Eclat

I said something at the dinner table last night that I think needs to be turned into a blog post. After watching Obummer's interview with Steve Kroft wherein he broke both arms patting himself on the back, I said that he was "blinded by his own eclat." Here are  few of his eclat moments:

"I became a lightning rod for some partisan battles. I could not be prouder of the track record we’ve put together. By almost every measure, the country is significantly better off than when I came in. If you can look back and say, “The economy’s better. Our security’s better. The environment’s better. Our kids’ education is better,”

"You know, I changed those things that were in direct-- my direct control. I mean, I-- look, I’m proud of the fact that, with two weeks to go, we’re probably the first administration in modern history that hasn’t had a major scandal in the White House. 

"Part of the job description is also shaping public opinion. And we were very effective, and I was very effective, in shaping public opinion around my campaigns." 

"In the first two years, when I had a strong majority in the House and the Senate, we were as productive as any administration has been since the ‘60s. I mean, we got a lot done." 

" Yeah, look, if you’re putting all the weight on that particular phrase [red line], then in terms of how it was interpreted in Washington, I think you make a legitimate point. I’ve got to tell you, though, I don’t regret at all saying that if I saw Bashar al-Assad using chemical weapons on his people that that would change my assessments in terms of what we were or were not willing to do in Syria."

"[Next] I’m going to try to get some sleep. And do a little puttering. Because I haven’t had a lot of chance to reflect and absorb all this. I do not expect to be behind a desk a lot. I look forward to teaching the occasional class, ‘cause I was a professor. And I had fun doing it."

"I am looking forward to getting out of the bubble. I am glad that I’m leaving this place at a relatively young age, at 55. So I have the opportunity for a second maybe even a third act in a way that I think would be tougher if I were, you know, the age of some presidents when they left. "

If you want to read the whole 60 minutes interview, go to CBS Recap. Wear your sunglasses ...

Change

The United States has had only one glancing blow from a hurricane in the last eleven years ... and now we learn that the number of tornadoes are also down here for the fifth year in a row ... see: Climate Depot Story. Yikes! This can't be! Climate change is supposed to be bad! It is a goblin that is forcing us to hide under our beds in trembling trepidation of extremes of all sorts that will kill polar bears and traumatize snail darters. But we are now learning that some of this naturally-occurring change can be good. This is bad! It has to be bad to be good! Legions of fake scientists buy their timeshares in Hawaii or their new Porsche 911s by ringing the alarm bells every government-grant cycle about the next climate catastrophe that is about to occur. If we don't have more catastrophes how will they survive?

Isn't it ironic that President Obummer who rode in office eight years ago under the banner of "change" could then spend billions of taxpayer dollars fighting the bugbear "climate change" ... which anyone with a room temperature IQ realizes is what Mother Nature has been doing for eons ... all to keep us on our toes. Yet, without even trying, Obummer was in office when this good climate change happened. He must be Devine.

If you are compelled to read more about what Obummer changed and didn't change during his plutocratic romp at the White House, read Peter Baker's thoughts on the subject in the New York Times  Opinion Piece. He gets it about half right.

Bigoted Anti-bigots

Many streets across America are awash with Soros-funded protesters writhing in agony over the Trump election, Their hysterical histrionics often border on the comical as they denounce our president-elect for the litany of his PC sins ... often devoid of rhyme or reason. One champion of these ragtag groups of savages is the original poseur ... Elizabeth Warren who is on her own private warpath with Trump ... see: CNBC Story.

As he often does, Trump cannot ignore these fulminating discontents as he tweeted that they are protesting the fair results of our democratic process. In truth, as they protest their fancied bigotry of Trump, they are displaying their own dangerous form of bigotry ... for which the only cure seems to be some serious reflection on the meaning of full and fair elections. Anarchists are sustained on raw emotion posing as logic and need some reeducation of what reality brings.

Even that liberal overtalker, Chris Matthews, has noted the futility of these unwashed thugs ... see: Real Clear Politics Commentary. These hooligans need to realize that the nation has spoken and "they lost."

