Senator Mitt Romney Neither Surprises nor Disappoints Me in His Contempt for President Trump: He Is Who He Is

Yes, I am neither surprised nor disappointed by Senator Romney’s outcries over President Romney. He’s what I expected. He despises President Trump. His OpEd in the Washington Post criticizing President Trump’s character was just more of the same. He echoed Senator Reid’s 2012 lies about Romney’s taxes by speculating during the 2016 primaries that Donald Trump’s taxes contain a bombshell. Donald Trump later replied by calling Mitt Romney “one of the dumbest and worse candidates in the history of Republican politics.” The war of words was on. Romney called Trump “A phony, a fraud … he’s playing members of the American public for suckers.” Candidate Trump called Romney a “choke artist.” The former nominee said he would not vote for Donald Trump in the general election. He said earlier today “I’m keeping a ‘completely open mind’ and am waiting for the facts” on the House impeachment of President Trump. The Senator is who he is. He is brilliant with both a J.D. and MBA from Harvard. He is a successful businessman. He turned the money losing Salt Lake City Olympics into a great success. He is a devout Mormon. He holds himself and others to a strict moral code. He has a natural bent to be a leader. But he’s a lousy candidate and politician. I voted for Mitt Romney in 1994 when he ran against Senator Ted Kennedy in the Senator’s sixth bid for reelection. He would have been better than the profligate Senator. Of course, Mitt Romney lost; he ran a bad campaign. He was running ahead of Senator Kennedy, emphasizing youth and job creation. His Bain Capital created tens of thousands of jobs. Then came Senator Kennedy’s devastating AmPad ad. Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital acquired AmPad, and took millions in fees out of it. AmPad entered bankruptcy. An AmPad worker, one of 250 who lost their jobs in the AmPad bankruptcy, blamed Mitt Romney for their unemployment. Bain Capital reaped $100 million from AmPad while creditors ended up with 2 cents on the dollar. It was compelling and devastating. I immediately knew Mitt’s campaign was dead in the waters. He had no answer for the ad. The ad created an image of Mitt Romney as a cold, ruthless plutocrat. He’s not, but the image carried through his 2012 presidential campaign. He also had no answer for it when Newt Gingrich raised it against him in the 2012 primaries. Governor Perry called Mitt Romney a “vulture capitalist.” I would have voted for Mitt Romney in 2002 when he won the governorship of Massachusetts. I knew he would be better than the Democratic opponent. We left Taxachusetts in 1996 for sunny Southern California. We left Massachusetts before Governor Romney imposed Romney Care, an individual mandate, on the citizens of Massachusetts. He also substantially raised fees, as if he were Governor Michael Dukakis. Governor Romney did not stand for reelection in 2006 because he would have lost. The Mitt Man can wear out his welcome. He sought the Republican Presidential nomination in 2008. He lost the nomination to Senator McCain. Governor Romney spoke at Chapman’s Dodge College in 2008. My friend was impressed by him. I was underwhelmed, quoting the Duck Test: If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck. I said Mitt Romney looks like a preppie, walks like a preppie, and talks like a preppie. Mitt Romney is a preppie, who could not connect with the people. He was also disbelieved because of his political changes. Republicans successfully seeking statewide office in Massachusetts have to be what’s called a Rhino elsewhere in America. Mitt Romney was necessarily pro-choice. He claimed to be a moderate, but said “I believe abortion should be safe and legal in this country.”. Then came the 2012 metamorphosis. He’s now pro-life. Governor Romney signed the strongest assault weapons ban in the United States, saying “Deadly assault weapons have no place in Massachusetts,” but then curried favor with the NRA in running for President. His moral code does not extend to convenient epiphanies by others. He explained “I’ve been as consistent as human beings can be.” Thus he asked and received President Trump’s endorsement in 2016 during his successful run for Senator from Utah after seeking the Secretary of State appointment in the new Trump Administartion. Political necessity trumped his moral probity. He probably wasn’t going to defeat President Obama’s reelection in 2012, but his poor campaign didn’t help. First, he could not attack the President on the unpopular ObamaCare because much of it was modeled on RomneyCare, including the individual mandate. Second his three debate performance was bewildering. A clear consensus exists that he won the first debate. He was knowledgeable, confident, and assertive. President Obama was essentially phoning it in. Instead of building on his strong success in the first debate, he backed off in the final two, looking indifferent and out of it. He let Candy Crowley get away with a blatant misstatement. His debate strategy was inexplicable, as if he was confused by her statement. His presidential campaign died that night. Only he didn’t know it. The Governor’s inability to connect with the voters was clear. He may despise President Trump, but the Trump voters know Trump’s one of them. They don’t care about the President’s personal behavior. They don’t care about his tweets. I wish he wouldn’t send some of them, but that’s who he is. They know the mainstream media will crucify him for anything he says or does. They don’t care. Finally a candidate/President who is not politically correct! And now we know Senator Romney in a secret Twitter account has a nom de plume, “Pierre Delicto,” which sounds like the legal phrase “In pari delicto” It means “equally at fault.”

Michigan Destroyed Notre Dame 45-14; Hurrah to Harbaugh; POTFI

Torrential rain was falling in the Big House Saturday Night. Torrents of Wolverines were sliding through fightless Irish, who prepared a suicidal game plan, or was it arrogance. The Domers had two weeks to prepare for the game; the weather forecast had been ominous for days. Yet they were unprepared! Go figure! Touchdown Jesus doesn’t do road trips. The Four Horsemen on the Apocalypse, Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley, and Layden have long since faded into the sunset. Rockne, Leahy, Parseghian, and Holtz can’t help. Brian Kelly was on his own. His face was frozen except when berating players or scowling at officials. Michigan went to the run; Notre dame to QB Ian Book in a driving torrential rainstorm. He recorded 73 passing yards on 11 completions out of 29 attempts. What were they thinking? The score should have been 45-0. The Irish’s first touchdown came after Brad Hawkins cleanly intercepted a Notre Dame pass. An official called a phantom pass interference call against Michigan. Even the broadcast booth couldn’t see a pass interference. (Michigan has received several questionable calls this season). The second touchdown was during garbage time at the end of the game. The rain was pouring; the winds were howling and Notre Dame called passes on 13 out of its first 28 offensive plays. What were they thinking? Michigan ran the ball on 20 of its first 22 plays and 34 of its 38 first half plays. Notre Dame upheld its reputation for weak run defenses. Michigan’s offense gained 303 yards on the ground. Hassam Haskins ran for 149 yards on 20 plays while Zach Charbonnet rushed for 74 yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns for the Wolverines. Notre Dame’s total yards gained rushing were 47 and 160 overall. Tony Jones, Jr, Notre dame’s great running, back had 18 yards on 6 carries. His blockers were AWOL. Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris has a lead contamination cleanup problem. Notre dame football in South Bend has a lead foot problem. Two magnificent catches by Chase Claypool for 42 yards. That was his total. Of course Michigan poured it on Notre Dame in the pouring rain. Notre Dame would have done the same if it had the chance. The Michigan-Notre Dame rivalry has a tortured history. Michigan’s great Fielding Yost believed Notre Dame was cheating, so he stopped scheduling Notre Dame in 1908. He later blocked Notre Dame’s entry into the Big Ten. Notre Dame remained an independent, the most successful in college football history. The two college football goliaths of the Midwest met twice during World War II, but that was just a lull. The Michigan-Notre Dame rivalry resumed in 1978, creating an instant modern rivalry to join the Notre Dame - USC, Michigan - Ohio State, and Michigan - Michigan State rivalries. Notre Dame’s athletic director cancelled the series after the 2014 game – a great loss for college football. The two teams proved their equality after the century hiatus with each winning 17 games in the revival. Some were blowouts, and some final second miracles. All were great games. They won’t play again until 2033 unless they meet in a bowl game.

