Fiddlin’ Through the Fire.

These times are so uncertain

There’s a yearning undefined

People filled with rage

We all need a little tenderness

         How can love survive in such a graceless age?

….Don Henley, Mike Campbell, J.D. Souther

McConnell and Ryan and their fellow Republican legislators lived through eight years of the worst President in my lifetime; who just happened to be a very partisan Democrat.  They spoke openly about what they would do when they eventually (and the worm always turns, doesn’t it?) were put back into a position of power.  Now that their wish has been granted, they are not pleased with the terms of the granting.  They do not like their Republican President.  They carp at his tweets.  They belittle his sometimes absurd rhetorical adventures that tend to wander off of the fact-based pathways.  When in his presence, their body language belies their contempt for his claim to the Presidency that, in their judgments, should have been filled by a more conventional party man.  Given the corrupt history of Clinton and Obama presidential pardons, they nonetheless ridicule Trump’s pardon of Sheriff Joe.  They are very much like the dog chasing the car who knows not what to do with the vehicle once the capture is complete.  As incompetent and misguided as their Democratic rivals are, they are on the verge of yielding back legislative power to a self-righteous, pious, arrogant, and corrupt bunch of liberals.  They have lost sight of the one standard that they will be measured by; the first priority of government is to GOVERN.  If they do not find within themselves the capacity to accept this presidential blessing in the form of the tarnished Donald Trump, they will fritter away the best hope of meaningful government reform for decades to come.  They had best find their elixir and dutifully take their daily doses of Trump Tolerance.  He may at times be a loudmouth buffoon who shoots recklessly from the hip with no regard for the truth; but he is their Republican President.  Just dwell for a moment or two on the realities of a Hillary Clinton administration… Trump looks pretty good.

The Democratic Party is also toying with its own form of self-destruction.  Will they follow the antifa, the Black Lives Matter radicals who see racism in every eastern sunrise, the Bernie Sanders socialists who want to throw everything from everybody into one big pie and then divvy it out to the public in common metal platters, the eastern female Senator of false Indian heritage who wanders about flirting with her political ambitions while engaging in fairy tale policy fantasies, and the Schumer/Pelosi leadership that advocates pure obstructionism in place of honest debate and alternative ideas?  Polls be damned; does anyone really believe there is a Democrat, or Republican, out there today that could defeat Donald Trump for President?  As flawed as he is, he continues to address that yearning of most (at least a plurality or minor majority) Americans for the anti-politician who will try something other than WDC business as usual.

Democrats and Republicans, get over yourselves; Trump beat all comers in the primaries; Trump beat Hillary in the general; Trump is President until the next election.  Make…this…thing…work.

And how crazy has our government become when we leap completely through the looking glass to empower Robert Mueller to form a shadow Justice Department with his glorious cast of partisan Democratic donors and supporters that spends millions of taxpayer dollars to chase ephemeral conspiracies while real criminals who have committed real crimes continue to serve in real positions in our real government?  What an absolute farce!  Never before has a more ridiculous and unproven political episode been foisted upon a more confounded public in a more stupefying fashion. 

And Charlottesville… the latest spark for this eternal racial American angst that is the wound that will not heal; the scab that is continually pricked.  The hard truth is that as long as racism remains a cottage industry for any number of vested interests and individuals, it will not go away.  Only when we cease to differentiate between those of different races will we come together as Americans first.  The regrets must be buried.  The sins must be forgiven.  The retribution must be set aside.  Attitudes must be changed.  The dark sides of racism must be dispensed with; along with the patronizing entitlements promoted by those who self-benefit from them.

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The all-too-few times that our President has stuck to the script and presented a presidential decision or address, when he has actually done something that receives fairly universal acclaim as being the right thing to do, the media has been AWOL.  Hillary Clinton is still putting out books trying to explain how terrible a decision the nation made by not selecting her as president and “how in the world did that happen?”.   Obama administration holdovers, embedded throughout the government, continue to obstruct and sabotage any initiative made by the current administration.  The Federal Judiciary is riddled with maverick liberals who foist their own brand of personal civil and social philosophy upon any litigants unfortunate enough to appear in their courts.  Democrats are still in denial about their minority status; Republicans cannot find contentment with the Republican in the White House.  Black radicals fight with White supremacists in city streets; while anarchists are in literal combat with alt-right believers throughout our nation.  The one common thread that weaves amongst all of these and many more vigilante groups of professional protesters is their disregard for the law and civil authority, their lack of respect for personal property, and their total allegiance to a cause that currently serves as their flavor du jour.  While the Middle Eastern cauldron continues to boil, the fat boy emperor in North Korea plays his own personal version of Game of Thrones, the dark and ruthless shirtless one schemes in the Kremlin, Europe romps through its various forms of identity crisis, and the other regions and continents of the planet deal with their own dramas… the United States of America stands in the center of it all in a state of utter confusion; wallowing in self-denial about how ridiculous she appears, how lost and rudderless she has become, and rapidly losing sight of exactly  how essential her leadership and stability is to the rest of civilization.  It is time for all involved to get down to the Heart of the Matter.  It is time for a re-emergence of statesmanship.  It is time for selfless pursuit of a more efficient and effective government that serves all of its people with transparency, honesty, respect, and dignity.  It is time to redefine exactly what government should do and exactly how much government we can afford.  By wishing for those things to return, it goes without saying that I believe they are gone.

Chickens Coming Home and Hunting White Whales.

