Center Director Year & 'Garbage' Smart Women
Here's the latest dispatch.
Good morning,
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Quick Thoughts
Support and follow the work of IWF’s Center for Energy and Conservation today if you haven’t already.
Donald J. Trump recycled a President Biden insult into a gold moment and political point. His supporters turned the trash insult into treasure too.
And don’t be surprised to see European Union leaders wanting Mr. Trump back in office. The world is less safe under President Biden and company.
Lithuania’s recent parliamentary elections were shocking. Social Democrats gained seats, and the likely Prime Minister pick doesn’t want the job. (Yikes!) Gabrielius Landsbergis, current foreign minister and leader of the Homeland Union (conservative) Party, also lost his seat and will step down.
The new jobs report was the weakest on record since 2020: 12,000 jobs added. Ouch!
Peanut the Squirrel was seized by New York State authorities. There were no problems for seven years—until now. Sounds like overreach to me…
That’s all for now. Stay tuned for next week’s dispatch on Friday!
Year One as IWF Policy Director Was Electric
It was a balmy 83F in my corner of Virginia today—the perfect backdrop for celebrating my work-versary. A year ago yesterday, I was promoted to IWF Center for Energy and Conservation Director.
And what a whirlwind 365 days it’s been. From Congressional briefings to conferences to dozens of media interviews to policy roundtables, our Center has been productive and shaping policies in Washington, D.C. and beyond.
Juggling W-2 work with my freelance business on the side hasn’t been impossible or daunting. In fact, I’m a better worker because of this arrangement. I strangely have more work-life balance too. I know my work, coupled with that of my fellows, is impactful.
As the Center’s profile continues to rise, I anticipate more TV interview requests and more speaking engagements—especially post-election. We might even unveil some neat projects next year, as well.
Fun fact: I’m probably one of the youngest people in the Beltway to helm a center. So I wear this as a badge of honor!
To everyone who supports our work: THANK YOU. Our Center is tasked and prepared for what lies ahead, regardless of next Tuesday’s outcome.
Democrats Call Republicans Garbage, Women Supporters Dumb
You know a campaign and its surrogates are losing when they resort to name-calling. And that is exactly what’s happening with the Harris-Walz campaign.
President Biden overshadowed his VP’s D.C. Ellipse speech by referring to Trump supporters as “garbage.” Apostrophe-gate be damned, it happened. Even stenographers agree.
Adding insult to injury, Shark Tank host and businessman Mark Cuban disparaged female supporters of former President Trump on The View in this manner:
“Donald Trump, you never see him around strong, intelligent women, ever. It’s just that simple, they’re intimidating to him. He doesn’t like to be challenged by them,” Cuban said Thursday on ABC’s “The View,” per Mediaite.
Many women who worked in Trump’s administration or his current presidential campaign hit back at Cuban, prompting him to issue this half-assed apology on X/Twitter:
I didn’t work in the Trump administration, but plenty of my female friends did. I knew and interacted with senior officials of the Interior Department who were women—including former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Aurelia Skipwith Giacometto. Same at the State Department like former State Dept spox Morgan Ortagus. My predecessor at IWF, Mandy Gunasekara, was chief-of-staff at EPA. Some of my current coworkers worked in the Department of Labor or in the Office of the White House. And so on. I’ve interviewed former Trump administration employees-turned-governors and plenty of his surrogates who are elected officials - male or female. They’re good people.
I took great offense to Cuban’s remarks as a Republican voter - even those I’m not a diehard Trumper. Yes, I voted for him (again) this year. (Don’t be shocked - I did it in 2020, after abstaining in 2016.) I’m aware of his flaws. I get irked by some of his tactics. But many of his policies are amenable to my belief system.
I’ve had opportunities to vote for Kamala Harris before, in November 2010 during her bid for California Attorney General, and I voted against AGAINST her. I’ve never trusted her nor do I support her progressive policies. I’d love to support a woman candidate one year, but not her. Under no circumstances will I support a candidate who backs the destruction of our energy industry, the freelance economy, opposes gun rights, and empowering the government to control all facets of life. The word salads are equally painful to witness. Most of all, she doesn’t represent my interests. At all.
If former President Trump wins on Tuesday, it’ll be due to Democrat meltdowns and insults like this. We shall see. However you vote, I’ll respect your decision. Just be civil and respectful of my decision too.
Here’s something, however, we all can agree on: I’m looking forward to the political ads, mailers, and texts stopping after Tuesday. It was excessive here in Virginia. I can’t imagine being barraged like those in swing states. And I hate that people sold my personal information via email listservs. Sigh.
ICYMI
Articles/commentary/media appearances from the past week.
MEDIA MENTIONS
n/a
ARTICLES/BLOGS
Townhall: Dems Have Called GOP Nazis Since 1948. Their Predictions Never Pan Out
District of Conservation
Catch up on District of Conservation episodes below.
And check out a new episode of The Sportswoman Show with Mary Ewenson of PropTalk Magazine.
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—Gabriella
This is great and congratulations on your appointment in VA! Would love to chat sometime. I am in TN and was involved in conservation with a national non-profit for many years doing real estate acquisitions, which was a lot of fun, but just got tired of the same old rhetoric around more and more conservation, climate change panic and hatred of the other side. Encouraging you to keep doing what you’re doing. I still love parks and greenways and conservation for trout fishing!