Well, now that we’ve all taken a collective breath, some to gain oxygen, some to scream, I’ve got a few things I need to get on paper.

1. If you’re looking for an investment or business opportunity, an ammunition store in Ehrenberg, Arizona, or Primm, Nevada, or Verdi, Nevada, would probably be a good place to start.  California voted to make background checks for ammunition mandatory yesterday, and these cities are just across the state line and next to an interstate highway.
   • If you need advice in how to run such a business, let me know and I’ll see if I can put you in contact with someone who runs a liquor store in a wet country in eastern Kentucky.
2. In the same vein, if you’re in California and need someone to keep your standard capacity magazines for you while you fight the new magazine ban in court, hit me up in email and I’ll shoot you an address.  People, this is why we donate to CalGuns.
3. Nevada passed mandatory background checks for private gun sales yesterday.  People, this is why we donate to the SAF.
4. To the celebrities who threatened to emigrate and the federal workers who threatened to quit if Trump won, put up or shut up.  Seriously, either act like adults or don’t let the door hit you in the ass.
5. If you’re looking for prognostication this morning, all I can say is that you ought to keep an eye on Tammy Duckworth.  She’s a female of mixed Asian/European extraction, a decorated, disabled war veteran, she’s not afraid to flay someone alive with words, and she’s a pro-choice, anti-gun Democrat.  She’s a heck of a lot more qualified than Obama or either Clinton, and I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot of her between now and 2020.
6. The Republicans have a comfortable lead in the House of Representatives, but will control the Senate by the slimmest of margins.  This is the same situation we had in 2001 when President Bush took office.  All it takes is a death, resignation, or defection to throw it into an even tie.  For those Democrats who wondered why filibuster and cloture were important when Rand Paul and Ted Cruz were doing it, this is why.
7. The Republican Congress needs to get off its ass and pass a real budget.  We’ve been going paycheck to paycheck with continuing resolutions for way too long, and they have no excuses now.  Pass the damned appropriations bills and get on with the rest of your job.
8. Don’t expect to see another Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court.  Mr. Trump probably doesn’t have the votes to get a fire-breathing originalist through the Senate.  If we’re lucky, we’ll get a Roberts or an Alito.
   • He may have to stoop to identity politics to get it done, and he will benefit from the fact that putting a moderately conservative justice in will not change the nature of the court.
   • In the event that one of the liberal judges needs to be replaced, expect a knock-down, drag-out dogfight no matter who he nominates.
9. We will never get to the bottom of the Clinton Foundation, the classified emails, or anything else related to Mrs. Clinton and her family now that there is little political gain in continuing to dig.
   • I expect to see a rash of presidential pardons between now and January.
10. The 2018 election starts next week.  2020 may start even sooner.

To the American people, use the signs in your front yard as target stands, have a cup of coffee or a beer with your neighbor, and get a grip.  Trump will not destroy the Republic; neither will he evoke a renaissance of freedom.   He’s not the devil, and he’s not Reagan.  Don’t fall for the same traps we all did with Obama.

To Congress – Ladies and Gentlemen, you are the firewall between the people you represent and an untested, unknown President.  Do not be obstructionist if he is a measured, reasonable chief executive, but please take your oversight responsibilities seriously, and don’t be afraid to jerk his leash.

To Mrs. Clinton, I hope you enjoy a nice, quiet, fulfilling retirement from politics.  I sincerely hope that you find a way to contribute in the manner you said you wanted to during the campaign. Perhaps you could take up baking, for instance.

To Mr. Trump, congratulations.  The easy part is over.  Do not for a moment think that you will not be monitored, criticized, picked apart, folded, spindled, and mutilated by the press and everyone else who catches you putting a toe across an ethical or legal line.  The best thing you can do with your cabinet and staff is to hold a meeting and tell them that you will publicly crucify anyone who does anything that will bring disrepute on your administration.  You made a lot of promises to get here, and we’ll be watching to see if you make good on them.  Good luck.

Now, if you all will excuse me, I’m going to go start editing the next Minivandian’s story and be proud of my daughter.  While the rest of us were acting like political junkies this morning, she passed her ROTC swim test the day after donating blood.

Good night and good luck.