It’s Not That Simple

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Yes, it’s complicated. You have the Syrian rebels fighting a seemingly endless (and possibly un-winnable) civil war against the wholly corrupt dictator, Bashar al-Assad. Why is that important? Well, we could go back in time, but it probably suffices to simply remember President Obama’s famous “red line” that he drew in 2012. You see, that is when Mr. Obama told the world he would not tolerate the Syrian tyrant’s chemical attacks on his own people. What the O-man also knew that Syria was looking the other way as ISIS built a major power base on the norther border, and threatened the Kurdish people living there. So the President famously drew his red line in the sand, and told the world these aggressions would not stand. This is great stuff, right? The only problem is that these aggressions not only were allowed to stand, but they prospered. 

Two things happened, and we haven’t even begun to determine the long term damage American interests will suffer. First, Bashar al-Assad realized he was dealing with a lightweight, so he immediately doubled down on his flirtation with Vladimir Putin. Mr. Putin gladly responded to Syria’s overtures and moved in to support the Assad regime’s murderous campaign against its own people. There are those who say “so what?”. The United States had enjoyed more than three decades of middle eastern influence without any serious Russian intervention. Waffling on the red line opened the door for the Russians to re-enter the Middle East, and folks, that is a big deal. 

Why did Mr. Obama capitulate? This author is sure there will be countless histories written, but no one will convince me that there was not a direct correlation between this flip-flop and Iran putting pressure on the US. What, say again? Yes, you see this was also the time that the Obama administration desperately sought to achieve a pact with Iran to slow down the prospect of nuclear proliferation. Slow down, mind you; not eliminate. So while also sending billions to Iran, it is entirely conceivable that the White House was also pressured to back off its position regarding the Assad administration. Iran and Syria are allies. Ergo, the second thing that happened, and it is far more insidious. Bingo!

With it being politically expedient to put Syria on the back burner, Americans saw a shift to the growing ISIS threat, and the alliance between our troops and the Kurdish rebels. The Kurds are dissidents from Turkey, who moved into northern Iraq and Syria over the past four decades in an attempt to free themselves from Turkish oppression. Their plight is not much different than that of the Syrian rebels. They have been hunted down and killed by various Turkish leaders since the late 1970’s. The US troops and Kurdish rebels made a formidable team. In the space of five years, they tore the heart out of ISIS and reclaimed lands stolen from previous occupants. The presence of US troops also lent balance to the region. Turkish aggressors did not stray south to kill Kurds, the Russians stayed away, and the Syrian government forces did not venture north to attack Syrian rebels. Our presence was a huge force for stability. The only losers were ISIS. No tears shed there. 

One more thing. Turkey is a NATO ally. With Turkey, which has been increasingly hostile to western culture under President Ergodan, we now walk that tightrope trying to coerce them not to slaughter our erstwhile Kurdish allies, while attempting to not push them toward Russia. It is volatile, and it is fraught with peril for American interests. 

In five paragraphs, I have attempted to cut through the layers of complexity and give you a sense for why this region is very important to our interests. It is so easy to take the isolationist view. Clearly Mr. Trump has decided this region does not matter. He looks at it all as just “a lot of sand”, and he appears to have no issue with Russia assisting the Syrians as they look north to land once theirs that no longer has an American presence. Click here to see the President’s take on the situation. 

While I put a lot of the blame on the Obama administration for its feckless foreign policy, I am, in this case, massively disappointed in President Trump. His simple approach to keeping his promise to “end all foreign wars” does a disservice to our reputation with our allies, and it sets the stage for Russia’s re-emergence in a volatile and strategically important part of the world.  We will rue the present state of affairs. I just can’t tell you how or when.

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High Crimes and Poppycock!

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Lest I bore you into a catatonic nap, allow me to say one more time, I do not like Donald Trump. He is a narcissist. He sets a horrible example for our kids. He is not invited to my house for dinner.

OK, are we clear? 

Now, let’s talk about what is happening in the United States House of Representatives. Nancy Pelosi allowed herself to get backed int a corner by her progressives, and Adam Schiff was only too happy to carry the impeachment torch. Folks, it is poppycock. And in case that word is too arcane, here are a few synonyms: balderdash, beans, bilge, blarney, blather, blither, bosh, bull, bunk, claptrap, codswallop, crock, drivel, fiddle-paddle, flapdoodle, folderol, fudge, garbage, hogwash, guff, hockey-pokey, hokum, hooey, humbug, malarkey, nonsense, piffle, rubbish, slush, stupidity, tommyrot, tosh, and twaddle.

