Category Archives: national news

national news

Trump finds ‘sweet spot’

Well, gang, it appears that Donald J. Trump may have finally — finally! — hit the ball on the sweet spot of his bat and has elevated talk about whether to remove him from office.

It took a threat to annihilate an entire population of Iranians to energize the discussion into the realm of possibility.

Yes, the POTUS delayed the deadline he had imposed for Iran to clear the Strait of Hormuz. Then he announced a ceasefire with Iran.

Trump had gone to war with Iran by bombing the daylights out of the Islamic Republic. Israel is our fearless partner in this endeavor,

Why the ceasefire? Perhaps Trump seeks fend off the chatter related to the 25th constitutional amendment that could be used to remove from the POTUS’s office. I know the stock market went nuts today with news of the ceasefire and Trump’s delaying of the deadline.

Whether he, indeed, has found the sweet spot and possibly derives some political gain, well … that’s OK with me.

I do not want to send young Americans to war. I took part briefly in another war a long time ago. I am certain we are in no mood to do it again. The sweet spot could bring us much more pleasure.

national news, national security

War then is different from war now

I have just binge-watched a Netflix documentary on World War II, thinking it would offer a poignant reminder of how a nation can be drawn into war, dedicate itself to defeating a determined enemy and then rebuild itself and the enemy it has just destroyed.

WWII, of course, produced the Greatest Generation of Americans, some 16 million of whom signed up to get into the fight for the nation’s life. My father was one of those 16 million, enlisting on Dec. 7, 1941, the very day we were attacked by Japanese air and naval forces in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Dad is long gone now, as are most of those patriots.

The multi-part series showed remarkable footage from the worldwide battlefield fought on four continents: North America, Asia and Africa. I was struck by a quote delivered to our enemies by President Franklin Roosevelt, speaking on the eve of our nation’s full entry into the fight against the tyrants who sought to conquer the world. “Our enemies asked for it,” FDR said, “and now they are about to get it.”

And so they did get it. Full force.

If we fast-forward about 85 years to the present day we find ourselves in a war that we started. A succeeding president decided to engage in an act of war against Iran. Unlike FDR, who responded by asking Congress to “declare that a state of war exists,” Donald Trump has decided to flout the constitutional requirement that presidents should follow if they are to commit young Americans to combat. We have commenced a war that few Americans want, even fewer of us know the game plan. But we’re in a war. Make no mistake.

I watched this documentary expecting to draw these comparisons. I’m glad I did. Watching this film from start to finish reminds me that the U.S.A.’s founders knew how to limit a president’s power to take this nation to war. If only the current commander in chief was smart enough to grasp it.

legal news, national news

This election cycle? It’s the real deal!

Every election cycle possibly dating back to the beginning of our great republic has produced a comment from a candidate or a pundit that “this election is the most important in our nation’s history.”

Well, gang, I have news for you. The one coming up in November is the real thing. This one likely will determine the future of our republic. It will center on a candidate who won’t be on any ballot in any state. It will focus on the current occupant of the White House, Donald J. Trump.

He’s not up for a vote. In fact, he’ll never face the voters again. And for that we all should cheer loudly.

This election matters … a lot! The House of Representatives is likely to flip from Republican to Democratic control. The GOP is clinging to a majority that is virtually meaningless. It’s down to a seat or two or maybe three. Hell, I cannot keep track of it. GOP operatives are saying out loud what many others have said for about the past year: The Republican Party is going to get creamed! Every House seat is up for election. I don’t know what the latest forecasts are projecting, but I keep hearing a 30- to 50-seat swing from GOP to Democratic control.

Then there’s the U.S. Senate. Until just recently, it had been thought that flipping the Senate from GOP to Democrat was too steep a hill to climb. Suddenly, there is real belief that the Senate could be in play. North Carolina could flip. So could Maine. And get ready for this little nugget: Texas, the GOP bastion, could be in play as well.

Indeed, I have heard from some key Texas Republican strategists who suggest that Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico has a serious chance of seizing the Senate seat now held by Republican John Cornyn, who is in a runoff against the deeply flawed MAGA darling, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The economy is in the crapper. We’re at war with Iran. The POTUS keeps seizing power. Chaos pervades every executive branch agency.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a prescription building for a first-class electoral blowout. It won’t please every American. However, I would be thrilled beyond measure to see my government return to the art of governing.

national news

How do you shame the shameless?

How in the world does one heap shame on an individual who shows zero sign of shamelessness, one who seems to care little — if anything — about what others think of decisions he makes?