The Kurds, the Turks, and the President Trump

The Kurds and Turks have been fighting seemingly continuously since 1514 when Sultan Selim annexed Western Armenia and Kurdistan into the Ottoman Empire. The Kurds are consistently on the losing side in the Turk-Kurd conflicts.. Yet the Kurds persevere driven by an eternal quest for independence. They are also great fighters; they fight for independence even when it seems futile. Sultan Mehmet in conquering Constantinople in 1453 realized he possessed a once great but now empty city. He needed to repopulate it; hence be brought in people from throughout the Empire, regardless of religion or ethniciy. The Sultans may have denied certain rights to non-Muslims, but tolerated them. The Greek Orthodox Patriarch was moved to Istanbul, the former Constantinople. The Ottoman tolerance for non-Muslims ended with Sultan Abdul Hamid II in 1894-6 when he unleashed a series of pogroms against the Armenians, killing an estimated 200,000, initiating three decades of religious cleansing in Turkey. The Three Pashas of the Young Turks initiated the Armenian Genocide in Southeast Turkey, their historic homeland, by slaughtering an estimated 1.5 Armenians, as well as Assyrians and Greeks. Several Kurdish groups assisted the Turks in their genocide, but others sheltered Armenians. The Kurds filled the vacuum in Southeast Turkey by settling in the former Armenian lands. Kurdish leaders have since apologized for their ancestors participation in the genocide. The Turks have not acknowledged the slaughter as a genocide. Turkey Prime Minister Adnan Menderes was heavily involved in the September 1955 Istanbul Pogrom directed at the Greek minority in Turkey. A mass migration of the remaining Greeks followed. Only about 7,000 Greeks remained in Turkey by 1978, down from 119,882 in 1922. The Kurds are Muslims, mostly Sunni, so religious intolerance is not President Erdogan’s problems with them. It’s their eternal guest for quasi-independence if not full independence. The Sultans had reached a modus vivendi with the Kurds. The two would mostly leave each other alone as long as the Kurds were submissive. Then came the breakup of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War II. The Kurds were promised a country of their own in what is now Southeast Turkey, Northern Syria, Northern Iraq, and Northwest Iran. The 1919 Treaty of Serves between the victorious countries and a weakened Sultan dismembered the Ottoman Empire creating an independent Kurdistan. It divided Turkey into pieces with the Greeks getting the larger pieces. Mustafa Kemal, now known as Ataturk, had other ideas. He rallied the defeated Turks, and won Turkey’s independence. The British, French, and Italians saw the writing on the wall and left Turkey. The Greeks were decisively defeated. Ataturk won an independent Turkey with the present boundaries. He was not going to give the Kurds a part of Turkey as an independent country. In addition, the British realized Northern Iraq, the Kurds’ home, contained most of Iraq’s large oil fields. There was to be no independent Kurdistan pursuant to the 1823 Treaty of Lausanne. The Kurds were betrayed for the first, but certainly not the last time of over the past 100 years. The Kurds rebelled against the Turks in 1925, 1930, and 1937-8 and in Iran in 1920. They lost each time. Iraq and Iran fought in 1974-75 with the Iranians providing support to the Kurds. A 1975 settlement between the two required Iran to cut off support of the Kurds. The United States followed suit in ceasing supporting the Kurds. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger famously said: “Covert action should not be confused with missionary work.” Another betrayal! Allies and allegiances in the Mideast are usually allies of convenience. They are transitory, can shift on a moment’s notice. The United States and Israel are locked together, as are most likely the U.S., Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. The Kurds have already turned to the Syrian Army with the Russians as allies. They had been negotiating with the Syrians prior to President Trump’s decision. President George H. W. Bush during the first Gulf War encouraged the Kurds and other Iraqi to rebel. The war ended. Saddam Hussein unleashed his helicopters and tanks on the Kurds. The U.S. backed off. Another betrayal. Yet, the Kurds persevered and ended up with a quasi-independent Kurdish The media’s sudden concern with the fates of the Kurds is motivated by the desire to disparage President Trump. The media has been oblivious to the three year war President Erdogan has been waging on Turkey’s Kurds. He has unleashed his military and death squads on the Kurds in the name of fighting terrorism. He claims the Syrian Kurds are allied with the PKK, the Kurdish Workers Party, labeled a terrorist organization by both Turkey and the United States. He is also scared that a united Iraq-Syria semi-independent Kurdistan would pose a threat to Turkey, making it difficult to hold onto Southeast Turkey. The media applauded President Obama when he pulled American forces out of Iraq. President Obama started the process of pulling out of Iraq and the Mideast. President Trump is accelerating it. President Erdogan is a Mideast dictator, who emulates the former Ottoman Empire. He is no more capable of restoring the Ottoman’s glory than Benito Mussolini could restore the Roman Empire. President Erdogan is totally untrustworthy. He and his son are corrupt. One of President Trump’s campaign’s promises was to get out of these endless wars in the Mideast in which the United States does not have a stake. The signs were on the wall that he would pull American soldiers out of much of the volatile Mideast. He saw no reason to shed for further precious American blood in these endless conflicts in which the United States does not have a vested interest. President Trump was in a difficult position. American forces in many areas serve as a deterrent. If attacked the result would be an American response. Turkey is a member of NATO, but President Erdogan is a wobbly, untrustworthy ally. The United States was not going to war with Turkey to save the Kurds. Turkey also had great leverage over the United States with Turkey’s Incrilik Air Base. The United States has had a large presence at the base beginning during the Cold War. About 50 nuclear bombs are stored at the base. Therein lies the rub. If Turkey and the United States have a major falling out, the Turkish military could seize the bombs. EU countries complained about Turkey’s invasion of Syria. President Erdogan threatened to unleash 3.6 million Syrian refugees, currently in Turkey, on the EU countries, triggering another humanitarian crisis. President Erdogan claims he want a safety zone 250 miles X 20 miles along the Turkey-Syria border. Just coincidentally this strip of land is a highly fertile agricultural area adjoining desolate land. President Trump is accused of betraying the Kurds, our allies in defeating ISIS. 11,000 Kurds paid with their lives fighting the Kurds. The optics are bad for President Trump and the political consequences foreboding at this time. I agree President Trump made a tragic mistake in abandoning the Kurds. President Erdogan’s attacks were highly predictable and the consequences tragic. The Kurds will survive, as they always have. Someday they will be united.