Get the point? Have you read the Ukraine call transcript? I have read every word of it; several times. There is NOTHING there. This is a farce! Hah, another synonym! The democrats are literally concocting a fabricated set of circumstances when the exhonorating evidence is already public, and the other person on the phone (that would be Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky) has stated publicly that at no time has President Trump or any of his proxies suggested aid has been or will be withheld pending investigation of Joe Biden or his son. 

I don’t care about Hunter Biden. The talking heads on the right should drop the subject. I do care about the possibility of Ukranian involvement in the 2016 election. Why isn’t that the subject matter at hand?

I know some of my readers hate Donald Trump so much that they will grasp at any straw to validate their feelings. Trump haters, you are being conned. This is politics 101. Don’t be a victim.

We have another 12 1/2 months before the election. If history is a guide, don’t worryTrump bashers, the President will give you plenty more up about which to get riled. In the meantime, do yourselves a favor and focus on playoff baseball. It’s much more interesting, and nobody is conning you.

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Are These People Serious?

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My last post was upbeat. It honored the life of a great public servant, George H. W. Bush. Alas, we have ushered in a new year, and a new Congress. And no new Congressperson more personifies the bizarre machinations of the left than does Alexandria Octavio-Cortez, a NYC born Latino. One of two things are happening here. She either really does not like anything about what has made the United States the singularly most successful experiment in freedom and upward mobility over the course of recorded history, or is she just another progressive leftist spouting populist drivel to incite the dreamers and free-lunchers to revolt? I don’t know.

Her Green New Deal is the most confounding document bandied about in Washington for a long time. Do these people understand that money is generated by the private sector? Sometimes I think they actually believe the Government makes the money we spend. Well, I guess, given our $22,000,000,000,000 deficit, one could argue the Government has done a pretty good job spending money it does not have, but that is another topic for another day. Let’s just dwell a moment on how downright crazy her Green New Deal actually is. I was pleased to see that potential independent candidate for President Howard Schultz was in Houston today, and called the Green New Deal “not realistic” and “immoral”. Run, Howard, run! Click here to read more about his comments in Houston. By the way, while all the focus is on climate change in this drivel, there are other lofty pro-growth goals stipulated. One that grabbed my attention is the that the Deal would provide “economic security to all who are unable or unwilling to work”. UNWILLING TO WORK! I rest my case on this one. Well, not quite….

I mean, these people don’t actually believe this stuff, do they?! When you read this palaver, do you find yourself wondering if the progressives actually have no idea what fuels the entire world economy? Do they think plastic grows on trees? Do they see planes, rockets, missiles, trains, and automobiles powered by solar energy? Is the next trip to the moon going to be wind powered? Americans are ready to tear down all inefficient buildings and houses, right? Maybe its time to invest again in buggy whips, because when the progressive luddites (that should be an oxymoron) finally take over, horse and wagon transportation will be in vogue! 

But seriously folks, I cannot figure out whether this is all a power ploy; something sweeping and grand to capture the imagination of the dreamers and mentally challenged. Surely the end game is about seizing control. Surely they do not actually believe what they purport to espouse!

I took some heart today in a Fox News poll which shows overwhelming support for capitalism over socialism. Click here to read this poll. It is comprehensive and no matter on what side of the aisle you may sit, it is worth your time.

We live in strange times. The left detests President Trump so much they will say and do anything to obstruct him. As I have said myriad times, I am no fan of Donald Trump. But I am 100% supportive of what the administration has done to support our middle class, and, in turn, the US economy. When I count the good things that have happened in the past two years compared to some decisions with which I disagree, the good things win! This country is so much better off than it would have been under four more years of democrat regulations and taxation. The numbers speak for themselves. And while we are on the numbers, can you tell me that you weren’t just a little agitated  during the State of the Nation address, when the “women in white” were so visibly angry at Donald Trump that their detestation of him blinded them from realizing how ridiculous it looked to not applaud the lowest white, black, and hispanic unemployment in US history? C’mon! Facts may be inconvenient truths for the left, but when one is on national tv, one should be somewhat sensitive to looking like an idiot.