The answer is hidden somewhere in the weeds. I can’t find it. I’ll keep looking until I do. Donald J. Trump, of course, is the shameless individual about whom I am referring. His latest act of supreme snarkyness involves his response to the death of former FBI director Robert Mueller. “Good,” Trump said, “I’m glad he’s dead.” Let’s remember a couple of things here. No one in Trump’s family ever has worn the nation’s military uniform. Donald Trump infamously got a physician to sign off on a claim of bone spurs that kept the future POTUS out of serving during the Vietnam War. And yet … This pile of pig dookey rejoiced in the death of a man who volunteered for duty in the Marine Corps, served in Vietnam, was wounded with a rifle shot in the leg, was cited for valor many times, came home and then led the FBI as the agency was tasked with investigating the terror attack of 9/11. Trump has been vilified by Democrats and Republicans, by liberals and conservatives over his remarks about Mueller. Does it seemingly pierce what passes for his heart? Not that I can tell. Trump is a sociopath. Pure and simple. He has no moral compass. He is guided by nothing resembling an overarching philosophy. He is totally self-consumed, self-absorbed and full of self-aggrandizement. I fear the English language lacks the terminology that ever can penetrate this clown’s narcissistic shell.
national news, national security

Who’s the hero and who’s the fraud?

Let’s see … Donald Trump laid out his boorish qualities after Robert Mueller died today at age 81.

Mueller was the former FBI director who served as special counsel tasked with examining whether Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, which Trump won by a whisker.

Trump responded to Mueller’s death by declaring on social media, “Good. I’m glad he’s dead.”

Let’s take a brief look at the men’s history, shall we?

Young Donald Trump couldn’t be bothered with serving his country during the Vietnam War. He found a doctor who could tell the draft board that Donald suffered from bone spurs in his feet. He didn’t serve during the war. Trump went on to inherit a bunch of cash from his father to start his own real estate business and pursued a career in self-enrichment prior to his election in 2016 as POTUS.

Young Bob Mueller heard that his best friend and roommate had died in battle in the Vietnam War. Mueller then enlisted in the Marine Corps and served in combat during his entire tour in ‘Nam. He received a Purple Heart for battlefield injuries and was cited for valor throughout his career in the USMC.

Mueller came home, graduated from law school and then was appointed FBI director by President Bush right after the 9/11 terror attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. Mueller turned the FBI into a terrorist-hunting organization and helped lead the war against international terrorism.

I am compelled to ask: Who between these men is the patriot and who is the patsy? Who has contributed to this nation’s greatness and who is leading it into oblivion?

Donald Trump has said he’s glad Mueller’s life has ended? What a disgrace!

national news

How did we ever make this mistake?

This much is certain, which is that every one of us is headed to the same place … some version of the Great Beyond. None of us gets out of here alive.

What is far from certain, I am afraid to conjecture, is trying to determine before they throw dirt on my face how in the world Americans managed to elect a certifiable dimwit to the highest office in the land. Not once, but twice!

The imbecile took office in January 2017 and immediately declared a ban on Muslims entering the Land of Opportunity. He never accepted that he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden and then launched a violent insurrection to stop the peaceful transition of power.

Then he got elected again and on the first day of his second term, in January 2025, the moron pardoned every one of the violent traitors who took part in the assault on the federal government. He has surrounded himself with nincompoops, imbeciles, unfit individuals and called them the “best people” he could find to run the executive branch of government.

All the while, the self-described “king of debt” has piled trillions of dollars onto the mountain of red ink that towers over the federal budget. He gives tax cuts to the mega rich, takes money away that pays for health insurance for millions of others, he threatens the very alliances that keep us safe from the bad guys of the world.

And then? He gets caught in a scandal involving the pedophile and sex trafficker who hanged himself in a jail cell.

We once sought to elect the very best among us to the nation’s highest office. We have elected the most corrupt, immoral and despicable among us.

I realize I am walking across well-traveled ground. Retirement gives me time to allow my mind to wander a bit. I have granted my mind some idle time today. So, I thought I would share once this goofy notion that we all are responsible at some level for the hideous government we have produced.

national news, political news

Time for some ideas, Gov. Newsom

It pains me a bit to say this, but here goes: California Gov. Gavin Newsom is beginning to bore me … as in bore me enough to ignore what he’s saying.

Why? Well, for one thing it is quite obvious the man wants to run for president of the United States in 2028. Everywhere you turn, and he turns, he’s speaking into a microphone. His message is always the same: Donald Trump is corrupt to the core; his family has earned billions from business ventures made possible by Trump’s position; he runs the “most corrupt” administration human history.

Blah, blah, blah … I’ve heard it already, governor. I know Trump is a crook. I know he is unfit for public office. Hell, I’ve been saying since before he announced his candidacy the first time.

