Vitamin B-12?

President Trump recently opined in North Carolina that Joe Biden might be getting a shot in his bum right before their first debate in a little over a week. What does the Orangeman know? And what would be in Biden’s syringe?

I have a (rare) thought ... remembering a woman of a certain age I once knew who used to get regular shots to improve her memory and boost her energy level. It was vitamin B-12. So I went to Duckduckgo to research this item ... and found out the 20% of Americans over the age of 60 suffer from a B-12 deficiency ... the symptoms of which include lethargy and memory loss ... see: NIH on B-12 indications.

Of course, not being a doctor, I could be blowing smoke ... and Biden may or may not be among this population who are seriously deficient in B-12 ... but he obviously suffers from some degenerative condition at times. There is plenty of video evidence supporting this assertion. And he also has periods of greater lucidity ... which Trump has clearly noted. In any case, were Biden to get elected, I still would greatly worry about having a president who has to rely on injections to keep him alert and lucid ... particularly when dealing with aggressive foreign leaders and the continuing serious crises that face our country over the coming years. (I am reminded of the cost that the world suffered when a seriously ill FDR tried to negotiate with Stalin on how Europe would look after Germany fell.)

Extra-added attraction: Biden is also rumored to be taking Namenda, an Alzheimer drug which is taken orally ... and often causes incontinence ... see: American Thinker Article.

Afterward: I also just heard the drug Adderall may be involved.

STAND UP FOR AMERICA!

Tough Decisions

All our presidents have faced making difficult decisions. Here might be the toughest tests for our last 14 presidents:

FDR - Declaring war on Japan AND Germany

Truman - Dropping the atomic bomb on Japan

Ike - Agreeing to an armistice in Korea

JFK - Embargo on Cuba during the missile crisis

LBJ - Handling the Vietnam war protests

Nixon - Watergate and his eventual resigning

Ford - Pardoning Nixon

Carter - Trying to rescue our Iran hostages

Reagan - Walking away from Helsinki meeting with Gorbachev

Bush 41 - Desert Storm war

Bill Clinton - Impeachment and fessing up to Monica Lewinsky affair

Bush 43 - America’s response to 9/11

Obama - Osama Ben Laden raid

Trump - Restarting the economy after the coronavirus shutdown

Abuse of Power

There have been very few periods in recent American history when the party in power has not grievously abused that power. ... FDR, LBJ, RMN, WJC, GWB, BHO.  At the moment, likely because he has been distracted by his attempts to reverse the previous administration’s carry-over despotism, we are enjoying a relative autocratic lull. The real measure of his presidency will be how well Trump behaves once he has effectively drained the swamp that has been, until now, tirelessly working to take him down.

Obvious Truth

Trump is the most transformative U.S. president since FDR. — Anon.

Real Money

From reddit Pics

Once when money was backed by precious metals.

“Good money [supposedly] drives bad money out of circulation.” Gresham’s Law 

But all too often the opposite turns out to be the case.

My grandfather once collected Silver Certificates expecting to be able to turn them in for silver dollars ... until Lyndon B. Johnson  reneged on this federal government commitment in 1968. After that you could only exchange a (bad) Federal Reserve note for a (once good) Silver Certificate. Gold Certificates were previously eliminated when we went off the gold standard in 1933 under FDR.  Alas!

Inflection Point

Martin Luther King Jr. was a bit of a bounder. There are numerous salacious stories of his behavior off the pulpit. So why do we celebrate this man today? Simple ... his "I have a dream" speech was an inflection point between when this country was majority racist against blacks and when we weren't. Yes I agree that racism did not and will not totally disappear from America ... just that the tide had changed against this societal poison -- prejudice against blacks. The proof being that we have since elected an African-American twice to our highest office.

This forgiveness of past bad behavior by Americans is not unique to MLK Jr. We have often looked past dalliances by other of our heroes -- JFK, LBJ, FDR, Thomas Jefferson, DDE and many, if not most, of our past leaders ... except lusting onl in his mind ... Jimmy Carter. The reason for such myopia is that the sum total of the good that these men did far outweighed their misconduct.

There, of course is one major exception. Much of America refuses to recognize any of the positive results from our current president's short tenure. Instead there is a fixation in the media about his negatives -- two scoops of ice cream, Stormy Daniels, his exaggerations, long neckties, etc. Will Trump ever be given the same latitude as many of our past less-than-perfect leaders, like the man whose birthday we celebrate today? He clearly is striving mightily to create an inflection point between the decline of America and a return to our historic greatness ... with large portions of this country undermining these efforts at every step.

History will tell ... but it will be a serious number of years hence.

Loyalty

We all have our loyalties ... to the world, to our country, our state, our community, to our family, our ancestors, our mate, our friends, the poor, to our school, our political party, our social organizations, our religion, the environment, to our stomach, to our libido, our ego. Mostly we have mixed localities but, there is usually one or two localities that dominate ... and this can you be judged. And you cannot depend on what people say their loyalty priorities are ... you need to watch their actions.

