Friends, although this Trump-like buffalo may not have the answers I seek, I believe it's reasonable to ask whether some of Trump's boasts online have any relationship to reality. For instance, President Trump has announced that CNN, MSNOW, and Politico will be "banned" from the White House, because they are major sources of fake news. Well, no kidding! Trump tried this back in his first term with Jim Acosta, the CNN White House reporter, who was temporarily ejected from the White House but soon returned because federal judges felt that he had a constitutional right to be there. So what's Trump's plan this time to get around the courts? We don't know. Perhaps there is no plan, but I would say that one of my biggest gripes about Trump's second term thus far is that he has utterly failed to impose any discipline on the media regarding its twisting of the facts and its blatant and scurrilous campaign of slander against him. Consequences have repeatedly been threatened --like taking ABC off the air -- but they invariably come to naught. Well, the media has gotten the message that Trump is a paper tiger, and thus they, the Fourth Estate, can get away with anything and everything. This is unacceptable!!! Even if Trump and Republicans can't "ban" certain alleged news outlets, they can certainly stop answering their questions. Indeed, we should have taken that step a long time ago.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c6e30580jqjpo
In a similar vein, all Trump's brave talk of annexing Greenland, and plenty of other places, has fallen flat, and now we appear ready to ink an agreement with Denmark that will give us the lead in providing security for Greenland, but which will not give us sovereignty over Greenland. Sounds like a great deal for...Greenland and Denmark! Again, sorry, President Trump, but empty threats apparently don't achieve much, other than diminishing your own credibility. Think before you speak! That's my advice.
RAY TO DR. WADDY AND JACK
ReplyDeleteAs you know, there is no law (Constitutional or Otherwise) that says the President of the United States of America has to hold press conferences.
On Greenland, there was no need to say anything in the first place. We have had bases (Thule for one) up there for decades. I knew guys in The Air Force that were stationed there, and it is a dismal place. Also, the natives there have one of the highest suicide rates in the world.
Dr. Waddy, Ray, et al: I agree with both of you. From day one I've been grateful to him for the contempt he enthusiastically displays of disdain for theretofore countenanced news media bigots and their professionally discredited organizations. But he does need to adopt some different tactics.
ReplyDeleteEg.: Perhaps hold news conferences in privately owned locations where he MAY not be held obligated to recognize these unprofessional low life's. If they do show up , ignore them or call on them and then immediately interrupt them. Subject them in any setting to unrelenting rollicking ridicule; after all, their radical saint, Saul Alinsky, urged them to make extensive use of this very effective tactic. When they ask leading questions, reply with questions which put them on the defensive. As much as possible, keep them backpedaling and off balance. Challenge them for definition of weighted terms like all the "isms" they believe to be unchallengeable . They are unpracticed in defining such terms and will usually dissolve into incoherence or blind anger when so confronted.
Such resistance to their games can stand in sharp public contrast to the courtesy and accomodation he should and usually does offer to interviewers who ask principled questions or raise topics without telegraphing predjudiced opinions.
I don't know if we can hope to see more restraint in his sometimes intemperate and enthusiastic yet premature thinking out loud. His second term shows in him and his advisers much constructive willingness to learn from past mistakes Can he curb some of his verbal excess, in response to sound advice proffered with good will? We'll see; in the Presidential campaign which starts the day after the midterms he must take care not to harm JD's prospects. JD is our best bet against a DSA which may by then be seeing light at the end of the tunnel and for plausible reasons!
Dr. Waddy and Ray et al: Denmark being in Nato, we already are bound to defend it and Greenland against attack. But the incursion of Russian or Chinese power into the far north where Greenland is might be incipient, tentative or gradual so as to avoid providing Nato a trigger against their no doubt aggressive intent. The presence of the US military in Greenland probably restricts China and Russia to nothing but direct military confrontation with the US should they hazard seeking station on Greenland or its near waters.
