Sam Stein and Will Sommer talk about Trump's appearance on Newsmax. Trump floats compensation for January 6 rioters, plus new fallout from the leaked Signal group chat with national security officials—and how Jeffrey Goldberg ended up in it.
A variation on the title of this post was coined by strategist James Carville as a missive to campaign workers leading up to Bill Clinton's successful 1992 presidential campaign against incumbent George H. W. Bush. I've written about the subject many times over the years. Is it only about the economy? Or is there more? I would postulate that it is the economy and much more.
Tomorrow Donald J. Trump will be sworn-in as America's 47th President. Who, in the lead-up to the festivities, would tell you that he alone can fix our country's hellscape of lawlessness, disorder, economic collapse, inflation, energy dependence, mobocracy, crisis and chaos.
Perhaps you share that view. Not me; I would submit that by any rational measure of the condition of the United State of America the president-elect will be taking over a country in rather decent condition. Let's take a walk thru the relevant numbers.
Contrary to what the president-elect will tell you drug overdose deaths are down and the manufacturing sector has created more jobs than at any time in the last decade and a half. Although some prices remain stubbornly high; inflation is down significantly. Inasmuch as federal largess under both Trump and Biden contributed to the expansion of the money supply Trump now shoulders the burden to reduce the cost of my groceries. Fair is fair.
December delivered an overall blowout jobs report and wages are up and continuing to rise, all the while unemployment is at levels before the COVID shitshow hit the fan. Domestic energy production of crude oil and natural gas are at record levels and we are now the global leader in production and export of crude oil. Meanwhile, a gallon of regular unleaded, around here anyway, will set you back less than $2.50. We are awash in an embarrassment of energy and production.
Nevertheless, it goes beyond the economy. Illegal immigration is belatedly, but at long last down and we've found ourselves with the lowest violent crime rates in fifty years. No American military forces are in a hot war elsewhere in the world and Trump's go-to Gold Standard for how he's doing - the stock market has set a new record for the past two years. Finally, Americans have shown signs of coming around to actually recognizing and accepting the reality that conditions on the ground are pretty darn good.
I'll bet you a steak dinner that in reasonably short order President Trump will take credit for the strong economy he is about to inherit. That's because as I gaze across my landscape I don't see a hellscape; I see prosperity and the best economy on the planet. If you think I'm making this up out of thin air; fight me.
Do not get the impression I am diminishing the reality that not each and every single last American, shares the same upwardly economic prosperity and living conditions. Poor people and economically disadvantaged families are real. Nor am I blind to politics. It is certainly in Trump's self-interests to paint as bleak a landscape a possible for his base. Nothing new under the sun there.
As Trump assumes office there are no shortage of challenges ahead. Russia, China and Iran are failing states. Russian and North Korean military personnel allegedly execute Korean wounded to erase evidence of North Korean involvement in the war against Ukraine. Ugh.
Here at home, domestic terrorism has, again, reared its head. There is funding the budget and passage of a reconciliation bill, the DOGE, the debt ceiling, tax policy, Social Security and Medicare. Will there be a comprehensive immigration policy? 99 cent a dozen eggs?
Placing a higher value on action I try to tune-out the talk. Consequently, I'm looking forward to detailed policy to materialize. You know, policies which will improve your and my prosperity and general lot in life. And maybe make the world a safer place.
Donald Trump has been dealt a solidly good hand and I'm looking forward to being witness to how he plays it.
Bring it on.....
On December 4, Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was shot and killed outside the entrance to the New York Hilton Midtown in Manhattan, NYC. He was in town to attend an annual investors meeting for UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of UnitedHealthcare.
Authorities believe the attack was not a random act and are investigating it as an assassination. The shooting occurred early in the morning and the suspect, described as a white man, fled the scene. As of the publication of this post the perp has not been apprehended.
No arrest.
No interrogation.
No motive.
Plenty of speculation to go around.
It is unclear what motivated the incident or whether it was tied to Mr. Thompson's work in the insurance industry. The police have yet to identify the shooter who is still on the loose.
Nevertheless, social media has exploded with an avalanche of vitriol, and glee over the murder of the insurance executive. Sure, I get it. People have had negative experiences with health insurance companies at some of the most difficult times of their lives. But in the absence of the facts and circumstances of this killing has anyone considered taking a moment to take a breath and not get over their skis?
I tried on a Face Book group to counsel restraint and got hammered. I was slammed for not embracing the notion that a man responsible for millions of deaths of people for money got his comeuppance.
UnitedHealthcare denied 32% more claims last year than any other insurer, it's not hard to figure out.
Posting a photo of Albert Bouria, CEO of Pfizer, from Prophetic Memetics someone else suggested that he just thought someone else might might be curious.
Anybody else, beside me, consider that a passive aggressive threat instead of your garden variety internet troll?
It is interesting to me the instances of individuals who have flippantly shared that their grievances (large or small, real or perceived) are justifiably resolved at the point of a gun.
It is a chilling observation to note that killing someone for a slight, a political difference or an insurance dispute is justified.
Regrettably, this is what can happen when there are no appropriate channels for people to make meaningful change to a malign system. The Supreme Court has allowed unlimited money in our politics and politicians are voting with their corporate overlords, including health insurance companies.
My sense is that government is broken and simply does not work very well for the average American. As a consequence they despair.
If this shooter becomes a folk hero it will be appalling; but not surprising. I have shared many times that capitalism is messy business. Perhaps we've arrived at a Storm the Bastille moment where the murder of both oligarchs or a neighbor with an offending bumper sticker becomes normalized.
I sure hope not....
Jon Stewart digs into the trial of comically corrupt Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, and in a new segment called "How Dumb Is You?" asks the senator how he got caught engaging in such obvious illegal corruption, while government officials like Nancy Pelosi, Richard Burr, and Roy Blunt have been getting away with legal corruption for years.
Are you better off today than you were four years ago?
Good question. I suppose from a crime perspective I am.
To be fair, I live in rural America, where there is some crime but not enough to stop me and my neighbors from leaving our keys in our cars. Having said that, national figures concerning crime are universally available and quite measurable.
Four years ago in 2020 we were witness to the largest increase in the murder rate in the history of this country. Things were not going well. America was not great again. Since then the murder rate has fallen each and every year. The decline from 2022 to 2023 represents one of the largest declines in the murder rate in the history of our country.
With the exception of motor vehicle theft and shoplifting (which remain shockingly high) most of the remaining crimes covered in this analysis are either below or have returned to approximately 2019 levels. Most notable are declines in drug offenses and residential burglary.
So, yeah. As a nation we're safer and better off than we were four years ago.
It is not a crime to pay hush money.
It is a crime to cook the company books to hide it.
It is the cover-up that gets you in trouble.
My first thought was a false flag operation with Putin's fingerprints on it to pin the blame on Ukraine. That may still be the case.
Or not.
Stay-tuned for developments.....
In Medieval times it was said that if you were in someone else's castle beware what you speak. The walls have ears. Nowadays, we don't have castles where bad people can eavesdrop on your conversations. We have devices that can do that and much, much more. Technology is ubiquitous and data can be swept-up and used for all sorts of noble or nefarious purposes.
If you’ve been following the drama in Washington DC lately this may be of interest.
At risk of appearing to be piling-on it would seem you cannot get enough of the ethical lapses from those Moms For Liberty mommas.
Keri Blair, former Tennessee school board member, and member of the book banning, Critical Race Theory conspiracy-mongering, COVID-denying and LGBTQ-hater organization - Moms For Liberty - was arrested on January 5th after allegedly shoplifting from Target on seven different occasions. According to the Collierville Police Department Blair purportedly engaged in skip-scanning items at Target self-checkout stations seven different times between November 25 and December 20.
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| Collierville Police Department |
Blair's departure follows Moms For Liberty-backed candidates being swept out of office late last year in Philadelphia's suburban Central Bucks and Pennridge school districts despite the group holding their annual conference in the Pennsylvania city.
Listen-up moms, if you live in a glass house; don't throw stones. And for the love of God and all that is holy, don't engage in retail theft. Closed circuit security footage is admissible in court.
Sheesh...
In case you missed this ongoing skirmish in the larger culture war there's plenty of folks working overtime to make sure they control what you and your children or grandchildren read.
Beginning in July of 2021 PEN America began tracking public school book bans and has documented nearly 6,000 instances of banned books including 3,362 bans affecting 1,557 unique titles covering the 2022-23 school year. This included 1,480 authors, illustrators and translators.
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| New Christmas Ornament for 2023 |
Drivers of these trends include vaguely-worded legislation, national advocacy groups pressuring local school boards with the threat of penalties, lawsuits and criminal prosecution escalating the book bans to record levels.
In the first nine months of 2023 the American Library Association reported more than 1,900 titles challenged, a 20% increase over the same period in 2022.
Singled-out for particular attention are people of color or anything associated with the LGBTQ community. When the final three months of 2023 are included the total will certainly rise.
Major findings:
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In the face of this there is a small measure of poetic justice to be found between the pages of banned books. Bridget Ziegler, book ban queen and Moms for Liberty member from Florida, and her husband Christian Ziegler, now former Florida Republican Party Chairman, have found themselves embroiled in the fallout from a police report of a consensual sexual threesome including sexual battery allegations against the deposed GOP chairman.
Sniff Sniff. Do you smell what I smell? I suspect it's a whiff of schadenfreude in the Florida air.
A free people do not censor speech or ban books.
I've posted on this subject as recently as last month.
A fourth retiree from The Villages has been arrested as part of an
ongoing investigation into voter fraud at the well-known central Florida
retirement community. Charles Franklin Barnes, 64, was taken to Sumter
County Jail on Tuesday night, and faces a charge of fraud, according to a
spokesperson for the county sheriff’s office. photo - Sumter
County Jail
Three other residents of The Villages, all reportedly registered as Republicans, were arrested last year for allegedly casting ballots in both Florida and their home states. Soon after, Lake County officials said they'd handed another six potential cases of double voting over to prosecutors. As a consequence, additional arrests are likely to be made.
Though records show Barnes is not registered with a political party in Florida, he allegedly voted there in the 2020 presidential election, as well as in Connecticut, where he is registered to vote.
Mind you, this is not evidence of a vast conspiracy. It is an example of the garden-variety fraud that goes on with every election.
And none of it is of the scale that would likely impact the outcome of a national election. Yet it does happen and it is committed by bad actors regardless of political party.
Personally-speaking I'd like to see more of these morons caught, punished with fines, jail time and revocation of their voting privileges if convicted of a felony.
Make and example of these fools.
What's not to like about closing-out the year with further evidence of voter fraud.
There is a retirement community in Florida called The Villages. It is populated with individuals my age (or thereabouts) with a sizeable number of them not at all happy with the outcome of the 2020 presidential election
Their guy (the Former Guy) lost.
In any event I'm gonna share that there seems to be no shortage of election fraud occurring amongst my Baby Boomer Brethren. Except it is on behalf of the Former Guy. You know, the guy who lost the election. The guy who also lost the Senate along with the White House. But let's not pile-on.
Court records reveal that so far three residents of the community have been arrested for felony voter fraud in an ongoing investigation. Jay Ketcik, Joan Halstead and John Rider are each charged with casting more than one ballot in an election, a third-degree felony. Which happens to be punishable by up to five years in prison.
Ketcik, 63, is accused of voting by mail in Florida in October 2020 while also casting an absentee ballot in his original home state of Michigan, court records show.
Halstead, 71, voted in-person in Florida but also cast an absentee ballot in New York, prosecutors allege.
Rider, 61, was arrested by Brevard County deputies at the Royal Caribbean cruise ship terminal at Port Canaveral on December 3rd. Prosecutors have indicated he cast ballots both out-of-state and in Florida.
Voter registration records reveal that all three of these felonious personalities are registered as Republicans in Florida.
Mind you, this is an example of the garden-variety fraud that goes on with every election. And none of it is of the scale that would likely impact the outcome of a national election.
Yet it happens.
On both sides.
And in my view if it is proven in a court (our judicial system DOES work) maybe some people should pay ginormous fines, lose their voting privileges (if convicted of a felony) or maybe even do some time in prison. Make an example of stooges and cheaters.
In closing, how many of you readers remember Rosemarie Hartle? The Former Guy couldn't keep his trap shut over how she voted in Nevada three years following her death. Hartle was married to Las Vegas businessman Donald Hartle – also a registered Republican. Last year Hartle expressed disbelief when it was learned that a mail-in ballot had been cast in his late wife’s name. He was aghast and stated he was sickened by this and that he couldn’t possibly know how it came to happen. The case has been solved. Hartle cast the ballot himself. And earlier this month he plead guilty to the crime of voting more than once in the same election.
You're welcome.
So do like me - a guy who almost always supports intelligent and honest GOP candidates in an election. Dishonest or crappy GOP candidate? Don't vote for them. Do not compromise your scruples. And for the love of God and all that is holy - don't cheat. Cheaters are gonna get caught.......
I continue to be unsettled.
No.
I am angry.
I listened to the first hearing of the special House committee investigating the attack on the Capitol by a mob of rioting Trump supporters on January 6.
The testimony of the law enforcement officers was chilling.
It shook me to my core.
Sure, I know that my Trump-supporting friends will remind me that Nancy Pelosi was responsible for the mob. That it was black lives matter protesters. It was antifa. The FBI was behind it. Or that the officers that testified yesterday were collectively lying. Or that it didn't really happen at all - the protestors behaved like tourists and greeted the officers with hugs and kisses. I know that I cannot change their hearts or minds and as a consequence if they want to believe the events of January 6 were something other than what I have observed with my own two eyes that is their own business. This is not the purpose of the post.
I have no problem with anyone of any stripe who wishes to exercise their first amendment rights by means of marching, flag-waving, singing, shouting, carrying signs or blowing whistles or horns. Peaceful protest is guaranteed under our constitution.
However the moment you break into a building, burn a business or touch someone else you cross the line and become a rioter. That is criminal.
