Month: April 2016

The corollary to President Trump’s willingness to accept Southeast Asia and the former Soviet Union as spheres of influence for China and Russia, respectively, was a more aggressive stance towards what he viewed as an American sphere of influence in Latin America.  Not surprisingly, this led to ongoing friction with Mexico and other South American countries.  Trump threatened military intervention on several occasions, and actually followed through with his threat on one or two.  As a result, American influence is at its lowest level in about a century.

So now to the State of New York.

Trump’s hoping to increase the torque.

A convention fight looms.

If it happens, he’s doomed.

Like a bottle of wine sold uncorked.

President Trump withdrew all of the American troops in South Korea and Japan, made it clear that our nuclear umbrella did not cover them, and repudiated longstanding security commitments to Taiwan.  The following events occurred after that:

1.  Lacking the ability to defend itself, Taiwan fell without a shot.
2.  The Japanese and South Koreans were essentially left with the choice of becoming Chinese vassal states or dramatically increasing expenditures on defense.  Even building a nuclear weapon would not address the fragility of their economic lifeline through the East and South China Seas.  The Chinese offered them easy terms, and they surrendered;  they are now part of a well-defined Chinese economic and political sphere of influence.
3.  China’s remaining potential opponents made the best deal they could.  The China Seas are now Chinese lakes.
4.  India held out.  Control of the Indian Ocean is necessary for the Chinese to maintain their own economic lifeline.  A potential conflict is brewing here.

He should replace the Rolling Stones with Beck on his playlist.  On second thought, he can keep “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”

Again, it is January 20, 2021.  President Trump, after unsuccessfully attempting to coerce our NATO allies to spend more on defense, has long since withdrawn all American troops from Europe.  He has also suggested that Europe will no longer be covered by our nuclear umbrella.  What has happened as a result?

1.  Beset by civil war and corruption, and no longer believing in Western support, Ukraine has thrown in the towel and agreed to become a Russian vassal state in exchange for economic aid and an end to the war.
2.  The Russians have invaded and now control Georgia.
3.  Germany is building a nuclear weapon.
4.  What is left of NATO now operates within the auspices of the EU.
5.  The security guarantee for the Baltic states has come into question.  Putin has considered invading, but, given the ongoing economic problems in Russia, he has decided against it, for the moment.  He continues to hope they will fall into his lap.

Apart from his family and his affection for “The Princess Bride,” there isn’t much to like about Cruz.  He oozes negative energy and ambition from every pore. Even people who should be his ideological allies view him as a user.  His extremism is a matter of record.

And yet, the left should be rooting for him, for the following reasons:

1.  He is the only plausible GOP alternative to Trump.
2.  A contested GOP convention can only help the Democrats.
3.  It is at least arguable that he would be an even weaker general election candidate than Trump if he gets the nomination.
4.  If, in spite of the odds, he won the general election, he would probably govern as a generic Republican;  his tax plan, which sets him apart from the GOP mainstream, would never pass even a GOP Congress, because it has too many losers.  He wouldn’t tear up all of our treaties or threaten the use of nuclear weapons as a bargaining chip.  In other words, he is a much less risky choice than Trump.

It’s January 20, 2021.  Here is what has happened in the US since the election of President Trump:

