North Korea, Syria, United Airlines, Education Cuts and Mnuchin Strikes Again

The Real Crisis

While the headlines are dominated by the perpetual crisis in Syria, the infighting in the White House and the continuing investigation into Russian interference with our 2016 election, less attention is being paid to the problem of North Korea, which can be far more serious than any of the aforementioned items.

We have a nuclear-armed battle fleet steaming toward North Korean waters.  That country, headed by an unpredictable leader, Kim Jong Un, who didn’t hesitate to murder his half-brother last month, possesses basic nuclear weapons and is attempting to develop sophisticated delivery systems for them.  He makes no bones about his intention to be able to drop nuclear bombs on the United States.  Right now, the only leverage we have is China’s proximity to and relationship with North Korea, which exports coal to China and imports almost everything else.

If we lob a few Tomahawks at them to get them to stop their aggressive posturing, they very well might attack neighboring South Korea, conceivably with nuclear weapons, which in effect makes South Korea their hostage, not to speak of the almost 30,000 American troops we maintain there.  They are crazy enough to do that! 

Logic and reason are both in short supply in North Korea, making negotiations with them difficult at best.  That’s why they are so dangerous, and why we must maintain good relations with China, which is in a far better position than we are to exert pressure on Kim Jong Un.
Jack Lippman

Syrian Solution

Okay, so we shot 59 missiles into Syria, just to show President Assad that he cannot get away with brutally murdering his people, most of whom just want the slaughter to end in their country.  He has been murdering them for some time now, but using poison gas crosses a line and it is good that we have shown him that line. Barack Obama had showed him that line verbally but Donald tRump did in much more dramatically with missiles.  Whether or not the two approaches differ depends on what happens next; whether tRump's approach is more productive than Obama's. This is yet to be seen.  The damage inflicted to the Syrian airbase is far less of an issue than the message it brought and the response, or change in Syria, if any, resulting from it. A sidebar to it is the effect it might have had on the North Koreans and the Chinese.

Syrian Airbase Attacked

The Syrian tragedy is based on the ancient Sunni-Shia division in Islam.  Assad is an Alawite Muslim, which is a variety of Shia.  Hence, he has the political and military support of Shia Iran which would love to dominate the Fertile Crescent stretching westward from it across Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.  There are two obstacles to this.  The Sunni Muslims in these countries don’t want that to happen because of their almost twelve century-old feud with the Shia.  In fact, they are so against it that some of them support the Sunni Islamic State (ISIS) which is the other obstacle to Iranian ambitions, and which has parallel ambitions of its own involving the same territory which it calls its Caliphate. 

Opposition to Assad in Syria, beside coming from ISIS, also comes from rebels, mostly Sunni, who oppose him.  His murderous attacks have been primarily directed at them.  His destruction of Aleppo, which was basically a rebel city, well illustrates this.   And of course, Russia, playing this geopolitical game, has taken the side of Assad and the Iranians, ostensibly in battling ISIS, but never ignoring its own interests, which include a Mediterranean port in Syria at which its naval vessels can refuel. 

Our role in this quagmire has been to support the Sunni nations, like Jordan, the Gulf States and Saudi Arabia, and the Iraqi army which is primarily Shia, in their struggle against ISIS.  Unfortunately, the Saudis and some of the Gulf States also are cozy with ISIS at the same time as they are our allies.  We also have supported the Kurds who have fought with some success against ISIS and who want to be free from control by Iraq, Iran and of course, ISIS.  We support the Kurds, but in doing so, alienate our ally, Sunni Turkey, who fear an independent Kurdistan would spread into Kurdish-populated areas of Turkey.

It’s no easy task to figure out what we should do next, now that we’ve suggested to Assad that he cannot get away with murdering his own people with impunity.  Remember, a single attack is not in itself a strategy.  But here is my advice to our decision-makers in Washington.  Listen carefully.

(    1. We must first work together with the Russians and the Iranians to defeat ISIS.  They are better partners than the Saudis and other Sunnis in combatting Sunni ISIS. 

