President Trump is on the wrong track with Venezuela. Where is the Good Neighbor policy?
Today (August 28, 2017) we learn that the President has instituted sweeping financial sanctions on Venezuela that will prohibit financial institutions from providing new money to the government or its critical oil industry. These policies will only make the present dire circumstances in Venezuela all the worse for all of its citizenry. Why are we doing this? Why is Mr. Trump butting his nose into Venezuela's internal affairs when we have so many problems to solve here at home? The Venezuelans certainly pose no threat to us.
The ostensible reason for Mr. Trump's ire is that Venezuela is governed by a "socialist"---Mr. Maduro--whose socialist policies are making a terrible mess of that nation's economy. Maduro is considered a failed leader, and a socialist. But Mr. Trump is known to support vicious dictators, and terrible leaders in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt and elsewhere. What has he got against Mr. Maduro? Other than that leader has recently instituted a constitutional convention *perfectly legal) that may (or may not) give him dictatorial powers. Perhaps the Venezuelan move for governmental renewal is not such a bad idea (we need such a renewal too). But one must ask should Mr. Trump and his generals in DC be making decisions for the people of Venezuela>. Should the USA be deciding on what form of government Venezuela should have? One of the basic principles of the GOP( and of President Regain) was that "local government" is the best government. Is it not best to let the citizens of Venezuela and the leaders in Caracas decide what form of government is best for them?
]
But is it simply Mr. Maduro;s socialism which is the perceived threat to the USA? Are we so fearful of Venezuela's not so successful socialism that we will pursue policies that will push that struggling nation into a failed state--with all the attendant problems of hardship, violence, economic collapse, impact on its neighbor states (and the USA), its displaced citizens, and perhaps massive movements of refugees? Of course--- all these conditions of a "failed state" are very familiar to our leaders in Washington DC. Sadly the foreign policies and wars of choice of the last several administrations (both Democrat and Republican) have generated chaos and failed states all across the Middle East. Does Mr. Trump want to create another failed state here in the Western Hemisphere too? Does he want his own failed state? Bush 43, and Obama each have several...perhaps Trump wants one too?
Rather that putting the pressure on Venezuela and creating chaos in South America should we not be looking to hold out our a hand of friendship to help that nation?
Let's wise up--butt our noses out--offer help. Let's not push Venezuela and millions of its innocent citizens over the cliff,
Monday, August 28, 2017
Tuesday, August 22, 2017
TRUMP:: WE ARE STUCK WITH AFGHANISTAN--YOU BREAK IT--YOU OWN IT.
TRUMP: BUSH-NEOCON WARS OF CHOICE ARE AN UNENDING COSTLY COMMITMENT
CONCLUSION: WE CAN NEVER MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN WITH THE COSTLY ECONOMIC MILLSTONE OF SIMMERING OLD WARS LIKE AFGHANISTAN, IRAQ, SYRIA, AND YEMEN AROUND OUR NECEKS FROM WHICH WE CAN NOT EXIT!
ALTERNATIVE: WE MUST BREAK FREE--OR FACE A FUTURE OR PENURY AND DECLINE.
IMMUTABLE TRUTH: WE CAN NO LONGER AFFORD TO BE THE WORLD POLICEMAN
My mom had a favorite little antique shop she would drag me into as a small boy. It was cluttered with fine, very old and very delicate things. Things a little boy might bump into and easily break. Old Mr. Wither's who owned the place, sat at his desk in the corner and watched me like a hawk watches its prey. If I got too close to a shaky table of stacked with ancient and delicate ceramics he would tap his pencil on a little glass vase on his desk to get my attention. Then seeing me look up, he would point to a large sign on the wall over his head with his pencil. It read: "IF YOU BREAK IT YOU OWN IT!"
That is just how it is with the nations we have invaded--some unecessisarily. When we invade a nation, we destroy its infrastructure, we capitate its leadership, we often destroy its infrastructure ---we take over. We impose our ideas of government and culture on a alien, uncompliant, resistant population. No one--least of all Americans--want some alien invaders to tell them how to live. Yet that is what we do as invaders.
As a consequence...the governments we impose on the invaded countries DO NOT REPRESENT THE PEOPLE THEY GOVERN. The Afghan government we have inserted into that nation does not represent the people of Afghanistan it represent the American overlords to whom they are responsible and who pays them. That is the incontestable, introconvertable fact twhy the Afghan government...with all its American military advisors, embedded troops and military hardware can NEVER WIN THE ALLEGIENCE OF THE PEOPLE. It is an American government IMPOSED on the Afghans.
The Taliban still control nearly half off the that nation...after sixteen years of continuous pounding by American arms and bombs. That is how it will be forever. You don't have to be a genius to figure that out. If we can only our political and military geniuses could have realized that back in 2001!
Last night President Trump fell in line with the globalists, new-cons, war mongers and Democrats when he "reluctantly" explained to the nation why we are stuck in Afghanistan. The fact is that Afghanistan and the other nations we liberated are all costly millstones around our necks---forever more.
President Bush 43's disastrous decision to STAY in Afghanistan to make that nation safe for "democracy" after bin Laden sneaked away..will be one of the dumbest, costliest mistakes in /American history. Someone should fund a huge DC monument for him. To remind us of our greatest errors. Perhaps we can then remember these errors before we are urged to mindlessly repeat them over and over again.
The only glimmer of hope is that....the Taliban will wise up---since we cant do it---and agree to a cease fire and a coalition government. But sadly we are in this case now dependent upon the wisdom and good sense of the bearded, ssandlaed , turban headed Taliban to pluck our chestnuts out of the hot fire.
CONCLUSION: WE CAN NEVER MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN WITH THE COSTLY ECONOMIC MILLSTONE OF SIMMERING OLD WARS LIKE AFGHANISTAN, IRAQ, SYRIA, AND YEMEN AROUND OUR NECEKS FROM WHICH WE CAN NOT EXIT!
ALTERNATIVE: WE MUST BREAK FREE--OR FACE A FUTURE OR PENURY AND DECLINE.
IMMUTABLE TRUTH: WE CAN NO LONGER AFFORD TO BE THE WORLD POLICEMAN
My mom had a favorite little antique shop she would drag me into as a small boy. It was cluttered with fine, very old and very delicate things. Things a little boy might bump into and easily break. Old Mr. Wither's who owned the place, sat at his desk in the corner and watched me like a hawk watches its prey. If I got too close to a shaky table of stacked with ancient and delicate ceramics he would tap his pencil on a little glass vase on his desk to get my attention. Then seeing me look up, he would point to a large sign on the wall over his head with his pencil. It read: "IF YOU BREAK IT YOU OWN IT!"
That is just how it is with the nations we have invaded--some unecessisarily. When we invade a nation, we destroy its infrastructure, we capitate its leadership, we often destroy its infrastructure ---we take over. We impose our ideas of government and culture on a alien, uncompliant, resistant population. No one--least of all Americans--want some alien invaders to tell them how to live. Yet that is what we do as invaders.
As a consequence...the governments we impose on the invaded countries DO NOT REPRESENT THE PEOPLE THEY GOVERN. The Afghan government we have inserted into that nation does not represent the people of Afghanistan it represent the American overlords to whom they are responsible and who pays them. That is the incontestable, introconvertable fact twhy the Afghan government...with all its American military advisors, embedded troops and military hardware can NEVER WIN THE ALLEGIENCE OF THE PEOPLE. It is an American government IMPOSED on the Afghans.
The Taliban still control nearly half off the that nation...after sixteen years of continuous pounding by American arms and bombs. That is how it will be forever. You don't have to be a genius to figure that out. If we can only our political and military geniuses could have realized that back in 2001!
