My (almost) daily quote of Kevin Williamson of “The Dispatch“:
“Washington effectively cedes much of the field to Moscow and Beijing—while demonstrating a persistent American inability to achieve American ends when confronting a third-rate power such as Iran. The American disability demonstrated in Iran began as a political fact rather than a military fact, but as the Trump administration wages relatively effective war against the American military—chasing out the most experienced and talented senior officers, depleting material resources, abandoning multinational training work, etc.—the American lack of resolve is becoming an American lack of capability. When we’ve run through all the missile interceptors without providing for their replacement, it will be of little comfort to know that our secretary of defense does a pretty impressive bench press for a middle-aged man. “
The lack of competence of this administration is really stunning. At least the first Trump administration had some competence and guardrails. This administration has no competence, except for competence in corruption and building up their own bank accounts. Best characterization I have read: “Donald Trump and his clown car of an administration” So true.
I am still not seeing a clear way out. Moscow, and particularly Beijing, currently have the upper hand and expect they will exercise that advantage soon (Taiwan, beware. Baltics, beware) Meanwhile our president occupies his time renaming bodies of water, micro-managing building projects and fighting to put his name where it doesn’t belong while “Rome burns…” Not exactly a great post to end the week. Is there any good news?
I want my money back…
I have friends that are post-liberal, MAGA folks. It probably goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: I have a hard time agreeing with their assessment of our current President’s performance. As I was pondering why they seem to post defenses of the President so frequently, I think I discovered the reason: They are afraid and defensive because they really do see what we “normal” Republicans see: A deeply flawed man whose vulgarity and narcissism really can’t be defended. Nothing says “I want my money back” more than someone who constantly defends a purchase. It’s the classic marketing ploy. You launch a product that was *supposed* to be vetted and eagerly anticipated by the market, just to discover that your market research was wrong and now you are stuck with a product you have to unload. So you over-sell. Constantly promoting the product as SO much better than what people are saying. It’s “New Coke” all over again. That is why MAGA folks saturate their feeds with how great the President is. They are having “buyers remorse” in spades….
What I also find interesting is that all of the comparisons to previous Presidents and administrations are comparisons to Democrats. That is a rather low bar. If he really is the greatest President that ever lived, why not elevate his standing by comparing him to other Republican Presidents. Surely Nixon was worse (not by much)?
So, my heart goes out to you MAGA folks. You bought a 4 year subscription to economic ruin, the disassembly of democracy and a staff of incompetents that will eventually completely erode whatever version of America you thought you were getting. You get to experience some of the pain that normal Republicans are feeling. It is actually MAGA folks who have the “Trump Derangement Syndrome” so often attributed to us folks who see the man clearly. Welcome to our world….
A possible solution to the Ukrainian and Iranian Wars
As I watched another cringe-worthy news conference at the Whitehouse the other evening, I thought to myself: “What would it be like to go mano-a-mano with Karoline Leavitt?” She has the same knack that Trump does to take any hard question and make the person who asked it look like a schmuck. Her scathing deliveries and blistering rebukes could reduce anyone to a simpering wimp, ready to do her bidding, rather than face another volley of hyperbole and lies. She really is a nasty person with a very prickly personality.
So, why not unleash that talent on Putin in negotiating an end to the war that Russia started with Ukraine? I am pretty sure that after a day or two of facing Karoline, Vladimir would say “Please, I’ll agree to anything, just take that woman away from here”. Problem solved. Using her as a “weapon of argument destruction” would be the best use case for her and her oratory talent.
Look out Iran! If you don’t surrender we’ll send in Karoline Leavitt!