My goodness, what a strange couple of weeks it has been.  Open warfare occurring within the White House staff (ah … this perpetual three-ring circus known as the Trump Administration), North Korea and Iran continuing to develop their long-range missile capabilities, the health care legislation debacle in the U.S. Senate, and the continuing melodrama of collusion/leaking/obstruction investigations that has consumed WDC and the media.  Where to begin?

Democrats … be very careful what you wish for; your chickens are coming home to roost.  After spending over six months in breathless pursuit of something…anything…that might lend credence to the idea that the Trump Campaign colluded with the Russian Government and coming up empty, it is now beginning to look very much like the accusers are the ones guilty of the crime.   Karma does take some funny turns and how ironic would it be to find that this GPS Fusion business is nothing less than a sophisticated, complex attempt by the Democrats, with acquiescence from the media, to collude with the Russians to insure Hillary Clinton’s election?  Stay tuned to this one @ http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2017/07/getting-a-fix-on-fusion-gps.php

As for going through the looking glass, Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s (along with several other elected Democrats) episodes with the Pakistani Awan Family Enterprises is becoming stranger by the moment; you can’t write fiction more weird than this.  The ball of twine to beginning to unravel, but here is a good short release on the topic, @ http://www.nationalreview.com/article/449983/debbie-wasserman-schultz-pakistani-computer-guys-bank-fraud     

This certainly seems like one of those mysteries that will ultimately be solved by following that old, sage advice of “follow the money”.  Somebody, for some reason, wanted these folks out of this country in the worse way.  Wonder why?

As each day and week rolls by and we get further away from the days of the Obama Administration, facts continue to reveal how corrupt and self-serving this outfit was.  I have said before that in my humble opinion, the absolute worst transgression of Obama’s folks was the invasion of privacy and the weaponization of federal agencies for that purpose, driven by purely partisan motivation.  That these idiotic ethic-less individuals such as Powers, Rice, Brennan, and Rhodes were given free rein to savage the personal privacy of U.S. citizens in sophomoric attempts to further their idealistic agenda is not only nauseating, it is very likely illegal.  If there is any justice in this world, there will be a perp walk or two come out of this mess.  Here are some recent developments on this front, but it is far from over … @ http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/344226-intelligence-chairman-accuses-obama-aides-of-hundreds-of-unmasking

Sarah Palin is a very galvanizing figure and she has certainly said and done some things that have not burnished her public persona.  However, with the exception of Donald Trump, it is difficult to think of any recent politician who has been more personally savaged by the media than Palin.  The media have been playing fast and loose with their own misconceptions of self-importance for some time now and their boldness in printing whatever they like for whatever reason they want has morphed to astounding levels.  The NY Times, hardly a shell of its once vaunted self, may have stepped into it deeply with their last shot at Palin.   I doubt that I would be alone in celebrating their comeuppance should they lose this little legal contest, @ http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2017/07/palin-to-subpoena-23-witnesses-in-nyt-defamation-suit.php

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Republican Senator Grassley, along with support from Democrat Feinstein, are moving the Senate Judiciary Committee closer and closer to finally taking a good, hard look at the nexus of Hillary Clinton, Loretta Lynch, and James Comey.  Maybe there is nothing there, maybe there is something there; but given the constant Trump/Russia drumbeat, it is without a doubt far beyond time for an equally discerning examination to be given to the shenanigans that these players likely perpetrated.  If he so desires, Grassley has the respect and position to push this issue to the top of the page; perhaps even leading to another Special Counsel Investigation.  And judging from his comments over the past couple of weeks, he certainly seems to have a bee in his bonnet about it.  Read more @ http://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/23/loretta-lynch-hillary-clinton-probe-senate-judiciary-239905

A recent development that makes this matter even more intriguing is the recent report that ex-FBI Director Comey’s General Legal Counsel James Baker is likely being investigated for leaking information to the press; @ http://www.lifezette.com/polizette/fbi-lawyer-allegedly-investigation-leaking/

How truly bizarre and disappointing is it that the ex-FBI Director and his General Counsel were both apparently leaking data (quite likely, some of it classified) to the media for political purposes?  This is the F, B, freaking I we are talking about!   Is there literally no integrity left in WDC?  And Comey, this fount of wisdom and decency, is the lead witness in Special Counsel Mueller’s  investigation of Trump obstruction?  Really?

And finally, there is the Republican’s Captain Ahab imitation of making Obamacare their white whale and obsessively pursuing it with no regards for the consequences.  Since the ‘90’s Clinton Chronicles, both political parties have disgraced themselves with partisan ambitions that have steadily eroded any semblance of legislative integrity.  It is difficult to blame one or the other for implementing the “next” extraordinary legislative stunt in order to get even for their opponent’s “last” extraordinary legislative stunt.  One thing is crystal clear: the Republicans are just as obsessed with repealing Obamacare as the Democrats were with passing it.  Neither side can see the space in between outright repeal and unqualified allegiance to the original mandate/tax penalty concepts of Obamacare.  As unsavory as the process was, it is really hard to understand how Murkowski and McCain can square their rhetoric from past campaigns with their votes this week on the Senate’s “skinny repeal” bill.  Methinks that Murkowski is somewhat of a ditz and McCain is extraordinarily full of himself.  Regardless of the finality announcements being made by some on both sides of the political aisle, I don’t believe that we have seen the last of the “repeal and replace” effort in the U.S. Senate.  With the Herman Melville entrenchment of the political parties regarding fundamental health care principles, it is difficult to see any civil end to this matter and the only ultimate solution is likely to be the product of “power play” politics.   Once again, Congressional legislating imitates sausage manufacture.

