The real problem with Trump giving Sheriff Joe a pardon

Here is a selection of some of the reactions to the decision by the Liar-in-Chief to pardon former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio:

"Pardoning Joe Arpaio is a slap in the face to the people of Maricopa County, especially the Latino community and those he victimized as he systematically and illegally violated their civil rights. Sheriff Joe Arpaio targeted and terrorized Latino families because of the color of their skin. He was ordered by a federal judge to stop and he refused. He received a fair trial and a justifiable conviction, and there’s nothing the President can do to change that awful legacy and the stain he has left on our community. This is not a proud day for Phoenix." — Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton

“By pardoning Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Donald Trump has blessed his racist and unconstitutional police practices. This is unconscionable and unworthy of the White House. Donald Trump is a coward for releasing this news on a Friday when the nation's attention is rightly focused on Hurricane Harvey and the people who are in its path.”     — U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz.

"Sheriff Joe Arpaio is unquestionably the Bull Connor of this century. By pardoning him, President Trump has proven, again, he has no regard for people of color and is willing to endorse egregious policies that grossly violate human rights and the conscience of America."  — Clara Long, senior researcher, US Program, Human Rights Watch

"The community won in court. If there was ever any doubt that president Trump is a racist, with this pardon he clears up any doubt. He stands with racists, white supremacists and the violation of civil rights." — Latino activist Lydia Guzman

“With his pardon of Arpaio, Trump has chosen lawlessness over justice, division over unity, hurt over healing. Once again, the president has acted in support of illegal, failed immigration enforcement practices that target people of color and have been struck down by the courts. His pardon of Arpaio is a presidential endorsement of racism."  — ACLU Deputy Legal Director Cecillia Wang

While the decision to pardon Sheriff Joe is definitely evidence that 45 supports the racism inherent in how Arpaio conducted law enforcement while he was the sheriff, there is a larger issue here.  Racism is wrong, problematic and all of that, but what Donald Trump is doing here is showing his utter contempt and disregard for the system of Checks and Balances inherent in the doctrine of the Separation of Powers created by our Founding Fathers in establishing our federal government.

The Trumperor has demonstrated his disdain of the judiciary before.  His comments about the judges who have ruled against him in court since he moved into his role as Liar-In-Chief.  His comments about the judge who was hearing the case against Trump University.

The transgressions of Sheriff Joe are well known.  The 63 page memo known as the Munnell Memo are interesting reading.  Arpaio's intransigence in opposing any investigation into what he and his minions were doing is also well known.

FWIW, Federalist Paper #74 contains this text regarding the pardoning power of a president:

He is also to be authorized to grant "reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, EXCEPT IN CASES OF IMPEACHMENT.''

There are pundits claiming that this pardon may be the beginning of a constitutional crisis.  If we cannot rely on the nation's chief executive to respect the interpretation of the rule of law by the judiciary, we no longer have that rule of law.

Tuesday afternoon thoughts

Turns out the Liar-In-Chief and his Treasury Secretary; Steven Mnuchin have more in common than I thought. 

Both are on their third wife.  Both of their third wives have posed in what I'll describe as 'risque' photographs.  No, I'm not going to include them here.  You can go out and search for them to satisfy your curiosity if you want to see them.

Both of them are very wealthy men, although Mnuchin's wealth apparently hasn't reached to the same level as Trump's.

Both of them have their wives travel with them when they are traveling on government business and that's where the trouble began.  She posted on Instagram tagging some high-priced label attire and there was a backlash.  So she responded.

Clearly Ms Linton is the one who is out of touch, although not in a way that could possibly be described as "adorably."  She hasn't sacrificed a damn thing.  She's been married to Steven Mnuchin for less than two months.  She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth (her father owns a Scottish castle that is now a swanky hotel) and continues to live a life of privilege.

She's made her Instagram and Twitter accounts private now and she issued an apology. 

The statement released to ABC News said that Mnuchin paid for his wife to accompany him on the trip on a government aircraft.  It also claimed she was not compensated for her mentions of the designer brands she was wearing. 

Which raises another question.  Why were they flying on a government aircraft?  Most of the cabinet of Bush Junior flew commercial.  It makes sense for the Secretary of State to fly on a government aircraft.  It doesn't make as much sense for anyone else in the Cabinet, save the Vice-President and Attorney General.

* * *

New meme.

I wouldn't want to depend on either of these men to be responsible for my safety in a combat environment.  But let's set that aside for a moment.  We've had an all-volunteer military for over 40 years.  No one is forced to serve. 

Then there is the fact that the older Trump offspring is too old to serve in three of the four military services.  The Air Force raised the maximum age for enlistment to 39 a few years ago.  The maximum age to become a commissioned officer is 35, so that path is also closed.

But this does raise a question.  The law requires these two to have registered for the Selective Service System when they turned 18.  Did they?