Mean Girls
This has probably been noted before….how could you avoid commenting if you have ever watched a White House press conference, but isn’t Karoline Levitt the perfect press secretary for this Trump administration? She is SO perfect for it that I would suspect she was AI generated. But with the exception that she kinda looks like Lindsey Lohan, she apparently IS real, as indicated by her regular berating of the “fake news” reporters she hosts. An AI generated press secretary and a room filled with AI generated fake news reporters seems a little far fetched, although such a thing is probably not far off in the future. But, it all seems real and I haven’t seen any indication of 6-fingered hands, or three legs or even two heads when she is conducting her usual news-flogging sessions….
So, if all of these news outlets are fakes, why does she bother to even host the news conferences? One could assume she just enjoys the power-move of regularly dressing-down reporters and, there have been some doozies. I still watch with fascination though. It’s like Forrest Gump said: “You never know what you are going to get”. Will Glinda show up or the wicked witch of the west? It’s usually the latter but, you never know, that good “shoulder angel” could show up and convince her that kindness would be the better approach.
Pam Bondi seems to be cut from the same cloth. Just watching her face and listening to her during the recent hearing was both frightening and hilarious. Frightening because it is hard to believe that a professional in a very public and powerful position would speak so coarsely and unkindly to other professionals who represent the American public [kind of applies to most of this administration] but also hilarious because her responses were so ill-informed and inane. A decade ago, OK, maybe more than a decade, treatment like that would get you tossed out. These days the MAGA forces posting on social media say “You go girl!” – It ends up being depressing….
Your public face defines who you are (uh, DUH) and so the hardness and lack of charity that is displayed by this administration, particularly in very visible settings (press conferences, Senate hearings, etc) says everything about character. I wonder if Leavitt and Bondi are that mean in their family settings? I hope not (prison might be more fun). If it’s all an act, Lindsey Lohan has some real competition….
The problem with ICE
I am not talking about the immanent ice storm bearing down on this “great” state of Texas. It’s the enforcement of immigration laws where the problem lies. Stay with me here….
There are really two sets of immigrants that are in the US: Those that came unlawfully and those that didn’t. Yet, ICE is sweeping up both sets of immigrants without distinguishing between them, or even wanting to make the distinction. Before you think I am soft on illegal immigration, I am not. I understand that there are folks that are in a world where their daily existence is threatened by thugs and criminals. They are anxious to find a way out. Given the direction the US is headed, I wonder if I would like to find a more accommodating and more democratic place to live (Canada would be an alternative), but if I did decide to flee to Canada, it would be through whatever legal means that Canada provides. I have no interest in breaking the law in Canada to live there. But imagine that I did choose to go the legal route to permanently enter Canada. Did the paperwork, got scheduled for a hearing, was given temporary permission to enter while I waited for the process to grind through. I gave Canadian Immigration officials info on where I would temporarily live and I minded my P’s and Q’s while there. And then, Mark Carney goes off the rails and says “All immigrants OUT!” and I get dragged out of my temporary home and put into a detention center while waiting for deportation. I don’t know about you but if Canada had offered me refuge, processed my paperwork, given me permission to stay and then sent immigration thugs to throw me out, I would have felt betrayal and wondered just what kind of country goes back on it’s word. Why choose injustice when promised justice? I would label that as a lack of integrity and certainly an abrogation of established law. Mostly I’d be asking “What the …..?”
That is my objection to the current ICE raids on immigrants in this country. Whether you agreed with it or not, the Biden administration didn’t just “open the border” to immigrants. They put together a process, framed in due process, that allowed immigrants to come into the country and then await their day in court to sort out their status. They weren’t “illegal”. They had filled out the “paperwork” in an app, awaited their time to cross, came to the US sharing their information and where they were going e.g. “documented” and then waited as directed. Again, they followed a process lawfully that, behind the process was a promise: That they would be given a chance to make their case and stay. This was a promise by the US, not the Biden administration, not the Trump administration, but by the United States.
The breaking of that promise just shows how low this current administration will go to get it’s way. Having no regard for justice, or promises, and completely lacking integrity, this administration doesn’t care at all for past commitments. And THAT is what I object to most of all. We need secure borders. We need ways to determine who has come here without permission and send them back. But when WE invite and process folks so they can find some peace and possibility of staying here legally, we are obligated to carry through.
