This corruption didn't begin with the Somalis

Before tracking down "root causes" and supply chain history of the Somali day care fraud, I hope Congress stops and looks at two basics: Head start (turned 60 in 2025 in the failed War on Poverty which we lost ) and the corruption in the nonprofit arena (got really bad during Bush I who wanted to reduce federal employment with "faith-based" solutions).

By any definition and all the studies, Head Start has failed miserably--40 million children, their parents and the tax payers. Not every daycare is a head start model, but it's been ingrained in generations that children will be better off if mom leaves home to work and someone not family takes care of the kids. That's the old south slavery model, isn't it? By 2nd grade all academic gains are lost.

 
The whole nonprofit grants from the federal government model so the money is controlled locally is riddled with corruption, nepotism and graft, The Somali thing is the tip of the iceberg, and it's not just day care. It's good intentions gone bad.

https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/government/fbci/qr3.html?

Some think the Head start failure is a result of this year's fraud investigation (60 years), but it was declared a failure at 50 years and 40 years,  It's never passed the smell test. Head Start is in turmoil - The Hechinger Report

Today's Public Service Announcements from me

Here are my 2 PSA for the day.

1. If you have a Roadrunner account for your email, migrate now. Some people still have my old columbus.rr account because of group chats. At first (August) I could get it, but with some delay. Now, not at all. Don't use it. New Spectrum users don't get it at all, some older ones are spotty, but mine was probably from the old Time-Warner days and it's totally gone. Unfortunately, for some people my record of your email address is gone too because I can't get into my old archived e-mails.

2. Don't pay any attention to the on-line gossip about celebrities; especially Erika Kirk. And she should also stop defending herself online or on talk shows like Fox's Outnumbered. Not that she'll take my advice. It just fuels the fires under the folks who hated Charlie. And the mainstream media are probably as unbiased as the latest "influencer." 

You noticed I hope that TDS used to be BDS and anyone who supported W used to be a Nazi or racist. Now they love Bush.

Nostalgia for Y2K

 Was it only a quarter of a century ago? Almost. Remember the preparation for the big 2000 celebration and how Y2K bonded us? Communism was defeated and Naziism gone, but we had wised up about pie in the sky humanism. Both U.S. parties believed in and advocated for "western style democracy" as the best method to raise 3rd world people out of poverty and to defeat totalitarianism.

GW Bush was naive and thought we could impose western values on tribal cultures, allowing people to vote, liberating women and supporting an endless war. At home BH Obama wanted to reduce our next generation and poverty through abortion, take over the largest sector of the economy with socialist medicine, and pay back the sins of the past with old family feuds by imposing on 21st century white Americans, the discrimination and laws of the 19th century that hurt black Americans.

With Biden and his blue state cronies we have the worst of the first 2 administrations of the 21 century. Wars, death, destruction but with inflation, gnosticism, higher taxes, millions invading at our borders, and more tribalism at home.

Biden's cronies as Obama 2.0 have brought back the totalitarianism, slavery (both labor and sex), discrimination, endless wars, and tribal battles that we had hoped had been eliminated by "western democracy."

Trafficking in Persons Report 2022

Before we talk reparations with California governor Newsom trying to earn points so he can get to the White House with all the crazies, lets do something about the 28,000,000 slaves, mostly in Africa and Asia, that haven't been set free. Instead of giving money to African leaders as reparations to combat climate change, Biden should be asking them for reparations for black Americans, if this were actually a moral issue.  Africans are the ones who sold their enemies or victims of raids to the Europeans who couldn't go into the interior. We outlawed slavery in the Civil War. Many African countries have done it only with lip service.

"Let us stand together and press for accountability from those leaders who condone and support human trafficking, create conditions ripe for mass exploitation, and perpetuate this fundamental insult to human dignity. Those that perpetrate, condone, or support this crime must be held accountable." Anthony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State, Biden administration.

Reading through the report [search by country name] you may wonder as I did, how much of the money and effort are going for ending slavery--I see climate change, many groups skimming funds for "counseling" for victims, services for marginalized people (aka diversity and inclusion) LGBTQ rights, etc., the usual woke agenda now being imported to countries with more than enough of their own problems without taking advice from the Bidenistas.
President Clinton signed this Act in 2000 and President Bush put it into action. It has been tweaked and fiddled and diddled. Time for action. I don't know how fraud is avoided because reporting a reduction of the crime of slavery or passing more laws would seem to reduce the funding, although I'm not sure how that works. 

