Today’s Poser

Could our far Left (ANTIFA, Black Lives Matter, the Tribe, Gov. Inslee, Mayor Frey, etc.) have a hidden agenda ... to discourage immigration by turning America into just another third-world hell hole?

Headlines

The following headlines have all been found on Internet news sites. Guess which ones came from Politico?

Trump spikes the ball after Georgia election win

Graduate students have some ideas on who may have killed Seth Rich

SKorea says crashed NKorea drone 'grave provocatation'

Next up: Special Counsel to probe Team Obama obstruction

Poll: Opposition to GOP health bill is on the rise

Eric Holder considering 2020 presidential run

Here's why the President of Ukraine just compares Trump to Ronald Reagan

Democrats block witnesses from testifying in House Trump-Russia probe

Shock poll: Muslim ban gains popularity

Senate bipartisan Russia sanction bill delayed in House

NYT columnist calls it 'striking how little evidence' there is for Trump, Russia collusion

Paglia blames Dems for destroying journalism ... going to take decades to recover ...

Throwing the Dice

I hate to be so slavishly supportive of anyone's political opinions, but I need to reference once again The Diplomad and the logic behind his choice to vote for Donald Trump ... see: Why I Will Vote for Trump. Please read his blog post and all the comments that swing back and forth between support and skepticism. His audience is generally quite well informed and eruditely expressive.

Basically, W. Lewis Amselem (The Diplomad) states that he recognizes that Trump is not the perfect candidate and there are reasonable doubts about the degree to which Trump might follow through on his rhetoric. I also understand that voting for Trump amounts to a throwing of the dice ... but no matter what the probabilities are in this gamble, they are still better than the result we would get from Hellery ... particularly since her campaign promises are so onerous.

In many ways I see a similarity between this upcoming election and Ronald Reagan's in 1980. Back then I held my nose and voted for his opponent, Jimmy Carter, using the rationale of "how can a B-grade movie actor make a good president?" I was wrong and plan not to be so naive this time around.

Anyone who has been reading this blog knows that I have had plenty of problems with Trump's performances ... but generally not his policies and priorities. I realize that, if Trump wins in November, he, like Andrew Jackson, will bring a certain coarseness to the White House. And I also would expect that he will not follow the Tea Party line with many of his decisions. (I particularly worry about his Supreme Court choices.) But I think that this is the unfortunate price that must be paid to get our nation back on the tracks and moving forward after 7 1/2 years of spiteful governance.

No matter how poorly Obummer has ministered to our nation since 2009, I am certain that Hellery would put a Clinton Foundation stake through our heart. And the fact that the Europeans are in her corner is enough evidence for me that she would be a disaster.

So, in November I too will cross my fingers, spit three times and pull a lukewarm lever for Trump.

Afterward: Insofar as Trump bringing a certain coarseness to the presidency, it seems that, since two out of our last three presidents were basically low-lifes, the American people have gotten somewhat used to such poor behavior.

Frustration

I understand Brent Bozell's frustration at Donald Trump's being the presumptive nominee of the Republican party ... see: his Open Letter to Conservatives. But desperate times require desperate measures and it appears that most of blue-collar America doesn't agree with Bozell's assessment of the situation. Yes, Trump is too often wrong on style but right on substance and this has turned many voters off (like my wife). Even I have spent a considerable amount of this blog space criticizing Trump's vulgarities. But now, resolving myself to his eventual nomination, I am forced to concentrate on his approach to the real issues of our time.

If Trump were to be elected ...  which I now consider highly likely ... how would he govern? I believe that he would go a long way toward solving our economic malaise through tax and regulation reform. (He is even against the carried interest tax loophole enjoyed by the hedge-fund nabobs,) I also believe he would find ways to fix our immigration and international trade problems ... in a tough but rational way. And I expect that our fiscal debt goblin would be put back in the closet through spending cuts and economic growth. Yet he would still rebuild our defense capabilities and put apprehension back in the minds of many the bad actors in the world.

But how would Trump handle the social issues that conservatives, like Bozell, are so focused on? Here I am not so sanguine. I expect that he will disappoint many righties in how he reforms Obamacare and Common Core ... and his Supreme Court picks may not be the best. (Wouldn't it be great if he used Ted Cruz as an adviser in this process?) And his approach to solving entitlement  reform could well be too tempered by the brickbats being tossed at him by the liberal media.