The Best It Could Be.

Everything does not have to be in constant turmoil and strife. Why can't events, on occasion, converge to create a sense of accomplishment and tranquility?  The poisonous, bitter, partisan environment that has evolved for much of this nation can moderate to a point of tolerate and civil exchanges of policies and ideals.  As has been said many times… “The darkest hour is just before the dawn”.  Things have been pretty dark for some time now; what if a few things went the right way for a change and it turned out “the best it could be”?

I am on record about how I feel President Trump should deal with Special Counsel Mueller (fire him!); but let us assume that does not happen.  The best thing for all involved would be for Mueller to expeditiously complete his investigation, keep its scope limited to the original intent and subject, and officially file a report that will put to rest any pretense towards collusion between the Trump for President Campaign and the Russian Government.  Given Mueller’s clear bona fides as a good, upstanding Democrat; a report of this nature should go a long ways towards removing this albatross from the neck of our President and get it out of the face of anyone who pays any attention whatsoever to the media and news.  And if Mr. Mueller were to reach such a final verdict, maybe then the mainstream media will somehow decide that an opportunity is presenting itself to reset the relations between the Trump Administration and themselves.  Victor Davis Hanson does as fine a job as I have seen in framing the dereliction of duty by the mainstream media regarding its treatment of Trump versus…say…Obama.  Read it here @ http://www.hoover.org/research/americas-media-meltdown .

How much different would out country be if we had at least a semblance of a healthy, respectfully adversarial, and honest relationship between the Fourth Estate and the Trump Administration? 

And how about if this coming week, we actually see the U.S. Senate do its job and pass some health care legislation?  How good would that be?  Now you may not agree with any of the proposed legislation; but anyone who deals with it in the real world must confess that our health care system is messed up.  Changes have to be made.  The Democrats passed on a party-line vote and Obama signed into law the ACA (Affordable Care Act).  The House has passed the AHCA (American Health Care Act).  The Senate might soon consider passing the BCRA (Better Care Reconciliation Act).  It is regrettable that the Republicans are using similar types of extraordinary legislative procedures to pass their health care legislation on a party-line vote; just like the Democrats did with the ACA.  However, there are changes that must be made to create a sustainable health care system in this country.  There are many bi-partisan ideas that might get passed outside of the reconciliation process (i.e. selling insurance across state lines) if we can just get past this repeal and replace nonsense.  And equally important is the fact that health care legislation is a gigantic road block that is preventing other necessary legislation efforts such as tax reform and infrastructure spending.  The best thing that could happen is that we get over this acronym madness, get ACA repealed, and then get on to creating a new plan…WITH bi-partisan input and process.

Imagine how great it would be if Putin were to decide that Assad is simply not worth his investment in Syria?  What if he could simply get past the idea that Assad is his man, throw him overboard in order to obtain some peace and stillness in Syria, and work within an international framework to establish some type of order in Syria and give the Syrian people a chance at some type of future with dignity and safety?  Why must there perpetually be these “petri dish human tragedies” scattered across our planet, contrived by the great world leaders and ruthless barbarians who care not for human dignity but lust eternally for power and glory?  These little subplots to the mighty world order that provide an eternal source of damage to the human body and spirit?  If Putin would simply give up on Assad, I have to believe that the U.S. and its allies, along with China, would leap at the chance to pursue a chance at a Syrian peace that actually has some prospect of success.  Come on, Vlad…get you ish together.

And how about if our fearless President somehow misplaces his phone and cannot find it?  And how about whoever does find it takes a ball peen hammer to it and it NEVER…TWEETS…AGAIN.    It would so good that when a good report or two comes out from this Administration; there would no longer be an idiotic tweet out there to set everything backwards a step or two.  Would it not be a good idea for the folks with have joined up with the President to serve this nation, at a high dose of personal expense, to go through their daily work lives without wondering if this is their day to be thrown, if not under, at least in the proximity of the proverbial bus (looking at you…Jeff)?   Mr. Trump: you are now the President!  The campaign is over!  This is not the Trump Corporation; this is the U.S. government!  Focus on the agenda and results and please leave the shallow, ego-massaging, grandstanding to someone else. 

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And if things are going to be the best they can be, then after the health care issue is well on its way towards meaningful resolution; the Congress will take up some serious tax reform.  Tax reform that will simplify a process that is more complex than the freaking cosmos.  Tax reform that will not only be easier to understand, but will lessen the individual burden on most while broadening the base to insure that everyone has some skin in the game.   Tax reform that will spur business and job creation in this nation, once again get our GDP above that magic number of 3 percent, and give people opportunities for jobs that pay well and offer a chance for better lives.  I fear that if the health care legislative effort fails, it will be a harbinger of a coming failure on tax reform.  Our nation’s economy can ill afford that calamity.  We need a jolt to our economy and that jolt must be in the form or meaningful tax reform.  Best case scenario: Make it happen!

Somebody…somewhere needs to come up with a solution to shut down these little Napoleonic potentates (otherwise known as federal judges) and make them understand that their role in our nation’s structure is not to write the law, but to enforce it as it is written.  I do not care if the law was passed by Democrats or Republicans; the law is the law.  These charlatans posing in their black robes with their noses held high in the air must be given to understand that their political appointments do not make them larger and more powerful than the President…or Congress…or even a higher authority.   There must be some type of system or method put into place that will allow for the SCOTUS to more quickly yank the chain on these rogue judges and put them in their place.  The lag times between some of their idiotic judicial rulings and their overturning by SCOTUS is far too excessive and serious damage is being done to the integrity of our legal foundation.  Here’s hoping that some semblance of legal sanity can be re-established in our federal court system.