Typical report, after the dull, dry information of inadequate facilities, staffers and laws, what makes the 2022 report different is the toll the pandemic took: "As reported over the past five years, human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Kenya, and traffickers exploit victims from Kenya abroad. Traffickers exploit children in forced labor in domestic service, agriculture, fishing, cattle herding, street vending, and forced begging. Traffickers exploit women and children in sex trafficking, often facilitated by family members in informal settings, throughout Kenya, including in sex tourism in Nairobi, Mombasa, and Kisumu. In 2020, an international NGO reported there are between 35,000 and 40,000 victims of sex trafficking, including child sex tourism, in Kenya, of which approximately 19,000 are children; most perpetrators are Kenyan and, to a lesser extent, foreign tourists. Government officials and NGOs report traffickers increasingly exploit children in sex trafficking in private villas and vacation homes to avoid law enforcement detection in hotels. Workers in Khat cultivation areas and near gold mines in western Kenya, truck drivers along major highways, and fishermen on Lake Victoria also exploit children in sex trafficking.

During the pandemic, traffickers increasingly exploited children in sex trafficking, including using online recruitment tactics, and in forced labor in domestic work and forced begging. Employment agencies, both legal and fraudulent, recruit Kenyans to work in the Middle East (particularly Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, and Oman), Central and Southeast Asia, Europe, Northern Africa, and North America, where traffickers exploit them in massage parlors, brothels, domestic servitude, or manual labor; Kenyans who voluntarily migrate in search of employment opportunities are also vulnerable to exploitative conditions."

I wonder if Kenyan children get counseling about top and bottom surgery or if that is just for American sexually abused children.

https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-trafficking-in-persons-report/kenya/

The National Archives and Republican Presidents

The National Archives is somewhere in the mess at the raid on Mar a Lago. Seems to be some history there. In July 2004 I blogged about the selection of anti-Bush titles the Archives had in its on site government book store. Jonathan V. Last had written about it in the Wall St. Journal. As deep swamp staffers, they don't seem to like Republican presidents. Ever.

"The author, Jonathan V. Last, says there is not one neutral or admiring book on President Bush, just the anti-Bush, anybody-but-Bush, bashes. I've seen these political tables at Barnes and Noble Bookstores, but they at least make an effort to present a variety of views. Mr. Last said something to the clerk, who apparently assumed he was approving of the staff choices, and he responded, "We tell [the people who complain about the titles] that they're not anti-Bush. They're just correcting the facts." The accompanying cartoon shows a puzzled customer at book tables labeled: Harangues, Screeds, Conspiracy Theories, and Rants. Last's final paragraph is priceless:

"It's possible that George W. Bush is an illegitimately installed fascist monster leading America's military-industrial complex on a nuclear crusade for world domination. But what kind of dime-store dictator can't even crush dissent at his own bookstore?"

Unfriending on social media--divisive or deserved?

"Democratic voters are almost three times as likely to have “blocked, unfriended, or stopped following someone on social media” after Donald Trump’s victory, according to a study released Monday [Dec. 2016]."

No surprise here. Democrats are not inclusive and hate diversity of thought or opinion. IMO, they are also more likely to be racist in their support of policies that hurt blacks and other minorities through their own good intentions. That said, that article is 6 years old. So I am also less likely to "friend" a Democrat whereas before I was much more forgiving and open minded. It really began with the BDS--Bush derangement syndrome--before a black president, an orange president, and the current confused resident of the WH. Now, if I don't know they are conservatives but we are acquainted, I choose not to put up with it. And so the divide widens.

Who's zoomin' who

The latest news about intelligence (spies) failure only confirms why there is constant misinformation on the internet, and conservatives/the right should NOT be punished for it. It's often the deep state who is to blame, no matter which party is in charge.

The latest is the fake DHS workers (from names appear to be Muslims, but who knows if that isn't fake) infiltrating the real (I think) Secret Service, even one who guarded Jill Biden. The real Secret Service was actually accepting gifts from the fake DHS.

Then we find out the WH has been lying about the chemical weapons in Russia story, so Biden could fool Putin, but instead just alarmed millions of Americans. And that was done with the complicity and perhaps knowledge of the media.

We know it was intelligence failures that warned President Bush of WMD, and when he acted on it, the Democrats blamed him and abandoned his leadership in Afghanistan and Iraq which they had voted for. But the intelligence failures were from the Clinton years.