And the Trump administration probably will have its share of faux and real scandals ... just because his management style has often allowed the fringes of society to have a chair at the table. And he will come out of the White House a lot wealthier than he was when he went in.

Will Trump be another Ronald Reagan? No, but he may be a modern-day Andrew Jackson, also a rough and tumble politician ... and put Old Hickory's picture back on the double sawbuck in the process. And the best part? Lena Dunham, Rosie O'Donnell, Michael Moore, and lots of other goofy glitterati will soon be living north of the 49th parallel.

Campaign Slogans

William McKinley -- A Full Dinner Pail

Franklin Roosevelt -- A New Deal

Harry Truman -- A Fair Deal

Dwight Eisenhower -- I Like Ike

Jimmy Carter -- Not Just Peanuts

Ronald Reagan -- Morning in America

Bill Clinton -- Don't Stop Thinking about Tomorrow

George W. Bush -- A Compassionate Conservative

Barack Obummer -- Hope and Change

Donald Trump -- Make America Great Again

Hellery Clinton -- I Have a Vagina

The Morning After

Donald Trump seems well on his way to winning the Republican nomination for president. If he can carry Ohio or Florida or both this coming Tuesday, it may well be a fait accompli. Yes, he supposedly is behind Hellery in the one-on-one presidential polling, but there are a number of feasibilities that might upset these predictions ... Hellery might be indicted ... it is certainly possible that Bernie Sander's supporters might stay home in the general election to protest his unfair loss of the nomination ... clearly Trump is garnering many of the Reagan Democrat votes in his primary contests ... and Trump, unlike Mitt Romney,  certainly is winning the enthusiasm game with many current Republicans.

So my conclusion unfortunately is that Donald Trump may well be our next president. Then what? I can envision a very difficult four years listening to someone whose personality grates on me almost as much as Obummer's. If the majority of Trump's current supporters wake up with an equivalent election hangover, then we might have a tough morning after. The degree of this disaffection will depend on Trump's governance. I do believe that he will start out on fire. The "beautiful" Mexican wall will be built. TPP will be renegotiated. A hold will be placed on Syrian immigration. Sanctions will be placed back on Iran (probably unilaterally).  Our military will start to be rebuilt.

But reality will also start to creep in. Trump's liberal core will start to show through his Tea Party patina. His Supreme Court pick will probably not thrill his conservative voters. He may have a very tough time with the old Republican guard in Congress reforming taxes, entitlements and regulations. Many countries around the world are already appalled with the possibility of a Trump presidency. I doubt if all the king's horses and all the king's men will be able to put this egg back together. And his abrasive personality will constantly incite the American media, so that they will take daily pot shots at him ... eventually making important reforms almost impossible.  ... as well as stirring up serious class and race warfare.

I do think Donald Trump, as President, has an outside shot at becoming a cheap copy of  Ronald Reagan. but I am not betting a lot of money on it. I'm already stocking up on ice packs and Alka Seltzer.

A Tale of Two Parties

The two party system in the United States is a sham. The Democrat party is no longer recognizable as the home of Sam Nunn, Herbert Humphrey, Barbara Jordan and JFK. This party, under the leadership of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid has successfully moved far left and is about to take this turn even wider. This party no longer wishes the United States to be the leader on the world stage (a stance once called isolationism) and has alienated many allies. It no longer wants a strong military ... witness our president's recent veto of the military appropriation legislation. It wants open borders with very loose enforcement of immigration laws. It is anti-capitalistic ... except for Mom and Pop capitalism ... according to Hillary Clinton in the recent Democrat presidential debate ... and crony capitalism ... according to our president. It favors single-payer health care. It desires European-style nanny-state Socialism with very high taxes funding an ever-growing welfare state. It tolerates repressive Communist governments in Cuba, Venezuela, and China. It has fully swallowed the myth of global warming as a way of expanding the reach of government. It embraces political mendacity ... now dismissed as "spin." It abets the Black Lives Matter movement ... clearly an anti law enforcement cabal.

The Republican Party, under the leadership of Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, is effectively Democrat-light ... a bunch of prancing eunuchs. It only offers token resistance to all the excesses of the galloping Left. It lives in dread of the slings and arrows of the main-stream media (clearly an arm of the Democrat party). It can only give lip service to resisting the tax and spend policies of our fifth-column politicians ... in fact often adding its own precious ornaments to frequent congressional Christmas-tree legislation. It is a party that has lost its way after Ronald Reagan showed it how powerful conservative policies could produce domestic economic growth and international hegemony. Somehow, these lessons were submerged by their own success. Now, some on the Right have realized this backsliding and are trying to restore the idealism that wrought these national benefits. However, the old-time Republican establishment is resisting such a revitalization ... and would prefer the comfort of the current status quo.