Even President Obummer is trying to put a shine on a sneaker as he sees his legacy spiraling down the drain ... see: The Hill Article. This man-child governed for eight years against the will of the people and now sees the results of his "change" about to be changed. But he will still have one legacy likely to survive the Trump steamroller -- Cuban cigars.

See also: The Diplomad's Comments.

Juggling Numbers

Is anyone surprised that our government has just announced ... 11 days before the elections ... that our economy grew much more vigorously ... at 2.9% in the third calender quarter of this year? This compares to roughly 1% growth in the first two quarters. This can easily be seen to be a cynical attempt to help Hellary in her bid for the presidency ... and to buff up Obummer's legacy. But I am again suspicious. Can not the federal number crunchers in Washington have stolen a smidgen of economic growth from each of the first two quarters of this year and dropped it into this quarter?

We are pretty sure that Obummer's Labor Department had previously juggled employment numbers for political purposes in 2012 right before his re-election ... so why not do it again ... but this time with the big Lubowski ... our whole economy?

On the breaking news that the FBI is reopening its investigation into the Hellary e-mail scandal, I suggest that Trump supporters not get too ahead of this story. The Clinton crime family is notoriously nefarious and I would not be surprised if other revelations come forth over the weekend that take two or three more turns in this affair. I am suspicious that there might be dramatic counter measures taken by the Clintonistas. The bacon might be in the fire ... but it is yet to be totally consumed by flame.

Crazy Toxic Stuff

From his bully pulpit, President Obummer is once again attacking the right-wing media for poisoning the minds of Americans by "pumping out crazy toxic stuff." Apparently it is not enough for the libs in this country to have most of the mainstream media in their corner ... CBS, NBC, ABC, PBS, NPR, BBC, CNN, MSNBC, the Washington Post, the New York Times, USA Today, Time magazine, the Atlantic Constitution, the Chicago Tribune, the LA Times and (increasingly) Fox News, etc., etc.

What is the toxic right-wing media? Some talk radio such as Michael Savage, Rush Limbaugh, Howie Carr, etc. and a few Internet blogs/news sites, such as the Drudge Report, Powerline, Breitbart, Michelle Malkin, Fletcher's Castoria, etc. And even these new media outlets are being manipulated and surpressed by virtually all the social media sites ... which are now clearly lining up on the left.

Are we Americans still allowed to pick and choose how we get our news and opinion? It would seem that, if Obummer has his way, the answer is "no". Those perceptive writers of our Constitution anticipated demagogues such as our current president and gave us the First Amendment guaranteeing freedom of the press ... now expanded to all our media outlets. But this freedom seems too much for our current political leadership. And, if you peruse the many comments on this blog, this poison supposedly is corrupting my thought processes to the point where I am requested to use only thought-police-approved sources.

I don't recall ever castigating any commentaters on this blog for how they get their news or opinion ... so why should I be so conscripted? All too often the arguments I make here are refuted by Trump-style pejorative comments, not reasoned logic ... something one should not expect from ACLU card carriers. So I would dearly appreciate it if our president and his acolytes stop calling me and mine names or asking us to limit our reading only to lefty-endorsed outlets. Refute us with your burning reasoning ... not that of Obummer-approved spin-meisters. This is dangerous rhetoric coming from our POTUS.

Fire Hose Spending

President Obummer is leaving office the way that he came in... with crushing increases in our federal debt ... see: CNS News Article and above chart. Our national debt increased in just-ended fiscal 2016 by $1.42 trillion, compared to his first year in office, 2009, when our debt increased by $1.89 trillion ... driven mostly by an over $800 billion stimulus package. However, this current $1.42 trillion debt increase compares to a projected deficit for fiscal 2016 of $590 billion. Should not these two numbers be the same? Very perplexing ... especially since we are living a public relations lie that it is the size of our national deficits that count toward our fiscal prudence ... when it is really the growth in our national debt that counts most in judging our degree of peril.

Moreover, the difference is that in 2009 there was a rationale for all this fire-hose spending ... to help pull the United States out of the great recession caused by the housing bubble bursting. Now this country, theoretically is not in extremis, so why is our debt growing almost as rapidly ... and why is there such a disconnect between our deficits and the change in our national debt? I have found one brave soul who has tried to rationalize this difference ... see: Wolf Street Article. The possible explanations given therein ... from hidden defense spending to the Social Security surplus ... cannot account for this huge 2016 disparity of $830 billion between our current deficit and our increase in our indebtedness. This article concludes with no real explanation.

