Net Neutrality

Net Neutrality is all in the news these days.  Of course, if you read only Yahoo, Google, or the MSM, you might be in the dark.  Otherwise, it's big news.  Let me explain.

If you are for Net Neutrality, you are for government control and regulation of the internet.  Ignore the term "neutrality."  The term is nothing more than a political gimmick.  It's a misnomer, nothing more than political jargon for government supervision.  Think DMV.  Or any other government solution you can think of ... such as the war on poverty that began in the 1960s and has only gotten worse since then.

On the upside, those who oppose net neutrality not only have free market ideas on their side, but they also have a good sense of humor, something sadly lacking among those on the left.  By way of example, and for those who enjoy humor as well as common sense, here's the current Chairman of the FCC, Ajit Pai, who happens to be a free market guy.  Notice his smile, which will insult all your friends on the left.  Enjoy:

Out of the Mouth of Babes and Infants ...

Too good not to share. 

This child is eleven years old.  On your best day, can you speak extemporaneously and with such acumen as does this girl?  I dare you.  Forget politics and petty differences for a moment and listen to the young generation to follow.  Some of them know east from west, the Atlantic from the Pacific, even without a high school diploma.  It's heartening.

Have a listen:

Trump's Revenge on Republicans and Democrats

Trump is sooo into the heads of Ryan and McConnell.  He owns them now. They are his tools, along with most of their seasoned colleagues.  Democrats, too.  Wishing for a kill shot, Schumer bellied up to the bar like a drunken sailor and offered Trump a deal on fiscal borrowing and spending through December, 2017 that he meant to be used as ammunition in the mid-terms, assuming Trump would never accept it ... much like Republicans who for seven years passed one Obamacare repeal after another, knowing each would be voted down or vetoed. Political partisanship is that cynical and maddening.  Then Trump flashed that grin of his and accepted Schumer’s offer.  And it was like, Huh? Wait. Seriously?  Like the old Abbott and Costello routine, no one could figure out who was on first. Trump walked into the room and handed them a script that was off cue. None of them expected it. The politicos then went into ad lib mode. The Republican version went something like this: Um ... er ... well, let's see ... geez, I don't know, so....  Worse yet, the Democrats smiled, thinking they held the better hand, especially after Trump applauded Chuck and Nancy by their first names for offering such good ideas.  That's when they all knew he owned them.  If only Hemmingway was around for another go at The Old Man and The Sea, this time with sharks as the protagonist.  Talk about a good read.

I don't know what will happen next.  That's the joy of it.  Trump is doing exactly what he was elected to do.  A shark attack is not pleasant.  Neither is a colonoscopy, which is now being administered to Congress.  Both are intrusive.  Shark attacks can be vicious. Trump, at least, uses a glove and a middle finger.

Donald Trump Is Winning ... BIGLY

If you get your political updates through ordinary channels -- MSM, local news, the major newspapers, and popular website newsies such as Yahoo, Facebook and more recently Drudge -- you most likely feel that America is imploding, all due to the chaos of the Trump administration.

The goal is to wear you down, if not wear you out, until you agree that Trump must go.

The stakes rise with each new Trump achievement, commensurate with the rising decibel level of those who express outrage at whatever he says.  That's what happens when your cherished assumptions are disproven day after day.  It's comical, and also understandable.  No one likes to admit they are wrong.  Or that they are wrong on a regular basis.  It's embarrassing, if not humiliating.  Especially if you are touted as being an expert journalist or commentator, at least by virtue of being on TV.

That's why you hear little or nothing about:

• the current NAFTA negotiations
• Kim Jong-un blinking
• China threatening a trade war and then blinking
• the U.S. becoming a net energy exporter
• our diminishing trade imbalance
• the amazing rise to nearly 4% GDP growth in the 2017 third quarter
• forecasters suggesting that GDP could grow to 5 or 6% annualized
• a rise in manufacturing investments in the U.S.
• more full-time jobs among the middle class
• the Syrian crisis
• the continuing fall of ISIS in the Middle East
• Wall Street's record highs as they turn to embrace Main Street
• the public's opposition to the destruction of historic statues and memorials
• an abhorrence of radical and violent activists on all sides, most all of whom abide on the left fringe
• Russian collusion
• the Awan brothers
• Debbie Wasserman Schultz
• Hillary and the Clinton Foundation entities
• The wall
• Immigration
• et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Trump is winning.  BIGLY.  It's almost too easy.  He's focused on results, period. The rest is mere distraction, much of it orchestrated by anti-Trumpers who insist you really can get a different result if you repeat the same experiment enough times.  They still don't get it because they don't want to get it.  They have dug in their heels.  That's why I find it funny.  Trump is playing them every step of the way.  This cartoon illustrates it best. You've probably seen it before, but it's worth watching again on occasion:

The people who get it are the American workers -- the ones who watch Dirty Jobs, live on a budget, and are happy to find an extra two-hundred dollars at the end of the month.  Soon enough, others will, too.  It just takes time.  Trump is making it happen before our very eyes.

Connect the Dots

This past week we had a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that featured Mr. Bill Browder, an international financier with extensive knowledge of the Russian government. Under questioning from Sen. Lindsay Graham, Browder revealed that the Russians paid Fusion GPS to create the infamous "golden shower dossier" on Trump.  According to Browder, the Russians were looking to stir up trouble to harm Trump's presidential bid. That's how the Russkies roll, Browder essentially said.  They like to create chaos.  

Okay, I'll bite.  Let's pretend it's a hacking job by the Russians rather than a leak from inside, despite all evidence pointing toward an internal leak, re: DNC's compromised server.  If Browder's testimony about Fusion GPS is correct, even deplorable Americans can quickly connect the  dots.  I offer Donna in Oregon as an example.  She writes:

Wait…..wait……I need to catch up here. This Golden Showers report was paid for by Russia….made by the Brits….picked up by John McCain……delivered to James Comey……James Comey paid them $50,000.00 to further investigate Donald Trump……and now we have a Special Counsel to investigate President Donald Trump’s involvement.

