Buyer's Remorse, Misconceptions, the Politics of Deception and a Speech I Hope I Never Hear

Hurricane Matthew is not the fault of Barack Obama nor of Hillary Clinton, no matter what you may think or what may be suggested by innuendo over the next few days.

                                                   

Like what you are reading on this blog?  Then pass it on to someone!

Buyer’s Remorse

Have you ever been sold something by a smooth talking salesman, gone into a venture you never should have, or experienced what is called buyer’s remorse after it was too late?  We all have at one time or another.  It might have been in purchasing a car, making an investment, buying insurance, changing jobs, going into a business or even buying a house.

Consider the many otherwise smart people who are enticed into Ponzi schemes. 

  

Bernie Madoff, now languishing in a Federal prison, dealt with sharp, sophisticated, knowledgeable and for the most part, wealthy people, all of whom should have known better.  But they fell for his line.  He was a smooth talking salesman with a slick pitch, a hard combination to beat.

There are certain things which are common to the pitches of such snake oil salesmen.  Their spiel is short on concrete facts, but often long on the kind of repetition found in phrases like “Believe me, this is a very, very, very good deal for you.”  The deal itself is rarely as clear as those words, and that particular pitch is even prefaced with an appeal for you to “believe” it.  One often goes into such deals with more faith in them than knowledge of them.

In that classic musical, “The Music Man,” Professor Henry Hill sells musical instruments to the kids in a town, endlessly expounding on the benefits which will accrue to the place by having a marching band, but glosses over the necessity of the 

kids learning to play the instruments.    
He just emphasizes the evils getting the band will rid the town of; pool rooms, horse racing and smoking!  He makes the sale.

A dubious buyer is assured that many others have taken advantage of an appealing offer.  “They call me back every day telling me how very, very glad they are that they bought … or invested in … or took my advice and…,” the salesperson claims, and the buyer drops his guard thinking that if so many are happy with their decision, why shouldn’t he be, as well? 

 

And if a noun isn’t sufficiently descriptive, add an adjective, or even better, an adverb on top of that.  Compare “Mr. Smith, just look at this car”  with “Mr. Smith, just look at this beautiful car” and finally, with “Mr. Smith, just look at this unbelievably 

beautiful car!     Hey, it’s still the same car!

   

But this is what selling is all about.  The problem is that these techniques have never before been so extensively used in a Presidential election campaign, which is supposed to be above them.  And while we can sometimes take steps to remedy a case of “buyer’s remorse,” those who develop “voter’s remorse” may have to wait four years to change things.

Jack Lippman

                          

The Politics of Deception

  Michael Gerson couldn’t have better conservative credentials.  A speechwriter for George W. Bush and former fellow at the Heritage foundation, he represents what the Republican Party always has stood for.  He is not from the “arch-right,” the “Tea Party” nor the “basket of gullibles” (a far more accurate description than Hillary’s “basket of deplorables”) which comprises what passes for the Grand Old Party today.  That’s why his columns carry so much weight.  They are not from Paul Krugman, Thomas Friedman, E.J. Dionne or any others from whom one would expect liberal, if not leftish, opinions. They are from what used to be “the right.”  So bear that in mind when you read his recent thoughts about Donald Trump entitled, “Out of his Depth, Trump Clings to Deception.”  Check it out by clicking right here.

For those of you too busy to click on the link just above (please consider doing so), here is the last paragraph of Gerson's column, following his documentation of Trump's many lies: 

"Trump’s defenders will charge his critics with elitism. The great public, it is argued, gets Trump in a way that the commenting class does not. But this claim is now fully exposed. The expectation of rationality is not elitism. Coherence is not elitism. Knowledge is not elitism. Honoring character is not elitism. And those who claim this are debasing themselves, their party and their country."

  

Then figure out a way to fight the illusions in the minds of many who are supporting Donald Trump’s candidacy because they have been taken in by these deceptions.  That’s up to you!  (particularly if you live in a “battleground” state) Contact me if you want direction as to how to help!
JL

                       

Let’s Get Some Misconceptions Cleared Up

Paying a Ransom to Iran: We did not illegally pay 400 million dollars to Iran to ransom some Americans being held by the Iranian courts.   We had been holding that money which Iran had paid to us many years ago in a trust fund along with $1,300,000,000 in interest which it had accumulated over 37 years.  The deposed Shah of Iran had paid us the money for some jet planes which, after he was deposed in 1979, were never delivered.  It was Iran's money.  International tribunals would have fined the United States significantly if we did not take steps to refund the 400 million to Iran, plus the accumulated interest. We finally did this, at no expense to the United States, at a time when Iran was holding several Americans as prisoners in their judicial system.  We not only avoided being fined by an international tribune for not returning the money sooner, but we got the prisoners back.  That the payment was made in foreign currencies via Switzerland was necessary because we do not have a full banking relationship with Iran. This is not paying a ransom as ill-informed Republicans claim.  It was good diplomacy.