However. I think I might have the answer ... and that, like most roads to fiscal hell, is fuzzy accounting. By this I mean that our federal government has not established hard and fast rules in how to apply cash versus accrual accounting methods ... see: The Hill Article. So, as a result, different government agencies use whatever method is most advantageous to their spending desires. They can and often do spend cash on things (both needed and unneeded) and don't enter it in the books as an accrued expense until subsequent fiscal years ... or, less often, do the opposite. This is how our government could increase our debt by $340 billion in one single day last fall. It had accrued expenses until Congress passed the debt ceiling increase ... and then booked all this as cash out of pocket on the debt ledger. And, since these accrued expenses were not required to be shown under existing deficit cash accounting methods, they were hidden from Congress and the American public.

This is an insane way to run a government ... particularly one that can't seem to shut off the fire-hose spending hydrant.

Afterward: I realize I didn't address the second part of my query ... how come the $830 billion 2016 fiscal year disparity between our reported deficit and the increase in our debt? Perhaps the $150-$200 billion we gave to Iran may be part of this delta?

Bunch of Hicks

His actions belie the folksy manner of his continued prevarications. He is avuncular and disarmingly believable when he looks through the TV screen and lowdown lies to us gullible Americans. Somehow we keep forgetting these subterfuges because he seems so convincing. Now, we learn of another whopper ... he has sworn, like he has on many occasions when backed into an embarrassing corner, that he had learned about Hellary's illegal e-mail server in the media.

Well, ladies and gents, I hate to disappoint you once again, but, yes, President Obummer has again misremembered things. It seems that not only did he know what e-mail malfeasance she was about, but he was also sending and receiving messages to crooked Hellary's server ... UNDER A PSEUDONYM ... see: Politico Story. Unfortunately I can't say I am surprised. He, like Hellary mixes fiction among fact with aplomb ... like the peanuts in a Cracker Jack box. This evil man is cloaked in respectable sartorial splendor and presents himself so well in speech and manner that he still enjoys the respect of 58% of we Americans.

Boy! are we one stupid bunch of hicks ...

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.

Dissing Us

President  Obummer's reception in China at the current G20 summit was, to say the most, shockingly disrespectful. To me, a possible reason for these almost unprecedented diplomatic slights is simple ...  at the top of our president's agenda is his denigrating ... through word and deed ... of the country he represents ... or, to put a shine on his lassitude, "leading from behind." For a deeper analysis of these shameful Chinese reception incidents, see: Powerline Blog.

And we're not just being dissed by China ... Russia, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, and North Korea openly spit on us at every opportunity. And even many of our former allies, the Philippines, Israel, Brazil, Egypt, and Turkey are crossing the street to avoid tipping their hats to our president ... and thus to the United States.

Why have we become such pariahs to such a wide swath of the world? And all in just eight short years! I've got it! It must be that all these world leaders are, at heart, racists!

The Fox is in the Henhouse

This cannot stand!

 President Obummer has continually stretched the powers of his office ... ignoring the Constitution and running roughshod over a wimpy Congress. We, who have believed that this man is a despot at heart ... and feared what he might do as his last term in office was expiring, have now had our worst fears realized. It appears that our tin-horn president is setting things up to cross the line into complete centralized control of our elections. Using the excuse that two states' voting-commission computers may have been recently hacked ... Obummer's Director of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, is suggesting that his department assume control of the upcoming presidential election process ... as this election is a "critical [national] infrastructure" ... see: Washington Examiner Story or The NY Times Article.

I suppose, if this were a different administration, that such a move might be tolerated. But, to me, Jeh Johnson is the consigliere of that criminal mob that currently runs our government. His department, after all, has been at the forefront of not enforcing our immigration laws and he himself has been called out for lying to Congress ... in a rare show of backbone there ... see: Conservative Review Article. This suggested takeover is clearly meant as an insurance policy in case Hellary Clinton does not legitimately prevail at the polls. Then, any number of electronic shenanigans could be invoked to make the results comply with the administration's wishes.