Last night President Trump fell in line with the globalists, new-cons, war mongers and Democrats when he "reluctantly" explained to the nation why we are stuck in Afghanistan. The fact is that Afghanistan and the other nations we liberated are all costly millstones around our necks---forever more.
President Bush 43's disastrous decision to STAY in Afghanistan to make that nation safe for "democracy" after bin Laden sneaked away..will be one of the dumbest, costliest mistakes in /American history. Someone should fund a huge DC monument for him. To remind us of our greatest errors. Perhaps we can then remember these errors before we are urged to mindlessly repeat them over and over again.
The only glimmer of hope is that....the Taliban will wise up---since we cant do it---and agree to a cease fire and a coalition government. But sadly we are in this case now dependent upon the wisdom and good sense of the bearded, ssandlaed , turban headed Taliban to pluck our chestnuts out of the hot fire.
Monday, August 21, 2017
NAVY DISASTERS AT SEA-
NAVY DISASTERS AT SEA: TOO MUCH SOCIAL EXPERIMENTATION?
I read with shock yesterday (Sunday August 20, 2017) that ANOTHER US Navy ship was struck by another merchant vessel with again more loss of US lives. Only a few weeks back, the US destroyer Fitzgerald was struck by a container ship with the loss of seven sailors dead, others seriously injured and the ship heavily damaged.
The USS guided missile destroyer John McCain (no not named for the Senator but for his grandfather and father both were Navy Admirals of that name) was struck late Saturday or early Sunday at sea by a Greek owned oil tanker in the Malacca Straits, a narrow body of water between the Malay peninsula and the Island of Sumatra northwest of Australia. The Greek tanker drove its bow into the aft port side of the destroyer, punching a ten meter (thirty foot) hole into the side of the ship at the water line. Five sailors were injured and ten are missing overboard. Sadly the likelihood of their recovery alive is dearly hoped for but is not good.
As in the case of the Fitzgerald, there should have been a sailor on watch at the bow, and one at the stern. There should have been several commissioned officers on deck closely monitoring the ship's radar and sonar (and other more sophisticated listening technology---after all remember this is multi billion dollar US guided missile destroyer!) What the hell was the crew doing? Having a party?
This is not only a massive embarrassment for the Navy. It also in an indictment of policies imposed on the military by several successive Democrat governments to try to have our fighting forces reflect perhaps too closely the culture of our nation's coastal and urban elites. It too has been the military service in the last decades which has been forced to engage in perhaps too much social experimentation with the make up of its crew. Has it spent too much time and effort attempting to decide on which bathrooms or showers must crew members use? Or what gender they are, or think they should be? With these efforts in the fore has it perhaps let its main function--readiness--lethality and war fighting-- drop to a lower rung on the ladder of importance. If so this is is a dangerous and worrisome trend.
These two disastrous accidents should raise our concerns about our readiness to defend ourself. What is the message regarding our readiness and lethality we send to North Korea and China? What ideas have we given ISIS terrorist cells? Do they get the idea that a good night to sneak aboard a US destroyer for an attack is late on a Saturday night--when the crew are partying and the captain is sleeping?
Let us hope we can correct these recurrent "accidents". It is not a Democrat or Republican problem...it is an existential American problem.
I read with shock yesterday (Sunday August 20, 2017) that ANOTHER US Navy ship was struck by another merchant vessel with again more loss of US lives. Only a few weeks back, the US destroyer Fitzgerald was struck by a container ship with the loss of seven sailors dead, others seriously injured and the ship heavily damaged.
The USS guided missile destroyer John McCain (no not named for the Senator but for his grandfather and father both were Navy Admirals of that name) was struck late Saturday or early Sunday at sea by a Greek owned oil tanker in the Malacca Straits, a narrow body of water between the Malay peninsula and the Island of Sumatra northwest of Australia. The Greek tanker drove its bow into the aft port side of the destroyer, punching a ten meter (thirty foot) hole into the side of the ship at the water line. Five sailors were injured and ten are missing overboard. Sadly the likelihood of their recovery alive is dearly hoped for but is not good.
As in the case of the Fitzgerald, there should have been a sailor on watch at the bow, and one at the stern. There should have been several commissioned officers on deck closely monitoring the ship's radar and sonar (and other more sophisticated listening technology---after all remember this is multi billion dollar US guided missile destroyer!) What the hell was the crew doing? Having a party?
This is not only a massive embarrassment for the Navy. It also in an indictment of policies imposed on the military by several successive Democrat governments to try to have our fighting forces reflect perhaps too closely the culture of our nation's coastal and urban elites. It too has been the military service in the last decades which has been forced to engage in perhaps too much social experimentation with the make up of its crew. Has it spent too much time and effort attempting to decide on which bathrooms or showers must crew members use? Or what gender they are, or think they should be? With these efforts in the fore has it perhaps let its main function--readiness--lethality and war fighting-- drop to a lower rung on the ladder of importance. If so this is is a dangerous and worrisome trend.
These two disastrous accidents should raise our concerns about our readiness to defend ourself. What is the message regarding our readiness and lethality we send to North Korea and China? What ideas have we given ISIS terrorist cells? Do they get the idea that a good night to sneak aboard a US destroyer for an attack is late on a Saturday night--when the crew are partying and the captain is sleeping?
Let us hope we can correct these recurrent "accidents". It is not a Democrat or Republican problem...it is an existential American problem.
DNA COMES TO MISSOURI'S MARCELLUS WILLIAMS
WILL THE STATE HALT THE EXECUTION?
When the State of Missouri convicted Marcellus Williams of killing a white woman during a botched burglary in 1998, there was no DNA testing available for a poor black man in St. Louis who insisted on his innocence. The state depended on two shaky and questionable witnesses who received cash compensation for fingering Williams. The prosecutor had nothing more to present to the Williams' jury of 11 white folks and one black man--than the seemingly tainted testimony of these two witnesses. No physical evidence at all. Williams' overworked, unprepared appointed attorney was not up to task of shaking the testimony of these witnesses. Williams was quickly convicted and after almost two decades on death row he now awaits his cruel execution sentence tomorrow.
In the interim, time and advances in DNA technology as well as money raised by Williams' advocates have permitted scientific testing of the knife used in the crime. Williams' DNA was not present--but the DNA of another man was, There was no physical evidence to support Williams' conviction. His advocates have submitted this new DNA evidence which supports their contention that Williams is innocent. Yet the State Supreme Court has not made what for them is a wrenching decision to stay the execution and subject the state and prosecutors to a new trail
Better to kill an innocent man--and bury their mistakes--.than go back on a bad decision.
That kind of thinking is all too common these days.
Let's hope that the recently elected new Governor of Missouri can turn the page on history and stay this execution. Let's hope he can give Williams a fair opportunity to prove his innocence---and save the State of Missouri--(remember Ferguson) its well meaning white folks, its police and its black folks a great deal of grief,
When the State of Missouri convicted Marcellus Williams of killing a white woman during a botched burglary in 1998, there was no DNA testing available for a poor black man in St. Louis who insisted on his innocence. The state depended on two shaky and questionable witnesses who received cash compensation for fingering Williams. The prosecutor had nothing more to present to the Williams' jury of 11 white folks and one black man--than the seemingly tainted testimony of these two witnesses. No physical evidence at all. Williams' overworked, unprepared appointed attorney was not up to task of shaking the testimony of these witnesses. Williams was quickly convicted and after almost two decades on death row he now awaits his cruel execution sentence tomorrow.
In the interim, time and advances in DNA technology as well as money raised by Williams' advocates have permitted scientific testing of the knife used in the crime. Williams' DNA was not present--but the DNA of another man was, There was no physical evidence to support Williams' conviction. His advocates have submitted this new DNA evidence which supports their contention that Williams is innocent. Yet the State Supreme Court has not made what for them is a wrenching decision to stay the execution and subject the state and prosecutors to a new trail
Better to kill an innocent man--and bury their mistakes--.than go back on a bad decision.