Am I up to speed? Is that muh Russia?

(Author's note:  The FBI didn't actually pay the $50,000 because the Brit -- Steele -- couldn't produce any facts to back up his claims in the dossier.  Plus, there's no hard evidence that Russians hacked anything of relevance.  In fact, the evidence points elsewhere, as noted above).

The Trump collusion meme is slowly but surely turning on Democrats.  Facts tend to have that effect.  The MSM soon will backtrack and do their best impression of Roseanne Rosannadanna from the original SNL cast, who famously ended her weekly screed with the disclaimer:  Never mind!  Then it will be on to the next manufactured scandal.  Trump is proving to be an elusive rascal.

Naturally, and to top it all off,  if Donald Trump was bribed by the Russians to lie about their mutual collusion, Trump surely would have reported this expense on his income tax returns. Common sense alone would tell you that, right?  Who doesn't report bribery payments? Thus, Trump's delay in voluntarily releasing his tax returns is prima facie evidence of collusion with the Russians.  That must be why he doesn't make them public.

Believe it or not, there actually IS a statement in the IRS instruction manual that requires citizens to report bribe receipts as income.  Read it for yourself on the IRS's website:

Bribes.   If you receive a bribe, include it in your income.

Yes, folks, someone at the IRS actually went there.  I can hear the committee meeting now:

Fred:  Are we missing anything?

Sue:  Well, what about income from bribes and meth sales?  They should be regarded as 1099 income.  But not deductible from gross.  Those folks don't deserve tax relief.

Fred:  Good thinking, Sue.  Let's start with bribes and see how it goes.

There you have it.  If that won't stop bribery, nothing will.  I'm sure the Russians will provide that 1099 in a jiffy.

All that notwithstanding, the IRS overlooked one minor detail.  The obligation to report income from bribery refers only to the person who receives the bribe, not the person who pays it.  Thus, Trump is not obligated to report the illicit payments on his tax return. But, still, if he did pay it, he should have reported it, shouldn't he, even if it required an addendum page, owing to the fact that there's no line item for "bribes paid?" That's what rocket surgeon and Senate Judiciary Committee member Sheldon Whitehouse (D - R.I.) would have us believe. Go the the 47:15 mark for his money question:

Yes, Rhode Island, you voted him into office.  

In unrelated news, jobs are up, wages are improving, manufacturing is on the rise, illegal immigration has dwindled, NAFTA is being re-tooled, bilateral trade agreements are underway, ISIS is facing decimation, the Paris Climate Accord is kaput and Obamacare is in a death spiral.  Democrats are out of ideas and Republicans once again prove they don't deserve to be in charge.  Ironically, America's outlook on the future is positive.  Huh.  I wonder why?

I'll leave you to connect the dots.

This 'N That, Friday Edition

Some people are astonishingly stupid.  Granted, all of us are stupid in our own ways, owing to our inclinations.  You are, and so am I.  We euphemistically refer to our stupidity as a blind-spot when in simplest terms it is mere stupidity.  It's like being dysfunctional.  Everyone is dysfunctional to some extent.  So are families.  Some are just more dysfunctional than others.

But sometimes stupidity is ... well ... astonishing, so far out of the norm that it makes the rest of us feel not stupid.  Take this person's bad moment, for example:

Note:  You are expecting a video of some criminal who calls the cops because his marijuana stash was stolen or because an accomplice ran off with the money he robbed from the bank ... or perhaps something along the lines of these head-scratchers.  But you'll be wrong.  I was thinking of this person:

And then there's stupid that can't be fixed, short of a lobotomy:

Long story short, you're not as stupid as you think.  Be grateful.

*****

Speaking of lawyers, this heart-warming story is making the rounds:

One afternoon a lawyer was riding in his limousine when he saw two men along the roadside eating grass.  Disturbed, he ordered his driver to stop and he got out to investigate. He asked one man, "Why are you eating grass ?" 

"We don't have any money for food," the poor man replied.  "We have to eat grass." 

"Well, then, you can come with me to my house and I'll feed you." 

"But sir, I have a wife and two children with me.  They are over there eating grass under that tree." 

"Bring them along," the lawyer replied. 

Turning to the second poor man, he stated, 

"You may come with us, also." 

The other man, in a pitiful voice, said, "But sir, I also have a wife and six children with me!" 

"Bring them as well," the lawyer answered. 

They all entered the car, which was no easy task, even for a car as large as the limousine. 

Once under way, one of the poor fellows turned to the lawyer and said, "Sir, you are too kind. Thank you for taking all of us with you." 

The lawyer replied, "Glad to do it. You'll really love my place. The grass is almost a foot high."

h/t: Mr. Ed

*****

Let's jump tracks and end on a high note.  Watch this video of a dog too traumatized to be saved, until someone saves him with love and attention.  Yes, the formula really can work:

Trump v CNN, The Animated Version

Enjoy:

Stream of Consciousness on the Fourth of July

I like what I've seen of Niall Fersugon over the years.  His bona fides are listed in the citation below. He knows how to call stupid people stupid in delicate terms, or else call them out up front when needed. Nonetheless, the Guardian quotes him as saying Trump may prove to be "a success in spite of himself." I won't say Ferguson is quoted in context, because I don't know.  But here's the Guardian's version:

But politics, after all, is often a battle of perceptions. Niall Ferguson, a British historian and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution in Stanford, California, said in May: “I think one of the things Guardian readers, and their counterparts on the American coasts, don’t want to think about is the possibility that despite his obvious ineptitude, Trump might actually be successful...

It doesn’t take an awful lot for a president to start looking good. If the expectations start really low, which they have done, ... I definitely don’t rule out a kind of ‘success in spite of himself’ scenario.

How laughable.  Trump's ineptitude?  Success in spite of himself?  Seriously?

