Month: January 2017

Closing Thought–31Jan17

Before the closing thought…..Actress Barbara Hale, aka Della Street on Perry Mason, has died at age 94….Hale makes it 3….may her soul rest in peace….

Monday Night Massacre

Anyone else noticed just how many apologists for Trump there are now?  They are usually the same ones that accused so many others of being an Obama apologist.  And how pathetic it was to be an apologist.   Funny how that works, huh?

I remember back in the 70’s and one Pres. Nixon…..during the Watergate investigation he decided to rid his government of those people that he did not like beginning with his attorney general………a political purge……

You see  throughout history the “great” leaders have eventually had a purge of their government…..Besides Nixon there were such notables as Hitler, Stalin and now there has been another one in Washington……

Shortly after the inauguration Trump lost many within the State department…..

State Department senior leaders resigned from their positions. The senior State Department leaders were reportedly asked to leave via letter in what is believed to be an effort to “clean house” at the department.

While the officials technically resigned, the real decision was for the Trump Administration to accept what are pro forma resignations at the beginning of any administration.

Also among those not asked to return to service was highly controversial Assistant Secretary for Europe Victoria Nuland, who seemed to work tirelessly to damage US relations with Russia. Nuland openly supported a coup in Ukraine, handing out bread to protesters, as well as working behind the scenes to form the post-coup government.

By “cleaning house” at the State Department, President Trump is going to be able to exert even more influence in shaping the department for years to come.

Monday night, 30Jan17, the purge continued…….

An Obama holdover who was temporarily running the Justice Department just got fired by President Trump after an act of defiance. Mere hours after acting attorney general Sally Yates said the department would not defend Trump’s refugee executive order in court while she was in charge, Trump made sure that she was no longer in charge. Her announcement was largely symbolic anyway, notes the New York Times, given that nominee Jeff Sessions is expected to assume the office of attorney general in a matter of days, perhaps even Tuesday. In the interim, Yates will be replaced by Dana Boente, the US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, reports Politico.

A White House statement said Yates “has betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States,” adding that she is “weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration.”

Shortly after the firing of Yates the other shoe fell……

President Donald Trump replaced the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday with another director from within the organization.

Trump replaced Daniel Ragsdale as acting director with Thomas Homan, ICE’s executive associate director of enforcement and removal operations since 2013. Ragsdale will return to his position at deputy director, the Department of Homeland Security said on its Twitter page.

Slowly but slowly Trump is assuming complete control over the government…..and there is a name for this action…….

This concludes my posting day…tomorrow will be here and I shall return….have a day my friends….chuq

Trump–Virgin No More

I wrote about these US military deaths the other day and NO one even noticed….that is truly sad…..

Recently a US military action in Yemen was the first under Trump administration…..until this raid Trump was a virgin to calling for an armed response……it was a raid and it was a disaster……

The first American military raid of the Trump administration wasn’t a complete failure, but “almost everything went wrong,” a senior military official tells NBC News. The Sunday raid in Yemen, which the president approved last week, left dozens of people dead, including two Americans: a service member identified Monday as Chief Special Warfare Operator William “Ryan” Owens, 36, and Nora al-Awlaki, the 8-year-old daughter of radical US-born preacher Anwar al-Awlaki. Her father was killed in a US drone strike in 2011 and her 16-year-old brother died in a 2013 strike. Officials tell the New York Times that the raid had been in the works for months, but the Obama administration handed final approval over to President Trump.

Owens, a Navy SEAL from Peoria, Ill., died after being wounded during the raid on an al-Qaeda-held village, the Washington Post reports. Another three members of his unit were hurt during the firefight, and three more were injured, one severely, when their MV-22 Osprey aircraft had a “hard landing” at the site. Pentagon officials say three al-Qaeda leaders were among 14 fighters killed during the raid. Medics say at least 30 people died at the scene, including women and children. Nora al-Awlaki’s grandfather, former Yemeni Agriculture Minister Nasser al-Awlaki, claims the true number is closer to 60. Nora “was hit with a bullet in her neck and suffered for two hours,” he tells Reuters. “Why kill children?”

Not only did we lose some very brave soldiers but we also set about killing children…..

I truly hope that this was not a vision of what our troops have to look forward to with this administration….

 

Does Size Matter?

There has been a war in the media about the size of the crowd at the inauguration….why does this matter?

There is so much more that needs to be covered.  And why is the president playing this game?  But he, Trump, took the bait and has jumped on this with both flat feet…….