This cannot stand!

Hell Year -- Month 8

In another bonehead move, Obummer is continuing his petulant final-year hazing of the American people by permitting the turning-over of control of the Internet to another assembly of boneheads, the United Nations ... see: Wall Street Journal Article.

He is also still obsessed in his backdoor attempt to permit more terrorism by releasing more Gitmo prisoners into places where many will surely rejoin their band of Muslim extremists ... killing more innocents ... see: Fox News Story.

He either is a total crazed ideologue ... or he really does hate us.

Gender Bending

In a very interesting article, Jennifer Jones in the Washington Post has analyzed Hellary Clinton's speaking patterns over the years and found that she is talking more "masculine" with each passing year ... less "I" and "me" more "we" ... less soft emotion and feelings ... more hard feelings. Read this ... it is somewhat complicated, but take the time ... it is worth it ... see: Washington Post Article.

The thing that struck me in reading Ms. Jones' analysis is that those speaking patters, that she deems to be feminine, are the very patterns (e.g., extensive use of first person singular personal pronouns) that we hear from our current president. Perhaps this is why both he and Hellary are such fans of trannsgenderism?

I'm Smiling

A few days ago I wrote that President Obummer had a case of senioritis because he could not leave his Martha's Vineyard vacation to show the flag in flood-ravaged Louisiana ... see: No Fly Zone. So Donald Trump stepped into the void and, with his running mate, Mike Pence, is there today exhibiting his concern and acting presidential ... showing how he might behave if he were to win in November ... see: NOLA Article. And even Hellary outdid her former boss ... at least she (or Huma) picked up her smart phone and called the Democrat governor of Louisiana, John Bel Edwards, to show whatever concern she could muster. The optics of this contrast has the Democrats tied in knots. Governor Bel Edwards has covered for Obummer ... saying that things would not be helped if the president came there (same that was told to George W. Bush in 2005) ... and added that Trump was grandstanding with his visit.

The sweet, sweet irony of this story has me smiling ... at least until the national media either ignores this story or regurgitates the DNC talking points on tonight's TV news ... making Trump and Pence look like political hacks ... and somehow spinning Obummer's lassitude into caring competence.

This just in: Obummer will visit Baton Rouge this coming Tuesday ... after his vacation is over four days from now. I strongly suspect the nightly news will cover this visit with great drama.

Reality

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." -- Albert Einstein

Kafka is alive and well. He has hacked into the program in that super-mega-giga-computer that Elon Musk believes is running the software simulation hundreds of years from now that has created our current reality. To me, it seems like the world is loosing it balance ... or perhaps it is just a bunch of 22nd century programmers having some fun with our lives? Not only has our current  political process gotten bizarre, but every day events seem to present themselves as head-scratchers. In particular, here are two news items that seem to be three-sigma events.

The black Milwaukee police officer, who shot and killed a black armed thug, turns out to be a part-time rapper and classmate of the very man he shot. Except for the police uniform this would be a forgettable commonplace event in this Blatz-beer  city ... see: Powerline Blog Posting. So effectively blue pants, a blue shirt and a badge have just caused extensive rioting, arson and looting in Milwaukee ... Strange!

For another real dose of reality, the Obummer administration fessed up today ... under the cover of the Olympic's swimmers' scandal ... that it really did pay $400 million as a quid pro quo for the release of four American prisoners ... ransom that is ... see: NY Post Story. This is after many months of adamantly denying same ... including President Obummer. I guess we are all so used to these scum bags lying that they are not even shamed by this revelation ... How very sad!

Law of the Jungle

Sheriff David Clark

Straight-talking Milwaukee Sheriff David Clark has used the above phrase to describe the rioting, arson and looting (by mostly young black men) that has been taking place there as result of the shooting and killing of a young armed black thug by a black policeman ... see: Reuters Story? He started this observation by saying that under these circumstances "tribal behavior" takes over and this replaces law and order. Gasp! Are these racist comments? Can a black man criticize black rioters this way? One can be reasonably assured that lots of opprobrium will soon be thrown at this sheriff ...  which will then be echoed many times throughout the liberal media.

