Not About Injuries Today

Today, I want to discuss a National Event.  I don't want to get TOO political about it.  I have mine, you have yours and they may differ with both of us caring about our Country.

I am writing this "before", but will schedule it to post 15 minutes before the event.  So I will write as if in that moment. 

Today is Inauguration Day, the official day of peaceful transition of one civilian Presidential administration to another.  This event has continued for over 2 centuries in our democracy.  It is an event to honor and be proud of.

In about 15 minutes, Joseph Biden will become President and Kamala Harris will become Vice President after that.  Donald Trump will no longer be our (legitimately and duly-elected) President.

I have (figuratively) been holding my breath since Election Day, waiting for this day.  I will (figuratively) exhale finally when the oaths of office are completed.  It has been a difficult and unpleasant 4 years for many of us both here and abroad.

Many have asked how could we not get rid of Trump sooner.  Well, some countries are based on various forms of government that suit them (or are powerless to change).  Some are ruled by dictators or merchant oligarchies, some are led by religious leaders, some are lead by powerful or figurative monarchs, some are lead by a judiciary focussed on a sense of general justice (some good, some arbitrary). 

We are guided by rule of law.  The distinction may not be great.  But it generally means that, if we elect an idiot as President for 4 years, we are pretty much stuck with him.  Several Presidents have been "impeached" by the House of Representatives, but that only means the Senate holds a trial afterwards.  No President has ever been convicted of charges in the Senate, Trump included.

As was said after Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 (and only after the major political leaders of his OWN party said they would vote to convict), "our long national nightmare is over".

A new Presidential administration will take charge in about 15 minutes.  Some will be angry, most will be relieved.  I expect things will improve in many ways:

1.  The struggle against the covid-19 pandemic will be more scientifically and logistically organized.

2.  The US will attempt to rebuild damaged international relationships and treaties.

3.  We will examine the partisan divisiveness in our country and begin to examine how some of that can be resolved.  There are more angry citizens than people like I realized.  Perhaps they have some legitimate grievances that can be addressed.  Or maybe there is "something in their water" that just makes them crazy.  We will have to find out.  It won't be easy or quick.

4.  I think we spend too much on military armaments, but maybe there is a good reason.  We became "the arsenal of democracy" in WWII; old habits die hard.  But there ARE powerful anti-democratics countries.  The whole military situation bears evaluation.

5.  We can't keep helping other countries as much as we used to.  We have poverty and hunger here too. More international cooperation and more efficient use of food and medical help is required.  Volunteer organizations might help to improve the effectiveness lof government efforts.

6.  We can't keep burning fossil fuels which raise global temperatures and greenhouse gases.  We (internationally) have the technology to make low and zero emission  technologies more widespread.

7.  International sex and enslavement activities are increasing.  We need to reduce/end that.

That is a start.  I expect the Biden administration to address all of these issues soon.  That doesn't mean they will be solved in his 4 or 8 years, but he has to start them here and rejoin international efforts to solve them.

It's still 15 minutes to his inauguration in this (slightly imaginary) post.  15 minutes until a new day, a new way, and a better President than we had before.

I now have some hope for the future.  I am financially stable; if taxes need to be raised to help fix things I will pay gladly.  If I can help in some government program (I have some experience) I will volunteer once I can get around and drive again.   

I have always trusted humanity in general to move towards improving life.  It seems a natural arc for us.    Think of some good idea, tell your neighbors, "pay it forward".  Because they gave your tribe a good idea last year.  Help each other.  We are all on this one planet together.  That drug we created is worth giving to others.  Not just because they helped you with something else LAST year, but because they needed it.

We are all in this together.

And in 15 minutes, the US will change for the better.  And hopefully, with a hard lesson learned...

Mark

A Happy Day

Yesterday was a happy day (as is today).  Joe Biden was "called by" the TV networks as the President-Elect.  That doesn't make anything official of course, but they are rather careful about announcing their expectations.  Even Fox News declared that Biden had won, and Fox is a rather die-hard Trump supporter.

I wasn't entirely sure how the Networks could be so certain in some States where there were 100s of thousands of votes left to count and Biden had a 10,000 vote lead or even was losing, but the political TV show hosts gave some detailed explanations later.    

A lot of it had to do with the difference between how Democrats and Republicans voted this year.  Usually, the vast majority of voters vote on Election Day.  But this year, because of the pandemic, States increased the opportunity to vote by mail or early in person at a few locations.  Democrats voted by mail or early; Republicans waited until election Day.

Mail-in and early votes take longer to process.  And the votes from large cities (which are very heavily Democrat) always take longer by sheer volume.  Between the two, the cites needed days to report votes (and none may be truly complete even now).  Overseas, military, and post-marked-but-not-yet-delivered mail-in ballots still have a few days to arrive.

But professional network vote-counters know what voters were still to be heard from Saturday, the almost-certain voter registration, and typical return rates.  A good example was Pennsylvania.  The low-population rural Counties were mostly Republican and had 99% of their votes reported Wednesday.  The major cities were mostly Democrat (approaching 90% in some) and had reported only half of their votes.  