President Trump may not have had the biggest inauguration crowd in history, but he may have made a bigger fuss about media coverage of it than any of his predecessors. Sources tell the Washington Post and CNN that on Saturday morning—the first morning of his presidency—Trump contacted Michael T. Reynolds, the National Park Service’s acting director, to demand more photos of the crowd on the National Mall. Reynolds, who has worked for the service for 30 years, was “taken aback” by the request, but he sent some aerial photos to Trump, according to the Post’s sources. The photos did not, however, provide proof of Trump’s claim that more than a million people had gathered to watch his inauguration.

Reynolds and the NPS have declined to comment, but insiders say Trump also expressed anger over an NPS tweet comparing his crowd to Obama’s, which apparently led to an order for all Interior Department accounts to stop tweeting. White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed that Trump contacted the NPS. She said the call demonstrated the president is “so accessible, and constantly in touch.” “He’s not somebody who sits around and waits. He takes action and gets things done,” she said. “That’s one of the reasons that he is president today, and Hillary Clinton isn’t.” (Trump was still talking about the size of his inaugural crowd on Wednesday, when he gave his first interview as president.)

All this is so petty….I expect more from a person at the helm of state….but then I could be asking for too much…..

Years ago there was a similar story only it was Glen Beck that was concerned about the size of the crowd and so I looked up just how these sizes are come to…..

Source: Taking It To The Streets – In Saner Thought

This is petty fecal matter….time to let this type of crap go and focus on the country…..put your ego on a desk somewhere and get on with the duties your raised your goddamn hand to……peace out!

Let’s Talk Legislative Branch

I have long said that most Americans have NO idea how the government works….most are too busy bitching and moaning about the other side to give a crap….the reult of this ignorance is the stupidity that inhabits the halls of government….

My friend and regular visitor to IST from  Life Between 0 and 1 | w1nt3l.com has posted an excellent look at the legislative branch of our withering government.

I press it below for everyone to read and hopefully will find a new understanding of how things work…..

So few Americans understand, let alone even know, the lengthy and bureaucratic process that is followed attempting to make laws in the United States.  Given the complicated process this is, I’ll do my best to make it understandable, meaning in some cases parts of the process may be simplified for the sake of sanity.  I’m not an expert and there are thousands of resources on this 240 year old process.

After having spent a 2 weeks on this post, I can honestly say that I would *not* want to go into public service as a politician.  It definitely takes a certain type of person to work with this kind of bureaucracy, one that has endured the test of time up to this point and one that I hope continues.

Source: The U.S. Legislative Process | Life Between 0 and 1

Refugee Ban Is Nothing New

Pres. Trump has banned some immigrants from entering the US….and all crap broke louse….people are protesting….bloggers are ranting….and the unwashed masses are rolling over and accepting the “fatwa”……

From David French, National Review: “To read the online commentary, one would think that President Trump just fundamentally corrupted the American character. You would think that the executive order on refugees he signed Friday betrayed America’s Founding ideals. You might even think he banned people from an entire faith from American shores.”

But I will do what I always do….give my readers a bit of a history lesson along this issue……

And since there are those that cannot shut up about this…one dimensional blogger is a thing…..I figure what the Hell I would point out a little history…but then there will be those micro brains that will have something to say about history….never the less history is history……

You see fellow readers this is NOT a new occurrence…..Pres. Arthur, FDR, Teddy, Carter and Reagan did similar actions….we have banned Chinese, Jews, people with HIV, etc……….

On Friday, Donald Trump barred citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries – Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen – from entering the United States for at least the next 90 days.

He also suspended the US refugee programme for 120 days, specifically banning Syrian refugees until further notice, reduced the number of refugees who would be admitted this year to 50,000 and specified that refugees who were from a religious minority and fleeing religious persecution should be prioritised.

Now that you are caught up with the local news….let’s move on to the historic perspective shall we?

But this is not the first time that the US has banned immigrants from its shores. Over the past 200 years, successive American presidents have placed restrictions on the immigration of certain groups.

Here are six occasions when laws have been passed to restrict some people from entering the country.

Source: Six other times the US has banned immigrants | | Al Jazeera

This ban is NOTHING…..it has been going on for at least a 100 years…….so sit down and let it play out….hateful language does NOTHING to solve the problem.

These people are human beings maybe now would be a good time to start treating them as such….this may be a new concept for some but it is never too late to try.

I have one question……why is Saudi Arabia and Egypt exempt from Trump’s now ban?