(    2. Once that is done, or they are at least reduced to a minimal threat to the region, we must convince the Iranians and the Russians to send Assad packing to a lovely retirement somewhere on the French Riviera. 

(   3. Naming a Shia-friendly government to succeed him will satisfy the Iranians and cater to their geopolitical ambitions, and the Russians as well just so long as they have a place to dock in the Mediterranean.  We just must make sure that the new Syrian government is not as bloodthirsty as was Assad’s and recognizes the rights of Sunni Muslims in Syria.  With diplomatic pressure from us, in terms of economic sanctions, the Iranians could help make that happen.   The Shia government in Iraq, a country which contains both Shia and Sunni, is an example of how this might work.

Of course, better relations between the United States and Iran will not make Russia happy.  Once ISIS and Assad have been taken care of, they will become concerned with a more powerful Iran on their southern flank, an Iran that might be willing to work with the United States in preserving Middle Eastern peace, on its own terms.  This would not be an ideal solution for the United States, and the remaining Sunni nations, but nevertheless it could be a peaceful one.  Achieving it is an ambitious, demanding long-term assignment for the diplomats of the nations involved, particularly those of the United States, Russia and Iran.

Now that you have my take on a solution for Syria, let’s see what a real expert says about it.  Courtesy of BloombergView (online), read the words of Professor Hal Brands. a Henry A. Kissinger Distinguished Professor of Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.  He knows more than I do.   Just click here to read what he has to say!

JL

Git Outta Dat Seat!

What businesses in this country sell customers non-existent products?  Airlines!  Every day they might sell 104 tickets on a plane that seats only 100, assuming four customers won’t show.  Unless it were due to late connecting flights, these “no-show” customers usually don’t get refunds, or pay a hefty penalty if they reschedule, but assuredly, the airlines don’t lose money on them.

The recent United Airlines incident is illustrative, although overbooked seats were not the issue.  United needed to immediately move four employees from Chicago to Louisville.  This problem was the airline’s, not its customers’.   They asked for four volunteers to change flights (and be rewarded for doing so).  Three did and one didn’t and had to be violently removed from the aircraft.

I believe that if there were no seats on the plane, United should have found another way of getting the employees to Louisville.  It was their problem.  Taking back something you already sold to a customer, under the license provided in the very small print on the ticket, should be out of the question. 

 

The solution is to sell only the number of tickets as there are seats on the plane.  If an airline wants to reserve three or four for eventualities such as this one, let them do it, like those excellent “house seats” at Broadway shows, held back for some bigwig who decides at the last minute to see a “Hamilton,” for example.  (We once got last minute seats for a sold-out show in London  which probably had been held in reserve for a member of the Royal Family, if they had decided to come:  fifth row center on the aisle.)  If there are no need for them, they could be put on sale at the gate, along with the tickets for the “no-show’s” seats.  With most airline flights flying at capacity these days, they will not go unoccupied.  And if this solution has to result in a small increase in ticket prices, so be it.

But throwing a person who paid for a ticket off of a flight to accommodate the movement of the airline’s employees?  No way, Jose (Ho-say).

JL

Skool Daze

The Republican administration’s proposed budget slashes funds for the Department of Education by 13.5 percent, or $9.2 billion.  While merely a blueprint for Congress to act on, it shows the direction in which the government is going.

tRump’s budget plan would remove $2.4 billion in grants for teacher training and $1.2 billion in funding for summer and after-school programs. It also curtails or eliminates funding for around 20 departmental programs “that are not effective, that duplicate other efforts, or that do not serve national needs.”  Although decreased funding for the Education Department will have repercussions for students and educators across the country, low-income students are particularly vulnerable.

In addition to eliminating Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG), which offer need-based aid to around 1.6 million low-income undergraduates each year, the tRump administration wants to “significantly” reduce Federal Work-Study. Although work-study programs have been criticized for disproportionately aiding private institutions, they are have been successful helping students graduate and find employment post-college.

The budget proposal also calls for around $200 million in cuts to federal TRIO programs, which benefit low-income, first-generation, and disabled students, and GEAR UP, a program that helps prepare low-income middle and high-school students for college.

