Peter Van Buren's Blog, page 5

Trump versus the Visa Office

For all the emphasis on the southern border and The Wall, asylum procedures and criminal aliens, little ink has been spilled over the other side of immigration, the issuance of visas abroad to foreigners by the Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs. Literally millions of temporary nonimmigrant visas (tourist visas, students, temporary workers) are […]

A Word in Favor of Daylight Savings Time

When my Asian-born wife first learned about daylight Savings time (DST) she thought I was playing a trick on her. You mean, she said, everyone just sort of agrees it’s a new time all of a sudden? And the idea is to have an extra hour of daylight-ish time in the summer? Why not do […]

Showdown in DOGE City

The leaders of President-elect Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, have been meeting with Republican lawmakers recently. None of those involved shared details from their meetings, which was by design to allow for brainstorming. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) did say “Government is too big. It does too many things, […]

Syria: The View from 30,000 Feet

Originally published on Responsible Statecraft. If a time traveler from 2024 went to the Middle East of some years ago with the intent of revealing the future, he might not be believed. He’d tell how the stalwart regimes of Quaddafi, Saddam, Pahlavi, and the Assad family were gone, their once stable countries now either in […]

Whither the Department of Education? Is DOE DOA?

What is to become of the Department of Education (DOE)? Trump promised to get rid of it, and Elon and Vivek say they will follow-through and “delete” it. What does the Department of Education do anyway and will it be missed? First off, what does the DOE not do. It does not choose textbooks or […]

Trump Staffs Up for Immigration War

After Americans overwhelmingly give the White House, Senate, and House (you might as well count the Supreme Court in, too) to one party, which ran with a vow to limit illegal immigration on Day One of its control, what do you do if you’re governor of a liberal state? Why, you ignore the support Trump […]

Trump v. The Bureaucracy

The war has begun. It’s Trump, Elon, Vivek Ramaswamy, and their new Department of Government Efficiency versus the Federal bureaucracy in a no-holds barred cage deathmatch. The first punches have been thrown; who will win? At stake are your tax dollars. U.S. election night 2024 was a somber affair in Europe, as U.S. officials in […]

What’s Changed?

Things don’t often change overnight. Change tends to happen slowly, then fast, in small increments and then big jumps, but rarely does one night matter that much. So it is with the election; American did not change the night it re-elected Donald Trump president but the election of Donald Trump did mark a significant change […]

Why Kamala Harris Lost

This was an angry election; none of that “which candidate would you rather have a beer with” stuff here. Trump is an angry man representing angry constituents. Harris was angry things were not going her way and constantly expressed the Hillary-esque idea of “how could I possibly be losing to a guy like Trump?” Both […]

Why Vote Trump?

A number of my friends and family members are surprised at my decision to support Donald Trump for president. Some others, quiet Trump voters themselves, seem even more surprised I am willing to do so publicly. I am not a Republican per se, having nonvoted many times, voted Democrat in some elections, and supporting issues […]