Day: July 18, 2023

I Have Been Summoned

Recently I was invited to participate in a round table discussion by the Atlantic Council…..

For those that are not familiar the Atlantic Co8nciul is a worldwide think tank…..

This from their website…..

The Atlantic Council promotes constructive leadership and engagement in international affairs based on the Atlantic Community’s central role in meeting global challenges. The Council provides an essential forum for navigating the dramatic economic and political changes defining the twenty-first century by informing and galvanizing its uniquely influential network of global leaders. The Atlantic Council—through the papers it publishes, the ideas it generates, the future leaders it develops, and the communities it builds—shapes policy choices and strategies to create a more free, secure, and prosperous world.

I am not a big fan of think tanks…..

This is the email I received from the ‘Council’

The Atlantic Council Syria Project is pleased to invite you to a panel discussion: ” How can the United States counter normalization with Assad in the Middle East“. This hybrid public event will take place on Wednesday, July 19, from 9:00 am to 11:00 am ET and will be streamed online.

On May 11, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers introduced the ‘Assad Regime Anti-Normalization Act’ which could bar the U.S. government from normalizing relations with any Syrian government led by Bashar Assad and enhance the U.S. government ability to impose sanctions on regional individuals and entities that provide support to his regime. The proposed legislation came days after the Arab League, led by Saudi Arabia, allowed Syria back into the League based on a shared understanding to counter Captagon trade and to create a roadmap for national reconciliation and refugee return into Syria.

The event will discuss the unique challenges facing U.S. law makers in a changing Middle East order that warmed-up to Assad, especially amidst Chinese and Russian efforts to edge out the United States in the region, and how this would impact Washington’s strategy in the region.

Speakers

Congressman Joe Wilson
Chairman
House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia

Mohammad Alaa Ghanem
Policy Chief
Syrian American Council

Moderator

Qutaiba Idlbi
Nonresident Senior Fellow & Head of the Syria Project
Atlantic Council 

I have decline because there is no one is representing Syria in this ‘discussion’….the actually Syrian people should have a voice in this as well….not some jumped up organization that is more worried about funding than the people of Syria.

Most are well aware of my thoughts on sanctions….more will not make Syria a better or safer place.

Plus there are too many conservatives on this panel which tells me there is no one there that would do fair representation of the nation of Syria….basically it will be nothing more than Assad bashing.

I appreciate the invite but it needs to be more encompassing than it is.

Peace ….Out.

“lego ergo scribo”

Trump In 2024

I know that the clown show we call Ukraine is on everybody’s mind…..but…..

Contrary to popular belief it is not too early to start thinking about the possibility of a trump win in November .

I believe that Trump, Donald the Orange, is just a dictator waiting to happen and the voter could present him with that opportunity.

Just to be clear….he does not like oversight of his station….in fact he wants to expand his control over aspects of our government.

The New York Times is out with a story sure to simultaneously delight the supporters of former President Trump and strike fear into his critics. The lengthy piece, based on his campaign’s public proposals and interviews with insiders, lays out how Trump plans to dramatically increase the power of the presidency should he be elected to a second term. The goal is to “alter the balance of power by increasing the president’s authority over every part of the federal government that now operates, by either law or tradition, with any measure of independence from political interference by the White House,” write Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan, and Charlie Savage. For example:

  • Independent agencies such as the FCC and the FTC would operate under the president’s control.
  • Presidents would be able to refuse to spend money authorized by Congress on programs they don’t like—the practice is called “impounding” funds, and lawmakers banned it under Richard Nixon.
  • Tens of thousands of civil servants would lose their job protection, making it easier for a president to fire them.

“What we’re trying to do is identify the pockets of independence and seize them,” explains Trump ally Russell Vought, who ran the Office of Management and Budget under Trump. John Kelly, one of Trump’s former chief of staffs, predicts a term of chaos should Trump be re-elected. “It would be a nonstop gunfight with the Congress and the courts.” Read the full story, which digs into the thinking behind “unitary executive theory” and its opposition to traditional checks and balances

Then there is the possibility of a trump victory because of one action by an outside group….

Geoffrey Skelley, a senior elections analyst at FiveThirtyEight, described on Thursday, July 13, how the Democrats are fretting about the possibility of a third-party candidate eating into President Joe Biden’s support in the 2024 presidential race.

Skelley described how a plan by the “No Labels” organization to field a centrist presidential ticket to run against tickets that will no doubt reflect the extremes of both the Republican and the Democratic Party could hurt Biden more than it would Trump, and argued that Cornel West’s bid for the Green Party nomination could impact Biden and the Democrats further.

Skelley has the data to prove it, too.

Surveys conducted since late May – within the last handful of weeks – have repeatedly shown that President Joe Biden could win against former President Donald Trump in a head-to-head match in 2024. When a No Labels or Green Party ticket is thrown into the mix, however, the race becomes much more competitive, and Trump even leads against Biden in a number of those polls.

Donald Trump Could Win in 2024 If One Thing Happens

I will have more to say on this prediction a little later.

Just do not get me started on the whole ‘centrist’ or ‘independent’ thing just yet.

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”