Protest, being indignant, or being stupid?...

 Last night President Trump addressed the nation in a speech. Several minutes into it, his speech was interrupted by a congressman from Texas, Al Green. Trump, stated owing to a significant margin of voters said he had a mandate to deliver promises made to the voters. Al Green stood and boisterously shouted, "You don't have a mandate!" He was warned by the Speaker of the House to cease the interruption, nevertheless he continued the babble and was ordered to be removed from the chamber by the Sargent-at-Arms. And he was. Today, he was duly censured by the House of Representatives. As he should have been. 

Throughout Trumps' speech the Democrats' side of the chamber remained seated, stoically ignoring any enthusiasm. Even when items were mentioned that were positive steps for everyone, economically, politically, what have you, they remained seated and motionless. On one occasion, Trump recognized a 13 year old boy suffering from life-threatening cancer his entire life, who aspired to a career in law enforcement. The director of the Secret Service presented the young man with honorary credentials as an agent of the Secret Service.  Myself, as I would think to most Americans, this was a heart-wrenching moment, devoid of political bent. To die-hard democrats it was a politicization of something. I'm not sure of what, nor do I think democrats know of what, either. For this, they did not stand or applaud. Disgusting, despicable, and appalling. 

To Al Green, and the rest of the democrats, trying to shame you is pointless. You dont care and everyone knows you dont care. Trump could cure every cancer patient on the planet and you'd still hate him. He could snap his fingers and inflation would be 1%, you'd still hate him. He could make a dozen eggs cost 98 cents, and you'd still hate  him. We have a framework of government that encourages debate and consensus. But we seem to have reached a point that one side wants to talk yet refuses to listen. One side hates the other no matter what they say or do. One side is on a sinking boat and seems intent on blaming the other side for the boat sinking instead of saving themselves. 

To say it's an historic low point is an understatement. To say it's sad and pathetic is accurate. As I have said in previous posts leadership is critical. It's necessary. Even when one party has effective leadership and is making progress, if the other party is going down with the Titanic, we're all getting wet. We're all on the same boat. Some have the sense to get in the life boats instead of running around the decks of a sinking boat panicking... Come on, democrats, get it together...

#alGreen #trumpspeech  #pasrtisanpolitics  #trumpspeech

Trumps' Tariffs.Let's have a look...

Tonight is Trumps’ first speech in his second term. It’s not a State of the Union speech as he has only been in office two months. He has a couple of topics on which discussion is  widely anticipated, such as tariffs and immigration. But, Trump being Trump will bang his gong on just about everything he has touched. 

I have mixed feelings about his tariff philosophy, in general I dont expect it to be the miracle cure he touts it to be. Sometimes, actually often times I’m not sure Trump understands a lot of things. Through all the bluff and blunder he convinces a lot of people that he knows a lot more than he really does. Even though he concedes that there will be ‘a little pain’ initially with the tariffs, I think he is greatly underestimating the pain. He won’t feel it, but an awful lot of Americans will. On the other hand there is much potential and rationale for tariffs. America has long been taken advantage of by our trading partners. There is little doubt about that. For instance, China dumping cheap goods here for decades, including infrastructure critical goods such as steel. Forcing American suppliers to lower prices to the point of being nonprofitable. Which of course eliminates American jobs. So there are some very deserving targets for tariffs that should have been placed long ago. As for for tariffs across the board, I dont think so. Consider housing costs in the US right now. Slapping tariffs on Canadian lumber imports will only add to the costs of housing pushing them even further into the unaffordable range. Inflation is bad, unaffordable housing is terrible. During your campaign you touted ‘common sense’ Donald. Use it. 

I also agree that Trump is pushing the envelope on invoking legislative authority in the executive branch. There is a fine line here that is being stomped on. Our constitution is clear on maintaining separation of power. The power to enact laws rests purely with the legislative branch. Though allowances have been made which enable the president to enact laws on an emergency basis. These executive orders enacting the tariffs are possible through a law passed by Congress called the IEEPA (International Emergency Economic Powers Act). If not for IEEPA, tariffs could only be imposed by Congress. Are these tariffs necessary as an emergency action? That would be a difficult position to defend. Congress could override these executive orders, but at the risk of defying the president... At present it would be hard to find volunteers for that.

We are putting both executive and legislative power in one persons’ hands by allowing this. In the long run it could be beneficial for the country. Or, it may not. If the latter turns out to be the case, is Congress willing to take the bull by the horns, and take this specified legislative power away from the president? This is precisely what our framers feared, too much power in one persons’ hands. Checks and balances and separation of power...

#tariffs  #trumptariffs #executiveoverreach #constitutionalcrisis

The Oval Office Fiasco, Who's Fault was it?...

 Last Friday in the Oval Office, there was a televised meeting with Trump, Vance and Zelenskyy with the obvious presumption that there was going to be a 'deal' made. Trump prides himself on making deals. Thinks he's the best dealmaker in the history of the world. If you don't believe him, just ask him. This was purported to be a deal that would end the Ukraine-Russia war. In exchange for rights to rare-earth minerals in Ukraine, the US would get an agreement from Russia to end the war of aggression. The Ukrainian borders would not revert to pre-2022. The white elephant in the room, though it wasn't white at all from Zelenskyy's perspective, was security guarantees from the US. On this, Zelenskyy was insistent, his rationale being that Putin cant be trusted to honor a truce. The whole world knows this, why dont you Mr. President? JD Vance kept harping on how ungrateful Zelenskyy was, "You should be thanking the president." He actually has, JD. Many times. Sit down and shutup. 

The president then admonishes Zelenskyy by stating "You're messing with World War III." If what he was suggesting was that by obtaining security guarantees from the US and were Russia to renege on any truce and continue the invasion forcing the US to engage, then yes, World War III would be a definite possibility. Two nuclear superpowers, face to face. Do we really have that much skin in the game at this point? No. Should we? No. Who should? Europe. Continued aggression would bring Russia to another countrys' doorstep. Should the world assume that once Ukraine was part of Russia's domain they would be content to call it a day? Sure. And if you believe that I've got some oceanfront property in Arizona for you. 

So, who was out of line in the Oval Office on Friday? Trump was. By having some conversations with Putin and believing that they had some sort of 'bond' and believing that Putin would honor his word, Trump is entering the same Lala-land that Biden is hosting. Trump has a bevy of really smart people advising him, has the cat got their tongues? Shooting the shit with Putin and actually believing he will honor critically important obligations is akin to believing Kamala Harris would have been a great president. What evidence is there to support this? None. Not one iota, shred, speck, nothing. Go back as far as you wish, there is nothing. Russia is aligned with such rogues as Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, China, North Korea, Hamas, the world's premier bad actors. I really want to believe that Trump knows this and is simply 'playing along'. You know, keeping his cards close to his chest. If that's not the case, we're in big trouble. 

#trump. #jdvance  #putin  #ovalofficefiasco  #worldwarIII  #diplomacy