Donald Trump and the Military-Industrial Complex by Jim Harrold It has been a busy week for Donald Trump. Remarks attributed to him, in which he calls U.S. military members "suckers" and "losers," dominated the news. There have been denials and affirmations that he did, indeed, say those things. There is a public record of many of the things that Donald Trump has said about people like Senator John McCain. He has a history of making crass and inappropriate comments about others. It is not difficult to believe that he would make such comments about veterans of several wars. However, on Labor Day, Trump tried to explain himself. Once again, a Trump explanation always gives us insight into what he is really thinking, and perhaps provides more insight than he intends. When Trump says something, we should look at what he said, what he did not say, an...
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What to Expect in Trump's Second Term I mention "Trump's Second Term" here because I believe Donald Trump will do everything he can to continue in office. If the election is close at all, his team will engage in lawsuits in several states to prevent states from declaring a winner. I do not know if he will attempt to delay the official counting of electoral votes, though that would not surprise me at all. However, it is also very possible that Trump will win outright. After all, that is why we hold elections. Donald Trump is not without popularity. Authoritarians throughout history rarely just take over without the support of significant segments of the populace. Given that Donald Trump seems particularly unimpressed by the Constitutional doctrine of separation of powers (remember, he already said that he somehow has the power to adjourn Congress to avoid advice and consent on selection of officials; he has already publicly questioned why we need judges), he wil...
We Should Have Seen this Coming (Unformed Thoughts)
As I write this, I glanced at the Johns-Hopkins University "COVID-19 Global Cases" interactive map. As of right now (26 March, at 9:30 AM EDT, there are 487,648 confirmed cases worldwide, with 22,030 deaths. That is a death rate of about 4.5 percent. The U.S has 69,197 cases, with 938 deaths, a death rate of 1.4 percent. However, it seems clear from tracking the interactive map, the U.S. will overtake first Italy, and then China, in number of cases, in the next week or so. It is significant because China has a population four times larger than that of the U.S. Here is the thing--we should have seen this coming. One of the benefits of American federalism is that state governors actually have power. South Korea has a much more top-down form of federalism. Thus, South Korea's government proved quite effective in testing its population for this virus. In the U.S., our brand of federalism is a lot more messy. Gover...
Short Shelf-Life for Senator Ben Sasse's "Open Letter" to Nebraskans on February 4th
Time moves fast in our modern news cycle. It moves even faster in Trump Time, as we lurch from Tweet to Tweet. President Trump is not intelligent: he knows next-to-nothing about American history, he regularly makes a cartoonish mess of scientific fact, but he is clever. He is clever in the way someone trying to sell you junk products is clever, or clever in the way an old-time carnival barker is clever. He is constantly diverting attention, constantly changing the subject, constantly forcing the on-lookers to consider a new claim. This constant barrage of new wild claims leaves the aghast subject of the spectacle little quality time to contemplate what is actually going on. Sometimes, even intelligent people get caught up in the circus. If we are charitable to Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse, let's say that is what happened. The otherwise highly intelligent Senator got caught up in the...
Responding to Trump’s Economic Assertions in Graphs A constant theme of Donald Trump is that he has greatly improved the economy of the United States. He asserts this mostly by asserting it. Unfortunately, he has many supporters who believe his assertions based, evidently, on his assertions. The President’s Budget for fiscal year 2021 contends that, if all of his programs are passed by Congress, the economy will grow at an annual rate of 3 percent. That this has not happened at all seems not to deter his supporters. I am not an economist. Instead, I am an ordinary citizen who takes the time to read things. So in the following blog, I would like to present my rebuttal to the “Trump Economic Miracle,” a miracle that doesn’t exists. As with all my blogs, I welcome comment and correction from knowledgeable persons. I would especially welcome input from economists. 1. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) President Trump asserts, with some hyperbole, that we have “the greatest econo...
Of Coure the President can Reassign LTC Vindman
On Friday, February 7th, the White House announced that LTC Alex Vindman, Ukraine analyst, on the National Security Staff, was escorted out of the White House, along with his twin brother, Yevgeny Vindman, also of the National Security Staff. Twitter has been on fire with this news. It accompanies the news that Ambassador Gordon Sondland, U.S. Ambassador to the Eurpean Union, was being removed from his post. The Vindmans are, of course, careerists, while Sondland is a political appointee. What do they have in common? Both Alex Vindmand and Sondland were subpeoned by the House of Representatives, and both testtified during the Trump Impeachment Inquiry. Despite the outrage, it is clearly a fact that any presdient has the authority to remove an ambassador. Any president has the authority to remove some member of his own National Security Staff. There really should not be a debate over that. Neither should there be a ...
Paula White and Donald Trump Deserve Each Other
Paula White is a famous "evangelical" who is especially close to Donald Trump right now. Currently, Paula White-Cain (her married name) supposedly serves as the Head of "The White House Office of Faith and Opportunity Initiative," according to several press reports published between early November 2019 and January 2020 (for example, see this in the National Catholic Reporter at https://www.ncronline.org/news/politics/paula-white-head-trumps-faith-office ). This initiative is part of President Trump's Executive Order of May 3, 2018, found at https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-establishment-white-house-faith-opportunity-initiative/?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term= .. The EO ordered various agencies within the U.S. Government to each establish a "Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiatives." A good example of one that seems somewhat fully developed ca...