And finally, what if a bolt of lightning were to flash from the heavens, strike our noble elected officials in the U.S. Capitol, and place in them the notion that perhaps they should not be career politicians?  Perhaps they should serve a limited number of years and then, accepting the reality that continuously living and working in the political environment of WDC, they eventually fall out of touch with the people they serve and should turn the job over to someone new?  Perhaps a good starting point for the discussion is one six year term for President (no longer running for the second term after just two years in office), three six year terms for Senators (long enough to insure some experience, but short enough to insure against pretense of royalty), and five two year terms for Representatives (returning the House to the concept of “citizen politician”)?  Term limits is that marvelous idea that can never come to pass because it must be imposed by those who will be adversely affected by its imposition.  But hey…if we’re going for the best it can be…why not? 

Shucking Corn and Thinking ‘Bout Snakes.

For a July Saturday morning in Kentucky, this is one of the good ones.  About 7:00 am out on the front porch and there are just enough clouds rolling through the skies to provide cover from the early, hot summer sun.  There is a cool, sweet breeze coming in from the east and rolling down through the woods from the ridge above.  The Good Lord smiled on me and mine when he allowed us to be at this place, at this time, and not in some crazy place like…say for instance…Washington, DC.   After breathless coverage, 24/7, of the “Russia Thang”, a few minutes on the front porch on Saturday morning goes a long ways towards putting the world back in its proper order. 

More and more, our nation seems to be divided between its urban cultures and its rural cultures.  I fall squarely into the rural culture segment, but I will readily acknowledge the many wonderful benefits that go with the urban lifestyle.  I remember the television lawyer show Boston Legal where with each episode’s ending, William Shatner and James Spader would sit out on their high-rise balcony, cigars in mouth and drinks in hand, and gaze out over a gloriously beautiful skyline of the city at night.  A strikingly similar perspective is offered by the Amazon crime series Bosch where the lead character lives in a hillside, glassed-in home with a breath-taking view of the Los Angeles skyline.  Cities have their problems; but they also have their museums, varied restaurants, exhilarating commercial vitality, bars and pubs with live entertainment, headline acts performing on a year-round basis, professional sports attractions, and wonderful employment opportunities offering exciting and challenging career choices.  When people live and work in such close proximity, there is an undeniable spirit or essence that literally beats like a heart.  It rises up with the good times and aches terribly during the bad.  Unfortunately, the urban environments can also foster in many of their residents an attitude of superiority that trivializes much of the urban lifestyle and demeans the core luster of city living.  

Rural living has some downside too; but there is also much to be valued in the country.  There is a special worth to the spatial independence of rural living, the slower-paced and more personable environment that permeates everyday life in the country, being on personal terms with your children’s teachers or your family doctor or the Circuit Judge.  The really nice museums and restaurants might not be just down the block, but they are typically within an hour or two commute at most.  City parks?  My whole farm is a park for my grandchildren.  There are soreheads and bad characters in town and out; but at least in the country, most of them are well known and identified rather quickly.  And all that balcony skyline gazing that I previously mentioned?  I wouldn’t trade my front porch for both Shatner’s and Bosch’s night visions.  Even though the rural culture clearly cultivates a certain level of contempt for our city neighbors, I think we view city-dwellers not as an inferior species, but rather as a poor lot that has not yet discovered the glories of country living.  It is really more of sympathy than a dislike.  Man’s hand, through monumental courage, ingenious engineering, and sheer will to build, has created urban visions that can challenge even the most gifted imagination.  But any person who can experience the simple beauty and primal majesty of the deep woods, a pasture field or meadow, a crop field fully ripened, a stream running though the trees and rocks like a silver ribbon, a doe watching over its twin yearlings as they forage, an inland lake where the white tips of the waves plays tricks on the eye and gives glimpses of things not understood, the clouds wisping across a wide-open, clear blue morning sky or a star-studded and perfectly clear nightscape when the heavens seem to go on forever...well, that person must truly realize that this magnificent and wondrous balance of life and elements cannot be far removed from the hand of God.  Man may have built the skyscrapers and the bridges, the tunnels and the freeways, the dams and sidewalks; but he did not build the wonders of rural America that I have mentioned.

How great is it that we all have the option to live urban, rural, or at many of levels that lie between those two in this great nation?  If we, as a citizenry, could simply get over ourselves and our tunnel-visions and openly embrace the reality that where we live and how we live is a matter of liberty and a matter of choice.  It is not right or wrong; it is America.  Spader and Shatner saw the same things off of their balcony that I saw off of my front porch this morning; a glorious world created by God and given to us, by His grace, to enjoy and maintain. 