That kind of thinking is all too common these days.
Let's hope that the recently elected new Governor of Missouri can turn the page on history and stay this execution. Let's hope he can give Williams a fair opportunity to prove his innocence---and save the State of Missouri--(remember Ferguson) its well meaning white folks, its police and its black folks a great deal of grief,
Saturday, August 19, 2017
AFGHANISTAN BAD INVESTMENT--GET OUT
Today (August 18, 2017) we learn that President Trump has decamped from seamy, humid and festering DC to the cool air of the Catoctin mountains and Camp David where he will be ensconced with his military team to plan a "new" phase for the war in the long losing war in Afghanistan. His military advisors are --true to form--pushing him toward---guess what?---more troops to turn the "tide". They have no other ideas--keeep pushing more men, money and materiel in a losing battle. These military have not progressed beyond the the trench warfare practices of WWI. They can not envision leaving that harsh mountainous nation with our tails between our legs. And the dumbest reason of all...to prevent those military who sacrificed their lives in the past to have done so for a losing cause. Wasting lives and money for no conceivable gain does not seem averse to the military mind.
We have been fighting in Afghanistan since 2001--now for sixteen years. This longest war began when the Taliban refused to give up Osama Bin Laden--the mastermind of the 9-11 attacks. But after Bin Laden eluded US troops and escaped across the border into Pakistan--- we stayed on. Why have we stayed on for sixteen years? There is no answer for that query and no one can or will give a good answer today. .
Today Afghanistan is "celebrated" as as "America's longest war.". Some might add our longest lost and losing war, and perhaps our dumbest one too. The Congressional Budget office has tallied up a $1.1trillion dollar price tag for the direct costs of Afghanistan in 2014--and counting. But when economists tally in the additional years to the present and the long term costs (military death and family benefits, medical costs, disability, replacement social costs) these Bush era (stirred up and supported by Neo-cons Kristol, Kagan, Nuland, Wolfowitz and other) exercises in stupidity will cost us somewhere between $4 and $6 trillion dollars. Think of what we could have done had we spent those funds here in the USA. We could have had a world class educational, medical, transportation systems and a real functioning wall to control illegal immigration.
We sacrificed (and continue to sacrifice ) the lives of two US Army battalions or a whole Regiment of soldiers-----the "dead regiment of Afghanistan" (We lost about 2300 troops in that nation) and we suffered more than 20 thousand wounded. Many of these brave military wounded continue to live lives of pain and suffering, and mental anguish and will need perpetual care for the rest of their lives.
After all our trillions of tax dollars spent, heroic efforts, lost lives, nothing has changed in Afghanistan. The Taliban still control more than half of that nation. Where we have weakened and killed them off in parts of the northeastern region--another threat--ISIS has gained a foothold. Nothing much has changed since President George Bush gave the Taliban the ultimatum--to "give up Bin Laden". Innocent civilians still die in counterproductive drone strikes which kill more civilians, women and children (as they work in the fields, attend celebrations, or funerals) than terrorists and insurgents. These drone deaths only act as a super effective recruitment tool for ISIS and Taliban insurgents. They love our drone attacks. The "drone strategy" is one "sanitary" way to fight and lose a war.
So what now? Will President Trump go along with the generals all around him and make this a Trump War? Or will he use his business acumen and realize that Afghanistan is only a hole in earth to throw away American lives and tax dollars. Afghanistan is the epitome of a bad investment from the beginning. A wise businessman would see this and end the waste. Will Mr. Trump remember his campaign promises in which he claimed to focus his efforts on tax reform, ending uncontrolled immigration, trade reforms, building the wall, and making America Great Again?
Or is he like Obama going to take his pants down for the generals and sacrifice more companies and battalions into the "Afghan Dead Regiment?
Saturday, August 12, 2017
VENEZUELA MILITARY OPTION---OFF THE TABLE
PRESIDENT'S TOUGH TALK ON NORTH KOREA.----.OK WE FACE A REAL THREAT THERE
BUT VENEZUELA?
TWO WORDS....RIDICULOUS AND FRIGHTENING.
MR TRUMP WILL LOSE HIS POPULIST BASE ON THIS KIND OF BLATHER
REMEMBER THE TRUMP MANDATE: CONTROL IMMIGRATION, END OPEN BORDERS, BRING BACK GOOD JOBS FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS, AND GROW THE ECONOMY.
VENEZUELA, IS SIMPLY IS NOT OUR BUSINESS, AND NOT A THREAT TO US ---AND NOT PART OF THE TRUMP MANDATE.
DUMB, WASTEFUL FOREIGN ADVENTURISM WAS FOR THE CLINTONS, THE BUSH FAMILY, NEOCONS AND DEMOCRATS.
PLEASE---NO MORE OFF THE CUFF REMARKS ON "MILITARY OPTIONS" THE POTUS IS UNDERMINING ITS USE AS A THREAT AND ITS MEANING.
ALSO DISCONCERTING TO LEARN THAT MR MADURO MADE A CALL TO THE POTUS.
IT WAS REJECTED. "HE WON'T SPEAK TO DICTATORS"
SO HE WILL GLADLY SPEAK WITH COMMUNIST DICTATOR KIM OF NORTH KOREA BUT SOCIALIST--ELECTED--MR MADURO GETS THE COLD SHOULDER?
BUT VENEZUELA?
TWO WORDS....RIDICULOUS AND FRIGHTENING.
MR TRUMP WILL LOSE HIS POPULIST BASE ON THIS KIND OF BLATHER
REMEMBER THE TRUMP MANDATE: CONTROL IMMIGRATION, END OPEN BORDERS, BRING BACK GOOD JOBS FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS, AND GROW THE ECONOMY.
VENEZUELA, IS SIMPLY IS NOT OUR BUSINESS, AND NOT A THREAT TO US ---AND NOT PART OF THE TRUMP MANDATE.
DUMB, WASTEFUL FOREIGN ADVENTURISM WAS FOR THE CLINTONS, THE BUSH FAMILY, NEOCONS AND DEMOCRATS.
PLEASE---NO MORE OFF THE CUFF REMARKS ON "MILITARY OPTIONS" THE POTUS IS UNDERMINING ITS USE AS A THREAT AND ITS MEANING.
ALSO DISCONCERTING TO LEARN THAT MR MADURO MADE A CALL TO THE POTUS.
IT WAS REJECTED. "HE WON'T SPEAK TO DICTATORS"
SO HE WILL GLADLY SPEAK WITH COMMUNIST DICTATOR KIM OF NORTH KOREA BUT SOCIALIST--ELECTED--MR MADURO GETS THE COLD SHOULDER?
Friday, August 11, 2017
PLAYING GOLF AND SHOOTING OFF ONE'S MOUTH--DANGEROUS
THE DANGER OF PLAYING GOLF AND SHOOTING OFF YOUR MOUTH
BLOVIATING ON VENEZUELA--NOT THE WAY TO "MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN"
When Presidents are playing golf---reporters must please act responsibly. At such times, no one should ask the President loaded, non-golf-related questions. Queries like: "Mr. President would you use the military option in Venezuela?" That and similar questions should not be permitted.
This form of "gotcha' questioning is simply not fair to the President, to our nation, our military (it is totally confusing for them--where are they to prepare to deploy? South America, Asia?) and not to mention the consternation in er--- say Venezuela and other nations around the world..