ReplyDeleteSo yes, why bring on the increased responsibilities of an ownership of Greenland which both Greenland and Denmark appear to find a derisive prospect? Our Navy is strong enough , especially in concert with those of Canada and the UK ,to intimidate Russia and/or China's Arctic dreams for a North Atlantic. and Arctic which have long been OUR yard. Let's keep it that way. As for Greenland's increasingly accessible natural resources, let's continue with our business canny President's resolve to make mutually beneficial and honorable free market economic deals with Denmark and Greenland to afford us its advantages.
". . . Arctic Ocean which have long been our yard" Jack
ReplyDeleteTo correct my self again: ". . . North Atlantic and adjacent Arctic Ocean which have long been. . . " Jack
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy: Its time, I think to very seriously consider the ominous cast this midterm election is taking; it is an actual, plausible possibility that our Congress could be formally led by the Marxist "Democratic "Socialists of America in January. This is an appalling prospect!
ReplyDeletePolls appear to show the DSA/Dems to have a creditable chance of being elected to the majority in both Houses.Some very recently unthinkable consequences would immediately commence:undoubtedly the DSA is presently preparing to take full advantage of such a profoundly historic development, should it be their fortune.
It is already widely held that the once loyal American Democrat party has been subjugated by a DSA grimly determined to fulfill the Obamas' casually neglected promise to "fundamentally transform the US" . Should those running on the Dem line capture the Congressional majorities and should it summarily suppress or survive a revolt by the despised common sense Fetterman clique , then the DSA will be in control of our Congress. Its no less fantastic a thought than it would have been 20 years ago to predict the Presidencies of Obama and Trump.
It would probably mean Senate Majority Leader Sanders and a DSA member or factotum as Speaker of the House, two steps away from the Presidency. Dare we venture to consider it could be AOC?! Probably not; she's going to go for the throne in '28 and she better get "tending" to it. Remember Obama's meteoric and opportunistic rise.
DSA control of Congress will guarantee main force zero tolerance of anything President Trump intends. A Scotus vacancy would be left unfilled as the DSA makes it an issue in for '28. Unless the DSA former Dems take a veto proof Congress ( a near impossibility) President Trump would veto any prospective Scotus packing statute. But after '28. . . ?
The Marxist rule of America's most influential city has until now been regarded by most Americans as a disturbing phenomenon from which most of us are insulated. But Zohran Mamdani is the young and demagogically ambitious "enfant terrible " of the DSA and would certainly have immediate nationally realizable power. And AOC could be a shadow Prime Minister , akin in some ways to the role Newt Gingrich once played.
We are maybe dangerously accustomed to being urged to consider an upcoming midterm or Presidential election as critical. But this one fully deserves that characterization. America is living a very credible , potentially catastrophic domestic threat to everything we value and cherish, RIGHT NOW!.
RAY TO JACK
DeleteKeep in mind that there is a sh**load of Leftist propaganda out there designed to scare people into believing that our next administration is going to be a Marxist dictatorship.
RAY TO JACK
DeleteI'm not trying to belittle/downsize your concerns about the DSA. Just don't think AOC or those of her ilk are going to get in The WH. If we do get a Democrat for president again, it will probably be someone like Josh Shapiro.
Dr. Waddy: But we all have it well within in us to help to defeat this threat to America: VOTE! Remember the Florida vote in 2000. 530 voters saved us from a President Gore and his intended unjustified surely disastrous climate dictates.
ReplyDeleteRay, you are absolutely right that the Trump Administration needn't talk to ANY reporters, but if it does (and it seems unwilling to stop) then the courts will butt in and dictate the terms of this dialogue, as they dictate everything else.
ReplyDeleteExcellent point, Jack, that Vance will have to "come into his own" after the midterms and begin to separate himself from Trump, to some degree, and establish his own brand in the leadup to the 2028 presidential election -- and Trump will be expected to help him. Can Trump play a constructive role as a lame duck? Can he be the "bigger man" and let Vance enjoy some of the limelight? We'll see. It might be a stretch for DJT.
