On His Plate

President Trump has had to address so very many items that his predecessors chose to ignore. Here are just a few of the unsavory things he found on his plate on inauguration day:

- North Korean nuclear threat

- Grossly unfair trade relations with China and the EU

- Broken immigration laws, law enforcement and policies

- Run-away big tech and its insidious invasion of our privacy

- An untamed ISIS caliphate in Iraq and Syria

- Venezuelan economic and social decay

- Sluggish economic growth driven by bad tax laws and over regulation

- NAFTA’s  hollowing out of American industrial base (inc. steel and aluminum)

- NATO financial and forces slackers

- American armed forces reconstruction

- Activists US judicial system (inc. Supreme Court)

- Iranian nuclear threat and its sponsorship of worldwide terrorism

- A grossly biased American media

- Russian and Chinese worldwide hegemonic mischief making

- And many, many more ...

And, all the while, Trump, as he was addressing this unappetizing fare, was being spit on by the Deep State, the media ... and the Mueller Russian investigation.

Stubborn Mule

Donald J. Trump is a very stubborn man. It was likely this mulishness as a child that caused his parents to ship him off to military school for discipline. Yes, at military school, he acquired discipline but he was still obstinate ... because it served hm well there. He left the New York Military Acadamy as its top officer.

Then, against his father's advice, he went into the construction business in Manhattan, the toughest venue for builders. I suspect that again his bullheadedness also served him well ... along with his deal making and attention to detail. I also suspect most of his opponents eventually gave in to his stubbornness and let him have his way. This led to fame, wealth, two divorces and, eventually, the presidency.

Now, as president, Trump is exhibiting much more spine than most of his predecessors. He has run into other mules who imagine that they are his parents ... John McCain, Jim Comey, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck  Schumer, Bob Mueller, Bernie Sanders, etc., Jim Acosta and much of the rest of the national media. And, on the international front, there are other rockheads ... Putin, Xi, Erdogan, Merkel, Kim, etc. So, Trump's metal is being severely and constantly tested at all levels. And those who support him in these contests are a sparse legion. He is being tested as never before.

But he has already won a few shrirmishes ... tax cuts,  new NAFTA, regulatory reform, NATO reform, economic growth, monetary policy, global warming policy, economic growth, etc. Yet his detractors are still on the offensive. Their silliness over border security is a perfect example. His opposition on this issue is purely political and unAmerican ... and cannot help his opponents long term (after the shutdown is forgotten).

Most of Trump's critics want him to relent on many of his policies. However, his policies are patriotic and against the myriad special interests in America. He is clearly a populist and a nationalist -- winning strategies as witnessed by how some of his 2020 opponents are beginning to shade their platforms in his direction.

All we can hope is that he keeps his spine for the next two years. If he does, despite being a mule, he will continue winning with the majority of his countrymen.

Democrat Manifesto

The Democrat party has moved far left in the last decade ... to a point that would be unrecognizable to the party of JFK or even Bill Clinton. It's as though George Soros has tattooed his manifesto on the donkey's rump. However, not all recent Blue candidates are using this manifesto as their platform because the smarter ones realize that it is a loser. But, once elected if elected, Nancy Pelosi tells them how to vote.

The question becomes then, how much of this Democrat manifesto will be visible in the next presidential election and maybe even in this Fall's midterm elections? But be mot mistaken, this is the guts of their agenda. So let's get on to what this manifesto contains:

- Single-payer healthcare
- World government
- Destroy the U.S. coal industry
- Increase third-world migration into America
- Higher income taxes (to redistribute wealth)
- Sanctuary cities and states
- "Strategic patience"  (passive foreign policy)
- Open national borders
- Nuclear disarmament or at least unilateral reduction
- Crony capitalism
- Promoting Black Lives Matter and ANTIFA
- Mote government transfer payments (welfare)
- Fewer illicit drug laws and lesser punishments ("sentencing reform")
- Facilitation of illegal voting
- Weaker military
- Removing Civil War (and other historic) statues
- Free higher education
- Diversity quotas and more "inclusion" of hyphenated Americans
- Nullifying the Second Amendment
-Taxpayer funded abortion and birth control
- Free but not necessarily fair (multilateral) trade
- Carbon taxes and much tighter emissions standards
- "Green" energy production at the expense of  fossil fuels
- More government regulations
- LBGTQ and transgender rights advocacy
- Suppression of "offensive" speech

This list is not by a long shot comprehensive ... and they are not all excessively malignant ... but. taken as a whole, they would "fundamentally transform" this country ... if we survive at all.

