We are in the third week of the second term of the presidency of the new POTUS. If his idea was to flood the zone, to roll out so many orders that no one, neither his friends nor his skeptics, could focus on a single item, he has succeeded.

Then, he faced his first crisis. An Army chopper slammed into an airliner over the Potomac. The whole thing was caught on videotape and the nation focused on the brave first responders as they tried to fish out the remains of the victims.

Then it got confusing, as the NTSB experts told us they had not finished their investigation, yet POTUS proclaimed it was the fault of the chopper pilot. Next, POTUS blamed the FAA for loosening standards allowing unqualified workers to control the nation’s air traffic control system. He failed to mention those standards were instituted when he was president the last time. Hmmm?

Meanwhile, his picks to head the national intelligence agencies, the health care puzzle palace, and the FBI, danced around questions challenging their qualifications and ability to do their new jobs. In reality, the only qualification is the vote from the guy who sits behind the Resolute Desk. But, if something goes wrong, really wrong, you can bet he won’t take the blame. They will take the fall.

POTUS won the election. He has the right to choose his team to run the federal government, with, of course, the advice and consent of the Senate. But many wonder if he picked the right aides, for running the federal government is an enormous task, one that affects us all, and the rest of the world.

Is overseeing the Pentagon a good job for a second-string FOX weekend chair sitter? I hope so, for the Pentagon is a complex maze of conflicting interests with the services scrambling for funds to build their latest toys. And, by the way, there are shooting wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. SecDef is the guy who has to deal with them.

With all that is happening in the world, it looks like SecDef's first call was to order the janitors to remove the official portraits of the last Chair of the Joint Chiefs and the last Secretary of Defense. I guess he was trying to please his boss, and the boss does not like those two.

As for RFK Jr., he ran afoul of some GOP doctors who happen to be senators and know that vaccines save lives, despite what he claimed in books and on TV. Will he survive? Who knows. And don’t get me started on Kashyap Pramod Vinod Patel and his enemies list of FBI agents and journalists.

I wonder, dear reader, am I on that bad guy list because I make light of the powerful? If so, bring it on. What are they going to do, cut off all my hair, and ship me to Vietnam? Nixon did that once, and I am still around.

Despite all the Jots and Tittles in the Project 2025 playbook’s official "To Do List," they forgot to include a biggie. How will the public react to their moves?

Not long ago, we all watched the insurrectionists attack the Capitol and beat the brave police who tried to keep them at bay. While some in MAGA land tell us it was a peaceful protest, we all watched the videos. Was it an insurrection or a protest? When Hamas tore into Israel, shot up the joint, and kidnapped hostages, many stood up and cheered for the Israelis as victims. But soon, much public opinion changed, as night after night, we saw TV videos of mothers grieving over dead and dying babies.

Some old timers say Jimmy Carter lost his presidency because nightly TV stories blamed him for failing to rescue the Iranian hostages.

If the new administration carries out its threats to round up undocumented immigrants by the millions, will we see daily footage of crying children seeking succor with the church? Yet, the new administration has picked a fight with none other than the Pope himself and The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, as both stood up for the weak and poor. Recently, The Episcopal Bishop of Washington, D.C. stood in the pulpit of the National Cathedral, stared down at POTUS and VPOTUS, and asked them to have mercy on immigrants and LGBT folks who she said are scared right now. The administration's official reaction to the clergy plea can be summed up in this way: MYOB.

Over the weekend, we heard stories of wholesale purges in the ranks of the FBI and that Elon Musk's myrmidons were seizing Treasury fiscal records. How will the public respond?

That is what we old timers used to call “The $64 question.”

Friends, the fasten seat belt sign is on. Better buckle up.