I hear college tuition debt combined with no jobs is causing students to turn to Socialism and reject Capitalism. I have argued for eons many youths are better off with a vocational education that also includes courses in language, literature, reasoning and history. Until we are rational about education we will continue to encourage/assist youths to embrace radical ideas. But then some ideas are so stupid only Liberals would dare embrace them.
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During our baby sitting trip a lot of things broke that I want to comment about.
First, former FBI Director Comey.
Former FBI Director James Comey has proven to be a self-serving disgrace.
It is evident he supplanted polemic political judgment for the rule of law. That he has chosen to write and engage in a book tour to promote himself at a time when an investigation, in which he was involved, is ongoing is also inappropriate. In doing so Comey has sullied The FBI and continues to set a despicable example.. Apparently senior members of The FBI can lie and leak with impunity while citizens go to jail.. Does this qualify as a double standard? Has America become the land of selective justice?
Neither should one forget about Director Andrew McCabe and The FBI's Inspector General's Report asserting McCabe leaked and lied. Stay tuned because there is more to come in another IG report to be released sometime in May!
Has diabolic enforcement of trumped up charges become a common practice among those at the top level of our government? If a person is duly elected by "deplorables" as president and is subjected to the same high handed treatment what next? Is this what the questionable, if not illegal, behaviour of Comey, McCabe, Fitzgerald , Rosenstein and even Mueller is all about?
One cannot separate the decline in the Justice Department's reputation, The IRS' and various other agencies from what has happened at The FBI. Obama filled these agencies with those who acted outside Constitutional restraints nor seemed to give a damn because they believed they were above the laws they were supposed to enforce.
As for Trump's behaviour it too has reached a low level of childishness. It is one thing for Trump to strike/tweet back at his enemies but to get in the gutter with scum is beneath the office he occupies and he should stop and just let Comey bury himself in his self-serving, self- righteous book tour attempt to save America from a duly elected president whom he obviously hates.
The next thing I want to comment on is Trump's Syrian missile strike.
It is obvious Trump is conflicted with what he sees and how he feels about Syria and Assad and what should be our ultimate goal. Obama peremptorily withdrew from Iraq, created a vacuum which ISIS filled. Trump wants to withdraw from Syria but also understands there will be serious consequences that may also become unpalatable.
a) Iran could expand and more effectively threaten Israel beyond Iran's already high threat level.
b) On the other hand, Trump obviously believes allowing Russia to spend itself in support of a tyrant can become overly costly for Putin and lead Russia in a direction which, in time, will be self-defeating.
Trump seeks to bring about irreparable harm to Russia's economy and thus his energy policies encouraging America to "drill baby drill." Europe's dependence on Russian energy sources is dangerous and providing them the option of leaving Russia's pipeline would be a coup.
The missile attack was restricted to specific sites, in no way ends Syria's ability to gas their own people as they have been doing frequently before this last episode caused Trump to respond. Also, it is obvious Trump does not want to get in the middle of a Syrian Civil War but allowing Assad to kill his own people by other means undercuts America's moral case. What to do? Gordian Knot?
c) Everyone is asking where is our strategy. There probably is no cohesive strategy in place because if we withdraw the consequences could be terrible and if we stay there is not much we can do to cause peace to come to the region. One thing for sure, Trump inherited a mess and so far he has not made it worse and that is some comfort but neither has he demonstrated he has a strategy he can enunciate which the nation will understand and accept. At least our standing among some Middle Eastern nations, who want to lean in our direction, feel more comfortable than when Obama drove them away. That certainly goes for Israel.
d) In a small way, Trump demonstrated to N Korea, America is not headed by Obama and Iran should also take note.
e) Now that Amb. Bolton is aboard it is evident Trump has a partner/advisor who is giving him another view beyond the one he is receiving from Sec, Mattis but it appears Trump still leans towards the advice he receives from the military.
f) Trump must be applauded for getting the French and Brits to join in a cohesive, well coordinated strike which also sent a message to Putin that he too is no longer dealing with Obama.
g) Stay tuned because Syria will remain a thorn and, at best, we need to keep from being pricked.
Stormy Daniels:
She is an admitted porn star and was quite popular in her day.
I have no doubt,Trump may have been involved with her but that does not disqualify him from being president. If having "affairs" was a factor only Reagan, Truman and Nixon would pass the test.
If paying off a hooker is laundering campaign money then it appears Congress had a fund for such events. Apparently Trump paid out of his own pocket . His real problem should be with Melania. She deserves better.
As for Stormy's legal representative:
Michael Avenatti is the attorney for Stormy Daniels, the supposed mistress of Donald Trump. Whether she is or not, is another story. The bio of Michael Avenatti reads:
"While in college and later in law school, Michael worked at a political opposition research and media firm run by Rahm Emanuel (who later became White House Chief of Staff and is presently the Mayor of Chicago). During his time there, Michael worked on over 150 campaigns in 42 states, including multiple gubernatorial and congressional campaigns (i.e. Joe Biden’s U.S. Senate Campaign)."