So when Trump was ahead 30,000 votes and 500,000 were still due from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with a typical Democratic majority of 70%, there was little doubt about the outcome.   The States will not announce a winner until the last vote is counted in about a week from now, but the Networks could have a confidence factor above 99.9%.  Well, they don't want to make a mistake like "Dewey Beats Truman" again and besides, they have MUCH more information available now.

So, essentially, the voting is over.  Biden will be the next President and Harris his Vice-President.  The Electoral college will confirm that on December 6th.  Biden will have won with 4 million+ total popular votes.  I am relieved.  I've been waiting for this day for 4 years!

A long national aberration is over.  Trump's victory in 2016 was a hiccup.  Painful to be sure, but temporary.  Biden has promised to return the US to international agreements, balance taxes, restore environmental regulations, organize a National response to the Covid-19 pandemic, attend to excessive force by police against minorities, etc.

To quote President Ronald Reagan (something I never thought I would do) "It is Morning in America".

To quote President Gerald Ford (after Nixon's resignation) "Our long national nightmare is over".

To quote the Munchkins from 'The Wizard Of Oz':  

"Ding-dong! The Witch is dead
Which old Witch? The Wicked Witch!
Ding-dong! The Wicked Witch is dead
Wake up you sleepy head, rub your eyes, get out of bed
Wake up, the Wicked Witch is dead..."

And I'll offer a panel from 'Doonesbury' from after Nixon resigned:

Today, I will sleep easier than I have for some months. 

Politics

 I have given some thought to the comments I received on the previous post.  In once sense, I do apologize.  I shouldn't have discussed politics among friends.  

I AM very political personally, but I usually keep that to some discussion boards dedicated to controversial subjects.  And I would be wise to simply drop it now.  

Well, who ever said I was wise?  I do want to reply.  

A commentor replied...

“The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice,” McConnell said in a statement released after Scalia’s death. “Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.”.

 

And indeed many Republicans agreed.  Some even said they should be quoted about that in the future if the situation came up again.  It has. and they are reversing their positions for political convenience.

 

I don't care if a politician or individual is Republican or Democratic or Green or whatever in their views.   We all have the right to our political views.

What I abhor is hypocrisy.  If you support "A" today, you should support "A" tomorrow.  Even if it is not convenient or beneficial.  I do, and it is sometimes rather painful.  

For example, Senator Mitt Romney declared that he supports Trump naming a new Supreme Court Justice now just weeks before the election.  Well, he said the same thing when Obama wanted to name a Supreme Court Justice in an election year (though that was 10 months before).  But that was basically consistent and honest.

 

The commentor also expressed  (about the Kavanaugh Hearings) "If you don't think that was atrocious and vicious and senseless I don't know what I can say. I watch the hearings from gavel to gavel and it shames me how some people used politics and smearing lies on such a man with fine character."

 

The hearings focussed on contradictory statements made by Kavanough, not his character or "smearing lies".   

 

Kananugh had written previously that “I am not sure that all legal scholars refer to Roe as the settled law of the land at the Supreme Court level since Court can always overrule its precedent, and three current Justices on the Court would do so.”

 

Yet he told the Senator hearings he considered Roe “settled as a precedent of the Supreme Court".

 

You can't say both.  That was a hypocrisy.  

 

My personal objections to Donald Trump are many.  In an ordinary year, they would be about political views and programs.  But he has gone beyond  "political views and programs".

 

He has admitted he wants to become President-For Life. He is deliberately damaging voting systems by slowing down the US Mail and directing supporters to eliminate ballots, directing his supporters to vote once by mail and again at voting booths, suggesting armed supporters to intimidate voters, suggesting that he will not accept election results, and wants the courts and the Senate to overturn oting results.

 

The newest idea is that if he can delay voting results long enough, College Of Electors will be tossed out and State Legislatures will decide.   Most of which are Republican-controlled.  But that might cause even conservative Supreme Court Justices to gag.

 

That's why he wants a new Supreme Court Judge in place BEFORE Election Day. One more might go in his favor...

 

OK, I've said enough.  But I felt a response was owed... 

