Wednesday, November 6, 2024

When Did Vice President Harris Lose the election?

When Did Vice President Kamala Harris Lose the Election? 1) When Speaker Pelosi led the charge to force President Biden Out? 2) When she dropped out of the democratic primary campaign on December 3, 2000 having staked out a platform on the far left, and couldn’t run against today? 3) When Harris announced she was running? 4) When Harris was anointed? 5) When Harris switched from a feel good campaign to Demonizing Trump and his supporters? 6) When she couldn’t think of one difference from Biden while espousing change? 7) When she and Biden sold out the Jewish vote to reap the Muslim vote in Dearborn, Michigan? 8) When she repeatedly failed to define herself? 9) When she chose Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota rather than Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania as her running mate? 10) When she couldn't escape the Joe biden shadow? 11) When she emulated the Hillary Clinton Campaign by hobnobbing with celebrities?

Monday, November 4, 2024

Predictions for the November 5, 2024 Elections

Caveat – If either President Trump or Vice President Harris wins by a large margin, then most of this post is irrelevant, or "garbage" to quote President Biden. Once again the pollsters will be wrong. If the election is close, the losing party will unleash a flood of lawyers on America; Judge will mostly be unsympathetic to the lawsuits. The Supreme Court would prefer to stay out of the melee, but might not be able to do so. The Lawyer ads will replace the political ads on TV. If the margin of victory is razor slim, then America will remain even more bitterly divided. Alternative A: President Trump Ekes Out a Narrow Win Psychotherapists will be working overtime for months. Peaceful demonstrations and marches will ensue, but so too will bloody riots. Universities will offer counseling to their students. Some, perhaps led by prominent Democrats, will attempt to disqualify President Trump under the Insurrection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Disqualification for federal office, extends House of Representatives, Senate, or hold any office, civil or military” of the United States if they engaged in resurrection against the United States. Vice President Harris could conceivably become President by default. That will end America’s democracy. The ensuing legal and political conflict would make the Bush-Gore spectacle of 2000 look like child’s play. The celebrities threatening to leave the United States if Trump wins will stay. Vice President Harris will join Governor Michael Dukakis (Who?). Where are they now? CNN and MSNBC will see a surge in viewership. The Jewish vote in America outweighs the Arab vote. The resistance already has a plan in place: Send in the lawyers. Alternative B: Vice President Harris Ekes Out a Narrow Win Many will remember the late election night activity of the battleground states in 2020. Philadelphia is notorious for “walking around” money. President Trump will not fade into the background. President Biden spent his time eating ice cream and biking along the beach. Vice President Harris spent her time hobnobbing with the rich and famous in Brentwood. Will she move the scene to D.C. or commute to LaLa Land? The Peter Principle in Action. The next four years will result in national angst. Many Americans will look fondly back at the Presidency of the senile Joe Biden. Fox News will become more outspoken.