Now let’s turn the discussion to snakes.  There are two kinds of snakes in this world; the animal kind and the human kind.  Our attitudes towards both kinds are very irrational.  Not only that, but it seems that the irrational attitudes we hold towards each kind are somehow reversed from the order they should logically be in.  Let’s take the animal kind of snake.  There is a wide range of “snakey” places in this nation and this world, but on average, much of the country is not unlike my native Kentucky.  We have 33 species of snakes in my home state, with four of them being venomous.  Nationwide, there are annually about 7,000 – 8,000 venomous snake bites resulting in about 5 fatalities.  The biggest contributor to this sniping is the rattlesnake.  The point to be made here is that a bite from a venomous snake is rare; a death from a venomous snake bite is even rarer still.  Now if YOU are the one being bit, there is nothing rare about it; I’m just saying that there is a lot of stuff out there that is likely to get you before a venomous snake.  However, in most of the people I know, there is an inexplicable fear of a snake…any snake.  Very few folks have the expertise to distinguish the venomous snakes from the non-venomous snakes and many, many of those folks take the approach that all snakes need to be killed on sight.  What is it in a reptilian creature which is at most a few feet long, has no arms/legs/claws, is understandably more fearful of us than we are of it, and spends it waking  hours trying it’s best to stay out of our sight  that makes us view them as such threats?  Is it that old diabolical story going back to the Garden of Eden?  Is it the simple fear of the unknown?  Is it the prehistoric, somewhat mesmerizing appearance of the snake; so beautiful and so evil at the same moment?  I do not know the answer to this odd way we look at snakes, but I know that the raccoons, possums, groundhogs, deer, and rabbits have done a lot more damage around my place than any snake ever did.   

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Now the human kind of snake is a creature that should truly be feared.  These types come with all appendages and faculties that make the human the unique creature we are.  Unfortunately, they have that little “bent” in their character that makes them want to lie in the grass and wait for opportunities to strike.  It makes them say one thing to our face, and another thing entirely behind our backs.  It makes them promise one thing with the full intention of never following through and then going in a different, more self-serving direction.  It makes them pull those of us who are not as strong in character as we should be into the dark sides of the human creature and go places where we should never go.  Many of these of these people are the most evil characters we have ever known; people like serial killers, pedophiles, barbaric dictators, those who traffic in human flesh and the many others that prey on the weak and vulnerable among us.  We find these human kinds of snakes sprinkled in every nook and cranny of our culture and society.  From the community church, to the U.S. Senate, to the White House Administration, to the schools and day cares, from the rich and swanky world of the privileged, to the depths of poverty where many are imprisoned by circumstances beyond their control and others choose that level because it is the path of least resistance.  Now here is the part of this deal that I find so interesting; the same folks that will immediately kill an absolutely harmless 9 inch long green snake with a grubbing hoe will embrace the human snake.  They will sit down with them at a church supper.  They will contribute hard-earned dollars to their political adventures.  They will hold them forth as heroes, mentors, and examples of good living and accomplishment.  Many of our culture’s so-called role models turn out to be the human kind of snake.  And it certainly goes without saying that far more human tragedy is heaped upon our civilization by the human kind of snake than the animal kind of snake.  Now in all fairness, many of these human snakes are pretty damn devious and mighty hard to detect.  Remember what I said about the animal snake being mesmerizingly beautiful and evil at the same time?  Our human snakes are masters at showing us that beautiful part and hiding that evil part…aren’t they? 

I guess I will close my herpetological discussion by wondering this…How different might this world be if we took the same care to spot the human kind of snake as we do while walking through deep Kentucky woods in August and September and watching out for those animal kinds of snakes?  I do not advocate taking grubbing hoes to the WDC politicians or looking for group hugs with copperheads; I’m simply saying that a bit of equity and impartial observation might lead us to a more prudent threat assessment.

More Quick Hits, Post Independence Day.

The Fourth of July is a wonderful day of celebration across our nation.  It is that rare holiday that is celebrated at the basic backyard barbecue level as well as the WDC Gala level.  It is wonderful to see people flying the Colors and expressing their appreciation for our liberties and those who help(ed) us achieve and maintain those liberties.  It comes at a time when the weather is conducive to outdoor gatherings and the water is just right for a dip.  Even though a few make feeble efforts to do so, it is really very difficult to politicize the Fourth and given the times we live in, that makes it very special indeed.   The day after Independence Day is a quiet day for many and in the absence of any huge single story-line, I want to take the opportunity to throw out just a few more quick hits.

The Democrats Continue Their Downward Spiral.  Everywhere you turn these days, there seems to be new lows being reached as far as civility and statesmanship is concerned.  The Democratic Party continues its devolution into irrelevance in a not-so-graceful fashion that is almost painful to observe.  Still led by a clinging Hillary, a never-ending Socialist Bernie, a foul-mouthed Perez, an idiotic ex-National Chair Wasserman-Schultz whose latest effort is removal of the President through the 25^th Amendment, and the so-called Resistance Movement; American Democrats are allowing the left-wing radicals of their party to drag them over a cliff that will inevitably lead to very long fall with a very messy landing.  I have been waiting since Obama’s second election for a new Democratic voice of reason to emerge from the liberal madness that has consumed their party; but there seems to be not one in sight.  Surely, at some point sooner rather than later, there will be a voice of moderation rise from the Democratic silliness that will begin to espouse a rational and reasonable approach to promoting their liberal agenda.  This NEEDS to happen and the sooner, the better.

