Now that I have gotten these out of my system I can turn to the thought of getting into The Holiday Spirit!
OH: One more thought for you to decide: "Has President Cool" been warmed by "Climate Change?"
and
There is a debate about whether Obama is a War Time President and if so does he have to return his Nobel Prize as he did with Churchill's Statute?
I would submit Obama is a release and contain president and if he is at war with anyone it has been with Republicans, The Constitution, the police and White Christians who carry guns and read their bibles.
The nicest thing I can say about Obama is he is a "Do Less" President. You decide!
As for Trump, it is evident he appeals to Americans who still go to baseball games, eat hot dogs, drink beer, probably own guns but are there enough of them left? Some Trump potentials stay home and watch football and catch hell from their wives.
I am conflicted by the way Trump is portrayed and how what he says is massaged. I doubt he is as dangerous as many have said he is because they said the same about Gingrich and his "Contract With America."
Nevertheless, the challenges we face are complex and do not lend themselves to easy answers. Congress has allowed this president to act outside the intent of our Constitution, and this has diminished their authority. Following this, Obama's failure to protect and defend our nation's borders and open threat from radical Islamist terrorists has brought us to the point where we are frustrated, angry and fearful. This is an atmosphere where the likes of Trumps and Hillarious' can carry those in fear to lengths they would not go to or allow in more sober and calmer times.
Trump is no Adlai Stevenson, nor is he a Kennedy. Perhaps he is somewhat more of a Truman type without the knowledge of history, understanding and respect for the Constitution and respect for the Oval Office and the limitations it places on presidential governance.
There just are not enough traditional "red blooded" Americans (whatever that ever meant) "left" to vote for someone from the "right." My generation has been immigrated out of existence. White males exist to take out the garbage. Granted America is a nation of immigrants but I would submit the immigration that took place in the growth of our nation was different from that of more recent times.
Today's immigration includes a large number of illegals, it also includes those who come from regions whose style and of living and cultural beliefs are quite different than our own and many come simply to earn more money and not, necessarily, to integrate into the multi fabric of American Society. Obviously, many come to escape the ravages impacting them because of the disintegration of their nation.
Kim Strassel wrote a very interesting op ed today and it harks back to many things I have posed in prior memos. Obama has acted unilaterally when he has not gotten his way. (See 1 below.) He has shoved legislation, rules and regulations down our throats, has skirted Congress whenever it suited his "Hope and Change"objectives and has acted in a manner that is dictatorial and one that Our Founders feared could come to pass.
Trump and Hillarious, of late, have apparently taken a page from Obama's playbook and appear to propose the same kind of Monarchical leadership. This may play well at this time of fear but Obama has set a dangerous pattern which we must do everything to avoid following if our Republic is to survive.
Now that we are being exposed to Obama's many failures we are susceptible to the easy answers, the voice of the charlatan's proposal is gaining appeal. Among other reasons that is what caused us to elect and then re-elect Obama and look where that has taken us. We are back to square one but the threat has morphed from economic, though our financial plight is even worse, to a physical threat to our security.
Finally, I just was brought up to date on Obama's 65 nation coalition.
Four nations are dropping bombs when they feel like it. We are dropping bombs but not on targets that cause pollution.
As for training Iraqis here is where we are making significant progress. Last week they learned which end of their rifle to load and not look down the barrel. Next week they will take up learning about maps. They were also told when they meet the enemy it does not mean they sell their weapons in order to buy hashish. As Obama, Hillarious and Kerry have told us , and this is the first time they have told the truth, it is going to take a long time, a lot of money and patience.
Notwithstanding the above,, I am moving in the direction of embracing The Holiday Spirit but, obviously, not there yet.
I would happy to hear from anyone, as the year comes to a close, what Hope and Change has done/meant to/for you. I will be happy to post.
As for me, it gave me more than I could ever post.
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I love art and we built our home so we would have more room to be able to live with what we have collected over 43 years .
The owner of this gallery is a good friend and represents some artists whose paintings we own.
Thought you would enjoy perusing this artist's work. We do not own any of his and only wish we had the funds to do so. (See 2 below.)
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And this is chilling or should be. Big title and pay check but Nada when it comes to knowing anything about her job:
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But let's end on a bright and cheerful note:
https://www.facebook.com/doc.
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Dick
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No Political Guardrails
President Obama broke all the boundaries—and now Clinton and Trump are following suit.
PHOTO: CHAD CROWE
Twenty-two years ago, my esteemed colleague Dan Henninger wrote a blockbuster Journal editorial titled “No Guardrails.” Its subject was people “who don’t think that rules of personal or civil conduct apply to them,” as well as the elites who excuse this lack of self-control and the birth of a less-civilized culture.
We are today witnessing the political version of this phenomenon. That’s how to make sense of a presidential race that grows more disconnected from normality by the day.
