what it omits: no funding for illegal aliens and no continuation of Obamacare subsidies; though what was offered was a promise to consider a vote on those subsidies in December just before they are set to expire.
The compromise has ignited a firestorm among progressive Democrats, many of whom had hoped to leverage the shutdown to secure broader policy wins. They were told to hold the line, but how are being asked to “fold without a single meaningful concession.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries voiced his opposition on X, vowing to do “everything in [his] power” to block the agreement when it returns to the House for final approval.
Despite the backlash, momentum appears to be building for a resolution. With Senate passage likely and moderate House Democrats signaling support, the end of the shutdown may be just days away.
Still, the political scars remain. The record-breaking government shutdown exposed deep fractures within both parties between pragmatists and purists, and how the Democratic Party strategy of manipulating establishment Republicans is no longer an option now that the Republicans are standing together under the MAGA banner.
— Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
The Shutdown Shadow and America’s Soul
By Douglas V. Gibbs
An illusion of victory has been achieved, but the end of the government shutdown masks deeper losses and tyrannical victories. The news has reached beyond the murky depths of The Swamp, and the claim is that the government shutdown is coming to an end. Both sides are working to get a new bill passed in the Senate and to a vote in the House of Representatives, with expectations that within a few days the whole quagmire of government shutdown will be over. It turns out the illegal aliens get nothing, federal spending cuts achieved by the Big Beautiful Bill have been protected, and federal funding for WOKE projects around the world have not been reawakened. But, while on the surface we see a win, it all masks deeper losses and a creeping advancement of the opposition.
While on the surface we have seen President Trump push the Deep State against the ropes, and the population of Establishment Republicans and their quiet sabotage has been reduced, the game has not been won, yet. Let’s remember that while all of the Democrats, aside from perhaps Senator Fetterman of Pennsylvania, see President Trump as an enemy that must be taken down by any means possible, there are an awful lot of Republicans who feel the same way. Trump is a threat to their power and the soul of the leviathan we could also call the Uni-Party. The trough that they feed from has not been totally dismantled. Be assured, the Uni-Party machine still exists. Deep State operatives and Trump-Derangement-Syndrome politicians are still working to unseat Trump, and they exist in both political parties.
While the Old Guard Establishment in the GOP has been forced to reduce its numbers, the ones remaining lie in wait in secrecy as they shield themselves with deceptive measures that make it look like they support the President. The Democrats and Establishment Republicans do not wish for President Trump to succeed. They see the MAGA Agenda as a threat to their plans, and the shutdown reenergized their movements which are all connected to the wave of Cultural Marxism that is still flowing through America. DEI, WOKE, climate activism and the rise of an energized radical Red/Green Commie/Muslim alliance are all signs of what is being pushed in our country. The Democrats and their establishment Deep State allies in the bureaucracy and the Republican Party are still moving our system toward a greater redistribution of wealth while herding the American People around like a bunch of mindless automatons programmed to do their bidding. The government shutdown was a valuable tool for them to normalize resistance Trump, and to normalize the downstream effects of their resistance: violence, economic sabotage, and cultural chaos. Hurting the livelihood of Americans with their antics has never been a concern by them. Their careers and their power are all that matters to them. And they, the Deep State Swamp who hates Trump and the American System, are in cahoots with the worldwide order of the Global Cabal. While the government shutdown is coming to an end, and it looks like “we won,” much of what they wanted to achieve was achieved.
My expectation regarding the government shutdown was that the Democrats who would cross the line Schumer had drawn in the sand would be those nervous about keeping their seats in upcoming elections. However, not a single one of the Democratic Senators who gave in are up for reelection in 2026. Not one of them. Perhaps the damage to the Democrats was becoming too great, so they gave in. Perhaps they were satisfied that enough pain had been inflicted. In the end they still did a lot of damage to the U.S. Economy, and slowed down Trump’s economic improvement. The Trump Economy was beginning to roar before the shutdown began, but the shutdown obstacle set us back much of the way, placing us closer to the economic chaos inflicted before the 2024 Election.
The Democratic Party during the last six months, and in particular during the government shutdown, normalized their “resistance” with their base, while also boosting the effects of their radical youth takeover. The politicians sent a message to their voters to “do whatever it takes,” and their minions responded in kind. The leftward shift lurched further leftward, and the troops on the ground responded by being more and more willing to respond violently. During the shutdown violence against ICE increased, Border Patrol agents were shot at, and some SNAP recipients were using social media to encourage shoplifting as a means of survival. At the same time, DEI, WOKEism, and even the Environmentalist Cult and their Climate Change brethren became a little bit charged up. Their movements, after all, were fading as we approached the shutdown, but “RESISTANCE” by the politicians gave them a shot of adrenaline. They want chaos. They want division. They want fear.
The Democrats needed the radicalism in their party to be bolstered. After all, there’s a key Mid-Term Election on the horizon in 2026, and they believe if they can just energize all of the extremists to visit the ballot box, they can overcome the MAGA GOP next year.
The shutdown also pushed aside more of the old Establishment Democrats who tended to sometimes flex a bone in their system that didn’t lurch so far to the left. Moderates and older Establishment Democrats are no longer tolerated in the Democratic Party. The Mamdani Democrats, young and fresh out of their conditioning sessions in the Education System Meat Grinder, are ready to take full control of the Democratic Party, and they need the less radical older politicians to step aside. Radical candidates are surging across the country, and as hoped by the radical youth takeover and their communist allies the likes of Nancy Pelosi are retiring, and Chuck Schumer is getting hammered.
A shuffle is also happening in the Republican Party. The question is, will it embolden the Establishment Republicans remaining on Capitol Hill, or will them being exposed finally convince MAGA voters to purge the GOP of its false allies?
Internal division inside party politics is not enough for these monsters, however. They need division to emerge at all levels of society. They need class warfare that digs deeper than politics. They want families at each other’s throats. They want the Anti-Trump gang ad the Pro-Trump folks to fight it out in the streets, in the schools, in the halls of government and across their dinner tables. The Mid-Term Election is coming up quick, and Thanksgiving and Christmas family gatherings across America play a big part in how Mid-Terms progress. Anger, violence, the pointing of fingers and the laying of blame are all important tools for tyranny, and they cannot tolerate any unification of Americans, especially under Trump’s MAGA flag. They need the Left and Not-So-Left launching bombs at each other, and Trump’s supporters bickering within.
While I am happy the government shutdown’s conclusion is on its way, and I see it as a victory on the surface, we need to also recognize the irony of “winning” the shutdown while losing ground culturally and spiritually. Some victories were preserved, but the forces arrayed against liberty were able to harden their stance. While we achieved a victory, the Powers and Principalities that the hard-left zombies are shackled to became more vicious. The whole thing ought to have reminded us that this was but a mere skirmish in a war that transcends politics. The forces against liberty are not merely ideological. They are spiritual. They want us divided, distracted, and disarmed. But, we are not without protection. We have the full armor of God. And we are also able to go on the offense. We wield the Sword of the Spirit. We don’t just stand for President Trump or a movement. We stand as spiritual warriors for God, we stand for the Constitution, and we stand for a truth that cannot be silenced. Let the flack come. It only proves we are over the target.
— Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary