President Erdogan Won; Turkey Lost

President Erdogan and his AKP Party won the Turkey referendum to reform the Turkey Constitution by 18 articles. Turkey will now become a Presidential Government with President Erdogan able to stay in office until 2029. He won because he had to. He won narrowly, 51.4% to 48.6%. He won because he controlled all the media. He won because he has used the past 6 months to chill the opposition. He won, or did he? Was the count fair, or was there voting fraud? The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) questioned the election. It found “an unlevel playing field” and ‘not equal opportunity.” It said the vote "fell short of adherence to international standards." Was the count fair, or was there voting fraud? Election observers were barred from monitoring the vote. Was the count fair, or was there election fraud? The rules were changed on counting ballots during the election. The rules required ballots to be stamped when submitted to minimize fraud. About 1 million ballots, almost the margin of victory, were stamped after submission. A person who will suppress the press, jailing more members of the media than any other country, will not hesitate to stuff the ballot box. A person who has imprisoned or purged 145,000 judges, lawyers, teachers, police, professors, military, and soccer players. will have no problem rigging the election. A person who stripped opposition legislators of their legislative immunity is not concerned by the nuances of democracy. A person who closed schools and opposition newspapers will not tolerate dissent. A person leading a war against the Kurds in Turkey and Syria will have no qualms about suppressing their vote. He lost the vote in the three largest cities of Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir as well as the Kurdish homeland, but he still won, He polled 85% in much of Anatolia and along the Black Sea Coast. His victory may have been narrow and unexpectedly low, but he won. Fairly? The main opposition party is demanding a recount of 60% of the vote. They won’t get it. He does it all in the name of religion. He serves Allah, but he and his family have been enriched in office. He blames it all on the Gulen Movement, the Crusader nations of the West, the Kurds, the Nazi nations of the West, you name it. His response to the election results was to claim at the Ankara Airport that he won despite the attack by nations with the “Crusader Mentality.” He also called for a new referendum on restoring capital punishment to Turkey. He is vengeful and vindictive, but has a right to be so. The military imprisoned him when he was Mayor of Istanbul, and then tried to overthrow him in a bloody, abortive, incompetent coup last July. The tragedy for the world is President Erdogan and Turkey have tremendous leverage. The secular Turkey was a critical stalwart of NATO because of its location during the Cold War. Today’s Turkey is critical to the stability of Europe because it controls the spigot of Syrian refugees to Europe. President Erdogan built his support on the twin base of Islam and economic development. Istanbul was a basket case when he became Mayor. He turned it around. He fostered economic development as Prime Minister of Turkey. The economy grew at a 10% annual rate. The cities were booming. Turkey is becoming an economic basket case. The fabled Grand Bazaar is empty of customers; shops are closing The Turkish Lira is tanking. The tourist industry is moribund. His purges have struck the professional class and the middle class. His military adventures against the Kurds and in Syria are draining the economy. His fights against both Kurdish and ISIS terrorism, albeit necessary, are further sapping public morale. But he is winning. To a great extent the referendum simply formalizes the powers he has already accrued under the successive “states of emergency” imposed in the aftermath of the failed coup. One of the 18 articles grants the President the power to unilaterally declare a state of emergency. The government is planning to issue an extension of the current state of emergency, which expires later this month. Another article will make him President for Life, albeit not in those words. It provides the President can serve two successive terms of five years with the possibility of a third term, all taking effect after his current term expires in 2019. He’s 64 now. He can be President of Turkey for another 17 years until 2034. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I probably shouldn't publish this blog, but so be it.