Overall, this decreased funding will make resources available for one of tRump’s top education priorities, school choice. Under the new budget, the Republican administration wants to spend $1.4 billion to expand vouchers in public and private schools, leading up to an eventual $20 billion a year in funding.  Education Secretary DeVos, a leading advocate of charter schools, certainly is smiling.  Thomas Jefferson, a strong advocate of public education, wherever he is, is not.

I suspect that such an attack on public education, particularly in the area of teacher training, will have the long-term effect of dumbing down the American population.  Republicans are obviously enthusiastic about this since a gullible electorate, not properly educated to think for themselves and voting against what is in their own interest, is key to their party’s survival.  It worked in 2016 and they do not intend to abandon this tactic.

JL

Meaningful Movie Review

Saw an amusing movie last weekend, “Going In Style,” about three elderly gentlemen (Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Alan Arkin) in need of cash who decide to become bank robbers.  It’s a remake of a similar film done 38 years ago.  This time, Michael Caine is in dire financial straits because of a “teaser rate” balloon mortgage refinancing he secured from an unscrupulous bank and is about to lose his home to foreclosure, as many like him did when the real estate market collapsed in 2007.  That was the engine that moved the plot of the movie.

Caine holding Forclosure Notice in Mnunchin Movie

Now get this!  The Executive Producer (that means he put up a lot of the money for it) of “Going In Style” was none other than Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, whose banking activities over the years earned him the nickname of “the Foreclosure King.”  So just as this tRump appointee made a lot of money from real foreclosures like the one which threatened Caine in the movie, he will also profit from that film’s criticism of exactly those activities.  How do you beat these guys?  But see the movie!  Lot of laughs for everyone … and an occasional tear for those of Medicare age.

JL

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Jack Lippman 

Newspapers, Foreign Policy, tRump's Diversions and an Idea for a Screenplay

Don't Overestimate Newspapers

There is more thoughtful opinion in most daily newspapers than is readily available on TV or on the Internet.  And much TV and Internet content is dependent on those newspapers.  Note how often the participants on TV news shows are full time newspaper people.  And newspapers aren’t interrupted by repeated commercials.  TV is.  Now here’s the bad news.

The daily circulation of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel is about 106,000 copies.  The daily circulation of the Palm Beach Post is about 71,000 copies, adding up to about 177,000 newspapers distributed each day in Broward and Palm Beach Counties.

Amazing, isn’t it.  That’s a real small number!  Add to this an estimate of the number of daily readers of out-of-town papers like the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times in both counties, and most generously, the total number of newspapers distributed in these two counties is probably around 225,000 at most.  (Let’s ignore the fact that some of these two newspapers go northward to Martin County and Southward to Miami-Dade County, so the numbers for Palm Beach and Broward are probably somewhat less.)

The combined population of Broward (1,815,000) and Palm Beach (1,356,000) Counties is about 3,171,000.  This translates into the fact that only about 7% of the folks in these two counties receive a daily newspaper. Even If we assume that each newspaper distributed may be read by more than one person, and somewhat greater circulation for the Sunday editions, the percentage of people here who read newspapers is still pathetically low.  Hopefully, more and more people are reading online editions of these two papers, but I believe such readership is sporadic at best.  I know because I read the online Post when I am out of town.  It’s not easy.

These leads to the question of what sources the rest of the people, the ones who never see a newspaper, are accessing to get their news.  I suspect this is a nationwide situation, not one just limited to South Florida.  The answer, of course, is TV and the Internet.

Let’s face it.  Those two sources just are not as journalistically responsible as are daily newspapers.  What standards are maintained by TV outlets such as CNN, MSNBC, FOXNews, PBS, Bloomberg, etc.?  Online, where are news sources like Politico, RealClearPolitics, the Beast, Newsmax, KOS, Breitbart, Mother Jones, the Drudge Report, and thousands more, coming from?  How objective are they?  Do they have an agenda? 

