Turner Classic Movies’ (TCM) presentation of The Gunfighter (1950), hosted by Ben Mankiewicz with guest Ethan Hawk, explores the story of a man imprisoned by his weapon and further immortalized by Bob Dylan’s song Brownsville Girl. The movie explores the issue that actions have reactions and the story was motivated by a dinner the writer, William Bowers, had with Jack Dempsey when everyone in the restaurant kept coming to his table to pick a fight with Dempsey.
In the movie, Ringo, the fastest man gunman in the West, played by Gregory Peck, comes to a town to see his secret wife and a son he’s meeting for the first time. He doesn’t know that she is the town’s schoolteacher. The town sheriff, Marshall Mark Strett, played by Millard Mitchell, Ringo’s friend, and former gang member, tries to work out a meeting. When asked, he tells her that Ringo “looks about the same, a little older, tired, and not as cocky as he used to be.” Eventually, they have a brief meeting and discuss getting back together.
One can’t escape an analogy to President Trump, America’s gunfighter. In this term, he is fully focused on balancing the budget and eliminating political intrigue, demonstrating both compassion and intelligence in pursuing the promises that secured his historic victory. Yet, the Democrats are trying to kill or pick a fight with him. Democratic members of Congress organized a protest at the Department of Education for no official reason—their sole purpose was to pick a fight with the Trump Administration. Luminaries, including Maxine Walter, Tark Takano, and Maxwill Frost, delivered an untellable tirade when refused entry.
Recently, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer ranted, urging Democrats to oppose the confirmation of Trump’s nominees. The Democrats appear to be all about raising taxes, providing condoms for the Palestinians, propping up a failing educational system, making illegal tax payments, and continuing a Pentagon budget that has never been audited. Elon Musk believes that the American taxpayer is wasting a billion dollars a day with no review or recourse.
At a rally outside of the U.S. Capitol in support of USAID on Feb. 5, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said, “We’re going to fight smarter than last time. But we also need to fight harder.” Perhaps he needs some of those condoms to do what he intends to do to his constituents and the American people.
The Democrats are unrelenting but not about anything specific, just innuendo and complaints. Their chief complaint about Musk is that he was not elected. Really? What does that have to do with anything? He is working at the request of the president and reporting what he finds to him. Even after weeks of complaints, the majority of the public, according to a recent poll, believes that the Trump administration is doing a good job dealing with the challenges. It is clear that the Democrats are all theatrics and no substance and America has had enough of that in the last three years.
Borrowing a line from the movie that Gregory Peck delivers to a man who tried to shoot him based on rumors and innuendo, it is time the Democrats’ constituents told them, “You’re not safe running around loose, you ought to be locked up.”
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Appointed a U.S. Federal Judge and serving the Court in Richmond, Virginia, Elliot M. Kaplan now consults formulating and managing strategies in litigation, legislation, and regulatory matters.
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