Closing Thought–30Jan17

The Electoral College

I wrote a whole series about the college after the last election….most in opposition of keeping it….I believe that the country would be better off without it.

I read recently where our new lord and master thought about getting rid of the EC also……

President Trump told congressional leaders he was considering getting rid of the Electoral College, only to be talked out of it by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

During a meeting with congressional leadership this week, Trump said he was interested in using a national popular vote to determine the presidency, sources who attended the meting told the Journal.

McConnell urged Trump not to do so, pointing out the lengthy recount in Florida in the 2000 presidential election and noting that a national recount would take even longer.

Source: Trump brought up ending Electoral College, but McConnell talked him down: report | TheHill

McConnell’s argument was Bullshit…..he is worried about gerrymandering that is how Trump got elected and in 2020 the GOP can do even more harm to the electoral system…..that is the real reason he talked Trump out of the move…..any other excuse is just plain disingenuous…..

This is it for me today…..today’s one dimensional news is tiring…..I shall be off like a dirty shirt….back in the ‘morrow for more stuff.  TTFN

Like A Cheap Spy Novel

In my younger days I was a fan of the pulp fiction spy novel….my fave character was the CIA’s Sam Durell….he always got the best assignments and the most beautiful women…..it appears that in today’s world these cheap novels are coming to life……

Let me explain……

Surely most of you have an opinion on the Trump “Dirty Dossier”…well it matters not what we want to believe….this post is about a situation around the alleged document….

Do I need to recap the story so far….then go to Google and do your own work….

It appears that one of the players in this supposed incident is no longer with us….

The body of Oleg Erovinkin, who was suspected of helping , was discovered in his car.He was an aide of Igor Sechin – the ex-Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, who now heads up state-owned Rosneft oil.Mr Steele, the former British spy behind the , wrote in an intelligence report that he had a source close to Sechin.

Now it’s suspected that Erovinkin, who’s been called a key liaison between Sechin and Vladimir Putin, was that source.Media reports suggest his death was a result of foul play and it’s been speculated that the Kremlin is to blame.In his report dated July 19, 2016, Mr Steele said his source revealed alleged links between Trump and Putin.
Source: Donald Trump ‘dirty dossier spy’ found dead in back of car in Moscow | Daily Star
I am not siding with one side or the other……my only interests in this situation is the people that keep dying around Putin….I think there is more to these deaths than most want to admit.
Just saying…is it life imitating art?

Whistleblowing

Yep you guessed it!  Time for one of the Professor’s historic perspectives.  (and the peasants weep)

There is a wealth of opinions around those people that have leaked information to Wikileaks….to some they are heroes to others they are traitors….

My first experience with a whistle blower was Daniel Ellsberg and the release of the “Pentagon Paper”(you may dash for the Google button now you need the exercise)….then there was other major “blowers” Manning and Snowden….there have been others but they were minor compared to those three.

you may call these people anything you like but the fact is that whistle blowing is a duty to the nation…..

John McCain and Paul Ryan and numerous other super-patriots condemned President Obama’s pardon of Chelsea Manning.

In 1778 the Continental Congress ruled that “it is the duty of all persons in the service of the United States to give the earliest information to Congress or other proper authority of any misconduct, frauds, or misdemeanors committed by any officers or persons in the service of these states.”

Other pro-whistleblower legislation has been passed in recent years.

Apparently too many do not understand the term “duty”…..

Our nationalist leaders don’t care about any of this. They just want to make sure no one’s “gonna mess with us.” But as more of our misdeeds go unreported, more and more of the world is learning to hate us.

Personally, I have no problem with whistle blowers….any time we can expose the governmental darkness to the public light then they should be celebrated.

Class dismissed!

Trump And His Syrian Strategy

While everyone was up in arms about this Trump policy or that…his admin hit a mark that should be the focus of all news agencies……

In case anyone is interested.

A US military service member was killed Sunday during a raid against al-Qaeda militants in central Yemen that also left nearly 30 others dead, including women and children. The loss of the service member is the first-known combat death of a member of the US military under President Trump.

I realize this is not important to a great many of American “patriots” but it should….how many more Americans must die for senseless foreign policy?

Finally I got something substantive in foreign policy from the Trump gang…..the problem is that I do not see it helping the situation very much…..Clinton wanted a “no fly zone” and Trump’s answer is similar….a “safe zone”…..