Readers and viewers have to be very careful these days when facts may not be facts and the questions raised by journalists and pseudo-journalists (like me) may be answered obliquely with unverifiable information.  With that in mind, I occasionally include links on this blog to opinions of those I believe to be reputable journalists.  I hope that people read them, particularly if they don’t have the opportunity to be exposed to them in a daily newspaper.

Right now, here’s a column written by Michael Gerson, a Republican who writes for the Washington Post and is syndicated nationally. It deals with sexism in the workplace as recently brought into the limelight by activities at Fox News.  Just "click" right here to read it.    Here’s a brief excerpt from the article to perhaps whet your appetite.

 

“The ethos of a newspaper, cable network or website influences the final product. At The Washington Post — reflecting its investigative self-image — the new motto is “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” At Fox, this ethos has involved, according to The New Yorker’s Margaret Talbot, “the fetishization of hot female news presenters.” And this, it seems, has doubled as a kind of conveyor belt for bright new faces. Can it really be a coincidence that feminism is often dismissed on Fox News as so much political correctness? Can a news organization deal adequately with women’s issues when you would never allow your own daughter to work there?”

I urge you to read the entire article by clicking right here.  Without newspapers, where would we be?  (The Palm Beach Post carries a Gerson column once a week.)

Jack Lippman

tRump's Diversionary Strategy

The more Donald tRump attempts to divert the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation of possible connections between the Russian Government, or its agents, and individuals involved in the Trump 2016 Presidential campaign organization, the more suspicious Americans should be.  Also involved in investigating this are the FBI and the Senate Intelligence Committee.  tRump may be able to “divert” Congressional committees but he will not deter the FBI.

It is clear that the United States Government practiced surveillance of Russians during this period as a “normal” part of intelligence operations.  In doing so, Russian contact with some Americans was incidentally discovered, and where necessary, the identity of these Americans became known to the investigators, and apparently appears in certain documents.  This led to tRump’s inaccurate charge that President Obama “wiretapped” Trump Tower in New York.  The FBI has categorically denied this and tRump has backed off by saying that surveillance indeed did take place, (which in his simplistic mind is inseparable from wiretapping) and contends that this was illegal, particularly in that Americans who were in contact with Russians were identified.  To him, this is a far greater offense that the basic purpose of the investigations, possible connections between the Russians and his Presidential campaign. 

Most recently, his attacks have turned toward Obama Security Advisor Susan Rice, again aimed at her handling of the identity of those whom the Russians had contacted, contending she did it in a criminal manner.  Of course, a National Security Advisor has the power, within the purview of her job, to do a lot of things when they are in the interest of national security.  This is a very difficult concept for tRump to grasp.  But the only reason he is going down that path is to divert the nation’s attention from the real purpose of the investigations.  He is very much afraid of where that might lead.   

He is flailing around, trying to change the subject of the investigation, diverting it from its designated purpose to an investigation of how information obtained through surveillance of the Russians was handled.  The more he does this, the greater is my suspicion that the information involved is of such import that if revealed, it will destroy his Presidency, possibly resulting in criminal action against some of his team.  

In a recent interview, John Dean, who provided candid testimony during the Watergate investigation during the 1960’s, resulting in Richard Nixon’s resignation from the Presidency, commented that it probably is now time for some people who were connected to the tRump campaign organization to “lawyer up.”

With each diversionary move on tRump’s part, the likelihood of these investigations coming up with real evidence connecting the Russians to his 2016 campaign grows more possible. That’s why he is trying so hard to divert the investigators.  What also grows is the likelihood that the full story of what happened, when it is discovered, will be classified in a manner that will prevent its disclosure to the public for years.

JL

Foreign Policy to the Forefront

Taking action against Syria’s President Assad for his horrendous behavior means going up against his supporters, Russia and Iran, as well.  If tRump want to do this, to cross Obama’s “red line,” he must do so delicately.  It might be best to ally the United States with these two powers in acting against Assad, but that is extremely unlikely.  And also, to some extent it would mean that we would be on the same side as another critic of Assad, namely ISIS, which includes itself among Assad’s Syrian rebel opponents. 

