Day: October 11, 2019

Closing Thought–11Oct19

Impeachment is all the rage……and Trump’s news service, FOX News, has some bad news for the president….

President Trump has been known to dismiss unfavorable polls as “FAKE NEWS,” but the latest one comes from an outlet he has praised in the past. Fox says that according to its poll, a record 51% of voters want Trump to be impeached and removed from office. Another 4% want him to be impeached but not removed from office, and 40% oppose impeachment. Fox says support for impeachment has gone up among all groups since July, including Republicans. According to the poll, 39% of voters think doing what is best for the country is most important for Trump—and 55% think it is doing what is best for himself. On the issue behind the impeachment inquiry, 66% said it was inappropriate for the president to ask a foreign leader to investigate a political rival.

The Fox poll, conducted Sunday through Tuesday, found that just 43% of voters have a favorable opinion of Trump—though that still puts him a point ahead of Nancy Pelosi, and 16 points ahead of Rep. Adam Schiff. Only 26% had a favorable opinion of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Other polls have delivered similar results, the AP reports. A Quinnipiac University poll in early October found 45% in favor of removing Trump from office, and a Washington Post poll the same week had 49% in favor. In late September, a CBS poll found 55% of voters, including 23% of Republicans, in favor of the decision to launch an impeachment inquiry, though not all of them wanted Trump removed from office

Not looking too good for Trump even on the FOX polls…..but it matters NOT.

It is a momentary look into the minds of the people…all that can change with a good glass of warm milk.

But Trump could not let the poll just die with the next poll…no he had to make a bigger deal than it probably was (as usual)….

A new Fox News poll delivered bad news for President Trump, showing that 51% of respondents supported his impeachment and removal from office. It caught the attention of Trump himself, who clearly wasn’t pleased. “Whoever their Pollster is, they suck,” the president tweeted, adding that Fox “is also much different than it used to be in the good old days.” Echoing a complaint he delivered in August, the president wrote that the network “doesn’t deliver for us anymore,” per the Hill.

Despite Trump’s criticism, Fox’s bipartisan polls “are among the most reputable in the industry,” according to Politico. Democrat Chris Anderson and Republican Daron Shaw have conducted the polls since 2010, and they’re managed at Fox by Dana Blanton, Chris Stirewalt, and Arnon Mishkin, all of whom were the subject of a recent profile in the Los Angeles Times. A Trump campaign spokesman complained that nearly half of the respondents were Democrats, but “that is consistent with their past surveys and mountains of other research that show that more Americans identify as Democrats than Republicans,” per Politico.

Will Trump ever learn that throwing gas on a fire seldom puts it out?

Doubtful!

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

We Need New Rules Of Engagement

This is not my take on something foreign policy or one of our many wars….but rather the pundits on the Tube that are doing everything but what we need them to do.

I am an old fart and I always believed that the media should be neutral and give all sides to a story….I was naive back in my early informative years.  Even before corporations could own media outlets (thanx Bill Clinton) outlets were controlled by corporations through advertising dollars….now they just own them outright and their bias is f*cking obvious.

I am think that most pundits are soulless assholes that their principles are for sale to the highest bidder….that is NOT what this post is about…..

Nope!  This opinion is about these pundits, no matter which network they work for, hawking their books and personal appearances…..book signings, band dates, speeches and seminars…..plus most have reverted to their days in Congress….that is work 3 days off 4 with long breaks in between their non-work.

This crap has nothing to do with the news of the day…..pushing their personal books or those of the parents is sad and disgusting.  Pushing their seminars is also.

If they need these things to supplement their pay then maybe they should step back and look at their expenditures….or re-negotiate their very lucrative appearance contracts.

Then there is the subject of the Summer…..that of electability….who can best beat Trump……in other words screw principles it is about the win not the nation.

What is being said about the Great Lie of Electability…….https://lobotero.com/2019/07/16/electability-the-lie-that-keeps-on-giving/

All that aside…..there are a wealth of ambitious proposals from every candidate…..the problem I have is they never tell me how they will set about getting these plans through the blockade in DC.

Then there is the lying toad of the DNC, Tom Perez, who tells how they try to protect the Dem candidates…and yet they spend millions protect Biden and not so much the other candidates.