* * *

Anyone who edits his own remarks made only days earlier, trying to pretend that part of those remarks did not get made; has no business calling anyone else "fake."

* * *

Maria Chappelle-Nadal is the Missouri State Senator who posted on Facebook "I hope Trump is assassinated."  She would later delete the post and issue a public apology but that's not enough for the Missouri State Senate's leadership.  They have stripped her of all of her committee assignments. 

Mike Parson is the Lieutenant-Governor of Missouri and he has called on the Missouri State Senate to hold a special session and expel Senator Chappell-Nadal.

Missouri State Senators earn a salary of $35,915 per year plus a per diem of $104 for every day the Senate is in session and they answer the roll call.  Maybe she doesn't want to give up the cash?

She needs to resign.  If they do meet to expel her and vote along party lines, she will be ousted. 

* * *

In Rocklin, CA the school board of the Rocklin Academy (a group of charter schools that are open to all, according to their website) got an earful regarding a discussion of transgenderism that took place in a kindergarten class.

Some of the parents were not happy that this discussion took place without prior notice to them.  One parent reported that her son was "shaking in fear" when he arrived home that day.

The discussion was generated by the teacher being given two age-appropriate books on the subject of transgenderism by a transgender child, and deciding to read them to the class.  This is one of them.

The classroom is not the place children should first learn about anything related to sex, sexual preference or gender identity.  That's the responsibility of parents to talk to their children about.  I believe that the parents deserved advance notice that this book was going to be read.

There is nothing wrong with exposing kids to this.  It is a part of the reality of life in 2017.  Just give the parents advance notice.

* * *

Simon Cowell's comments to Mel B on America's Got Talent on Tuesday evening were not cool.

* * *

Meet Allen Armentrout

He's the one wearing the Confederate Army uniform and carrying the flag.  He was not at the protests in Charlottesville but traveled there afterward to pose with the statue of Robert E. Lee. 

He was a student at Pensacola Christian College until they saw the photo of him.  As a private college, they have the right to dismiss him for just about any reason and they have done so.

The cost of protecting the Liar-in-Chief

What's being lost in the revelation of problems with paying the Secret Service agents who protect 45 and his extended family is the actual problem.  The focus is on the fact our Cheeto-in-Chief insists on taking time away from the White House to go golfing, rather than the real issue.

There is a statutory cap on how much a Secret Service agent can earn in a year, including overtime pay.  Last year Congress had to increase that cap, which in 2017 is $160,000.  The Director of the Secret Service, Randolph Alles has approached members of the Congress to raise that amount to $187,000.

Donald Trump has four adult children.  Three of them are married.  They have children of their own.  All are entitled to Secret Service protection under Title 18, United States Code, Section 3056.  That code section does not address the difference between minor children and adult children of presidents.

It would be very easy to make an argument that Donald Trump should simply foot the bill from his own pocket to protect his family.  While I believe that he should pay for his own protection on his weekend jaunts to his various properties for the purpose of playing golf, I no longer believe that he should pay for the protection of his family. 

Had Hillary Clinton been elected, no one would question the need to protect Chelsea Clinton and her husband and children.  Like it or not, the children of the Liar-In-Chief are targets for terrorists and the criminally insane.  The wealth, or lack of it, should not factor into the equation regarding the need to protect the immediate need of the family of the President and Vice-President.

* * *

There is a separate issue.  The hypocrisy of 45 having spent so much time being critical of his predecessor in the Oval Office for vacations, travel and golfing, and then going out and doing much more of those things than President Obama ever did.

If the Oval Office occupant of the moment were truly concerned about federal spending, he would lead by example.  Something he is apparently incapable of doing.  "Do as I say, not as I do" appears to be his mantra.  Or as my late father was found of saying, 'the Golden Rule is that he who has the gold makes the rules."

You don't criticize what someone else is doing and then turn around and do it yourself.  I was reminded of this as I was working on a new client's business tax return.  There were large schedules of depreciation and amortization in his last return prepared by his former CPA and I started to take a short-cut in entering the data into his return.  It would have worked, but then I remembered a conversation from last week.

Another preparer I used to work with had taken a short-cut in doing a client's return and as a result, the client got a letter from the IRS claiming they owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes.  They don't.  It's an easy fix.  But the client had an understandably visceral reaction to that kind of correspondence. 

I will fix that client's problem when I'm in the office again later in the week.  The upshot is that even though it took me an hour, I entered all of that depreciation and amortization information into the return, to ensure there will be no future issues for MY client.

If I'm going to take short-cuts, I have no business taking issue with others doing it.  That's fine.  Part of my work will always be dealing with fixing mistakes made by others.  Just as my co-workers would fix any mistakes I've made if I weren't around to fix them myself.  I am not perfect, though perfection is what we strive for.

Donald J. Trump is far from perfect.  A fact he will never acknowledge.