How about those who have declared for the race to be the Democrat nominee? So far, the run should be called the “let’s see who can turn left and run as fast as possible into the abyss” race! Surely sane-minded democrats must be apoplectic at what they are witnessing. Don’t they see that the Democrats’ best shot is to nominate a moderate who can swing the independent vote? Alas, I am a Republican, so all I can implore them all to do is “keep running to the left”!

Lastly, and mostly as an aside, can you imagine the conversations Nancy Pelosi is having behind closed doors?  She is the Speaker. She wants to be the face of the party. But every day, one freshman congresswoman or another is stealing the limelight, and those lights do not reflect well on the Democrats. Poor Nancy. 

The gloves are off. I can’t wait to see the likes of Booker, Harris, and Warren pummel each other in their efforts to prove how much more socialist each one is compared to the other.

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Power–Good Lord

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It’s all about power. Lindsay Graham nailed it. For a refresher course in standing up for the right thing, watch this raw emotion exhibited during the Kavanaugh hearings by clicking here. I am not going to bask in the light of being right, but for reference, and if you missed the 23 September blog, you may review same here. I understand why the radical left will never accept what happened. As Senator Graham so ably expressed, the dye was cast the minute the Judge was appointed. Chuck Schumer made it clear that they would oppose him no matter what the cost. Good Lord; he certainly lived up to his word! That said, I will never understand how otherwise reasonable people bought into the democrat smear machine hook, line, and sinker. It’s an art form. If you doubt me, just listen to Nancy Pelosi explain how they do it by clicking on this link. That is all I am going to say about the recent Kavanaugh hearings.

Let’s move on; something the left is completely unwilling to do. The narrative is changing. Now they want to focus on the electoral college. The left can’t let go of the fact that democrats can win the popular vote, and lose the election. Good Lord. The electoral college is there to make sure Presidents are elected with and by the consent of the people. The democrats own the cities. Hmmmm. I wonder why? Could it be that the cities are where the greatest mass of people living on entitlements are gathered? And just think, with endless open borders and voting rights for people who aren’t even American, (which is now a platform issue for democrats from coast to coast) can you imagine that situation changing?

The new darling of the left (28 year old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) thinks the electoral college should be abolished. She doesn’t quite have her facts straight, but since when did facts get in the way of a good socialist narrative? Watch this brief narrative about the issue here.

Let’s just make sure we all remember why a popular vote is a horrible idea. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. You see, if we ever abandoned the genius of the electoral college, the little bits of blue below would dictate who our President is. So folks, whenever you hear a democrat ranting about the need to eliminate the electoral college, just remember why. It’s all about Power. 

 

 

 

 

 

I will conclude with a more parochial note. Several friends here at home in Texas are enthralled with the young hipster, Beto O’Rouke. He is the rising star of the left taking on Ted Cruz in the US Senate race. I do not write to discuss the merits of the young novice versus Ted Cruz. Mr. Cruz is not a personal friend, and he has done any number of things to annoy me. But that simply is not the point. A Senate seat is not a popularity contest. At the end of the day, he/she/they/ze who controls the Senate controls policy. A vote for Beto is a vote for anarchy. It is that simple. You don’t have to like Ted Cruz, but you need to realize what the loss of a Senate seat means to the direction in which the United States could head. The barbarians are at the gate. They hate capitalism. They detest success. They want to endlessly redistribute earnings. I could actually make a case that the likes of Pelosi and Schumer know better, but it would not matter. They have decided the road to power lies with a hard turn to the left, and they are willing to say and do anything to regain the holy grail; power. If you are thinking about voting for Beto because he just seems like a nice guy, please think again. There is far more at stake.

Senator Graham nailed it . It’s all about Power. The dems want it, and will stop at nothing to obtain it. Good Lord.

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Speechless

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Several people have asked me why I am writing so infrequently. Well, there are a few reasons. My job is keeping me pretty busy, so that’s legit, right? Mostly though, it is because day-to-day politics have left me speechless. Both parties are so hopelessly mired in the quagmire of partisan despair. Politicians and the political regime (the press, politicos, talking heads) have become incredibly petty. In short, I have OD’d on simple-minded hacks on both sides of the political fence. 

How bad is it? It’s so bad that a Mitt Romney or George H. W. Bush would be considered to liberal or “out of touch” to secure their party’s nomination for President. And is equally so bad that a John Kerry or Al Gore would be too conservative to secure their party’s nomination for President.