Republicans Continue to Mimic the Keystone Kops.  Some Republicans are still under the illusion that they won majorities in the House and Senate because they are such marvelous campaigners or because an overwhelming majority of Americans buy into their agenda.  The truth is that these majorities were obtained the same way Donald Trump gained the Presidency…they simply looked far better than the alternative.  Given this opportunity to implement their agenda, the Republicans have instead chosen to bargain and bicker away the few precious workdays they have in majority status in an endless quest for some ideal, conservative universe in which only their philosophy will prevail.  If Rand Paul cannot get the government entirely out of health care, then there will be no health care.  If John McCain can’t get foreign policy conducted to his satisfaction, then he will simply go overseas and conduct his own foreign policy.  Paul Ryan is overflowing with self-pity because he, the obvious fount of wisdom and policy, has to deal with this imbecile in the White House who is clearly incapable of understanding the legislative process.  As we barrel headlong towards the end of the federal fiscal year (September 30), we once again find ourselves in familiar territory that we’ve occupied over the last several Administrations…no appropriation bills passed, no budget in place, an abject and dismal failure of Congress to perform its basic and primary function of prioritizing and funding our government for its next fiscal year.  This is a continuing failure of leadership and in this case, it is undisputedly Republican leadership.  I do not know what it is in the WDC water that makes every Representative who is elected by a handful of counties, or every Senator who has found themselves in the right political place at the right political time, to feel empowered to change the world and this country to match their own, personal vision…with total and absolute disregard of all that has transpired before their arrival and the conflicting or differing ideas of their critics.  With all of these marvelous geniuses serving our interests, it is mind-numbing that we find our government in such a colossal mess.

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Trump Still Does Not Realize He Is President.  I held very low regard for Donald Trump the candidate and I still hold very little regard for Donald Trump the man.  He demonstrates little in the way of character, behavior, humility, or dignity to earn the respect of anyone.  He is, nonetheless, our President and he has astounded me with his excellent selections of both Administration Appointments and policy decisions.  To the shock and/or dismay of many, Donald Trump is actually attempting to fulfill the campaign promises upon which he ran.  But somehow, some way…the fact that he is now President has escaped him.  The Reality Show Czar, the Corporate Napoleon, the High-Rolling Real Estate Mogul, and the Headline Seeking Celebrity…all of these personas apparently served him well when he was in the private sector and was running for President.  But now that he has become President…well, not so much.  I understand how any reasonable person would be absolutely infuriated with a media that has devolved into a proxy for the opposing party and is shamelessly shilling itself for the simple cause of spite.  I can appreciate how exasperating it must be to find the Democratic Party unanimously engaging in their idiotic Resistance Movement when he has reached out (albeit clumsily and awkwardly) for their support.  I still marvel at the fact that at his center, Donald Trump has many liberal tendencies and this fact is lost on the Democrats.  After working as a civil servant for over thirty years, I can appreciate the President’s frustration with the slow and deliberate mechanisms of our government and how intransigent he finds them when it comes to reform or change.  All of these things must truly be maddening to a man that ran on the premise of “Draining the Swamp” and now finds himself drowning in it.  But that is no reason to continue personal behavior that is more suited to grade school sandboxes and college fraternities than it is to running our government as its Chief Executive.  All the folks that are advising the President to Keep His Eye on the Prize, Stay on Message, Get Back to the Knitting, Stay Focused on the Tasks at Hand…these folks are telling him the truth.  The truth is that he is now President for four years, he has a Republican majority in both houses of Congress, and he has precious little time to achieve meaningful results for his Administration.  As entertaining as his WWE/CNN clip is; as fundamentally correct as many of his fake news retorts happen to be; as legitimate as some his protests against the Resistance Movement might be…all of these actions detract from the prime directive of implementing real change through the legislative process.  THAT is what winning the Presidency is all about and the sooner President Trump realizes that, the better.  Mr. President…Stop campaigning, stop engaging in ego-bolstering macho contests with your opponents, stop vilifying all those who disagree with you (no matter how stupid they might be) and simply DO YOUR DAMN JOB.  By and large, you have chosen the correct policies and you have chosen the right people; just get on with the business of governing.  It will serve you, and this nation, well in the long run

The Federal Judiciary is Out of Control.  It has been said, often repeated by me, and it remains eternally true: Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.  I know of no area where this principle is more relevant than in the Federal Judiciary.  Our justice system is filled with Federal Judges who are granted lifetime appointments and serve in positions of monumental impact with little, if any, regard for the balance of our government or the rules that regulate our society and culture.  It has somehow become quite fashionable for the left, or the right, to simply go Judge-shopping when they want to halt a particular law, regulation, or action that they happen to disagree with.  With no regard to the legislative process that may have borne said law/regulation/action, these Judges, consumed with their own positions of power answerable only to the SCOTUS, set forth rulings that are simply extensions of their own personal political and idealistic beliefs.  And no matter how outrageous or legally ludicrous these opinions might be; they have the status of law until they are excruciatingly and eventually (if ever) overturned by the SCOTUS.  These rogue Judges full well understand that the SCOTUS can only deal with a limited volume of case law and that even if the high court does wish to correct their legal misadventures, the correction will come well down the road and after the consequences of the decision are intensely felt by the citizenry of America.  This aberration of our governmental checks and balances would be labeled an obscenity by our founding fathers and it is difficult to see any solution that might offer a timely remedy to his problem.  The one place it CAN begin is with a SCOTUS lineup of Justices that will respect the law as it is written and will consistently and courageously smite these runaway Judges and their illegitimate decisions.  Additionally, President Trump and future Presidents need to quickly and deliberately appoint persons of character and integrity to the numerous vacant federal judgeships across our nation; people who will understand their role in the administration of law and justice.   Once again, this is an area that would be much more deserving of President Trump’s time and attention than that of Twitter or YouTube. 

Four Quick Hits on What’s Happening.

