I'm a 70s kid. I was 8 years old when "Star Wars" (the original and, in my view, the best of the bunch) debuted in theaters. I remember being positively giddy about the prospect of going to see it, and it did not disappoint. 

Of course, one of the key moments is the battle scene near the end, with the Rebellion's X-Wing squadron launching its attack against the Death Star. I am often reminded of Gold Five's admonition: "Stay on target...stay on target."

Sci-fi movie speak it may be, but it's also sage advice: Stay focused on your objective if you wish to achieve it. 

It applies in these early and heady days of Trump 2.0. There is such a flurry of executive actions — and attendant media coverage and lawsuits being filed — that it's nigh impossible to keep up with them all. Don't get me wrong — it's fun trying to keep up with them. It's just challenging.

But that flurry is indicative of something I referenced in the Friday Morning Minute regarding President Trump:

It's been gratifying to see him not only energized but focused — and clearly having learned quite a bit from his first term and his four years in the wilderness. It would appear you can teach an old dog new tricks.

If you'll forgive the extension of the dog metaphor — because I am not in any way attempting to denigrate the president (and anyone who reads me regularly knows I adore dogs) — in 2017, there was the sense that Trump was the proverbial dog that caught the car. Even he seemed somewhat surprised by his victory over Hillary Clinton and, having up to that point been a Washington outsider, he didn't appear to be particularly well-prepared to assume the Oval Office and work the levers of power afforded him in that setting. Nor was he particularly well-served by many of those who initially worked in that first administration, whether that was due to their own incompetence or actual malice. 

Well, as noted, he's learned a lot from everything that he's been through, and it shows. Not only has he hit the ground running in his second term, but he's come prepared to do battle — not just with the Democrats, but with the entrenched bureaucracy. Which is why we're seeing/hearing lots of squealing over this slew of executive orders and moves. Institutions are, first and foremost, about self-preservation (see, e.g., "The Weed Agency," by Jim Geraghty), and President Donald Trump, locked and loaded, appears laser-focused on upending the status quo in an effort to eliminate much of the federal bloat and streamline the way the government operates. 

My advice to the administration, were they to request it, would be to remember Gold Five's admonition: Stay on target. Don't get distracted and pulled into unnecessary, unproductive side squabbles. 

This does seem to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to right the ship, but it's going to require a continued focus and commitment to it. 

Just as it will require continued focus and commitment here at RedState to cover this administration — and its detractors on the left and in the media (to the extent they're not one and the same). 

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