What a difference an A makes

The Idiot-In-Chief is at it again:

Do I honestly believe that Donald J. Trump does not know there is a difference between heel and heal?  No.  The issue here is not a typo.  The issue is that this is a man who doesn't think before acting or reacting. 

Remember this?

“The president said very strongly in his statement yesterday that he condemns all forms of violence, bigotry, and hatred and of course that includes white supremacists, KKK, nephew-nazi [sic] and all extremist groups. He called for national unity and bringing all Americans together.”

Again, a typo.  But these things keep happening.  Why?  Trump doesn't care about being accurate.  Not because he's a charter member of the frequent liars club.  He sees, he tweets and then he waits  for the praise he is certain he is entitled to for his wisdom.

He will not admit to any kind of misspelling, let alone a misstep or a mistake.  In his own eyes, he is perfect.  Not conceited, but convinced.  Completely convinced that he is better at anything and everything that anyone else.

Remember these comments from 45?

"I watched those (referring to the events at Charlottesville) closely, much more closely than you people..."

On the size of his inauguration crowd and photos proving it was much smaller than the crowd at President Obama's inauguration, "“I had a massive amount of people here. They were showing pictures that were very unflattering, as unflattering -- from certain angles -- that were taken early and lots of other things. I'll show you a picture later if you’d like of a massive crowd..."

A biographer says that 45 told him "...his experience at the New York Military Academy, an expensive prep school where his parents had sent him to correct poor behavior, gave him 'more training militarily than a lot of the guys that go into the military.'"

Are his boasts that he is better than the rest of us part of what he described as "truthful hyperbole" in his first book The Art of the Deal, or does he really believe his own hype?

* * *

Donald J. Trump is not a man who thinks things through before acting/speaking.  That may be fine for him in his business world bubble, where he is insulated from reality by an army of "Yes-People" and his willingness to ignore the terms of deals he himself proposed and signed.  It is not a good thing in the leader of a nation.

These small errors and lies are indicative of larger issues.  I don't know how 45 feels about retired General Colin Powell, but maybe he should take a page from General Powell's experience.  Back when General Powell was the commander of TRADOC (U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command), prior to his appointment as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he was interviewed for Parade Magazine.  The interviewer noticed a small list of "rules" on Powell's desk and asked for permission to include them in the article.  Here they are:

1.  It ain't as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning.

2.  Get mad, then get over it.

3.  Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it.

4.  It can be done!

5.  Be careful what you choose. You may get it.

6.  Don't let adverse facts stand in the way of a good decision.

7.  You can't make someone else's choices. You shouldn't let someone else make yours.

8.  Check small things.

9.  Share credit.

10.  Remain calm. Be kind.

11.  Have a vision. Be demanding.

12.  Don't take counsel of your fears or naysayers.

13.  Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.

Trump fails to follow most of these dictums.  He certainly fails to check small things, or we would not have that typo that began this blog to laugh at.

Problem is, it isn't really that funny.  It is in fact, tragic.

Should Dwayne Betts Be Admitted to the Connecticut Bar?

Even though I believe that Dwayne Betts should be admitted to the Connecticut Bar, or that of any other state where he applies; I'm not signing the Change.org petition someone forwarded to me.  Here is what that petition says:

Dwayne Betts paid his dues to society for stealing a car when he was 16 years old, serving 8 years in prison. Instead of returning to a life of crime, Dwayne went on to become an award-winning poet, graduated from Yale Law School, and passed the Connecticut bar exam.

Sadly, the state bar has now provisionally denied him admission based on a 20-year-old conviction.

But if we don't allow people with criminal records to re-enter society after serving their terms (through employment, housing, education, or voting), how can we be surprised when they reoffend? 

As a fellow Yale graduate and a Commissioner for the San Francisco Juvenile Probation Department, I know that what Dwayne has accomplished is no easy feat. He took advantage of every opportunity we give juvenile offenders to help them make positive choices. But instead of celebrating his accomplishments, he's being told he can't become a lawyer because of a mistake he made 20 years ago. 

Let's tell the Connecticut Bar that Dwayne's redemptive work should be rewarded, not punished. 
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/09/opinion/admit-this-ex-con-to-the-connecticut-bar.html

To clarify, if the Connecticut Bar Examining Committee were to have already denied his application, I'd have gladly signed a petition to support Mr. Better.  That is not what has happened...yet.

To describe what Mr. Betts did as "stealing a car" is misleading.  He carjacked a man at gunpoint and took the man's car.  He went on to use that man's credit cards for a "shopping trip" the following day. 

There is no question that this man is completely rehabilitated and has earned every possible "second chance."  But the Connecticut Bar Examining Committee, which is a separate organization from the State Bar itself, has not actually denied his application.  They are doing, what they have done in the past and are allowed to do under state law, is to require anyone who has been convicted of a felony to "...prove with clear and convincing evidence that he is of good moral character and fit to practice law."