Jack, you're right that there is a very realistic prospect that the Dems will control both houses in a matter of a few months, and that the DSA will demand that the leadership of both houses respect its views and priorities -- whatever that means, since neither house can do much of anything as long as Trump wields veto power. But would such a scenario make it more or less likely that we'll get a DSA/Marxist president. I would say less. The Dems will inevitably stumble somewhat in power. They will rail against Trump, to no great purpose, and they certainly won't deliver much in terms of their policy promises. They'll stymie Trump's ability to appoint judges, and that's significant, but they won't accomplish much else. I believe, as I always have, that a Dem Congress NOW makes it more likely that we'll have President Vance LATER. So take heart!
Dr. Waddy and Ray et al: Your views above are well taken .My chief concern is the fact that there is any plausible possibility of the Dems (read DSA) taking Congress, Sure, I'd give it about 25% likelihood but that is still appalling.
ReplyDeleteFar left propaganda is dangerous because so many believe it. Of course, as the election approaches it becomes more and more disingenuously conciliatory and common sense oriented.
Should the DSA take Congress, their Presidential nomination of AOC in '28 would become highly probable. She is a demagogue of unusual and powerful attraction but how long can it survive close scrutiny? If she were to wait until '32 and invade the Senate in '28 she would have to face President JD or a DSA member or factotum as the incumbent President in '32. With her messianic personality she may not be able to bear waiting that long and she could wear out her welcome. In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is this verse: "There is a tide in the affairs of men Which, taken at the flood , leads on to fortune, omitted, the voyage of their life is bound in shallows. . . . ".
A DSA in charge of Congress might choose to advance its ultimate goal of the "fundamental transformation" of our country by fomenting as much dysfunction, controversy and disorder as possible , in fine Marxist fashion. It might try doing this with relentless misuse of majority investigative powers ( aimed certainly at least at JD in order to harm his Presidential prospects), of impeachment power and by crowding the legislative calendar with loony far left bills which would generate anger both within and between supporters of and dissenters from them. Then a dishonestly conciliatory DSA stalwart or factotum might ride to the rescue as a common sense "uniter".
More. . .
Dr. Waddy , Ray et al: Sure , President Trump would veto these bills but they would not have been meant to pass in the first place. And your view that their expectable overreach might well make JD's election more probable is very much supportable. But their intended function would be to exacerbate our country's bitter divide in order to pave the way, to set the tone, for neobolshevism at some opportune time.
ReplyDeleteDSA will trumpet the midterm results, no matter how they turn out, as a "mandate for change". But as a practical matter, should they be denied the majority in both houses , they might beat a tactical retreat and decline to make an all out Presidential grab in '28. Instead, having cuckooed one of the two major parties, they might concentrate on accelerated but measured and incipient investment of government. Their object may be to "democratically"reach a point where their takeover is inevitable and then cap that with the Presidency and a summary seizure of power. By that time Mamdani or some other presently unheralded prospect may have risen to the fore. It is entirely possible , arguably likely, that DSA will blow out its own candle as its totalitarian Marxist character becomes undeniable or it makes a premature or otherwise reckless try for complete victory. But even having to seriously speculate about it now is an ominous development of the first degree, I think.
Dr. Waddy : So! Comrade Mamdani thrashes in futile indignation and ventures to propose the arrest of Israel's PM Netanyahu, when the PM is as insolent as to visit Mamdani's realm in NYC. Well, well!
ReplyDeleteI wish there could be a personal confrontation between PM Netanyahu and Comrade Mamdani. Imagine, the sublime and the ridiculous , face to face on the very ground so very shamefully subjugated by the latter, an unapologetic avatar of the 20th century Marxists who may now reside in hell's deepest reaches!
On the one hand is Netanyahu , a veteran of the IDF's special forces who fought in the Yom KIppur War, when Israel was constrained to consider using its nukes and whose brother was killed in the typically brilliantly executed rescue of terrorist hostages deep in Africa ; on the other is an ingrate, virtue signaling beneficiary of American prosperity and freedom.
Of course Comrade Mamdani's practical purpose is to foment as much far left mass thuggery as to prevent PM Netanyahu's access to the UN building. (I think we ought to move that memorial to misplaced cultural relativism to a more appropriate place; how about Cuba?) .
