Roger "Who"?, The Trump "Shutdown," Stuff to Read, including George Will, Malcom Nance's Book and a Peek at 2020

Roger "Who"?

A Letter and a Column to Read

Here’s a letter I submitted to the Palm Beach Post a few days before the Trump Government Shutdown was temporarily ended when the President allowed Senate G.O.P. leader McConnell to bring the necessary appropriations bill to a vote.  That is probably why it won’t be published.  But, who knows, it might become pertinent again if the Shutdown returns in the near future.  Anyhow, here is the letter: 

"We all “negotiate” at one time or another.  It might be when buying (or selling) a car, a house or even asking your boss for a raise. There’s nothing wrong with that, unless of course the person with whom you’re negotiating has your daughter tied up in the basement and won’t release her until you agree to something you otherwise would not."  

And speaking of the Palm Beach Post, that paper carries a column by political humorist Frank Cerabino several times a week.  Those who don’t follow Frank in the Post are missing something.  Here’s his brilliant column from Sunday’s (Jan. 27) paper which ought to be circulated nationally!   (Actually, it's a book review.)

CLICK HERE TO READ THIS GREAT COLUMN!

Jack Lippman

Thoughts on the Shutdown and More

Shutting Down the Government 

Many of the 800,000 government employees who went without their salaries during the “Trump Shutdown,” and the owners of businesses which suffered because of the resulting loss of income will never again vote for a Republican candidate.  They know where the blame rests, unless of course their TVs are locked onto Fox News.  They will remember. This includes those who voted for Donald Trump and for Republicans office holders who supported him, even if these legislators did so only because they feared a primary challenge from the far right if they did not.  Voters will remember.

They now know that the President is only interested in trying to live up to the promise to build a wall which he made to his core supporters who saw it as a racial dog whistle.  Of course, there is a need for better border security and a revised immigration policy, but the cosmetic solution provided by building a wall or additional fencing is nowhere near a real solution.  Trump’s childishly petulant insistence on a wall before he would allow the Republican Senate to vote to restore funding for those 800,000 government employees is now history, at least temporarily, but it still is the death knell of his presidency and of the careers of those Republicans who support him.   

We might be back in another “Shutdown” mode after February 15.  But I doubt it.  I suspect that by then there will be an agreement providing money for improved border security measures, a part of which will encompass additional “fencing” of some sort along no more than the two or three hundred miles of our Southern border where it might be helpful, particularly in eliminating gaps in such already long-existing fencing. 
 

Border fencing as it exists today

The Democrats have never been against that and it would enable the President to tell his base that he got his “wall.”   It will be up to the Democrats, of course, to decide whether or not to allow the President to emerge from negotiations wth that “plum,” which would be now shrunken to a prune.  They will have their price, so look for some immigration reform measures as well, including guaranteeing the status of the “dreamers” and those here on a temporary basis to be part of any agreement.

The idea that the “crisis” on our southern border is so severe that it was worth suspending the government’s operation until it is resolved is ludicrous.  And calling it a "national emergency" would be a fairy tale.  Actually, the President himself is ludicrous, or worse.   On a daily basis!   Those Republicans who continue to support him will all go down in flames in the 2020 elections, unless there are some radical changes made before then.  The voters will remember Trump's ego-inspired "Shutdown."

As for the President, a growing cloud is rising on the horizon foretelling that after his departure from office, either by impeachment, resignation or defeat at the polls, his legal problems will only be beginning.  And he will need far better attorneys than Rudy Giuliani

"He didn't but even if he did, it's no crime."

to keep him from eventually wearing a jumpsuit of the same hue as his favored hair coloring.
JL

Reading Suggestions

Be sure to check out Pulitzer-Prize winning Washington Post columnist George Will's recent column on Lindsey Graham.  It's brilliant!

 CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE.    

I had to turn to the dictionary only once to look up one of the words he uses in the column.  That's fewer than usual.  See if you can find it.  Hint: (It's in the last paragraph.)  

And after that, set aside a couple of hours to study what James Madison

had to say in Federalist Papers Numbers 47 and 51.  Every member of both houses of Congress should be required to read it and if they don't, be assigned to bathroom clean-up duties until they do.  (I recognize that the Federalist Papers are beyond the ability of a good number of members of Congress to understand, but they could have a staff member provide a summary for them.)

JL

Input from Putin

I am presently reading Malcolm Nance’s book “The Plot to Destroy Democracy.”  It is terribly written and poorly edited, if edited at all.  Nance comes off much more intelligently when appearing on MSNBC than he does on paper in his book.  But undeniably, the book is filled with facts.

Because Nance comes from the world of intelligence operations, these facts are sometimes visible and connectible with each other only by those versed in the skills necessary in that field, but that’s the way intelligence operates.  (It isn’t a matter of “two plus two equals four.” Rather, it’s more like “2.52 plus 1.34 plus .09 equals 3.95” and that’s close enough to “four” for some conclusions to be drawn.)

Nance’s thesis makes the case that Russia’s actions (all coming at the direction of Vladimir Putin) against the West, and particularly against the United States, are now far more sophisticated and traveling down much more unexpected avenues than they were during the Cold War and during its hotter phases in such places as the Balkans and the Middle East.  More comments will follow when I finish this fact-filled but disorganized book.

JL

The 2020 Election

The race for the 2020 Democratic Presidential nomination has started.  A few hats have already been tossed into the ring.  

Kamala Harris

A powerful speech by Senator Kamala Harris (D. Calif.) announcing her candidacy set a standard to which other Democratic hopefuls will have to rise.  

Keep your eyes on her as well as on Elizabeth Warren, Julian Castro, Michael Bloomberg, Joe Biden, Sherrod Brown and even Amy Kolbuchar.  Forget about Bernie and Hillary.  One thing for certain, one of the spots on the Democratic ticket will be filled by a woman.
JL

             

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