What Happened to the "Harasser" Joe Biden? The Attacks Did Not Work

The United States faces tremendous issues today: China Expansionism Russian Expansionism Iranian Terrorism Venezuela Syria Sudan Yemen Turkey and the Kurds Israel and the Mideast Hamas and Hezbollah Al Qaeda ISIS Rise of Anti-Semitism Cyber Security Russian Hacking Chines Hacking Iranian Hacking North Korean Hacking Terrorism Immigration Legal and Illegal Global Trade Opioids Energy, Electricity, Environment & Climate Change College Tuition and Student Loans Free Speech on Campuses Affirmative Action Inequality Homeless Criminal Justice Reform Prison Reform Public Pension Liabilities What are we obsessed with? Vice President Joe Biden’s hugs. We spent two weeks with democrats obsessed with Joe. The Democratic Presidential candidates sounded like an out of tune chorus railing against Joe. Will the #MeToo Movement claim Joe? Joe Biden is an empathetic, warm hail fellow well met. He hugs people – men, women, and children. He does not discriminate. He hugs – not grope. And now the sounds of silence on Joe. Why silence? It wasn’t working. Polls currently show Joe Biden with solid leads in California, Iowa and New Hampshire. Americans know Joe. He is a known quantity. The others are not. They know he’s a shaker and hugger. They know he misspeaks all the time. He’s transparent. They also know Joe is one of them – the “Common Man” if we can still use that phrase. He will never appeal to the AOC-Omar-Tlaib generation unless he becomes the Democratic nominee. He’s too old, too old school, not radical enough for them. He appeals to the non-elites, the blue collar workers, steel workers, voters in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. He’s one of them. He’s paid his dues. All the attacks did was remind the American voter that Joe Biden is authentic. Of course, Joe Biden’s judgment is often wrong on economics, foreign policy, and national security!

Did Turkey's Erdogan Lose Ankara and His Base of Istanbul? Maybe, but He Can't Let the CHP Opposition Party Take Control of Istanbul and Ankara

The Results from this week’s election in Turkey Show the opposition CHP (Republican People’s Party) Party flipping AKP strongholds Ankara and Istanbul, giving the opposition the three largest cities in Turkey. The third, Izmit, has long been held by the opposition. Ekrem Imamoglu, the CHP candidate, is reported to have carried Istanbul by roughly 22,000 votes out of 9 million cast. Mansur Yacas, the CHP candidate, carried Ankara by a roughly 4% margin with 50.9% of the vote compared to 47% for President Erdogan’s handpicked candidate, Mehmet Ozhaseki. Istanbul has been under AKP control since 2002. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has become a “strongman,” somewhere short of a complete dictator. He has purged the military, police, judiciary, bureaucracy, and institutions of education, both public and private. The former President of the Supreme Judicial Council of Turkey was imprisoned. Erdogan has won every election from Mayor of Istanbul to Prime Minister and President of Turkey. He has amassed power in the Presidency. He has imprisoned Kurdish politicians. Over 700 Kurdish politicians and party members have been arrested since campaigning began in January. He accused his opponents of terrorism. He controls the media, shuttering newspaper, magazines, radio and TV stations. Hundreds of journalists have been arrested and some killed. Scores of newspapers, magazines, TV and Radio stations have been closed. Only media friendly to the Government remain, shutting off access to the opposition, except for a few hours. Hundreds of journalists have been imprisoned. I used to daily read Today’s Zaman on the internet. The government shut Today’s Zaman down on March 4, 2016 and destroyed its archives. The government has blocked over 100,000 websites, including Dropbox, Facebook, Google, Instagram, Twitter, Wikipedia, and YouTube. Even China has been unable to totally block social media. It’s not easy to hide the truth in today’s world. President Erdogan built his success on a combination of a strong belief in Islam and economic prosperity. The economy was booming for ten years until his egocentric responses after the failed coup. The Turkish people are paying for his vengeance. The once booming Turkish economy is in a free fall. The Turkish Lira plunger 30% against the dollar last year. Unemployment is 10% with 30% among the young. Production dropped 4% last year. The tourist industry is hemorrhaging. The people know, see, and feel the pain. The Kurds, comprising 15% of population, will vote overwhelmingly for the opposition. So too will the families of the tens of thousands of Turks arrested after the failed coup and the over 160,000 ousted from their public and private jobs. The opposition also ran a well-conceived campaign. Up to three opposition parties challenged the AKP in past elections, splitting the anti-AKP vote. Not this time. The Kurds decided not to run any candidates this election cycle in Ankara or Istanbul, concentrating on their strength in southeast Turkey. The two remaining opposition parties united on a single candidate. They were also well-organized at a grass roots level. They knew the AKP has stuffed the ballot box in the past. They at poll watchers at each polling station President Erdogan is a vindictive, sore loser. More than that, he cannot personally afford to have the two largest cities fall into opposition hands. Ekrem Imamoglu pledged an audit of Istanbul’s budget. Any decent audit should uncover a trail of corruption. President Erdogan is corrupt. We know that from a 2014 leaked tape with him and his son. The police officers that exposed the corruption were sentenced to life imprisonment. We also know that corruption is a rag on a country’s rconomy. Loss of Ankara and Istanbul will result in the loss of patronage in those cities. The combined municipal budget of the two cities is roughly $5.79 billion (U.S. dollars). President Campaigned extensively for his party, making it a referendum on himself. The people rejected him – a blow to his ego. The next step is a recount, and then a recount of the recount, and a recount of the recount of the recount, until it comes out the desired way. Minnesota did that in the 2008 Senate race, ultimately giving Al Franken a 312 vote victory. Binali Yildirim of the AKP said there are 31,136 ballot boxes in Istanbul. All he needed was one additional vote from each ballot box. Ekrem held onto a 18,742 vote lead after a recount in 17 of Istanbul’s 39 districts. The AKP has now demanded the Istanbul votes be annulled. Hence they could start over. The government party is also contesting 319,570 ballots in Ankara. The AKP protests are ironic. It has a history of ballot stuffing. The 2017 election, which gave the President; i.e. Recep Erdogan, extraordinary powers, was accompanied by both ballot stuffing and ballot suppression with police actually watching voters casting their ballots with cautions against voting No. 960 ballot boxes contained only Yes votes. One estimate was that up to 2½ ballots may have been fraudulent. The President barely won the election 51.4% -48.6%. The 2018 election was characterized by widespread voting “irregularities” favoring the President. President Erdogan said two days ago “Everything is still ongoing.” President Erdogan ominously now said that now the elections process was over, it was time for the judicial process. Remember, he purged the judiciary; it is now of his creation. If the AKP cannot reverse the election results, watch the President do to the new city officials what he did to Kurdish cities: dissolve the government and imprison the leaders for treason. His government seized over 100 Kurdish municipalities in 2014 and jailed 60 Kurdish mayors in 2016. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cannot afford to lose Ankara and especially Istanbul.