The Good News for United is That Maybe, With Any Luck It'll Be Over Soon

United reinforces our dislike for flying. View flying today as being crammed like sardines into an elongated aluminum cigar tube. We recognize that’s the tradeoff for low fares and the freedom to travel almost anywhere in the world in a short time. We expect the airlines to treat us with respect. Every service business should treat its customers with respect. It risks going out of business if it doesn’t. Think of the retailers, large and small, who died or are dying due to poor service. We will even put up with nickel and dime fees for luggage, upgrades, entertainment, food, changes to schedules, and even talking to live operators. We realize that flights can be delayed or cancelled. Flying can be stressful. We love getting there, and look forward to returning. It’s the hassles of travel that are stressful. We may get lucky or unlucky with our involuntary seatmate. Just treat us with respect. Many of us created personal “Do Not Fly” lists. My two never fly again airlines were U.S. Air and Northwest. U.S. Air may have changed its name, but it remained Agony and Useless Air. Northwest was Northworst. United was my primary carrier for two decades. I racked up about 1 million frequent flyer miles on United. We took the family from Massachusetts to Kauai in first class on frequent flyer miles in 1994. United was good to me. That was then. Delta was my secondary carrier. Delta and United gradually changed positions as United’s service progressively deteriorated over the past two decades. The United pilots, flight attendants, and agents were usually friendly, but they could work only so many miracles with poor service. Delays were common and luggage late. On-time rates were usually the lowest in the industry. The last time I flew United was a few years ago. They took off from San Francisco to Orange County a few hours late on a clear day. It’s now Southwest for me within California. The 2010 United merger with Continental Air Lines promised relief to flyers. Continental, rising like a Phoenix out of bankruptcy, was soaring in the marketplace. Its great service was highly appreciated by frequent flyers. The Continental management would take over the merged airline. Thus, great management would restore United to its preeminence, That was the theory. The reality is that United’s poor service survived the merger. Indeed, for six years the flight attendants from the two airlines had separate contracts until a short time ago. Only United flight attendants could fly the former United planes and Continental attendants on Continental planes. Three reasons why Americans are outraged at United. First, it was captured on cell phones. We all saw the innocent bloody and bruised passenger being dragged out of the plane. Police officers and service workers should understand that a high risk exists of being captured on video if they screw up. It only takes a few seconds to go viral. Second, we empathize with Dr. David Dao because we can visualize ourselves in his position. Third, United’s response compounded the mishandling of the situation. United’s CEO Oscar Munoz’s first response was that United had the right to do it. All you have to do is read the 46 pages of fine print carriage rules to know that. United is now on apology number four, vowing it will never happen again. Maybe! United will be a case study in how not to both create and respond to a problem. We now learn that Dr. Dao was not involuntarily removed because the flight was overbooked. It wasn’t. It was full, but not overbooked. Four crew members dead heading to Louisville to crew a flight the next morning showed up after Dr. Dao’s flight was loaded. Their earlier flight to Louisville was cancelled for mechanical reasons. If they didn’t make it to Louisville that night, then that morning flight would be cancelled, costing United, technically Republic Airlines and United, money and grief the next morning. Now it is going to cost United millions of dollars in costs and legal settlements. Dr. Dao has hired a great Chicago trial lawyer to represent him. More has come out about United’s poor customer relations. An almost similar incident occurred two weeks. An Irvine financial manager paid the $1,000 full fare to fly first class from Kauai to Los Angeles on United. He was seated, sipping on a complimentary orange juice, when a gate agent rushed on board and told him to get off because they needed to give his seat to someone more important. United threatened to put him in handcuffs if he didn’t comply. Just a few days ago a scorpion fell out of an overhead luggage bin and stung a passenger. And check out the United Airlines YouTube video of breaking guitars. That was the infamous video United was known for prior to Dr. Dao. United better hope the worse is over.

Hillary Clinton is Still in Denial About How She Lost to Donald Trump: Is it Misogynistic, Deplorable White Women?

