Day: January 8, 2020

A Fresh Face For 2020

Closing Thought–08Jan20

We know all about this Dems as they scrap and insult and accuse their fellow party members….but what about those “alternatives” to our badly broke 2m party system?

As we approach the first contests tpwards the general election in November…..this time let’s look at the Libertarians, a perennial participant in the elections.

Since he could NO traction as a Dem candidate the former governor of Rhode Island has entered as a Libertarian….

Former Democratic presidential candidate Lincoln Chafee has filed to run for president as a Libertarian. The former governor of Rhode Island on Sunday registered the “Lincoln Chafee For President” campaign committee with the Federal Election Commission, the AP reports. A fundraising website linked to the FEC filing states, “Lincoln Leads with TRUTH.” Chafee moved to Wyoming last year and joined the Libertarian Party. He was a Republican in the US Senate and became an independent after losing his seat in 2006. Chafee was then elected Rhode Island governor in 2010 as an independent and became a Democrat in office. He did not run for reelection but mounted a short-lived run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2015.

A candidate in search of a party……sorry this person has been a GOPer, a Dem an independent and now a Libertarian….will never trust a candidate that cannot make up his mind on where his policies fall.

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

A Surprise For 2020?

I have several Trump-ites that visit and I would like to from time to time throw them a bone and say something positive abut their choice of people to support.

Recently I read a post by a loyal reader of IST….my friend Doug and his post…..https://findingpoliticalsanity.com/its-pretty-early-but-what-could-happen-the-day-after-trump-leaves-office/ he has an unique way of looking at the situation with Trump……

Is it possible that in 2020 Trump could win again and with the help of the Electoral College…again?

The Republican Party is set to win a large majority of all future close presidential elections, even contests in which they lose the popular vote, according to a recent study.

GOP candidates for president can expect to be victorious in 65 percent of future presidential elections and University of Texas at Austin researchers analyzed why “inversions” — where the popular vote winner loses the overall election — has happened twice since 2000.

The study authors found that the Electoral College’s winner-take-all approach favors Republicans and has pushed them to victories in 2000 and 2016.

The researchers concluded that inversions will occur more and more in 2020 and beyond unless a policy change completely dissolves, rather than reforms, the Electoral College.

https://www.newsweek.com/abolish-electoral-college-favors-republicans-over-democrats-future-presidential-elections-study-1464834

Many of us think that it is time to put the EC in the “Dust Bin Of History”….I have been calling for the end for many years…..

https://lobotero.com/2016/12/09/its-time-to-end-the-electoral-college/

https://lobotero.com/2019/03/05/electoral-college-must-go/

As depressing as that info can be…there is other info that could be more depressing if accurate….

President Donald Trump looks likely to cruise to reelection next year under three different economic models Moody’s Analytics employed to gauge the 2020 race.

Barring anything unusual happening, the president’s Electoral College victory could easily surpass his 2016 win over Democrat Hillary Clinton, which came by a 304-227 count.

Moody’s based its projections on how consumers feel about their own financial situation, the gains the stock market has achieved during Trump’s tenure and the prospects for unemployment, which has fallen to a 50-year low. Should those variables hold up, the president looks set to get another four-year term.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/15/moodys-trump-on-his-way-to-an-easy-2020-win-if-economy-holds-up.html

Like I said depressing on so many levels.

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Soleimani–The Rest Of The Story

By now everyone has heard the news . the attack that killed a high ranking Iranian general …if you have not then just go back under your rock and wait for the end to come.

But like all things in the Trump White House…..it has been reported that the general was in Iraq to deliver a message from Iran on the peace proposal with the Saudis…..

the US assassinated top Iranian Gen. Qassam Soleimani in a drone strike at Baghdad International Airport. His arrival was actually part of ongoing diplomatic efforts, according to Iraqi PM Adel Abdul-Mahdi.

Soleimani’s visit was related to well-documented Saudi attempts at diplomacy to ease tensions with Iran. The Saudis had dispatched a message of peace to Iran, with Iraq acting as an intermediary. Soleimani was coming to Iraq to deliver the Iranian government’s reply.

The US assassination, then, undercut the peace effort to an enormous level. Iraq was keen to facilitate peace between its two neighbors, hopefully to calm down US threats against Iran. Instead, the US undercut the entire process.

It’s not clear this totally ends the Saudi effort for peace, though it may be difficult for Iran to safely get messengers into Baghdad in the near future, with the US rather openly threatening more assassinations. Since peace overtures were the Saudi “plan B” after the US didn’t attack Iran, they may no longer bother, given the rapidly escalating military tensions.

(antiwar.com)

I have seen nothing in the MSM about this “peace message”….why?

The Iranians and the Saudis have been at each other’s throat for centuries….and the possibility of a peace deal that could lessen this animosities would be a big deal in international relations circles….but not so much in Trumpian circles.

Who did this assassination benefit?  Not Iraq…..not Saudis….not Iran….then who?

Them only nation that comes to mind  is Israel. 

How ling has Israel been predicting the rise of Iran?

Peace between Saudis and Iranians would not benefit Isreal’s constant claim of victimhood.

Yossi Cohen, head of Israel’s Mossad, spoke openly about assassinating Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, the head of the elite Quds Force in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“He knows very well that his assassination is not impossible,” Cohen said in an interview. Soleimani had boasted that the Israel’s tried to assassinate him in 2006 and failed.

“With all due respect to his bluster,” Cohen said, “he hasn’t necessarily committed the mistake yet that would place him on the prestigious list of Mossad’s assassination targets.”

After Mossad Targeted Soleimani, Trump Pulled the Trigger

Nothing about this death, this assassination, will bode well…..yes we took out a “bad guy” while we allow other “bad guys” to go unchallenged…..

This action, the death of Soleimani, is not something that will make the US safer regardless what the liars in the WH would have you believe.

Don’t Underestimate Iran’s Ability to Fight a Bloody War

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

You Asked For It And Now You have It

The rhetoric is now over!

After days of threats and counter threats the war that slugs like Pompeo and Bolton have wanted for decades has now begun…..

Qasem Soleimani Tuesday night, striking two air bases housing US troops in Iraq with ballistic missiles. The New York Timesreports that Iranian officials said the strikes began at 1:20am Wednesday local time—the same time the general was killed in a drone strike in Iraq Friday. To make it even clearer that this was retaliation, numerous Iranian officials, including former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, tweeted images of the Iranian flag, apparently mocking President Trump for tweeting an American flag after the strike that killed Soleimani, reports the Week. US and Iraqi officials said there were no immediate reports of casualties, though a presenter on Iranian TV claimed the strikes killed ” at least 80 terrorist US soldiers,” the AP reports.

Sources tell the AP that Iran fired a total of 15 missiles. Ten hit the Ain al-Asad air base, one hit the Irbil base, and four failed to reach their targets, the sources say. Trump had promised to strike 52 targets in Iran if the country exacted revenge for the killing of Soleimani, but he did not announce any fresh strikes Tuesday. “All is well! Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq. Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good!” he tweeted. “We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world, by far! I will be making a statement tomorrow morning.” A source tells the Times that Iranian officials waited for Trump to address the nation Tuesday night and when he did not, they suspected the US would either wait to respond or seek to de-escalate the situation.

“So far, so good”?

Appears that the missiles killed no Americans in the attacks….but that could be a moot point.

I am sure that there will be more to report later.

Could Soleimani be the 21st century equivalent to the death of Archduke Ferdinand?

Watch This Blog!

“lego ergo scribo”