Monday, October 14, 2024

The Harris Campaign Strategy Was Simple

Who is Kamala Harris? America wants to know! Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign strategy was simple: Run Out the Clock. Market her as a warm empathetic, moderate candidate. Hide her radicalism. Keep her out of meaningful press conferences and avoid answering probing questions, such as her past radicalism. The campaign is an update of keeping Joe Biden in his basement during the 2020 election. It hasn’t been working. She had the most liberal record in the Senate during her 4 years in the Senate. Senator Kamala was to the left of Senator Bernie Sanders. Ignore the fact that she is a radical San Francisco Democrat. She promises a new path forward, but when asked by 60 Minutes if she would have done anything different than President Biden, she responded: “I can’t think of anything.” Here’s what she wanted to ban: Assault Weapons Fossil Fuel leasing on federal lands and offshore Fracking ICE Internal combustion motor vehicles Offshore Drilling Plastic Straws She wanted to end the filibuster. She opposed President Trump’s border wall, but supports Open Borders. Indeed, the illegal immigrants would be on the path citizenship. She repeatedly donated to an anti-police, pro-sanctuary group in D.C. Does she still support forcing medical providers and religious hospitals to perform abortions over their religious beliefs? Does she still support athletes kneeing during the National Anthem? Does she still support taxpayer funding for trans surgery for prisoners and illegal immigrants? Does she still support changing Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day? Does she still support gun control and a mandatory buyback of assault weapons? Does she still support sanctuary cities? Does she still support 6 months family and medical leave? She wrote as Attorney General of California the “legal description” for Prop 47, the one that sparked the property crime wave in California. California voters are poised to overturn Prop 47 with Prop 35 in November. She supports Israel’s right to defend itself, but wants Israel to back off in Gaza. She runs ads in Dearborn, Michigan supporting the Palestinians and refused to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu when he addressed Congress. She refused to make the presidential candidate traditional presence at New York City’s Al Smith Dinner, which raises funds for Catholic Charities, also snubbing Cardinal Dolan. She did not formally support Defund the Police, but supported Los Angeles cutting the police budget by $150,000,000. She compared ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to the KKK. She wanted to cut the ICE and close immigration detention centers. She wants to stack the Supreme Court. The self-describer tough on crime prosecutor opposes the death penalty. She contributed to, and raised funds, to provide bail bonds for the BLM rioters in Minneapolis after the George Floyd killing, the Minnesota Bail Fund. She wants zero cash bonds. She wants universal medical coverage from the government through Medicare. She says nothing about her words at a 2018 parade in Los Angeles: “up, up with education, down with deportation. She doesn’t comment on her earlier support for athletes who kneeled during the National Anthem. She wants to tax “unrealized capital gains” on net worth over $100 million. She has steadfastly supported abortion tights – no equivocation on pro-choice. She wants government to lower, i.e. set, drug prices. Kamala Harris is a radical San Francisco politician, straight out of the San Francisco milieu of Gavin Newsom, Nancy Pelosi, and Barbara Boxer. Her father is a Marxist economist. Her two most important statements: I am a radical. I haven’t changed my values. Senator Bernie Sanders said it best: Harris is making a pragmatic approach on her policy positions “in order to win the election.” Vice President Kamala Harris has not changed her values. She just doesn’t talk about them.

Friday, September 13, 2024

Memo to Biden, Blinken, Sullivan, Obama and Rice: How have those Billions to Iran work out?

Was it $10 billion (I have trouble figuring out how much) did the Obama and Biden Administrations give to Iran? How many billions in oil revenue has Iran amassed because you lifted the Trump sanctions on Iran? Where did the billions go? Hamas? Hezbollah? Houthis? Getting dangerously close to building a nuclear bomb? Building missiles? Sending soldiers into Lebanon and Syria? Sending missiles to Russia? Certainly not into improving the quality of life of the Iranian people! How has loosening the sanctions on Iran worked out? How was lifting the Trump sanctions on the Houthis worked out? How have the restraints on Ukraine left Ukraine in a worse military position? Why do you believe sanctions, much less weak sanctions, will affect the behavior of tyrants and terrorists? How have the pressures on Israel help bring about a settlement and release of the remaining hostages? How has allowing Russia to complete the Nord Pipeline while cancelling the Dakota Pipeline help secure peace in Europe? How’s that cozying up to Russia working out? Have you ever admitted a mistake in your major foreign policy decisions? Have you learnt anything from your mistakes?