The law in Connecticut is that anyone who was convicted of a felony loses the presumption of fitness to practice the law.  That's a fair and appropriate position.  Convicted felons who want to practice law should be required to demonstrate that they are fully rehabilitated before being admitted to the bar and become officers of the court.

Let's let the process work.  If the Bar Examining Committee were to deny Mr. Betts admission to the bar, then the system did not work and we need to sign petitions, write elected officials and make a fuss.  To fuss before the final word is in, is premature at best.

Deserving of monuments

Monuments to General Robert E. Lee, other "heroes" of the Confederacy and to the Confederacy itself are being taken down across the land.  Here in Southern California, a monument at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery was ordered removed by the group that owns and maintains it, because of threats against it.

The violent removal of such monuments by those angered by their presence is wrong. 

The person who climbs the ladder to facilitate the destruction of the statue is Takiyah Thompson.  She has been arrested and faces felony charges for her role in the event captured in this video.  While I agree that there is no need for monuments to the Confederacy or its "heroes" to exist in public spaces, a unilateral decision to destroy them is just wrong.  The fact that statutes and other such monuments are celebrating those who defended slavery does not justify violence or vandalism.

Meet Otto Skorzeny, a member of Hitler's Waffen-SS during World War II.  He was awarded the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves.  The Knights Cross (technically the Knights Cross of the German Iron Cross) was the highest military honor the German military had.  The Oak Leaves indicated a second award. 

Obersturmbannführer (equivalent to Lieutenant Colonel) Skorzeny was involved in a number of extremely dangerous missions.  Here is another photo of Skorzeny.

He was accused of war crimes for wearing and having his men wear the uniforms of the Allies.  The successful defense at his trial was that he and his men wore their own uniforms beneath the Allied ones and removed those Allied uniforms before combat commenced.  It was ruled to be a legitimate ruse de guerre.

After the acquittal he was being held in prison while the "denazification" program was going on and he wound up escaping.  He would go on to be involved in neo-Nazi activities and while he was ultimately denazified in absentia, he never renounced his Nazi beliefs.

Like Skorzeny, Robert E. Lee was indeed a hero during his military service for the United States.  Also like Skorzeny, we judge Robert E. Lee for what I like to refer to as his "Last, Worst Act."  That Last, Worst Act was to take up arms to defend slavery.

Slavery may have been legal at the time, but that doesn't make it right.  I often point out that when something is legal but we perceive it to be wrong, we need to change those laws.  We as a nation did just that, thanks to the leadership of President Abraham Lincoln, and others.

The people who criticize the wanton destruction of monuments as we have seen, are right.  But they are wrong to talk about the desire to remove such monuments through the proper channels as being a slippery slope that will lead to the removal of others.  The Long Beach chapter of The United Daughters of the Confederacy released a statement including this:

"The purge won't end until every Monument from all American wars are gone...Thomas Jefferson and George Washington were both slave owners, and their monuments will be next."

Someone please lean over and hit the "False Equivalency Alarm" button.  Yes, Presidents Washington and Jefferson owned slaves.  But neither was around when the Civil War began and did not take up arms to defend the "right" of one man to OWN another.

Those who support the beliefs of the founders of the Confederacy (which are clearly articulated in their Constitution, which contains the word "slave" ten times) circulated a meme a couple of years back:

It is accurate on its face, but highly misleading.  Grant owned one slave. Lee did not personally own slaves, but fought against abolition. Lee oversaw the slaves owned by the Custis estate from 1857 through 1862. "He was a more stringent taskmaster than his predecessor." Lee wrote the following in a letter to his wife: "...In this enlightened age, there are few I believe, but what will acknowledge, that slavery as an institut...ion, is a moral & political evil in any Country. It is useless to expatiate on its disadvantages. I think it however a greater evil to the white man than to the black race, & while my feelings are strongly enlisted in behalf of the latter, my sympathies are more strong for the former. The blacks are immeasurably better off here than in Africa, morally, socially & physically. The painful discipline they are undergoing, is necessary for their instruction as a race, & I hope will prepare & lead them to better things. How long their subjugation may be necessary is known & ordered by a wise Merciful Providence." A man opposed to slavery would not describe the subjugation of blacks as "necessary."

We are bombarded daily with photographic memes that are often misleading. It is true that Grant owned slaves. He owned one. It is true that Lee did not personally own slaves. But he was the executor of an estate that owned slaves and in that role he was a more cruel overseer than most. Is the meme "true"? You tell me.

Any American who believes it is right to own other human beings clearly doesn't understand the meaning of the words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.  Hatred and bigotry are learned behaviors.  The problem is that each generation of bigots inculcates their offspring in those twisted beliefs.  It is a cycle we cannot break with destruction and trying to counter demonstrations with violent counter-demonstrations. 

Peaceful protest needs to be just that.  We must work together to stop those few people present at such protests who are there to commit acts of violence.  We must get law enforcement to step up and enforce all laws, including those prohibiting the incitement of violence.