1.  After a brief and unsuccessful effort to “renegotiated” with President Xi, Trump has imposed his 45 percent tariff on Chinese goods.
2. The GOP Congress has also passed the enormous Trump tax cut.  As a result of these two events, in addition to the explosive growth in military spending and entitlements, prices and the deficit are skyrocketing.  The Fed consequently increases interest rates dramatically.  The market crashes, and the country heads into a deep and lengthy recession, which is exacerbated by the loss of jobs in export industries.
3.  Trump calls for patience, saying that import substitution, in time, will address the economic problems.  Patience is in short supply, however; the Democrats sweep the 2018 elections.
4.  The notoriously thin-skinned Trump persuades the lame duck Republican Congress to pass a Sedition Law which exposes critics of Trump and the GOP to criminal sanctions.  Executives with the NYT and MSNBC are charged with violations of the new law, but no jury will convict them.   However, the new Supreme Court, with three new Trump appointees, upholds the law, saying that criticism of the President during a time of national crisis is a “clear and present danger” to the public welfare.
5.  The new Democratic Congress attempts to reverse the Trump legislation in 2019, but does not have enough votes to override his veto.  The recession continues.
6.  Trump attempts to mobilize support from violent gangs of blue color workers who are employed in the new import substitution businesses.  Most of America is appalled.
7.  Ever the strong man, Trump considers declaring a state of emergency and cancelling the 2020 elections, but ultimately decides against it in the face of united opposition from his own party and the military.  At this point, his support has dwindled to a handful of blue collar workers and the Deep South.

After President Sanders takes the oath, he celebrates the coming of the “revolution.”  However, there is no money for social problems; it takes decades to repair the damage done by the Trump Administration.

OK, so maybe I’m an alarmist, but what in here doesn’t have a basis in fact?

An epic battle of the national id and superego.  Let’s go, superego!

There once was a Donald named Trump.

The MSM made him a grump.

He claims to be strong

But he’s really just wrong

And his numbers are starting to slump.

As I’ve noted on many previous occasions, there is little point in voting for Sanders unless he can also produce the “revolution.”  The “revolution” would turn the Democratic Party into more of a working class based party than the current coalition of victims, which is practically impossible unless its leaders tailor their pitch more to the kind of white working men who are currently supporting Trump.  That would mean showing far more sensitivity to white rural values, including gun ownership, than is popular with most of the members of the party.

Sanders could have taken a strong stance on these issues.  He could have, for example, argued forcefully and consistently that gun control measures are best handled at a local level, because the party needs the votes of rural gun owners.   To take the matter to a higher plane, he could have taken the position that racial issues are simply a distraction from the more important matter of uniting the working class to rein in capitalists and Wall Street bankers.  He didn’t do any of that, because he knew perfectly well that it would cost him more votes from urban and suburban activists than it was likely to win.

In other words, in the final analysis, Bernie sold out the “revolution” and became a conventional left-wing Democratic candidate because it gave him a better chance of becoming President.  He wasn’t going to win in either event, but it would have been a lot more interesting if he had decided to compete harder with Trump for his angry white working class voters.

There once was a woman named Hill.

She took on the Bern with her Bill.

She’ll run out the clock

Then it’s time to take stock

The Trumpster’s the next one to kill.

 

The Democrat maverick Bern

Against him the calendar turns.

His party’s soon over.

It’s time to get sober.

Here’s hoping that soon he will learn.

My wife and I create DVDs from the photos and videos that we generate from our foreign trips (she does the vast majority of the work).  We try to match the images with appropriate music:  some of it is pop, but some of it is obscure songs from the internet.  The ultimate product is sort of a long form video.  We’re not professionals, but there are times when the juxtaposition of an image, or series of images, and the music can be pretty powerful.

The DVD for our 2011 trip to Ireland includes a song from the internet called “Irish Ways and Irish Laws.”  The gist of the song is that Ireland was once a bastion of pure Irishness, has been battered by foreign conquerors throughout the centuries, but will rise again to be free of outside influences some day.

When you pair this song with images of St. Kevin’s Church at Glendalough, it is pretty compelling stuff.  In the real world, however, the concept behind it is ridiculous;  whether you like it or not, English DNA pervades the Irish nation, and will never disappear.  You could just as well imagine the English trying to drive Norman French words and Danish place names out of their culture.

The fact is that Ireland, for better or worse, is a multi-cultural nation. Fortunately, it is fairly clear to me that the majority of the Irish people accept that concept, and that majority is only growing with time.

April Fools

April fools.

Can Cruz rule?

Hopeless John

Trudges on.

 

Badger State.

It’s getting late.

Trump wins the duel?

April fools.