We were finally told that yes, Obama's staff had been "spying" on Trump before his inauguration, but meanwhile Trump was blamed for being paranoid.

 
The NYT and WaPo have finally come out with the truth about Hunter Biden and his connections with Burisma (Ukraine) and CCP through his lap top. Even though they knew well ahead of the election they shut down the truth and ridiculed on the MSM any reports about the laptop.

 
After the dirty deed was done and the economy and personal lives destroyed the research finally appeared on what a failure the Covid lockdowns were in stopping the virus, and continue to be.

 
Even after we finally learn that yes, CDC was taking its "science" advice from the leftist teachers' unions, not actual research, the masking continues.

 
Even after we have ongoing warnings from Fauci (NIH and Satan) that Americans have to be more cautious, Biden lets millions of unvaccinated border jumpers cross the border and get on busses to your communities where your children are still masked for school and you need a mask to get on an airplane.

In the words of dear departed Aretha in 1985: "Who's zoomin' who" which has various meanings, the cleanest of which means who is checking out who, or who's going to score when both are playing around.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/08/white-house-secret-service-personnel-duped-by-fake-dhs-agents.html

https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/Portals/10/ASPJ/journals/Chronicles/tracey.pdf

https://govinfo.library.unt.edu/wmd/about.html

https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/351495-it-looks-like-obama-did-spy-on-trump-just-as-he-did-to-me/

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/psaki-dismisses-abbott-texas-plan-bus-illegal-immigrants-u-s-capitol-publicity-stunt

Democrats' War against Women

I hate to use Aljazeera as a news source (owned by a Qatar magnate, but probably not as oppressive as Twitter, FB or Jeff Bezos' WaPo), but our own MSM don't report the news if it doesn't fit the theme of the day, which since October 2020 is "cover for Biden." Another example of the Democrats' WAR ON WOMEN.

"The Taliban administration in Afghanistan has announced that girls’ high schools will be closed, hours after they reopened for the first time in nearly seven months. The backtracking by the Taliban means female students above the sixth grade will not be able to attend school." https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/23/taliban-orders-girls-schools-shut-hours-after-reopening

When George Bush after consulting with both parties and allies and getting approval, took U.S. into Afghanistan after 9-11, he liberated more women in the 21st century than Lincoln did slaves in the 19th century according to the Atlantic--hardly a right wing Bush loving magazine. When Biden executed his disastrous, inhumane and dangerous exit last August, killing many civilians and U.S. soldiers, he had approval from no one, at least no one who now admits it.

Democrats are waging a WAR ON WOMEN, not just U.S. women, but Afghans and Uyghurs and the poor souls of many nations who try to break into our country at the border where Biden dangles all sorts of goodies which puts them and their children at great risk for sex slavery.

I also got a warning from Facebook because of a poster I put up about his shutting down Keystone and buying oil from Russia:

"Fact Check: Russian Oil Ban, Blocked Keystone XL Are NOT Only Causes of Gas Hikes | Lead Stories"

But I never said it was the ONLY cause of gas hikes. I also didn't say Hunter's lap top scandal was covered up by FB, or that I'm a trans-reporter pretending to be from a major news source, so I suppose that's another problem--I didn't tell the whole story of Biden's crimes.

By far the biggest reason for inflation and price hikes for oil is the scarcity--created by Biden's threats in 2020 that he would shut down the industry in favor of green technology. It's why we're buying from Russia and the middle east. https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4917719/user-clip-biden-destroy-oil-industry  There are milions invested in every search for fossil fuel--and the lag time between "striking oil" refining it, and getting it to the gas station you pass on your way to work is about 2 years.  Good luck finding investors who didn't take Biden seriously.  It doesn't hurt them to sit back and wait for a sane president--they are rich--but it does hurt you at the pump.

Letter to a Democrat friend, January 2, 2001

It's amazing what turns up in old e-mails. Sometimes I can't get them to open. But the one I'm using for this "memory" was copied to a Word Document. If you remember the millennium scare when the experts thought all computers would fail because no one had programmed them to turn over to 2000, you'll understand why I sometimes don't know what year these were sent unless there are events to which I can connect. The computers continued to work, but didn't record the dates!