Elections Are Frustrating Here

I live in Maryland, USA, which is so overwhelmingly Democratic the past few decades that it almost doesn't matter whether I vote or not.   The State Electors will be voting for the Democratic Presidential Candidate even if half the Democrats didn't bother to vote.  And my own Congressional District has Congressman House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer representing it and he is so overwhelmingly popular that he isn't even challenged seriously. 
When I moved to this County, it was somewhat Republican  but new arrivals from nearby Washington DC changed that competely.
Can you tell from that who I support?  Not really.  I could be a happy Democrat or a frustrated Republican.  As it happens, I started out as a Republican (though a progressive one) in the 60's.  Just for info, non-conservative Republicans tended to be called "Progressives" and non-conservative Democrats were called "Liberals".  There wasn't much difference but Progressives were a bit more economically "middle". 
The Nixon political inversion (he made Democratic Dixiecrats" Republican) chased me away.  It was a close call back then.  Unions were TOO powerful but Dixiecrats were MORE too racist.
I don't actually indentify with "party", but I've been forced to vote Democratic since Nixon from lack of ethical choices.  I supported 3rd Party Candidate John Anderson in 1980, but it was so hopeless by Election Day, I didn't bother to stand in the 3 hour line to vote (voting has become much faster since then).
Yeh, I vote Democrat.  It hasn't even been any hard decision.  Bill Clinton was better than Bush I , Al Gore was better than Bush II, Obama was better than McCain (hard decision as McCain was always honorable and trustworthy) and Romney had that election-killing "47% speech".
I thought Hillary Clinton was a walk-in against Trump.  An experienced Senator and Secretary of State VS an inexperienced sexist racist buffoon.  Easy choice and I settled in front of the TV to watch the blowout. 
OMG!  Election night 2016 was a horror show.  I was so horrified that I considered leaving the US.  But I had so much stuff it really would have been a serious bother or else Canada or Australia might have had me (and my retirement pay).  But I hunkered down and waited for Trump to be impeached as any honest Congressmen and Senators should have done.  That didn't happen, but, well, the next election wasn't far away. 
I'm worried.  Trump has arranged government in ways that could get him re-elected.  Voter polls are being purged of legitimate voters, voting locations are being shut down in places where he knows he will lose.  Mail-in ballots are being contested before they are even cast.  The Post Office, a trusted institution created in our Constitution. is being slowed so that ballots will arrive late.  Some places are demanding that mail-in voters come to prove their identity.
I find some comfort that many lifelong Republican strategists and power-brokers are fighting Trump.  But I don't know if they are enough.  All Trump needs to do is report the actual election day votes to declare victory and cause a crisis.  His supporters tend to vote ON Election Day.  The mail-in ballots are counted after the day.  And some investigations suggest that mail-in ballots are routinely dismissed/trashed and not considered "real".
Further, Trump has recently suggested that his followers deliberately try to mess up the system by voting twice.  Once by mail and once on Election Day.  Never mind that voting twice, trying to vote twice, or even encouraging people to try to vote twice is a felony...  There seems to be nothing Trump won't try to stay in office.  And he has expressed a desire for "12 years".
When Benjamin Franklin emerged from the building in 1776, someone shouted out, “Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?”  He replied “A republic, if you can keep it.”  It is sometimes debated, but he did say that in a letter to a friend though.
So the question is, can we keep a republic (because we are not actually, technically, not  a "democracy" if we were, then  Al Gore and Hillary Clinton would have been Presidents by legitimate popular vote) and can we keep it.  This election will decide that.
Vote as if your children's future will depend on it.  Because it will...
Trump wants to be Putin.  Biden wants to be a normal US President.  That's all there is to it.

A Political Thought

People have different political opinions.  I accept that.  I don't always agree with the majority but I try to understand varying points of view.  And political thought has been more divisive lately. 

I spend a part of my day watching political commentary, reading politics in the Washington Post newspaper, and thinking about news.

I majored in Government and Politics at the University of Maryland.  I am not active in politics, but I think about politics a lot.

Last night, as I lay in bed hoping for the sweet release of sleep, I found myself considering President Donald Trump.  I dislike him.  But that's not the important thing that came to mind.

As I laid in bed, an odd thought occurred to me.  What if some person managed to become President with the specific intent of ruining US American democracy internally and also set out to ruin our international trade/political alliances/reputation for helping others.

Well, that would be pretty horrible wouldn't it?  And then it occurred to me that such a person would be doing exactly what President Trump as been doing. 

Seriously, what would a person deliberately trying to ruin the US reputation overseas and domestically do that President Trump hasn't already done and is continuing to do?

I'm not going to list all sorts of things he has done.  There are sites that list them and are easily findable with a simple web search.  My concern is that I actually can't tell the difference between what President Trump has done and is doing and someone deliberately trying to ruin the US.

Am I the only person who has had this very uncomfortable thought?

Political Days

Politics are wearing me out.  Everyone wants to say the issues are all black&white with no nuances.  Everything is more complicated than THAT!  Any issue has a dozen sides, not just two...  I watch a lot of political discussion on TV.  Politicians won't even answer a "yes or no" question, just repeat some answer they have memorized that doesn't pin them down to anything.

It's like...

Moderator:  What is your favorite color, Senator?

Senator:  Plaid.

M:  What is your favorite ice cream?

S:  Chocolate/Strawberry/Vanilla.

M:  Is there "climate change"?

S:  It was cold this Winter.

M:  What do you think about minorities?

S:  Everyone is a minority somewhere.

You get the point.  Getting an actual answer on anything is like pounding your head on a rock.  So I understand why more and more voters are drawn to politicians who DO say definite things even when those things they say are stupid.  And that goes on both sides.

But Trump has developed that to the maximum.  On that basis alone, he should be removed from office.  I mean, We The People don't deserve to have the ultimate in deception and ludicrousness inflicted upon us.  Let's just say we BLEW the 2016 Presidential Election and do what is lawful to replace him with anyone at least competent as a President.  And forget he ever happened.  OK?