Sanctuary Cities: A sanctuary city is a city which adopts local policies designed to not prosecute people solely for being an illegal alien, a Federal, not a local offense. These practices can exist by law or by custom. Because local police already have enough law enforcement duties to perform, these practices result in municipal funds or resources not being made available to be used to enforce Federal immigration laws, generally by not allowing police or municipal employees to inquire about an individual's immigration status. The designation “sanctuary city” actually has no legal meaning but that hasn't stopped Republicans from using it for years implying that such cities (or counties) were protecting criminals.   If the Federal government were to fully enforce immigration laws on its own, the question of cities choosing to, or choosing not to, take on this job would not occur.  Certainly, Republican charges that cities which choose not to take on the additional law enforcement task of enforcing Federal immigration law are intentionally being soft on criminals is a gross overstatement.  They are just using their resources wisely.  Certainly, if an illegal alien commits a crime, the "Sanctuary City's" police will go after him for that act, but not merely because he or she is an illegal alien.

JL

                                             

Trump’s Inaugural Address

It is not inconceivable that Donald Trump, despite his total lack of qualifications will get sufficient electoral votes to win the Presidency.  I hope not.  But if he does, might not his Inaugural Address be something like this?

Ladies, Gentlemen, Honored Guests:  

It’s time, now that I have been elected President of these United States, to pay attention to the three really important issues facing our country.  First and foremost, we must find out what really happened that night in Benghazi.  We shall devote huge resources to getting an answer to that question so the former Secretary of State and her boss, the former President, don’t get off scot free.

And while we’re at it, I will appoint a joint House and Senate Committee backed by the CIA and the FBI, to fully investigate the nefarious influence-peddling acts of the Clinton Foundation.

 

As for those emails, I promise, now that I am President, to fully investigate what all of them, including the missing ones, contained.  It won’t be easy, but we have four years during which these three major projects can be completed. We will take our time and be very, very, meticulous.  And I will keep you informed over the next four years with weekly TV reports on how these three vital projects are coming along.  It’ll be like a weekly “reality” series.  We could call it “The Investigations” or “The Inquisitions” or something like that.  I’ll have my people work on a title.

One of my promises was to bring back jobs from China.  Well, we are doing that too. Right now! I was not just mouthing hollow words!  As of this morning, we have ordered the Coast Guard and the Navy to turn around any ships coming from China, or elsewhere, with Chinese goods aboard. And they are very, very good at that. Shots over the bow, and that kind of thing.  That’s all it takes.  This will enable American companies to hire people to start making that stuff here.  That’s “Job Creation.”  Very simple, isn’t it?

And as for the Middle East, I have instructed the Air Force to bomb the crap out of every country in the Middle East, except Israel, leveling all of their cities. You can’t trust any of them anyway; they’re all Muslims.  That should take care of ISIS, Iran, Al Qaeda, the Taliban and the rest of them.  See how simple it is.

 

By the way, if anyone thinks this stuff might be breaking some politically correct laws, my appointment of Sean Hannity to the vacant Supreme Court Seat will guarantee that all of it will be legal.  See!

 

Oh, yes, before I forget, I want to announce that from now on, we will have a real Miss America Pageant here in this country, nothing cheesy or second rate.  Each state’s entrant will come to Washington where the finals will be held right here in the Capitol Building on the Fourth of July.  Probably in the House Chamber.  I hear it’s larger than the Senate.  It’ll be a first for both the Pageant and the Capitol.

 

That’s also how we’ll get to deal with stuff like foreign affairs.  Let me tell you that if everything goes according to my plan, Vladimir Putin will be simultaneously crowning a Miss Russia in the Kremlin.  I’m trying to work something out with him so that the two winners both will get jobs as anchors at Fox.  The Russian girl will of course have to color her hair blond and learn English too, but that’s no problem.  Melania did!  You know, this will be a much, much nicer way to conduct foreign relations than all those dull conferences between older men with bad breath in cheap suits that previous administrations have conducted.

Thank you hugely for helping to “Make America Great” and God, really Bless America!

(We’ll need it.)

JL

Like what you are reading on this blog?  Then pass it on to someone!

                                           

HOW TO BE ALERTED TO FUTURE BLOG POSTINGS.

Many readers of this blog are alerted by Email every time a new posting appears.  If you wish to be added to that Email list, just let me know by clicking on Riart1@aol.com and sending me an Email.  

HOW TO CONTACT ME or CONTRIBUTE MATERIAL TO JACK'S POTPOURRI. 

BY CLICKING ON THAT SAME ADDRESS, Riart1@aol.com   YOU ALSO CAN SEND ME YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS TO BE PUBLISHED IN THIS BLOG AS WELL AS YOUR COMMENTS.  (Comments can also be made by clicking on the "Post a Comment" link at the blog's end.)

MOBILE DEVICE ACCESS.

DID YOU KNOW THAT www.jackspotpourri.com IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON YOUR MOBILE DEVICES IN A MODIFIED, EASY-TO-READ, FORMAT?   

HOW TO VIEW OLDER POSTINGS.                                                

To view older postings on this blog, just click on the appropriate date in the “Blog Archive” midway down the column off to the right, or scroll down until you see the “Older Posts” notation at the very bottom of this posting.  The “Search Box” in the right side of the posting also may be helpful in locating a posting topic for which you are looking.

HOW TO FORWARD POSTINGS.

To send this posting to a friend, or enemy for that matter, whom you think might be interested in it, just click on the envelope with the arrow on the "Comments" line directly below, enabling you to send them an Email providing a link directly to this posting.  You might also want to let me know their Email address so that they may be alerted to future postings.

Jack Lippman