Hillary Clinton is Still in Denial About How She Lost to Donald Trump Secretary of State Hillary Clinton still can’t believe she lost the Presidency to Donald Trump. Thus, she still cannot understand how she lost to him. She lost because Hillary is Hillary. Introspection is not a Hillary Clinton virtue. She thinks she lost because of the Russian hacking, the Wikileaks email leaks, FBI Director Comey, and misogyny. America was not, in her mind, ready to accept a woman as President. She said “certainly, misogyny played a part.” She added “Some people, women included, had real problems” with a female candidate. Prior to 2000, It was inconceivable that America would elect an African American as President. Whites voted for him rather than her. Were the American voters misogynist when they went for Senator Barack Obama, an African American, in 2008 rather than her, a white woman? No, they chose the better candidate. Her arrogance and disdain for the American people came out in the general election when she called Trump supporters “deplorables.” It came out again two days ago when she called them misogynists. Thus, she did not lose to blue collar voters in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and almost Minnesota, but to misogynist deplorables in those states. Her campaign was based on two precepts. First, she would be the first woman President of the United States. Second, she was not Trump. Donald Trump offered hope. She offered welfare to the coal miners after directly telling then she would put them out of work. The Russian hacking did not defeat her. Polls show white women voted 53% for Donald Trump. That is why Hillary lost. The gender gap, men voting Republican and women voting Democratic, has favored Democratic Presidential candidates for decades. She won the female vote 54-42%, only a 12% difference. She lost the election to a white male who allegedly had issues. Were the 53% of white women who voted for Donald trump misogynists? Or were the members of blue collar families in America’s Rust Belt – blue collar families worried about their future? Hillary Clinton took them for granted while pushing the Obama policies which cost them jobs. She ignored her staff’s advice to increase efforts in Michigan and Wyoming. Her use of an unsecured private server hurt her. The apparent corruption of the Clinton Foundation hurt her campaign. John Podesta, or one of his assistants, falling for a simple phising hurt her campaign. She couldn’t lose, in her mind. She had the mainstream media on her side. She had the elites, the intellectuals, the intelligentsia. She had the campuses. She had Hollywood and the celebrities. Indeed, she campaign in Philly shortly before the election with a bevy of celebrities. Why worry? Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin had voted Democratic for President since forever. She didn’t need Ohio. She had the mainstream media, which was crucifying Donald trump. They still are. She forgot the people. They were enthusiastically at Trump rallies. Hers had small attendance. She outspent Donald Trump by a horrendous margin. She put together a rainbow coalition of core Democratic groups. She excluded whites and Christians from her coalition. She would win because she was entitled to the Presidency. President Obama was supporting her. She had the coasts and Illinois. What more did she need? The Heartland of America! She lost because she could not connect with people, the working class people of America. Bill Clinton could; Barack Obama could, George W. Bush could; Donald Trump could; Bernie sanders could. Al Gore could not. Hillary Clinton didn’t even try. It was visceral. She called them deplorable. To sum up, the distinguished Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is saying she lost because of misogynist, deplorable white women.

California's Democratic Legislative Supermajority Only Needed One Way to Jack Up Car and Gas Taxes