Enter Donald Trump who has sensed the frustration of the conservative class in this country and has the communication skills to convince many of them that he can champion the roll-back of the Democrats' excesses. Whether he can or not seems unimportant to his acolytes as they see the demise of our national identity and are willing to grasp any avenue out of  this perdition.

Stupid Assumptions

In order to get through the day, we make a plethora of assumptions ... some smart, some stupid. Here is my list of some of the more asinine ones (yes, Bill, another list):

- All Hollywood actors are smart
- Socialism/Communism insures equal outcomes
- All American blacks are descendants of slaves
- TV ads tell the truth
- The media is unbiased
- America is a male-dominated society
- All politicians are patriotic
- Man never walked on the moon
- All natural foods are healthier for you
- CO2 causes global warming
- The gay agenda is totally benign
- Marijuana does not alter one's judgement
- 9/11 was an inside job
- Capitalism is spawned out of greed
- Liberals are not prejudiced
- Ronald Reagan was a dunce
- Religions are always a force for good

Remember that when you assume, you are thinking I am going to say "You make an "ass" out of "u" and "me." But then again, I might not ...

Afterward: My wife who tends towards P.C.ness questioned my statement about the stupidity of assuming that the gay agenda is totally benign. May I offer two examples supporting this assertion? #1 The gay tendency toward flaunting public lewdness ... see: Gay Pride-Exposed (and follow the link.) The #2 example is the lesbian couple who have put an Oregon bakery out of business for not supplying them a wedding cake.... see: Fox News Story. It would seem this punishment is a little harsh for a principled religious stand. But this lesbian couple seems far from acting in a benign and forgiving manner. There are many other examples of such vindictiveness.

Rose-Colored Glasses

This blog, like most of the Internet commentary, has a decidedly negative flavor. Not so good ... ergo, I've decided to try, at least for this one post, to walk on the sunny side of the street. One of Ronald Reagan's strong points was that he was always looking at things through rose-colored glasses. And the genius of Barack Obama's first presidential campaign was it slogan, "Hope and Change." Accentuating the positive is almost always the better strategy. People like to feel good ... and therefore they like people who try to make them feel good.

So what is so positive in our lives in America today? We have a capitalism-driven growing economy ... the largest in the world. We have a plentiful supply of cheap labor to our south ... anxious to experience our American life. We have a premier higher-education system ... the envy of the world ... and one which keeps supplying us with gifted entrepreneurs. We have the geographic advantage of being isolated from most of the rest of the world by two large oceans  We have a very low inflation rate. We have a generally benign climate. We have a national park system that is the envy of the world. We have the world's best health-care professionals and technology. Despite continuing declines, we still have an enormous manufacturing capacity.

And we are currently not in a hot war draining our treasury and supply of young people. Most crime in this country is on the decline except in a few hot spots. We have a democratic-elected government and all the freedoms provided by our Bill of Rights. We are abundantly supplied with raw materials. We have a stable currency ... the basis of most world-wide commerce. We have the strongest military in the world. We have a very large middle class that supports our democracy and our way of life. We have an enormously efficient food-supply chain. We lead the world in most technological advances. We still carry a large surplus of prestige with most world governments.

Enough? Feeling better?

Yes, we also have problems ... but I leave these for later comment.

Ponzi Scheme

Charles Ponzi

Remember David Stockman? He was famous for coining the term "trickle-down economics" during Ronald Reagan's presidency ... when he was head of the Office of Management and the Budget (OMB) ... and was later chastised for being too outspoken on economic matters. Well he hasn't changed a whole lot ... and now he is again pointing out the dangers inherent in out current government's policy of incurring massive amounts of debt ... if you will, a government-sponsored Ponzi scheme. If you don't want to suffer a churning stomach and many sleepless nights, then don''t read ... David Stockman Speaks.

The really unfortunate part of this essay is that Stockman has no easy answers to all the issues he poses. My guess is that the only real possibility is that our government (meaning the Federal Reserve Bank) must eventually inflate our way out of this described morass. It never will be able to cut back on social welfare programs to the degree necessary to keep our ship of state afloat.