At these times--as in this instance--on the golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey---let's face it---the President's hands are engaged, but his brain may not be. His hands, as at this instance were grasping his Presidential "DJT" monogrammed Calloway Driver. His whole being is at these times focused--not on Venezuela, or North Korea, or Mitch McConnell's stinging remarks. His whole being is engrossed with making intense contact with that little white golf ball. His mind is engaged in picturing how the white sphere will appear to rapidly diminish in size as it curves up into the air and draws a little toward the left on this long par 4 dogleg left in balmy Bedminster.
So in response to this loaded question, which he heard---but which did not register in his mind, because he was staring at the white sphere at his feet--which sat perched engagingly and tantalizingly on a tall plastic "DJT" monogrammed tee. So the President's disengaged response was:
"Yeah nothing's off the table for..... uh what was it?......North Korea, you asked?"
"No sir, the question was about ....er you know,,,,ahhh,,Venezuela".
"Oh...ahhh where?"
The President seems not to have heard this persistent reporter's last comment. He is obviously visibly distracted. At this juncture the POTUS turns away from the determined reporter and gazes out at the beautiful green fairway in front of him.
Then as if he had not a care in the world, he steps up to address his ball. He wiggles his club, and shimmies his hips. Very slowly he draws the club back and makes a complete twisting turn. The massive 550 cc Calloway "Mother of All Wars" "special Presidential issue" driver rises way above the POTUS's head. The presidential hands pull the club down on an inside-outside path, with the massive head swishing along the recently trimmed low green grass of the tee box to make "nuclear contact" with the dimpled white orb.
"Craaaaaaaaaack!"
As the sound of the impact fades the President stands in classic golf pose watching his ball arch through the clear Bedminster air. Way down the fairway the ball clips a tiny branch of an overhanging oak tree on the right side, then spirals downward skimming along the brushy margin of the fairway. It bounces a few times rolling toward the center of the wide greensward . Finally coming to a stop on a small elevated area in the center of the fairway about 210 yards away.
"Nice drive," calls out one of the reporters, as many in the Presidential entourage clap their hands in appreciation.
"Yeah a good 280-290 yards," remarks the President.
The insistent reporter continues to push forward through the crowd attempting to get an answer from the President. "So ...ah...Sir....then, Sir you are saying that the military option NOT...that is NOT off the table?" .
OH yeah.....its still .....on the table", responded the POTUS..thinking only of his ball sitting on a tiny rise 210 yards away--and thinking to himself: "Yeah....I guess that little mound could be called a "table".
Then another thought come to him. He turns to remark to the crowd...."But, d'ja see how that ball just ticked that branch? Betcha it woulda gone a good three-hundred yards if it hadn't hit that twig."
Then the President had another idea.
The President turned to catch the eye of a tall man in the rear of the crowd, He raised a white-gloved hand to direct the man forward.
"Manuel"!", he called.
"Yes Sir!", responded Manuel with alacrity. .
"Manuel, see to it that the trees on that side of the fairway are properly trimmed, will you?."
"Yes Sir, Mr. President, I will get the grounds crew to take care of that immediately!"
The formerly insistent and questioning reporter was not present for this last conversation. He had already disappeared among the crowd having immediately turned away scribbling furiously on a tiny pad after the Presidents's last response to him,
This type of "off the cuff" dialog with the President can be a dangerous exercise. Please reporters, in the future be, sure the President is actually paying attention to you--and is not distracted--- when you ask questions.
Reporters....think of it....invading Venezuela may be YOUR responsibility.
BLOVIATING ON VENEZUELA--NOT THE WAY TO "MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN"
When Presidents are playing golf---reporters must please act responsibly. At such times, no one should ask the President loaded, non-golf-related questions. Queries like: "Mr. President would you use the military option in Venezuela?" That and similar questions should not be permitted.
This form of "gotcha' questioning is simply not fair to the President, to our nation, our military (it is totally confusing for them--where are they to prepare to deploy? South America, Asia?) and not to mention the consternation in er--- say Venezuela and other nations around the world..
At these times--as in this instance--on the golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey---let's face it---the President's hands are engaged, but his brain may not be. His hands, as at this instance were grasping his Presidential "DJT" monogrammed Calloway Driver. His whole being is at these times focused--not on Venezuela, or North Korea, or Mitch McConnell's stinging remarks. His whole being is engrossed with making intense contact with that little white golf ball. His mind is engaged in picturing how the white sphere will appear to rapidly diminish in size as it curves up into the air and draws a little toward the left on this long par 4 dogleg left in balmy Bedminster.
So in response to this loaded question, which he heard---but which did not register in his mind, because he was staring at the white sphere at his feet--which sat perched engagingly and tantalizingly on a tall plastic "DJT" monogrammed tee. So the President's disengaged response was:
"Yeah nothing's off the table for..... uh what was it?......North Korea, you asked?"
"No sir, the question was about ....er you know,,,,ahhh,,Venezuela".
"Oh...ahhh where?"
The President seems not to have heard this persistent reporter's last comment. He is obviously visibly distracted. At this juncture the POTUS turns away from the determined reporter and gazes out at the beautiful green fairway in front of him.
Then as if he had not a care in the world, he steps up to address his ball. He wiggles his club, and shimmies his hips. Very slowly he draws the club back and makes a complete twisting turn. The massive 550 cc Calloway "Mother of All Wars" "special Presidential issue" driver rises way above the POTUS's head. The presidential hands pull the club down on an inside-outside path, with the massive head swishing along the recently trimmed low green grass of the tee box to make "nuclear contact" with the dimpled white orb.
"Craaaaaaaaaack!"
As the sound of the impact fades the President stands in classic golf pose watching his ball arch through the clear Bedminster air. Way down the fairway the ball clips a tiny branch of an overhanging oak tree on the right side, then spirals downward skimming along the brushy margin of the fairway. It bounces a few times rolling toward the center of the wide greensward . Finally coming to a stop on a small elevated area in the center of the fairway about 210 yards away.
"Nice drive," calls out one of the reporters, as many in the Presidential entourage clap their hands in appreciation.
"Yeah a good 280-290 yards," remarks the President.
The insistent reporter continues to push forward through the crowd attempting to get an answer from the President. "So ...ah...Sir....then, Sir you are saying that the military option NOT...that is NOT off the table?" .
OH yeah.....its still .....on the table", responded the POTUS..thinking only of his ball sitting on a tiny rise 210 yards away--and thinking to himself: "Yeah....I guess that little mound could be called a "table".
Then another thought come to him. He turns to remark to the crowd...."But, d'ja see how that ball just ticked that branch? Betcha it woulda gone a good three-hundred yards if it hadn't hit that twig."
Then the President had another idea.
The President turned to catch the eye of a tall man in the rear of the crowd, He raised a white-gloved hand to direct the man forward.
"Manuel"!", he called.
"Yes Sir!", responded Manuel with alacrity. .
"Manuel, see to it that the trees on that side of the fairway are properly trimmed, will you?."
"Yes Sir, Mr. President, I will get the grounds crew to take care of that immediately!"
The formerly insistent and questioning reporter was not present for this last conversation. He had already disappeared among the crowd having immediately turned away scribbling furiously on a tiny pad after the Presidents's last response to him,
This type of "off the cuff" dialog with the President can be a dangerous exercise. Please reporters, in the future be, sure the President is actually paying attention to you--and is not distracted--- when you ask questions.
Reporters....think of it....invading Venezuela may be YOUR responsibility.