How bad is he?  Vice President Mike Pence brought greetings to our European Allies, and the silence was deafening.  Not a single representative from Europe even applauded politely.  Pence tried a second time to get some applause in his mention of Trump.  The results?  Crickets...

Biden spoke and got applause...

OK, that's enough...

Elections

I follow some political TV (MSNBC mostly).  I love Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow.  I get pretty worked up about elections, so fact-based analysis is good.

I am very glad the campaigns are about done and everything will be resolved in 3 days.  It all may go well, it may go horribly (from my personal POV), but at least it will be over for 2 years.  I EXPECT to be pleased with the election results, but then I thought Hillary Clinton was sure to win in 2016, so you never know.

I'll be honest.  I think Donald Trump is a lying wanna-be autocrat with no agenda other than to gain enough power to make him and his family rich (because he is far less wealthy than he pretends to be).

But what really scares me is his ability to lie routinely and in spite of corrections by fact-checkers who have no political affiliations.  He riles up people with outrageous claims.  One fascinating thing is that traditionally conservative Republicans are against him.  When George Will and Micheal Gerson are arguing against a Republican President, that President is doing something very seriously wrong.

Trump can't be allowed to run free.  The nation needs a check on his desire to become an autocrat.  The Senate looks to stay Republican.  But The House looks to go very "hugely" (to use a favorite Trump term) Democratic.  And he is desperate to avoid that.  The House has subpoena powers to investigate the financial corruption of many of Trump's Cabinet Members.  And many of them have taken advantage of their positions to enjoy a lifestyle of "the rich and famous".

They deserve to be investigated and removed from office.  I object to their goals of reducing environmental protections, clean air and clean water, allowing industry to pollute, etc, but also it angers me that they have some odd sense on entitlement to use taxpayer money for personal use.

True public servants don't do that.

I'm going complete Democratic Party ticket on Tuesday.  That's just my decision.  I have voted for some Republicans in the past, but not this time.  I'm voting for anyone against Trump.  I don't like the idea of voting a straight ticket, but Trump has to be stopped.

More Political Stuff

I'll be getting back to normal yard projects again soon.  In fact I got some starts today; the weather is cooler and less humid here and that always gets me going.

But today it is political...

First, I have to relate a general conversation I overheard (but was not part of) while standing in line at a store just a few minutes ago.  It was between two 20-ish guys.  They were discussing the recent eclipse, which was the only reason I paid attention.  I'm science-oriented and thought maybe I could join (it was a slow line).

I was horribly disappointed!  One guy mentioned that he saw no dimming of the sun Monday.  Then added he saw a  crescent moon as he came into the store, and therefore "it couldn't have covered the whole sun anyway here".  His friend agreed and said it sounded like "fake science" to him too.

Then they got started on "fake news, lying media, and fake medicine" (the latter was not detailed, but probably about anti-vaccine ideas).  And then talked about how Trump was "fixing all that stuff".

There were no details about any of that, just general "yeah", "you're right", and then some family stuff.

I felt sick.  In some situations, I would have spoken up.  But not in a convenience store and not where the parking spots outside are dim...

They thought the lit part of the moon was all there was at the time!  Yes, it doesn't take a lot of thought to realize that the whole moon is always there sunlit or not, but they were also talking about fake news and media.

I'm not saying all Trump supporters are like that!  I watch enough political channels to know that some Trump supporters are educated and articulate and I disagree with them for debatable reasons.  But some are real idiots...

So, speaking of Trump, I heard some interesting news tonight.  Trump has been on a real speech roller coaster lately.  He decried "“this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides.”  Suggesting that the counter-protestors were as violent as the Neo-Nazis and White Supremacists. 

When his staff demanded he read a more balanced statement, he did read their prepared statement " that he condemns all forms of violence, bigotry and hatred, and of course that includes white supremacists, KKK, Neo-Nazi, and all extremists groups.

That lasted a day...   Then Trump encouraged the idea again that "both sides were equally violent" in spite of the fact that some of the Neo-Nazis and White Supremacists were carrying torches, clubs, police-quality plexiglass shields, and AK-47s and other guns.  By comparison, they point to one leftist NUT who lit an aerosol hairspray can which lasted 5 seconds before he had to drop it from the heat.

False-equivalence is an argument from weakness.

I mention all that to say this.  With one of the worst hurricanes landing on the coast of Texas and expected to stall there, dumping a predicted 2-3' of rain with 140 mph winds on one area for a day, Trump posted 2 tweets.

One involved not allowing transgender people to join the military even if they pass all the physical and skill tests.  The other involved pardoning Sheriff Joe Arpaio a possible jail sentence on Friday by pardoning his conviction for routinely violating the civil rights of anyone who looked "mexican", violating court orders to stop the practice.

"Sheriff Joe's" habits included "Ordering some immigration patrols not based on reports of crime but rather on letters from Arizonans who complained about people with dark skin congregating in an area or speaking Spanish."

Congrats to Trump.  He made his 1st Pardon a person who is simply insanely racist and glorifies in being one.