These rioters were misbehaving as outlined above as well as throwing rocks and bricks at the responding police and fire-persons, injuring some ... and also attacking random innocent white folks. This kind of wilding behavior can easily be characterized as Sheriff Clark did ... not that it will embarrass any of them. These rioters listen to a different drumbeat which drowns out any thought of civilized behavior.

By the bye, President Obummer has not, as of this posting, issued any statement calling for calm in Milwaukee. He hasn't even given it a "tsk, tsk." I guess he must be suffering a severe case of senioritis.

No Fly Zone

Louisiana is now experiencing historic record flooding ... not this time from the likes of Hurricane Katrina, but rather because of just plain torrential rains which have flooded many of the same upstate  areas where George Bush's perfidy caused wide devastation back in 2005 ... see: Weather News. Although the death toll between the two events is not comparable, certainly the damage to personal property may soon be nearing parity.

President Obummer, having learned from history, has decided not to fly over these devastated flooded zones to look down in sympathy. Rather, he has opted to play another few rounds of golf on Martha's Vineyard.

Smell Test

Prior to leaving on his last summer vacation to Martha's Vineyard, President Obummer held a press conference in which he handled reporters' questions ... some of which focused on America's $400 million cash payment to Iran on the same day this past January in which four American hostages were flown out of Iran. He patiently explained that this was not ransom ... but the reason we gave Iran pallets full of hard foreign currency (rather than dollars) was that the United States had no banking relations with Iran ... see: NTK Video.

Since the White House reporters have no desire to follow up on such presidential obfuscation (taqiyya?), I would like to have  asked the following question, "Mr. President, we must have wire transfer banking relationships with other countries which have wire transfer relationship with Iran. Could we not have transferred this money by wire through one of these countries?"

Also, it has also been disclosed on Fox Business channel on Thursday by one of these four hostages that they were delayed in a plane on a runway in Tehran for over two hours until, as he was told, such time as "another plane landed." Was this other plane the one with the cash? Most likely it was ... which surely suggest that this was a tribute payment.

Furthermore, I would have asked another question, "Mr. President, was this payment the equivalent of $400 million or $1.7 billion?" It seems that there is some purposeful confusion about the actual amount of this ransom ... and pallets full of cash suggests to me that it was more money than $400 million.

It would have been nice to know the real facts in this matter and not get the typical administration runaround ... that doesn't pass the smell test.

Afterward: See also: Powerline Blog.

Being Briefed

"There has been a shooting at a large shopping mall in Munich, Germany ... and now more shots have apparently be heard in the city center and the train station has been evacuated. There are unconfirmed reports that at least six persons are dead. It is thought there are as many as three shooters. People in Munich have been advised to shelter in place. President Obummer is at the White House and is being briefed on the situation."

Thank God! The president is being briefed ... therefore everything is under control! Pretty soon we will hear that Obummer's "thoughts and prayers are going out to the German people" ... and that the president has been in contact with the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, and has offered to provide her any assistance that she needs to deal with this incident. Even though the motivation of these shooters is currently unknown. Ms. Merkel is expected to state that this mayhem and the other axe-wielding attack on a nearby train a few days ago have nothing to do with the hundreds of thousands of Muslim refugees that Merkel had welcomed into Germany earlier this year and last.

It is also quite predictable that both Obummer and Merkel are prepared to blame this current atrocity on scary looking weapons of war. This will certainly be the focus and locus of their recriminations.

Yet Another Double Standard

The Hatch Act expressly forbids federal employees from endorsing candidates for elective office. It seems that HUD Secretary Julian Castro violated this stricture when he endorsed Hellary Clinton for president. (Is this a surprise since he is being mentioned as a possible VP choice?!) See: My San Antonio Newspaper Story.

The question I have is this: If it is illegal for the HUD Secretary to engage in such politicking, why is it also not illegal for our president to fly to North Carolina with Hellary on Air Force One to do exactly the same thing? See: CBS News Story.

Double standards are for little people ...

Baton Rouge Sang Froid

 Latest News: Seven police officers have been shot in cold blood in Baton Rouge, LA ... three are dead.

President Obummer is urging that more people learn to speak a foreign language.

Update: One shooter dead ... two suspects sought ... Obummer suggests French.