Thursday, August 10, 2017
NUCLEAR THREAT NORTH KOREA--END PRODUCT OF NEOCON POLICIES
THE NEOCON WARS OF CHOICE IN THE MIDDLE EAST HAVE COST US DEARLY--
INVEIGLED AND COERCED BY LIES AND SUBTERFUGE, THE NATION WAS PUSHED INTO "WARS OF CHOICE" IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN (WHICH WERE NO EXISTENTIAL THREAT TO US) WITH DISASTROUS CONSEQUENCES FOR THAT REGION, FOR OUR MILITARY, OUR ECONOMY AND THE WELL-BEING OF THE ENTIRE WORLD. WE NOW FIND OURSELVES WAR-WEARY, WEAKENED AND SPREAD TOO THIN MILITARILY TO ROBUSTLY FACE A REAL AND PRESENT THREAT FROM NORTH KOREA. IRONICALLY NORTH KOREA WAS A FESTERING SORE THESE LAST DECADES WHILE WE FRITTERED AWAY THE BLOOD OF OUR YOUTH AND OUR WEALTH ON UNNECESSARY WARS.
HOW COULD WE HAVE BEEN SO STUPID?
THE PRESENT EXISTENTIAL THREAT IN NORTH KOREA IS THE RESULT OF THE DISASTROUS TAKEOVER OF OUR FOREIGN POLICY INSTITUTIONS BY A GROUP OF NEOCONS AND THEIR FACILITATORS...WHO WITH THEIR SINGLEMINDED FOCUS ON THE MIDDLE EAST AND COSTLY CONCEPTS OF REGIME CHANGE AND NATION BUILDING LED US INTO THE MORASS OF IRAQ AND AFGHANSITAN--WHERE EVEN TODAY WE SPILL THE BLOOD OF OUR YOUTH.
IN THESE WARS, BOY-PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH FOUGHT AND LOST A MINDLESS, BLOODY, THREE TRILLION DOLLAR WAR---WHILE HE PERMITTED OUR GOVERNMENT TO IGNORE AND LET FESTER THE REAL EXISTENTIAL THREAT OF NORTH KOREA. PRESIDENT OBAMA UNWILLING AND UNABLE TO COUNTER THE NEOCONS AND THEIR ERRONEOUS POLICIES CONTINUED TO LET NORTH KOREA DEVELOP ITS NUCLEAR AND ICBM CAPABILITY.
THE NEOCONS AND THEIR IDEAS ARE PASSE-- THEIR CONTINUED INFLUENCE--IN LIGHT OF THE DISASTROUS POLICIES THEY HAVE SUPPORTED---ARE THE REAL THREAT TO OUR NATION. THEY SHOULD BE HELD TO ACCOUNT.
BUT SADLY DUMB IDEAS DIE SLOWLY AND TODAY WE STILL SUFFER FROM HOLD-OVER NEOCONS AND THIER SYMPATHIZERS, FACILITATORS IN WASHINGTON, THE DEEP STATE, THE FBI, NSA, CIA AND THE ESTABLISHMENT AND THE MAIN STREAM MEDIA--AN ARM OF THE DEEP STATE. IT IS HERE AMONG THESE FIFTH COLUMNISTS WHERE THE "RESISTANCE" TO OUR LEGITIMATELY ELECTED GOVERNMENT ARISES I N THE FORM OF LEAKS AND PHONY RUSSIA COLLUSION STORIES.
INVEIGLED AND COERCED BY LIES AND SUBTERFUGE, THE NATION WAS PUSHED INTO "WARS OF CHOICE" IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN (WHICH WERE NO EXISTENTIAL THREAT TO US) WITH DISASTROUS CONSEQUENCES FOR THAT REGION, FOR OUR MILITARY, OUR ECONOMY AND THE WELL-BEING OF THE ENTIRE WORLD. WE NOW FIND OURSELVES WAR-WEARY, WEAKENED AND SPREAD TOO THIN MILITARILY TO ROBUSTLY FACE A REAL AND PRESENT THREAT FROM NORTH KOREA. IRONICALLY NORTH KOREA WAS A FESTERING SORE THESE LAST DECADES WHILE WE FRITTERED AWAY THE BLOOD OF OUR YOUTH AND OUR WEALTH ON UNNECESSARY WARS.
HOW COULD WE HAVE BEEN SO STUPID?
THE PRESENT EXISTENTIAL THREAT IN NORTH KOREA IS THE RESULT OF THE DISASTROUS TAKEOVER OF OUR FOREIGN POLICY INSTITUTIONS BY A GROUP OF NEOCONS AND THEIR FACILITATORS...WHO WITH THEIR SINGLEMINDED FOCUS ON THE MIDDLE EAST AND COSTLY CONCEPTS OF REGIME CHANGE AND NATION BUILDING LED US INTO THE MORASS OF IRAQ AND AFGHANSITAN--WHERE EVEN TODAY WE SPILL THE BLOOD OF OUR YOUTH.
IN THESE WARS, BOY-PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH FOUGHT AND LOST A MINDLESS, BLOODY, THREE TRILLION DOLLAR WAR---WHILE HE PERMITTED OUR GOVERNMENT TO IGNORE AND LET FESTER THE REAL EXISTENTIAL THREAT OF NORTH KOREA. PRESIDENT OBAMA UNWILLING AND UNABLE TO COUNTER THE NEOCONS AND THEIR ERRONEOUS POLICIES CONTINUED TO LET NORTH KOREA DEVELOP ITS NUCLEAR AND ICBM CAPABILITY.
THE NEOCONS AND THEIR IDEAS ARE PASSE-- THEIR CONTINUED INFLUENCE--IN LIGHT OF THE DISASTROUS POLICIES THEY HAVE SUPPORTED---ARE THE REAL THREAT TO OUR NATION. THEY SHOULD BE HELD TO ACCOUNT.
BUT SADLY DUMB IDEAS DIE SLOWLY AND TODAY WE STILL SUFFER FROM HOLD-OVER NEOCONS AND THIER SYMPATHIZERS, FACILITATORS IN WASHINGTON, THE DEEP STATE, THE FBI, NSA, CIA AND THE ESTABLISHMENT AND THE MAIN STREAM MEDIA--AN ARM OF THE DEEP STATE. IT IS HERE AMONG THESE FIFTH COLUMNISTS WHERE THE "RESISTANCE" TO OUR LEGITIMATELY ELECTED GOVERNMENT ARISES I N THE FORM OF LEAKS AND PHONY RUSSIA COLLUSION STORIES.
Monday, August 7, 2017
STEVE FORBES RICH GUY RESISTS TAX RISE
STEVE FORBES RICH GUY RESISTS RAISING TAXES ON RICH GUYS
STEVE FORBES RICH GUY WITH SELF-SERVING BAD IDEAS
Steve Forbes speaking to an audience of mostly other rich guys on "Squawk Box" the CNBC business news show this rainy Monday morning (August 7, 2017) claims that "people don't care if Bill Gates (and I think I heard him mutter under his breath "and me") get richer." He was responding to a question of whether President Trump should impose a higher tax rate on the wealthiest Americans to pay for a steep middle and working-class tax cut Trump promised during the campaign. The fact that the President is trying dutifully to make good on his promises apparently worries Mr. Forbes the heir of the Forbes business fortune and a past presidential candidate himself. "What people want is a vibrant economy. They want to know "is my check going up? Reagan would have choked on that level of populism" claimed Forbes.
As a business man investor and one who deals with economic matters Steve Forbes should know better. At the current rate at which wealth and income are being sequestered out of the general economy into the hands of the super wealthy like Mssrs Gates, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Adler,.Buffett, Bloomberg and Forbes, etcetera, etcetera....there will be no one left with enough cash on hand to purchase items and services produced by these wealthy masters of the new economy. It has been widely report that the top 400 US wealth-earners in the nation have more income and sequestered more wealth than the bottom 200 million people in this nation of about 325 million. So a group of men (and a few women) that you could seat in a high school auditorium has more wealth than nearly 2/3 of our nation's citizens. How could that circumstance engender a vibrant economy? That means that these top 400 are SEQUESTERING WEALTH that can not inoculate and circulate in the general economy. Four hundred individuals, even if they were crazy spendthrifts could not have the impact on the economy of 200 million citizens buying goods and services. So why continue a tax policy that keeps increasing the money in their hands?