I won't help tie a rope around a monument to the Confederacy and pull it down.  But I will assist any effort to work towards its removal through due process.

BTW, direct descendants of General Robert E. Lee are opposed to the violence and do not oppose taking down those statues and putting them in museums.

A new "Soup Nazi"?

I have a quirk when it comes to breakfast.  If I go out to eat, I have traditional breakfast fare.  But if I'm home and make my own breakfast, I'll make soup.  Campbell's Soup, one of several different flavors they offer. 

Turns out that the CEO of Campbells' Denise Morrison, is one of the members of the Liar-In-Chief's Manufacturing Jobs Initiative council.  In the wake of three other CEOs having chosen to leave that group, it is worth looking at the remaining CEO types who are part of that group and another, the Strategic and Policy forum.  Thanks to Michael Hiltzik of the L.A. Times, we can look at a clear list of the remaining members of those groups:

Edit:  Make it four CEOs that have resigned.  Scott Paul tweeted out his resignation after this was initially written.

Here are the companies retaining membership on Trump’s two major business panels, the Strategic and Policy Forum (designated SP in this list), and the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative (MJ). A handy spreadsheet as of late Monday can be found here, courtesy of Forbes. We’ll update the roster if changes occur Tuesday. In some cases, company spokespersons left their positions ambiguous; when they cited the virtues of remaining “engaged” with government officials, we interpreted that as affirming continued membership.

Affirmatively staying on:

--General Motors, CEO Mary Barra (SP)
--Cleveland Clinic, CEO Toby Cosgrove (SP)
--JP Morgan Chase, CEO Jamie Dimon (SP)
--Wal-Mart, CEO Doug McMillon (SP)
--Boeing, CEO Dennis Muilenberg (MJ)
--Blackstone Group, CEO Stephen Schwarzman (SP)
--General Electric, former CEO Jack Welch (SP)
--Dell, CEO Michael Dell (MJ)
--Whirlpool, CEO Jeff Fettig (MJ)
--Johnson & Johnson, CEO Alex Gorsky (MJ)
--General Electric, CEO Jeff Immelt (MJ)
--Timken, CEO Rich Kyle
--Campbell Soup, CEO Denise Morrison (MJ)
--Alliance for American Manufacturing, CEO Scott Paul (MJ)
--Newell Brands, CEO Michael Polk (MJ)
--International Paper, CEO Mark Sutton (MJ)
--Corning, CEO Wendell Weeks (MJ)

No specific comment on plans:

--BlackRock, CEO Larry Fink (SP)
--BCG (Boston Consulting Group), CEO Rich Lesser (SP)
--Boeing, former CEO Jim McNerney (SP)
--Pepsico, CEO Indra Nooyi (SP)
--Global Infrastructure Partners, Chairman Adebayo Ogunlesi (SP)
--IBM, CEO Virginia Rometty (SP)
--Stanford University/Hoover Institution, Kevin Warsh, visiting fellow (SP)
--EY (Ernst & Young), CEO Mark Weinberger (SP)
--IHS Markit, Vice Chairman Daniel Yergin (SP)
--Dow Chemical, CEO Andrew Liveris (MJ)
--Nucor Corp., CEO John Ferriola (MJ)
--United Technologies, CEO Greg Hayes (MJ)
--Lockheed Martin, CEO Marillyn Hewson (MJ)
--Dana Inc., CEO Jim Kamsickas (MJ)
--3M, CEO Inge Thulin (MJ)

Aside from Campbells, I don't spend money with most of the other firms who have made it clear they are staying on Trump's councils.  And the fact I will stop spending roughly ten bucks a week on Campbell's soups starting today won't have any impact on their bottom line.  But the people who started the hashtag #SoupNazi yesterday in referring to Ms Morrison got my attention. 

But if I am not the only one, then we can send a message to these CEOs.  Their continuing to serve the man who refused to denounce neo-Nazis and White Nationalists at the moment one of that number killed Heather Heyer and tried to kill dozens more; is wrong.  It is an implied endorsement of what Trump did and said at the time.  Yes, he finally specially denounced the KKK, neo-Nazis and White Nationalists.  Two days too late.

Silence is assent and consent.

"Hate on many sides"

I drove to Hollywood this morning to the Arclight Cinema on Sunset Boulevard.  The reason I went there was that the new film "Ingrid Goes West" was playing there and only there.  I missed a press screening this past week because I was not feeling well and I felt guilty about that.  I also very much wanted to see the movie.  It was well worth the horrendous traffic I dealt with driving to and from the theater.

But that meant that I was in my car and that is where I listened to the idiotic impromptu comments of the Liar-in-Chief regarding the tragedy in Charlottesville.  There is only one side involved here that has a hateful agenda.  The White Supremacists who try to normalize their identity by referring to themselves as the "Alt-Right" in some cases.  Others, like David Duke, feel no need to hide their feelings and beliefs.  If they could get away with it, they would probably still be lynching, bombing churches and the like. 

