Déjà Vu

27 Tuesday Sep 2022

Posted by in Putin

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            As a student of history and warfare, in particular, I couldn’t help but notice President Vladimir Putin’s reign is much like Dictator Joseph Stalin’s. Stalin invaded Finland and his army was found lacking so he killed hundreds of Generals, Colonels, Majors, and Captains. When Hitler attacked, the officer corp. was still reorganizing itself. They lost millions of troops until fine officers were found. Stalin thought he was a great general but Russia was losing battles until a few Generals took control of battles leaving Stalin to plan strategic goals. Putin has yet to find those Generals.

            When the Ukrainians retook some areas they found a forest with mass graves of people the Russians had killed. The forest looked just like the pictures of a forest in Eastern Poland where the Russians had killed over 5,000 Polish officers, politicians and the intelligentsia so they could control the people easier. The Russians tried to blame the Germans.

            Russians have always used civilian brutality, infrastructure destruction, and executions as if it is in their military manuals. Rape of little girls and all women is standard before killing them. Torture and death of anyone they suspected of knowing anything or having a relative in the Ukrainian Military is still being used.

            All of the above actions have been done in previous wars Russia has had with other small countries and regions Putin wanted in his dream of reconstituting the U.S.S.R. Hopefully, Ukraine, with our help, will defeat Putin and cause his ouster or death.

Fooling Some

27 Tuesday Sep 2022

Posted by in President Trump

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            P.T. Barnum is credited with saying “You can fool some of the people all the time, most of the people some of the time and all of the people none of the time.” Until recently Barnum was America’s most famous huckster. Many minor hucksters’ have come and gone. Today the internet is full of hucksters!          

Alex Jones and his info wars have been conning people for a few years while getting his followers to fill his wheelbarrows with money. The lawsuits against him for his lies about the New Town School Shooting have exposed how he fooled some of the people all of the time. The closed primaries show that far right people have fooled enough voters with outright lies they were nominated. Now they have to try to fool most of the voters in a general election.

Sooner or later even the best hucksters have been exposed because the con cannot go on forever. Just like the emperor who was found to have no clothes. Once the façade cracks it shatters quickly. The façade of former President Donald Trump has shattered! The nation’s biggest huckster is being attacked on many different sides which will cause more cracks to happen. He has always stretched out his legal problems until the person or group suing him give up and quit. This time he has no hope of that happening unless he is able to con enough people into putting him into the White House. Even then, his children and companies will have to face the music alone. If he didn’t die in office or is found guilty in an impeachment he will be faced with all the cases again in four years. The Great Huckster not only has no clothes, he is bleeding from a thousand axe chops.

Human Trafficking

18 Sunday Sep 2022

Posted by in Politics

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            The general definition for human trafficking is when people are taken from one place to another for the benefit of the person or persons who organized the movement. It is usually applied when women from an Eastern European country are lured to the United States to be models or actresses and are sold into prostitution. The same term applies when Asians or Latinos are brought in to work in jobs as slaves. They are kept in bondage conditions without the ability to go out by themselves. This is a despicable crime and is punished by years in prisons.

            Today we are experiencing another form of human trafficking. The Governors of Florida, Arizona, and Texas are telling migrants to board buses to get to the cities they want to go to, or to cities where they will get housing, food and work. Florida’s Governor is doing this with people in Texas. He says he has a 20 million dollar budget from state funds to do this. This is a classic definition of Human Trafficking. His benefit is not in money but for political gain. The trafficked people supposedly gave permission to do so but little kids without parents can’t give legal permission. They were told family members were at the end of the bus ride to get them on the bus.

            Since this qualifies as human trafficking shouldn’t the bus drivers and pilots be arrested and their buses and planes be confiscated? I bet that would put a stop to this political chicanery since no company would risk losing their assets. If Florida’s Ron DeSantis was actually directing or involved then he should be visited by the FBI with handcuffs.

