Category Archives: national news

national news, political news

No honeymoon for Hillary

hillary

Let’s play out how many of us believe this presidential election will conclude.

Hillary Rodham Clinton will become the 45th president of the United States. She’ll be the second consecutive history-making president, following immediately the election of the nation’s first African-American; she’ll become the first woman to hold the exalted office.

Will she be granted the “traditional honeymoon period” that Congress grants a newly elected president?

You can stop laughing now. I realize that borders on a stupid question. It’s also a rhetorical one.

She won’t get one any more than President Barack Obama was granted such a period when he was elected in 2008.

I harken back to what Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell declared in 2009, that his “No. 1 priority” was to make Barack Obama “a one-term president.”

Do you remember that? That was Job One. Front-burner stuff. Forget working with the newly elected president to solve the economic crisis that was destroying our nation’s well-being. McConnell’s primary mission ended in failure when Obama was re-elected in 2012.

Hillary Clinton is likely to face the same level of hostility — if not a greater level — from congressional Republicans, many of whom she worked with while she served in the Senate from 2001 to 2009.

The leader of the peanut-gallery jeering section well might be the guy she’s going to defeat — Donald J. Trump, someone who has zero public service history, zero commitment to fighting for the nation at any level, zero understanding of how government works.

Honeymoon period? Those days may be gone for the foreseeable future.

national news, political news

E-mail controversy rivals Watergate? Hardly

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Donald J. Trump is likely going to lose his bid to become the next president of the United States, so he is bound to say damn near anything.

Thus, the Republican nominee has declared that the Hillary Rodham Clinton e-mail controversy rivals Watergate as among the nation’s worst “political scandals.”

Umm. Let me think. No, it doesn’t even come close.

Let’s review.

Hillary Clinton used her personal e-mail server to communicate with staffers while she was secretary of state. The FBI director determined there was no credible evidence to prosecute her over suspicions that she might have let classified information fall into the wrong hands. Now comes an announcement — 11 days before an election — that he’s reopening the investigation.

What do we know about the new e-mails? Very little, other than they came from a top aide of Clinton and might include communications with her estranged husband, a former congressman who’s been disgraced because of a “sexting” escapade with underage girls. It’s disgusting in the extreme. Scandalous? Give me a break.

Now, about Watergate.

Some goons broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters in June 1972. Investigators looked into it. Two newspaper sleuths at the Washington Post began snooping around. They discovered a White House connection.

Then they learned that President Nixon was involved. They found out he ordered the FBI to squash the investigation. Then came news about those infamous Oval Office tape recordings, which then revealed that the president used the power of his office to obstruct justice.

That, folks, is a serious constitutional crisis … not just a political scandal.

Nixon quit the presidency. Others went to prison. President Ford pardoned his predecessor.

I see no symmetry here. One does not match the other.

legal news, national news, political news

Come clean, now, on e-mail issue

FBI Director James Comey has told only part of an on-going story regarding Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton.

He has left the most important part of it out. Comey very well might be keeping secrets from the public. He needs — immediately! — to finish telling this tale.

Comey announced today that he has uncovered more e-mails that Clinton sent out on her personal server while she was secretary of state. Perhaps you’ve heard about these e-mails.

Comey then said they might amount to nothing, or they might be important.

Which is it, Mr. Director?

Eleven days before a presidential election, Comey has tossed a serious pile of goo into this contest.

Clinton happens to be correct to demand that he let the public know all the facts regarding the e-mails. No delay. No hanging cloud. No suspicion.

He has determined once already that he had no grounds to seek a criminal indictment. Now this?

Let’s clear the air. Now.

environmental news, national news

No thank you on wind turbines

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SANDHILL COUNTRY, Neb. — They love their sandhills in northwest Nebraska.

They love them so much that one sees signs that read “Save the Sandhills” as you tool along U.S. Highway 83 northbound into South Dakota.

“I wonder from what or whom they’re wanting to save the sandhills,” I asked my wife.

Then it became evident.

We noticed another set of signs: “Say ‘no’ to wind turbines.”

There you have it. They don’t want no stinkin’ wind turbines polluting the landscape in Sandhill Country.