A president who truly cared for the people of this nation would denounce the specific people behind the violence and the hatred.  In point of fact, Agent Orange took previous presidents to task for failing to label some terrorists actions as such.  From November of 2015:

"Why won't President Obama use the term Islamic Terrorism? Isn't it now, after all of this time and so much death, about time!"

Well, Mr. Trump, why won't you use the term White Supremacist?  Is it because if you do and they stop supporting you and those parts of your agenda they support, you will never be reelected?  Because you lack the moral courage to tell the truth?  That might explain your apparent pathological need to lie nearly every time you speak or tweet.

As someone whose ancestry traces back to Germany, one would think you would want to denounce such things. 

* * *

Listening to the press conference given by the Cheeto-in-Chief raised another question in my mind.  He made it a point of asking the veterans he was talking about (the press conference was original designed to talk about "progress" at the Veterans Administration) to shake hands with him.

I asked myself, what would I do if he asked me, as a veteran, to shake his hand.  I do not respect the man, but I do respect the office.  We can say #NotMyPresident all we want to, but the reality is that he holds the office.  At least until he is forced to resign, is impeached, or G*d forbid, leaves office in January of 2021.

That being said, if there ever came a moment where I was face to face with Donald J. Trump and he held out his hand to shake mine, I would refuse.  I would do anything to avoid that situation from ever happening, but you cannot control everything in life.

I simply cannot muster even a modicum of respect for this charlatan who has sold his supporters a plate of promises he cannot deliver on.  Not enough to shake his hand.

I might change my mind if he were to do the right thing here, and condemn the white supremacists who caused at least three deaths today.

Adding another name to a long list

Jeffrey Lord is a columnist for the American Spectator and was a CNN commentator.  Until he sent out a tweet that a lot of people found offensive.  Here is that tweet, at the end of the exchange it was part of:

Rather than delete his reply in the wake of CNN having fired him, Lord has stridently defended his actions at mocking what he considers fascism. 

This began when Lord wrote a piece for the American Spectator in which he described a call by Media Matters for people to boycott advertisers who buy time on the Sean Hannity program on the Fox News Channel.  Here s an excerpt from the piece:

"The objective of Media Matters (and let’s stop with the camouflage and from now on call them what they really are, MMF — Media Matters Fascists), clearly, is to re-write the First Amendment so it will now be modeled after Fascist Italy’s Ministero della Cultura Popolare — Mussolini’s Ministry of Popular Culture. The Ministry was in turn modeled after the Nazi Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. Both Mussolini and Hitler’s aim was as simple as it was sinister: to control the flow of information whether that meant broadcast, newspapers, books, films and all the rest of any outlets that were vehicles of the day for the free expression of ideas."

Like so many others, Mr. Lord clearly does not grasp the actual meaning of the First Amendment, even though he actually quoted it just before the paragraph excerpted above.  Mr. Lord, Media Matters is not a government agency, nor is it any part of any level of government.

The First Amendment does not protect what Sean Hannity or anyone else says from being subject to the criticism; and yes boycott of, any private citizen or group of citizens.  An example of true fascism would be government attempting to stop Media Matters, or Sean Hannity or even Mr. Lord from expressing their thoughts, feelings, opinions and anything else; within the limits of how our freedom of speech works.  You cannot shout "Fire!" in a crowded theater, unless of course there is actually a fire occurring.

To try to paint a boycott as Fascist is dishonest.  Hobby Lobby refuses to provide contraception as part of their health insurance coverage.  As a result I will never spend even one cent of my money with any Hobby Lobby business.  That's my right.  I am not infringing Hobby Lobby's First Amendment rights in doing so.

Add Mr. Lord's name to the long list of people who accuse people of violating the First Amendment rights of others; when they have done no such thing. 

Fire and Fury? Donald Trump or Wyatt Earp?

The Liar-in-Chief saber-rattling at North Korea's dictator, Kim Jong-un.  Is this wise?  No.  Is it effective?  Definitely not.  Was it planned?  Probably not.

One talking head discussing this situation on one of the all-news cable networks used bluffing in poker to make an excellent point about this situation.  A bluff is a great strategy when your opponent in the hand is a rational player.  When that opponent is not playing rationally, he or she will often call the bluff out of spite.

General Jack Keane is a retired U.S. Army general, former Vice-Chief of Staff for the U.S. Army and currently a national security analyst for Fox News.  He appeared on the Fox News Channel show The Five last night and discussed the situation with North Korea; offering some excellent insights.

One was that there is no way on Earth that the North Koreans could have developed nuclear warheads small enough to load into an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), or to develop ICBMs themselves.  China was involved in the progress by North Korea in this area.

General Keane also pointed out that Kim Jong-un has made it clear that his response to any preemptive strike by the U.S. or our allies will be to immediately launch an all-out invasion of South Korea with all of the military forces at his disposal.