Folks, there is a bunch of stuff going on and there is an even bigger bunch of stuff around the corner that is going to rock the political world.  Let’s all hope that the rocking occurs in a positive way.  Here are some brief comments on four of those upcoming features.

New and Improved SCOTUS.  Rumors are becoming rampant that Justice Kennedy’s retirement is imminent.  Kennedy is the swing vote on the current court and his replacement will have an absolutely seismic impact on the SCOTUS and its decisions that drive our American society and culture.  We now have four reliably liberal votes on the Court with Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan, and Ginsburg.  We also have four reliably conservative votes in the persons of Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch, and Roberts.  The prospect of naming this pivotal fifth justice for a solid conservative majority on the Court (likely for decades to come) is what motivated many, many people to vote for Donald Trump.  Not because his conservative bona fides were so glowing; but because Hillary Clinton’s liberal bona fides were so radiant.  A very strong and compelling argument can be made that this one single concern put Trump into the Presidency. 

5…five…5…five…5…five…5…five…5…five……FIVE VOTES.  Not to be overly dramatic, but it is kind of a big deal.

Health Care Reform…Do or Die.  Against all odds and predictions, the House passed their health care reform bill and then passed the baton to the Senate.  Three weeks ago, no sane person thought the Senate would carry the baton across the finish line.  Now, all indications are that at some point in the next few days, the Senate will approach the finish line with that baton in hand.  I’m not sure that any one person fully comprehends the complex, colossal, and gargantuan ball of wax that is this nation’s health care industry.  At some point in time, about seven years ago, there was a pre-Obamacare situation and a post-Obamacare situation; each was a choice.  It was actually a fairly clear choice between a free-market oriented health care system or a government driven health care system.  Once that choice became Obamacare, the genie was out of the bottle and it is likely impossible to extricate the fingers of the government from the entrails of health care.  Therefore, the real issue on health care reform isn't whether or not we should repeal Obamacare.  Reality has taken shape in the form of inadequate Republican majorities in the House and Senate to pass routine legislation on party-line votes, the passage of time that has allowed Obamacare to become entrenched in our health care system, and the belief held by many that personal health care is a right and not a privilege.  This reality demands that government will be heavily involved in health care and the pre-Obamacare dreams of many are simply false hopes.  The questions currently before us are how much government involvement will there be and exactly how will that involvement be implemented.   The two best sources I know for those seeking answers to these questions are Yuval Levin and Avik Roy; both render fair, thoughtful, and easily understood summaries of the House and Senate health care reform efforts and how they should be considered.  If you want the skinny on the health care debate (and you should, because you will be paying), check out this article and its embedded links @ http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/448946/assessing-senate-health-care-proposal-yuval-levin. 

Will the Sheet be Pulled Back on the Trump-Russia Farce?  It is still in play and a bit premature to render any lasting verdict on this particular kabuki dance, but there have been a couple of extremely interesting disclosures in this area that have recently come to light.  The first one is the apparent effort of the Obama Administration people who are handling their archive records attempting to shield some of Susan Rice’s work from Congressional investigative committees.  The Obama folks have sealed up and are transferring the records pertaining to Rice’s unmasking activities to the Obama Presidential Library folks.  Now why on earth do you suppose they would do that?  Additionally, get familiar with the term Fusion GPS.  It appears that this entity may be the outfit that started the whole Trump-Russia story and it is very revealing when you consider the composition of the entity and its genesis.  As I said, the jury is still out, but this particular article may be giving us a glimpse of what might lead to a gigantic collapse and some very embarrassed people…@ http://nypost.com/2017/06/24/inside-the-shadowy-intelligence-firm-behind-the-trump-dossier/.  Imagine for a moment what the impact will be on Special Counsel Mueller’s dream team if this story line proves to be true…All dressed up with no party to attend.

Who’s the Man?  Mitch is the Man!  Once again, it is a fool’s errand to predict the political future for WDC; but consider for a moment a few “what ifs”.  What if Justice Kennedy does, in fact, announce his retirement in the next few days?  What if the Senate does, in fact, manage somehow to pass a health care reform bill in the next few days?  What if, in fact, the House manages to pass a tax reform bill and sends it over to the Senate?  If all of these occurrences do transpire, then it is likely that the most powerful man in WDC will not be sitting in the Oval Office.  He will be occupying the Majority Leader’s office in the U.S. Senate and his name will be Mitch McConnell.  And whether you like him or not in a personal sense…if you are a conservative, these issues could not be in better hands.

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The Height of Stupidity.

I have oftentimes written about how perplexing it is to watch Republicans repeatedly bring knives to gunfights with Democrats.  To their credit as a political party, the Democrats can unify and form a united front so much more effectively than the Republicans.  In fact, there are times when the political savvy of the Republicans seems so inept that it almost laughable.  We are looking straight down the barrel of one of those times.

The appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller by Deputy Attorney General Jay Rosenstein, made possible by the curious recusal of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, is an inexplicable effort by the Trump Administration to somehow snatch defeat from the jaws of victory; to mess up a good thing; to fix something that is clearly not broken; and to seek turmoil and trouble where none exists.  Although the “Trump Campaign Russian Collusion” investigation has been written about extensively, no one has done a better job than Andrew C. McCarthy of summarizing the situation.  Read his excellent piece here @ https://amgreatness.com/2017/06/21/muellers-empire-legions-lawyers-bottomless-budget-limitless-jurisdiction/. 