Breaking promises is simply something that an authoritarian country like Russia does, not the United States of America.
Political Theater vs effective governing
Pondering why the shutdown is hung up on on ACA subsidies? It isn’t the budget. It’s because our friends in Washington now live for social media instead of doing what is right for the American people. Why do I say that? Well, with government spending at $7 trillion and the subsidies costing $35 billion, a .005 change in spending won’t break the bank and it pales in comparison to the $400 billion in annual tax cuts that Republicans handed to their top donors earlier this year.
It used to be “It’s about the economy, stupid”. Now, “it’s about my electability, stupid”. Cowtowing to the folks who fund your election to the House and Senate is de rigeur these days. Doing the right thing is no longer the litmus test for legislating. “Will this get me re-elected?” is the phrase that pays…..
When a leader is not a leader
I read the The Dispatch on a daily basis. If you are a Republican who is not MAGA, or a person who is interested in unbiased (my opinion) political reporting, then you should subscribe to The Dispatch. There is a wide variety of content that challenges my thinking daily.
In an article published today entitled “It’s not too late for Trump to squeeze Putin” Eric Edelman makes this observation:
“The official Kremlin readout of the phone call the day before Zelensky’s visit to Washington reveals Putin’s praise for Trump’s Middle East efforts and indicates that Trump should have won the Nobel Peace Prize. He also emphasized that Russia was winning in all phases of the war in Ukraine and suggested that providing Tomahawks to Ukraine would have no military effect, while at the same time arguing that taking this step would be highly escalatory. Finally, Putin bemoaned the fact that ongoing U.S.-Russian differences over Ukraine were impeding the many benefits that would flow from an end to sanctions and the resumption of mutually beneficial economic and trade relations. “
You are not a leader if flattery is the reason you change policies, you are a weather vane: You turn wherever the winds of flattery blow you. Our President is just that. After a September 23 meeting with Zelensky, Trump posted, “I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form. With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe, and, in particular, NATO, the original Borders from where this War started, is very much an option.” On October 17th, after the phone call, Trump said “They should stop where they are. Let both claim victory, let history decide! No more shooting, no more death, no more vast and unsustainable sums of money spent,”. Basically, Trump wants to reward Putin’s aggression with acquiescence. My guess is that there was more than flattery in the conversation that made Trump reluctant to send Tomahawk missiles. Probably some threat to Trump’s bank account or investment pullback in Russia. Who knows? The TACO man comes calling.
Good to not know you, Charlie Kirk
I barely even heard the name Charlie Kirk before he was shot in Utah. So, I admit, I did not know the man. But after scrolling through so many posts about him in social media, it’s now pretty clear that no one really knew him either. I am not saying that he couldn’t be known. I am quite certain that his family and very close friends knew exactly who he was. I don’t doubt that, behind the social media facade, he might have been a good person. But if the only way you knew Charlie was through social media or cable TV, then you didn’t *know* him. You knew the person that the algorithm presented to you.
That is the issue with social media and cable TV. There is a carefully curated feed of content that is shaped to either incite or excite you. As I watched videos of Charlie he was clearly presented as a saint, or as a villain. Both Charlies were convincing in those roles, and although as sinners we have both sides of us to contend with, social media algorithms will tune in on what keeps you scrolling and reading. You get what you stay for. It’s a pernicious feedback cycle referred to as the “echo chamber” but rather than hearing just yourself, you hear what you want to hear to the exclusion of all other content.
Whether you are MAGA or Antifa, you are brought to the extreme through the magic of psychological manipulation. Social media feeds are really remarkable in the way the algorithms continue to evaluate what draws your attention. Even a slight pause on an item will tune the algorithm to show more of that content. Technically, it’s brilliant, but that brilliance comes at a personal and social cost.