The Korean People's Army has over 1 million personnel serving on active duty, making it the world's 4th largest standing army.  They have nearly 6 million more paramilitary personnel available.  Compare that to the South Korean Army with 625,000 active personnel and 3 million men and women in their reserve forces.  The U.S. military presence normally found in South Korea is fewer than 30,000 personnel, of which only 20,000 or so are Army personnel. 

Could North Korea invade and conquer South Korea?  Not in the wildest dreams of Kim Jong-un.  That in no way alters the devastation that would be caused by the initial attack into the South by his military forces.  Never mind his potential use of nukes, his conventional forces could severely damage Seoul.

It is only 35 miles from Seoul to the Demilitarized Zone.  Think about that for a moment.  The capital city of South Korea, with a population of nearly 10 million within the city limits and over 25 million in the local metropolitan area is less than an hour's drive from North Korean military forces.

The threat of such an invasion would seem to preclude any preemptive strike against North Korea's missile and nuclear weapons facilities.

Apparently the Cheeto-in-Chief takes such severe umbrage at threats from Kim Jong-un that he just has to bluster back.  It is a bad idea.

As long as North Korea is threatening and not acting, saber-rattling will accomplish nothing except to increase tensions.  The UN sanctions recently enacted are a good thing. 

We cannot afford to have nuclear weapons used again.  The consequences are too horrific to contemplate.

The passing of Glen Campbell and other news items

August 8th is a day burned into my brain as though it had been branded there.  In another blog I've written about what I did on that day in 1977 in order to be able to depart as scheduled for basic training.  Now I have another unforgettable reminder of this date.  Glen Campbell died today.

Early in his career he was a member of the famed Wrecking Crew.  For a few months he toured with The Beach Boys.  A list of his hit songs would be very long indeed.  He had a variety show on CBS.  He sang the theme to the 1969 movie True Grit, in which he also co-starred.

He lived for six years after his Alzheimer's diagnosis.  RIP

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The Idiot-in-Chief has threatened North Korea with "...fire and fury like the world has never seen."  Their response is to threaten to fire a nuclear weapon at Guam.  Hopefully one of the people who whispered into the ear of that Idiot-in-Chief will make sure he understands that Guam is part of the United States.

It is one of the five unincorporated territories of the U.S. (American Samoa, Northern Marianas Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands being the other four).  It is home to a large Navy base and to Andersen Air Force Base.  Unlike Agent Orange, I've spent more than a little time there.  I was stationed at Andersen AFB from September of 1980 through December of 1981.

Some refer to Guam as the "tip of the spear" of the U.S. military in the Pacific.  Its strategic importance is critical in defending U.S. interests in the region.  Baiting Kim Jong-in with bombastic threats of bombing is not the way to manage the situation on the Korean peninsula.  Sanctions are a good thing.  Threats are not.  If Trump wants a war, let him ignore his heel spurs, grab a rifle and lead the invasion force as the first man in.  After all, he's convinced he knows more about the military than anyone else.

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The baseball season is headed into the home stretch and while the Dodgers have the best won-loss record on the field, their record in food safety is near the bottom.  An investigation into the food service at the 30 major league parks by Sports Illustrated shows Chavez Ravine ranked 25th out of 28 parks (results for the other two were not available).

I haven't been to a game at Dodger Stadium since 2004 (gave up my season seats after Frank McCourt bought the team).  In spite of the SI ranking, were I to go to a game, I would still grab a couple of Dodgers Dogs.  Well worth any risks.

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Did Robert Horry throw punches at another man outside L.A. Live after a basketball game involving Horry's son?  The video from TMZ looks like that is what happened.  Horry says he was defending himself after the man shoved him.

Seems out of character for "Big Shot Bob."

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That's a photo of Sebastian Gorka, an advisor to the Liar-in-Chief on national security issues.  When he appeared on MSNBC and was asked about the bombing of a mosque in Minnesota, he actually suggested that it might have been a "fake hate crime, propagated by the Left."

That was in response to a question about why the Liar-in-Chief has not yet commented on the bombing.  Funny thing is, whenever there is an attack purportedly done by Muslims, Agent Orange doesn't wait to comment.  Why the wait here for an investigation when the victims of the attack are Muslims?

It should be noted that two of the three referees who evaluated Gorka's doctoral dissertation held no graduate degrees, a serious breach of academics.  The degree is from Corvinus University in Hungary and the evaluations of that dissertation are nothing more than generalized comments.  That's not how dissertations are normally evaluated.  The one Ph.D. on the evaluating committee has advocated putting the heads of pigs on fences at the borders of Hungary to keep Muslims out.

Pamela Engel is the politics editor of Business Insider and she describes Gorka as "...widely disdained in his field." 