In a way, the democrat’s have an easier problem to address. There is a democrat center and a democrat left. Any democrat is too liberal for me, but that is not the issue. The dems face a horrible challenge; namely,the relentless run to the left. Folks, it’s not just any old left, but a left that crosses the line into the land of socialists and hatred of capitalism. That is a scary place, yet the democrats seem incapable of stopping that slide into the abyss.

The GOP faces a bigger problem, largely because no one even knows what or where the GOP actually is. In short, I would argue there isn’t a Republican Party. There is a loose-knit, semi-confederation of former GOP stalwarts, libertarians, tea-partiers, and Trumpster wannabes. What a mess. The President has them scared of their own shadows. Sure, in private they wring their hands and speak with despair of his unseemly behavior. But in public their hands are tied. They are between a rock and a hard place. It’s a regular old dog’s breakfast. 

The SCOTUS process is perhaps the only current event where the “Republicans” can act as one. For all of Trump’s faults he is two for two with superior Supreme Court nominations. Judges Gorsuch and Kavanaugh are not right wing zealots. There is simply nothing wrong about them. They are as pure and unadulterated as they come. They are not there to write law; they are on the bench to interpret it. This is what great judges do. Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer make themselves smaller and smaller every time they talk with disdain about Judge Kavanaugh.

Just before I lose my more moderate or (dare I say) liberal readers, allow me to also say I didn’t think it is possible for me to dislike President Trump more than I did, but I do! He is a horrible man. Alas, we remain in a better place as a country than we would be had Hillary Clinton continued the miserable, economy-crushing policies of Mr. Obama. My greatest fear remains the possibility that Mr. Trump has not told the truth about something presently under investigation by Mr. Mueller. If his morals end up being as bad as his personality, the entire nation will suffer. History tells us that the voter backlash will be extreme, and in today’s environment the definition of “extreme” is “socialism”. The swing to the left will decapitate you if you get in the way of that blade.

For the sake of the United States, let’s hope this self-centered man is telling the truth. We can ill afford a wholesale shift to the far left. But I digress. The main point is that both parties are listless amoeba; pandering to extreme voices, taking whatever shape is necessary to mollify their extreme base, and afraid to do the right thing for fear of reprisal. We’ve been in messes before, and no doubt will be again. But this one is a doozy. I remain virtually speechless!

 

Why Can’t All Life be One Big Wedding?

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Readers- It has been quite the hiatus. Most of you probably haven’t noticed! Every once in a while, you nice ones ask me to keep writing. Very kind. Thank you. 

I’m just not going to get dragged into the abyss today. The democrats and main stream media are shameless, and the President is a horse’s ass. Take your pick. I still stand behind my vote for him. Our economy is in much better shape and working men and women have more money in their pockets. The Supreme Court is in a better place and soon will be even better. Don’t argue with me on that one. There is not one iota (not even a scintilla!) of evidence that Judge Kavanaugh is anything but a really good person and a really great judge. I default to my statement regarding the shameless ones.

That is it for politics. My daughter got married two weeks ago. That is a happy thing. There was no controversy. Everyone agreed it was a wonderful time. If only the real world (yes, all of life) could be one big wedding. 

So today I celebrate family. I didn’t lose Clemmie. I gained a great son-in-law. Welcome to the family Maclean. Well, actually I call him Mactavish. Maclean didn’t quite do it for me the first time we met.

 

 

 

 

As most of you know, sons can be a pain in the neck. But they also can bring you a lot of joy-let’s face it, most dads find a way to live vicariously, at least some of the time, through their sons. But when a son turns 21 and starts showing signs that he might actually turn the corner and become a man, it is a really good time to be a dad. Robby, you are becoming that son..

 

 

 

 

 

And then there are the other daughters, Miller and Bar. Miller is the oldest sister, and could not be more different than Clemmie. That is a good thing, because all kids need their own identity. They are only 14 months apart and have fought like cats and dogs since they were babies. But here’s the thing. If anyone ever messed with Clemmie, the first one there to have her back was always Miller.

And Bar, my baby. is a rising senior in high school. Even though we have been down the college road three times before, the stress and intensity of it all does not lessen. You always want the best for your children, and you want them to be happy. That is another reason to ban the real world and make life one big wedding. 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, these kids wouldn’t be around if it weren’t for their mom. Dabney looks happier than Melania, that is all I can say. You are welcome, dear.

