Headlines

Trump — not Biden — is being underestimated going into the debate

Coronavirus live updates: New infections rise in more U.S. states, meatpackers deny employees compensation for virus

More voters plan on watching first debate — but few think it’ll change their mind

Project Veritas busts alleged ballot harvesting by Ilhan Omar allies

Kentucky AG agrees to release grand jury tapes in Breonna Taylor case

New York bankruptcies reportedly surge 40% during pandemic

Biden’s Texas political director implicated in ballot harvesting scheme

PA Republicans ask Supreme Court to halt mail voting extension

Poll: Biden up 9 points in Pennsylvania

Biden campaign slams FaceBook for ‘regression’ in its efforts to safeguard the election

President Trump receives third Nobel Peace Prize nomination

Consumer confidence explodes higher


STAND UP FOR AMERICA!

Headlines

‘Seismic change’: Democrat holdouts rush toward impeachment

There’s a theory that retiring boomers cashing out will cause a ‘dark period’ for the stock market

Biden calls for Trump impeachment ...

Elizabeth Warren surges in Democrat primary

Boris Johnson says he will not quit if parliament suspension ruled illegal

‘Billionaires should not exist’: Sanders tries to outdo Warren with tougher wealth tax

Commerce Secretary Wilber Ross falls asleep during Trump’s UN speech

Romney says Trump asking Ukraine to investigate Biden troubling

Trump claims Nobel Peace Prize is rigged against him

Most of the ultra-wealthy see a recession next year and are hunkering down

British Supreme  Court rules Boris Johnson’s Parliament suspension illegal

Consumer confidence fell by more than expected in September

What if?

What if Donald Trump won in November? The Hollywood Reporter's Michael Wolf drew a very sharp and interesting contrast on Morning Joe this AM between the backers of Clinton versus Trump ... their iconic standard bearers being respectively Lena Dunham versus the Duck Dynasty. This election is basically a contest between the inside versus the outside ... the two coasts versus fly-over country ... the transgenderites versus the Tea Party ... the globalists versus the nationalists ... hyphenated America versus Wheel of Fortune America. These two sides of this nation's cultural coin do not understand each other nor do they like each other. Actually this is not quite true. The outsiders have been living in the insiders' world for a good 25 years and they understand this milieu quite well. The opposite is not true. And, interestingly enough, the outsiders, I believe, are the vast majority of Americans. But the insiders have controlled things because of the historic apathy of the outsiders and through bias in the media, higher education and the entertainment industry.

Basically Donald Trump has based his campaign on appealing to the outsiders almost exclusively. When he eschews the insiders, like he did this past weekend, they go nuts. Insider (Mark Cuban) after insider (Meg Whitman) jumped ship and denounced Trump to the delight of the Clinton campaign and Barbara Streisand (just about the ultimate insider.) So Trump is telling those insider Republicans to pound sand ... he doesn't need them. Wow! That is a pretty gutsy move! This means that Trump believes that he can win without the cavalry ... the Republican establishment. Now most Democrats are gleefully predicting that this is suicidal ... as are many Republicans (not so gleefully). But Trump is undaunted ... and, since he has been ahead in the polls before, I think he believes that he can come back and take the prize.

Now back to my question ... what if he does win? Maybe a 40-60 shot. Obviously the insiders would be apoplectic. They would see their power eroding and their gravy train being derailed ... see: The Voice of the People. Trump may even slake some vengeance on some of his more vocal opponents. The Republican insiders in Congress would likely fight him at every turn ... depending on the size of his victory ... small margin, with vociferousness ... large margin, behind the scenes. But, being opportunists, I can imagine some Sander's Democrats actually supporting some of his populist agenda. Most of the media, of course, would slander him at every turn until, that is  until they went belly up. The business community ... at least the large business community ... would work at cross purposes with him. I suspect the small and medium businesses might actually support him. But, after his first conservative supreme court appointment, things might begin to calm down on the right.

I truly hope that most of the bleeding because of the Obummer agenda would be stopped. If Trump was able to surround himself with enough open-minded insiders who knew how to grease the wheels of government, then he might accomplish some real improvements to the tax system, immigration, regulations, entitlements, our military preparedness, etc. But he also might reveal his natural liberal sympathies and not do everything that his electors expect of him. For instance, in reforming Obamacare, he might well move us closer to a single-payer system. And I am sure he would do other things to piss off his voters. Internationally, other world leaders would not know how to deal with him ... so they would likely be gun shy. Relations with Russia, Egypt, Israel, Great Britain and Poland would warm. They would cool with China, Iran, France and North Korea. And I don't think he would win the Nobel Peace prize.

My biggest fear would be for his safety. Wannabe terrorist on the left and those of the Muslim faith would pose a real danger to Trump. Even famous names in entertainment might be incensed enough to try something foolish. I would hope that this threat could be neutralized ... but then who really knows?

World Opinion

In my blog post, The Morning After, I mentioned how world leaders (and the U.S. national media) are dismayed at the growing possibility of a Donald Trump presidency. The world is perplexed and perturbed ... not appreciating how the American people might elect such a clown and a con-man to lead the free world in this time of growing crisis. However, it could be argued that the decisions these very same international pundits had made were, in fact, mainly causative of this same world-wide crisis.

To draw an important contrast ... wasn't it the naive opinions of these same world leaders eight years ago ... surmising that America's current president would be the solution to all our problems ... even to the point of giving him premature kudos and a Nobel Peace Prize? These international poobahs might be right this time in exhibiting such dyspepsia ... but experience suggests not.

