President Donald Trump ushered in a new era that ended the postwar years.
asserted
that → usher → years
Language defining it will emerge over the next decade, but, eventually, few will deny that Trump, nearly single-handedly and through pure Nietzschean will, kicked off this era.
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Trump → define → era
For those on the Left and in the ranks of the federal government, there will be much howling and gnashing of teeth as they seethe at the mere mention of Trump’s name.
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they → seethe → name
But the spirit of this new era can be understood through an idea Ronald Reagan captured perfectly: the need to keep government in check and out of your business.
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Reagan → understand → business
In his time, Reagan was vilified as an extremist; he was mild compared to Trump.
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he → vilify → Trump
Ronnie’s quips and offhand remarks sound folksy and canned next to those Trump uses to crush his cellophane detractors.
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Trump → sound → detractors
Yet there is one Reagan quote I believe should be carved on the backdrop of his statue that graces the entrance to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
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that → be → Airport
To me, it was his most profound statement because it captures perfectly the essence and spirit of an American attitude many simply don’t understand: “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”
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I → capture → government
Reagan said that in Chicago after a morning at the Illinois State Fair.
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Reagan → say → Fair
The quote captures the idea that precise language is necessary to keep government in check and out of your business, even in our Orwellian world of constant surveillance and forever wars.
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language → capture → surveillance
Ronnie likely used the word help purposely; he knew how insidious the word can be and how, under the banner of help, the proverbial camel gradually nudges its nose under the tent.
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camel → use → tent
In our day, bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., send hordes of underlings to roam the heartland and fringes of America, engaging in busywork that gives them job security and a license to meddle in the name of help.
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that → send → help
Under the banner of help, thousands of bureaucrats are living in hotels across the country, collecting per diem for months and years on end.
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thousands → live → end
They hail from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
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They → hail → Agency
Mostly due to disaster threshold levels that have not kept pace with inflation, major disaster declarations have climbed from about 25 a year in FEMA’s first decade to more than 60 today, and the agency has been handed missions that have nothing to do with hurricanes: migrant surges, Afghan refugees, even the pandemic.
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that → keep → hurricanes
Give a word like help no boundary, and it will always find more work to do.
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it → give → work
In my book Texas Flood: 4 July 2025, I mention help or helping a lot.
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I → mention → help
It appears when I’m about to be sent to FEMA to nurse the agency through hurricane season and then shut it down or radically transform it.
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I → appear → it
Prior to going, my team analyzed the laws outlining FEMA’s purpose.
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team → go → purpose
The volumes we sifted through didn’t mention help, yet it’s featured prominently in FEMA’s mission statement: “Helping people before, during and after disasters.”
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it → sift → disasters
Somehow, FEMA had managed to reverse-engineer Reagan’s statement.
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FEMA → manage → statement
When I first read the mission statement, I was silent, wondering if it was a parody of Reagan’s statement, the Deep State of Incompetency, prone to the Left, making fun of Ronnie.
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it → read → Ronnie
My team stood by as I read it.
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I → stand → it
Finally, I asked, “What the f*** does that mean?”
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that → ask → *
Nobody at FEMA, the news networks, think tanks, or anywhere else has been able to answer that question.
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Nobody → answer → question
In short, it could mean anything.
uncertain
it → mean → anything
Help falls on the far end of open-ended.
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Help → fall → ended
This is the tone of a mission statement one expects to see at the Department of Motor Vehicles, Dairy Queen, or the Unemployment Office.
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one → expect → Vehicles
Help encourages the encroachment of the federal government on state and local responsibilities and allows FEMA to intervene as it sees fit.
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it → encourage → responsibilities
Disaster recovery and response become a pile-on sport, a morass of aimless and uncoordinated actions.
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recovery → become → actions
Go to any FEMA location nationwide, peek through the window, and that’s what you see inside: aimless action and paper churn.
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you → go → what
That’s one reason you can’t get in without a badge.
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you → ’ → badge
They don’t want you to know.
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you → want → ?
The word help also encourages state and local authorities to rely on the agency as the first defense during disasters.
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word → encourage → disasters
By helping, FEMA gets to be Sugar Daddy.
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FEMA → help → ?
There is a real mission statement in the law, and it does not mention help.
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it → be → help
In law, 6 U.S.C. § 313, FEMA’s primary mission is “to reduce the loss of life and property and protect the Nation from all hazards … by leading and supporting the Nation in a risk-based, comprehensive emergency management system of preparedness, protection, response, recovery, and mitigation.
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mission → reduce → preparedness
By now, you may be discouraged and warily looking out the window, trying to spot FEMA employees strolling over the grass and toward your front door, dressed in not-so-uniform uniforms that are not really uniforms but commercially branded apparel purchased from FEMA gift shops.
uncertain
that → discourage → shops
FEMA likes to look official to the naive public.
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FEMA → like → public
But let me suggest what a real mission statement should look like.
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statement → let → what
…and 16 more, not listed.
The Aporia
