Reflections on a rainy Friday

It is a good morning for a hot bowl of cheese grits and a large cup of coffee. Here are a few reflections on this rainy Friday.

– It is official. The two largest English speaking economic powers have people in leadership positions who have a problem with the truth. It will be entertaining the first time they are at odds with each other, which will happen.

– Speaking of Boris, it is fitting that he is Prime Minister when Brexit occurs. When it does, it will be a very difficult time for our British friends. Regardless of the veracity (or lack thereof) of the mission, any time you interrupt a free flow of goods across borders, it will be prone to difficulties and disruption.

– The US president is headed toward an impeachment in the House of Representatives. I encourage people to listen to the folks who risked so much to testify under oath against a very vindictive person. They spoke of protecting a relationship with an ally. He spoke of it being OK to extort them for not the country’s benefit but his.

– It should not be lost on anyone that Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron brokered peace discussions between Ukraine and Russia. Having the US president involved would make it all about The Donald.

Finally, well deserved kudos to climate change activist Greta Thunberg for being voted Time Magazine’s Person of the Year in 2019. The sixteen year old is well-informed and speaks hard truths to power. My favorite line of hers is “Don’t listen to me, listen to the scientists.” It was highly predictable that the US president would childishly react to her honor believing all honors are his to be won. I will keep it simple – the one who acts like an adult won and the one who acts like a child did not.

Have a great weekend.

End of week wanderings

With multiple topics rolling around in this older brain, here are a few end of week wanderings (or wonderings as the case may be). In no particular order:

It still amazes me that people in leadership still don’t know people record things. Congressman Anthony Weiner sends pictures of his Johnson to a teen girl and then is surprised when it goes public. Justin Trudeau talks in public about “he who shall not be named” and it goes viral. Boris Johnson denies being in the conversation, when we can see him in the conversation. And, “he who shall not be named” makes the same mistake later. Let’s face it, people talk about dealing with Trump as he is like trying to hold mercury in your hands. Just don’t play your hand where we can see (or hear) the cards.

I feel sorry for my friends in the UK as they have a choice between the same Boris above and Jeremy Corbyn. Neither person is a day at the beach, but Johnson has a Trump like propensity to be untruthful. He is just more glib than the US president. Brexit will likely occur and it won’t be pretty. The UK will be in the doldrums for several years as a result. In some respects it will be poetic justice if the folks who misled the public are in charge when the you-know-what hits the fan. I fully understand the Brexiters point of view, but the financials will not be pretty as forecasted by smarter people than me.

I am not sure if the Democrats will help or harm themselves by impeaching the president in the House. It is probably both. But, they still must do it. The US president is a national security risk with his modus operandi that has become apparent on Ukraine. Using shadow diplomacy to exploit a country for personal gain, not briefing the real diplomats on all the issues, covering-up a phone call and other key emails and obstructing justice (as also evident in the Mueller Report) and the US has a president that can be used for nefarious purposes. He would detest this word, but I feel he is a “stooge” for Vladimir Putin. The question is he an active participant in that role or is so uninformed, he will believe Putin if he gives Trump perceived victories. Yet, the other key reason for the impeachment is the president thinks he is a “king.”

By the way, the US president wants Adam Schiff, Nancy Pelosi and the Bidens to testify in the Senate. OK. If they do, I want Donald J. Trump, John Bolton, Mike Pompeo, Mick Mulvaney and Mike Pence to testify. I would like also to hear from Dan Coates and Sue Gordon as to why they were asked to leave the National Intelligence leadership. Trump will never testify as he has so much difficulty with the truth.

The Global Climate Summit is going on in Madrid. Progress must be made. Several US states and business are likely present, making up for the Trump stance. Good things are happening, they just need to happen faster and with the US leadership a part of the equation rather than what they are getting now.

Soggy Sunday – raining on Boris and Donald

We are getting much needed rain from a storm called Nestor. I don’t think Nestor ever made it to formal hurricane status, but it did spawn some tornadoes in the Florida panhandle.

Speaking of rain, the British parliament rained on Boris Johnson’s Brexit parade. What does the future hold? The one thing that must not happen is a no-deal Brexit. Brexit will be challeging enough, but a no-deal Brexit would be a Trump worthy disaster.

Speaking of Trump worthy disasters, there are three that are in the news, although he backtracked on one under Republican pressure. In the middle of being investigated for abuse of power, he abused his power saying the next G7 conference would be at a Trump resort. “Unforced error” is the kindest definition of this announcement, which was uttered by Neil Cavuto of Fox Business. Trump changed his mind, but of course blamed others for this unwise decision.

The abandonment of our Kurdish allies ranks up there as a betrayal of our trust. As conservative pundit David Brooks said on Friday, how does it make South Korea feel, being surrounded by China and North Korea, to have to rely on the US led by such an untrustworthy person? Noted columnist Christine Flowers announced this week she is leaving the Republican Party because of this move and the rationalization by Trump supporters. Let me keep it simple – Trump screwed people that fought on our behalf.

Finally, after the testimony under oath by Marie Yovanovitch, Fiona Hill and others, a picture has been painted by these reputable public servants that the US president has been running shadow diplomacy through his personal attorney Rudy Guliani. Setting aside these efforts are designed to dig up dirt on the president’s opponents, we have more than a few people representing our government in positions of import who have not been vetted by the Senate, including but not limited to. Guiliani, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. With Trump’s chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, confirming what these state people testified under oath, we are left with a simple fact. The US president broke the law and abused his power. Do not let his sycophants try to whitewash this – it is wrong.

Keeping with this “Soggy Sunday” theme as rain pelts the president’s actions, as Creedence Clearwater Revival sang, “who will stop the rain?”