Reflections on the Mueller Investigation

Representative Adam Schiff, who sees Russia Collusion everyone, is becoming the Tail-Gunner Joe McCarthy, who saw Communists everywhere, of our generation If the Democrats really want the full report released quickly, they can try to enact a law, signed by the President, requiring full disclosure of grand jury testimony, intelligence sources, and investigative materials instead of postulating. President Trump said two years ago that After 22 months, 19 anti-Trump lawyers, 40 FBI agents and experts, 500 interviews, 2800 subpoenas, $34 million, and grand jury powers, the Mueller Investigation found absolutely no collusion between the President or his campaign staff, with the Russians. What makes the Democrats in Congress think they will find anything meaningful? Our top intelligence and Justice Department authorities were engaged in a cabal, also known as a conspiracy or collusion. They tried to become the modern version of the Roman Praetorian Guard and the Ottoman Janisaries. Release it all: The full Mueller Report The FISA warrants The pen registers Phone records Release it All Emails The Page/Strzok emails Comey’s emails and files Brennen emails Clapper emails Clinton’s emails Release it All Benghazi Uranium One Clinton Foundation The Clinton emails Fast and Furious IRS/Lois Lerner records The unmaskings The attempts to directly or indirectly bug/wiretap Donald Trump, his aides, and Trump Tower Haul Them Before a Grand Jury The DOJ Roberta Lynch Sally Yates Bruce Ohr (and Nellie Ohr) The FBI James Comey Andrew McCabe Peter Strzok Lisa Page Rod Rosenstein James Rybicki Mike Kortan David Laufman James Baker Bill Priestap Josh Campbell James Turgal Greg Brower Michael Steinbach John Giacalone The CIA John Brennan David Cohen Director of National Security James Clapper Fusion GPS Glenn Simpson Christopher Steele The State Department Samantha Powers The Lawyer Michael Sussman& Perkins Coie Sally Rice Daniel Richman Hillary Clinton Cheryl Mills Heather Samuelson Huma Abedin Yes, Let’s Get It All Out Let’s Futher Learn About the Comey-Clapper-Brennan Collusion/Conspiracy - the conspiracy between intelligence agencies that attempted to select, not elect, the President of the United States. Let it all out, or appoint a new special prosecutor. The biggest winner in the past two years is Vladimir Putin. His goal is to seed discord among the American people. He succeeded.

What to Make of the Mueller Report?

What to Make of the "Comprehensive" Mueller Report? Nothing Yet!!!!! 22 months, tens of millions of tax payer dollars, and no further indictments. Could there have been sealed indictments? The Devil will be in the words of the Report. Trump Derangement Syndrome sufferers will not regain their sanity. The longer the Report, the more likely some words will be interesting reading. The Democrats are demanding a total release of the Report, hoping to find something. No Russian Collusion? Unacceptable No conspiracy? Unacceptable No Obstruction of Justice? Unacceptable No treason? Unacceptable No indictment of Don, Jr.? Unacceptable No indictment of Jared? Unacceptable No indictment of Ivanka? Unacceptable They got Nixon; why couldn’t they get Trump? Representative Adam Schiff is too invested in the Trump-Collusion Farce Whether 10 pages or 100 pages, the Democrats will run an electron microscope over the Report. The Never Trumpers will flyspeck every word of the Report. Innuendo anyone? The media will have to find something. Six House Committees will intensify their investigations. Subpoenas are being prepared as a contingency by the Committee’s lawyers. They will want the Report and all the background document. They will haul Special Counsel Robert Mueller and Attorney General Barr before their committees. Indict, investigate, impeach remain the coda of the Democrats. The Encomium Clause still exists. Banking irregularities? Deutsche Bank? Trump Foundation Tax Returns Southern District New York federal prosecutors House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer issued a joint statement: “The American people have a right to the truth.” What about FusionGPS, the Steele Dossier, the FISA reports, the Brennen, Clapper, Comey, Strzok, Page, McCabe, Ohr, FBI-DOJ Cabal, “the insurance policy,” Clinton emails? Who committed perjury before Congress? Any apologies coming? What about the extent of the real Russian interference in the 2016 election?

The Democratic Plans for Eternal Governance

Rebuild the Obama Coalition Identity Politics Class Warfare Let Ex-cons Vote Green New Deal Democratic Socialism Universal Basic Income Reparations Minimum Wage Rent Control Affirmative Action The Youth Vote Lower the Voting Age to 16 Free College Tuition Troll the Campuses for Proxy Votes Free Pot Social Media Block Conservative Speech of Campuses Climate Change Media Let Undocumented Immigrants Vote (San Francisco) Open Borders Eliminate ICE Grant Statehood to the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico Structural Changes in the Constitution, the Fabric That Has Held the United States united for over Two Centuries Eliminate the Checks and Balances that Underline America’s Democracy Stack the Supreme Court with As Many Justices as Necessary, Thereby Turning the Supreme Court into the Third Political Branch Stack the Lower Courts Eliminate the Electoral College Let California, New York and the Large Cities Elect the President Troll the Homeless Camps for Proxy Votes Troll the Potheads for Proxy Votes End Freedom of Speech for Conservatives on Campuses End Senate Filibusters Free! Free! Free! Free Healthcare Third Trimester Abortions Public Employee Unions Voter Fraud Anti-Semitism

What to Make of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Brackets? Nobody know

Three ACC teams and Gonzaga are number one seeds in the four regions. At least three of them, maybe four will not be in the title game and probably not the Final Four. Two Big Ten teams, Michigan and Michigan State are two seeds. Michigan would have to defeat Gonzaga and Michigan State Duke to make the Final Four. Both teams have outstanding defenses, but the odds of both reaching the Final Four are slim. Indeed, it’s possible that neither make it to the Regional Finals However, out of loyalty to Michigan and as an “adopted” son of the Great State of Michigan, I want them both to succeed with one winning out.. Kentucky and Tennessee from the SEC are the two other 2 seeds. Thus the top eight teams before the tip off are from three power conferences. Duke and Kentucky are vying for the One And Done Championship. Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, The Ohio State University, Rutgers and Wisconsin also represent the Big (Ten) Conference. Michigan was the only Big team to make it out of the first round last year. Since my first teaching was in Ohio, albeit it at ONU and not OSU, I will like to see the Buckeyes win a few, but their last half of the season was not up to TOSY standards. Actually, I would live to see a final four comprised of 4 Big 10/14 teams. If not, why not 4 Jesuit Universities since I also graduated from the University of San Francisco when it was a basketball power and nobody ever heard of Gonzaga. Anything is possible. But not for last year’s Cinderellas, UMBC (University of Maryland at Baltimore County) and Loyola Chicago with 99 year old Sister Jean. they were not invited to the dance this year. The Hall of Famer, Rick Pitino is missing the year, taking his game to Greece. Last year’s national champion, Villanova, plays St Mary’s in the first game, a classic clash of East Coach Catholics versus West Coach Catholics. Who’s this year’s Cinderella, or at least early round bracket buster: Yale, which could conceivably play Duke for the East Regional Title and academic superiority, Montana which could defeat the other UM, Michigan, in the first game, Liberty, Belmont Temple, Bradley, Gardner Webb, Colgate, Old Dominion, Iona, once of Jim Valvano fame, Old Dominion, once a power in women’s basketball, Northeastern, Wofford, or Abilene Christian? Will a 16 beat a 1? Remember, Virginia, last year’s 1 seed fell to UMBC in the first game. The Retrievers defeated the Cavaliers. A few are predicting Virginia to win out, cut the nets, and extirpate last season’s sin. That stain the Cavaliers recorded will never go away. Michigan handily defeated Appalachian State 52-14 on August 30, 2014. The 2014 landslide will never erase the pain of Appalachian State’s 34-32 upset of the Wolverines on an otherwise beautiful day in the Big House on September 1, 2007, a day which will live in infamy in Ann Arbor. The pain lasts to this day. I know; I was at the game. Appalachian deserved to win. They out coached and outplayed the Wolverines. Rumors are that several Michigan players started celebrating their impending victory the night before the game. A 15 over a 2? That’s happened a few times. Who’s got the hot hand going in? Auburn? Oregon? Oregon won its last eight in a row, destroying UW in the Pac 12 championship game. Can a 6 game loser, Kentucky, Michigan State, North Carolina, Texas Tech win it all? Could LSU under a recently appointed interim coach emulate Michigan under Steve Fisher and win the title? The best team in Southern California is the University of California Irvine Anteaters. So much for two coaches in one season UCLA and scandal ridden USC. The best team in Northern California is St. Mary’s. So much for Berkeley and Stanford. Cal and Stanford are both in the Women’s Tournament. Women do not get the respect, publicity, or revenues of the men’s basketball. Let me emphasize that the women play a better game than the men. They are schooled in the fundamentals. They play as a team. No one and done’s in women’s basketball. The women play and learn all 4 and sometimes 5 years. They also go to class. A team to win it all has have talent, coaching, a hot hand, lucky, and injury free. Zion Williamson is back for Duke, so Duke is almost every prognosticator’s choice to win it all. Zion and most of his teammates have trouble with free throws. The geometry of three point shots also confuses the Duke team. Those are major weaknesses in a tight game. Duke should win its first game against UNCC, six miles and several leagues apart. Your tournament picks are as good, or poor, as mine. Nobody knows. Give the brackets to the office administrative assistant who knows nothing about basketball. She might be the big winner. My one certainty is if Buffalo plays Michigan in the West Regionals in Anaheim, our 38½ year marriage will be tested. She went to Buffalo and I to Michigan.

Memo to Dems: Beto's the Man!

Memo to Dems: Beto’s the Man Democrats are flocking into the 2020 Presidential election, and dropping out, almost two years before the election. Senators, Representatives, Governors, Mayors, former politicos, financiers (?). The field is open. They’re trying to reunite the Obama Coalition: Minorities, students, labor, environmentalists, trial lawyers, and women. Sometimes it’s the messenger rather than the message. Most candidates are espousing the same message. Not much substantively separated Senators Clinton and Obama in 2008. Senator Obama could convey a positive image and message: “Hope and Change!” Think back three years. Most of the Republican candidates had the same platform, the standard Republican platform of low taxes, reduced regulation, judicial appointees. Many would have been excellent presidents. Only one stood out though. Only one could connect with the blue collar worker and mid-America. Donald Trump. He connected. Ronald Reagan connected. Barack Obama connected. Beto O’Rourke connects. So what if he had a sparse record in Congress. He wants to pack the Suprere Court with 15 justices. He is the King of Cool. So what if many of his positions are unformed. He’s a progressive. He has the forensics ability of President Obama. He sounds so profound, but if you look closely at the text, there’s not much there. He’s young. He’s telegenic. He looks like Robert Kennedy in one photo. He gets good publicity. Vanity Fair has him on its April cover with the cover photo by Annie Leobovitz. The American people are sickened by the politics of personal destruction in an increasingly divided America. They want the restoration of civility. Many of the candidates profess the ability and desire to walk across the aisle and bring the parties together in a bi-partisan Kumbaya. Several of the Senators showed in the Kavanaugh hearings that while they might talk the talk, they could not, would not walk the walk. Beto projects the aura, as did Francois Macron in France and Justin Trudeau in Canada, of a fresh face who can unite. Beto wandered after college, experimenting with a variety of activities, even poetry. He then returned to the family business: politics. Robert Francis O’Rourke is the epitome of White Privilege. Ironically, he may unite the modern Democratic Party, which is based on identity politics. Memo to the Dems: You’re auditioning for VEEP.