  

And as for North Korea’s nuclear program, tRump must act in cooperation with China to get anything done.  Acting on our own is not an option.  A “one shot” response, beside what retaliatory damage it might cause to our South Korean ally, will not be enough.  Of course, China will have its price which might not be in conformity with tRump’s views on trade and monetary policy.

These are both problems which I doubt tRump is capable of handling, let alone fully understanding.  Advisors like General McMaster and Secretary of Defense Mattis might offer advice, but will the President will listen to them? Who knows?   And acting without putting many, many American lives in our armed forces on the line makes it even more difficult.  The country will not stand for casualty lists.  These are serious times.  They are not part of a “reality” show.

  

And as I said earlier in this posting, keep reading newspapers.  Don’t count on the Internet nor TV, especially Fox.  

JL

Idea for a Screenplay

Jack Lippman

So there’s this senior citizen rich guy, a widower, who begins to feel that he is finally losing it and decides to retire from the hands-on management of his life. Two of his daughters agree to split his real estate holdings and investment portfolio in exchange for a promise to take care of him in his declining years. His other daughter, somewhat of a free spirit, won’t have any part of what she sees as a sleazy deal on the part of her sisters. Dad promptly disinherits her and she runs off to Paris with a Frenchman.

Before long the two daughters are fighting over which one can do less for Dad and finally, fed up with them both, he sneaks out of the house in the middle of the night in a driving rainstorm. One of his old buddies, whom he doesn’t even recognize, manages to get him out of the torrent into a cheap motel and tries to convince him to go back to his daughters, but the old guy refuses. He realizes that he was wrong in disinheriting his third daughter and his old buddy tells him that she is actually coming back from Paris to help him, having heard of the shoddy treatment her sisters were providing.

While this tragic story was unfolding, a retired senior executive of the rich old guy’s former business was having his own family problems with his two sons, one of whom was a real bastard who spent his time lying, cheating and trying to convince his father that he was a better son than his brother. It’s clear that he’s after the full inheritance. This father also got involved in attempting to shelter his old boss when he was out in the rain storm. For doing that, the sadistic husband of one of the old man's daughters brutally beats and tortures him, blinding him in the process, to which his bastard of a son quietly acquiesces, allying himself with the two sisters who are just as greedy as he is! 

Meanwhile, the sisters, tipped off as to their kid sister’s return from Paris and fearing that they might lose their inheritance, heed the advice of their new-found friend, the one whose father had been tortured and blinded, who helps them call in some tough guys to take care of the situation. By then the third daughter had found her father at a Motel 6, but sadly, the bad guys capture them both. One of them chokes the girl to death, but the old man manages to clobber him with a two by four and escape.

Then, mustering his last bit of strength to carry her body out of the place in his arms, he dies. How sad.

As for the sisters, one of them had lost her husband in a fight with a servant over how she was treating her father. The other sister’s husband files divorce papers after he finds that she was having an affair with the rotten bastard whose father was blinded. The two girls end up fighting over him before he is deservedly killed by his brother. Finally, one of the sisters poisons the other and then commits suicide. 

A few weeks later, we find the old man’s old buddy and the surviving son of the blinded man, also dead by this time, in a sleazy bar. After commiserating with each other over a few drinks, they agree that life sucks and wonder if they should tell this whole sad story to their writer buddy, Bill, who might even use it for the plot of a screenplay or something.

(Okay!  Bill loved the idea, wrote the screenplay ... which no studio would touch ... and ended up putting it on stage at a dump called the Globe Theatre in London.  Did you catch it there, or at any of the other places where it has turned up since?)

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.  

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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.)

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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 

Two Songs, Two Books, Insight into Bannon, Moral Corruptness and Real Serious Advice to Republicans

Short Vacation Coming Up ... See ya in a couple of weeks.  Meanwhile, read newspapers written by journalists;  keep watching CNN, PBS and MSNBC to keep up on the truth ... and occasionally watch Fox so that you get to know the enemy that is out there, misleading and misguiding the gullible! , Don't let them get away with the lies on which the present Administration is based. Example:  Make it clear that you know despite what the gullible have been told, that the Affordable Care Act is NOT a disaster. Whoever says that is a liar.  Including the President.  It's that simple.

