I think any of you will find this interesting. Trump has touted his success of stopping the off-shoring of manufacturing jobs. At the end of 2019 we had 164,000 less manufacturing jobs than the end of 2016. Apparently a company must apply to the Commerce Department for permission. Crazy, huh?

            One of the companies applying to move production to Mexico and Canada is injection molder International Automotive Components (IAC). Apparently they had to request to close their plants in Ohio, Kentucky Tennessee and Michigan. They were quickly approved allowing the last of the people to be laid off.

            The most interesting fact: IAC is now owned by a hedge fund. It changed its name from W. L. Ross and Company. They are maximizing profits by closing plants here and moving the production to other countries. This and most hedge funds do what they can to cut costs, sell off parts, or temporarily max revenue before taking it public. Hasn’t gotten interesting yet? How about the fact the majority investor is the current Secretary of Commerce Wilber Ross, the person who approves the loss of American jobs! Drain the Swamp? Ha, Ha!

            Remember the notorious TicTok social media company that the President said was a Chinese espionage threat? He said he would close it down in the United States if it wasn’t sold and if it was, the government would get a commission.

            So what happened to the great TikTok threat? It is owned by Chinese citizen Zhang Yiming. He has sold 20% of it to Wal-Mart and Oracle. The owners of both companies are heavy supporters of Trump’s campaigns. The “Potential” for espionage is going to be increased when their websites and activities are blended into TikTok, not reduced. The Chinese government has said they like the deal.

            Was it a financial drain to Wal-Mart and Oracle to come to Trump’s aide? Absolutely not since TikTok will go public next year and double or triple their investment! It’s always good to have a President pick his friends to get even richer. Do Larry Ellison and the Walton family really need a few billion more? Wasn’t that tax cut for him and them enough?

            With the Chinese, Ellison, the Walton’s, and Trump happy, the fear of spying has disappeared. Even Trump’s easily deceived base didn’t get as excited as he hoped. Was it a con on all of us from the start or just another of Trump’s fantasies?

Here are very critical questions concerning the lifetime body guards given to the President of the United States and others. Seems to me Jackie Kennedy dropped hers when Onassis put her under his security umbrella. Since that protection was extended past their term in office, former Presidents have led exemplarily lives. The question needs to be answered as to how far it should go. Assume a past President is arrested for drunken driving, rape, fraud, or a myriad of other reasons, does the security detail sit in the cell too? If found guilty does the detail go to prison or are they the jailers in some cushy home or white collar prison? What if the former President decides to move to another country, especially one without an extradition agreement with the United States?

These are critical questions that need to be answered before Donald Trump leaves office in 2021 or 2025.

President Donald J. Trump has repeated his mantra of not leaving the oval office because his narcissistic imagination can’t allow him to think his deceived voters could desert him. The farther he falls in polls, the harder he pushes the voting will be a fraud. (He should know the word since several states are waiting for him on January 21, 2021.)

I can image him kicking and screaming as the Secret Service drags him out of the White House, down the drive, and tosses him out the gate! Reminds me of the baby balloon people use in Europe when he visits.

Since he will be out of power, will Rupert Murdock give him a daily show to continue their dividing of the country or will Murdock drop him for another up and comer he can manipulate?

I look forward to the kicking and screaming scene. Will his bodyguards be the tossers or the catchers?

During an interview on PBS News Hour, Three Star General H. R. Masters (retired) and Trump’s second security advisor said he didn’t think military officers, current or retired, should comment on their commander-in-chief. As a military historian, I instantly remembered the officers of Germany’s military in the mid-1930s. Even though Hitler was building up the army, navy and air force, many officers could see he was hell-bent on war and probably destruction of Germany.

Why didn’t the German officers who were against Hitler’s plans say anything to stop him? Every private through general had to swear a loyalty oath not to Germany, but to Hitler himself. Several times I have heard Donald Trump say, “The people who work for me should give me complete loyalty.” He has said much of the same about the Senators, Representatives, and Pentagon. When all of those people swear their oath to their office, the President’s name is not mentioned. They swear to defend the United States, not Donald Trump! His demand for absolute loyalty is not unlike Hitler’s demands.

Ever wonder if the President is concerned about getting Covid 19? Everyone who comes near him is constantly tested by the very fastest and latest version of the testing kits. In his latest rally in Nevada everyone behind him had to wear masks. When asked if he was concerned about him being inside with a thousand people not wearing masks he actually said, “No because they were kept back fifty feet and I was up on the stage.” She should have asked if he cared about his audience catching it and many dying. That answer would have been illuminating.

The next day he was in California blaming California’s government for not thinning the forests. That sounds good to him and his blindly following supporters. Actually California owns only 3% of the forest. Trump’s government owns 58% and most of those fires are starting and being fought in his forests, but of course it isn’t his fault.

The same day he astonished tens of millions of people by actually denying the science of climate change. He said “The scientists don’t really know.” and “It is going to get colder.” How can people drink the Kool-Aid and support him? The writing is on the wall but he will always cater to the wackiest groups to get their admiration. His narcissism is hand-in-hand with what the Russians are doing to divide us. Historians will use his own words and put him at the bottom of the list of capable Presidents. The choice in November is to vote for the good of America or give the bobble head a chance to destroy us!

Readers know that I seldom agree with the President on his, well, (there isn’t enough adjectives in the Dictionary) activities. Saying that, I agree with his attack on TicTok. How can we allow the Chinese and the rest of the world to know we are addicted to cats and dogs antics? These super secret antics must be part of the National Security Agency’s briefings to the President. We know from John Bolton’s book and interviews that Trump pays close attention (ha ha) to those briefings.

Imagine some Chinese Intelligence officer falling off his chair from laughing at a cat batting a ball of yarn. Obviously he didn’t know the breed of cat, the size of the ball, and the number of swats is our attack plans on their South China Sea bases. Where else could we store our secrets since every country seems to be able to hack our secret computers? What a great idea. Take it away from the Chinese company and keep our cat’s antics safe.