Lies, Lies, Lies … Sort of
We
all know that Donald Trump lies. Some
media outlets keep a running count of them.
We also know that he is clever enough to avoid having his lies being
specific enough to justify his being called a criminal. For years, as is the case with many in his
field, real estate development, he has had lawyers protecting him on that
flank.
Personally, his strange use of the English language as President (example: “people tell me that … “) filled with imprecision, keeps him from being “on the hook” for what he says. He’s like a fish that breaks from the line just as you are about to pull him in.
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| Charitably, let's assume he had some loose M&Ms in his back pocket |
Personally, his strange use of the English language as President (example: “people tell me that … “) filled with imprecision, keeps him from being “on the hook” for what he says. He’s like a fish that breaks from the line just as you are about to pull him in.
He
jumps between “wall,” “barrier” or “fence” depending on his audience and its
length varies from “where necessary” to “from the Gulf of Mexico to the
Pacific.” That’s why the Mueller investigation, I feel, will not directly
implicate the President, while it will (and already has) catch many around him,
possibly including family members. But
their stink will rub off onto him.
The
President will continue to cloud the picture with vague misrepresentation just
as Paul Manafort’s lawyer, after both recent sentencings, lied on the
courthouse steps about both judges’ “clearing the President of collusion” when
both quite specifically stated that the question of collusion was not dealt
with in their courtrooms. Not addressing the question is not the same as
saying the court’s not doing so amounts to “clearing the President of charges
of collusion.” Manafort’s lawyer should
be disbarred. Period. His behavior is why many humorists refer to
lawyers as “liars.” Defending a client with outrageous arguments, as defense lawyers
sometimes properly do, is not the same as stating outrageous lies for purely
political purposes. But he will not be
disbarred any more than the President will be impeached.
Jack Lippman
The Real Problem Behind Trump – Why the Lies are Tolerated
The nation’s problem, as I have oft stated, is
not with the President. It is with (1) the people who elected him and (2)
the Republicans in Congress who, while knowing better, recognize that
those people are the ones that put them, and can keep them, in office.
If
I were to write a book (I won’t), this is the direction the book would take in
trying to explain why these voters are that way. (As you will shortly
see, someone has just done that.)
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| McConnell - Chief Enabler |
I have used words like “gullibility” and “ignorance” in
this blog to explain their behavior, but it is deeper than that. It
involves:
(1) bigotry,
(2) the disappearance of old-style employment
and its replacement by new kinds of jobs,
(3) the absence of unions,
(4) the presence of immigrants in our country,
(5) the deterioration of public education,
(6) the great disparity in wealth among
Americans,
(7) the necessity of our having a government-run
economic “safety net,”
(8) the confused shifting of the control of
health care from the private sector to both the insurance industry and the
government and
(9) the actual geographic separation of
supporters with differing political agendas.
JL
Words Matter
Evildoers
throughout the world usually hide under rocks until they receive some signal
that it is alright for them to crawl out and perform evil deeds. Today, such signals are given through the
language and words Donald Trump uses to maintain the loyalty of his base,
specifically those expressions directed toward the fear of immigrants coming to
take what these misguided people believe is historically and exclusively theirs
through some kind of birthright.
It
signals to these evil people that it’s okay to perpetrate murders such as those
carried out this week in Christchurch, New Zealand and recently in
Pittsburgh. It is not unlike those
atrocities carried out by ISIS in the Middle East by those who believed the
misguided Muslim clerics who provided pseudo-religious justification for their evil acts.
The
harm done by statements like Trump’s saying (in regard to Charlottesville) that
“there are good people on both sides” and his constant mischaracterization of
those unfortunates seeking asylum in the United States is no longer
immeasurable. It can be calculated by counting up the bodies
of those murdered by those whom such statements encourage. Trump’s guilt must be
shared by those Republicans, mentioned in the first paragraph of the preceding
article, who continue to support him. Their complicity is beyond shame. It is inexcusable.
