THE TRUMP TRANSITION TIZZY

Making Sense by Michael Reagan

The liberal media has been in a frenzy all week.

It thinks Donald Trump and his transition team are taking too long to announce his cabinet picks and other appointees.

Let me check my calendar.

Yep. It’s been less than ten days since Trump shocked the world — and sickened the liberal media — by humiliating Hillary Clinton.

And already the media are working as hard as they can to make Trump look like he doesn’t know what he’s doing —- before he doesn’t even do anything.

I understand the liberal media’s pain. I understand they feel like their lives have been ruined for at least the next four years.

I remember having similar thoughts in 2012, 2008, 1996, 1992 and 1976.

But come on, MSNBC, CNN, ABC, etc., etc. Bill Clinton took his time picking his people. So did Bush II. So did my father. It’s part of the process.

So let’s back off a little and give Trump a little slack. He’s got to drain a pretty big cesspool in Washington. He has 4,000 positions to fill.

It’s been obvious for a long time he was not just going to make some phone calls and hire 3,993 Bush II administration alumni who’ve been making their livings as lobbyists for the last eight years.

The tizzy over Trump’s supposedly slow transition process is just another step in the liberal media’s agenda —- which is “Dump on Trump.”

First they were cutting their wrists over his election win. Now it’s his appointments. Wait till they see his Supreme Court picks.

For the next four years, when it comes to President Trump, the liberal media are going to accentuate the negative, not the positive.

As much as I wasn’t a supporter of Donald Trump in the primaries, I said after the convention that I wasn’t going to allow him to lose because I didn’t show up to vote for him.

The fact is, I showed up and so did almost 70 million Americans.

My hat’s off to Trump.

He’s the president-elect. We Reagans support him. We had our time in the sun and now it’s time for Trump supporters to have theirs.

Godspeed, President Donald. Whatever I can do to help, I’m there. No cabinet post would disappoint me.

I hope he puts the right people around him. He’s done pretty well choosing people in the business world.

And let’s face it. We conservatives and others have been saying for a long time we needed a businessman in White House.

Last I looked, we were still $20 trillion in debt. Maybe President Trump can do something about that.

I’ll bet he’ll surprise us. Everyday I get more and more respect for him. He stands his ground.

Whether you agree with his positions or not, he stands his ground.

The great thing about my dad was that he knew what he believed and knew why he believed it.

I’m starting to feel that Trump knows what he believes, too, and he knows why he believes it, come hell or high water.

Meanwhile, I have a tip for our impatient media.

I’m not a journalist. But if I were, instead of doing dumb stories about why President-elect Trump is taking so long to make his picks, I’d start checking out the list of potential Supreme Court nominees he gave us.

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Mother’s Suit Alleging DCS Caseworker Abuses Proceeds

Dave Stafford for www.theindianalawyer.com

An Indiana Department of Child Services case manager who allegedly pursued meritless child-abuse allegations against an Indianapolis mother must face a federal civil lawsuit, though her DCS supervisors will not, a judge has ruled.

The suit alleges DCS family case manager Nola Hunt conducted an illegal warrantless search, threatened to take the mother’s two children from her, and made false claims against her.

Judge Tanya Walton Pratt this week ruled that Hunt must face Fourth Amendment and due process claims brought by Indianapolis veterinarian Beth Breitweiser. Pratt also dismissed complaints against DCS, director Mary Beth Bonaventura and another of Hunt’s supervisors.

Pratt adopted a magistrate’s report from earlier this month that found claims against Hunt should not be dismissed. According to Breitweiser’s complaint, she and her two children were temporarily living in an apartment in the basement of her clinic while the family home was being renovated. After receiving a report of suspected child abuse or neglect, Hunt and another DCS worker came to the office, refused to identify themselves, and demanded to interrogate Breitweiser, according to the record.

Breitweiser feared for her safety and left with her children, according to the complaint. Hunt later searched the clinic and apartment and took photos without permission or a warrant, the suit says. Hunt is accused of later going to the family’s primary home where she posted a notice that said “Your child(ren) have been taken into custody,” and that court proceedings had been initiated. Neither was true.

A short time later, DCS opened children in need of services proceedings that involved home inspections and interviews, but no evidence of abuse or neglect was found. Neverthless, Breitweiser claims DCS continued to insist she relinquish custody of her children and continued to press its CHINS case despite a lack of evidence.

About a month after the CHINS case opened, Hunt admitted in a deposition at least part of her report was inaccurate and false, according to the record.

Still, DCS continued to press its CHINS petition until the day before a scheduled evidentiary hearing in the matter, after which Breitweiser filed a tort claim notice with the state. Two months later, DCS filed  a substantiation against her, placing her on the Child Protection Index. Another month later, after Breitweiser petitioned for administrative review, DCS reversed itself and the charges against Breitweiser were unsubstantiated.

Pratt adopted Magistrate Mark Dinsmore’s report and recommendation that Hunt “was required to have a court order before searching a private residence — at least absent the availability of some exception to the  Fourth Amendment warrant requirement,” and she was not entitled to qualified immunity as the state argued.

Likewise, Breitweiser’s due process claim against Hunt survives. Her complaint must be believed at this stage of the litigation, Dinsmore wrote, and the suit claims “at a minimum, Defendants knew in the immediate aftermath of receiving the report of abuse that the allegations contained therein were wholly meritless.”

That the alleged threats came after Hunt’s initial investigation “makes the alleged conduct even more egregious because the threats followed an investigation that made the baselessness of the child abuse allegations crystal clear,” Dinsmore wrote.

Dear Friend,

House lawmakers are teaming up with Habitat for Humanity of Indiana to help build a home for a low-income family and raise awareness of the need for affordable housing.

We are currently collecting new and used tools at the Statehouse, and in March, we will trade in our pens for hammers on the south lawn of the Statehouse to build wall panels, which will be transported to a home site for a Hoosier family in need.

Habitat for Humanity of Indiana is a non-profit organization serving 75 counties. The organization believes in giving families in need a hand up, not a hand out, by having the families demonstrate their ability to pay a mortgage and manage their finances. Once they are accepted into the program, they contribute by helping build other families’ homes, and attend homebuyer education classes.

There are multiple ways to get involved with Habitat for Humanity of Indiana, including making a financial donation, volunteering to help with construction, and providing in-kind gifts or lunches at construction sites. For more information, visit www.habitatindiana.org.