What a Tangled Web

18 Sunday Sep 2022

Posted by in Politics

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            In 1808, Sir Walter Scott said “What a tangled web we weave when at first we practice to deceive.”. I have known many liars in my life and almost all ends up either telling another lie to cover the first lie to cover the first. Most just keep expanding the lie.

            Today we have a Former President who has created such a huge lie that it is called “The Big Lie” to try to stay in power and to promote a Constitutional crisis on January 6. Before becoming President he lied under oath many times to win law suits and the lawyers and courts didn’t bring charges. People who lie repeatedly begin to believe they can’t be caught and prosecuted for their lies.

            Someone who lies often becomes good at convincing others they should not only believe but should follow their lies. If the liar has social power to convince millions to try to overthrow the government then the American Dream may be over. The only way to stop a liar is to expose the lies over and over until the believers become convinced they have been deceived. The January 6 Committee, many books by Trump insiders, and commonsense may yet prevail.

CPAC Plans

18 Sunday Sep 2022

Posted by in President Trump

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            The Germans in the early 1930s didn’t see where their support of Adolf Hitler would take the world. Hitler said his role model was Benito Mussolini. Mussolini was totalitarian Leader of Italy.

            Why is this important today? Look at who Donald Trump was pals with when he was President and who he is with today. President Trump was pals with XI of China and Putin of Russia. Trump also supported Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey and Viktor Orbán of Hungary. All are authoritarian leaders.

            Orban just laid out his plans on how he took control of his country to the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC). They applauded his plans which Trump said they could use here. Donald Trump was the one that got CPAC to invite him to speak. Orban packed his Supreme Court to allow him to take control by controlling who can vote and which votes are counted. His sexist and racist policies are the same ones Trump was starting to openly push in his last year. Some CPAC members are pushing schools to teach history and civics to their radical agendas. This is how the Hitler Youth was formed.

            Just as the Turks, Hungarians, Chinese, Russians, Indians and others have found after voting in their dictators, they have lost their Democracy. Now they and their close supporters have control of the media and the national law reinforcements to make sure opponents are jailed or “lost.” Why can’t millions of Americans see what Trump and CPAC have planned for America?

Death of the Fourth Estate

09 Friday Sep 2022

Posted by in Journalism

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            Democracy is an idea that requires constant scrutiny and that job belongs to the fourth estate. For centuries newspapers around the country have been reporting on graft, corruption, and other political shenanigans. Because of the libel laws and the chance of being sued, newspapers have been fairly accurate in their investigative reporting. The television reporters like Walter Cronkite and many others with his standard of professionalism could be depended upon to report the truth. Others like Woodward and Bernstein have broken open some of the greatest political scandals in American History.

            After Cronkite retired, he spoke many times of how reporting was being diluted by the network’s cost cutting and the decreasing quality of journalists. Another reason he eluded this too is television stations and networks, like Fox, which reports the news through a philosophical lens and then fills the majority of the hour with editorials and opinions disguised as news. He said fewer and fewer people were able to tell the difference. To buttress Cronkite’s point Fox reporters have said one thing and during the rest of the hour a series of talking heads repeatedly espoused the opposite view. The viewer got ten minutes of truth and fifty of opinions hammering the viewer with fiction.

            The print media has been marching to a Waterloo of its own. First it was the consolidation of newspapers under a few people who weren’t concerned about real journalism and worthwhile impartial reporting. Second, the print media jumped into the internet without having a platform that produced an income and profit leading to their financial destruction. Third is a combination of the first two. The newspapers have reduced the physical size and started printing huge pictures, grafts, charts, and bulletin style articles to hide the fact they have fired a substantial number of their journalists.

No Loyalty

09 Friday Sep 2022

Posted by in President Trump

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            What is going on with all the attacks on former President Donald Trump? He just spent six hours in a New York City Room saying he wouldn’t incriminate himself by answering questions. He was forced to do so after a judge directed him to do so. Trump appealed it to the New York District Appeals Court because he had appointed two of them. They agreed with the first judge. He has always said only criminals use the Fifth Amendment to avoid justice.