Bad Swaps

The Obama administration’s swapping of five vicious Taliban Gitmo prisoners for a possible Army deserter, Bowe Bergdahl, has evoked a series of bad-swap bromides.  I think it was Charles Krauthammer who suggested one … that this recent prisoner exchange was like trading a Rolls Royce for a Slinky. Greg Gutfeld said that it was like trading five hand grenades for a water pistol. These bon mots got me to thinking up some bad-swap similes on my own … such as:

-        Swapping Sir Lawrence Olivier for Adam Sandler

-        Swapping a wagyu steak for a Happy Meal

-        Swapping Pope John Paul II for Cardinal Law

-        Swapping Paris for Detroit

-        Swapping an orchid for poison ivy

-        Swapping a Boeing 787 for a box kite

-        Swapping Citation for Mr. Ed

-        Swapping Dom Perignon for Flexinet

-        Swapping Frank Sinatra for MC Hammer

 and finally

      -        Swapping Ronald Reagan for Barack Obama

But I think I like Greg Gutfeld’s the best.

The 11th Commandment

One of the boat anchors on Republican Presidential chances in 2012 was the many heated debates between the numerous candidates in which they repeatedly scoured one another.  This was, of course, relished and abetted by the leftist national media … many of whom gleefully moderated these brawls.  By the time Mitt Romney emerged as the GOP’s candidate he had already been well tarnished by these debate fusillades and the numerous Democrat-sponsored ad smears.  These Democrat brickbats had largely gone unanswered since Romney’s media spending was limited during the primary season. 

It seams that this pattern is beginning to repeat itself for the 2016 election.  Rand Paul and Chris Christie already are going at it tooth and nail … see: Breitbart Story ... while Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democrat candidate, sails on upon unruffled seas.  If I find it difficult to imagine Chris Christie ever ripping into her the way he is savaging fellow Republicans, why should he have any standing as a potential Republican candidate?

But perhaps, just perhaps, the Republicans may be learning from their 2012 failures.  The Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman, Reince Preibus, has already indicated that CNN and NBC are unlikely to be hosting the 2016 Republican primary debates … see: The Hill Story.  Given Candy Crowley’s moderating performance in one Obama/Romney debate, I think that this decision is a slam-dunk … at least for CNN.  Of course, if the RNC uses only conservative-leaning moderators, it will probably lose coverage in the left-leaning media … BFD. 

The remaining fault-line for the Republicans is this continued internecine warfare.  Strong leadership from the RNC might also help solve this problem.  This group could easily decree that repeated sliming of fellow Republicans equals a disqualification for participation in future Republican Presidential debates … an enforcement of the “Eleventh Commandment.”  The Eleventh Commandment is usually attributed to Ronald Reagan.  It goes “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.”  Yes, this would be a little dictatorial on the part of the RNC, but then, if Ms. Chipmunk Cheeks wins in 2016, we would be living in an audacious autocracy anyway.

Borked

Now they are both dead ... Robert Bork and Ted Kennedy ... so there is a certain metaphysical parity in my comments on how Robert Bork was denied his rightful seat on the Supreme Court by that bloated Massachusetts lowlife senator.  This "borking" of Robert Bork was pretty much all Ted Kennedy's doing ... one of the most shameful, mendacious and demagogic performances ever displayed on the Senate floor.  Shortly after Ronald Reagan nominated this great judicial scholar, Robert Bork, to don the black robes of the Supreme Court, Ted Kennedy publicly and gleefully maligned him with words so over-the-top slanderous that he should have be forced back into that worm hole in which he all too often resided.  Watch this nauseating performance at this: Huffington Post Video ... and, if you don't concur with my assessment of Ted Kennedy, then you are beyond all hope of civilized humanity.

"Lion of the Senate," my ass.  Ted Kennedy was a very small man.

Wink, Wink, Nudge, Nudge

The Monty Pyton players had a classic routine called "Wink, wink, nudge, nudge (enough said?)" in which Eric Idle confronts Terry Gilliam about his conjugal relations with his wife (for a good checkle, please view this video: Flying Circus Bit).  Although President Obama wasn't referring to sex, he was having a wink-wink-nudge-nudge moment with Russia's President Medvedev in South Korea recently when he, on an open mic, suggested that, after this fall's election, he would have much greater latitude in dismantling the U.S.'s missile defense system.  The Barry has already canceled the installation of this system in Poland and the Czech Republic (see: Maxi-Shield) and clearly has an animosity toward Ronald Reagan's missile defense shield in general.