Imagine

John Lennon wrote a hymn to a perfect world where peace prevailed  and there were no borders defining countries ... see: Imagine lyrics. Clearly, Lennon's vision of utopia must have had some influence on world politics in the years that followed ... particularly in the European Union.

Fast forward some fifty years to the presidential election of 2016 and let's do some more imagining. Can we picture what our country would be like if Hillary Rodham Clinton had been elected? Who would likely be the primary players in her administration? Ben Rhodes? Susan Rice? Jonathan Gruber? James Comey? Sidney Blumenthal? John Brennan? John Kerry? Donna Brazile? John Podesta? James Clapper, Cheryl Mills? Maybe even Bill Clinton himself?

Imagine what the Supreme Court would look like? The FBI? The Department of Justice? The IRS? The EPA? The State Department? The Defense Department? Our representative to the UN? The regulation environment? Even the Clinton Foundation and all its tentacles might still exist ... as might the ISIS caliphate?

We would still be bending over for the environmentalists in the Paris Accord ... or maybe going even further. There would be no tax cuts or a rollback of the Obamacare individual mandate. We would still be in the TPP (no matter what Hillary said during her campaign). We would be even further along toward true open borders and unlimited immigration from third world countries. Jerusalem would not be recognized as the capital of Israel. Economic growth would still be anemic along with the stock market.

There would have been no exposure of all the (illegal?) Democrat shenanigans that took place during the presidential campaign. We would likely have a Democrat Senate and maybe even the House. North Korea and China would still have us kowtowed. Companies would not be bringing their factories back onshore. And many more positive developments would not have occurred.

We would be living in even more of a dystopia than Barack Obama saddled us with. Maybe Ted Nugent should pen a new version of "Imagine?"

Style

In figure skating's long programs there are two major scoring criteria -- "technical merit" or degree of difficulty of the tricks and "presentation" or style -- the costume, correct back arch, graceful arm movements, skater's synchronization to the music, etc.

Judging President Trump's performance this way gives him high marks on technical merit -- tax reform, deregulation, economic growth, defeating ISIS, employment growth, reforming and restoring international alliances, pushing back on our enemies, immigration law enforcement, restoring a conservative tone to our judicial system, starting to rationalize our healthcare insurance system, etc. But it is on the style front where he receives the most demerits. In fact, many of his critics would prefer to judge him solely on style ... and do.  He is petulant, He is self aggrandizing. He demeans his enemies ruthlessly. He is a sexual predator. He is impulsive.

Trump's governance is in stark contrast with his predecessor's ... which was primarily style with few heavy lifts ... most of which, when attempted at all (immigration policies, Obamacare, Iran nuclear deal, restoring robust economic growth, North Korea containment, Paris climate accord, improved race relations, TPP, etc.), were mismashed ... not even a single Salchow. It was Obama's smooth style that won him his fans.

Or to use the Texas slight (and muddle this metaphor), he was all hat and no cattle. Style-less Trump is, in my opinion, all cattle and no hat. If I can't have both, I'll take technical merit over style.

Euclidean Proof

Theorem: Trump has already shown himself to be a better president than Obama (or, by extension,  Hillary)

Postulate: Trump's policies, in almost every arena, are diametrically opposed to Obama/Hillary's

Axiom: The American Judiciary is returning to its Constitutional role of interpreting the laws

Axiom: GNP growth under Trump is better than 3% vs. under 2% with Obama

Axiom: The American stock market (Dow) is up 7,000 points (38%) since Trump's election

Axiom: Unemployment is at historic lows despite many more workers entering the labor force

Axiom: The ISIS caliphate in Iraq and Syria has finally been obliterated

Lemma: Increasingly, America is reestablishing its global leadership and hegemony

Axiom: First major tax overhaul in 31 years

Axiom: There has been a dramatic drop in government regulations

Axiom: Illegal immigration is down while deportations of criminals is way up

Lemma: Unfavorable trade agreements are being renegotiated

Axiom: The U.S. military and nuclear arsenal are being revitalized

Ergo: Being that his policies are the anthisis of Obama's, Trump's winners have been far better for America than Obama's or would-be Hillary's.