JL
Defining I.C.E.
A
frequent mantra of this blog has been “I.C.E.” referring
to the Impeachment, Conviction
and Exile of the President. The time has come to be more specific. The impeachment proceedings, or the
resignation which their imminence might bring about, should take place only
when there is strong support for it among the American people and both Houses
of Congress. House Speaker Pelosi is
aware of this and is acting accordingly.
An impeachment effort, impeded by the Republicans in the Senate and
Trump’s ever-loyal base, would do more harm than good.
Once
he is out of office, steps to indict and eventually convict the former
President of criminal activity through our court system should take place, and
if he is found guilty, the humanitarian thing to do would be to offer him exile
in lieu of incarceration. I have
suggested Russia, Saudi Arabia or the island of St. Helena as possible places
where he might go.
Another possibility
is the attractive beach area at the far eastern tip of the island of Cuba, a
spot which the United States controls.
JL
The March of Technology
The
two tragic plane crashes involving Boeing 737 Max8 aircraft, from what I have
been reading, very well may be the results of actions taken by the plane’s
systems automatically, without specific direction by the pilots, or possibly
action on the part of the pilots which conflicted with that automatic action,
the pilots being unaware of what the systems were trying to do
automatically. We will eventually find
out if that is the case.
Which
brings me to the new automobile I leased a few months ago. I was surprised to find out that if were
driving down a dark road at night, the lights automatically switched to “high”
beams and resumed a normal setting when I turned onto a better lighted thoroughfare. Now, I have always been smart enough to do
that kind of thing myself, but I appreciate it having been built into my new
car.
Today, I received an Email from the dealership reminding me of the check-up which they
say will be due at the 5,000 mile or six-month mark, whichever came sooner. What really astounded me though was that the
Email included the exact mileage I had put on the car as of the date of the
Email and also commented that the installation of the floor mat on the driver’s
side had to be checked! Apparently, they
knew I had removed and replaced it when I last vacuumed the floor of the
car. How closely are they watching
me? Apparently, they have the ability to
keep track of me. Do they know the
addresses I’ve programmed into the navigation system as well? Maybe I don’t want anyone to know where I go.
That’s my business!
Perhaps
just as the pilots of those two planes that crashed might not have been, I am
not fully unaware of where technology has taken charge of my life, taking
decisions I am accustomed to making out of my hands. And for those addresses programmed into the
navigation system, I hope the fine print on the paperwork I signed when I
leased the car didn’t take away any right to privacy.
JL
JL
How My Safe Made My Day
Years
ago, we installed a safe in a closet in my home. It can be opened digitally by pushing a
combination of numbers. At one time, we
kept some jewelry and papers in the safe but no longer do. In fact, it is empty, but removing it would
be a much bigger task than it is worth because of the way it is bolted to the
floor. Anyhow, the other day, I checked
out the safe and it would not open. A
red light flashed indicating the old batteries operating the locking mechanism
needed replacement. Aware that there
was a “secret” place on the safe where it could be opened with a key even after
the batteries had died, I opened it in order to install new batteries in the battery
chamber behind the safe’s door. In doing
so, unfortunately, one of the two springs which were supposed to hold the
batteries in place snapped, a victim of old age. After unsuccessfully seeking a replacement
spring on the internet and checking in a couple of local hardware stores, I
ended up calling the safe’s manufacturer. After waiting twenty minutes on hold
on their customer service line I hung up and sent them an Email, explaining my
problem. After doing that, I noticed a metal
paper clip on the floor. Hmm, I
thought. Picking it up and returning to
the safe, I bent it until it was small enough to be squeezed in where the
spring had come out, creating a makeshift spring. Voila!
Contact made! It worked! Problem solved! But more importantly, this whole episode left
me with a feeling of real accomplishment.
It made my day! It was almost
like winning the Lottery (which I have never done). That’s why I’m including this
on this posting.
JL
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