President Trump

I won't hide the fact that I don't like President Trump.  I don't say that (or anything to follow) to mean that others can't like him or that he has nothing to offer.  Just that *I* can't stand him and will say so for as long as he is in office.  And keep in mind that it is my OPINION, not some absolute fact of his incompetence. 

This past week has proven my fears about him to be correct.  I live in a world of evidence, proof, and fact.  To me, it seems his supporters live in a world of unsupported hopes and promises, decieved by a demagogue.  My apologies to those who like him.  You have the right.

Since President Trump was inaugurated, he has signed many Executive Orders intended to implement policies he promised while campaigning.  I never thought he would actually do that.

They are, so far, both poorly-written and unnecessary. 

The Order to the military to develop a plan within 30 days to defeat ISIS was laughable.  What does he THINK they do all day?  Plan how to stop another attack on Pearl Harbor? 

Proclamation 9570: National Day of Patriotic Devotion - Does the term "Fatherland ring a bell?

Executive Order 13765: Minimizing the Economic Burden of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Pending Repeal - A first step toward eliminating health insurance to millions of needy Americans.

Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies: Regulatory Freeze Pending Review - To stop all Federal Agencies from issuing new regulations.  Never mind emergencies and any good rules to protect the public.  All must stop.


Presidential Memorandum: Withdrawal of the United States From the Trans-Pacific Partnership Negotiations and Agreement - Oh good, our year's-long effort to create an economic alliance of Asian nations to restrain Chinese expansion shot to Hell!  The Philippines have just given up on us and surrended to China.  Others will soon follow.  The Donald wants to re-negotiate trade agreements with Asian nations one-on-one.  Loser move!

Presidential Memorandum: Mexico City Policy - The US will withhold funds to any nation or organization that assists in abortion services for any reason.  Any reason...

Presidential Memorandum: Hiring Freeze - Both Federal Civil Service and contracting hires are stopped.  This might be OK, contractors have long been used to make up for Federal hiring freezes.  But contractors have historically over-billed the government for services and been free of oversight and produced less than contractually-required.  In my government career, contractors have been scan-artists stealing billions of public dollars.  But freezing both will mean less government services and the public will learn that the "gummint" actually does good things that they will miss.  I always laugh when thinking about some conservative protesters who demanded that the Government "keep your hands off my Medicare".  Who do they think was providing it?

Presidential Memorandum: Construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline - Oil from Canada transported to New Orleans to be shipped overseas.  We don't get that oil (we have our own).  But we will get the environmentally bad oil spills (estimated at one per 5 years by the oil companies).  We don't need that. 

Presidential Memorandum: Construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline - See above.

Presidential Memorandum: Construction of American Pipelines - All pipes used in the US will be made in the US.  OK.  But "America First" was a rule when I was starting in Government in the 70s and it caused all KINDS of bad problems.  It is one of those things that sound sensible but don't work.

Executive Order 13766: Expediting Environmental Reviews and Approvals for High Priority Infrastructure Projects - Every President tries this.  It never seems to have any practical effect.



Presidential Memorandum: Streamlining Permitting and Reducing Regulatory Burdens for Domestic Manufacturing - An attempt to allow businesses to do anything they want.  Who cares about the public, anyway?

Proclamation 9571: National School Choice Week, 2017 - A strictly ceremonial proclamation, but it represents anti-public-school thinking. 

Executive Order 13767: Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements - BUILd THE WALL.  Only the US will actually pay for it.  It can't really be built, and it won't stop anyone from getting past it.  Ask the Chinese about their Great Wall.  It didn't work.  BTW, if you like investments, consider Mexican ladder and tunneling equipment companies.  There might be a boom in sales.

Executive Order 13768: Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States - This is an attempt to force local police departments to enforce Federal laws at their own expense.  That isn't their job, and they don't have the resources to do it anyway.  The idea seems to be that harassing illegal immigrants will cause them to leave.  That doesn't work.

Executive Order: Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States - This is the cause of recent and ongoing protests in the US and internationally.  The Order was so BADLY written that even naturalized citizens and Green-Carders from the 7 designated nations could not return from US military duty or legitimate business abroad.  IDIOTS!  And the Trump administration is backing off (screaming and kicking) about it.  They are still trying to hold on to the basic idea of keeping all Moslems out of the US though.

National Security Presidential Memorandum 1: Rebuilding the U.S. Armed Forces​ - Some plan to "bolster the military" but I can't figure out what the purpose is yet.  Something about the Office of Management and Budget helping to restructure military pay?

Executive Order: Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Employees - A lifetime ban on lobbyists joining the Trump Administration and then becoming lobbyists again.  Only it applies to those who weren't lobbyists before.  So it seems this is some restriction on media, military, and scientists from ever becoming lobbyists later.  The purpose seems to be to prevent non-politicians from lobbying for general causes (like say science or environmental funding) efforts later in life.  Might even apply to protest organizers or people like Al Gore.  Not sure.

National Security Presidential Memorandum 2: Organization of the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council - Trump has kicked several Security officials off the National Security Council and added a political ideological representative (Steve Bannon) to it.  Obvious watchdog/approval move.  This is unprecedented.  Does the phrase "Politburo" ring a bell?