Interestingly, as we noticed campaign signs for all manner of political candidates on the eve of the election, we didn’t see evidence of a ballot measure calling for construction of wind turbines. I guess, therefore, that the good folks here are launching a pre-emptive strike against anyone who might want to install the big-bladed turbines that have become part of the landscape in, say, West Texas, Eastern New Mexico, the Oklahoma Panhandle and even parts of Kansas.

This more or less cuts to another question: Do the folks in northwest Nebraska — what few of them one can spot — not care about national energy policy, or about whether wind power could help us develop cleaner, safer, non-foreign sources of energy?

I’m guessing they do.

Just don’t put the big ol’ blades in their territory.

national news, political news

No way in the world I’m voting early

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Some of my friends and family are boasting about having voted early for president of the United States.

Good for them.

It’s not for me.

You know my feelings about early voting. I hate doing it. I’ve done so before, but only because I was going to be “absent” on Election Day from my polling place.

This election has demonstrated in stark terms the risk one takes in voting early, especially if you’re a fan of that scoundrel aka the Republican presidential nominee, Donald J. Trump.

Had you lived in one of those state that already had allowed early voting, you might have cast your vote for Trump — and then learned about that hideous “Access Hollywood” recording of Trump boasting about how he treats women.

Then again, even that might have rolled off your snout — as have so many other things that Trump has said and done while campaigning for the presidency.

My wife and I will be available to vote on Nov. 8. I’ll wait as long as I can on that day.

 

national news

Do you speak Hindi?

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GUTHRIE, Okla. — I need to brush up on my Hindi.

That’s surely a requirement if I ever return to a certain fueling station on the east side of Interstate 35.

We stopped for fuel. Given that my wife and I were hauling our 28-foot fifth wheel behind our big ol’ Dodge Ram truck, we needed lots of room.

The Valero station we spotted had plenty of it. We pulled the rig next to the pump.

Then it started.

The pump didn’t have a card-swipe or even a meter to read how much fuel we took or how much it would cost.

I went inside. A nice lady was at the cash register. I told her I needed to fill my truck with fuel. She looked, virtually clueless as to what I had just said. She said something in return. I didn’t understand a word she said.

She appeared to be of Indian or Pakistani origin. We exchanged a few more sentences, neither one of us knowing what the other was saying. She gave up and signaled a gentleman to come over.

He was of the same ethnic origin. We talked to each other. Our understanding of what the other said rivaled my first encounter.

He came outside and rigged the pump so that I could pump my fuel, which I did. I went inside to pay the man.

My point? It is this: English is the primary language in the U.S. of A. I am as liberated and progressive as anyone on the issue of immigration. I love immigrants. I welcome them. I do not believe it is necessary to make English the “official language” of this great nation.

My grandparents, all four of them, were immigrants. They learned how to speak the language that rolls off the tongues of most Americans. They weren’t exactly fluent, but they could converse in the language of their adopted home.

My wish is that when employers hire immigrants to work in service industries — such as at fueling stations — that they ensure that their employees can communicate effectively and efficiently with their customers.

There. That’s out of my system.

local news, national news, political news

Amarillo voters reporting, uh, fraud … seriously?

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Well, wouldn’t you know it’s happening in this election cycle — amid allegations from Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump about “rigged” elections.

An Amarillo radio station reports that at least two Amarillo voters are reporting incidents of “vote changing.”

As Popeye would say, “What a coinck-i-dinck.”

http://kissfm969.com/early-voters-from-amarillo-are-saying-their-votes-were-changed-on-the-ballot/

The issue reportedly occurred when voters hit the “straight Republican” option on their electronic ballots. They reported that their votes were recorded for the Clinton-Kaine presidential ticket. They supposedly asked election officials to correct the ballot, but that they couldn’t.

You’ll note on the link that there’s no reaction from Potter or Randall County election officials. Did it happen or didn’t it?

The radio station went with the story told it by the voters.

Hmmm. Imagine that this complaint would occur this year — for the first time since the introduction of the electronic balloting.

Whoever posted the item for the radio station’s link noted that it’s always wise to check your ballot if you vote for either party’s straight ticket.

Me? I hate straight-ticket voting. I prefer to make that call race by race, candidate by candidate, issue by issue.

But that’s just me.

Do I believe the stories being told in this first day of early voting?