All I will say is that a savage breach of the capitol accompanied by violent assault is illegitimate because a legitimate election didn't go a certain way.
It is wrong.
Rational Republicans are insulted and embarrassed about what happened. And we seek truth and accountability.
If you are up for it watch the opening remarks by U.S. Capitol police officer Harry Dunn.
WARNING - not safe for work or children.....
Yup, a felony conviction is going to mess-up your life. What did these people think would happen? A presidential pardon?
The mob killed a Capitol law enforcement officer and injured 127 others - spare me the Blue Lives Matter hypocrisy.
This thug is getting squeezed like a mop as he's turning state's evidence on his insurrectionist accomplices.
Gonna be interesting to watch these seditious half-wits eat their own.
Pass the microwave popcorn....
April 19, 2021 - 6 PM - Edit to add:
Washington, D.C., medical examiner Dr. Francisco J. Diaz ruled today that Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick died of natural causes. The 42-year-old officer died after suffering a pair of strokes following an attack by rioters at the Capitol and being assaulted with bear spray on January 6.
While this complicates law enforcement’s efforts to prosecute anyone in his death, Dr. Diaz added of the assault – All that transpired played a role in his condition.
A total of five people were left dead after the attack. One rioter - Ashli Babbitt - was shot to death by another Capitol Police officer. Two others died of complications from heart disease and one death was accidental, Dr. Diaz ruled.
Capitol Police Officer, Brian D. Sicknick, died Thursday night from injuries after Trump supporters beat him with a fire extinguisher. He was the fourth member of the force to be killed in the line of duty since its founding two centuries ago.
Donald Trump has more blood on his hands.
I'll not hold my breath waiting for the apology.....
Those who know me would tell you that it is not at all unusual for me to have a pistol on my hip while walking or working in the woods or just generally out-doors.
And no I am not some sort of deranged wacko gun nut, someone making a political statement or attempting to intimidate a visitor. I am simply living the Boy Scout Motto - Be Prepared. This habit started about a dozen years ago when around Christmastime I received an email from a friend that included a trail camera photo of a gray wolf taken a couple of miles north of here. Hunting dogs and wolves are not on generally good speaking terms.
Over the years I've spared my dogs a couple of bad encounters with skunks, killed a few raccoons stumbling-around during daylight hours and behaving rabid and dealt a measure of justice for the depredation of nesting songbirds by ditch tigers. There is also the risk of dogs running at large and locking horns with my dog. I've never had an encounter with other dogs that has risen to the level of deadly force - but I had a close call a year ago. Being prepared is a good best practice in rural America.
In September of 2016 I was issued a Wisconsin permit to carry a concealed weapon - a CCW License.
I should hope that I would never have to use a firearm for any purpose other than hunting or target shooting - nevertheless it is an additional level of preparedness.
It also affords me the luxury of carrying a loaded handgun secreted in a vehicle, the glove box of a UTV, a backpack, briefcase or concealed beneath an article of clothing.
Anyway, the Missus and I have been engaged in various adult education endeavors in our retirement including taking classes in person and online. For instance I recently completed a course on Native Americans of Door and Kewaunee County and Beyond. Also the very timely: Electoral College Past and Present. On tap are additional subjects including: The History of Diesel Locomotives, Medicinal Herbs and much more. Exercising your brain cells is a good best practice.
Last weekend I spent a Saturday completing a firearms safety course. A prerequisite to obtaining a CCW License. Even though I already am a legal license holder I figured it would be a good refresher. And it was.
Facilitated by a USCCA and NRA Certified instructor it was a review of basic firearm safety, handling and storage. Basic stuff. Included was legally permissible possession, transportation and use of firearms. Most important was a review of the use of deadly force and techniques for avoiding and controlling violent confrontations.
Some takeaways for those of you who are not licensed but might be interested in what responsible firearm use is all about include the following:
It is legal to 'open carry' a weapon in public. Nevertheless, is is not recommended. It can draw unwanted attention and appear provocative to the general public. A best practice is to carry concealed.
In Wisconsin brandishing a weapon is against the law.
You can carry a concealed weapon into a tavern as long as you are not consuming alcohol on the premises. Furthermore, you cannot carry with detectable alcohol in your system.
Wisconsin is not a 'Stand Your Ground' state. Wisconsin follows the 'Castle Doctrine'. Deadly force is permissible only to defend life in your own home (automobile or business) if the aggressor is over the threshold.
Corollary: The best weapon for home
defense is not an AR-15 or a handgun - but rather a pump-operated
shotgun. If you are defending your castle it is a best practice to not
go looking for an intruder but to retreat with your loved ones to a
'safe room' with your shotgun and call 911.
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| Dane County Sheriff's Office |
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