Category: Politics

everything to do with the execution of politics

What Happened To States Rights?

Closing Thought–19Sep19

The GOP has used the term to justify so many pull backs from the national stage issues like voting, abortion, marijuana and other social issues….now Trump decides a policy or something for a state…..

As expected, President Trump announced Wednesday that his administration is revoking California’s authority to set auto mileage standards stricter than those issued by federal regulators, a move critics said would result in less fuel efficient cars that create more planet-warming pollution. In a series of tweets, Trump said his action would result in less expensive, safer cars. He also predicted Americans would purchase more new cars, which would result in cleaner air as older models are taken off the roads. “Many more cars will be produced under the new and uniform standard, meaning significantly more JOBS, JOBS, JOBS! Automakers should seize this opportunity because without this alternative to California, you will be out of business,” Trump tweeted. Trump’s tweet does not address the money consumers would save at the gas pump if cars got better mileage.

Top California officials and environmental groups pledged legal action on Wednesday to stop the rollback, the AP reports. “You can’t get serious about climate change unless you are serious about vehicle emissions,” said California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat. “This is such a pivotal moment in the history of the climate change debate.” The state attorney general, who said the action will hurt US automakers and American families, pledged to fight it in federal court. It’s not clear yet what the Trump administration will propose as its final fuel-efficiency rules, but in the past it has favored freezing Obama-era mileage standards at 2021 levels. Under the Obama administration requirements, the fleet of new vehicles would have to average 30 mpg in real-world driving by 2021, rising to 36 mpg in 2025. Currently the standard is 26 mpg. (More on Trump’s claims of cheaper, safer cars and a cleaner environment here.)

Just another governing technique of the Trump regime……spread chaos and take everything to court…..

Will the GOP step up and challenge this attack on states rights…of course they will not for it would prove disastrous at the ballot box.

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Guns Beware!

The last debate was a snooze fest for me with the exception of Beto who did his level best to make the days following the debate were all about him.

And how did he accomplish this feat….and yes these days it is a feat to get the media to focus on anybody other than Biden/Warren…….

He stated on gun violence……

“Hell yes,” Beto insists amid a flurry of f-bombs, “we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47.” 

And the batcrap crazy went to Twitter and the rest of social media…..the Bulwark calls it what the statement was…….Politics of Bullshit” (love the title)……

“Hell yes,” Beto insists amid a flurry of f-bombs, “we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47.”

We are, I guess, supposed to take O’Rourke seriously but not literally when he says that he will confiscate 15 million guns from Americans, because, surely. One in five firearms sold in the United States today is an AR-15. And Beto wants to take them away.

But seriousness isn’t the point is it? Beto is passionate. More passionate and emotional than anyone else. And realism really isn’t the point either, is it? 

Beto isn’t making a realistic proposal for action; he’s performing an act of ideological self-pleasuring that is supposed to signal purity of heart and fervor of intention. 

The Politics of Bullshit

Of course this corporatist candidate did not mean a word of what he stated…..he wanted to be the “talk of the town” and he got his wish but it did not last as long as he wanted international events crapped on his “chi”……

My personal opinion is that I would not miss them….but then I may be alone in that feeling……I own guns but see NO need for a civilian to need or own an assault weapon.  Again my opinion.

Not to worry one of the other candidates will find a hook for the news cycle and Beto will be a sour taste in the mouths of conservatives and a forgotten news bite.

The debates are where the candidates go to try out their one liners and slogans looking for one that will break them out….at least for awhile to make their poll numbers rise…..at least for awhile.

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“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Rest Easy, We Have A NatSec Adviser

With Bolton gone there is the hope (by some me not included ) that there will be a reset of American foreign policy…..

Tom Wright makes the case that Trump is about to make a “foreign policy pivot”:

Trump wants to write a new chapter, closing the one marked “Militarism and Maximum Pressure” and opening one called “Dealmaking and the Pursuit of the Nobel Peace Prize.” He wants a summit with Iran’s leaders and deals with the Taliban, Kim Jong Un, and Vladimir Putin on arms control. He does not care about most of the details, as long as he gets the credit.