Now when all is said and done (that may perhaps be in this lifetime), some person associated with the Donald Trump Campaign organization might be found to have colluded with the Russians to win the 2016 Presidential Election; but do not bet the farm on it.  The known facts are that for over a year (much of which actually transpired prior to the election),   every stone has been turned over by troves of investigators attempting to find some semblance of evidence or proof that this collusion did, in fact, occur.  Nothing has been discovered.  Does any rational person think that if some scrap of hard proof had been discovered, it would not be public by now?  Every person in a position of authority has repeatedly denied that any such proof or connection exists.  Respected Democrats in positions of authority and leadership within their party have themselves stated that no evidence exists to support these collusion allegations.  Ex-Director of the FBI James Comey himself acknowledged informing President Trump on three separate occasions that he was not under investigation.  And in spite of this sea of reason indicating the absence of any such collusion, elected Democrats in WDC and their media accomplices have constantly chirped away in breathless fashion about this supposed conspiracy and how it has undermined the very foundations of our nation.  In my time of observing politics as an unconnected bystander, I have never seen more noise and attention given to a matter of lesser substance.  The Department of Justice, the office of the Attorney General, and several Committees in both Houses of Congress are officially vested with the authority to investigate matters of this persuasion; but for some inexplicable reason, those resources seem inadequate to solve this mystery without a plot.  We now have an Abomination of Justice under the guise of the Special Counsel; an appointment that history has taught us is fraught with rancor, poisonous partisanship, and most of all, a colossal and inexcusable waste of taxpayer dollars.  It is nothing less than an all-star team of legal wizards in search of a tournament in which to compete.

And at whose doorstep should we lay the blame for bringing this glorified fishing expedition upon our government?  As irresponsible and unprofessional as they have been, the media cannot be blamed for this Special Counsel (whom they have so warmly embraced since his inception).   The Democrats in WDC do not hold majority status in either house of Congress and they do not possess the White House; they cannot be held responsible for Mr. Mueller and his merry band of lawyers.  There are many Obama-holdovers in various Departments that have made it a religious quest to resist all things Trump since the new President took office; but they can only feed the beast that rips and claws at the Administration’s heels on a daily basis.  They leak, they obstruct, they plot and devise internal strategies that help to make our government ineffective and inefficient; but they have no authority to set up a Special Counsel with all the fixings.  Attorney General Sessions voluntarily removed himself from the decision-making process in this whole episode under what many believe to be questionable grounds.  Citing the “public interest”, Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein then created the Special Counsel, with carte blanche resources and authorities, because he found it uncomfortable to do his job and conduct the inquiry himself.  All of this was done under the jurisdiction and authority of President Donald Trump.  He hired Sessions.  He acceded to Rosenstein’s appointment.  He has the clear authority to terminate the employment of both men and that clear authority extends to Special Counsel Mueller as well.  The President is the Top Dog in the Executive branch of government and all…ALL…of these people serve at his pleasure.

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I do not advocate that Sessions should be fired; although it is disappointing that he has come into a WDC cesspool of corruption like a wistful breeze and his first action of note was his recusal in this matter.  I thought that we might see a bit more assertiveness from Mr. Sessions.  Rosenstein was put in an impossible situation; but it is a situation that is covered by his job description and he is paid extremely well for addressing this type of proceeding.  I really find no reason why Mr. Rosenstein should not be relieved of his Deputy Attorney General duties and liberated to find a job that he might find less taxing or demanding.  As for Mr. Mueller, it is an extremely difficult call as to whether or not he should be terminated.  His appointment is clearly a sham and is nothing more than (in an oft used phrase) “an investigation in search of a crime”; but now that he exists, it is decidedly more difficult to eliminate him.  Many, many respected political leaders from both parties have stated that Mueller is a man of integrity and fairness; that he is well qualified to serve in the office to which he has been appointed.  But as Andy McCarthy states so very well…How can any reasonable person stand by, observe the team Mueller is assembling, and come away with anything but doubt about how objective this inquiry will turn out to be?   A strong, practical, and legal argument can be made for President Trump to fire Mueller tomorrow.  Such an action would be vehemently challenged and the howls and cries from the media and Democrats would make one believe the apocalypse is upon us.  But that would eventually pass.  On the other hand, if the President allows Mueller to form this army of Democratic partisans, gives them unfettered access to the private and personal lives of his Administration members, and permits them to operate under their current non-supervisory status with an unlimited budget; well then…he has only himself to blame for the unholy consequences that will likely ensue.

There should be proper Congressional oversight and the checks and balances between the three branches of our government must exist; but not in the extraordinary creation of a mythical and freelancing Special Counsel.  History has shown us the exercise of the Special Counsel option under both Democratic and Republican Administrations has repeatedly, and reliably, resulted in mission creep, decades of residual partisan rancor, a massive and pathetic waste of federal tax dollars, and the lessening of our governmental integrity that occurs every time elected or appointed officials refuse to step up and perform the job that they were either elected or hired to perform.  In my humble opinion, it is would be the height of stupidity for President Trump to allow Robert Mueller to continue as Special Counsel.  Mueller’s office and assembled hoard should be terminated post haste and their illegitimate genesis should become a footnote in the early chapters of the Trump Presidency.  If there is wrongdoing to be found in the area of Trump’s campaign with Russia, let the Department of Justice…or the House oversight committees…or the Senate oversight committees find it.   If Trump is ever going to become a strong leader, he best make the hard choice in this matter and get on with the real business of running this government.