Let's start off with the House Intelligence Committee's hearings in which FBI Director James Comey was the major witness.  

The Republican members of the Committee seemed to think the most important thing on the agenda was to unearth the source of the leak which resulted in the resignation of General Michael Flynn, a possible Russian-paid advocate, who lied in his confirmation hearing, from his position of National Security Advisor after just a few weeks.  

The Democrats seemed to be interested in the Bureau's ongoing investigation of possible connections between persons in the Trump campaign organization and the Russian government which it has been established tried to intervene in our 2016 election. 

Which direction seems more important to you?  A probably illegal leak that ended up removing a highly questionable person, Michael Flynn, from a highly sensitive position or the efforts of a foreign power to undermine our democracy with the support of one of our major political parties?  You can see that both issues are somewhat (ahem) related.  You tell me.  And you might tell your House Representative as well if you are unfortunate enough to have one who is a Republican.

Hey, your house is burning down.  Someone calls 911.  The fire department comes and puts out the fire.  What is more important?  The arson investigation or who made the call.  Was it on their own  phone?  Or someone elses?  Who would even care, other than the arsonist who wants to change the subject and escape the spotlight. Get it?

Jack Lippman

This is My Country

Here’s the lyrics to a 1940 song by Don Raye and Al Jacobs which has managed to stick in my memory over the past 77 years.  Dig deeply into your mind and surely, you will remember the words of the choruses and the ending. 

Verse

What difference if I hail from North or South
Or from the East or West?
My heart is filled with love for all of these
I only know I swell with pride and deep within my breast
I thrill to see Old Glory paint the breeze

Chorus 1

This is my country!  Land of my birth!
This is my country!  Grandest on earth!
I pledge thee my allegiance, America, the bold
For this is my country, to have and to hold

Chorus 2

This is my country!  Land of my choice!
This is my country!  Hear my proud voice!
I pledge thee my allegiance, America, the bold
For this is my country, to have and to hold

Ending

I pledge thee my allegiance, America, the bold
For this is my country, to have... and to hold

All Americans can sing this song with honest praise.  But all Americans are not alike these days.  Today, the differences are more than the geographic ones referred to in the “verse,” differences which are easily overcome.  They are economic and sociological.  All Americans are not like you, reader of these words!  Many are far, far, different from you and yet they are as justified as are you in singing out, “This is My Country.”

Okay, enough philosophizing.  Here’s the point.  Many of us who think we know the economic and sociological answers to today’s problems are ignorant of the views of many other Americans who agree with the title of the song, “This is My Country.” Indeed, it is their country as much as it is ours, yours and mine.

It is up to us to learn where these Americans are coming from, and why they are the way they are.  I recommend two books which came out last year, “White Trash” by Nancy Isenberg (despite its seemingly pejorative title, it is fair and honest history and sociology) and J.D. Vance’s “Hillbilly Elegy.”  Both are “easy reads.”

There will be a long “on reserve” list for both of these at your public library, so you might want to actually buy them, sharing the cost with a couple of friends. You probably can read them both on line for a reasonable cost, as well.

For an article excerpting some of the ideas expressed in “Hillbilly Elegy,” click right here.  I suspect Vance supported Republicans in 2016, just as I suspect Isenberg was for the Democrats.  Her book is subtitled “The 400 Year Untold History of Class in America” and some excerpts from it can be found by clicking right here. 

I’ve read both books and recommend that before you next sing the words to the song shown above, that you do the same.

Jack Lippman

Ballad of the Gullibles

And pursuing this line of thought further, here’s a song lyric (or poem) I wrote a couple of months ago.  I call it the “Ballad of the Gullibles.” (I may have even put an earlier version on the blog.)