 

 

 

 

That’s it. Short and sweet. Wouldn’t it be great if all of life was just one big wedding?

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Righteous Indignation

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This blog has never been a home for rationalizing, justifying, defending, or supporting Donald Trump. It’s author is not about to start now. That said, this blog is a home for defending and supporting traditional GOP principles. We are a nation of immigrants. It is our core and our strength. All of us are immigrants.

This week’s hullabaloo was all about President Trump’s alleged (it was, after all, in a private meeting behind closed doors) reference to Haiti and several African countries as, in short, “Shitholes”. 

Lesson #1-There is no longer such a thing in Washington DC as a private meeting.

Lesson #2-Donald Trump really doesn’t care whether participants in a private meeting violate the implicit pact of silence. If he is so inclined, he will simply deny he said that which he is accused of having said. 

Lesson #3-The President’s mind boggling, endless bombshells are used by his detractors  to pursue their agendas with just as much disdain for the truth as that of which they accuse the President!

In short, truth, honesty, and transparency are in short supply in Washington. “This is nothing new”, you may say. Perhaps that is the case, but certainly this administration has brought out the worst on both sides of the aisle.

Lest I lose the plot, let’s take a look at the context of the conversation in which the President is alleged to have made his defamatory remark. A group of Republican and Democrat congressional representatives were gathered to talk about immigration reform. This is when the President is alleged to have made his remark. Within 12 hours, there was global uproar. The vast majority of the tumult was about his blatant, unrepentant racism.

I’m sorry, what did I miss? Where does racism enter the equation? You see, this is classic spin. The President made a callous, very un-Presidential remark. Is anyone, at this point in time, shocked by that? But he did not say anything about race. For the record, and for balance, the President tweeted this remark. “Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said “take them out.” Made up by Dems. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings – unfortunately, no trust!”

In the years 2010-1014, the biggest percentage increase in immigrants to the United States came from these countries; Saudi Arabia (up 93 percent), Bangladesh (up 37 percent), Iraq (up 36 percent), Egypt (up 25 percent), and Pakistan, India, and Ethiopia (each up 24 percent). (Click here for more details.) Now ask yourself; if, by chance, the subjects of the conversation had been Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Iraq, Egypt, Pakistan, India, and Ethiopia, do you think the President would have had any different comment?

His commentary had nothing to do with race. He simply thinks there are a lot of crappy countries in the world, and, surprise, surprise, a disproportionate amount of our immigrants come from those countries. You, (and I, for that matter) may argue that opening our arms to those from the most depressed countries in the world is what we are all about. The President may disagree. He would tell you that disagreement is the crux of the discussion that took place last week. Alas, that was not the proverbial take-away.

Mr. Trump’s intemperate remark (as reported by his detractors ) opened the door for another round of media and late night President bashing, but the at the heart of these diatribes there lies a farce. There was wasn’t anything blatantly racist in or around his comments. They could have been about the vast majority of countries from which immigrants flee to come to the United States. You see, folks, they want to leave their countries too! Why? Because THEY think their countries are shitholes, and they want to come to the last great land of opportunity and hope left on this planet.

Have you ever seen Brittany Hughes on Reality Check TV? Watch this video. Bingo!

Now, the typical media response was more like this one, when MSNBC interviewed Congressman John Lewis. I don’t have a quarrel with much of what the Congressman says in the interview. But the leap to racism is subjective! Across the board, people have played the race card on Trump based on their own feelings, tastes, and opinions. NBC published this article entitled “Is it Finally Time to call Trump a Racist?” Perhaps more than anything, they label President Trump a racist simply because they detest the man. They hate everything about him. Let me be clear one more time. There is much about President Trump that I do not like! But don’t lose your own personal virtue and integrity by throwing around disingenuous labels.

I’ve had enough of the righteous indignation. It seems to me that the President gives his detractors plenty of valid reasons to form opposing positions without them having to resort to tangential, obfuscatory, pandering attacks.

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Batshit Crazy

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When does the madness end?

In 1933 the Nazi’s organized a campaign to burn books. Yes, books were written by intellectuals, and intellectuals were Jews; ergo, all books had to go. This video ( click here) shows Joseph Goebbels getting the boys all riled up.