Comrade Mamdani exemplifies those who think that Marxism is worth another try. "We just didn't do it right the first time". He is completely lacking in moral authority to challenge a man of such stature as is afforded him by his life as a realist.
Dr. Waddy: I think President Trump is an extraordinarily good President , the best of my lifetime and that span includes Eisenhower and Reagan . But DANG! He needs some better speech writing and proof reading advice His incidental intemperate language is a fault which, on balance, we can live with. But in a formal speech, to say "annihilate", unless he specifies what he no doubt meant, the Iranian regime - whatever that is - then he just lends ammo to the insects who harbor thoroughly bad will toward him. It suggests our use of nuclear weapons , a step I'm confident would be taken only after the most careful of consideration of necessity.
ReplyDeleteI did like his castigation of the ridiculous UN "Human Rights" junta or whatever it is. That organization is solely devoted to condemning Israel. True, its member nations are often practicing experts on the violation of human rights.
The UN gives an undeserved forum to tin horns by whom any domestic criticism would be , yes, annihilated. Enough with the cultural relativism; lets get shut of that failed experiment, the "UN". Lets see them out of our territory and lets concentrate on serious relationships with other civilized countries. When we have of necessity to deal with the murderous and self aggrandizing criminal jefes and regimes of this world lets do so unapologetically and with unmistakeable disdain for them. I sensed some of that in what I saw of President Trump's speech and I'm glad for it. He's a canny, street wise player; he's very experienced in coping with low lifes and he knew he was addressing some of that ilk.
Dr. Waddy: Perhaps though, it was wise to remind the Iranian regime that should they ever direct a nuke at us or a friend , that we have the capability and, at least with today's GOP in charge, the grim will, to do them destruction comparable to that which persuaded the Japanese die hards. Time and again, President Trump amazes us with his once unheralded competence.
ReplyDeleteJack, I'm afraid the likelihood of the Dems taking control of both Houses of Congress is much more than 25%, at this stage. The GOP position has deteriorated even further these past few weeks. Based on what the prediction markets are saying, I'd say the likelihood is over 50%. It's the Senate that is the challenge for the Dems, but the public polls indicate they are likely to pull it off. Not a certainty by any means, but a probable outcome, whether we like it or not.
ReplyDeleteI personally think the impeachments and investigations that the Dems are likely to launch, once in power, are unimportant, and may actually help Republicans regain their footing. The Dems will look both petty AND powerless, if all they can do is badmouth Trump and Republicans. Of course, we will need to pass budgets and what not, which will mean either government shutdowns or compromises (or both), and that won't be easy for Democrats to swallow.
Oh, I wouldn't advise President Trump to withdraw from the UN, much less evict it from NYC. Our hosting of the United Nations is actually one of the most consequential forms of soft power we possess. We would gain nothing by seceding from the UN. I say humor it a while longer.
Dr. Waddy: Your prediction that the DSA/Dems may well pull it off is very plausible. It certainly would intensify Civil War II and characteristic far left overreach in office could have the effect of showing the American electorate that it is unwisely flirting with consuming , fanatic fire in a movement which grimly purposes NO LESS than the very destruction of America.
ReplyDeleteIf the DSA takes Congress it would almost certainly go for it all in '28. If America frivolously hands them the keys to Capitol in the midterms they would see in it an indispensable opportunity to bring their era of disingenuous , incipient undermining from within our democracy since '72 to redeeming , imminent and inevitable victory in '28. We need to get real serious now and deny them such a heartening electoral sendoff on their perhaps final push to "fundamentally transform" America into their arbitrary totalitarian playground.
Jack, a Dem majority in both houses is very plausible, but a DSA majority in both houses is an utter impossibility. Most Democrats in both houses will be "moderates" who may occasionally go along with socialist silliness but are mainly motivated by reelection and personal aggrandizement. The Left, broadly speaking, won't accomplish anything with their (theoretical) majorities -- I can virtually promise you THAT! So take heart.
ReplyDelete