Wednesday walkabout – October 9, 2019

It looks like a good day for a walkabout. As I walk, I will ponder a few random musings.

I said this then, but will reiterate it now. The five states who canceled their Republican presidential primaries may want to reconsider. A poll reported by The Washington Post noted an increase to 28% of Republicans who support an impeachment inquiry. And, 18% of Republicans support the removal of Donald Trump as president. That is almost 1 out of 5 Republicans.

For those trying to figure out Brexit, our friend Jill has had three guest British bloggers (Roger, Colette and Frank) who have offered detailed summaries of Brexit. Their perspectives and context are excellent. If Brexit moves forward, please join me in a wish for a planned exit. A “no-deal” Brexit will add many challenges to a complex process. Politicians who hope it will go well should be remlnded hope is not a strategy. See below for three links.

Americans are a largely uninformed body of people. We care too much about entertainment and sports to delve into global news or even domestic news for that matter. So, the news we are screwing over Kurdish people in Syria is probably not registering with many. Simply, the Kurdish forces were the “tip of the spear” to defeat the ISIS caliphate. Now, we are abandoning them because the president lacks an understanding of that history. The Kurds are an enemy of the Turkish leadership, so it is a delicate issue. The dilemma is the president lacks the delicate touch.

Greta Thunberg continues to impress people across America and the world, while unsettling climate change deniers. She has toured America popping up at a climate change student strike in Iowa, then meeting with Native Americans regarding their pipeline concerns. Kim Kardashian is outspoken with her admiration. This is informational only because of her sphere of influence. Yet, another denier made a tongue in cheek threat to this sixteen year old advocate. Regardless of one’s position, threatening anyone, much less a 16 year old, is beyond poor form.

Threatening name-calling, labeling, and denigrating are short-cuts to people who don’t have a good argument. They are code words to influence less informed people. So, my advice is when you hear or read such, dig deeper, especially focusing on the opposing argument.

https://jilldennison.com/2019/10/08/-the-brexit-conundrum-colettes-view/

🇬🇧 The Brexit Conundrum — Roger’s View

🇬🇧 The Brexit Conundrum — Frank’s View

Wednesday walkabout

There are a lot of things to ponder this Wednesday, so let’s go for a walkabout. A young sixteen year old from Sweden has twice spoken candidly with members of the US Congress. Two take aways from Greta Thunberg’s comments:

– do something
– listen to the scientists

Yet, while she has been here, the US president’s head of the EPA, a former coal lobbyist, has rolled back an Obama regulation on clean water and overruled California’s ability to have tougher emissions standards for autos sold there. Call me crazy, but this 60 year old man sides with the 16 year old and the climate scientists.

The US president should thank Boris for taking some of the spotlight away from his inane antics. The UK is headed toward a cliff and Boris is saying follow me as he hits the gas. Brexit will be challenging enough, but a no deal Brexit would be a disaster. The British public should listen to the business community who is sharing its concern. An inability to govern this issue has been evident from the outset.

Somebody blew up oil refineries in Saudi Arabia. Iran is the most likely culprit. It is my guess someone is testing the waters with hawk John Bolton gone. Sadly, we are in this mess because of Trump’s decision to back out of a deal all other parties begged him not to, including US military and intelligence leaders. So, Trump’s building a coalition will be harder with our not listening to allies in the first place.

Finally, I am in the middle of Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book, “Talking to Strangers.” The thesis is we are horrible judges of when strangers are lying to us. Meeting the person actually is detrimental to the effort. A comment I just read is belief is not the absence of doubt; it’s the absence of a sufficient number of reasons to doubt. Fascinating read.

Have a great rest of the week.

Tantrums, vapes, and hurricanes

The week that was had serious issues that threatened the lives of people mixed in with self-inflicted issues that caused temper-tantrums. In no particular order:

The Bahamas was truly devastated by Hurricane Dorian. The aftermath pictures are sobering. Okracoke, one of the southernmost Outer Banks islands in North Carolina, was hit hard, but the US mainland was spared the brunt of the storm, although damage occurred and lives were lost. That is the big story.

Yet, way too much time and effort has been spent trying to save face for the US president after ham-handed and unneeded efforts to play weatherman. Rather than admit he over accentuated the threat on Alabama, he had his staff spending valuable time coming up with a story that does not let the president’s little feelings to be hurt. What he fails to realize, it is the “rationalization” efforts that paint him in a bad light. It is akin to dressing up the “dog ate my homework” excuse.

Since we are talking about blowing smoke, the dangers of vaping are raising their ugly head. More kids are entering the hospital with breathing concerns traceable to some form of vaping. What has always concerned me is the amount of smoke the vapers exhale from their lungs. It far exceeds the amount of smoke a cigarette smoker would exhale. Call me crazy, but that cannot be good for one’s health.

Still on the subject of blowing smoke, ex-president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe died yesterday at the age of 95. After being initially praised for liberating and founding Zimbabwe, he proceeded to kill any opposition and become an autocrat. While so doing, he blew smoke at the world to mask his efforts.

Our British friends are realizing that having Boris as prime minister is not necessarily a good thing. Even pro-Brexit folks are likely lamenting this ego-centric choice. When time is of the essence, shortening the time to discuss a complex topic is not good stewardship. But, all of Parliament needs a “get out of the pool” order to allow them to check their egos, decide what they want and get their fannies to Brussels. A no-deal Brexit would be disastrous and would be felt immediately.

Finally, the US president acted on another temper-tantrum when the Department of Justice sued the State of California and four automakers for an agreement to comply with a higher mph standard than the Federal government wants. These automakers feel being good stewards will help sell cars and help them compete with other automakers. It is sad that Attorney General William Barr has stained his career being the president’s personal attorney and attacking people that disagree with him – that is autocratic behavior.

Have a great weekend all.