Make up your own tune if you wish. I suggest that when you do so, try to accent the next to last syllable in odd numbered lines, and the syllable before that one in even numbered lines. Just somewhat extend them. Anyone got a guitar handy?  But do with it as you wish:

1 Never shopped in Whole Foods
2 Nor tuned to NPR. 
3 And my idea of heaven
4 Is takin’ in NASCAR.
5 Don’t like reading print books,
6 Nor list’ning to a poem.
7 Got me a Smith and Wesson
8 To fortify my home.
9 Wendy’s or McDonalds,
10 That’s where I choose to dine,
11 And buddy, please believe me,
12 The Donald is just fine.

Seriously for a moment, these are precisely the voters that the Democratic Party failed to reach in the 2016 election.  And don’t forget to read those two books for deeper insight into this problem.  Especially “Hillbilly Elegy.”

JL

What Makes Bannon Tick!

Steve Bannon’s Preposterous ‘Rosebud’ Strategy

Quoting from Bloomberg.com, Donald Trump’s chief strategist traces his fire-breathing populism to a financial calamity his father suffered years ago at the hands of “evil financial types.”  Read this sad story in the words of Bloomberg View’s Francis Wilkinson and learn what supposedly transformed a Goldman Sachs investment banker (oddly enough who gave no investing advice to his dad) with a Harvard MBA into an anti-elitist champion of the common man.   Bloomberg View describes the tale as “What a narrative! What villainy! What bunk!”

Just click on.  Read it now!

If Bannon lived in the real world, his father’s misfortune would have allied him with the Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warrens of the world, seeking redress for those who are constantly being hurt by the financial elite.  But no, he became so angered that rather than “construct” solutions to such economic problems, he chose to “deconstruct” the entire system and found Breitbart, and eventually Donald Trump, to be ideal avenues to enable him to do this. Bannon believes that by putting power into the hands of “Big Brother,” a new and better order might be established.  He has little faith in the kind of economic and political systems that our democratic process produces.  Leaving such decision in the hands of the people, democratically, is not Bannon’s way.  Once given power, an autocratic Chief Executive must use it to set things right!  

And the real tragedy is that Steven Bannon may be correct!  Proof of that is the result of the 2016 elections, where many Americans voted for things which anyone with half a brain would recognize were not in their interests, and which have put the Republic and the Constitution at great risk!  Could it be that the voices of practically half of the nation’s voters cannot be trusted any longer?   Do we deserve democracy in this country?  Are we intelligent and knowledgeable enough to handle it?   Bannon says “No”  and thanks the Republicans for putting the ball in his hands.  What do YOU say?  Is the future of the democratic process in the United States a dim one?

Read the article!  Just click on this line.   

And here’s a quote from H.L. Mencken who said a lot of stupid things in his journalistic career, but did get it right when he said (and the comments in red are mine) the following, which sort of validates Steve Bannon’s position:

“As democracy is perfected, (or is “cheapened” as more and more people vote) the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul (not the brains) of the people.  On some great and glorious day (Nov. 8, 2016), the plain (unsophisticated and uneducated) folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire (not their brain’s) and at last, and the White House will be adorned (with a President who merely decorates the place, but doesn’t do the job there he is supposed to do) by a downright moron.”

JL

Mallignant Moral Corruptness

The other evening, feeling that America was on the right track after seeing numerous pundits and talking heads on CNN, PBS and MSNBC explain (1) how the Republican proposed plan to replace the Affordable Care Act could not possibly succeed, and (2) how there was no way the man in the White House could get out of his blatant lies about Barack Obama, or the British, or anybody, tapping his Trump Tower phones and (3) how repeated court decisions were preventing Executive Orders from barring certain people from six Middle East countries from entering the United States, I decided to switch over to Fox News. 