National Security Presidential Memorandum 3: Plan to Defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria - A repeat of a previous Order, but with some recommended changes to any United States rules of engagement" additions.  Meaning water-boarding and other internationally-forbidden forms of torture.  Yes, Trump has approved torture as a means of collecting information.

Executive Order:  Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs - Agencies would have to eliminate 2 regulations for each new one.  This could be silly or it could be horrible.  The main problem is that most regulations exist for a reason.  Business routinely cheat for profit and regulations exist to eliminate or at least reduce that.  If you want your chicken to be 100% contaminated with bacteria or your car tires to "only" blow out 10% of the time, you will love this one.

And that's just the first 10 days!  Get ready for illegal abortions, illegal protests, guns in every school and bar, and a super-conservative Supreme Court. 

Trump's Convention Speech, Deconstructed

Donald Trump made his most important speech so far, at the Republican National Convention.  I went to Politifacts (and party-neutral organization) for some analysis.  I really don’t care for political speeches myself on either side, but I do find those who do can provide useful information.  Slight changes to identify Politifacts more clearly...

TRUMP CLAIM: We all remember the images of our sailors being forced to their knees by their Iranian captors at gunpoint. This was just prior to the signing of the Iran deal.
POLITIFACTS: It actually came AFTER the signing of the Iran deal, which happened on July 14, 2015. The sailors were captured in Jan. 2016 — right before President Obama's State of the Union address.

MY THOUGHTS:  Trump’s sense of time is poor.  It might be deliberate or it might be “convenient”.  But it is usually wrong.  Trump arranges facts to suit his goals.  In other words, he lies.
Trump Calls for Suspending Immigration From 'Compromised' Countries 0:27

TRUMP CLAIM: My opponent wants to essentially abolish the 2nd amendment.

POLITIFACTS: Clinton has proposed gun regulations, like background checks to purchase firearms. Yet the 2008 Supreme Court decision protecting and individual's right to possess firearms also stated that the right isn't unlimited — and can be subjected to regulations.

MY THOUGHTS:  Clinton supports some restrictions on gun ownership.  You don’t need military weapons to hunt deer.  Crazy people shouldn’t have them.  More people are killed by personally-owned guns than are saved.  You need military weapons only for their intended purpose - to kill people.   My view of the 2nd amendment is that it is pre-standing army and it is obsolete in the modern age.  We do not have or need functional “militias” today.

TRUMP CLAIM: Homicides last year increased by 17 percent in America's fifty largest cities. That's the largest increase in 25 years.

POLITIFACT: Trump is correct that there has recently been an uptick in crime, including in some (but not all) of America's largest cities. But overall, violent crime is down significantly since the 1980s and 1990s, according to FBI statistics. And the current violent crime rate is lower today per the most recent data (365 incidents of violent crime per 100,000 people) than when President Obama first took office in 2009 (431 incidents per 100,000 people).

MY THOUGHTS:  Crime rates go up and down mostly in accordance to the population of 18-24 years old males in poverty status.  Drug-usage patterns matter too.

TRUMP CLAIM: The number of new illegal immigrant families who have crossed the border so far this year already exceeds the entire total from 2015.

POLITIFACTS: That statistic is true, but it's also a bit of cherry-picking. In Fiscal Year 2014, there were more than 68,000 apprehensions of immigrant families crossing the border. That number declined to 40,000 in Fiscal Year 2015. In Fiscal Year 2016 (which ends in September), the number stands at 51,000 — so higher than in 2015, but lower than 2014.

MY THOUGHTS:  2015 had an unusually low illegal immigration rate.  Compared to 2014, the 2016 rate is lower.  It it always easy to find one year to compare to another and make things look bad.  A serious and thoughtful person would not do that.  But Trump is not a serious and thoughtful person.  If a random asteroid hit the Earth, he would blame Hillary Clinton and all Democrats for the uptick in asteroid strikes.

TRUMP CLAIM: Nearly four in 10 African-American children are living in poverty, while 58 percent of African-American youth are now not employed. Two million more Latinos are in poverty today than when the President took his oath of office less than eight years ago.

POLITIFACT: Yes, 38 percent of African American children are living in poverty, according to Census data. But Trump isn't correct that 58 percent of African American youth are unemployed. The Bureau of Labor Statistics finds that the African American unemployment rate for those ages 16-19 is 28.4 percent (versus 16.9 percent for all youth that age). And Trump is misleading on his claim about Latinos living in poverty. In 2009, 12.3 million Latinos were living in poverty (with a rate of 25.3 percent). In 2014, the number jumped to 13 million — but the rate actually DECLINED to 23.6 percent.

MY THOUGHTS:  Another example of misleading with statistics.  But more importantly, there are 2 possibilities.  Either Trump doesn’t understand the numbers, or he does and is deliberately misleading voters with them.  He says he is smart, so he OUGHT to understand the numbers.  Either way, it doesn’t say much about his honesty.  Or his supporters intelligence...