Mr. Warren Buffett, chief honcho of the super exclusive and super successful investment conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway is reported today (in Bloomberg Markets) to be sitting on $100 billion (1/10 of a trillion) dollars in cash! THAT WEALTH IS NOT CIRCULATING IN THE GENERAL ECONOMY. Buffett' stash is not a positive development for growth of a "vibrant economy" as Forbes states he wants. That $100 billion is not in the hands of the citizenry that can and would spend those funds on "things" and "services" that businesses and other people provide. That is how a "vibrant economy" becomes a vibrant, flourishing economy! So Mr. Forbes is dead wrong! Reagan, like Trump would have opted for the tax rise on the wealthy and for growth and expansion over having the "top one percenters" sit on their cash and keep our economy staggering and stumbling along. To get our of our economic rut and make even more money for the Steve Forbes and Warren Buffetts and the other rich guys Trump will have to make sure that some of that money that Warren Buffett and his cronies has stashed away gets back out into the real economy!
PS: Buftett knows this story too and is not happy with his cash stash1
STEVE FORBES RICH GUY WITH SELF-SERVING BAD IDEAS
Steve Forbes speaking to an audience of mostly other rich guys on "Squawk Box" the CNBC business news show this rainy Monday morning (August 7, 2017) claims that "people don't care if Bill Gates (and I think I heard him mutter under his breath "and me") get richer." He was responding to a question of whether President Trump should impose a higher tax rate on the wealthiest Americans to pay for a steep middle and working-class tax cut Trump promised during the campaign. The fact that the President is trying dutifully to make good on his promises apparently worries Mr. Forbes the heir of the Forbes business fortune and a past presidential candidate himself. "What people want is a vibrant economy. They want to know "is my check going up? Reagan would have choked on that level of populism" claimed Forbes.
As a business man investor and one who deals with economic matters Steve Forbes should know better. At the current rate at which wealth and income are being sequestered out of the general economy into the hands of the super wealthy like Mssrs Gates, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Adler,.Buffett, Bloomberg and Forbes, etcetera, etcetera....there will be no one left with enough cash on hand to purchase items and services produced by these wealthy masters of the new economy. It has been widely report that the top 400 US wealth-earners in the nation have more income and sequestered more wealth than the bottom 200 million people in this nation of about 325 million. So a group of men (and a few women) that you could seat in a high school auditorium has more wealth than nearly 2/3 of our nation's citizens. How could that circumstance engender a vibrant economy? That means that these top 400 are SEQUESTERING WEALTH that can not inoculate and circulate in the general economy. Four hundred individuals, even if they were crazy spendthrifts could not have the impact on the economy of 200 million citizens buying goods and services. So why continue a tax policy that keeps increasing the money in their hands?
Mr. Warren Buffett, chief honcho of the super exclusive and super successful investment conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway is reported today (in Bloomberg Markets) to be sitting on $100 billion (1/10 of a trillion) dollars in cash! THAT WEALTH IS NOT CIRCULATING IN THE GENERAL ECONOMY. Buffett' stash is not a positive development for growth of a "vibrant economy" as Forbes states he wants. That $100 billion is not in the hands of the citizenry that can and would spend those funds on "things" and "services" that businesses and other people provide. That is how a "vibrant economy" becomes a vibrant, flourishing economy! So Mr. Forbes is dead wrong! Reagan, like Trump would have opted for the tax rise on the wealthy and for growth and expansion over having the "top one percenters" sit on their cash and keep our economy staggering and stumbling along. To get our of our economic rut and make even more money for the Steve Forbes and Warren Buffetts and the other rich guys Trump will have to make sure that some of that money that Warren Buffett and his cronies has stashed away gets back out into the real economy!
PS: Buftett knows this story too and is not happy with his cash stash1
Saturday, August 5, 2017
MCMASTER NEEDS TO ANSWER SOME SERIOUS QUESTIONS
NSC LEAKS ON PRESIDENTIAL CONVERSATIONS MUST STOP
MCMASTER COLLUDES WITH RICE?
A few days ago stolen transcripts of the President's private conversations with the President of Mexico and the PM of Australia were smeared over the front pages and were the topic of chatter on MSNBC and CNN. The latest leak is not about the President but of his NSC advisor Lt. Gen. H R McMaster. The two may be related. a
The revelations concerning the President's conversations may have seemed inconsequential at first. Who cares about six-month old annotated texts of the President's conversations? Furthermore, there was nothing really "juicy" in these stories. But on further evaluation of the REASONS for the expose' one realizes the deadly seriousness of the leak which was apparently derived from National Security Council (NSC) sources, Why would someone release the content of these old conversations? Exposing Presidential private conversations IS much more damaging to US interests and our national security than other often more titivating stories, innuendo and phony news so common today in the MSM.
But think of it. If the President can not speak in confidence with contemporary world leaders he can not function. The President and those foreign heads of state with whom he communicates should be able to express their opinions and ideas in confidence and without fear that their words will be (misinterpreted) and smeared across a Washington Post or NYT headline a few days later.
Whoever stole those documents of Mr. Trump's conversations and gave them to the news media were determined to embarrass and weaken the President. That person is guilty of betraying not only our legitimately elected leader--but our nation. It is clear the perpetrators appear to be motivated by a desire to undermine our existing government. Such efforts fall into the definition of treason.
This person or persons should be found and prosecuted.
If it is true that the source of these leaks is the NSC....then the President's National Security Advisor General H R McMaster has to be asked some tough questions. First who among his staff are the leakers? Other questions are why has he recently purged two loyal Trump associates from the NSC? And then there is that astounding letter he sent to Ms Susan Rice, ex-President Obama's NSC advisor.
Why did McMaster send a "secret letter" to the private home of former Obama NSC advisor Susan Rice? In this memo he "waives requirements" for her to have a formal "need to know" access to "classified information" that she "initiated, reviewed, signed, or received while serving as NSA advisor". Was McMaster simply giving her access to her own paperwork to use in her possible defense of charges she may face in regard to the evolving Obama "unmasking" scandal? ( Though he ends the letter by adding: "Going forward, the NSC will continue to work with you to insure.........you have access to classified information." Is he willing to pass on classified material to Ms Rice..on demand?
Or was there some other sinister motive? On his own (secret) recognizance McMaster extends access of classified information to Rice ( a suspect in the unmasking scandal in which she may have misused classified information against domestic political opponents) was unnecessary, possibly unethical and certainly in-judicious since it clearly undercut the President he has sworn to serve. His memo also clearly undermines many who claim that Ms Rice actions deserve litigation..Her unmasking of General Flynn and others which initiated this whole Russia mess was not just normal government business. It was the gross misuse of foreign wire tapping turned onto US citizens and her boss"s political enemies. That is a crime. The fact is that Ms Rice should be the central figure in an investigation of misuse of government information gathering---rather than offering her further opportunities to misuse her access to intelligence. McMaster's actions in this matter call into question his judgement and whether he is a loyal Trump team player...or a plant of the "deep state".
Mc Master should have a damn good answer for why he sent this letter
Friday, August 4, 2017
MUELLER /DEMS THREAT TO NATION'S STABILITY--BRING US TO SHORES OF RUBICON
The Democrats, certain misguided self-serving Republicans, Obama holdovers, the media and special counsel Robert Mueller are treading in dangerous waters. We are all aware of the facts of the last election. We all know that Mr. Trump prevailed in that contest fair and square. The Russian "interference" in our election process is a chimera--something that was hoped for by the left...but there is no iota of proof. If ( and that is a big if) the Russians had any effect on the election at all it was trifling and insignificant in comparison to the millions of votes cast by "undocumented" aliens in heavily democratic precincts who illegally cast their vote for Hillary Clinton.