There I saw Sean Hannity and his guest, Ann Coulter, contradict everything everyone else was saying with a barrage of bigoted and inaccurate lies.  As they bleated out their "fake news," they took pains to make sure to tell their gullible viewers that what everyone else in the media was reporting was itself "fake news."  Remember, more people watch Fox than watch any of the other media sources mentioned above.  That is why they are so gullible.  They have been conditioned, many throughout the two terms of Barack Obama’ presidency, into believing that lies are truths if they serve your purposes*.   Think back to the “birther” lies, given unwarranted credibility for years by the present occupant of the White House.  Watch “Judge” Jeanine Pirro on Fox, after which you have my permission to vomit. (She’s on Fox Saturday’s at 9:00 p.m. and also available on line.)  She will explain how “the left is trying to change the law and standards of journalism to fit their agenda.”  Far too many Americans believe such drivel.  Enough to put a scurrilous real estate peddler in the White House! Liberals must follow this cathartic process to understand the depth of the malignant moral corruptness of those now running the government.   RESIST!

*Some years ago, a conservative gentleman in my community posted an email video of some Representatives playing video games in the back rows of the legislative chamber in which they were sitting.  He claimed they were Democrats in the United States House of Representatives.  I investigated the video and determined that while these wrong-doers may have been Democrats, the video was made in the Connecticut State House and not in the Congress of the United States, as his email claimed.  When I pointed this out to him, he explained that his lying was justified since it served the purpose of the point he was making.  I pity this poor fellow, whose letters occasionally appear in the Palm Beach Post, because his moral compass’ needle which should point in the direction of truth is misaligned, and he, like millions of Americans, including the man in the White House, have lost the ability to distinguish lies from truth.  We are going through a major crisis in American history.  It is up to each and every one of us to do something about it.  For starters, go to www.actforward.net.  That site will point you in the right direction, the direction of truth.  
JL

Free Advice Department

I’ve been pretty free with advice to Democrats as to what they must do to regain power in this country.  I’ve told them to concentrate on winning state legislative races, and even Congressional races, where the Republican margin of victory in recent balloting was close, under 5%.  The bigger victories, in the Senate, the governorships and the Presidency will automatically follow.

Well, I am now willing to help those who run the G.O.P.  Down deep, I do have some non-partisan instincts.  

Here is what they must do to get their bogus health insurance program through the House and the Senate to replace the Affordable Care Act.  Of course, my personal choice would be “Medicare for Everyone,” but perhaps this “back door” approach would appeal to the G.O.P.

First, and this will make them deliriously happy, they can get rid of the “mandate” requiring all individuals to participate or pay a fine.  Then, they must get rid of that burdensome requirement that insurance companies participating in the plan cannot reject people with risky pre-existing conditions.  Insurers will love that!  They could then lower their rates.

To balance these changes, anyone rejected for insurance due to such pre-existing conditions, regardless of age, will immediately be included in Medicare, with the government stepping in as the insurer of last resort.  That’s where they would be at age 65 anyway, and this way, the government gets years more of premium payments.  This just lets them in sooner.   Precedent exists.  This is the same thing now done for individuals, regardless of age, with kidney disease requiring dialysis.

And as for those stupid (or wealthy) enough to choose not to participate in any health insurance plan, and would no longer be subject to a fine for not doing so, any time that they change their minds they may apply to a company for coverage, but with a 30% increase in premium, the price they pay for not opting in initially.  If the insurance company rejects them because of a pre-existing condition, they would be immediately included in Medicare with all the others that insurance companies have turned down, but at a permanent 30% increase in Medicare premiums, forever.  The sunny side of the street for these folks is that if they never apply for health insurance coverage and can remain healthy until the usual Medicare entry age (65), they will have come out far ahead financially. 

Finally, for those who want to participate but who cannot afford a low deductible plan, with low co-payments, because of its cost, a choice of government subsidies (as is the case with the ACA) or a tax credit, whichever is greater, would be available to reduce the premium.  The maximum subsidy or tax credit available would be considerably higher than it is under the Affordable Care Act. (That is the ACA’s greatest shortcoming, in my opinion.)  And if this is not sufficient, Health Savings Accounts, on which contributions would be deductible from taxable income, and on which accruing interest would be tax-free, would be established for help in paying the premiums, if needed.  Even wealthy purchasers of health insurance will like that.

This isn’t as neat and clean as “Medicare for Everyone” but could it be an alternative acceptable to Republicans?

JL

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