TRUMP CLAIM: President Obama has almost doubled our national debt to more than 19 trillion dollars, and growing.

POLITIFACT: He's right. When Obama took office on Jan. 20, 2009, the public debt stood at $10.6 trillion. It is now $19.4 trillion, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.

MY THOUGHTS:  In 2009, after the Bush Administration economic collapse $10.6 trillion dollars was a larger percent of the gross national product than $19.4 trillion is now in the recovered economy.  Think of it this way.  If you earned $50,000 and owed $10,000 that would be worse than earning $75,000 and owing $13,000.  Debt has to be compared to income...

TRUMP CLAIM: Where was sanctuary for all the other ... Americans who have been so brutally murdered [by undocumented immigrants], and who have suffered so, so horribly?

POLITIFACTS: Researchers have found that first-generation immigrants (legal or not) commit less crime than native-born Americans or second-generation immigrants.

MY THOUGHTS:  Some groups of US citizens like to assume that immigrants (legal or illegal) commit most of the crimes in the US.  The facts disprove that.  I support LEGAL immigration, controlled by rules.  I do NOT support illegal immigration.  But the argument against all immigrants legal and illegal is not supported by facts.  I am more likely to be a victim of a crime by a legal citizen than by either class of immigrants.

TRUMP CLAIM: [Hillary Clinton] supported NAFTA, and she supported China's entrance into the World Trade Organization — another one of her husband's colossal mistakes and disasters ... She supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

POLITIFACTS: Trump is correct that Clinton backed NAFTA and China's entry into the WTO, which took place while her husband was president. Yet although touting the TPP trade agreement while she served as secretary of state, Clinton has since opposed the measure. Notably, Trump's vice-presidential running mate Mike Pence also has praised NAFTA and TPP.

MY THOUGHTS:  Trump is in an outrageously awkward position here.  Globalization is a fact.  Companies logically move to where they can produce a product at the least cost.  Trump does this routinely.  Trump has pages long suppliers from other countries yet rails against outsourcing.   His objections ring hollow.

Aside from that, Trump objects to Clinton’s one-time support of NAFTA and the TPP.  People change their opinions of such things (and note that Trump’s VP candidate supported them too).

But the truth of the matter is that, in a global economy, international trade agreements are important.  The TPP is designed to constrain China’s influence in the Western Pacific.  China doesn’t like it.
NAFTA has reduced tarrifs between the US Canada and Mexico, reducing costs to consumers.  NAFTA has increased real wages for workers in all 3 countries by modest but real amounts.  Trade of goods and services between the U.S., Canada and Mexico has increased from $337 billion in 1993, before NAFTA went into effect, to $1.182 trillion in 2011.

We don’t notice these price changes in goods daily.  After all, when you go to a store, do you really know why the price of a shirt is $12.99 instead of $13.99?  Of course not.  But NAFTA is one reason why it is the lower price.
 
I won’t say the trade agreement benefit everyone.  A shirt buttoneer may have to learn to attach headlights to cars.  Things change,  I had a dozen jobs in my 35 years of work from mowing army base grass to selling automotive parts to managing office space to managing telecommunications.  No one is ever going to retire what they did when they started.

Jobs are where you find them.  But Trump’s world is a fiction of a return to the past, and following him is a road down anger to nowhere.

The way forward in the world is through experience and gradual progress.  If you are out of work, your next job isn’t going to be the CEO of some US company.  It is going to be learning a new skill a US company values.

Trump’s World is the 1950s.  This isn’t the 1950s.  We aren’t going to be the 1950s again.  Its 2016, the future your parents didn’t imagine.    Get moving or get left behind.  It’s up to you to sit and gripe and start learning something new.

Politics As A Profit Center

I suspected many months ago that Trump was playing the money game by running for office as he gave his speeches.  Now I have more evidence.

The recent Federal Election Commission filings provide information Trump would preferred to hide.  But unlike tax filings, those are public.

Trump says he is financing his campaign.   Well, not really.  He is LOANING money to his campaign (and loans usually have interest charges). That's right, he is loaning personal money (and it may be more tricky than that) to his campaign.  That means he is signing the checks on both sides of the loan!  The campaign is obligated to back Trump back for the money he is essentially loaning to himself.

Don't you wish you could borrow money that easily and expect payment back?  But it gets worse... 

Trump is using his own businesses to support his campaign.  And he is charging his campaign a hefty sum for "privilege" of using his own services.  The idea seems to be that he will use his own companies to benefit financially supporting his Presidential campaign.  Its a great gig, if you can arrange it.  And Trump does.

Use his his own jet to fly to campaign stops?  Trump charges himself high fees.  Staying at his own residences in various States?  Trump charges the top rates to his campaign.  Eat at a fundraiser (and yes he has them though he says he doesn't) you eat Trump steak and drink Trump wine.  Get given a framed picture of The Donald for a donation?  That picture comes in a Trump Picture Frame. 

Play a round of golf with Trump?  High green fees for the round charged to his campaign.   He charges the campaign to operate his campaign in various business locations he profits from. 