From 1966 to 1976, Chairman Mao murdered millions of Chinese in the name of Communist purity. Their sin? Their alleged bourgeois tendencies threatened the very foundation of the communist revolution. They needed to disappear! (For more detail, click here. )

Religion is certainly not exempt from the abuse of power. The Catholic Inquisition (read more here) was used as weapon to stifle dissent for centuries. More recently, the Taliban has attempted to totally eliminate any vestige from the past in order to ensure total domination of its people and allegiance to its twisted interpretation of its creed. Who can forget the annihilation of the 5th century Buddhist statues back in March of 2001? (click here for a video of that barbaric act.)

I could go on and on. History is replete with horrific tales of man trying to eradicate history in order to create his more perfect vision of himself.

And so we come to the United States in 2017; a polarized nation, to say the least. The polarization is not just between the traditional left and right. No, this is more complex. We have massive divisions between left and right, but cutting across those customary lines are levels of anger, disenfranchisement, frustration, and isolation. In essence, we find ourselves in yet another William Holden moment. Some of you may remember. Others are too young. Click here to see for yourself. If you just kept reading, I implore you to go back and click on that link. I dare you to watch it and not feel some level of connection.

I have been moaning about the PC left for the past several years. My focus has been on the continued leftward trajectory of our education system up to and through the universities. I have highlighted the reality that the capital L in Liberal Arts no longer exists. Our universities are markedly small case l these days. They do not teach anything close to the classical definition of Liberal. Our children are exposed to endless palaver demonizing anything traditional or conservative. Hillary may have once written that ‘it takes a village”, but as far as I am concerned, it takes a remarkably strong family unit to offset whatever garbage one’s child is likely to be taught throughout the entire spectrum of educational exposure. In short, the “village” has become the problem!

The events in Charlottesville two weeks ago triggered yet another wave of knee-jerk reactions from the progressive left. Now let’s be clear. The President is operating in his own universe. I have no idea what motivates him to say the things he does. More importantly, I have no idea why he says the things he does the way he does!

Cutting through all Mr. Trump’s  apparent lack of sensitivity to the events that led to the loss of life in Charlottesville, the President also made some irrefutably true statements. When he called out groups on the left (Antifa, for example) for fomenting hatred and violence, he was absolutely right. The left has long been given a free pass on the destruction of property and violence toward its fellow man, all in the name of a good protest. The double standard is appalling.

It is the aftermath of that regrettable day that is actually the focus of today’s short tome. The nationwide movement to tear down all statues of anyone who fought for the South in the Civil War is simply appalling. And the PC left wasted no time. Scores of universities and municipalities have jumped on the bandwagon. Yes sir, the South must not rise again. Let’s simply pretend it never existed to begin with! Let’s eliminate all memories of the South and those people who were its leaders!

Ladies and Gentlemen. History is art. It is a painting; something to look at and study: a canvas from which to learn. If you don’t like the art,  create your own. You can’t destroy the painting just because you don’t like it.

I could digress and discuss what an amazing man Robert E. Lee was. Alas, I would lose the plot. That is not the point of this blog. My thesis is simple. These people who wish to eradicate a major part of our nation’s history are simply batshit crazy! One cannot apply morals of today to events of yesterday. That is not the way history works. Unless, of course, Chairman Mao and the Taliban are one’s heroes. Then, I suppose, eliminating all statues of Confederate Generals makes complete sense.

And where exactly does it end? Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City is presently studying whether to take down statues of Christopher Columbus and Peter Stuyvesant! You can’t make this stuff up! (Click here to see the article. )

The ironies implicit in all this tomfoolery are many. Perhaps the ultimate joke on people is the notion that today’s activists who seek to eradicate our nation’s history do so having taken by storm some form of self-assumed higher moral ground. The imperfections of the past must be eliminated so the perfection of the present is all that we know in the years ahead! Wait, where exactly is that perfection to be found? Antifa? Nancy Pelosi? Chuck Schumer? George Soros? Maxine Waters? Bill de Blasio?

You get the picture? They’re all batshit crazy.

Never try to pretend the people who made our nation what it is today simply did not exist, merely because you don’t think they were good people. Leave that mentality to the fascists, communists, religious zealots, and totalitarians.

Study your American history. It’s  fascinating; warts and all. Learn from it. Become a better person because of it. Embrace American Exceptionalism and appreciate the fact that we are who we are because of our incredibly complicated history. Rise above the PC clamor. In short, don’t be batshit crazy!