We need to get the big money trolls out of the DNC….the Clintonians.

No one acknowledges the partisan crap that is the nation’s capital……no wants to admit that promises are just hollow words thrown at the voter during elections.

When one of these candidates has a plan for getting these programs into action then I shall give them my vote…..but until then……

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Open Skies

Seems like there should be a song somewhere in that title….

Since Trump became our Supreme Leader we have crap out of all the treaties we have made over the years…..NAFTA, TPP, Iranian Nuke Deal, INF and now he is considering overturning the “Open Skies Treaty”…..

How many are scratching their heads over this? Let me see a show of hands…….(The Google machine is just a touch away)….it all began with Ike…..

Then the actual Open Skies Treaty was signed into being in 1992….

Signed March 24, 1992, the Open Skies Treaty permits each state-party to conduct short-notice, unarmed, reconnaissance flights over the others’ entire territories to collect data on military forces and activities. Observation aircraft used to fly the missions must be equipped with sensors that enable the observing party to identify significant military equipment, such as artillery, fighter aircraft, and armored combat vehicles. Though satellites can provide the same, and even more detailed, information, not all of the 34 treaty states-parties1 have such capabilities.  The treaty is also aimed at building confidence and familiarity among states-parties through their participation in the overflights.

President Dwight Eisenhower first proposed that the United States and the Soviet Union allow aerial reconnaissance flights over each other’s territory in July 1955. Claiming the initiative would be used for extensive spying, Moscow rejected Eisenhower’s proposal. President George H.W. Bush revived the idea in May 1989 and negotiations between NATO and the Warsaw Pact started in February 1990.

Now that you are brought up to speed on this treaty…..Trump has found yet another treaty that he does not like and will sell his dislike to the drooling public…..Open Skies Treaty is in the cross hairs…..

House representative Eliot Engel, the Democrat of New York and the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, sent a letter to White House national security advisor Robert O’Brien saying he was “deeply concerned” by reports that President Donald Trump was considering withdrawing from Open Skies. That would be the latest in the administration’s efforts to unwind many of the multilateral agreements, institutions, and treaties that have helped govern the world and keep peace since World War II.

“[I] strongly urge you against such a reckless action,” Engel wrote. “American withdrawal would only benefit Russia and be harmful to our allies’ and partners’ national security interests. … The US should prepare for the challenge that Russia presents—not abandon mechanisms that provide the US with an important tool in maintaining surveillance on Russia.”

While the Trump administration and Capitol Hill allies like senator Tom Cotton, the Republican from Arkansas, have long expressed frustration with the deal, Monday’s movement seemed to blindside foreign policy and arms control experts, who quickly expressed puzzlement and outrage that Trump would unwind what’s been seen as a cornerstone of global defense. The former ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, tweeted “Please tell me this can’t be true.”

https://www.wired.com/story/trump-open-skies-withdrawal/

I do not see how all this disdain for the treaties we have signed over the years is making America Great…..

Personally, Trump just likes pretending he knows what he is doing…and with adviser like Sen. Tom Cotton then he is definitely getting erroneous information.

There are some issues on foreign policy that I agree with Trump….and then like our long standing treaties I do not agree nor see any reason for the disdain.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

P.S.  It is 0530 hrs and cooler than normal so MoMo and I will get our walk in before the heat returns.

Trump’s Syrian Decision

Holy crap!

Trump promised to bring the troops out of Syria when elected….he was elected and he did so….now the MSM is goin g batcrap crazy condemning the president for his promise kept.

The Neocon press is getting all butt hurt over the decision…..

While Washington should never leave American troops in harm’s way a day longer than national security interests require, President Donald Trump’s decision to pull back or withdraw U.S. troops from the Syrian border is morally wrong and strategically short-sighted.

His decision is wrong because the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which include a significant contingent of Kurds, have courageously fought alongside the U.S. to dismantle ISIS’s so-called “caliphate.” Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to crush the SDF due to longstanding concerns regarding the Kurds. By pulling U.S. troops back from the Syrian border or withdrawing the troops altogether, Trump is giving Erdogan a green light to attack the SDF.

