2024 Bigly Year - Economy, Immigration, and Foreign Policy

Jim Valvano, Jocko Willink, Exodus - Jordan Petersen, Fareed Zakaria

I hope your holidays were merry and bright!

There will be no Virginia FREE Fridays at 3pm today due to the funeral of a dear friend of our family (45 years worth!)

Before we fully jump back into it, here are some recipes that have cleared the Saxman Test Kitchen and have my total and complete endorsement.

Chicken Piccata

Pasta alla Genovese

Grandma Jeanette’s Amazing German Red Cabbage

Easy Mediterranean Fish Stew

Creamy Chicken Pesto Pasta

Speaking of recipes, what’s your recipe of success for President?

Here’s a poll of the top five contestants:

Onward...

1. 2024 is a YUGE year for democracy and not just at home. Bigly elections across the globe will give us all a sense of the future. Russia, Brazil, India, Europe, and many others are going to the polls.

2. But not China. Small wonder why. #CommiesDon’tVote. I doubt very much if Xi would be running on the economy. They have serious issues in China and that is cause for concern NOT celebration. When countries have serious internal problems, they often use external events to distract the populace lest they be slain.

   

3. Take Hamas (please) as an example. Excellent interview here from Fareed Zakaria. Just before October 7th, Hamas, apparently, had polling numbers WORSE than Joe Biden.

4. Speaking of internal problems - illegal immigration will take center stage this year. It’s not that we have it, it’s the AMOUNT. Staggering. Wonder why Holland elected Geert Wilders? Their situation is worse. Try three times as bad per capita. Problems don’t solve themselves and this year voters are going to have their say.

   

   Source NY Times

5. And one of the saddest charts imaginable. Courtesy Mehlman Consulting - great slide deck they send out

   

   Bonus coverage: WPA Intel’s Amanda Iovino in Newsweek Abortion Is a Looming Disaster for the GOP in 2024. Here's How We Fix It

   As we saw in Virginia, one way of rebuilding trust is by aligning pro-life views with pro-women policies, including enhanced prenatal and postnatal care, affordable and dependable childcare, parental leave, and financial support during pregnancy. This provides voters with a more appealing platform that resonates with their values and counters accusations of extremism by demonstrating a genuine commitment to the well-being of families.

Some videos to inspire as the New Year has kicked off:

Laugh, think, and cry every day per Jim Valvano:

Turn everything bad into good per Jocko Willink:

And a truly great conversation about the Book of Exodus. Can’t recommend it highly enough.

and a relatively new pic of the fam:

William, Chelsea (William’s wife, Sgt. Kyle with Winston, Mary Kathryn, Michele with Sidney, Moose, moi, Nora, and John (graduates Randolph Macon in May!)