Think about it. What dominated Bill Clinton's and JFK's lives? Their libidos. (JFK said he would get a headache if he didn't have sex every day.) FDR, his family and his country. Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter kept their religion and the poor foremost in their minds, To Ronald Reagan, our country was the "shining city on the hill" that was his  primary motivation. Truman and Eisenhower, their country. Obama, the environment or his ego. The Bushes, their family. Nixon, the world. Hillary, herself.

What about Trump? He says, and I believe him, he is a nationalist ... which means he puts his country first. And, if you think about things, it is those presidents who put their country at the top of their loyalty pyramids who we now consider great.

Perhaps?

Headlines

DOJ asks Supreme Court to rule on Trump's right to end DACA

US could topple Russia and Saudi Arabia as world's largest oil producer this year, IEA says

Stock market 31% gain during Trump -- best since FDR!

... 'Entire Mueller investigation is a lie, built on a foundation of corruption' ...

Hungary has arrest warrant out for ex-Trump aide Gorka

Trump's approval is the lowest for any president one year into his term, WSJ/NBC poll says

3.6 million 'DREAMERS' in USA ...

Report: Schumer won't negotiate immigration unless Tom Cotton is excluded ...

Trump contradicts Kelly, says border wall stance 'never changed'

Donald Trump is the only person in Washington who doesn't seem worried about a shutdown

Paper: Sexual harassment, assault rifle at UN ...

Poll: 64% agree with work requirement for Medicaid ...

Famous Superstitions

Most, if not all of us, have quirky superstitions. My grandparents never wanted me to eat pickles and drink milk together. Years later I read that President Zachary Taylor had imbibed these ingredients shortly before he died. Ergo, it would seem that many of our numerous superstitions have a basis in some luminary's misfortune. Here are what some famous people seek to avoid or embrace:

FDR -- The number 13

Napoleon -- Black cats

John McCain -- Directly passing salt

Ron Reagan -- Astrology

Hitler -- The number seven

John Wayne -- Hat on the bed

Michael Jordan -- His blue UNC shorts under his Bulls uniform

Obama -- Playing basketball on Election Day

Donald Trump -- Germophobia


But, I really have no superstitions ... knock wood ...

Media Filters

It is not just the US media ... the problem is mostly global. The media by its name and nature has enjoyed an unique place in between our government and its public. As the filter of what is said and done, it has long enjoyed leverage on public opinion ... not always unbiased purchase. In fact, since our country's inception, the media has had increasing and often unfortunate influence on the path and pace of history.

Enter new media technologies. FDR realized the ability of the radio to cut through this media filter and go directly to the American people with his Fireside Chats. Ditto JFK in his use of television and his live press conferences. Enter the social media which Donald Trump has used as a candidate and is now using as president to take his message directly to the American people and they generally love it.

Who doesn't love it? Why the main-stream media of course. This media, the print media, radio and television, have learned how to re-insert themselves between government and the voters with various "traditions" ... such as how interviews and news conferences are held. To his credit, Trump even refuses to bend to these protocols and, consequentially, has these media filters in hysterics. And remember "fake news" was an invention of the left ... much to its regret.

How is the media fighting back ... desperate to reclaim the high ground? For one, they are scouring their Roget's Thesauri for pejoratives to smear Trump and his way of communication. They also claim that he is trying to kill the First Amendment. Also, as Trump is unfiltered, he does make mistakes and, being an egomaniac, tends toward hyperbole. Thus, the media constantly tries to keep him off balance with oft-justified criticism clapping these flubs as LIES. But Trump has even an answer to these brickbats ... by ignoring them or twittering them away.

I have no doubt that the media will eventually find ways to stifle Trump's megaphones with a new ways of filtering him ... perhaps with some new social-media technologies which limit his stentorian reach. Watch for it.

Devine Intervention

It  is becoming increasingly obvious that Hellary Clinton has some illness(es) that is (are) not going away. Whether this possible malady mix is so serious as to deny her from holding office is unclear because the Clinton machine is moving heaven and Earth to hide her problem(s) from the American voters. This situation is similar to FDR's attempt at a fourth presidential term in 1944 when it was leaking out that he was gravely ill ... but our war situation precluded full disclosure of this fact to voters and to our enemies ... much to Harry Truman's benefit. However, in Hellary's case, we are not embroiled in a world war and continuing down President Obummer's primrose path seems not so compelling ... at least not to this voter.

Now, I am not a God-fearing man ... nor do I believe, like Elon Musk, that we are all just virtual players in some giant futuristic computer simulation game  ... but I obviously do fear a Clinton election ... and, if her health issue(s) move front and center and obviate the presidency, then I will feel both a pang for her Greek-tragedy fate ... but still silently offer hosannas to this  equivalent of Devine intervention.

The Roosevelts

Like many, I have been watching Ken Burns' documentary about the Roosevelt's on PBS. So far it has included many interesting facts about Teddy Roosevelt of which I was unaware ... for instance, his actual derring-do (which I had understood to be manufactured) ... his many interactions with Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt ... and his early cowboy life in the western United States. The preponderance of the story has so far has concentrated on Teddy, but I am looking forward to more on FDR and Eleanor ... whose lives somewhat intersected mine.