About this letter/e-mail. This reply was written January 2, 2001, I know because I mentioned the death of my mom (January 2000) and the December visit of my father. Also we discussed the election of George W. Bush. I was answering a note from a friend I hadn't seen for a long time who was about 30 years younger and had been in our small group from church.  From the context it had been about 5 years since we'd been together. We were both Democrats, although I had voted for Bush in November 2000 because of the abortion issue. I remember we went to her wedding a few years before; I heard years later that they were divorced. She apparently had said something in her letter, which I don't have,  that triggered these comments from me--still a registered Democrat, but ready to leave the party. In the letter below, if something is in parentheses, it's in the original, but something in brackets means I added it today to clarify. Also, I've changed personal names to letters.  Also, one more thing.  When I told my husband about finding this e-mail, he had no recollection of Barbara or our attending her wedding.

Dear Barbara,

It was good to get your e-mail of December 5 and find out what is going on in your lives. I'm happy you've found a believers' church. The Mill Run church opened a year ago [New Year's Eve 2000], but we still attend Lytham. [Comments followed about her deciding not to have children--she was adopted, and her adoptive parents had divorced--I think it was not a happy family.]

You may recall that I am also a registered Democrat--even voted for Clinton/Gore in 1992--mainly because Gore was on the ticket. Notice in my x-mas letter I didn't say which party was stealing the election, but you seemed to know--hmmm.) But I've voted Republican in the last 2 elections [1996, 2000] because they more closely represent what I think is important--human lives, not human lifestyle. I believe abortion is the defining issue of our time as was slavery 150 years ago. Each era has its problems it needs to solve. The difference is 150 years ago Christians (particularly women) were in the forefront trying to reverse a terrible crime against humanity, now women are the great perpetrators. The church just falls in line and tries to pretend it will go away if no one speaks out. The ethical standards of Christians seem to be no different than the rest of society.

The other day on the Rush Limbaugh program I heard a Republican woman complaining about "one issue" Republicans (she was pro-choice), and Rush said he didn't think there was such a thing, but where else could a pro-life person like me go? Four years of a Republican president might save many lives--maybe more if he gets the right people on the Supreme Court and partial birth abortion goes back to the slime pits where it belongs.

Bush has said he is against partial birth abortion and we hope he follows through. Where else could your vote save lives? That Clinton and Gore are Christians (and I believe they are) meant nothing once in office. Gore used to be pro-life (and he seemed to be capable of telling the truth before he became vice president) and he flip flopped for political power--maybe Bush will do the same, but for now I think he sees that wing of the party--those one-issue folks--still has some clout. In just the year 2000, we got partial birth abortion, research on human embryos and the abortion drug RU-486. So there is definitely a slippery slope and it's getting steeper. I think "death" is Clinton's legacy that he's been looking for--more deaths than a major war. Assisted suicide and euthanasia are coming down the pike, and if the Christians' stand on abortion is any indication, it is the gateway to new ways to "make choices."

You said you were thinking of leaving the country if Bush was elected. I don't remember Republicans threatening to leave if Clinton won in 1992 but perhaps they did (some Perot supporters may have in the next election), and Bush got a higher percentage of the popular vote than Clinton ever did. Democrats had the power for 40 years in the legislature, and I think the Republicans stuck it out. If you believe the Democrats are right about the Microsoft suit and it was necessary to hamstring our technology growth, and they were right to strangle our power sources so we have rolling brown-outs and gasoline shortages, and they were right to weaken U.S. by diminishing and demoralizing the military, then you should stick around and fight for your principles. Then maybe in 4 years you can have it all back--but in the meanwhile, if there are layoffs in technology or gasoline shortages, or power outages, remember those were your guys.

Our group keeps on going--like the energizer bunny--but sometimes I think we are the halt and the lame. But it keeps us on our knees! We have 14, 2 widows and 6 couples. X and Y still struggle but they come. Y suffers from a mental illness but is on medication. S continues to have small strokes--her daughter got married this past year. We thought perhaps J had Alzheimer's, but he had brain surgery to relieve some kind of pressure and is now OK. We took in a new couple about 3 years ago, and another new couple this year. N and D, our graduates, still come to special events. J and L and G and P moved out of town. N's dad died in the fall at 104--he was also X's grandfather.

We had a wonderful visit with my 87 y/o Dad in early December. I miss Mom, but have really enjoyed getting to know him better this past year. She was so easy to love and we all enjoyed her wisdom, counsel and love. He's a bit more difficult, but I've been so impressed with his bravery this past year.