No, not until I hear from the election officials in both counties who heretofore have operated first-cabin voting systems.

national news, political news

Sarah Palin: MIA

palin

Here we are, 15 days from the presidential election and the question is burning in my gut …

Where on Earth is Sarah Palin?

You recall her, yes? The former half-term Alaska governor who long ago announced her support for fellow Republican Donald J. Trump. The former GOP vice-presidential nominee campaigned actively on behalf of House Speaker Paul Ryan’s primary opponent, who lost to the speaker by a million percentage points; she wanted to stick it to Ryan for his initial refusal to back Trump’s presidential campaign.

She’s disappeared from view.

Her Fox News gig has ended. Her reality TV show ended. Some of her children have been in “in the news” for less-than-flattering reasons.

Palin’s former 2008 running mate — U.S. Sen. John McCain — is in a tough re-election fight in Arizona. She hasn’t even campaigned for him, for crying out loud. Oh, wait! McCain has gotten into a terrible public spat with Palin’s pal Trump. OK, so that’s out.

In a perverse sort of way, I kind of miss listening to Sarah Barracuda making a fool of herself.

Oh well. This hideous campaign is nearly over.

Sarah, just know that at least one of us out here has missed you … more or less.

national news, political news

‘Ground game’: critical to victory

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Political pundits and media commentators I guess have become enamored of football terminology to describe political campaigns.

They keep referring to the “ground game.”

A report from The Hill tells us that Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s ground game is far superior to Republican Donald Trump’s game.

It means, I guess, that the Clintonistas are better — politically speaking — at blocking and tackling than the Trumpkins.

http://thehill.com/campaign/302231-clinton-holds-huge-ground-game-advantage-over-team-trump

This is a critical element in the campaign that has been evident for months. Clinton’s precinct-by-precinct, state-by-state apparatus has been in full mojo since before the party’s nominating conventions. They have ramped up considerably in these final days before the end of balloting.

As The Hill reports: “’Campaigns are won on the ground which is why we invested early to organize and register voters in this historic election,’ said Lily Adams, a spokeswoman for Clinton’s campaign.

“By contrast, Trump’s campaign, the Republican National Committee and state parties employ just 1,409 staffers in 16 states. Lindsay Walters, an RNC spokeswoman, said the RNC has paid staffers in 24 states across the country.”

That compares to the Clinton staffing level of 5,138 staffers in 15 battleground states.

What are they doing? They’re telephoning voters. They are registering new voters. They’re setting up get-out-the-vote drives, arranging for transportation for shut-ins to vote.

The Trumpkins are showing “little interest in investing in a ground operation,” according to The Hill.

Since I’m no longer predicting outcomes, I’ll just conclude that if the “ground game” is as critical as the pundits, pollsters and pols say it is, then Clinton is going to cruise on Nov. 8 to a historic election victory.

However …

As I’ve noted before — throughout this campaign — nothing about it is normal. The Clintonistas had better take nothing at all for granted as they head for the finish line.

Donald Trump, after all, wasn’t even supposed to win the Republican nomination for president of the United States … for crying out loud.

medical news, national news, political news

Hey, what about that Obamacare lawsuit?

I’m still waiting.

Remember the lawsuit that former U.S. House Speaker John Boehner filed to strike down the Affordable Care Act? It’s been filed. But I’m waiting for something to happen. Some decision. Some court motion.  Anything!

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But wait! Boehner then quit the House and went into private life. He’s still living in D.C., or so I understand. I’ve heard some things about him wanting to become a lobbyist.

Whatever.

The lawsuit, though, has drifted into the mist. It’s been shoved way past the back burner.

Has anyone heard of its status? Does anyone at this point care about its status?

I have wondered about it already. An earlier blog post is right here:

https://highplainsblogger.com/2014/10/gop-lawsuit-takes-another-hit/

I get that Obamacare, as the ACA has come to be known, still isn’t entirely popular. Yes, more American are insured now than ever before. The premium costs remain a problem.

But its legality? Is that really the issue, or was the lawsuit meant to drive home a political point?

Plaintiff No. 1, former Speaker Boehner, is now out of the picture. He’s no longer in public life.

I’m beginning to believe that the lawsuit is continuing to die a slow death … somewhere.