I swear, the anti-Trump folks still don't get it.  It's not "in spite of" but "because of" himself that he keeps winning.  Trump knows exactly what he is doing.  Has anyone even noticed his accomplishments these past six months?  Trump understands the dysfunction of Washington politics.  He's known it for a long time.  Just go back and look at what he told Oprah in the 1980s.  He didn't invent his political platform in 2016. He's been preaching it for decades.  And he's been right for decades.  Only, he didn't run for President until 2015.  I think he was waiting for tweets to be invented.

Have a look-see, circa 1988:

I have no research at hand, but I believe most Trump voters didn't care whether he ran as a Democrat or a Republican.  They would have voted for him either way.  What resonated was his message.  In their view, he is not a political bobble-head. He seems to believe his message.  More importantly, he has a track record for getting things done in grand style and with a flourish. He's the boss -- and a good one -- first and foremost. Did I mention that he finally decided to run for President ... and won?

Trump has faced adversity but has never allowed himself to be beaten into submission. Like Phoenix, he rises time and again.  Defeat is anathema to him. What's not to like about that?  Especially if you've been beaten down yourself.  Trump branded himself as a winner, someone who thinks big and attempts big things, a person who believes in himself and is driven to succeed. I have a brother who is much the same way.  Trump shows up for work every day and manages the smallest details.  Yet he knows how to delegate responsibility and let others do what they do best.  He praises good work and chastises slackers.  He creates an international business enterprise and produces monuments of sterling quality.  That he also knows how to succeed on television is amazing. The guy truly is remarkable.  Does he know how to brand himself, or what? Oprah could have the same effect on American politics if only she understood Main Street the way Trump does, but she doesn't, not by a long shot.  But she does understand her audience. Trump does, too.  It is another forte of his.  Hence, tweets.

Contrast that with Barack Obama, a well-read man and glib speaker who never built anything, never hired or fired employees, understood almost nothing about Main Street or working for a living, and had no concept of what a P&L looks like, much less all those numbers on the page.  If he was caught off-guard in an unscripted moment, sans teleprompter, his cadence slowed and he inserted the word "uh" every three syllables or so, like an insecure person groping blindly for the correct or acceptable thought.

I don't sell Barack Obama short.  He was good at what he did.  Ultimately, he proved to be an exceptional defensive fighter.  He knew how to duck jabs and avoid the sneaky right hook.  He knew when to smile after getting hit, and how to grin at the crowd so as not to appear hurt.  Let's face it, the guy knew how to survive a fight without getting knocked out.  Only problem is, he had no offense.  He threw punches the same way he throws a baseball and rides a bike -- like a sissy.  It's a kinship issue he shares with most of his fawning media, all like-minded souls.  Not that I'm being snarky or whatnot.

Having said this, I'll also add that Obama apparently is a likable guy behind the scenes. Most people who know him enjoy his company, or so I have read, and also his insight and wit.  I can respect that.  He seems to be a smart guy, academically and politically. I have a few well-educated friends whose company I thoroughly enjoy.  They make me a smarter person just for being around them.  Obama strikes me as that kind of man. Only, such people should never try to lead a country.  They aren't fit for the job, same as me, unless there's an opening in North Korea. They lack the requisite skills to guide a nation.  They are not leaders by nature and have no instinct for battle or compromise.
They are, quite simply, friends who know a thing or two about certain topics of interest, same as Obama, only they're not as shrewd as him.

That being said, if Obama decides to stump for Democrats in 2018, he is well-advised to steer clear of Trump.  Otherwise, there will be more than one tweet about "losers" and "sissies" coming his way.  Trump is a natural-born leader.  And a fighter.  He knows his way inside the ring.  His punches rarely miss.  And he has little respect for pretenders. He reminds me of Roberto Duran back in the day.  Strictly business.

Speaking of the Obama administration, isn't it nice to know that Amateur Hour has finally come and gone?  The political slick-willies, tenderfoot PR personnel, academic ideologues, cynical intelligence officials, and their Chicago hacks are finally in the rear-view mirror.  Goodbye and good riddance.  America paid a lot of debts the last eight years. Most of them were questionable to begin with.  Anyway, the debts are paid.  La Raza, BLM and Antifa are now fading from the ledger sheet.  They are ending the way they began, bankrupt and worthless.

Tomorrow never felt better.

Proof That Donald Trump Must Go

Finally, there's proof that Donald Trump must be deposed and exiled.  I didn't believe it at first, but after seeing this, I no longer have doubts.

If you love people and care about the world, this is a MUST WATCH video from Scott Adams.  He understands the danger we all face:

https://www.pscp.tv/w/1ZkJzyXQXgoGv

If the link doesn't work, then cut and paste the url.  Your effort will save lives.

Our political leaders understand this problem all too well.  They, too, see the danger in Trump's tweets, and they understand the implications.  Let me explain:

This 'N That, Friday Edition

Some terms you might find useful:

Tuits:













I boxed up 293 tuits and mailed them to Washington yesterday, one for each Republican in Congress.  The box was labeled "Trump's Agenda."  The enclosed card read, "Hurry up and get a round tuit."  I'm still waiting.

*****

Fox Hat:

Back in 2016, when the NYTimes revealed that Hillary Clinton operated a private email server through Platte River Network in Denver, Colorado, many people responded with unsolicited advice about clothing accessories made from animal fur.  I found their response nonsensical.  Plus, the reference to animal fur was sure to offend PETA.

I got the same clothing advice upon mention of Obama's post-presidential retreat to an island once owned by Marlon Brando in the South Seas ... and again in reference to Bill Clinton's flights to a place called "Orgy Island" with Jeff Epstein.  Fox hat, my friends responded, or something to that effect.  It was a head-scratcher.  Why the reference to clothing?  It made no sense ...

... until now:

Meh, geography.

*****

Chicken Coup:

Definition:  an attempt by some members of Congress to drive Trump out of office without admitting their complicity in the effort, an act undertaken mostly by those Republicans whose only means of getting re-elected is the pay-for-play system of modern politics, which Trump opposes, all the while masquerading as his friends and allies.

Democrats, of course, are more obvious in their efforts.  So are their media acolytes.

Trump's response:  Tweets and results.

Prediction:  Trump, again and again.

*****

Esses and Aahs

When confronted by certain words that appear to be misspelled, brush up on proper pronunciation before sounding them out phonetically.  Nouns, particularly. Ignore, for instance, Obama's reference to the Marine Corps as the Marine Corpse, whether he meant it or not.  Pronounce corps as core and coup as coo.  Also, remember that Arkansas is pronounced Arkansah and Des Moines as Deh Moyne.  Weird, I know.  It's a French thing.

*****

Doppelganger:

I know what you're thinking but, no, that's not what it means.  You have a dirty mind.

Doppelganger is a German term that refers to a look-alike or otherwise ghostly visage of you.  An artificial twin, basically.

Walt Disney World is creating an animatronic replica of Trump for display in its Hall of Presidents. You know, one of those automated figures that looks and talks like the original.  The mechanical figure can be referred to as a doppelganger ... much as the word witch comes to mind when you think of Hillary on a broom.  As I mentioned last Friday, words such as doppelganger make the user sound smart, which is why I use it.

So anyway, back to my point.  When Disney creates Trump's doppelganger, what words should come out of his mouth?  I'm thinking ... Why not a recitation of his tweets? Such classics as:

• I have never seen a thin person drinking Diet Coke.
• @ariannahuff is unattractive both inside and out.  I fully understand why her former husband left her for a man - he made a good decision.
• Pervert alert. @RepWeiner is back on twitter. All girls under the age of 18, block him immediately.
• James Comey better hope there are no "tapes" of our conversations ...

Once you pass the Trump doppelganger, you will get to Obama's doppelganger, who on cue will lift his right arm and announce:

• You didn't build that.
• We need to redistribute your wealth.
• You can keep your health plan ... and your doctor.
• Your healthcare costs will go down by an average of $2,500.
• I've been to all 53 states.
• There's not a smidgen of evidence that the IRS did anything wrong.
• I've drawn a red line in Syria.
• Hillary didn't compromise our national security.
• I ... uh ... er ... uh ... I ... uh ... uh.  Can someone please re-start my teleprompter?

This 'N That, Friday Edition

This year's Nobel Prize in the category of political fiction goes to ... drum roll ... the Washington Post. Looks like the WaPo needs to find some different anonymous sources, or at least some evidence than can be verified.  The old sources and claims haven't worked out so well.  Jeff Bezos' penchant for entrepreneurial creativity has taken his staff's journalism to a new level.  You can read about it here.

*****

In regard to the war between the political aisles,  I notice that snarky and mean-spirited comments come from both sides of the aisle.  It's as true for Obama as is now is for Trump.  Many conservatives still despise "Obozo" and his frowning companion "Assquatch," while the progressive side accuses Trump of incest and his wife of turning tricks.  That's just how politics work on the sidelines. Only difference is, Trump folks have a much better sense of humor than their progressive counterparts. Take Ajit Pai for example.  He's the new head of the FCC.  Progressives don't like him, and they're not afraid to say so. Watch how he handles such criticism:

That's not to say all Trump supporters can laugh at their critics.  Some can't.  They take the criticism seriously, and it makes them feel guilty.  Like this steel-worker from Pennsylvania:

*****

In case you don't keep up with the news, there was an election this past Tuesday in Georgia's 6th Congressional district.  Here's how it worked out:

Pajamas and hot cocoa, anyone?

*****

Speaking of ominous and droopy-eyed signs, it looks like Gen Z is breaking for Trump:

A new national survey by My College Options and the Hispanic Heritage Foundation gathered info from a whopping 50,000 "Generation Z" high school students ages 14 to 18 to gauge their political attitudes on the 2016 election. In what will surely be a surprise to the older generations yelling at Gen Z to get off our lawns, the survey found that a majority identify as Republican.

While all these kids will be able to vote in the 2020 election, let's take first-time voters alone to start. The survey found that 46 percent of the 18-year-olds surveyed voted for Trump; just 31 percent went for Hillary Clinton. Sure, 6 percent said they "would choose not to vote in this election," but just 11 percent went third party.

The survey, which began in September 2016 and continued through the election, found that 73 percent of respondents are engaged or "somewhat engaged" in politics. And among the entire group of first-time voters, the economy was the top issue (44 percent), followed by education (39 percent), gun rights (28 percent) and health care (18 percent). Nearly half (47 percent) said they get their news from social media sites or online news sites.

Here's how Bill Mitchell explains it:


h/t: Last Refuge

Hump Day Haute

Georgia voters went to the ballot box on Tuesday.  The sixth congressional district in the Atlanta area was up for grabs. It was Dem v Rep -- Ossoff v Handel -- to replace congressman Tom Price.  It turned out to be the most expensive Democratic congressional race in history, something to the tune of $30 million pouring in from Democrat organizations nationwide. Jon Ossoff, aka Pajama Boy, was their candidate.  Democrats desperately needed a win.  A symbolic smackdown of Trump was the plan.  Money was not an object, even obscene amounts of campaign money. Democrats wanted to show that Americans disapprove of Trump and all he stands for.  To make their point, they invested an historic sum to convince you Georgians to vote for this mensch:

Yes, him.  Seriously.  Mr. Smirky Lips with the notched eyebrows and condescending gaze.

Then election day came and weather happened.  Heavy rains fell in the afternoon.  Some feared it would dampen voter turnout.  Democrat precincts got the worst of it.  Who says God lacks a sense of humor?

I'm still laughing my Ossoff at the results.  Handel won easily, 52% to 47%.  Hardest hit was CNN. No victory yet for Democrats in this years special elections.  Georgia was their last great hope.

Just for Kicks and Giggles

Okay, time for a show of hands.

Raise your hand if you believe that Donald Trump, Reince Priebus, Steve Bannon, Jeff Sessions, Rod Rosenstein, et al were blindsided by news that Bob Mueller had a prior and perhaps close personal affiliation with James Comey before Mueller was hired as special counsel?

Keep your hand up if you believe it never dawned on them that Mueller might give Comey the benefit of the doubt whenever possible.

Keep your hand up if you believe the Trump administration never talked with Mueller about a potential conflict-of-interest before selecting him as Special Counsel.

Keep your hand up if you think Mueller's selection -- made a day after Comey's acknowledged leak to the NY Times -- was a knee-jerk reaction by Rod Rosenstein and the Trump administration.

Keep your hand up if you think Mueller is corrupt and will do all he can to bring Trump down.

Keep your hand up if you think such a thing would never dawn on Trump before Mueller's appointment.

Keep your hand up if you think Rod Rosenstein, Never-Trumpers, and Obama/Clinton minions in the Deep State pulled the wool over the eyes of Trump, Bannon, Sessions and all of Trump's loyal inner circle in order to inject a prejudiced Mueller into the Get Trump Russia investigation.

Keep your hand up if you believe Trump's counselors vehemently opposed Mueller's selection but somehow have managed to keep quiet about it -- and not leak it to the press -- from then to now.

Keep your hand up if you believe Trump and his inner circle are stupid.

Keep your hand up if you believe you are not stupid.

Those of you who never raised your hand can leave the room.

For those with your hands still up, I have only one more question:  When you saw that goat caught head-first in the fence last night, did you or did you not ... ?   It's okay.  The goat forgives you.

*****

If you're Donald Trump, the conversation goes something like this:

We are investigating you for a possible violation of the IRS code.  

Is it serious?

We hope so.

What law do you think I have broken?

We don't know.

What evidence do you have?

None yet.  

None?

It's an open investigation.  We'll be looking at your tax returns for the next three years. We believe something may turn up.

May?

No, that was last month.

That's how much sense it makes.

This 'n That - Friday Edition

You meet certain people who make you feel like … well … like this:

It doesn’t matter how young or old one is.  Inspiration helps.  Think about being that peron.

*****

What to do if your team holds a losing hand but you don't want to fold?  Well, if you're a member of Congress, there's only one thing you can do.  You call for a Congressional hearing into the bad hand you've been dealt.  If that won't get you out of the hand, nothing will.  Plus, you get six months of face time on TV with zero consequences for anyone.  That's how Feinstein decided to handle the revelation that former AG Loretta Lynch directed James Comey to find Hillary Clinton innocent of federal crimes for her felonious use of a private email server while Secretary of State.  Here's the old pro doing her Washington two-step:

It would be funny if it weren't so sad.  Retire you much.

BTW, Mitch McConnell used a Senate maneuver that allows the proposed healthcare bill to be voted on without debate.  A simple up-down vote.  Clair McCaskill thinks this is horrible, given that the bill affects 1/6 of the American economy.  Question to McCaskill:   Why is there a health care law that impacts 1/6 of our economy? Might it have anything to do with your passage of Obamacare?  Or can you even think that far back?

h/t:  Palafox

*****

You knew it was coming.  It was a Gay Pride parade until the marchers walked into a Black Lives Matter protest, which was moving straight toward them.  Things went downhill from there.

Good luck to Democrats as they seek to solidify their base.  Victims arguing over whose victimhood is worse.  It's like herding cats.

h/t: Daily Wire

*****

An older couple, both widowed, date for six months and then contemplate marriage.  He invites her to dinner so they can discuss the details.  After the meal, he raises the topic of living arrangements ... estate planning ... banks accounts ... furniture ... and the future disposition of assets.  All issues are resolved to their mutual satisfaction.  Toward the end, he asks the most intimate question of all.

My dear, how often do you prefer sex?

Infrequently, she replies.

Lowering the glasses on his nose, he peers above them and asks:  Is that one word, or two?

*****

I hear Megyn Kelly is tanking over at NCB.  Not that anyone watches her anymore, which may have something to do with her ratings.  She started her NBC debut with a bombshell interview of Vladimir Putin, with bombed when he basically trolled her on air and laughed at her ignorance.  He had reason to mock her.  Her stupid questions were ... well ... stupid .. a case of the Peter Principle writ large. Now, two interviews later, she has dropped 42 points in the ratings.  Guess she should have stuck with FOX a while longer.  But egos are a hard thing to keep in check.  Oh, well, at one point she had pretty hair, a pleasant smile and was nice to look at. That's what happens when you take yourself too seriously and think you are better than you are.  She should never have tangled with Trump back in the primaries.

Oh, well.  Buh-bye Megyn

The Clinton Coup d'Etat is not Working as Planned

Are we in the midst of a coup d'etat to remove Donald Trump as President?  I don't mean a military coup, obviously, but something just as seditious.  It sure seems that way.

The groundwork for the coup looks to have been laid with the claim of Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election.  The claim has never been shown to have affected voters.  Or voting machines.  And no one has offered an explanation for how the Russians failed so miserably in areas that Hillary was expected to win handily, and did win as expected, along both the east and west coasts.  Are those folks too brain dead to be influenced by competing ideas?  I guess so.  Anyway, I'm still waiting for something definitive beyond Russian influence over RT and social media, coupled with manufactured digital signature versions of emails from "Guccifer 2."  Seriously? That's all our IT can come up with?  Social media programming and an imaginary person called "Guccifer 2?"  I would have expected more.