Saturday, August 31, 2024

Predicting the Michigan Wolverines in 2024

I stopped making predictions before Covid, having been consistently wrong. I would not have predicted 15-0 last year, defeating Alabama, and winning the National Title, not after they lost to TCU in the Fiesta Bowl. Michigan was consistently ranked in the top four last preseason. Expectation are not as high this year. Many prognosticators rank them #8-10 preseason, and many predict the Wolverines won’t make the playoffs. I think 8-4 to 10-2 is a good choice. The team had 13 players drafted by the NFL. The entire offensive line has to be replaced. They lost their star quarterback, running back, and wide receiver, two defensive linemen, and All-American defensive back. The early games last season were cupcakes. Not in 2024. The second game of the season is Texas, which will set the tone for the season. They also have USC and Oregon at home and Ohio State in Columbus. 2-2 in those four games would be great. Ohio State is ranked #2 pre-season with the best team money can buy, $20 million in NIL money. The Ohio State family can’t believe they lost three straight to The Team Up North. They had more talent than Michigan, out recruited Michigan every year, and were loaded with 5 star recruits. Michigan mostly had three and four stars. The Buckeyes remain in an extended stage of denial. Some believe Michigan cheated through sign stealing. Two stats matter. The first is the won-loss records. 3-0 in the past three years. The second is the number of players drafted in the NFL Draft. Michigan had 13 players drafted in the 2024 draft. The Team Down South, only 4. Michigan had 9 in 2023 versus 6 for the Buckeyes. Ohio State had 6 in 2022 compared to 5 for Michigan. The three-year record is 27 for Michigan and 16 for Ohio state. Which team had the best players? Michigan has two advantages over Ohio State. First, it may have taken longer than expected for Harbaugh to mold Michigan into a physical, old time smash mouth football with the offensive and defensive lines wearing down the opposing lines. Tight ends and fullbacks play a major role. Run first, then pass. The second factor is Michigan developed its players, especially the Linemen. The lines were mostly fourth and fifth year seniors. They bulked up, got quicker, and learnt their positions. Ohio state’s high recruits often turned pro within two years. The Michigan linemen were frequently substituted because the backups, starters this year, were equally good. However, Michigan State remains the sleeper in the picture. Michigan beat MSU 49-0. Last year, their coach was fired, players left, and they have a new coach. History tells us every Michigan first year coach since 1959, whether great, good, or mediocre, has lost to Michigan State: 1959 Bump Elliott 8-34 1969 Bo Schembechler 12-23 1990 Gary Moeller 27-28 1995 Lloyd Carr 25-28 2008 Rich Rodriquez 21-35 2011 Brady Hoke 14-28 2015 Jim Harbaugh 23-27 Only two Big Ten teams won a national title, Ohio State in 2002 and 2014 and Michigan. The Big (Ten) conference teams usually lose to SEC teams. Michigan’s offensive line won the Joe Moore Award for best offensive line in 2021 and 2022. They were runners up to Washington last year. The Huskies line was obliterated by Michigan’s defensive line in the title game, showing the Huskies were overrated. Alabama, Clemson, and Georgia won multiple titles with incredible teams. I place Michigan’s 2023 National Championship with LSU’s 2019, season long dominance with outstanding players at each position. Texas, USC, Oregon, Ohio State and Michigan State. Let’s see how Michigan runs the gauntlet.

Friday, July 12, 2024

The Lexicon of President Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr.

And by the Way Anyway By the Way Come On, Man For Example Guess What (Lying) Dog-Faced Pony Soldier My Point Is Look You Know This

Thursday, July 4, 2024

Will Judge MarchantJail President Trump or Dismiss the Case?