50 Shades of Grey

Donald Trump lies, James Comey lies, Hillary Clinton lies, Kellyanne Conway lies, Chuck Schumer lies, Paul Ryan lies, Nancy Pelosi lies. It is safe to say that most, if not all politicians lie. But there are white lies. There are black lies ... and 50 shades of grey in between. The seriousness of these transgressions depends a lot on their motivation and consequences. James Comey's lie about the possible number of Clinton e-mails on Anthony Weiner's computer had a lot to do with her losing the election. Donald Trump's promise that Mexico will pay for the wall may turn out to be a stretch ... but many American people treat it as hyperbole. These lies are at opposite ends of the mendacity spectrum.

And, of course, the media can point out (repeatedly) some untruths while ignoring others ... which they too frequently do. And the media often lie also ... to me, an unforgivable sin. These indiscretions they see as their sacred duty and protected by the Constitution. Perhaps President Trump lies more than most (just watch Joe and Mika play and replay this theme every morning) ... however he is doing most of the things his voters want him to do. And so they tune out a lot of the media's drumbeat of criticism. And this causes them to increase the tempo and volume.

But Trump has appointed Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, rolled back countless crippling regulations, stopped the flood of illegal migrants, dumped the Paris climate accord, faced head-on the North Korean nuclear threat, refriended Israel, and is struggling mightily to fix healthcare, the tax code and our infrastructure. As a consequence, many Americans (including me) are willing to view Trump's lies to be the lighter shades of grey.

Man of Action

(Yes, a bit of hyperbole ...)

The contrast is striking. Donald Trump is still almost two months away from assuming the reins of government ... yet he is already turning things around for his country. His cabinet is taking shape with mostly high quality selections. His policies on taxes, healthcare, regulations, trade, terrorism, immigration, etc. are emerging out of the campaign fog ... and generally are solid. His potential conflicts of interest are being resolved and he seems to have had a beneficial persuasive effect on many foreign leaders. And he even has convinced some American companies to not move manufacturing out of this country. All good.

Trump's actions all seem to be directed by patriotism and for the benefit of America. The contrast is that our current president's actions ... when he got around to performing them ... seemed mostly directed by ideology and even personal benefit. Yes, he used the shibboleth "leading from behind" to justify most of his lassitude ... but the fear of the unknown kept him on vacation, on the golf course and away from real meaningful work about solving our problems that needed to be resolved.

Yes, early on Obummer frequently held show forums where photo ops seemed to be the primary objective. Remember almost a trillion dollars spent on "shovel-ready jobs" that turned out to be a sham ... which he later joked about? And he had willing allies in Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi who created a constipated legislative process and effectively blamed it on the Republicans. Their showpiece legislation, Obamacare, was passed without a trace of bipartisan support ... with predictable catastrophic results both policy-wise and operationally. The legacy of our current president is so fetid that recounting it is a dyspeptic experience. His eight years can be compared to a garbage scow constantly leaking its contents in its briny wake.

Yes, Trump will make errors during his term ... but it will be as a result of action not inaction ... and as a result of patriotism, not fuzzy-headed Alinsky dogma.

Gravy

Yes, I voted for Donald Trump. I salivated at the prospect of the many things he had promised ... a "beautiful wall", extreme vetting of immigrants, tax reform, regulation reforms, the destruction of radical Islam, fixing the VA ... the list goes on and on. Now, once elected, Trump is vacillating on almost all his campaign promises ... even on the global warming hoax for heaven's sake! I guess these bet hedges are to be expected from such a consummate negotiator as Trump. But I am getting a sinking feeling about his sincerity on many of his pronounced goals as president ... see: Politico Story for more instances. Am I in the early stages of some form of buyer's remorse?

To be honest, in some ways, I expected that I would be hoodwinked  by this man ... as often occurs in reality shows ... but not so quickly. But, you know what? Defanging of that harpy Hellary and putting a few Constitutional conservatives on the Supreme Court will be sufficient rewards for giving my nod to Trump.

Anything else will be gravy ...

Afterward: See SNL video ... particularly Pence exchange ...

Headlines

These headlines are real ... they have all been discovered on Internet news sites.