Staffers and campaign supporters eat at Trump restaurants, fly accumulating Trump miles, and wear Trump T-shirts made by Trump companies.  Those Trump hats he tosses out at campaign rallies?  A staffer company makes those and the campaign pays top dollar for them.

On the single day Trump announced his campaign in June 2015, his campaign cost generated $506,846 to Trump businesses.  One single day!

By the end of just 2015, the Trump campaign paid out $2.2 million, $2 million of which went to the airline where Trump is the CEO...

$90,000 went to staffers eating at Trump Cafe and Trump Grill...

Unspecified amounts went to Trump Payroll Corp. and Trump Tower Commercial LLC to pay for campaign staff payroll management, but that work isn't cheap...

This isn't a campaign, its a profit-making scam!  The Republican party has finally produced the perfect example of its long-held claim that businessmen (and it's usually men) are the most suited to run the country for the benefit of all the citizens.  If running for office is now a profit-center for Republican candidates to operate as a business, do you want to see what laws they pass?  I sure don't. 

Politics

You just have to be fascinated by someone like Donald Trump.  Successful, ambitious, and a total demagogue.  More dangerous than Sen McCarthy, of Communist-Baiting infamy in the 1950s.

Italics, mine...

Who else could say or believe these things and not utterly humiliated and attacked?

1. Trump accused the Mexican government of sending its criminals and rapists across the border.

No evidence exists that illegal immigrants are more criminal in other ways than average.  In fact, the history of immigrants to the US has been those of the bravest, most ambitious, and willing to learn a new way of life. 

2.  Trump knocked Sen John McCain of doing too little to help veterans, knocked the senator in July, first disputing that he was a hero, then declaring: "He's a war hero 'cause he was captured. I like people that weren't captured, OK?"

This is utterly disgusting.   Senator McCain is a hero by means of his general military service and by fighting his captivity.  The idea that one is a failure by being captured in warfare is depraved and UnAmerican.  Some of the bravest fighters have been captured sometimes.  When you push the envelope, you accept greater risk.  Trump disses all captured soldiers.

3.  Trump repeatedly has questioned Kelly's professionalism and went as far as to tell CNN that she had "blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever".

For Trump to "blame" women for "bleeding uncleanliness" is harking back to primitive superstitions and general non-understanding of routine human bodily processes.

4.  Flip-flopping is trouble for most politicians, but Trump has done it merrily and with apparent impunity. He has shrugged off his old support for abortion rights and a single-payer health care system, and his former identification with the Democratic Party, with that-was-then-this-is-now nonchalance.

Trump has his wet finger in the wind of change.  He criticizes others for changing their minds when new facts are learned, but never admits to his frequent changes in views himself.

5.  To Donald Trump, there are two kinds of people in the world: good negotiators and bad negotiators. Basically everyone except Donald Trump and his "guys" fall into the latter category.

Trumps has often failed at businesses at public and investor expense.  But unlike the Wizard Of Oz, he has kept the curtain shut.   Trump know fakes.  It takes one to know one.

6.  He'll build a wall between the U.S.-Mexico border to keep undocumented immigrants out — and make Mexico pay for it (somehow).

Trump is proposing that Mexico build a wall to keep it's people in.   Something that the USA would never tolerate itself.  A rule of civilized nations is that anyone has the right to leave.

7.  About China:  "Listen, you mother(bleep), we're going to tax you 25 percent."

Demagoguery, pure and simple...  Bad economics...  18th century mercantilism...  Not how a serious leader deals with international economics.

8.  Denigrates the USA at every chance:  "I have great respect for Mexico — their leaders are too smart — they’re killing us at the border and they’re killing us with trade. You know, Mexico in a certain way, is the new China.  "When did we beat Japan at anything?"

Mexico is a 2nd tier economy and tstruggling and their politics are generally barely moderately democratic at best (but improving) .  Japan's economy has been stagnant for 20 years.  Trump apparently does not know this.  He is thinking 30 years ago.  That kind of out-of-date thinking is not what the US needs in a President.

9.   "Sorry losers and haters, but my I.Q. is one of the highest — and you all know it! Please don't feel so stupid or insecure, it's not your fault."

This is how Trump talks to people who really are stupider than he is.   He is smart in a limited way.  He has really learned how to browbeat less talented people in commercial negotiations.  But that doesn't mean he has any specific intelligence.  What he HAS is a talent, and there is a difference.  But  his general IQ doesn't seem higher than average.  As a typical real estate shuskster, he makes claims he can't prove.

10.  "Hillary Clinton is the "worst secretary of state in the history of our country."

Ranker listed the best-to-worst Secretaries Of State. Hilary Clinton is ranked 17th best of 66.

11.  "I will build a great wall — and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me."

Never mind that the Great Wall of the Chinese (to which he alludes) failed completely most times...  Walls to keep people out or keep people in are both bad failures.  But, claiming to have built walls, what walls has he actually built either way anywhere?

12.   "I build great buildings all over the world. I would have Mexico pay for it. Believe me, they will pay for it."

Specify your plan.  Mexico doesn't seem to be impressed.