In 2007 he voiced his support for neo-fascist group the Hungarian Guard, an organization that was banned by the European Court of Human Rights for being a threat to racial minorities.  I guess that explains why Steve Bannon wanted Gorka to stay on in his White House post after it was revealed he was planning to leave this past April.

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From the WTF is our Justice System Doing File comes the story of Ryan Ponder (23) and Johnnie Beveritt (18).  They will serve no jail time for animal abuse and the beating of a disabled Navy veteran.

Instead they will serve 18 months probation for trying to kill a turtle and 12 months for assaulting Garry Blough, but since the sentences will run concurrently, it is really only 18 months.  They've also been ordered to each pay just over $16,000 in restitution to Blough, money he does not expect to receive.

These two should have spent a few months in jail for this, IMHO.

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I wouldn't call it a lie...

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders may have the toughest job at the White House these days.  The video below came after reports that the Liar-in-Chief told the Wall Street Journal; in an on-the-record interview; that he had received calls from the President of Mexico and from the head of the Boy Scouts.

Politico has obtained a copy of the full transcript of that interview.  Let's go to the transcript:

At one point, Trump seemed annoyed that one of The Wall Street Journal reporters in the room called the reaction to his July 24 Boy Scouts speech “mixed.”

“There was no mix there. That was a standing ovation from the time I walked out to the time I left, and for five minutes after I had already gone. There was no mix,” Trump said.

He added: “And I got a call from the head of the Boy Scouts saying it was the greatest speech that was ever made to them, and they were very thankful. So there was — there was no mix.”

Sarah Huckabee Sanders is a graduate of Ouachita Baptist University, which U.S. News and World Reports ranks 171st nationally among Liberal Arts Colleges.  Apparently honesty and the definition thereof were not part of the curriculum; or Ms Sanders doesn't mind lying about whether or not the Liar-in-Chief told a lie.

He said he got a phone call.  He did not get a phone call.  Therefore, his statement that he got that phone call is indeed a lie.  It is not a "...bold accusation..." to label it as such.

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Agent Orange also found time to tweet the following:

"I love the White House, one of the most beautiful buildings (homes) I have ever seen. But Fake News said I called it a dump - TOTALLY UNTRUE"

The so-called "Fake News" comes from golf journalist Alan Shipnuck who reported that claim in an article he wrote that appears in the 8/7/2017 issue of Sports Illustrated.  In a podcast for Golf.com he confirmed that 8 or 9 people have told him about Trump making the statement.

If this journalist was lying, why isn't Trump suing him for defamation?  Because friends, truth is a total and complete defense.

The Washington Post published the results of an investigation into whether or not the Liar-in-Chief cheats at golf, and it appears he does.

He probably thinks the White House is a dump solely because he doesn't see his name in big bold letters on the outside.

If he doesn't like it there, maybe he should just resign and go back to Trump Tower.

Random ponderings on a Tuesday night

Why would the Cheeto-in-Chief have fired Reince Priebus and continue to follow him on Twitter?  He doesn't follow Paul Manafort, who went Twitter-silent last December anyway.  He doesn't follow Anthony Scaramucci.  In fact, he only follows 45 accounts, a large percentage of which have the name Trump in the account name.

While on the subject of the Liar-in-Chief, why would he bother telling a lie about a phone call from the Boy Scouts about his inappropriate speech at their Jamboree?  The answer is, to stroke his own ego.

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The Pentagon is refusing to disclose how many cases they failed to review concerning members of the California National Guard who were being hounded to repay bonus payments.  The deadline set by Congress passed by and apparently there are a lot of people who are still on the hook due to the inaction of the Pentagon.

That is inexcusable.  Even if lengthy reviews of every case were required, the Pentagon should have burnt the midnight oil for as long as needed to get through all of them.

Stay tuned.

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Did whoever at One American News Network (OANN) delivered the news of Corey Lewandowski's termination to the former Trump campaign manager yell "you're fired?"  Sources report that the primary reason for OANN letting him go was his regular appearances on their competitors, especially Fox News.

Maybe they should form a Trump Alumni Group on Facebook.

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In Green Bay, Wisconsin, there is a middle school named after legendary Packers coach Vince Lombardi.  That school's principal announced that the school will not have a football team next year because no one applied for the vacant coaching jobs at the school.

Why?  The articles did not speculate.

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Did Anthony Scaramucci take the job at the White House as part of a scheme to defer paying tax on his capital gain from the sale of his investment firm?  He values his stake in the company at $50 million.  That could mean deferring a tax bill of more than $10 million.

But CNN/Money reports he will pay the tax and this was never a scheme to get the taxes deferred.

I don't buy the notion that he did this for a short term stint to defer the taxes.

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Trevor Noah of the Daily Show posits that at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, because of Hollywood, the entire Chinese team will be portrayed by white actors.

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Is it Gene Simmons live, or is it a calf's face?

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This just in, did Anthony Scaramucci's rumored relationship with Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle contribute to his losing his White House post?

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