What if They Give an Impeachment and No One Comes? Reflection on the Democratic-Trump Impeachment Circus

The House Democrats are engaged in a unilateral, not voted on, inquiry on President Trump. The House Republicans are excluded from the “inquiry.” President Trump won’t cooperate with the House Democrats as it is now conducted. Even Representative Adam Schiff’s “not really a whistle blower” whistle blower refuses to appear in public. Speaker Pelosi and representative Schiff are recreating the despised Star Chamber. No notice! No right to defend! No right to face and confront the accuser! No right to present evidence! Not to mention selective quotes out of context! Trump Impeachment is a Catharsis for Democrats, who are still in the stages of anger and denial. Democrats wanted to impeach Donald Trump from moment he was elected. They have yet to accept that this boorish (they think) outsider from reality TV defeated their anointed, brilliant, sophisticated, perfect candidate Hillary Clinton. She’s still in denial, blaming her loss on everything and anyone other than herself. She called President Trump last week “an illegitimate president” – she who rigged the Democratic nomination in 2016 to deny Senator Sanders – she who sought information from England, Russia, and the Ukraine to defeat Donald Trump. They’ve spent almost three years looking for an excuse to remove President Trump from office. They’re grasping at straws with Ukraine. Representative Adam Schiff is the Pied Piper of the Potomac, leading the Democrats where they want to go, but probably shouldn’t. Representative Schiff just won the non-coveted Four Pinocchio Award from the Washington Post for claiming he had no foreknowledge of the whistle blower who worked with his staff to draft the whistle-blower’s complaint, a whistle blower who belatedly went through channels, a whistle blower with only second hand, hearsay evidence. Where are all the other fact checkers quick to condemn President Trump? Where was the Washington Post over the past two years when representative Schiff almost daily announced President Trump colluded with the Russians? Representative Schiff has dusted off his statements from the past two years claiming proof of the Russian Collusion allegation against President Trump. “There was no there, there,” but he never apologized. Now he’s claiming proof of ???? I’m not sure. Schiff’s always shifting. Representative Schiff is the modern “Tailgunner” Joe McCarthy, who saw a communist under every rock. Why did Speaker Pelosi announce the inquiry even before she saw the transcript of the Trump-Ukraine telephone call? The Democrats’ rally call “READY, FIRE, AIM.” This is an extension of the centuries old struggles between a legislature and the formal leader, such as a king or president The United States has three equal branches, but this impeachment is an attempt to subordinate the presidency to the legislative (Congress), reducing the three separate branches to two, followed they hope by stacking the Supreme Court to rewrite the Constitution, thereby giving the Democrats. The House is sending out a flurry of subpoenas, which may end up as wallpaper. The Democrats are trying to quarantine the whistleblower who only had hearsay knowledge. Is it: 1) an attempt to avoid another Robert Mueller? 2) Build up the suspense? 3) For his/her own security? 4) Are they trying to take the steam out of the upcoming Inspector General’s Report? 5) Did Representative Schiff expect President Trump to not release the transcript, and thereby be able to allege quid pro quo? Perhaps all of the above, but the overriding reason is that Representative Schiff knows his ”whistle blower” has nothing; it’s another dud on the impeachment trail. Doesn’t this sound like a replay of Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings? They’re still mumbling about impeaching Justice Kavanaugh. The only thing missing this time is Michael Avenatti. How many of the Democrat Representatives know where the Ukraine is? How many even knew or cared about the Ukraine until the chance to pin it on President Trump? How many know who the Kurds are? How many of the Democrats, salivating over the chance to impeach President Trump, have said how painful a process it is? Is it just a coincidence that the Russian Collusion, Russian Dossier and the current “whistle blowers’ emerge from the intelligence Community? Let’s see if we understand the inquiry? 