Anyway, the Russia meme proved successful not only with Hillary's base but also with the MSM, who found the accusation quite elastic, given the many ways it can be spun.  It appears the meme originated when internal polling suggested that Hillary might lose the election -- a shocking prospect -- or else was invented to explain the wikileaks of DNC emails, or both.  Curiously, the Obama administration hyped the Russia angle prior to the election but didn't find it troubling enough to do anything about it. Hillary knew otherwise.  If that f***ing bast**d wins, we'll all hang by nooses, she reportedly screamed within earshot of NBC crew members.  Who knew she was a prophet?  Then came November 8, the day all hell broke loose.  At this point, the Russia meme became a full-throated accusation, unleashed in force, announced as an incontrovertible fact, with the added twist that Trump or his campaign had been conspiring with the Russians all along to steal the election. You know the story.  It's been beaten into our heads for the past six months.  I won't belabor it further.

Then came Thursday, July 8, 2017.  The Russia diatribe had reached a fevered pitch.  Comey was to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee.  Over a six month period, the Russia meme had morphed from voting machine manipulation to social media propaganda to Trump campaign collusion to Trump's direct attempt to obstruct justice. A malleable concept indeed.

Trump is going down, his opponents gloated on Thursday morning.  Comey will tell it like it is.  And he did, sort of.  His supporters were caught off guard.  It seems he told too much, none of it good for him or them.  Of course, members of the Senate Intelligence Committee knew otherwise -- as probably did the media --  since they already knew Trump was not under investigation by the FBI. But they tried to look concerned anyway.

What ended up happening this past Thursday was the political equivalent of the Battle of Gettysburg, only the outcome was reversed.  In this new Civil War, the Union is none other than the vastly superior and deeply entrenched Army of the Potomac -- comprised of the military-industrial complex, energy and telecommunications conglomerates, Wall Street, wealthy aristocrats, Hollywood and the MSM -- all orchestrated by the Clinton Machine.  Most Republicans and almost all Democrats in Congress are allied with the Union.  After all, that's where the money comes from that keeps them in office. The modern Rebel adversary is Donald Trump, who leads his undermanned and outgunned troops in Pickett's charge.  As the smoke clears, we discover that Trump has won the day.  The consequences are momentous.  His victory marks a turning point in the war.

Let me leave the military metaphor and switch to one that has more the smell of truth.  With Comey out, the Clinton machine and the Deep State lose the sewer lid that once kept their stench beneath the street. A vile miasma now wafts up into public consciousness.  Trump is the one who removed the lid by removing Comey. He knew that Comey guarded secrets beneath the street. Trump had to work in that sewer for most of his professional career. He knew what games had to be played to buy properties, acquire zoning approvals, get permitting, cut through red tape and get special permissions, yadayada. You never get something for nothing in the political world he lived in.  Everyone has their hand out for one kind of kickback or another. Trump knew many of the sewer rats by name, and others by reputation.  He knew their appetites and their habitat. And they knew that he knew how things work in that dark and cavernous pit.  He also knew they would try to drag him into the cesspool and drown him if there was any way possible.  Why? Because Trump didn't need handouts from them.  He didn't need the stench or the filth.  He was neither a sycophant nor a beggar.  That made him dangerous.  Comey's job was to get him.  But get him by the book ... under cover of law.  It looks better that way.

To survive and win, Trump's first yuge step would require him to remove the sewer cover and let America get a whiff of what's down there.  Trump was raised on the streets of New York City.  He knows which alleys lead to trouble.  And he's a fighter.  He can punch and counter-punch. He seems to have adopted Teddy Roosevelt's advice to talk softly and carry a big stick. only Trump's not so good at talking softly.  Did I mention he's a New Yorker?  Fight though he will, he also understands the art of the deal. Big deals require patience and planning.  Knee-jerk reactions aren't helpful unless they are strategic and part of a larger strategy.  We just saw one play out this past Thursday.

Trump knew that with Comey in office, his best efforts to challenge corruption would be deflected, stalled, manipulated or ignored. Just think back over the past two years.  Comey made sure the Clinton Foundation investigation didn't go anywhere.  He made sure whistleblower Dennis Montgomery did not get a hearing at the FBI.  He made sure the Clinton email scandal, the Huma Abedin laptop revelation, the CrowdStrike server fiasco, and other sewer leaks were capped and sealed. And, of course, Loretta Lynch did her part at the DOJ, entrusting prosecutorial powers to James Comey while ensuring that aiders and abettors were immunized in advance of Congressional investigation.  But Comey proved too clever by half.  He walked out of the Congressional hearing with his reputation in tatters.  Trump now leaves Gettysburg and marches on Washington.  It may take a while, but I believe he will get there.  As he said on the campaign trail in 2016 to a crowd of eager supporters, Sorry to keep you waiting, folks.  It's complicated business.

Interestingly, it appears that even the Obama people are turning on the Clinton machine in public Here's Van Jones.  Curiously missing from his diatribe against the DNC and the Clinton Presidential campaign is any reference to Russia:

In the main, Democrats are lurching farther and farther left.  How else to hold onto their coalition of aggrieved victims, misfits, underachievers and malcontents?  The lurch left includes a taxonomy of words and gestures that reveal the deeper workings of their heart.  It's not good when your Democrat senator from NY drops f-bombs in public, the head of your party's national committee claims that Republicans don't give a s**t about people  and California's state Democratic Chairman leads attendees in a chant of F*** Donald Trump as others join the mantra and raise a middle finger. Profanity-laced tirades are the last refuge of losers.  Classy?  No.  Adult?  Hardly.  Desperate?  Yes.

The war is not over.  But a major victory has been won -- a victory that may prove decisive in the end.  Until then, expect the wounded to fight more tenaciously than ever, if only out of despair.  This war isn't just about political careers and reputations.  Those folks are but pawns on the Washington chess board.  More importantly, it is about trillions of dollars at stake by those vested in the Deep State machine.  They want Trump gone by any acceptable means.  And they are determined to get it done.  Comey was the way to get it done, they believed.  Keep the drip, drip, drip of Russia, collusion, and obstruction going forward -- and have the media feed that beast 24/7 -- until finally Trump trips himself and falls into the cesspool.  That was the plan.  It failed.