Here is the actual open-microphone exchange:

President Obama: "On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this, this can be solved but it’s important for him to give me space."

President Medvedev: "Yeah, I understand. I understand your message about space. Space for you…"

President Obama: "This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility."

President Medvedev: "I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir [Putin], and I stand with you."

(Thanks to The Weekly Standard for these quotes.)

One could now draw a parallel between Terry Gilliam's relations with his fictional wife and Barack Obama's congress with the American public.

Giving Thanks

This Thursday's trenchermen (trencherpersons?) would never sit still at our Thanksgiving table for me to enumerate all the things I am thankful for at this difficult time in our history ... so I will burden you, poor reader, with my list:

- a populous awakening in this country to many of the things that seem seriously awry ... as demonstrated by the Tea Party and, yes, even in their perversity, by the Occupiers

- all my beautiful grandchildren ... and the hope that I have for their bright and healthy futures (much of which I will probably never witness)

- all my children and their spouses who have produced these wonderful grandchildren and who are so carefully molding their lives within a creative and moral  template

- my wife, Jeanette, who has been such a great mother, grandmother, and life partner.  She has tirelessly toiled to create for me a wonderful home and make me a better person than I otherwise would have been

- the legacy that previous generations of Americans have left to us (in particular those who have given their lives) so that we can experience our national uniqueness and the best standard of living in history

- those (very) few politicians who had put their country ahead of their personal interests ... Ronald Reagan and Harry Truman, in particular, come to mind

- a leftover turkey sandwich bulging with stuffing, cranberry sauce, and lots of Hellmann's mayonnaise

Wall Street Speaks

Dow Jones Industrial Average YTD

Recently we were told that, if the U.S. debt ceiling was not raised, the stock market would immediately crash by at least 1,000 points.  Now, the debt ceiling has indeed been raised and The Barry has inked the compromise bill ... and what has happened?  The Dow Jones Index has dropped almost 800 points over the last week ... almost 260 points of which happened today ... even after this supposed "catastrophe" has been averted.  Now, Wall Street typifies cynicism and contrary-ism, but why have buyers, in euphoric relief,  not rushed back into the stock market?  May I offer a few possible reasons for this Wall Street swoon:

- Despite the stated objectives of this deal, there is a strong likelihood that this current administration will not live up to the compromise's terms that are contain therein ... just like the Democrats did not live up to the early-on deal that they struck with Ronald Reagan wherein tax rates were cut but somehow the bigger spending cuts never occurred (see Reagan's Deal).

- This compromise did nothing to address the elephant in the room, entitlement reform.

- The debt ceiling, being raised by this deal, results in immediate (profligate) government spending whereas the "equivalent cuts" will take place over ten years.

- This next round of before-Thanksgiving budget cuts dictated by this deal will be designed by a "bipartisan committee."  If we thought that the political theater was farcical for these last sweltering weeks, just wait until this committee starts its deliberations ... quickly followed by dueling press leaks.

- This bill contains no serious path to achieve a balanced-budget amendment to our Constitution.

- This grand compromise enables The Barry to avoid another debt ceiling battle before next year's election.  This likely increases his chances of having another 4 years of waygu beef, White House festivities, and frequent family vacations.

So, those talking heads who had opined about the financial markets positive reaction to this deal (or the negative reaction to the "no-deal" alternative) were dead wrong ... perhaps because the words coming from their heads were stifled by about a yard of their bowels.

Ronnie

Ronald Reagan … let me start by ashamedly admitting that I didn’t vote for the man … either time. (“He’s just a B-movie actor.”) Can I write this off to the misguided, fuzzy-thinking liberalism of my youth? But, by watching all the tributes being paid to Ronnie running up to what would have been his 100th birthday (tomorrow), I now realize how totally wrong-headed I was. Not only do I admire this man now, but I realize that he may well have been our best President of the 20th century.

So let me here be (one of the) first to propose that his likeness be added to Mt. Rushmore … say to the left of George Washington.

And let us take all the granite chips that fall to the base of the mountain from this sculpting endeavor … and form them into Barack Obama’s scrawny backside.

Juxtaposition XIII

They surely must be pulling our collective leg ...  (And even though both Presidents were/are 6' 1", TIME, in its Photoshop-wisdom, has to make Obama the taller of the two.)