1) President Trump did not threaten to hold up funds pending an investigation of Vice President Biden and his son Hunter, while the braggadocio Vice President is on tape threatening to withhold $1 billion in loan guarantees. 2) Ukraine’s President did not know that President Trump had suspended $400 million in military assistance prior to the phone call. 3) The Ukraine had already initiated an investigation into Hunter Biden and the corrupt Borisma gas company Therefore impeachment proceedings are beginning against the President. Memo to Ambassador Marie Yavanovich: Ambassadors are Presidential appointees who serve at the pleasure of the President, just as FBI directors. We are told our Constitution is in danger because of President Trump’s behavior. Our Constitution is in danger because the Democratic House is attempting to impeach the President for personal and policy reason when no acts of Treason, Bribery, “other High Crimes or Misdemeanors” have occurred, at least by this President. The Democrats list their talking points, as of on clue: “Abuse of Power” “Betrayal of Office.” Echoes and cheering by the media doesn’t make it so. Contempt for Congress is not Contempt of Congress. One true statement of Vice President Joe Biden: “We place truth over facts.”

Impeachment II - The Constitutional Perils

On Impeachment – The Constitutional Perils Doing impeachment is going nuclear. The Democrats are playing with fire – Constitutional fire. The Democrats wanted to impeach President Trump the second it was clear Secretary Hillary Clinton lost. Impeach, Indict, Investigate became their mantra, in whatever order. Forget the facts; full impeachment ahead. Committee Chair Adam Schiff gave a bogus rendition full of lies of President Trump’s phone call with the Ukrainian leader. He called it a parody. Representative Schiff has been doing his best imitation of Senator Joe McCarthy for the past three years. No claim, no matter how implausible, will do. The media will give it substance. Proof would be needed in a normal world, observing due process. Former Ohio Governor John Kasich is not a fan of President Trump. He said you can’t impeach over a phone call. There are not normal times for the Democrats. They are still in the first and second stages of grief management: Denial and Anger. Speaker Pelosi announced the initiation of an impeachment inquiry against President Trump. That’s old news; they’ve been doing it from the beginning, even before inauguration. Their reckless power grab is a threat to the long term stability of our republic. Due process, indeed the Constitution, has been tossed aside in the past three years – Trump, Kavanaugh, anything to destroy them for political purposes. They fail to learn the lesson of Harry Reid. His Senate majority tossed aside the long standing Senate filibuster rules to install President Obama’s judicial picks to stack the federal district and appellate courts with liberal judges to preserve President Obama’s legacy. What goes around, comes around. The Republican Senate tossed the filibuster rules for Supreme Court nominees. Hence, Judge Kavanaugh is now Justice Kavanaugh after the most divisive Senate confirmation process in history. They are risking the democracy. Impeachment for political reasons is dangerous What goes around will come around The Clinton impeachment was payback for Nixon Someday the Republicans in Congress will try to toss a Democratic president, using this “impeachment’ as precedence. It’s all political. The Democrats have spent almost three years looking for a basis, no matter how slender, to impeach President Trump. They have wanted to impeach President almost from the minute he defeated Hillary Clinton. Congressman Al Green (D. Tex.) said right after President Trump’s election: “If we don’t impeach this president, he will be reelected.” Georgetown Professor Neal K. Kaytal, former acting solicitor general under President Obama, penned an op-ed in today’s New York Times. His tenet is that “Impeachment Needs No Crime,” even though Article II, §4 provides for impeachment for “treason, Bribery or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” Those are the specified grounds for impeachment. No other grounds exist. Professor Kaytal’s right in that while the Constitution requires a crime, impeachment is in fact a political act. Representative Nadler has been on a mission to impeach President Trump. They’ve spent three years looking for something, anything to pin impeachment on President Trump. They spent two years on the bogus Russian conspiracy cabal. They tried obstruction. Both failed with the Mueller report. If Robert Mueller’s