Barack Obama has done plenty of damage to the country, but perhaps the worst is his determined destruction of Washington’s guardrails. Mr. Obama wants what he wants. If ObamaCare is problematic, he unilaterally alters the law. If Congress won’t change the immigration system, he refuses to enforce it. If the nation won’t support laws to fight climate change, he creates one with regulation. If the Senate won’t confirm his nominees, he declares it in recess and installs them anyway. “As to limits, you set your own,” observed Dan in that editorial. This is our president’s motto.
Mr. Obama doesn’t need anyone to justify his actions, because he’s realized no one can stop him. He gets criticized, but at the same time his approach has seeped into the national conscience. It has set new norms. You see this in the ever-more-outrageous proposals from the presidential field, in particular front-runners Hillary Clinton andDonald Trump.
Mrs. Clinton routinely vows to govern by diktat. On Wednesday she unveiled a raft of proposals to punish companies that flee the punitive U.S. tax system. Mrs. Clinton will ask Congress to implement her plan, but no matter if it doesn’t. “If Congress won’t act,” she promises, “then I will ask the Treasury Department, when I’m there, to use its regulatory authority.”
Mrs. Clinton and fellow liberals don’t like guns and are frustrated that the duly elected members of Congress (including those from their own party) won’t strengthen background checks. So she has promised to write regulations that will unilaterally impose such a system.
On immigration, Mr. Obama ignored statute with executive actions to shield illegals from deportation. Mrs. Clinton brags that she will go much, much further with sweeping exemptions to immigration law.
For his part, Mr. Trump sent the nation into an uproar this week with his call to outright ban Muslims from entering the country. Is this legally or morally sound? Who cares! Mr. Trump specializes in disdain for the law, the Constitution, and any code of civilized conduct. Guardrails are for losers. He’d set up a database to track Muslims or force them to carry special IDs. He’d close mosques. He’d deport kids born on American soil. He’d seize Iraq’s oil fields. He’d seize remittance payments sent back to Mexico. He’d grab personal property for government use.
Mr. Obama’s dismantling of boundaries isn’t restrained to questions of law; he blew up certain political ethics, too. And yes there are—or used to be—such things. Think what you may about George W. Bush’s policies, but he respected the office of the presidency. He believed he represented all Americans. He didn’t demonize.
Today’s divisive president never misses an opportunity to deride Republicans or the tea party. He is more scornful toward fellow Americans than toward Islamic State. This too sets new norms. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid now uses the chamber to accuse individual citizens of being “un-American.” Asked recently what “enemy” she was most proud of making, Mrs. Clinton lumped “Republicans” in with “the Iranians.” Ted Cruzrose to prominence by mocking his Republican colleagues as “squishes.” Mr. Trump has disparaged women, the other GOP contenders, Iowans, wives, the disabled, Jews. (Granted, he might have done this even without Mr. Obama’s example.)
Can such leaders be trusted to administer Washington fairly? Of course not. That guardrail is also gone. Mr. Obama egged on his IRS to target conservatives, used his Justice Department to exact retribution on politically unpopular banks, and had his EPA lead an armed raid of an Alaskan mine. Is it any wonder that Bernie Sanders’s climate plan, released this week, includes a vow to bring criminal prosecutions against “climate deniers”? And he would.
For that matter, is it any wonder that some Republicans are calling on the IRS to audit Mrs. Clinton’s foundation? When did conservatives go from wanting to abolish the IRS to wanting to use it against rivals? When did they turn their back on the institutional check of the filibuster? When Democrats busted through those rails, of course.
“No Guardrails” took aim at political and intellectual leaders who failed in their special duty to elevate institutions and rules. When those leaders go further, and openly break all the rules, there really is nothing left to restrain the political passions.
The more outrageous Mr. Trump is, the more his numbers soar. The more Mrs. Clinton promises to cram an agenda down the throats of her “enemies,” the more enthusiastic her base. The more unrestrained the idea, the more press coverage; the more ratings soar, the more unrestrained the idea. The humble candidates—those with big ideas, but with respect for order and honor—are lost to the shouting.
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2)
7022 Wisconsin Avenue
Chevy Chase, Maryland 20815
email: fmp@marin-pricegalleries.com
website: www.marin-pricegalleries.com
ARTHUR DAY has been represented by this gallery for about twenty years. Most of you have seen Arthur Day's work at some time in one of our exhibits.
What you might not know is that prior to becoming a painter he was a diplomat. His highest position as such was (US) Consul General in Jerusalem. Before joining the diplomatic corps he had been a naval patrol bomber pilot in WWII. His stories are rather remarkable.
Fast forward to his life as a painter. His studio is at the old Jackson School in Georgetown. He also lives in Georgetown, except during the summer months when he moves to Cape Cod.
In his paintings, Arthur Day, tries to combine the beauty of color and design with the memory of a loved or admired places. For him, city buildings are not just structures, but appear to be looking at the viewer through their windows. He tends to paint scenes that surround him when he lived in New York City, or DC where he has lived since his retirement.
Painting has become Arthur Day's life.
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