The SDF has taken heavy losses in the fight against ISIS because the U.S. mainly provided the air power, while the SDF provided the ground forces. Gen. Joseph Votel, who recently retired after serving as the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, said: “The SDF have been exceptional partners.” He estimated the group suffered nearly 11,000 casualties in the fight against ISIS. While ISIS and its ideology are not defeated, the SDF’s sacrifices likely spared the U.S. the need to deploy tens of thousands of ground troops.

https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2019/10/08/trump-syria-withdrawal-decision-immoral-and-short-sighted/

That says it was immoral…this article calls it giving aid to our enemies in the Middle East……

Thousands of Syrian Kurdish fighters gave their lives to help America defeat the Islamic State, but President Trump just decided to abandon the Kurds to their worst enemy, Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This is good news for the Islamic State, which can mount its comeback more effectively if the Kurds are distracted. It is also good news for the Islamic Republic of Iran, which wants to turn Syria into a base for attacking Israel, something that will now be a lot easier.

Trump’s decision came out of the blue last night, in the form of a brief announcement from the office of the White House press secretary. Top national security officials had been working for months on an agreement with Turkey to prevent it from attacking the Kurds. That agreement appears to be dead.

The White House said Trump’s decision came after a phone call with Erdogan earlier on Sunday. This is actually the second time Trump has attempted a sudden reversal of his Syria policy after a phone call with Erdogan. Last December, the president said he was going to pull all U.S. troops out of Syria — they numbered about 2,000 at the time — and let Turkish forces deal with any remaining problems caused by the Islamic State.

https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2019/10/07/trumps-syria-decision-is-a-victory-for-americas-enemies-in-the-middle-east/

I am sick of Israel being used by the Neocons to keep fighting and keep our troops to protect someone other than the USA.

The troops in Syria say they feel betrayed….

A U.S. special forces member serving with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Syria said Turkey is inflicting atrocities as it invades northeastern Syria. 

“I am ashamed for the first time in my career,” the unidentified soldier, who has been involved in the training of indigenous forces on multiple continents, told Fox News Wednesday.

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/465143-us-soldier-in-syria-i-am-ashamed-for-the-first-time-in-my-career

Plus…..https://www.rawstory.com/2019/10/trump-blasted-by-us-veterans-for-abandoning-kurdish-allies/

Then there are some that see the whole Syrian decision a bit differently……

Trump’s move has been called an “abrupt shift” that would “abandon” the Syrian Kurds who make up the bulk of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). For an abrupt shift, it has been a long time coming: Trump’s Syria troop cut in December 2018 was a preview of his intent, which he reiterated this week: “I campaigned on the fact that I was going to bring our soldiers home.”

As to abandoning the Syrian Kurds, the U.S. intention for the region’s Kurds was plain in 2017 when Washington advised the Iraqi Kurds to cancel an independence referendum but stay in Iraq’s federal system. Likewise, the Syrian Kurds were encouraged to open negotiations with the Assad regime to secure limited local autonomy, and it sure must be working as the SDF sells the Assad regime oil and natural gas, violating the sanctions on Syria in the process, but getting $378 million a year in oil revenue alone. And these are the “good guys”…

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2019/10/10/trumps_troop_pullback_in_syria_is_part_of_a_consistent_policy_114788.html

Then the GOP has not taken Trump’s decision well…his enabler in the Senate Graham has made a threat to Turkey…..

US Senator Lindsey Graham, a key Republican ally of President Donald Trump, has vowed to lead efforts in Congress to make Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “pay a heavy price” over his military operation against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria.

“Pray for our Kurdish allies who have been shamelessly abandoned by the Trump Administration,” Graham said on Wednesday, shortly after Ankara announced the start of the incursion. 

“This move ensures the reemergence of ISIS,” the senator added, using an alternative acronym for the Islamic State (IS) group.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/trump-ally-vows-make-erdogan-pay-heavy-price-over-syria-offensive

Shame that this GOPer, Graham, is not this brave with other issues.

Further Reading:

https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/eastern-mediterranean/syria/calling-halt-turkeys-offensive-north-eastern-syria

This situation is as convoluted as most issues dealing with Trump….I am pleased he brought some of our troops out of Syria…granted there is a better way of doing such a thing…now Trump needs to figure out how to bring more of our war weary troops home.

It is Friday Morning……

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”