Day: April 28, 2020

Closing Thought–28Apr20

WE all know what is happening nationwide but we know very little about the regions around us….I live in Mississippi and I like to let my readers know what is happening in my state and region.

Mississippi like a couple of other states is opening up this week to a limited amount….

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed a “Safer at Home” executive order Friday that lets most retailers reopen Monday with a 50 percent reduced capacity. Businesses that cannot avoid social contact, like salons and gyms, will not be allowed to reopen, Reeves’ office said.

Movie theaters and museums will also remain closed, while restaurants will be allowed to resume take-out service.

“Wall Street and Hollywood will be fine,” the Republican governor wrote in part of a lengthy statement on Facebook. “Mississippi small businesses and workers are not. That’s who has been asked to shoulder the country’s burden. It’s not fair, and it’s not right. We have to safely, quickly re-open. That’s what we’re starting to do.”

Read about Tennessee and Montana as well

https://www.foxnews.com/us/tennessee-mississippi-montana-coronavirus-businesses-reopen

Tater Tot Reeves is not my favorite person and he may well live to regret this decision……however I will give him credit for trying to re-open as safely as can be expected with this virus.

I will continue to be a recluse and void people and stay to myself in my office with Sue and MoMo…..

Image

Be well…..Be safe……

“lego ergo scribo”

Covid–Same As It Ever Was

You know when this pandemic started I was impressed with the bi-partisanship of the government responses….not from Donald the Orange for he was ignoring the disease 3 weeks into the outbreak.

And then the president started his move to make the country divided again…..for a divided country is best for his interests and not for the country….yes I am saying that Trump is a self-centered douche bag.

This country does not need the tribalism that Newt created and the Tea Party made mainstream…..and Trump has exploited this political function to his advantage.

Trump sycophants….like Jordan and Crenshaw have done their level best to keep our system broke….and these cowards are not alone…..look to Nunes, Gantz, and that good old boy from Louisiana, Kennedy.

When this country should be speaking with one voice….instead it is lead on the Right by morons, sycophants and bigots….sadly the red/blue divide is as much a thing as it is in our politics…..and while we are fighting each other more Americans will die.  Apparently that is what is desired by this ineffective administration.

That old cartoon from early American history says it all and is profound…..

Unite or Die - Unite Or Die - Sticker | TeePublic AU

If this country cannot find a way to unite into one country then it is doomed……and we can thank the masters like Newt, Tea Party and Trump for the demise.

Sadly this pandemic has not brought the country together….at first it did but then the Trumpian bullshit started and we returned to the days of partisan manure.

Once again false information has become the norm and with that stupidity has come the rift in our society…a rift that keeps getting wider and wider……and soon if something does not change then the rift will become a rip in the fabric of American society….that may well be insurmountable to return to the great country we once were.

Where will this saga end?

Will we ever become one nation again?

Thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

VP, The 2020 $64 Question

We have our Dem candidate (not official until fat lady sings at convention) and that candidate is Joe Biden…..a centrist in the umpth degree…..it will be telling about his character when we see who he picks as his running mate (he has already made a off-handed prediction that it would be a woman)….but as they say…”we will see”…..

For those still keeping track, chalk up another state victory for Joe Biden. The presumptive nominee won Wyoming’s mail-in Democratic primary, the party said Sunday. Biden got 72% of the vote to Bernie Sanders’ 28%, giving him 10 of the state’s pledged delegates to Sanders’ four, reports the Washington Post. The state typically holds a caucus, but it switched to an all-mail primary this year because of the coronavirus. Related coverage:

  • Interesting guest: The next guest on Biden’s “Here’s the Deal” podcast is Sen. Amy Klobuchar, seen as a leading candidate to be Biden’s running mate, reports Axios. The 20-minute episode is now available. They don’t talk about a potential 2020 ticket, but hit a wide range of other topics, including Klobuchar’s life before politics and her husband’s diagnosis with COVID-19. Over the weekend, Klobuchar declined to answer whether she would accept a VP offer, but she made a point to praise Biden as a “great vice president.”
  • The VP search: The Los Angeles Times has an overarching look at the search for a running mate, and it notes that one vocal camp is fearful Biden will repeat what it sees as Hillary Clinton’s mistake—picking a moderate, white candidate (in her case, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine) and losing black votes. That’s why the push for Sen. Kamala Harris and Stacey Abrams is active. Biden has pledged to pick a woman, and, beyond that, he says his main criteria is finding someone able to step in as president.
  • Fault lines: Politico reports that Biden’s campaign has not begun any formal vetting of contenders yet. Its story is a look at how the selection process is “taking shape along familiar fault lines” for the party—should it try to win back white, working class voters or focus on the minority-led coalition that propelled Barack Obama to two terms? In the first camp, Klobuchar, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin could work. The latter camp includes Harris, Abrams, Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. Masto and Grisham are Latina.

My money is on either Amy or Tammy…they are from the Rust Belt and Dems need all the help they can get there.  Trump has already pissed off Latinos so they will vote against him no matter who the VP pick is to be……Biden thinks his support in the black community is above reproach after his blow away for Bernie in South Carolina…so he will not need Harris or Abrams (plus they will upstage him whenever possible)……he will go with the most center of the center……. Amy Klobuchar.

Those are my thoughts….anyone care to jump into this discussion?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Why Should We Stay In Africa?

The Covid-19 has given me more to write about and I have been ignoring my writings on international relations and conflicts…..I will try to do better…..starting with the US involvement in Africa.

For years now the US has been involved in the issues and situations in Africa…..but out counter-terrorism policies have proved to be as worthless as the counting of sand grains.

We are heavily invested in the Sahel…..but is it worth the investment?

Since 9/11 the United States has significantly scaled up its counterterrorism (CT) activities in Africa. The U.S. has conducted unilateral CT operations as well as extensive training for African partner forces involved in the CT fight. Despite this long counterterrorism campaign the growth of jihadist groups continues in Somalia, north Africa, and west Africa. Many of the violent extremist organizations (VEOs) are aligned with either al-Qa’ida or the Islamic State.

U.S. Counterterrorism in Africa

That gives a semi rosy view but the truth is not so rosy or successful…..

President Trump provoked a furor when he declared his intent to withdraw some 1,400 US troops from West Africa, where he claimed they had quelled the terrorist threat. He sparked a similar firestorm when he announced that the U.S. would (eventually) pull 14,000 troops from Afghanistan, where they were engaged in an 18-year conflict against other violent extremists.

Critics included congressional Democrats, Republican stalwarts, and members of the U.S. military, intelligence, and diplomatic establishments, as well mainstream media pundits, international allies, and even some political progressives.

Establishment figures claimed that the battle against violent extremism was far from over and that U.S. military leadership was critical to victory. They pointed to ongoing insurgencies in the African countries of Mali and Nigeria in the Western Sahel and Somalia and Sudan in the Horn. Other progressives countered that U.S. policies have been ill-conceived and counterproductive — and that foreign military intervention has exacerbated the crises

Lessons From Africa: Military Intervention Fails to Counter Terrorism

It is time for the US to step back from the Sahel and let someone else do the heavy lifting……we have enough on our budgetary plate and a little relief would go a long way to easing the deficit.

Further Reading:

https://lobotero.com/2020/03/11/us-in-the-sahel/

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”