Few of his officials are particularly enthusiastic about this pivot, but led by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, they accept it and will seek to shape it.

The pivot metaphor has been used many times during Trump’s presidency to describe an impending change in direction, but the pivots never seem to take place. Like the expectation that Trump will eventually grow and learn while in office, the expectation that the president will become more responsible in his policies is always disappointed. It would make sense for Trump to deescalate tensions with Iran after creating the current crisis, but I see no evidence that he really intends to do this. Trump absolutely should extend New START, and without Bolton acting as an anti-arms control gremlin he could do this, but there has been no sign of interest in keeping the treaty alive. Trump should conclude negotiations to end the war in Afghanistan, but he just blew up the negotiations earlier this week. Negotiating with Iran requires ending “maximum pressure,” but so far the post-Bolton line from the administration is that “maximum pressure” isn’t going anywhere:

A Foreign Policy Pivot? I Wouldn’t Bet On It

A reset?  Not a chance!

The village peasants may now rest easy.

The revolving door at the NatSec desk is still working….Bolton Out now O’Brien in…..

President Trump has named hostage negotiator Robert O’Brien to be his new national security adviser, reports the AP. Trump tweeted Wednesday that he has “worked long & hard” with O’Brien and that “he will do a great job!” Trump’s announcement about O’Brien comes a week after he ousted John Bolton from the national security adviser’s post, citing policy disagreements. Bolton was Trump’s third national security adviser

He is a professional….maybe not my idea of a good choice but Hell NO one asked me….but that said where does he stand on some of the major issue of the day?

O’Brien – a fierce critic of former President Barack Obama – published a collection of his national security essays in 2016 called “While America Slept: Restoring American Leadership to a World in Crisis.”

Here are passages from his book that shed light on some of his views:

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-trump-adviser-obrien-factbox/factbox-trumps-new-national-security-adviser-in-his-own-words-idUKKBN1W32P2

While he may be a pro he is in direct opposition to Trump’s ideas for making American great again….will he adjust his opinions to conform with the president or will he be a short lived adviser?

Since the only thing on Trump’s mind these days is KSA and Iran and O’Brien fits nicely with Trump’s position…..

O’Brien was a critic of the Iran nuclear deal, and sees Iran’s nuclear programme as a major threat.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran is the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world and is building an archipelago across the Middle East using proxies and Revolutionary Guard forces from Yemen to Syria to Lebanon.”

We will see if he makes the transition from Neocon to Trump thug.

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The U.S. Must…!

I always like it when a think tank issues such dire ultimatums…..this time it is the Neocon think tank, the Heritage Foundation.

The headline of the their report on the US and the recent attack on Saudi territory…..”U.S. Must Lead Strong Multinational Response To Iran’s Extortion Strategy”…….

Now for the report that made the ultimatum possible…..

Iran has openly breached the limits on uranium enrichment set by the 2015 nuclear agreement, and is escalating pressure on European signatories of the agreement to shield it from U.S. sanctions—which were re-imposed after the U.S. withdrew from the nuclear deal in May 2018. Tehran is raising the stakes of its nuclear blackmail campaign every 60 days by ratcheting up its nuclear efforts to extort concessions from France, Germany, and the United Kingdom; drive a deeper wedge between the United States and its allies; and gain bargaining leverage for eventual negotiations with Washington on the nuclear issue.

Iran’s steadily escalating nuclear noncompliance has been accompanied by an intensifying campaign of maritime threats against gulf Arab oil exports. What Tehran wants is not only sanctions relief but unquestioned acceptance of its civilian nuclear program, which it has used in the past as a fig leaf to disguise its nuclear weapons program, and which it plans to use as a pretext for the future expansion of its uranium-enrichment activities.

https://www.heritage.org/middle-east/report/us-must-lead-strong-multinational-response-irans-extortion-strategy

They violated the agreement that Trump basically cancelled when he dropped out of the process……sanctions look like extortion as well…..

Diplomacy is always preferable that armed conflict….but some think that a bullying techniques will always work when they are the single most powerful country on the planet…..and yet that seems to never work  these days.