handpicked partisans couldn’t nail President Trump, then Congress will not. They relied on Robert Mueller’s testimony, but he was a dud. Michael Avenatti and Stormy Daniels were good for a while. Now it’s a whistleblower and coverup. In the face of transparency, which was lacking in the Obama Administration. Always looking for something, anything, even if fabricated. Damn the facts, full impeachment ahead! Joe Biden said it best. He prefers the truth over facts! Representative Rashid Tlaib eloquently said a few hours after sworn into Congress: “We’re going to impeach this mother fucker.” She said it in front of her young son. The Representative is now selling “Impeach the MF” t-shirts for $29 for her reelection campaign. Damn the facts, full impeachment ahead! Damn the Constitution: full impeachment ahead! This country exists on the Rule of Law, reflected in the Constitution. The Constitutional values ensure the end does not justify the means. The Constitution provides the process for electing the President and process and grounds for removing the President. The Democrats want to overturn the election, without any proof of treason, bribery, high crimes or misdemeanors, by political chicanery. They wish to overturn the vote which elected President Trump. They can’t believe their perfect candidate, their anointed candidate, the perfectly flawed Hillary Clinton could lose to Donald Trump. They believe he must have had outside help, such as the Russians to win. The Democrats keep underestimating Donald Trump. They want to commit political, presidential regicide. It will mark the end of the republic. Mob rule will rule – a mob of partisan Democrats. The means justify the end for these Democrats. The end is the removal from office of President Trump, irrespective of the Constitution and the public which elected him. Impeachment without a crime on a purely partisan basis trashes the Constitution. The rights of all are at risk. Rights do not exist without adherence to the Constitution. Many liberals support the concept of a living constitution that can change judicially with the times. These Democrats want to ignore the Constitution. Speaker Pelosi has a problem. The story is that she’s not in favor of impeachment. She understands the politics. The reality is that she may not have a choice. 220 of her Democratic colleagues are publicly committed to an impeachment inquiry. They are committed to impeachment. The pressure will become a tsunami – for Democrats.

Impeachment I

Are the Democrats Trying to Impeach President Trump, Dump Joe Biden, or Both? Someone, a supporter of a democratic candidate for President, who had no first hand information of a Presidential telephone call with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, acted as a whistle blower complaining of President Trump. He wasn’t there, and hadn’t even seen a transcript of the call. (Transcripts are all that all available of these calls since the Administration stopped taping them after he end of the Nixon Administration.) We don’t yet know who the whistle blower is. We now know the actual words in the phone call. We now know the allegations in the nine page faux whistle blower’s letter do not line up with the transcript of the actual call. Both President Trump and the Ukrainian government deny any pressure occurred. Witnesses were on the calls and a transcript made of the call. Apparently the Ukraine President was unaware the funds were held up until sometime after the phone conversation. Yet the Democrats are immediately yelling “Impeach, Impeach, Impeach.” Representative Adam Schiff is acting more sanctimonious than usual in excoriating the President. The latest allegations against the President may merit impeachment: “If the President is essentially withholding military aid and at the same time that he is trying to browbeat a foreign leader into doing something illicit … then that may be the only remedy that is coequal to the evil that that conduct represents.” Former New Hampshire Governor John Sununu stated all of Representative Schiff’s claims are “pure unadulterated lies.” The Democrats are so desperate to impeach President Trump that they are relying on a faux, partisan whistle blower who was not present during the conversation and did not see the transcript of the phone call. They are relying upon a non-whistle blowing whistle blower whose letter was written by partisan anti-Trump lawyers. That’s the Hail Mary of Hail Marys. The Fusion GPS Russian Dossier at least had a scintilla of veracity with the Obama