ATTEMPTING TO UNSEAT A LEGITIMATELY ELECTED PRESIDENT
MAKING A LIE OF THE FACT THAT THE PEOPLE CHOOSE THEIR LEADERS
The facts are that the Democrats and the "deep state" are attempting to undermine our legitimately elected presidency. The people have spoken...loud and clear. Mr. Trump won. The Democrats and others in the vast government bureaucracy would like to undo this election---somehow---anyhow. The stability and well being of the nation as a whole calls on them to stop. They must pause and realize how dangerous this goal, this prospect is to the very nature of our democracy. It would truly be for us a passage over the Rubicon. Like the incursion of Julius Caesar in 49 BC as he crossed the Rubicon from Gaul into northern Italy-with his Legions. His act ushered in a period of war and chaos which ended the Roman Republic for all time.
If Mr, Mueller, his cohorts and co-conspirators on the left and in the media were to actually achieve their goal of somehow generating some phony charge and unseating a legitimately elected president----that act would be "casting the die" of our Rubicon. It would end our democracy. Our national experiment in self rule would be revealed as a myth--a crumbling structure which belied its promise---that the people choose their leaders. Who among us could or would believe in our great experiment in self rule again? The stark fact that if the deep state and the bureaucracy do not like the people's choice they and thier co-conspirators in the media and bureauocracy simply undermine his presidency and take him or her our of office. Such an act would usher in a period of great political unrest. Does Mr, Mueller want that?
Mr. Mueller's investigations are indeed a "witch hunt"...a dangerous one with dire consequences for the stability of this nation and the concept that the people can trust their representatives to honor the voice of the people made manifest in the secret ballot cast by millions all across this nation.
If Mr. Mueller is wise, and a true patriot he will realize that his so-called investigation---into anything other than the closely circumscribed examination of Russian influence in the 2016 election--- is a grave mistake and an existential threat to the nation.
Mr. Mueller do not cross the Rubicon!
ATTEMPTING TO UNSEAT A LEGITIMATELY ELECTED PRESIDENT
MAKING A LIE OF THE FACT THAT THE PEOPLE CHOOSE THEIR LEADERS
The facts are that the Democrats and the "deep state" are attempting to undermine our legitimately elected presidency. The people have spoken...loud and clear. Mr. Trump won. The Democrats and others in the vast government bureaucracy would like to undo this election---somehow---anyhow. The stability and well being of the nation as a whole calls on them to stop. They must pause and realize how dangerous this goal, this prospect is to the very nature of our democracy. It would truly be for us a passage over the Rubicon. Like the incursion of Julius Caesar in 49 BC as he crossed the Rubicon from Gaul into northern Italy-with his Legions. His act ushered in a period of war and chaos which ended the Roman Republic for all time.
If Mr, Mueller, his cohorts and co-conspirators on the left and in the media were to actually achieve their goal of somehow generating some phony charge and unseating a legitimately elected president----that act would be "casting the die" of our Rubicon. It would end our democracy. Our national experiment in self rule would be revealed as a myth--a crumbling structure which belied its promise---that the people choose their leaders. Who among us could or would believe in our great experiment in self rule again? The stark fact that if the deep state and the bureaucracy do not like the people's choice they and thier co-conspirators in the media and bureauocracy simply undermine his presidency and take him or her our of office. Such an act would usher in a period of great political unrest. Does Mr, Mueller want that?
Mr. Mueller's investigations are indeed a "witch hunt"...a dangerous one with dire consequences for the stability of this nation and the concept that the people can trust their representatives to honor the voice of the people made manifest in the secret ballot cast by millions all across this nation.
If Mr. Mueller is wise, and a true patriot he will realize that his so-called investigation---into anything other than the closely circumscribed examination of Russian influence in the 2016 election--- is a grave mistake and an existential threat to the nation.
Mr. Mueller do not cross the Rubicon!
US BAD NEIGBOR POLICY WITH VENEZUELA
USA SHOULD RESIST ANY IDEA OF "PUNISHMENT" AND TURN TO A GOOD NEIGHBOR POLICY INSTEAD
LET'S AVOID FAILED STATES LIKE SYRIA AND IRAK IN OUR HEMISPHERE
We know the Chavez and Maduro governments in Venezuela have made some terrible mistakes. Perhaps their original intentions were good. Chavez used the income from his nation's massive crude oil reserves to lift the peasantry out of a life of despair. He helped eliminate illiteracy and abject poverty. He subdivided large hand holdings to give peasants livable plots of land, and instituted a universal free health care system. But these attempts at a beneficent, populist, near-dictator had their unwonted effects. Cheap gas and food undermined the nation's domestic production of food and manufactured goods and slipped the nation into the trap of over dependence on a single valuable natural resource---their oil.
Cash flowed freely from the sale of Venezuela's crude into government coffers in those days. In his zeal to remain popular, Cesar Chavez subsidized the costs of many essential food and necessary commodities. Masarepas (the corn flour of the national dish), rice, beans and even gasoline were heavily subsidized to keep prices low. Gasoline in Venezuela even today costs only a few cents a gallon...the cheapest in the world!
Furthermore, the almost unrestricted flood of oil "dollars" permitted the nation to open up its markets to the import of food and manufactured products, from abroad. This had its predictable effect of withering domestic production. Farms went out of production and farmers quit the land. Why grow rice, beans and corn when the nation's food markets were brimming with cheap imports? The process of withering domestic production and dependency on imports continued and expanded. Even to the extent of importing gasoline! This, because the government did not think it necessary to sustain and support the nation's own oil refineries. Why expend the effort and expense when one could buy refined petroleum products abroad more cheaply. Yes, Venezuela--a nation with more oil reserves than Saudi Arabia--does not refine its own crude to gasoline.
But like all natural resources, prices fluctuate. Even high demand crude petroleum can hit the skids. The world economic collapse of 2007-8, and OPEC's decision to maintain its high rate of pumping in the face of an oil glut and lower world prices, as well as the US technological revolution in extraction of hard-to-access oil reserves (by "fracking") caused oil prices to plummet.. Prices of crude collapsed.
Venezuela's crude costs only $19-20 dollars a barrel (bbl) to extract. But when oil prices dropped from $100/bbl to $24/bbl, massive income from oil evaporated. Income from the only source of foreign exchange collapsed and so did the totally oil-dependent Venezuelan economy. Venezuela had become a happy nation with plenty of food medicines and goods to one in which water does not run in faucets, electricity is spotty and citizens were forced to line up at garbage dumps behind restaurants and bakeries to scrounge for waste food.
Toilet paper, medicines and comestibles are all in short supply. Inflation is rampant. When supples are available in the market, one must pack up blocks of bolivars the size of a brick to buy a loaf of bread or a bag of flour. That nation is now hovering on the cliff-edge of total collapse in a chaotic state. The Bolivar which is now pegged officially at about 9 cents has undergone an 800% rate of inflation and it halves in value every 46 days.
Recently President trump has imposed sanctions on Venezuela's president and some of his associates. The US has been less than a good neighbor to this nation. We have made no efforts to help or to ease the suffering there. We have happily underscored the differences in our political and economic systems and the haplessness of the situation but have made no positive contribution of help. This bloviating may make us feel superior, but does alter the dire situation for our southern neighbor at all. Some claim we have even conspired to destabilize the socialist Maduro regime. Socialism does not have many advocates here. Let's hope this is not true and that we have learned from our mistakes in the Middle East. A failed state --like Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria in our own neighborhood will be very difficult for us to bear.
What should our policy be? We have heard so many __"I told you sos" and and proud statements of comparison of "capitalism versus socialism". These do not change the facts for the Venezuelans who are suffering.