Fire and Brimstone!

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Let’s get this note off on the right foot. Yesterday, the President said this of Kim Jong-Un. (click here ) Not to be outdone, and obviously not visibly quaking in his shoes,  North Korea’s fearless, all-powerful, all loving, all knowing leader instructed his news agency to tell the world he is preparing to reduce Guam to rubble. (click here to see that report.) Meanwhile, Secretary of State Tillerson is hopping around Asia trying to keep the lid on the pot. 

Keeping the lid on the pot when two wholly self absorbed leaders are engaged in a verbal jousting match is not easy. Maybe we should actually refer back to the good ole days and put the two of them on horses and let them have a run at each other with lances. What’s the downside?

I grew up in the “duck and cover” world. Some of you readers don’t even know what that is. Suffice to say, Americans over 50 were never wholly removed from the specter of nuclear Armageddon. Of course, the arms race with the Soviets led us down the path to a place called “mutually assured  destruction”, and neither the US nor the Soviet Union were particularly anxious to test that theory out. Of the whack-job in North Korea, who’s to say? It is true that Republican and Democrat Presidents alike have kicked the North Korean confrontation can down the road for decades. Democrats have generally been inclined to buy more time by dumping largesse on the totalitarian state. In hindsight, that has been rather foolhardy. Shockingly stupid, actually. 

Time (and probably not a lot of it) will tell where all this bluster will lead us. But there is some good news in all this. The main stream media is not really talking about it, but here goes: We actually achieved a 15-0 UN Security Council vote sanctioning North Korea. That means Nikki Haley was successful in getting Russia and China to support sanctions. That is no small feat. And on the other side of the globe, Rex Tillerson is quietly lining up support from a number of Asia countries to rally around the notion that we must be united in isolating the endlessly rogue nation that is North Korea.

And this brings me back to an oft-made point. The President, by design, grabs the spotlight, and insists on it shining directly on himself. He blusters and tweets inanities to his base. He appears to care less about reaching out to Republicans or Democrats with whom he disagrees. He attacks those he considers enemies, and those who thought he was their friend! He attacks his own cabinet picks!  But all the while, he has, actually, surrounded himself with very competent people. Notwithstanding the noise around the Communications Department, and Steve Bannon (the left love to hate Steve) Trump’s Cabinet is out doing its job. We are moving toward a more nimble, deregulated economy, and, believe it or not, we are working well with foreign states. 

If you find yourself pounding your head against the wall over Mr. Trump’s alleged daily shenanigans (real or contrived-just depends on which side of the fence you sit) take some solace in the fact that some really good people are actually working on your behalf and getting things done. 

And on that note, lest anyone think I am getting giddy, the GOP had better get its act together and pass the Trump  tax cut plan, or some variation thereof. If Obamacare isn’t replaced with some negotiated compromise, and a tax plan does not hit the President’s desk for signature, Katy can bar the door, but it will be too late. November 2018 will be an Old Testament style day of reckoning! The table is set folks. Let’s get it done!

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Dazed and Confused

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Hillary continues to blame everything under the sun for her election loss.

Can anyone actually put today’s politics into rational perspective? I don’t know about you, but sometimes it is all a bit too daunting. And perhaps sometimes others should do the talking. This is one of those times. On June 1, Peggy Noonan wrote “I don’t want to beat up on Hillary Clinton. She thought she’d win and she lost, embarrassingly, to a man she considered deeply unworthy. At the same time she won the popular vote by 2.9 million. It would take anyone time to absorb these things emotionally and psychologically.

But wow. Her public statements since defeat have been malignant little masterpieces of victimhood-claiming, blame-shifting and unhelpful accusation. They deserve censure.”

She then said “She lost because America is a hopelessly reactionary country in which dark forces fight a constant “rearguard action” to “turn back the clock.” She lost because Republicans are both technologically advanced and underhanded. Democrats, for instance, use data and analytics to target and rouse voters—“better messaging.” Republicans, on the other hand, use “content farms” and make “an enormous investment in falsehoods, fake news, call it what you will.” Democrats “did not engage in false content.” She lost because of the Russians: “Who were they coordinating with, or colluding with?”