New EU 'travel tax' ...

Obama and Merkel: Globalization is here to stay

Axelrod tells transition critics to chill ...

Thanksgiving meal much cheaper: Turkey prices drop ...

DNA breakthrough could 'fix broken genes in brain, delay aging' ...

Paris Hilton: 'I voted for Trump'

London's Muslim Mayor urges anti-Trump migrants to flock to UK

War on Christmas: Saudis ban international schools from observing non-Islamic holidays

Department of Education wasting money at an incredible rate ...

Switzerland considers banning Koran distributions

Obama sets new record for regulations, 527 pages in just one day

Apple may produce IPhones in USA ...

President's Report Card

Yes, here comes another list. Since Obummer is on his way out the door, it seems time to grade his performance as president. I realize that most liberals might disagree, but I am trying to be fair:

Economic Growth                    D

Employment Growth                C

Personal Income Growth          F

Tax Reform                                 F

Entitlement Reform                   F    

Regulation Reform                    F

National Security                      D

Rhetoric                                       A

Immigration Control                  F

Military Readiness                     D

Environmental Gains                  C

Terrorism Pushback                    D

International Relations                F

Race Relations                              F

Education Improvement              D

Infrastructure Rebuild.                 D

Trade Relations                            F

Debt Reduction                            F

Golf Game                                      B

March Madness Brackets             C

What if ...

the 2016 presidential race were to be between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump? In order to assess this disturbing choice, I have developed the following comparisons:

As president.                                         Hillary                                   Donald
he/she would:                                       Clinton                                   Trump    

Keep us safe from                               Unlikely                              More likely
radical Muslims

Keep us safe                                        Unlikely                                   Likely
from Russia

Keep us safe                                        Unlikely                                  Unsure
from China

Be liked by.                                             Yes                                            No
Western Europe

Be liked by                                               No                                             Yes
Eastern Europe

Fix immigration                                      No                                            Yes
problems

Reform taxes                                   No ... more taxes                        Possibly

Reform entitlements                          No ... more                                  Yes

Reform regulations                                 No                                         Possibly

Strengthening our military                  Unlikely                                     Yes

Fix Obamacare                                        No                                            Yes

Reduce deficit                                          No                                          Likely

Demagogue                                              Yes                                            Yes

Self-serve                                                  Yes                                             Yes


I think this is enough to distinguish between these two candidates. If Trump is hopefully not the Republican choice, then I suggest that you repeat this exercise for that one that is ... I know I will.
                  

Something Stinks

Ben Bernanke was testifying in front of a Senate Banking Committee yesterday (see: Miami Herald Article) and he was squirming.  He looked and acted chagrined when the subject of the recently disclosed manipulation of the Libor (London Interbank Offered Rate, a key worldwide interest rate benchmark) that has cost the Chairman and CEO of Barclays Bank their jobs.  It also probably has cost numerous players in the financial markets over the last four years billions, maybe hundreds of billions of dollars ... all because of illegal manipulation of this rate.  And, it seems that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was on to this scandal as early as 2008 and possibly earlier.  This was when Little Timmy Geithner was running the New York Fed and Bernanke was running the whole Fed Reserve Banking shebang.  Their failings were obvious because, with a few phone calls, these two men could have, and should have killed this monumental malfeasance in its tracks.  But, it appears, they chose to emulate Penn State's Joe Paterno by conveniently looking the other way for all these years.  To me this is shameful behavior and emits a miasma that is not befitting of Bernanke.  Given Little Timmy Geithner's past tax peccadillo's, his lack of decisive action here does not seem out of character.

The feeble excuse that Bernanke offered was that such manipulation allowed these banks to appear, in 2008, financially stronger than they really were (a good thing?).  This then morphed into clear criminal behavior.  What good are regulators if they don't regulate?  Today Little Timothy Geithner also testifies in front of Congress and I expect him to be his old elusive self.  And when this scandal fully erupts (see: WSJ Article), I hope that, this time, these rats cannot run down the hawsers to their East Hampton and Martha's Vineyard get-aways.  I strongly suspect that they need to be fitted with some black and white stripped overalls and given an extended vacation in Leavenworth.  And don't be surprised if Congress's response is to demand more regulations ... quickly echoed by Elizabeth (Pow Wow Chow) Warren.