Turkey has long sought an internationally-imposed series of “safe zones” in northern Syria to house refugees, as a way to limit the number of refugees who actually end up crossing into Turkey. The White House resisted, fearing it would be too complicated, and President Trump’s intention to shift Syria policy toward fighting ISIS made it seem like the idea was very unlikely.

Instead, President Trump made a surprise move, ordering the State Department and Pentagon to prepare for the establishment of safe zones in Syria, giving them 90 days to provide a full blueprint for how they would go about it.

Arguments over the theoretical viability of such safe zones centered on the question of airspace control, with Turkey arguing the zones would be meaningless without a no fly zone, and Pentagon officials warning at the time that would mean war with both Syria and Russia.

(antiwar.com)

My problem with this plan is that there are so many aircraft in the region at any one given time…Turkey, Syria, Russia, US…..that the chances of something going wrong is amplified many times over…..

Then there is the new US base on the ground in Syria……

Washington has established a military base in north-eastern Syria, which is currently controlled by the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), the Daily Sabah newspaper reported on January 23, citing a report of the Kurdish BasNews news agency.

The base is in the Syrian city of Al-Hasakah, located 70 km from the Syrian-Turkish border and 50 km from the Syrian-Iraqi border. Reportedly, the US has deployed 800 servicemen on the military base.

Source: More Details about New US Military Base in Syria

Yet another idea that I see as ill thought out before jumping…..for a country that does not want to get involved in a ground war in Syria we are making the wrong decisions to prevent it…..even the Pentagon has questions about the plan…..

Pentagon officials are said to be full of questions today after reports of President Trump planning to order the State Department and Pentagon to develop plans within 90 days for the establishment of “safe zones” in Syria, unclear exactly what is being planned.

US officials have previously suggested it would take a massive ground force to secure this safe zone from attacks, and that even a limited no-fly zone would risk starting a war with Russia. This scared the Obama Administration away from trying anything.

Shooting from the hip in this region is as deadly as trying to have sex with a pissed off rattlesnake….now is not the time for some macho bullshit.

As I was writing this post this morning news came out about a possible change of mind…..

Reports throughout the week that President Trump intended to order the State Department and Pentagon to create plans for the establishment of safe zones inside Syria appear to have fallen through at the last minute, as the final version of the executive order said to contain the clause no longer makes any reference to it.

Trump was reportedly to have said he intended to “do” safe zones in Syria on humanitarian grounds, but the administration offered no real details on what they intended to do. Moreover, the Pentagon discussed the matter with the expectation the order would come, with a spokesman urging people to give Trump a chance to articulate the plan.

Did clearer minds prevail?

Let’s hope so for there have not been much of that lately…….

Balkan War Drums Beat Again

As a foreign policy geek I am unimpressed with the situation around our new president, Trump…..he is just starting his imperial rule and he is faced with many situations that will need attention….North Korea, China, Middle East, Russia but the one that could be his first test on the international stage is the Balkans…..

Back in the 1990’s Clinton had his hands full with the Balkans and now Trump may have to get his hands dirty with the region……

Source: It’s Kosovo Again…… – In Saner Thought

And a newer post on the situation……

Source: It’s Kosovo Again…….(Again) – In Saner Thought

And during the first days of Trump there is more problems brewing in the region……

Putin, like many Russians, views Western intervention in Bosnia and Kosovo as an affront to the Slavic Orthodox world, and he plans on revenge.

In the decade-and-a-half of war in far-flung places since the 9/11 attacks on our country, it’s easy to forget how much time Western spies, soldiers and diplomats spent in the 1990s trying to save the Balkans from themselves. After Yugoslavia collapsed in 1991, leaving violence and turmoil in its wake, it fell to NATO, led by the United States, to sort out that ugly mess. Now, a generation later, the temporary solutions Washington crafted are coming apart, and war may be returning to Europe’s unstable Southeast.

First, Bosnia-Hercegovina, which got the lion’s share of media attention back in the 1990s—by no means all of it accurate—has limped along as a half-failed state for the last two decades. Mired in crime and corruption, not to mention a serious problem with Islamic extremism, Bosnia is ailing politically, economically and socially. The strange, jury-rigged arrangement hashed out by President Bill Clinton in Dayton, Ohio, in late 1995 to keep Bosnia together after that country’s terrible civil war, was never meant to be more than a short-term solution.

Source: Trump’s First Foreign Policy Crisis: Balkan War Drums Beat Again | Observer

Hopefully Trump has someone on the Southern Europe Desk to keep an eye on this situation….if not then the US will be caught with its pants down….again.