She lost because of “voter suppression” and “unaccountable money flowing in against me.” She lost because the Democratic National Committee didn’t help her. “I inherit nothing from the Democratic Party. I mean it was bankrupt. . . . Its data was mediocre to poor, nonexistent, wrong. I had to inject money into it.

She lost because FBI Director James Comey told Congress the investigation regarding her email server had been reopened. “So for whatever reason . . . and I can’t look inside the guy’s mind, you know, he dumps that on me on Oct. 28, and I immediately start falling.”

She lost because she was “swimming against a historic tide. It’s very difficult historically to succeed a two-term president of your own party.” She lost because she was “the victim of a very broad assumption that I was going to win.” She lost because the news media ignored her policy positions.

And then there was sexism. “It sort of bleeds into misogyny. And let’s just be honest, you know, people who have . . . a set of expectations about who should be president and what a president looks like, you know, they’re going to be much more skeptical and critical of somebody who doesn’t look like and talk like and sound like everybody else who’s been president. Any you know, President Obama broke that racial barrier, but you know, he’s a very attractive, good-looking man.”

Oh my goodness, how she thinks.”

I could go on (or Peggy could-and did) but you get the point. As a Republican, I can’t tell you how much I hope Hillary deludes herself into considering another run at the White House. As a reasonable human being, I can’t imagine that ever happening. But good Lord, I could never imagine so much of what happens every day ever happening!

To summarize, here is my note to Hillary. ‘Hillary, enough already. Stop looking for scapegoats. You ran a horrible campaign. You had no resonating message. You cannot succeed on the politics of envy if you make people squirm when you talk. Get over it, and do so now, for your sake, your family’s sake, and out of compassion for your country.”

Moving on, I want address an issue that has been raised by two good friends. One is a registered democrat, and the other (I believe) considers herself to be independent. In both cases, they have taken umbrage at my reference to the progressive left and “dimocrats” as too broad and sweeping a characterization, and insulting to those who feel unjustly swept up in the wide swath of my broom. In hindsight, I do tend to throw all democrats to the wolves when I refer to the imponderably inane policies promulgated by their spokespeople. And for that, I apologize. There are obviously myriad forms of democrats just as there are many factions in the GOP. It is not fair to throw all who voted for President Obama or Hillary into the same fruit basket. Some deserve an opportunity to repent! Suffice to say, I will attempt to be more prescriptive in my future diatribes.

Moving on. The President’s overseas trip was good. I love the fact that he restored relations with the Sunni leaders in the Middle East, reiterated his support for Israel as our staunchest ally in the region, and visited the Pope. It was well conceived, and well executed. His ensuing NATO message was clear. He supports NATO, but deadbeats need to pay their fair share. (NATO also believes he supports the organization. Click here to read more.) Look, I don’t like the way President Trump says and does a lot of things. He is abrasive and can act like a bully. But at the end of the day, he is absolutely right to take on those NATO allies who have drafted on the back of our economic engine for far too long.

The budget is outstanding. (Click here if you want to read about it.) If any semblance of this White House budget is passed, we will see economic growth and, ultimately, increased revenues to the Treasury. (Once and for all, let’s put this piece of democrat propaganda to rest once and for all. In spite of all protestations to the contrary, the Laffer curve works. It worked wonderfully after the Reagan tax cuts. Yes, the deficit increased, but that is because we were in an arms build-up war with the Soviet Union. The irrefutable truth is that revenues to the treasury increased during those years. Click here to read more on this topic.) Just as important, we will see curtailment of runaway Federal spending. Folks, I said it in 2008, 2012, and 2016. We cannot keep spending money we don’t have! Sure, it would be wonderful to throw money at every problem that comes our way. Allow me to ask you a question. Is that the way you handle things in your family? Well, a nation is no different. It has to make tough decisions, and those tough decisions have been deferred for decades. If President Trump can actually make the buck stop “here”, (nod to President Truman) all power to him.

The Russia thing. Yawn. The only part of this whole story that intrigues me is if, at the end of the day, Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller ends up focusing on the Obama administration  surveillance activities before and after the election, and conscious decisions taken to “unmask” names of American citizens; names that may have surfaced during (possible illegal) covert intelligence operations. This, folks, is where it could get interesting. Of course, if Mr. Mueller’s investigations do head in that direction, you may rest assured the main stream media will quickly lose interest.

And so there you have it. Not too much happening, right? Are you dazed and confused? I am.

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