security officials (Brennen, Clapper and Comey) vouching for it. The nine page letter is a refined version of the false stories about Judge Kavanaugh. Note that John Brennen and James Clapper have become highly reticent. They’re worry about the “I” word, indictment, for their misconduct. Here’s what we think we know - the allegation: President Trump threatened to withhold assistance to Ukraine unless the country initiated an investigation of Vice President Biden and his son Hunter. In other words the President was enlisting a foreign government into domestic politics for personal reasons. President Obama sent political operatives to Israel three years ago in a failed attempt to defeat Prime Minister Netanyahu. The Clinton Campaign paid GPS and a British operative with Russian connections for the Russian Dossier to defeat Donald Trump. Here’s what we know: Vice President Joe Biden threatened to withhold $1 billion in loan guarantees to Ukraine unless Viktor Shokin, a prosecutor, was fired. The prosecutor was investigating corruption. Hunter Biden, the VP’s son, received a sweetheart deal in an appointment to the Board of Directors of Burisma, a natural gas company. Hunter was earning up to $50,000 a month from Burisma, which was being investigated for corruption by both the Ukrainian and United States governments. Hunter’s father, Vice President Joe Biden, was President Obama’s special contact with the Ukraine government. Hunter’s business later got a $3 billion sweetheart contract from China. He was unqualified for either the Ukraine or China relationships, both obtained because his father was Vice President. Hunter was kicked out of the Navy in February 2014 after testing positive for cocaine. He had earlier left a crack pipe in a damaged rental car. We know because the Joe Biden bragged about it on January 23, 2019 before the Council on Foreign relations: “If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money.” It’s on tape. The media and VP Biden are ignoring it or explaining the tape away, which brings us to Groucher Marx’s famous line in Duck Soup: “Who ya gonna believe me or your own eyes?” We know because the New York Times on May 1, 2019 printed a front page article “Biden Faces Conflict of Interest Questions That Are Being Promoted by Trump and Allies.” If the Democrats really try to impeach President Trump on the Ukraine, Vice President Joe Biden will also fall. Either they want President Trump out – or both. The more they push the impeachment case over upcoming months, the more Vice President Joe Biden will be scrutinized in the news. It’s not the news he needs or wants, as he drops in the polls. Why the rush to impeach? 1)Pressure from the left wing Twitters. 2) The recently elected Democrats from Congressional districts won by President Trump are scared of primary challengers. 3) Impeachment is their best chance to remove President Trump. 4) They’re desperate to divert attention from the upcoming Justice Department reports, and possible indictments of the Comey-McCabe-Stryock-Brennen-Clapper cabal to remove President Trump. They are projecting their own corruption (Biden) and Trump and perhaps trying to deflect attention from the indirect bribery of politicians through relatives, such as children. 5) Never Trumpers and Trump Derangement Syndrome It’s a nothing burger as the media abets them in making a mountain out of a molehill Gertrude Stein once said “there is no there, there.” Don’t let facts get in the way of impeachment. Every first year student knows a complaint is just a series of unverified allegations – not the facts. Yet, this Democratic House of Representatives is quick to believe an anti-Trump/Kavanaugh accuser – ready, fire, aim. They’ve done it continuously with President Trump. They tried it again a few weeks ago with new unverified accusations against Justice Kavanaugh. Even the purported victim denied any memory of it and no witnesses couch vouch it occurred. The allegation was made by Max Stier, a lawyer who represented President Clinton in his impeachment proceedings, but the Democrats rushed to impeach – for a couple of days. Dems are trigger happy on impeachment. They’re salivating, hyperventilating, and hallucinating Here’s another incredible allegation about President Trump: He asked a foreign leader for a favor - twice. Every politician incessantly asks for favors. Speaker Pelosi accused the President of abusing his power. Every Congress thinks the President is abusing his power, which most do, but then again so do most legislators.