Democrats are likely to field a huge slate of candidates for the 2028 party primary season. So will the Republican Party, given that the incumbent is barred from running again.

I do like Gov. Newsom. However, if he’s going to run for president, he will need to lay out an agenda he intends to follow. I believe it’s time to see and hear it now. There is no need to hear from any of these pretenders what millions of Americans already know … that Donald Trump has been a disaster as president.

Dispense with telling us the obvious. How are Gov. Newsom and the others planning to repair and restore our democracy?

media news, national news

Trump’s words have zero value

Once, long ago when I was a much younger man, I used to hang on the president of the United States’ every word. When he spoke them, I just knew he was telling me at least his version of the truth.

Was he shading the truth a little to make himself sound better and feel better? Oh, probably. It didn’t matter as long as the fundementals of his statement were based in fact.

The current president? The guy we’ve got in power for the next three years? I have turned 180 degrees in the opposite direction.

I believe nothing that comes from Donald Trump’s overfed pie hole. Zero. Nothing he says means anything to me at this stage of his time in office or in my life as an American patriot.

Please understand that I take no joy in harboring this cynical view. I am not a cynic by nature, unlike some of my former journalism colleagues who actually used to boast about their cynicism. A cynical approach to covering the news or commenting on it is as unhealthy as being gullible enough to believe every single word that comes from a politician.

The current White House occupant, however, has filled even me with cynicism that I find uncomfortable. How can that be? His lying over any issue imaginable — from the epic to the trivial — has become the stuff of legend. The Washington Post counted something like 30,000 instances of lying during Trump’s first term in office from January 2027 until January 2021. No telling how many more thousands of lies he has told just in the first year of his second term.

I will stipulate one more time that I do revere the office of president. It is noble, grand and powerful. Donald Trump has done all he can do to diminish the office in my own mind’s standing. He’s done so by lying whenever he has something to say.

national news

Boycott still standing

I am feeling the need to offer readers of High Plains Blogger a brief update on one of the boycotts I announced the time Donald Trump became POTUS in January 2017.

Furthermore, I should acknowledge that the boycott has seen some strain and I have been tempted to forgo it when I saw him acting (more or less) presidential.

The boycott was to never attach the word “President” directly in front of Donald Trump’s name. I don’t consider him to be my president. Indeed, he acts as though he doesn’t give a Texas ruby red damn about me, my politics, my beliefs. Indeed, he seems to govern as if the only the people who matter to him are those who voted for him.

I ain’t one of them.

I am not alone in that view. I heard a U.S. senator grilling a Trump Cabinet official and he referred to Trump to the official as “your president.” There you have it. I am not the only American patriot who believes Trump doesn’t care to be president for all Americans.

There have been times when I have agreed with Trump. Those times occasionally have caused me to rethink for just a fleeting moment whether I should maintain that boycott. The moment flashes before me and then disappears, usually when Trump says something so ridiculously unpresidential … which he does with flair and panache.

I have begun watching TV news, but only sparingly. It’s usually during prime time. During the day? Nope. TV stays off most days.

I don’t like refusing to refer to Donald Trump with the title to which he was elected. My conscience tugs hard at me when I start to teeter. My best guess is that the boycott will stay put until the day Trump heads for the door from the White House for the final time.

national news

Listen to your predecessors, Donald!

Barack H. Obama and Joseph R. Biden have been laying waste to Donald Trump’s performance in the office they once held … and with ample reason.

They both left legacies worth cherishing and emulating. Trump has called them two of the worst presidents in U.S. history. I beg to differ. I consider them both two of the best men to serve as commander in chief and head of state.

Obama has been particularly eloquent in his assessment of Trump. He chastises the POTUS for feigning toughness by being “rude to people” and denigrating others. A third Democratic former president, Bill Clinton, has been a bit quieter than his successors. Clinton did speak about some of the subjects he covered in a closed-door congressional committee hearing. It is clear that Clinton thinks next to nothing about the mess that Donald Trump has concocted.

The fourth living ex-president, George W. Bush, has been relatively quiet. He once told a TV talk show host, Ellen Degeneres, that he wouldn’t “be chirping” his criticism of presidents who follow him. He said that presidents hear enough criticism during the normal flow of business during the work week. He said a president needs to be strong to lead this massive, diverse and sophisticated nation. Criticism only weakens that person.

In a way, I kind of prefer the George Bush method. Sure, he can think ill thoughts of Trump. He needs not express those thoughts out loud. It’s always been understood that presidents walk away not just from the residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. They also turn their back on the debates that rage on.

Those who speak out, though, have wisdom to back them up. If only Trump would listen and heed them.