California’s Democrats Only Needed One Week to Enact a $54 Billion Gas and Car Tax Increase California is a case study in how fast Democrats with a super majority in the legislature can enact unpopular tax increases. California is an amazing state politically. Taxes have to be increased when the economy slips since the state budget shows a deficit. Taxes have to be increased when the economy is booming since the state budget will show a deficit. They can’t control spending. The general budget grew $36 billion over the past 6 years, but none of that increase went to highways and roads. Infrastructure is not a priority for the Sacramento Democrats. The affluent state which pioneered freeways is becoming a national disgrace with its deteriorating roads. The state is undergoing an epidemic of potholes. California has raised income taxes, the sales tax, and cigarette taxes in the past couple of years, but it’s never enough. California has the nation’s highest income tax rates and state sales tax. It’s way up there in gas taxes and cigarette taxes, but the sky is the limit. Governor Jerry Brown ignored the state’s highways and roads in his first 8 years as governor. Now 6 years into his second 8 years, he suddenly discovered them. Or not! The state has a $59 billion deferred maintenance tab for the highways and $78 billion for local roads and streets. He proposed a week ago with the Democratic legislative leadership a bundle of car and gas taxes. He exclaimed it was time to fix the roads. He said it was good for the environment. Here’s the details. First is a 43% increase in the state’s gas tax from 18cents/gallon to 30 cents/gallon Second is a 125% increase in the diesel tax from 16 cents per gallon to 36 cents. Diesel cars have better gas mileage than internal combustion cars, but it’s for the environment. The auto registration fee will increase between $25 and $175, depending on its value. The taxes and fees will be indexed to inflation! Hence, automatic increases are programmed into the infinite future without the legislature having to vote on them. California imposes the sales tax on gas purchases in addition to the excise tax. The act increases the sales tax on diesel 4% from 5.75% to 9.75%. Don’t rush to purchase a hybrid or pure electric car. They don’t pay gas taxes so he’s imposing an annual registration fee of $100 on them. Remember, it’s for the environment! California has raised the gas tax in the past. The purpose of the tax is to pay to maintain and build our roads and highways. The legislature has diverted funds in the past to the general budget from the gas tax. But not this time, as Lucy kept saying to Charlie Brown as she pulled the football out. Not this time, the Governor said as the legislature will place on the ballot a state constitutional amendment that will prohibit transfers except for transportation. Therein lies the rub – the definition of “transportation.” The taxes are expected to raise $52-54 billion over a decade. $7.5 billion is scheduled to go to mass transit, the mantra of Governor Brown. Another $1 billion is earmarked for pedestrians and bike lanes. Los Angeles, the city built on the car culture, is taking some of its busiest, most congested streets, such as Sunset Boulevard, Van Nuys Boulevard, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, and carving bus and bicycle lanes out of them. It’s for the environment – not for drivers. State Senator Scott Weiner of San Francisco says mass transit needs even more. The tax proponents lost a Democratic Senator from Orinda. They had to get a Republican vote. The cost was high. Senator Anthony Cannella pf Ceres agreed, but for $500 million. $400 million will go to extending a commuter railroad from San Jose to Merced. Another $100 million is to build a parkway from the UC Merced campus to Highway 99. Another $427 million went to two legislative districts held by vulnerable Democrats in Riverside County. The proponents silenced truckers by including provisions to exempt them from future regulations on greenhouse gas emissions from commercial trucks. It’s for the environment. The tax increases are incredibly regressive, hitting the poor in the state, especially in the Central Valley and the Inland Empire. One can survive without a car in San Francisco, but not in most of the state. It is a tremendous increase in the cost of transportation in California. Farmers and truckers will feel it. Don’t worry though. The Democrats will blame the greedy oil companies next time gas prices spike up. The last governor to raise the vehicle registration fee was Gray Davis. The voters recalled him. Jerry Brown will not be recalled, but some of the legislators may be. The Democrats will keep raising taxes as long as he California voters let them.

President Trump Just Sent a Message to the World: America is Back

President Trump Just sent a Message to the World President Trump passed his leadership test today. He sent a message to Assad. The use of chemical gas to kill civilians, men, women, and children is unacceptable. He sent a message to the world. Assad, Putin, Kim Hyong-Jun, Erdogan, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Iranians should heed it. The United Nations should pay attention. He sent a strong, swift message to the world. Many pondered what could be done. President Trump did not dither. He acted quickly. President trump is unpredictable. He’s the successor to President Reagan. The Air Traffic Controller cemented President Reagan’s image as a leader. They threatened to strike. He warned against it. They struck. He fired them. President Trump struck the Syrians with Tomahawks. President Obama warned Assad against using poison gas. He drew a red line in the sand. A President should never bluff unless you are prepared to carry it out. Assad used gas. President Obama erased the line in the sand. He showed the world that he was not a leader. He proved it in both the Iran and Cuba agreements. The United State will pay for the Iran agreement for years because of a weak President. President Obama fired strong military leaders, especially Generals McChrystal, Petraeus and Flynn. He Hired political hacks as national security advisors, Donilon, Rice, and Rhodes. President Trump has hired strong, decisive military leaders for his national security team. Our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines know they have a leader. President Trump is unpredictable, but decisive. Unpredictability is good. Let the enemies of the United States fear the President of the United States. None of them feared the United States under President Obama. Let the tyrants of the world understand that they are playing with fire with President Trump. Let them fear the next strike might be directed at them. Let them understand that their naked aggressions of the past eight years will not be tolerated in the Trump Administration. Let the Democrats understand that President Trump is not a puppet of Putin. The Russians claimed two days ago that Syrian airplanes struck a rebel chemical weapons plant, releasing the poisoned gas. The Russians also claimed three years ago to have received all of Syria’s biological weapons. President Obama trusted Putin. President Trump and his national security team are not naïve. They lashed out at Russia. President Trump is a quick learner. That too is a message to the world. The Arab leaders that fear Iran should breathe easier now. President Obama began his administration with a world apology tour in which he prostrated himself and American before global leaders. President Trump introduced himself and a renewed America to the world stage with cruise missiles. The foreign policy of appeasement is over. America is becoming great again.