The UAW-GM Strike is for the Future - the Future of Detroit

GM and the UAW are battling for the future not only of GM, the UAW, and Detroit, but also the American automobile industry. Detroit is facing an experiential crisis today and foresees a second one in the near future. UAW workers want job security, an increasing share of GM’s profits, wage increases, end of the three tier wage structure, and reopening of the Lordstown assembly plant and continuous of Hamtramck. That is the past – not the future. Detroit’s existential crisis is that Americans have reduced their purchase of sedans, Detroit’s traditional car markets. Sedan sales are down to 30% of the car market with pickups and SUVs’ 70%. “Made in Detroit” sedans, except for Mustangs, chargers/Challengers, Camaros and Corvettes, do not sell in Southern California. Americans are still buying sedans from Japan and Korea and their luxury sedans from Germany and Japan. A combination of high prices and poor quality has driven Detroit out of the sedan market. GM’s roughly $10 billion in profits, as well as those of Ford and Fiat Chrysler, is from pickups and SUVs. Therein is the upcoming existential crisis. Gas prices shoot up; gas guzzling SUV and pickup sales dive. It was $5/gallon gas a decade ago. Detroit collapsed. Chrysler and GM entered bankruptcy. Ford mortgaged everything. Detroit is scared of $6 gas. The collapse of the American sedan market has resulted with excess capacity of 1 million vehicles for GM. Assembly plants have to close. That is the reality for GM and the UAW. The market controls. GM’s workers are living in the past. They talk of the givebacks and concessions they made a decade ago. They had no choice. GM was bankrupt. Let us travel back in time to the two month 1970 UAW-GM strike, which the union won. Both GM and the UAW were at the height of their power. General Motors was by far both the largest and most profitable company in the world. It controlled 60% of the total automobile market, but that figure is deceptive. Cadillac owned the luxury car market. It was the (gold) standard of the industry. The Buick-Oldsmobile-Pontiac divisions dominated the mid-size market, while Chevrolet was the largest seller in the volume class. GMAC produced a full range of trucks, from pickups to big-rigs. GM dominated the motor coach business. GMAC was a money gusher for GM. Frigidaire was a major appliance manufacturer. The Electro-Motive division produced ¾ of the nation’s diesel locomotives. Terex manufactured construction and mining equipment. 500,000 UAW workers went on strike. GM caved because they could afford to. They didn’t have to worry about competition. They had the capital to survive any recession. The UAW was peaking with 1.5 million members. The Detroit automobile industry was roughly 100% unionized. Then came the two Arab oil embargoes of the 1970’s. Gas jumped from $3-4/barrel up to $50/barrel. Many Americans wanted economical cars with good gas mileage. Detroit offered big boats. Toyota with the small, seemingly always blue, Corona and Honda’s Civic caught on: inexpensive, high quality, and high gas mileage. Detroit offered big boats. GM’s leaders made the decision to cut by commoditizing its cars. GM devalued the individuality of its brands, such that they lacked identity. A Buick became a Chevrolet, an Oldsmobile and a Pontiac, and even sometimes a Cadillac. Take the Chevy Trailblazer, give it $2,000 in accouterments and voila, you have a Cadillac Escalade. Even GMC vehicles come off the Chevy assembly line, also with some accouterments. Detroit, especially GM, had trouble designing and building small cars; Corvair and Pinto became infamous. Chevy II, Chevette, Citation and Vega did not help GM’s image. Detroit could not compete on cost or quality – not even today. GM entered a gradual decline from 60% of the market to 17% today. Assembly plant after assembly plant was closed. Hundreds of thousands of workers lost their jobs – blue collar and white collar. Electro-Motive, Frigidaire, GM, motor coaches, Terex gone. GMAC – gone! Oldsmobile – Gone! Pontiac – Gone! Saab – Gone! Saturn – gone! Europe (Opel, Bedford and Vauxhall) – gone! GMAC – down to pickups and SUVs. Buick hanging by a thread with sales of 100,000 and few cars in the pipeline! Buick dealers survive by selling GMC trucks. Cadillac – down to fifth in luxury car sales! Buick and Cadillac survive only because of popularity in China. GM steadily declining from 60% of the market in 1970 to today’s 17%. $11.8 billion in profits can collapse overnight. GM knows it. 2009 – General Motors and Chrysler bankrupt. Detroit is a cycle of riches to rags to riches to rags. How soon the workers forget! The UAW workers want to share in GM’s largess. They received $8,000 each in profit sharing from GM last year. Ford and GM are both spending about $1 billion annually on health expenses. The UAW workers pay 3% of the premiums. UAW membership down to 430,000 members. 49,000 on strike – not 500,000!. The union lost 35,000 members last year. The United Auto Workers is in an existential crisis. Membership diving! Leaders in a corruption scandal! Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky and Wisconsin are now Right to Work states with workers free to leave the union. Ford and GM are going electric, which means fewer parts in cars and fewer workers. Failure means failure for the UAW, an increasing shadow of its former self - sadly. Globalization has been destructive of America’s heartland. The industrial heartland, centered around Detroit, has hemorrhaged jobs. GM’s 5 decades of insipid leadership hasn’t helped. The workers have paid, and continuing to pay, the price for a half century of globalization and bad decisions. The United Auto Workers at its peak built much of the middle class of the Midwest. GM is building for the future. The UAW is living in the past.