Citizens must remain vigilant.  And stay involved.  Still, today is Sunday, a day of rest.  The Lion in the White House -- the one with the golden mane -- has eaten well this past week and now is licking his paws.  He will rest this evening.  Then he will rise tomorrow and hunt again.  Trust me, it's his nature.  It's all about winning for America.

Random Thoughts

Is it just me, or do you hate YouTube videos narrated by synthetic voices as much as I do?  They seem to have been programmed by someone trying to imitate the Japanese-Norwegian dialect of an ESL graduate, replete with annoying pauses after every three syllables. You know the one's I'm talking about. They sound like this:  Today it ... was revealed ... that Pre-si-dent Don ... ald Trump ... tweet-ed about ... Sen-a-tor Chuck ... Schumer ....  The phrase "Breaking News" or "Bombshell" is often in the title.  But the only thing breaking is the flow of the voice-over.  Plus, I dislike writers who insert fancy foreign phrases in place of simple English.  They think it makes them sound sophisticated, but it doesn't.  Those are just two of my bete noires.

*****

I enjoy Scott Adams' blog.  He created the Dilbert cartoon you've seen for years in the comic section of your newspaper.  He hypes himself as an expert in persuasion.  Based on his entries, I believe he has reason to brag.  He's insightful.  The only gripe I have is that his entries tend to get repetitive after a while.  Still, he's good at hitting the target.

*****

Did James Comey strike a plea deal with Mueller prior to his testimony on Thursday?  It's an interesting question.  Some of the questions Comey was asked at the hearing seemed orchestrated, such as whether he might have leaked info to the press, to which he stunningly admitted he had done, on purpose at that, and with the intent of getting a special prosecutor appointed who would investigate an issue that Comey himself admitted was not an issue -- namely, that Trump colluded with Russia and then obstructed a criminal investigation into a crime that hasn't yet been committed! Comey also outed Loretta Lynch on the Hillary email investigation, which, curiously enough, draws Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama into the crosshairs.  Payback is hell, isn't it?

Just how much does Donald Trump know? He seems to be playing three-dimensional chess with people who only know Chinese checkers.  Did Trump discover that the Green Room in the White House had been bugged?  Consider this quote from Time magazine in February of this year, in regard to Trump's renovations in the White House:

But few rooms have changed so much so fast as his dining room, where he often eats his lunch amid stacks of newspapers and briefing sheets. A few weeks back, the President ordered a gutting of the room. “We found gold behind the walls, which I always knew. Renovations are grand,” he says.... 

Hmm.  Gold behind the walls?  And then came this tweet from President Trump back in May, after he fired Comey:



What gold did Trump discover?  Did he find something hidden in those walls that Comey knew about but didn't tell?  Something that required a FISA court order based on a false dossier?  Was intelligence being gathered on behalf of Obama and Hillary, or on behalf of an FBI director who understood how the game is played?  I don't know.  Trump seems to know things we don't know. And he seems to be putting people on notice that the ruse is over.  Listen:

Folks, this is high drama.  Comey painted himself into a corner with his testimony on Thursday. There may be no escape for him, short of a pardon, though that pardon may not extend to his lawyer "friend" at Columbia Law School, who now has gone missing.  If such is the case, the Clinton network will begin to unravel before our eyes, and sooner than anyone expected.

Did I mention that Trump and Bannon are both admirers of Sun-tzu's Art of War?  If the Clinton/Obama cabal cannot bring him down, Trump will bring them down.  And he will do it before they even know what hit them.  That's the Sun-tzu version.  The battle between Trump and his adversaries is a fight to the finish.  Only one person will be left standing.  My money is on Trump. Trump understands Sun-tzu cover to cover.  So does Bannon. People wonder why Trump likes Bannon so much.  It's all about the art of war.  Alinsky should have read it.  As an aside, just because you don't hear much about Jeff Sessions these days doesn't mean he is idling away his time at the DOJ.  He's been busy.  And Washington's power players are sweating bullets.  Many are cutting their losses, Republicans as well as Democrats, looking to cover their backsides as the Trump train picks up speed.  This could get ugly.

Not that the media wants you to connect these dots.  Their version reads "President Trump went out and hit some balls today."  What they will not tell you is that he wasn't golfing.

h/t:  Sundance

The Swagger is Back

Move over, pilgrim.

This is how John Wayne did it:

This is how Trump does it:

Guess which one chose the Prez:


h/t:  Last Refuge

Hint:  It's not the one who reminds you of Hillary without feet.

Those Whom the Gods Will Destroy, They First Make Mad -- Part 2

Why has Syria become the touchstone for so much humanitarian outrage and political posturing over the past six years?  And why so much attention from corporate media?

Six years ago, few people could spell Aleppo, much less find it on a map, and many still think Ghouta is a kind of cheese.  Just ask Gary Johnson, shortly after he quit weed to run for President. For the last three years, Syria has become the only global disaster worse than climate change and Putin's Jedi mind control over American voters. Indeed, Syria is a tragedy of almost unspeakable dimensions, a war that, according to the WaPo,

has killed almost half a million people, spurred the largest refugee crisis since World War II and given safe haven to a global terrorist threat in the form of the Islamic State.

How could that happen?  What could a little country such as Syria do that would generate so much angst in Europe and the Middle East?

Well, let me fast forward past all the shibboleths we hear from TV pundits to tell the story they won't tell.  The short and cynical version is,  It's the oil, stupid!  More specifically, it's the profits of moneyed globalists and their political puppets.  The large-scale swath of death and destruction in Syria is essentially kabuki theater for oil rights.

First, some background.  Syria's internal problems reached a crisis point in 2011. A fifty percent drop in domestic oil production, a commensurate drop in wheat production, increasing dependency on food imports, a rise in food costs and fuel costs, and a growing national debt all happened to dovetail with another and more regional phenomenon, namely, the Arab Spring.  People began to protest.  The Arab Spring spread across much of the Middle East, from Tunisia on one end to Saudi Arabia and Iran on the other.  Seeing this, Syrian protesters became more emboldened, some calling for regime change.  Assad reacted strongly to tamp down the protests in his own country. He understood the potential threat from outside agitators and terrorists, so he used a heavy hand.  The protesters also got violent.  Things went downhill from there.