Heritage is one of those think tanks that will take a desired conclusion and set about making the facts fit the needed end…..to be honest most think tanks operate this way.

The U.S. MUST lead the response….why?

The Saudis have the best and most of US weaponry…they have the best training and the best war chest….so again….why must the US do anything?  Plus they bought the Israeli “Iron Dome” to protect against incoming missiles….that appears to be a absolute failure.

The US military is to be used to protect the homeland….and Saudi is NOT my homeland….is it yours?

Sorry but this recent attack could be turned into one helluva conspiracy theory.

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“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Ignorance Personified

And this one is in Tennessee……

Closing Thought–18Sep19

Kinda humorous how getting an education is somehow the wrong thing to do because it will make you a “Liberal”……..so does that mean that ignorance is better than knowledge?

What made me write this post is a piece I read about some moron in Tennessee, a senator no less, ……….

A Republican Tennessee lawmaker says he supports getting rid of higher education because he argues it would cut off the “liberal breeding ground.”

Sen. Kerry Roberts of Springfield called for eliminating higher education while speaking about attending a recent abortion legislative hearing on his conservative radio talk show on Sept. 2.

Roberts specifically called out one activist who testified in favor of protecting abortion rights. He asserted without evidence that the woman’s beliefs were a “product of higher education” and claimed that getting rid of higher education would “save America.”

The senator did not immediately respond to a request for further elaboration.

Roberts also questioned funding higher education with tax dollars. He voted in favor of the state’s $38.5 billion budget earlier this year, which included money for colleges and universities.

(newschannel5.com)

Another mental midget that thinks education is a waste of funds and a bad thing for the people…that is everyone but him and his…..

I wrote about “those liberal professors” before……

Please defend this moron…..please.

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Dems Proven Hapless

For years I have been calling the Dems all sorts of names such as clowns, cowards, feckless and hapless…..well the Dem controlled House proved yesterday just how hapless and impotent they truly have become.

Did you see the Theater of the Absurd?

The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing yesterday and it was a waste of time and proved just how hapless these people are…..

The White House told Corey Lewandowski, President Trump’s onetime campaign manager, not to testify about any discussions with Trump or his advisers when he appeared before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. The intention is “to protect executive branch confidentiality,” said Lewandowski, who never worked in the White House. “I recognize this is not my privilege,” he told the committee, “but I am respecting the White House’s decision.” White House lawyers took seats behind Lewandowski for the hearing, the BBC reports, and Lewandowski stuck to the script—or lack of one. That frustrated Democrats gathering information about whether to draft articles of impeachment against Trump and potential obstruction of justice referred to in the Mueller report into Russian interference in the 2016 election, per the Washington Post. It pleased the president, who tweeted “Thank you Corey!” for his “beautiful” opening statement.

A “contempt” suggestion was made by a lawmaker, and Lewandowski seemed to return the sentiment. The exchanges included:

  • Asked by Rep. Eric Swalwell to read the evidence he gave from the Mueller report, Lewandowski mocked his questioner as “President Swalwell.”
  • When Rep. Jamie Raskin said the tooth fairy isn’t real, Lewandowski said, “My children are watching, so thank you for that.”
  • “He’s filibustering,” Chairman Jerry Nadler said when Lewandowski demanded a copy of the Mueller Report, per Fox.
  • As Lewandowski talked over her, Rep. Pramila Jayapal yelled, “This is my time!” She added: “You are a witness before the Judiciary Committee. Please act like it!”
  • Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, whose question he had called a “rant,” admonished Lewandowski as well: “This is the House Judiciary Committee! Not a house party!”
  • Lewandowski is reportedly thinking about running for the Senate from New Hampshire next year and, during a break in the hearing, tweeted a link to his website where supporters can sign up to help, per the Hill. “You are not on the campaign trail yet,” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries told him.

The White House had invoked executive privilege Monday night to cover two presidential aides who were to testify Tuesday, Rob Porter and Pat Cipollone. Neither showed up for the hearing. “This is a cover-up, plain and simple,” Nadler said

The Dems are allowing these thugs pretending to be people to run the show…..they should send “Lew” Baby to the corner for contempt and any other d/bag from the Trump admin that wants to play hard ball.