The Audacity of Hope

                  "Hope is not a strategy" -- Rudy Giuliani

Except for his father abandoning his mother when he was but an infant, Barack Obummer has seldom experienced serious disappointment. In many ways he has led a charmed life ... getting into the best schools despite questionable aptitude, becoming the Law Review editor at Harvard without the usual credentials, getting a mediocre book published to rave reviews, never suffering any consequences for his extensive drug use, easily being escorted into his series of political offices, winning a Grammy, Time's Person of the Year, the Nobel Peace prize ... and beating the former First Lady to win the highest political office in the land ... on and on.

Why would this man-child not believe that he has the Midas Touch? And so he, unfortunately, has come to believe that he can do no wrong ... despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Apparently none of this evidence makes it through his phalanx of toadies and his halo of self-righteousness to shake his confidence in his own infallibility. Self confidence is obviously a requisite for holding such a position as the presidency ... but when this audacity blocks out the searing sun of continued failure, it can bring eventual havoc upon this office and its constituency  ... even if its holder never has to atone for or even recognize his failures.

It is long past the time that Obummer needs to do a serious reappraisal of his audacity of hope. He obviously has yet to learn that mere hope and audacity are not enough to succeed long term.

Foxy

Fox News did our nation an important service last night when it aired an exclusive interview by its anchor, Bret Baier, with Egypt's president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (see: Fox News Story), in which the Egyptian leader said many things that American citizens should find encouraging:

1) He called for an "Arab-ready" force to battle the Islamic State (ISIS),

2) He asked Muslims around the world to stand up to the more radical elements of Islam in a religious revolution. (I have called it a reformation ... see: A Modern Crusade.)

3) He hinted that the United States may not be on Egypt's side in that it had suspended arms shipments to his country after the coup that ousted that Muslim Brotherhood dictator, Mohammed Morsi ... and still is holding back on critical needed materials.

4) When asked how his Arab allies view America's (read Obama's) leadership in the region, he responded, "Difficult question."

This interview was continually (and strangely) interrupted by transmission difficulties and didn't touch on other issues that would have been revealing ... such as Egypt's offer to the Palestinian Authority to extend the Gaza Strip lands with a huge chunk of the Sinai peninsula ... see: The Impossible Dream.

Clearly the Obama administration is still on the outs with Egypt over el-Sisi's removal of the Muslim Brotherhood from its government, but, in doing so, it is failing to recognize one of the real hopes to counter radical Islam encroachments around the world.

If el-Sisi continues on his current tack, I am convinced that history will treat him with more kindness than Obama. George Will has even gone so far to suggest that el-Sisi should win the Nobel Peace Prize. I concur.

Our Hero

Starry-eyed and fuzzy-brained leftists have extolled Edward Snowden’s patriotism in his leaking of information about the extent of the NSA surveillance program.  What they have conveniently ignored is that snow-job Snowden compromised enormous amounts of non-NSA secrets that has sent U.S. intelligence agencies into a deep funk … and given Russia and China a huge leg-up in international hegemony. 

Yesterday the House Armed Services Committee was given a briefing about the length and breadth of Snowden's perfidy … and they were shocked and angered as a result … see: PJ Media Piece. These Representatives would and could not give the specifics of what they learned in this briefing, but it was clearly devastating.

 I have in the past written about the fallacy of not understanding that Snowden could be both a hero and a traitor at the same time … see: Excluded Middle Commentary.  So to establish a modicum of justice in this international kerfuffle, may I make the following suggestion?  Right after Snowden receives his Nobel Peace Prize (a good bet), I suggest that he be led, to the beat of a muffled drummer, to a thick brick wall to receive his reward from the U.S. security agencies … about one pound of hot lead into his being … possibly with all his third-column accomplices being forced in shackles to witness same.

Peace

The U.S. has been voted by far the biggest threat to peace in a worldwide Gallup poll … see: RT Storry.  On a related note from Hawaii, a chagrined Barack Obama has decided to return his Nobel Peace Prize medal to Oslo … when he and his extended family next enjoy a leisurely vacation in Scandinavia.  The prize money he has decided to keep.

The Iranian Al Gore

Kazem Sedighi

A powerful and influential Iranian cleric, Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi, has blamed the frequent earthquakes in his country on the lose morals of women … and, if you are skeptical of this connection, please see The Conversation. The Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, apparently agrees.  This logic seems to revolve around a gigantic “earthquake machine” (apparently not built by Halliburton) which is stimulated by immodest female dress and adultery.

This all seems quite sensible to me … in that, if there is a deleterious effect of nature (real or imagined) and there is a societal dislocation that is constantly plaguing one’s psyche … then they must be causally connected.  And, to prove such a connection, one need only construct a seductive rant that a naive public will swallow (a PowerPoint presentation and a slick documentary movie using polar bears and penguins also helps).  This is a proven recipe for powerful political influence and substantial monetary gain.

I fully expect Kazem Sedighi to win next year’s Nobel Peace Prize (or at least the Physics Prize).

Jimmy Carter Strikes Again ...

"Camp David made us slaves ..."  (See: Jerusalem Post). Perhaps Jimmy Carter should give back the Nobel Peace Prize medal and prize money?  (As should a host of other charlatan recipients to whom Oslo has bowed down ... including ElBaradei.)  And, as is his wont, Carter also had to stick his nose into things once again. (See: nebnose Jimmy).  You would think that Carter would remember that it was the Muslim Brotherhood who assassinated his buddy, Anwar Sadat?  And Muhammad Atta, the leader of the 9/11 attacks, was also a member of the Muslim Bratherhood ... until he went off to meet his 72 virgins.

Nobly Nobel

In the proud tradition of Jimmy Carter, Mohamed El-Baradei, Al Gore, Kofi Annan, and Yasser Arafat. For more names and irrationales see: Powerline's Take