Do we want another Libya, Iraq, or Yemen in our own hemisphere? Think of the ugly surges of refugees, of bodies washing up on our shores, of terror and terrorist cells.
The Trump government should hold off on any idea of "punishment " which negatively impacts the innocent citizenry of this nation and begin to consider policies which can reverse the slide of this nation into a failed state.
We have heard enough of how much better our system is....now is the time to be a good neighbor and extend our hand to help.
LET'S AVOID FAILED STATES LIKE SYRIA AND IRAK IN OUR HEMISPHERE
We know the Chavez and Maduro governments in Venezuela have made some terrible mistakes. Perhaps their original intentions were good. Chavez used the income from his nation's massive crude oil reserves to lift the peasantry out of a life of despair. He helped eliminate illiteracy and abject poverty. He subdivided large hand holdings to give peasants livable plots of land, and instituted a universal free health care system. But these attempts at a beneficent, populist, near-dictator had their unwonted effects. Cheap gas and food undermined the nation's domestic production of food and manufactured goods and slipped the nation into the trap of over dependence on a single valuable natural resource---their oil.
Cash flowed freely from the sale of Venezuela's crude into government coffers in those days. In his zeal to remain popular, Cesar Chavez subsidized the costs of many essential food and necessary commodities. Masarepas (the corn flour of the national dish), rice, beans and even gasoline were heavily subsidized to keep prices low. Gasoline in Venezuela even today costs only a few cents a gallon...the cheapest in the world!
Furthermore, the almost unrestricted flood of oil "dollars" permitted the nation to open up its markets to the import of food and manufactured products, from abroad. This had its predictable effect of withering domestic production. Farms went out of production and farmers quit the land. Why grow rice, beans and corn when the nation's food markets were brimming with cheap imports? The process of withering domestic production and dependency on imports continued and expanded. Even to the extent of importing gasoline! This, because the government did not think it necessary to sustain and support the nation's own oil refineries. Why expend the effort and expense when one could buy refined petroleum products abroad more cheaply. Yes, Venezuela--a nation with more oil reserves than Saudi Arabia--does not refine its own crude to gasoline.
But like all natural resources, prices fluctuate. Even high demand crude petroleum can hit the skids. The world economic collapse of 2007-8, and OPEC's decision to maintain its high rate of pumping in the face of an oil glut and lower world prices, as well as the US technological revolution in extraction of hard-to-access oil reserves (by "fracking") caused oil prices to plummet.. Prices of crude collapsed.
Venezuela's crude costs only $19-20 dollars a barrel (bbl) to extract. But when oil prices dropped from $100/bbl to $24/bbl, massive income from oil evaporated. Income from the only source of foreign exchange collapsed and so did the totally oil-dependent Venezuelan economy. Venezuela had become a happy nation with plenty of food medicines and goods to one in which water does not run in faucets, electricity is spotty and citizens were forced to line up at garbage dumps behind restaurants and bakeries to scrounge for waste food.
Toilet paper, medicines and comestibles are all in short supply. Inflation is rampant. When supples are available in the market, one must pack up blocks of bolivars the size of a brick to buy a loaf of bread or a bag of flour. That nation is now hovering on the cliff-edge of total collapse in a chaotic state. The Bolivar which is now pegged officially at about 9 cents has undergone an 800% rate of inflation and it halves in value every 46 days.
Recently President trump has imposed sanctions on Venezuela's president and some of his associates. The US has been less than a good neighbor to this nation. We have made no efforts to help or to ease the suffering there. We have happily underscored the differences in our political and economic systems and the haplessness of the situation but have made no positive contribution of help. This bloviating may make us feel superior, but does alter the dire situation for our southern neighbor at all. Some claim we have even conspired to destabilize the socialist Maduro regime. Socialism does not have many advocates here. Let's hope this is not true and that we have learned from our mistakes in the Middle East. A failed state --like Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria in our own neighborhood will be very difficult for us to bear.
What should our policy be? We have heard so many __"I told you sos" and and proud statements of comparison of "capitalism versus socialism". These do not change the facts for the Venezuelans who are suffering.
Do we want another Libya, Iraq, or Yemen in our own hemisphere? Think of the ugly surges of refugees, of bodies washing up on our shores, of terror and terrorist cells.
The Trump government should hold off on any idea of "punishment " which negatively impacts the innocent citizenry of this nation and begin to consider policies which can reverse the slide of this nation into a failed state.
We have heard enough of how much better our system is....now is the time to be a good neighbor and extend our hand to help.
Tuesday, August 1, 2017
AFGHAN WAR--15 YEARS--3/4 OF A TRILLION DOLLARS WASTED
In Afghanistan US forces are hunkered down behind embassy blast walls in the Afghan capital. They dare not go out into the country side. Even to check on what the Afghans did with the vast sums of money we supply them with to build their infrastructure. We know there is a lot of corruption but, It's too dangerous out there.
It has been fifteen years and almost $3/4 of a trillion dollars spent. (Yes we spent nearly a trillion dollars). But nothing much has changed in Afghanistan. The Taliban still control almost half of the countryside, pretty much the same circumstances as when we foolishly first invaded that nation fifteen years ago. The Afghans are growing more poppies now than ever before for the production of opium. This year about fifty percent more than they produced in 2015. This cash crop is what fuels the Taliban insurgency. With the opium trade flourishing the insurgents have just about unlimited funds.
The military force we so lavishly supplied with armaments and training...is barely able to defend itself. Two thousand deaths and 4000 casualties were reported among the US trained forces last year and there were hundreds of "security incidents". Reviewing these glum facts General Mattis recently remarked "We are not winning in Afghanistan." We can more correctly state this as: "we are losing".
One good thing about Afghanistan is that it is a fine example of the futility of attempting to solve problems by war. It is good for nothing else. Perhaps we have learned our lesson? (I doubt that). We threw over $700 billion dollars down a a rat hole in that nation, famed for bringing great invading powers to their knees. Those US tax dollars, were they not squandered abroad, and invested here at home would have truly made America great again. Think of what we could have done with that much money if spent here on OUR own infrastructure.
Mr. Bush and Mr. Obama decided those funds were better spent on Afghanistans infrastructure . Let us hope that Mr, Trump and Gen Mattis are better businessmen than their predecessors. Perhaps they will know when to sell off and get out of a bad deal.
It has been fifteen years and almost $3/4 of a trillion dollars spent. (Yes we spent nearly a trillion dollars). But nothing much has changed in Afghanistan. The Taliban still control almost half of the countryside, pretty much the same circumstances as when we foolishly first invaded that nation fifteen years ago. The Afghans are growing more poppies now than ever before for the production of opium. This year about fifty percent more than they produced in 2015. This cash crop is what fuels the Taliban insurgency. With the opium trade flourishing the insurgents have just about unlimited funds.
The military force we so lavishly supplied with armaments and training...is barely able to defend itself. Two thousand deaths and 4000 casualties were reported among the US trained forces last year and there were hundreds of "security incidents". Reviewing these glum facts General Mattis recently remarked "We are not winning in Afghanistan." We can more correctly state this as: "we are losing".
One good thing about Afghanistan is that it is a fine example of the futility of attempting to solve problems by war. It is good for nothing else. Perhaps we have learned our lesson? (I doubt that). We threw over $700 billion dollars down a a rat hole in that nation, famed for bringing great invading powers to their knees. Those US tax dollars, were they not squandered abroad, and invested here at home would have truly made America great again. Think of what we could have done with that much money if spent here on OUR own infrastructure.
Mr. Bush and Mr. Obama decided those funds were better spent on Afghanistans infrastructure . Let us hope that Mr, Trump and Gen Mattis are better businessmen than their predecessors. Perhaps they will know when to sell off and get out of a bad deal.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)