Is/Was Representative Adam Schiff Auditioning for the Senate or the Governorship?

2018 will be a banner year in California politics. Governor Jerry Brown will be term limited out of office. Senator Dianne Feinstein will be 85, but says she intends to run for a fifth term. Potential candidates are lining up for both offices. Those mentioned for Governor are Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, California Treasurer John Chiang, former Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin, and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Potential Senate candidates are Representatives Brad Sherman and Eric Swalwell, former Representative Loretta Sanchez, Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles, and Berkeley Professor Michael Eisen. Hanging over both races are hedge fund billionaire Tom Steyer, who has financed referenda campaigns featuring him. All Democrats; California is a one party state at the state level. It takes money and often public recognition to win statewide election in California. The state is too large with several distinct media markets. All of these announced and potential candidates should be able to raise money. Several are open to vicious character attacks. The question is who will emerge from the scrum? Representative Schiff had the potential throughout much of March. He was receiving daily media attention. As the soft spoken Democratic leader on the House Intelligence Committee, he has a factual basis for leading the Russian Connection campaign against President Trump. Representative Schiff was becoming a national figure in the Democratic Party. His soft-spokeness was an assets. He was not bombastic. He seemed reasonable eventhough he had to know that no factual basis existed for the Russian Connection. He also led the Democratic/media attack on Republican Devan Nunes, the Republican chair of the House Intelligence Committee. He demanded the resignation of Congressman Nunes for informing President Trump that he was being revealing to President Trump that his campaign and staff were surveilled, and then told the public. Congressman Schiff and his colleagues were in the cold. Congressman Schiff was in a tiff. Congressman Schiff was gaining increasing media time daily. His stock was rising. He could have his choice of the Governorship or the Senate. He’s been in the House since 2000. The nine term Congressman was unknown throughout California until the past few months. He was riding the Russian Connection to higher office. He was on a roll. He seized the moment. He led the chorus against Congressman Nunes. Governor or the Senate? The choice would be his. Then he saw the documents that Congressman Nunes talked about. He emerged chastened. Congressman Schiss is not stupid. His narrative was falling apart. He knows that former Obama Administration officials will have major legal problems. He stuck his neck out to far in what might become, despite the media, another Watergate. His argument was now we don’t know; that’s why we need a special prosecutor. And now back to the back bench. The audition is over. Congressman Nunes is looking better all the time.

President Vladimir Putin's Vision of Mother Russia

Russia President Vladimir Putin is easy to understand. He wants to restore the glory and power of Mother Russia. He wants the Russia of 1914 without the tsars. Vladimir is like his neighbor Recip Erdogan of Turkey. Recip wants to go back to the glory of the Ottomans without the Ottomans. He wants the old borders back, almost all of them. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania Finland He’ll take more of Poland if he could. The Ukraine and not just the Crimea Georgia and the caucuses Moldova Mongolia would be nice He’ll pass on the “stans;” they’re too rebellious, but he would exert controlling influence over their economies and politics over satraps. That goes for Belarus and the Balkans as well. He is not going to give the Kurile Islands back to Japan He wants to repress from Russian history the eight decades of Communism, especially the Stalin period. And maybe with the chaos in the Mideast and Turkey, he could finally achieve the goal of the tsars – control over the Turkish Straits He’ll love to see an increasingly weakened and humiliated United States, the collapse of NATO, and the end of sanctions. His biggest prize, a figment of his imagination and wildest dreams, is Alaska, and perhaps even Fort Ross in California. What he needs are rising oil and natural gas prices.