I'll close now, and wait to hear from you in five years. I'll send you my family's story [not sure what I was referring to] in snail mail. Hope this doesn't clog your mailbox!

Norma

Democrats seem to love Hitler

The Democrats love to compare Trump to Hitler--they also did that with Bush in the pre-Obama days of Bush Derangement Syndrome. It's like they never heard of Lenin, Stalin and Mao. And I never saw any reasonable comparison except crowds get excited at big rallies--and they did that for Obama all over the world--even in Germany in the same places they roared for Hitler. But Michael has put it in perspective. They always look for a scapegoat for their own bad behavior.

Michael Smith: . . ."instead of blaming minorities as Hitler did, Democrats blame whites. With Hitler, if you weren't patriotic, you hated Germany - Democrats believe if you are patriotic, you are a racist. Hitler sold the idea that Germany was perfect, the world outside its borders was flawed. Democrats believe the world outside America's borders is perfect, it's America that is flawed. . .

Contemporary Democrats are postmodern fabulists - they make crap up to fit their worldview and when exposed to the facts that prove them wrong, they simply ignore them or make up another fantasy. That's the only way things make sense to them. The other day, I posted the quote from Euripides, to wit: “Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish" and it sure seems there is a lot of that going around."

The czar/tsar list

There was an earlier attempt to clean up the swamp back in 2011 with a bill introduced by Republicans because Obama had so many czars/tsars (good solid Russian term for Caesar) in place that were unelected, unconfirmed and unaccountable. They were not successful. George W. Bush had a similar number but most were confirmed, as were most of FDR's (who began the tradition). Imagine if someone had put in the effort and time to investigate and threaten each Obama czar the way Democrats have been completely focused on destroying Trump's choices or demanding they be leakers.

I haven't found a czar list for President Trump--just advisors, or friends/family which the media and Democrats have bitterly criticized, ridiculed and threatened. If there is a complete list, let me know.

Obama list:

AIDS Czar: Jeffrey Crowley

Auto Recovery Czar: Ed Montgomery

Border Czar: Alan Bersin

California Water Czar: David J. Hayes

Central Region Czar: Dennis Ross

Climate Czar: Todd Stern

Domestic Violence Czar: Lynn Rosenthal

Drug Czar: Gil Kerlikowske

Energy and Environment Czar: Carol Browner

Faith-Based Czar: Joshua DuBois

FCC's Diversity Czar: Mark Lloyd

Government Performance Czar: Jeffrey Zients

Great Lakes Czar: Cameron Davis

Guantanamo Closure Czar: Daniel Fried

Health Czar: Nancy-Ann DeParle

Information Czar: Vivek Kundra

Intellectual Property Czar: Victoria Espinel

Intelligence Czar: James Clapper

Manufacturing Czar/Car Czar: Ron Bloom

Mideast Peace Czar: George Mitchell

Oil Spill Escrow Fund Czar: Kenneth Feinberg

Regulatory Czar: Cass Sunstein

Safe Schools Czar: Kevin Jennings

Science Czar: John Holdren

Stimulus Accountability Czar: Earl Devaney

Sudan Czar: J. Scott Gration

TARP Czar: Herb Allison

Technology Czar: Aneesh Chopra

Terrorism Czar: John Brennan

Urban Affairs Czar: Adolfo Carrion Jr.

War Czar: Douglas Lute

Weapons Czar: Ashton Carter

WMD Policy Czar: Gary Samore

9/11 Health Czar: John Howard

Cyber Czar: Howard Schmidt

Oil Spill Czar: Ray Mabus

Economic Czar: Paul Volcker

Ethics Czar: Norm Eisen

Afghanistan Czar: Richard Holbrooke

This was an O-list as of 2011--not worth the effort to update. A few I remember--like John Brennan, Paul Volcker, Cass Sunstein, James Clapper, Aneesh Chopra, Richard Holbrooke--they just join think tanks and wait for the power shift.  I counted 10 drug czars—Nixon began that tradition—and the probably has just gotten worse.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._executive_branch_czars

https://www.thenation.com/article/trump-kicks-off-the-return-of-the-czars/  (2016—but he wasn’t president yet)

It’s going to get even more nasty—guest blogger Michael Smith

“Mittens and Low Energy Jeb opine about what a nasty person Trump is and that he did something that they would never, never do.

Know what they also never, ever did?

Win.