So, I’m glad I didn’t know Charlie because for me that Charlie could only be known through media and I know what is presented through social media and the cable networks is “true” only to whatever the focus demographic is. It takes too much effort in these days of AI and algorithms to fact-check every post. So, on social media, I stick with just friends that I DO know. Trending folks, popular folks, politicians, social media influencers, nope, not gonna “follow” them.
So, where do I get my news, and is it any better than social media? Well, network, over the air local stations, plus PBS, BBC, and a few others, combined with a real, printed newspaper and multiple magazines, give me a fairly balanced view of the world. I suggest that you do the same.
Irrationality in the Republican ranks
I rarely hang out on Facebook and I think I have been to TikTok maybe twice. But I friend of mine posted a link to a TikTok video that I loved. You’ll find that link here: Keep America Ignorant I don’t know what this person’s political beliefs are but there is SO much in the current cultural war that has been made political when it isn’t. Why don’t more Republicans who love this country and who actual have rational thought processes get engaged in the battle for our democracy? Instead we have right-wing sycophants who follow a single leader and thought thread to the exclusion of all others.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s voter rights, CRT, or health mandates to improve the health of the commonwealth, Republicans are against it. Why is that? Because there is a single off-kilter person whom they follow slavishly. No, I am not talking about Vladimir Putin, I am talking about Donald Trump. Why do they follow this guy? Because of fear. Fear to think independently. Fear to lean into what is right. Most of these folks are Christian. How do they reconcile their terrible behavior with the Truth?
I am not the smartest guy in the room. I am just grumpy. Because of what I DON’T see: moving this country forward takes BOTH parties. It takes collaboration. It takes compromise. We see the current outcome of single party imposing its will on the people when we look at Russia. Shouldn’t that cause us to row *together* and save this democratic ship before it completely runs aground?
The Danger of “the believable lie”
If I posted every thought I had about politics and lies, this would be a depressing blog indeed. I have to admit that my thoughts and reactions have been evolving over the past 5 years of political churn so although I don’t post very often, I can see where two posts may seem in opposition to each other. On the subject of lying, my view hasn’t changed: The “believable lie” is the most culturally destructive force on the planet.
Anyone who can clearly discern truth and is willing to accept truth, even though it may be an uncomfortable truth, probably feels under assault daily. We focused on the obvious untruths that flowed like water out of the Trump administration, but recent events in Ukraine have reminded me that lying to shift the mindset of a nation isn’t limited to the USA. We see that Russia, the originator of the art misinformation to blind the masses, has one-upped the US.
What I find most interesting is that believable lies often end in violence. Early on in our history it was the lie of the inferiority of black people. That led to subjugation and death, which continues today. More recently it was the lie that the last Presidential election was “stolen” and that led to the insurrection at the Capitol and the death of several. Our penchant for accepting “little white lies” has resulted in us being able to stomach BIG lies; Lies that take on a life of their own, lies that hurt, maim and kill, not only physically, but intellectually and spiritually.
Listen to what Putin says about the Ukraine: That it has a puppet regime supported by the West. That the West is supporting Neo-Nazi groups in Ukraine that suppress democracy. He, and his supporters, say these lies with complete conviction and repeat them often which makes the barefaced lie into a believable lie over time. The same tactics my friends in the Republican Party use to press their lies forward. Say anything with conviction and repetitiously, and it becomes “true”. That makes this Republican grumpy.
I am not sure what will be the way out, both for the US and the nest of lies that drive the culture and for Ukraine and the nest of lies that drives the Russian forces forward. The solution used to be to find the truth and embrace it. But with more information available to us than ever before, our ability to discern truth and then accept it has become more and more diminished.
As a Christian, my hope doesn’t reside in the ability of people to “get it”. Truth resides only in one place: our Triune God. So, if you are a praying person, pray that truth, God’s truth, will take hold in hearts that both broken and corrupted by sin. There is only One Way out.