Will Judge Merchan escalate lawfare by sentencing President Trump immediately to jail? Will New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg pull the plug on the New York City case? It won’t be July 11, 4 days before the National Republican Convention. The Supreme Court Monday in the executive immunity case cast a strong shadow on the New York case and the federal prosecutions of President Trump. New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan has a dilemma. He presided over the New York City Trial of President Trump on bogus charges with the intent of convicting the President. Judge Juan Merchan was a respected jurist until he presided over the Trump Trial. He thought in his mind that his duty was to save America from the second coming of the “evil” Donald Trump Presidency. He could have sentenced President Trump to jail on July 11, 2024 with the intent of crippling President Trump’s campaign. He may have felt compelled to do so. The other attempts to derail the Trump Campaign have failed. Thursday’s debate shows America that President Biden is a dementia shadow of his prior self. On the other hand, Judge Merchan is not stupid. He knows his case will ultimately be overturned, if not by the appellate courts of New York, then by the federal courts on numerous constitutional grounds. That hasn’t bothered him up to now. The grounds for reversal are almost infinite: Constitutional Violations Evidentially Jury Instructions His problem is that he sees the Trump Campaign is headed to headed to victory, perhaps a landslide. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Toney was a highly regarded jurist when he penned the Dred Scott decision, a ruling which lives in infamy. He thought in his mind he was resolving America’s slavery problem. Instead he drove America into the Civil War. Toney was Chief Justice of the United States. Judge Merchan is a trial judge in New York City. The hubris of thinking he could effectively disqualify the nominee of the opposing political party is mind blowing. Judge Merchan is not, so far as we know, a corrupt judge, but reflects much of the New York legal establishment. The trial and conviction are the result of a host of constitutional violations by the judge. Let’s start at the beginning. With a series of inexplicable coincidences. Judge Merchan presided over the Trump tax case, the criminal prosecution of the Trump organization bookkeeper, and of President Trump himself. Judge Merchan is scheduled to preside over the upcoming prosecution of Steve Bannon. Judge are normally assigned to cases by lottery, but someone, perhaps the judge himself, assigned these cases to Judge Merchan. He knows what he has to do. Judge Merchan is bound by the United States Constitution. The Sixth Amendment provides the right to a trial “by an impartial jury.” The Supreme Court held in the 1966 case of Sheppard v. Maxwell, 384 U.S. 333 (1966) that a defendant is entitled to a change in venue for venues with inherently prejudicial publicity. His first constitutional mistake was to deny a change of venue to President Trump. The New York Times, the premier newspaper in New York City has the constitutional right under the 1964 case of New York Times v. Sullivan to denigrate President Trump in its editorials, op-eds, and even in the news columns. It has done so for four years fueling a hostile environment for President Trump. The composition of the jury pool was very liberal. Only 23% of New York City voters cast a ballot in 2020 for President Trump. Yet the jury selected apparently excluded all conservatives from it. Judge Merchan failed to sequester the jury at any time – not during the entire trial, the last week including closing arguments, or especially the five days between the closing arguments and the jury instructions. He also did not forbid the jurors from going on the internet, TV, or print media during this period. They would have heard a lot negative about President Trump from their “friends and neighbors.” President Trump has a penchant for speaking out. Judge Merchan hit him with a gag order, but did not limit the prosecution or Michael Cohen, the hostile witness who makes money by denigrating President Trump. Judge Merchan ruled New York law does not require specificity of the underlying crime. He may be right. I don’t know New York Law. New York may not, but the Constitution clearly does! The Sixth Amendment requires the accused “to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation.” The defendants need specificity so as to be able to defend themselves. Judge Merchan’s failure to force the prosecution to identify the charge or to require proof beyond a reasonable doubt brings to mind Kafka’s “The Trial” as well as violating the Constitution. Many of the underlying, not specified charges are protected by Executive Immunity. The whole case is contaminated. Judge Merchan should have recused himself. Judges have opinions and views, but they are expected to project objectivity on a case before them. He three times contributed to the Biden Campaign or the Democratic Party. The amounts were de minimis and New York held he did not violate judicial ethics. Then we have his daughter, Loren Merchan, who is President and a shareholder in Authentic Campaigns, which worked on Kamala Harris’ 2020 presidential campaign, the Biden-Harris campaign, and for Representative Adam Schiff, earning large sums in the process. Family actions, in theory, do not relate to a judge’s conduct and impartiality, but the Second Circuit just reversed the decision of a federal district judge to dismiss a multi-million antitrust suit against ten banks including the Bank of America. The judge’s wife owned about $15,000 in Bank of America stock. Judge Merchan violated a fundamental, albeit mostly uncodified, foundation of the Rule of Law: NOT ONLY MUST JUSTICE BE DONE, BUT IT MUST APPEAR TO BE DONE! Judge Merchan knows though that in the normal course of judicial proceedings the reversal will not occur until after the election. He also knows, I assume, that federal courts do not normally intrude on state court criminal proceedings until the state proceedings are ended. He would have done his job. The question is: Will Judge Merchan finally do the right thing and set aside the verdict on September 6? or Is Judge Merchan so locked into jailing President Trump on September 18? He wants to imprison President Trump, but the wise course for him would be to grant the motion to dismiss the case on September 6, castigating the Supreme Court for forcing him to do so. Alvin Bragg achieved his goal. He got a felony conviction of President Trump. He should pull the case before it is reversed. Call it a victory and walk away.