Romney didn't win the presidency from Obama because he mistakenly thought niceness counted. Spoiler alert - it didn't. No style points awarded.

Lil' Jebbie couldn't even gather enough lift to get the nomination, much less win the Oval Office.

Look at how badly Romney was treated when he ran. On the floor of the Senate, Harry Reid claimed Mitt hadn't paid taxes in a decade. Romney allegedly hazed a gay kid in 1965, hair raped him with a pair of scissors and caused his suicide 40 years later. Bain Capital, Romney's old firm, caused a woman's cancer and cut her insurance two years after he left, none of which happened but the Democrats still aimed he was responsible. He drove across the country with the family dog strapped to the roof of the family station wagon. He thought women should be kept in "binders".

Low Energy Jeb's neocon bro, Dub, was called a drunkard, a dunce, a racist, a warmonger, pretty much every name in the book. Cindy Sheehan camped outside his Texas home for 6 years.

And remember the differences in what Obama, Schumer and Pelosi said at John McCain's funeral as compared to what they said during the 2008 presidential campaign. Either McCain had a twin or those three stooges are rank hypocrites.

Romney and Lil' Jebbie are idiots to think this is just political and not personal - because it is both political AND personal. To a Democrat, there is no difference between the two.

And that is why you have to fight the way they fight.

General George S. Patton said that "No dumb bastard ever won a war by going out and dying for his country. He won it by making some other dumb bastard die for his country."

I think we are about to see the nastiest election season of our lifetimes. Generally, the worst ever is thought to be the 1828 election contest between Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams - but 2020 is looking back and saying "Hold muh beer..."

The Democrats have set the rules of engagement and those ROE's are "weapons free".”

Cheering on the next recession

When Trump got the nomination in 2016 the experts (mostly Democrats working in non-profit "think tanks") predicted economic disaster. Since early 2017, the same "experts" have been predicting a recession. Our local news channel took the time out to announce one last night. Since they come around about every 10 years, someone will eventually get this one right. OTH, it seems some in media are pushing for economic failure so Democrats can have a crisis they will resolve by taking over more of the economy. They were doing the same in 2007. Remember the ARRA? The last recession was over (June 2009) before the first dollar to pay off Obama supporters was out the door. Then like the LA homeless, the Democrats relieved themselves on every effort of Americans to rebuild. They particularly enjoy terrorizing the little guy just building her business; after all, they've got the giant corporations on their side, like big tech and big pharma, who have the bucks to finance their campaigns and lobby for more regulation (keeps the up and coming stalled).

Here’s a really safe December 2016 prediction—maybe good, maybe bad.  World economy could suffer if Trump makes America great again. https://www.moneytips.com/what-economists-are-predicting-for-2017-under-president-trump

Predictions from June 2018—things are good now, but look out. http://fortune.com/2018/06/04/recession-2020-trump-trade/

Many forget the recession of 2000. How did President Bush handle that with the 9/11 disaster? Lowered taxes. Quick recovery. Congress enacted tax cuts to families in 2001 and investors in 2003. EGTRRA saved taxpayers $1.35 trillion over a 10-year period. Democrats hated this one. Said it decreased the government's "income." Note the cons in this article. https://www.thebalance.com/economic-growth-and-tax-relief-reconciliation-act-3305764

Democrats are at it again

I remember how the media chided President Bush for being a dim bulb, stupid, etc., but don't recall members of Congress going after him--at least not in speeches demanding removal from office. The Obama lapdog media shut up about that when comparing Bush's extensive reading list to Obama's i-pod selection--hip hop, etc. Trump uses Twitter the way FDR used the radio--to reach and encourage his supporters. It keeps him constantly trolling the press and his fans love it. What the media/politicians called outrageous, like the twitter comment about Obama spying on him, have been proven to be true. Democrats are deeply upset that President Trump is rolling back their eight years of "progress" toward complete socialism.  The Russia, Russia, Russia hysteria has failed miserably, so now they are going after crazy and not smart--but that's what they are. His 80+ accomplishments in 2017 are just chimeras in their exploding, failing minds. Like the ad I see on TV about the guy with dementia seeing things that aren't there.

Monday Memories--September 2003

Winds of war.  I think I know how this current situation in Syria will play out.  Big stories about WMD. Photographs of the horror.  A Republican president responds initially with support of both parties.  After action is taken, Democrats will decide to back off and stab the president in the back demoralizing the troops and giving comfort to the enemy.