            The FBI raided his Mar-a-Logo home three days ago with a search warrant signed by another judge he appointed. The FBI Director who directed the work was also his appointee.

            The Republican Attorney General is directing a grand jury into Trump’s effort to overturn the Georgia election of 2020. They are calling many of Trump’s insiders and some Senators and Congressmen who tried to support Trump’s efforts to overturn the results.

            This has been widely reported for years by those present. The former President asked those present why his Generals weren’t as loyal to him as Hitler’s Generals were to him. One person responded by reminding him Hitler’s Generals tried to kill Hitler three times. Trump responded by saying that never happened.

            When reality starts to close in people like Hitler decide to take their own country down with them.

Elections in Texas

09 Friday Sep 2022

Posted by in Politics

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            Millions of Texans say President Biden somehow corrupted the voting process and machines because it was a close election. They never said how all the other Democrats won where they were gerrymandered to win and Republicans won everywhere else including all the state officials. Polls for President were fairly accurate with Trump winning by the projected percentage.

            People talk about several states voting irregularities with Texas usually pointing the finger at blue states like Illinois and California. Texans should remember when they point a finger three more are pointing back at themselves.

            The Chicago Tribune printed an interesting example of Texan politics. The article was about Loving County, Texas which borders the Southeast corner of New Mexico. It is on the edge of the Permian Oil Fields. According to the 2020 Census it has 64 residents with more than that often voting in an election. Loving must let children and the dead vote to exceed its population. Loving County is 90.9% Republican, 6.1% Democrat, and 3.0% Independent. During the last four years the Republicans were able to raise almost 65 thousand dollars with the Democrats getting along with 335 dollars.

            This type of election fraud isn’t unusual in Texas and is even expected. Texas Governors and Attorney Generals must do all they can to slow down or stop its change from Republican back to Democrat. It changed after President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the voting rights bill. Texas Republicans are trying to make sure Supreme Court’s oversight never comes back. President Trump’s appointments voted to cease that oversight.

What a Mess We Are In

01 Thursday Sep 2022

Posted by in Laws

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     Some states like Texas allow anyone to buy and carry a gun on their hip or sling an assault weapon over their shoulder. They say it is their Constitutional right but if it is a right that can’t be abridged, how can the Supreme Court prohibit guns in schools, courtroom, and their assembly meetings?

            Some states violate that right be prohibiting who can have a gun. Felons and kids are prohibited in some states but not all. Some require some kind of license to carry or even buy a gun so someone from Texas can be arrested for having a weapon in those states. We have a total confusion with gun laws.

            Our voting laws are just as confusing. The U.S. Government mandated a voting age of eighteen. Then it is a hodgepodge of laws as to how to vote, when voting can start, and how long polls can be open among other rules. Some felons can vote while some can’t. Some mail ballots to all registered voters, some may mail some, and others don’t mail any. A few have open primaries.

            Congress needs to finally set rules for all Federal Elections which will drag all the states along for their local and state election.

         

What a Mess We Are In

01 Thursday Sep 2022

Posted by in Laws

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            Some states like Texas allow anyone to buy and carry a gun on their hip or sling an assault weapon over their shoulder. They say it is their Constitutional right but if it is a right that can’t be abridged, how can the Supreme Court prohibit guns in schools, courtroom, and their assembly meetings?

            Some states violate that right be prohibiting who can have a gun. Felons and kids are prohibited in some states but not all. Some require some kind of license to carry or even buy a gun so someone from Texas can be arrested for having a weapon in those states. We have a total confusion with gun laws.

            Our voting laws are just as confusing. The U.S. Government mandated a voting age of eighteen. Then it is a hodgepodge of laws as to how to vote, when voting can start, and how long polls can be open among other rules. Some felons can vote while some can’t. Some mail ballots to all registered voters, some may mail some, and others don’t mail any. A few have open primaries.

            Congress needs to finally set rules for all Federal Elections which will drag all the states along for their local and state election.