Now, you don't suppose anyone from the Democratic Party is behind all this do you??? Like Obama and his organization, Organizing for Action??? Nah, probably not!
Trump's pardon of Scooter Libby reversed a gum shoe effort on behalf of Deputy Atty General Fitzgerald's overzealous act of power.
Finally, a comment about Barbara Bush.
Lynn and I had the distinct opportunity to be with her and her husband on several occasions and I enjoyed corresponding with her for well over 20 plus years.I have many personal "Barbara" letters which I will give to our children grandchildren and great grandchild.
I once sought to have her speak at A SIRC President's Day Dinner and appealed to her by writing "we needed someone feisty." She wrote back she was no longer "feisty." I replied we would love her even if she was no longer "feisty."
Barbara Bush is a special person and I will cherish knowing her.
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Two articles about Israeli technology:
ISRAEL’S AMAZING ADVANCEMENT IN CYBERSECURITY - View our BeautyDiversityScience VIDEO HERE
ISRAEL WATER DROUGHT SOLUTIONS
Israel will boost desalination to fight a five-year drought
BeautyDiversityScience Video/Article HERE
http://www.jpost.com/Blogger/
And:
More on Israel's recent attack on an Iranian air base in Syria. (See 1 below.)
Strategic implications of defense against missiles:
Brent Bozell's organization (Media Research Center) just released a 50 page report, which included interviews of former workers at Facebook, Google, and other such social media companies, that they have systematically blocked Conservative articles etc. So what's new.
Democrats engage in identity politics, social media companies engage in gagging Conservative commentary and top officials at Obama's FBI and Justice Department were engaged in inappropriate, if not illegal behaviour. Thanks, Obama! You not only sought to transform America you actually turned it into a nation which made American citizens victims while opening our borders to illegals and sending pallets of cash to our enemy Iran etc.
Tobin wrote this before Trump acted.(See 2 below.)
http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/columns/into-the-fray-martin-sherman/syria-reaping-the-storm-obama-sowed/2018/04/15/
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Dick
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1)
The Implications of the Syrian T-4 Air Base Bombing
The aerial bombing of the Syrian air force base in the Palmyra region (T-4) struck an Iranian drone section of the base under exclusive Iranian command. At least seven Iranian army personnel were killed, one of whom held the rank of colonel and was responsible for the unit operating the drones.
Iranian Obituary for Iranian Air Force colonel of the drone department.
It should be noted that this unit was also bombed at the beginning of February 2018, after it was determined that it had dispatched the Iranian drone that infiltrated Israeli airspace and was shot down.
In an unusual statement, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman in Tehran announced four Iranians died in the aerial bombing, which it attributed to Israel. Details of seven dead servicemen were published on social media channels in Iran.
Three of the Iranian soldiers killed in the bombing of the Syrian UAV base, T-4.
Initially, immediately after the attack, a Syrian military spokesman blamed the United States and claimed that it apparently acted in response to a chemical weapons bombardment of the civilian population in Douma. However, immediately afterward, the Syrian announcement was changed to accuse Israel of attacking the Syrian air force base.
On April 10, 2018, Ali Akbar Velayati, the top advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khameini, called the bombing raid on T-4 “Israel’s crime” and warned it “will not remain without response.” He made these remarks while visiting Damascus, underlining their importance. It is not clear, at this stage, whether he arrived immediately in the aftermath of the operation at T-4 or his visit was planned earlier. In any case, his visit will focus on Iranian-Syrian consultations about how they should respond and, as noted, Velayati stressed that what happened at T-4 will not remain without response.
In an unusual Russian announcement and in the absence of anyone taking responsibility for the aerial action, Moscow blamed Israel for carrying it out. The Russian Defense Ministry charged that two Israeli F-15 aircraft fired missiles from over Lebanese airspace. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov labeled the air strike “a dangerous development.”
Map showing the T-4 airbase near Palmyra and Douma near Damascus.
The allegations from Tehran and Moscow that Israel carried out the aerial bombing and caused serious damage to the Iranian target raises the likelihood of a deterioration in the military situation between Iran and Israel. Iran may increase its attempts to strike at Israel via the Golan Heights using Hizbullah and Shiite proxies from the “Foreign Legion” that it established in Syria.
Eventually, this deterioration may spill over beyond Syria and lead to Iranian and Hizbullah attempts to strike at Israeli and Jewish targets outside the region.
Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Dr. Shimon Shapira is a senior research associate at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. He served as Military Secretary to the Prime Minister and as Israel Foreign Ministry chief of staff. He edited the Jerusalem Center eBook Iran: From Regional Challenge to Global Threat.