I came across a letter from September 2003 while cleaning out my paper files.  I noticed this comment--not mine--about the media, especially the Washington Post, which I think has really become a useless source of information since Bezos (Amazon) bought it and even some thoughts on North Korea.  It seems things weren't much different almost 14 years ago.

"The Post bashes Bush every chance they can, though they were behind him on the war.  Their feature political cartoon is hilarious, and never flattering to the President.  He is always pictured with huge ears.  I have never noticed his ears--they must be somewhat large?  All these hearings, and everything else connected with the war makes me feel like "haven't we been there, done this before?" . . . Wonder if any of the boys on the Hill are thinking creatively about finances, or will we, as taxpayers, continue to pay the tab.  WWII has been over a long time, and all we need is one hit from N. Korea and it would take out a lot of our guys with little warning.  We just don't have the manpower to have troops stationed all over the world trying to keep a lid on things."

Not remembering that the Post had ever supported Bush, I attempted to track down what the Washington Post editorial board had said about the war in February 2003, and found another source that quoted it asking how anyone could doubt the seriousness of the WMD charges. The actual link didn't connect because later WaPo became very critical of Bush so I think the link was disabled at their end. These days, WaPo might as well be a mouth piece from a foreign, hostile government.

The news is on in the background as I draft this.  It really does sound like nothing has changed.

The inauguration

"President and Mrs. George W. Bush will attend the 58th Presidential Inauguration Ceremony on January 20, 2017, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. They are pleased to be able to witness the peaceful transfer of power - a hallmark of American democracy - and swearing-in of President Trump and Vice President Pence."  From the President's Facebook wall.

Play ball--after 9/11

Prophetic words from President Bush

"I know some in Washington would like us to start leaving Iraq now. To begin withdrawing before our commanders tell us we are ready would be dangerous for Iraq, for the region, and for the United States. It would mean surrendering the future of Iraq to al Qaeda. It would mean that we'd be risking mass killings on a horrific scale. It would mean we'd allow the terrorists to establish a safe haven in Iraq to replace the one they lost in Afghanistan. It would mean increasing the probability that American troops would have to return at some later date to confront an enemy that is even more dangerous." G.W. Bush, July 12, 2007

It looks like Bush understood the danger much more than Obama.

The daily memo

The President apparently gets his daily briefings as memos rather than in person the way other presidents have done. Seems they pile up unread. WaPo reported 2 years ago: "During his first 1,225 days in office, Obama attended his PDB just 536 times — or 43.8 percent of the time. During 2011 and the first half of 2012, his attendance became even less frequent — falling to just over 38 percent. By contrast, Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush almost never missed his daily intelligence meeting." That explains a lot.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-is-obama-skipping-more-than-half-of-his-daily-intelligence-meetings/2012/09/10/6624afe8-fb49-11e1-b153-218509a954e1_story.html

“. . . the former president held his intelligence meeting six days a week, no exceptions — usually with the vice president, the White House chief of staff, the national security adviser, the director of National Intelligence, or their deputies, and CIA briefers in attendance. Once a week, he held an expanded Homeland Security briefing that included the Homeland Security adviser, the FBI director and other homeland security officials. Bush also did more than 100 hour-long “deep dives” in which he invited intelligence analysts into the Oval Office to get their unvarnished and sometimes differing views. Such meetings deepened the president’s understanding of the issues and helped analysts better understand the problems with which he was wrestling.”

Like or hate Bush, he was more engaged and relied on a stronger base of knowledge than Obama, who seems to  believe he knows more than everyone in the room, or the world.

Ten, twenty, thirty and forty years of presidential popularity polls

An interesting look back through the polls. 10 years ago, Americans were clearly disenchanted with the Iraq War (supported by both parties originally) and GW Bush's approval was at 49%; 20 years ago, Americans were unhappy that Hillary had tried to take over healthcare, and President Clinton with approval ratings close to Obama's now signed the toughest anti-crime bill which probably accounts in part for a 20 year drop in gun violence; 30 years ago the U.S. was recovering from a recession and unemployment was still a major concern, and Reagan's approval rating was recovering at 55% but had been as low as 35%; 40 years ago Nixon resigned because of a cover up of a scandal (just one!) and his approval rating had been as low as 24%, which was still higher than Harry Truman's in the early 1950s. (Gallup.com June 6, 2014)