In particular I have two recollections of this pair ... one, somewhat shabby and the other, somewhat poignant. First the shabby one ... even as a young child I can still hear the animosity that many in this country felt toward the Roosevelt's ... as exhibited by this joke I recall hearing (even with the inflections mimicking FDR's patrician way of speaking.) It goes thusly:

FDR -- We have a new weapon that will destroy all armies ... We have a new weapon that will destroy all navies ... We have a new weapon that will destroy all nations ... Eleanor, show them your teeth. (Sorry, not very kind ... but for the sake of an historic perspective, I repeat it.)

The other story involves me, at the age of six and a small playmate, Eliot. We were playing below our house in an alleyway when my father came home from work and called out to greet us. Eliot shouted up to my father that Roosevelt had died. To my lasting surprise, my father started crying. I say surprise because I thought my father, a Republican, didn't care much for FDR. But apparently the stress of the war and his understanding of how FDR had carried us (almost) through it, brought out this stronger emotion. My father himself died a few months later.

I look forward to the remaining episodes of this well-researched and carefully-produced documentary.

Women’s Suffrage

At a July 4^th party last night I made the comment, half in jest, that I thought giving women the vote was a mistake … to the startled gasps of most in the room. I say half in jest because, even though I know this is a losing cause, there are arguments that might still be made on both sides of this “settled law.”  Nothing has 100% positive results and I believe that the 19^th amendment is recently exhibiting its downside … in particular a relatively recent and persistent gender gap ... see: New York Times Article.

Yes, I know that many of you now have steam coming from your ears … and are vowing never to read another thing I write … including the rest of this blog.  But bear with me, please.

Clearly there were many excellent presidents who were elected because of the female vote; FDR, and JFK come to mind. But then again, I believe that females were also instrumental in electing Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama (twice) … and, to my mind, as a result of knee-jerk feminism. One can also make the argument that Bill Clinton’s bad-boy image helped many females pull the voting lever for him two times too. Whether he was a good or bad president is still open for debate … but he clearly was better than the other two I have mentioned. And let us not forget that an all-male voting population did elect quite a number of presidential lemons before 1920 … Andrew Jackson, Woodrow Wilson, James Buchanan and Franklin Pierce … to name just a few.

I know making generalizations is dangerous, but I believe that many … but clearly not all … women vote with their hearts and not with their heads. And I believe that politicians try to take advantage of this propensity when they callously put forward issues like “the war on women.” Perhaps I can be (wrongly) accused of being a misogynist, but no sane Republican politician cares to be tarred with that brush. If a female were to vote for a Democrat purely because she believes that she will have her birth control pills paid for by the government, then she is a silly and willing victim of this demagogy.

And I also know that, if Hillary Clinton runs for president in 2016, millions of voters, including a number of males, will vote for her just because she is a woman. And, if she doesn’t run, which name comes up next most often? … the female Senator from Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren, that woman with Amerind cheekbones … a double whammy for the emotional voter. Does this not prove that savvy political operatives feel that gender is now a bigger vote getter than experience and qualifications? (Just as race was, I firmly believe, a big political plus to the voters in 2008 and 2012 … and we see what a mare’s nest that this voter naiveté has caused.)

Does this mean that I would never vote for a woman? Of course not. I can name many woman politicians whom I have admired … Maggie Thatcher, Barbara Jordan, Golda Meir, Condoleezza Rice … probably just as many as I can name outstanding male solons.  But this does beg the question: Have we now a population of callow voters who do not know … nor care to know the issues confronting this country … and will let their emotions govern how they vote? And I do believe that a statistically significant higher percentage of this voting bloc is likely comprised of women? This is my point regarding women's suffrage.

Perhaps, a 28^th amendment?  Just kidding …

The Party of War

There is a popular myth that the Republican party was the belligerent during most American armed conflicts.  If one looks at who was running the U.S. when we have sent our soldiers into battle, this clearly proves wrong, viz:

First World War -- Woodrow Wilson (D)
Second World War -- Franklin D. Roosevelt (D)
Korean War -- Harry S. Truman (D)
Vietnam War -- John F. Kennedy (D)
Vietnam War Escalation -- Lyndon B. Johnson (D)
Bosnian War -- William J. Clinton (D)
Kosovo (Monica's) War -- William J. Clinton (D)
Kuwait War -- George H.W. Bush (R)
Afghanistan War -- George W. Bush (R)
Iraq War -- George W. Bush (R)
Afghanistan War Escalation -- Barack H. Obama (D)
Libyan Incursion -- Barack H. Obama (D)

Even the Spanish American War, although started under William McKinley (R), was really instigated by the Democrat congress at the time (see Spanish-American War.)  So, we see, popular myths are often just that.

Afterthought:  I (conveniently) forgot about Ronald Reagan's (R) incursions into Granada and Panama.

So SEIU Me

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