If there’s been a theme running through recent headlines, it’s this: people in power—whether presidents, ministers, or mid-level bureaucrats—love shortcuts. They always sound reasonable in the moment, but they look a lot less brilliant when the dust settles.

Take Bangladesh. Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her niece Tulip Siddiq just found themselves convicted on corruption charges in a trial critics are calling unfair. Now, conservatives like me believe strongly in law and order. Corruption shouldn’t be swept under the rug. But when trials start happening in absentia and due process looks like an optional side dish, that’s not justice.

Meanwhile, back on our own shores—well, actually off our shores—the U.S. has been blasting suspected drug boats in the Caribbean. Nobody’s sentimental about narco-terrorists. But if reports are correct that some strikes ensured no survivors, that’s crossing a moral line that conservatives should be the first to call out. Strength is good. Deterrence is good. But state-sanctioned killing of incapacitated survivors floating on debris? That’s not the America I love. I believe in moral authority, not might-makes-right. Once you abandon restraint, you’re not fighting evil. You’re becoming careless about the difference between justice and vengeance.

Then we’ve got President Trump’s MRI. The White House says everything is “excellent,” “perfect,” “very normal,” which is great news. But when the President of the United States tells the press he doesn’t quite know what body part was scanned… well, that doesn’t exactly build confidence. True conservatism values honesty and accountability. If he’s healthy, fantastic. So, show the details plainly. Americans can handle the truth; what they don’t like is medical charades. Transparency isn’t weakness. It’s respect.

And finally, the trucking mess. Nearly half of America’s truck-driving schools are apparently failing standards: falsifying records, cutting corners, handing out certifications like candy canes at a Christmas parade. As a conservative, I’m all for tightening that up. You don’t want an 80,000-pound rig barreling down the highway driven by someone whose training consisted of three YouTube videos and a handshake. On the other hand, mass revocations of immigrant drivers’ licenses without clear evidence of wrongdoing? That’s how you trigger supply-chain pain and punish working families who’ve done nothing wrong. Justice should be precise, not scattershot.

Across all these stories, the same moral emerges: cutting corners is dangerous, whether it’s a government staging a political purge, a military strike going too far, a White House offering half-transparency, or a bureaucracy punishing thousands because it’s easier than doing careful audits.

Conservatism at its best isn’t about cheering for government power, ours or anyone else’s. It’s about insisting that power be disciplined, restrained, and rooted in truth. That’s why we believe in the rule of law over the rule of men.

And if those in charge forget that? Well, as Scripture says, “Be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23).

Even if you’re driving a drug boat. Or running a trucking school. Or sitting in a presidential MRI machine wondering, “Now where exactly did they scan me again?”