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2)
2)
Who’s in over their heads in Syria?
The outcome of a looming confrontation may depend on how much Russia is willing to risk if the United States and Israel say enough is enough.
The key question about Syria this week is not why the various foreign powers involved in the civil war there are on the brink of hostilities. It’s how hostile forces with very different agendas co-existing in a relatively small country have been able to avoid a violent confrontation up until now.
The answer has been that for all of the potential for conflict that exists between the various parties involved, it has not been in the interests of any of the major powers for the mess in Syria to become a test of wills, in which one of them will have to back down in order to prevent an escalation that nobody wants.
Yet in the aftermath of the latest use of chemical weapons by the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, the kind of confrontation that has always been possible might be about to happen.
Israel’s strike on an Iranian air base in Syria over the weekend raised the stakes in a conflict where the armed forces of the two countries are no longer separated by vast distances. And with U.S. President Donald Trump not merely threatening the use of force—but in a bizarre heads-up delivered via Twitter actually warning Russia to be prepared for incoming U.S. missiles that Moscow has vowed to shoot down—an unthinkable escalation now must be considered possible.
If this kind of confrontation has been avoided up to now, it’s because the United States has been content to let Russia, and its Iranian and Syrian allies, do as it liked. Trump has seemed content to continue President Barack Obama’s policy of allowing Moscow free reign in Syria. That meant largely ignoring the atrocities committed by the Assad regime, as well as the determination of Iran to turn Syria into an armed base from which it can threaten Israel. Indeed, when Trump vowed last week to pull American troops out of Syria once the fight against ISIS was finished, it appeared to leave Israel on its own against an Iranian foe entrenched on its northern border, with little option but to hope that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not let things get out of hand.
Yet the latest chemical attack by Assad might have been the moment when Trump finally realized what everyone else has known all along: If horrible things are happening in Syria, it’s because Russia has let them happen—and the United States hasn’t been willing to do anything about it.
Given his desire for a new détente with Russia, there was a great deal of continuity between Trump’s policies in Syria and those of Obama’s. To his credit, Trump is so offended by Assad’s atrocities that he has finally started to connect the dots between the use of chemical weapons there and the Russians. In doing so, the president is going to have to resolve the glaring contradiction between his appropriately tough attitude towards Iran, and his reluctance to speak ill about Putin and Russia.
Concern about the way Trump approached the issue this week is warranted. Boasting about launching missiles and daring the Russians to do something about it is risky business, especially since both countries have troops in Syria that are essentially hostages to fortune. This isn’t the moment to start World War III.
Yet it would be just as dangerous if, as was the case with his “too cool for school” predecessor, Trump allowed himself to be talked into inaction regarding Syria. If Iran is allowed to turn that country, with Russian approval, into a base to launch a war against Israel, it will destabilize the entire region with equally unknowable consequences. Moreover, even though the Russians and Iranians have won Assad’s civil war for him, as long as that butcher remains in power in Damascus, Syria will never be at peace.
What is needed is a measured effort to make it clear to Putin that the United States needs him to clean up his act in Syria. With the help of his new national-security team, Trump should formulate a rational response to a terrible situation that the United States clearly needs to address.
A few missiles intended to punish Assad won’t do the trick. Instead, the United States should be using its economic power to punish both Russia and Iran in ways that will hurt their fragile economies. Trump must also forget about withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria, and instead signal that the days of assuming that America is a declining power in the Middle East are over. At the very least, Iran must be shown the exit door as a price for America acquiescing to Russia in retaining its presence in that country.
Is such a turnabout impossible? Though aggressions by Moscow against its former Soviet possessions, coupled with its dabbling in election interference in the United States, have given it the aura of an unstoppable power, that isn’t the case. In terms of its military and its economy, Russia is not a superpower. Though Putin’s sole foreign-policy goals are to reassemble the Soviet empire while undermining U.S. influence wherever possible, his successes have been more a function of Western weakness than Russian strength.
It’s time to realize that it is Russia that’s in over its head in Syria, not the United States. Putin has unleashed forces there that he can’t entirely control and whose goals—like a war against Israel—are not in Russia’s interests. Once we realize that the notion of U.S. helplessness in the face of this crisis should be banished, then it becomes possible to understand that inaction is not the only rational response to this complex problem.
Israel can’t go on doing the West’s dirty work as it seeks to contain Iran and its Hezbollah auxiliaries in Syria. Though Trump must avoid meaningless or reckless military gestures, it’s time for him to start reversing the mistakes the United States has made in the last several years. If he does, then rather than blowing up the region, he may instead reveal that Putin is the one whose bluff needs to be called if a war is to be averted and future atrocities forestalled.
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