Normally, you would think that, okay, times are tough and Syria will need to solve its internal problems and dig itself out, just like other countries do when hard times lead to civil unrest.  We all face exigencies that confront us with tough choices.  That's as true in the world of nations as it is in the world of our private lives.

So why did the West's humanitarian spotlight get focused almost exclusively on Syria these past few years?  Was there nowhere else for the media to turn their cameras?  Is Haiti all better now?  And Afghanistan?  And Libya?  And Chicago, for that matter, where I hear the annual murder rate has set new records?  Of all places, why would nations choose sides and fight a proxy war in Syria, slaughtering so many innocents in a gambit that could have been avoided but wasn't? And why so much interest from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran, France, Britain, the U.S. and Russia?

Hmm.  Let me ponder those entanglements for a moment.  Okay, I'm done.

The answer is quite simple.  There's a major oil play to be made in Syria.  Trillions upon trillions of petrodollars are on the line.  Follow the money to see who profits from Assad's fate.  If you want to get down in the weeds on this one, start here and here.  If you don't, then just keep reading.  As for the murder rate in Chicago or riots in Venezuela or starvation in Yemen, well, eh, who really cares, right? Syria is where the action is.  But if you're looking for a higher cause to explain all the carnage in Syria, such as God or the value of human life, you'll be disappointed.

Here's the money angle in three easy-to-remember parts:  Petrodollars pull the cart .... politicians hold the reins ... investors tell the drivers where to go ,,. and the road leads through Syria.  It's really that simple.

With this game plan in hand, listen to Wesley Clark describe the money at play:



And here's the oil angle.  It's a competition between two groups:


h/t:  mintpressnews

You will notice that one oil pipeline starts in Iran and flows through Iraq, Syria and Lebanon on its way to European markets.  Russia is allied with Iran and Sryia.

The other oil pipeline starts in Qatar and flows through Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and Turkey on its way to European markets.  The U.S. is allied with Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Syria hangs in the balance, since both proposed pipelines must go through Assad's country.  That helps you understand who is in favor of Assad versus who wants Assad deposed.  To replace Assad with a more amenable ruler, one first must fan the flames of rebellion.  Money is needed.  And rebels. Rebels need weapons.  Lots of them.  Enter Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the U.S., France and Britain.

The strife in Syria is not due to an internal conflict between Sunnis and Shiites.  Or between Syrian nationals and rebels.  Or secularists versus fundamentalists.  It's about  oil and gas and the money at stake for years to come.  Follow the money to see who benefits.  Tragically, it's almost always about the money.  The Syrian conflict is a case in point.  ISIS has been a major player. A cruel and brutal player.  But many of the mercenaries in Syria are fighting for whoever pays them more. They are killing for pay in a violent game of hide-and-seek.

Obama was correct when he called ISIS a JV team.  The fact is, ISIS can be reduced to nuisance status merely by taking away their access to oil, money and weapons.  It may sound difficult, but it isn't.  Up until the buttinsky Russians got involved, ISIS and al-Nusra mercenaries were useful tools against Assad.  And some of them were admired by the mainstream media, provided we called them white helmets rather than terrorists,

Did I mention that our current allies, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, provide financial and military support to ISIS and were recipients of our export of arms from Libya to Syrian rebels?  And that Iran is an ally of Russia and Syria and does much the same for Assad? But, then, you already knew that.  What you may not know is that the Obama regime got those arms into terrorists' hands by way of Qatar, Libya and Turkey through a secretive back-door scheme known as Operation Zero Footprint. Catchy name, eh?  Mix deceit with a little treachery and that's the kind of code name you get.  The name comes in handy when you need to blame the debacle in Benghazi on an anti-Muslim film.  Or when the militants you are supporting in Syria morph into the enemy (ISIS) that you oppose in Iraq. Talk about insanity. That's like subsidizing the tobacco industry while suing them for causing cancer. Huh, wait! What?  That happened, too? Why, that's insane.  It's utter madness.

Anyway, we were talking about Syria going up in smoke.  So let me give it to you in a nutshell.  The horrors in Syria come down to one question:  Who will be the major oil and gas supplier to western Europe in the coming years?  Europe has become increasingly dependent on Russia for oil and gas, an arrangement that benefits Russia financially and politically.

So keep your eyes on the money players.  Forget the humanitarian rhetoric.  That's for the nightly news.  The coin of the realm has only two sides -- Iran and Qatar -- either of which holds value for a lot of global companies.  No matter that a few hundred thousand eggs get cracked to make the deal work.  That's merely the political version of Let's Make a Deal.  As for politicos, many will posture for the high moral ground in Syria, but they really don't give a damn about the lives of ordinary people, Syrian or otherwise, unless it leads to re-election, empowerment, or an improvement in some of the private investments they make.

Yes, I'm being harsh.  And cynical.  But how else to deal with such madness?  The same folks who condemned George W. Bush for regime change in Iraq have been promoting regime change ever since, first in Libya and now in Syria, only these days it's called "Responsibility to Protect" or R2P, either of which is code for a coup.  At least, that's how John Kerry described it in regard to Syria. Cute acronym, isn't it?  R2P"  And dripping with righteousness.  Hubris is a god of a thousand faces, even moral ones, evil though they be.  Over 400,000 dead Syrians bear witness, plus another 4,000,000 refugees.

Millennia ago, Socrates referred to hubris as extreme pride or arrogance.  It takes many forms.  Envy is one.  Greed is another.  Lust for power is a third.  And madness a fourth.  Wanting to be like God, one presumes to act like a god and take what one wants.  The inevitable result is tragedy.

The horrors in Syria are nothing if not mad.

R. Stephen Bowden blogs at the Steve Bowden Journal at bowdenbeat.blogspot.com