But instead the Dems try to play hardball with a nerf ball….and then they wonder why they cannot get the attention they need…they have NO long term plan they just skate from one election to the next.

Dems have great ideas but really suck at the game of politics.

And for that they will always be playing catch-up.

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

The 2020 Front Runners

AS I write this post the two front runners for the Dems in the 2020 race are Biden and Warren (for now)……

Of the two I would choose Warren but that is just me…not right now for I have another candidate in mind.

But lets look at the two……

Shall we begin with Warren……..she does not have what it takes to get my vote……her foreign policy chops suck…..but there is more……

There will surely be those who claim that Warren represents the better choice. There will be those who claim that her affirmation that she is a capitalist will avoid alienating swathes of Middle America for whom the “S word” still evokes a visceral aversion due to the lingering success of Cold War-era Red Scare propaganda. There will be those who claim that she is more policy-savvy than Sanders, given her background as an academic and consumer rights advocate. And, sadly, there will be those who take the gender sectarian line that the fact that a female president is overdue (which it certainly is) ought to eclipse all other considerations or even override what would otherwise disqualify her from support from genuine progressives – as undoubtedly was the case with Hillary Clinton.

The Problem With Warren

Then there is Joe Biden……another corporatist candidate that will not get my vote (I do not agree with any candidate is better than Trump….vote blue no matter who)……

Which brings us to Joe Biden. Like Hillary (and Bill) Clinton, he represents the corporate-establishmentarian wing of the Democratic Party. Also like Hillary, his main hook is the undisputable dreadfulness of the Donald.

So what, then, about Biden? Democrats need to talk about Joe. There’s little doubt that the 77-year-year-old former U.S Vice President is suffering from some measure of dementia. Confusing New Hampshire with Vermont, not knowing the name of the college where he just spoke, thinking that he met with Parkland school shooting victims when he was vice president, invading the centrist MSDNC host Joy Reid’s physical space to claim that she advocates “physical revolution,” inappropriate public touching (and sniffing), forgetting thoughts in mid-sentence, saying that the recent Dayton and El Paso mass shootings took place in “Michigan” and “Houston” – all of this and more (including the alarming frequency with which he looks lost and confused) suggest that Biden’s elevator is no longer running all the way to the top floor (if it ever was) as he nears his ninth decade of life. Executive function is no small matter. This is about aging, which some people (e.g. the still on-point Bernie Sanders) do more gracefully and cogently than others (e.g. Joe).

No Joe: On Character, Quality and Authenticity

I agree that Biden is not the man to be president…..but my main problem with him is his “LIES”……my bad “he misspoke”…..

Joe Biden told NPR that he was “immediately” opposed to the Iraq War after the invasion began in 2003. After a Washington Post fact check found statements from 2003 and 2004 contradicting Biden’s claims, a Biden staffer said the former vice president “misspoke.”

Biden rationalized his vote in 2002 to authorize military force in Iraq. He claimed then-President George W. Bush promised him the vote would be used to get UN weapons inspectors in the country, not go to war.

“[Bush] looked me in the eye in the Oval Office. He said he needed the vote to be able to get inspectors into Iraq to determine whether or not Saddam Hussein was engaged in dealing with a nuclear program,” Biden told NPR. “He got them in and before you know it, we had ‘shock and awe.’”

NPR contacted Bush’s office to ask about the supposed encounter between the former president and Biden. Bush spokesman Freddy Forde said in an email, “I’m sure it’s just an innocent mistake of memory, but this recollection is flat wrong.”

Biden Advisor: Biden ‘Misspoke’ on Early Opposition to Iraq War

Sorry but a lie is a lie….we can call it anything we like but it is still a LIE.

We already have a unapologetic liar in the White House and we do not need another.  If he will lie about these things then what else is he continuously lying to the voter about?

The media needs to stop embracing Biden and speak to his constant lies….oh my bad,,,,,GAFFS.

View at Medium.com

Finally there is Biden’s opposition to Medicare For All…..

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/09/09/biden-invokes-dead-family-members-against-medicare-all-and-corporate-media-plays

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“Lego Ergo Scribo”