Monthly Archives: December 2017

national news

‘Rumor’ has a strange way of becoming fact

I frequently was told when I was working as a print journalist that one should never rely on “rumor” as the basis for a news story.

However, the difficulty about reporting on the presidency of Donald J. Trump is that rumor, indeed, can become fact when no one expects it to happen.

U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier says that a “rumor” is floating around Capitol Hill that the president is going to fire special counsel Robert Mueller perhaps before Christmas.

Trump plays with fire

Speier sits on the House Intelligence Committee that is looking at whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russians who interfered in our 2016 presidential election. The attorney general, Jeff Sessions, recused himself from anything to do with the Russia matter; Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein then selected Mueller — a career prosecutor and former FBI director — to lead the probe. Mueller’s selection was hailed universally at the time; Republicans and Democrats praised Mueller for his integrity, meticulousness and seriousness.

Will the “rumor” come true? I surely hope it does not.

The president keeps insisting that Mueller’s probe is heading into a blind alley. There’s nothing to the “collusion” accusation, Trump insists. OK, then. Let the probe continue. Let the special counsel complete his work. If he comes up empty, he’ll say so. Game over.

If not, well, then we’ve got a problem — and the president’s problem only will intensify if he fires Mueller before his work is finished.

media news, national news

State-run media, in the United States?

Steve Schmidt is a dedicated Republican Party political operative. He is no friend or fan of Donald Trump.

The comments attributed to Schmidt here speak to what I believe is a frightening potential trend in U.S. political-media relations.

You ought to read these comments and ponder the gravity of what this man is positing. He believes that the president and the White House are seeking to control information flow the way it is done in authoritarian countries.

The president spends a lot of time tweeting and commenting verbally about his mistrust and loathing of what he calls “fake news” outlets. Trump relies exclusively, or so it seems, on Fox News, whose team of commentators, pundits, contributors and talk show hosts seems so very pleased with the job he is doing as president.

Which suits Donald Trump just fine, thank you very much.

Schmidt, who served on Sen. John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign, sees an inherent danger lurking here. He believes the president’s penchant for relying exclusively on favorable reporting produces an information flow that is akin to propaganda.

He believes it weakens our democratic institutions and produces rampant “misinformation.”

Presidents traditionally have gnashed their teeth at the media’s coverage of their activities. Every one of them has had serious issues with what they deemed to be negative coverage.

Have they disparaged the media as an institution? Have they trashed major media outlets — and individual journalists — to the degree we are witnessing in this Age of Trump? No. They all recognize a fundamental tenet of our democratic system: Government needs the media to hold them accountable.

To do what Steve Schmidt suggests is occurring, indeed, is “appalling.” It’s also dangerous to the well-being of the nation we all say we love.

legal news, national news

FBI doesn’t deserve bashing from POTUS

Maybe my memory is failing me. Or maybe it isn’t.

I’m having trouble remembering the last president of the United States to disparage the nation’s foremost law enforcement agency, the FBI.

Therein is where Donald J. Trump is doing things so very differently from his predecessors. He’s calling the FBI a lot of names. He alleges that morale is in the crapper; he says its leadership is in shambles; he is saying the FBI needs to be rebuilt.

Oh, and he’s calling the FBI’s role in the examination of Russian interference in our 2016 presidential election a “sham” and a “Democratic hoax.”

I’m trying to put myself in the shoes of an FBI agent. How would I like working for a government being run by a head of state and government who is so distrustful of my agency?

Trump keeps savaging FBI

If the president is going to contend that morale is so lousy, perhaps he is playing a major role in flushing it down a sewer hole.

He’s also been disparaging the attorney general, whose agency — the Justice Department — controls the FBI. Trump dislikes that AG Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russia-election meddling probe, as he should have done. The president’s reaction has been to send signals that Sessions’s time as AG might be dwindling.

Of course, there’s also the issue of Trump questioning the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia did meddle in the election and that Vladimir Putin issued the order to do it. Putin told the president he didn’t meddle — and that denial from the former head of the Soviet spy agency is good enough for Donald Trump.

Strange. Very strange.

national news

We are not alone … are we?

I answered one of those online, totally unscientific “polls” that asks if we believe there is extraterrestrial life out there. I said “yes.”

Then I learned that 64 percent of respondents answered the same way. Good. I am not the only one.

Nor are we the only living beings inhabiting the universe. In my view, at least.

I heard the other day that scientists monitoring an orbiting telescope believe they believe they have found evidence of a star way out yonder that has planets orbiting it. I believe they counted possibly eight planets. What they have found, allegedly, is another solar system — similar to ours.

What does it mean?

I haven’t a clue, other than it might affirm what I’ve believed since I was boy, which is that it is a virtual statistical certainty that — given the infinite size of the universe — that there must be some form of life out there that might rival little ol’ Earth’s life forms.

This does not mean any of these beings have called on Earth. I don’t believe in the notion that the government found evidence of ETs landing at Roswell and have covered it up for however long ago it allegedly occurred.

Do I believe the universe contains life other than what was created here on Earth? Sure. Why disbelieve something only because we haven’t seen it for ourselves?

As for whether there is life as “intelligent” as what has evolved on this planet, I am not holding my breath that humankind ever will know with absolute certainty.

It’s a long, long, long way to infinity, folks. Just as it is impossible for us to get there, it’s equally impossible for “them” to get here.

But … they’re out there. I believe it. So should you.

political news

Mitch McConnell: partisan powerhouse

Oh, how I wanted to give U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell the benefit of the doubt.

I didn’t like the way he stonewalled Barack Obama’s choice for the Supreme Court after Antonin Scalia died in 2016. Then he turned around and said all the right things about Roy Moore, the religious zealot — who also has been accused of sexually abusing girls; McConnell said Moore is unfit to serve in the Senate and he wanted him to end his candidacy.

Now the Republican from Kentucky is showing who he really is: a partisan powerhouse hack.

He doesn’t want to wait for Alabama U.S. Sen.-elect Doug Jones — the Democrat who beat Moore this week in that special election — to take his seat before voting on the GOP-authored tax cut bill. Moore is a certain “no” vote on the bill.

But wait! Seven years ago, a Republican was elected to the Senate from Massachusetts and McConnell insisted that the Senate wait for Scott Brown to take his seat before voting on whether to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Which is it, Mr. Majority Leader? Is it right for one party to gum up the works, but not for the other party?

I refer to McConnell’s successful obstruction of President Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to the high court for a reason as well. McConnell wanted to hold off on confirming a Supreme Court pick until after the 2016 election. He was hoping Donald Trump would defeat Hillary Clinton, even though almost no one thought he would. His gamble paid off.

However, while obstructing the president, he accused Democrats of “playing politics” with the nomination by insisting that Judge Garland get a hearing and a vote. I trust you see the irony in that statement, as McConnell was “playing politics” like the master politician he has proven to be.

Now the Senate Republican majority is poised to foist a tax cut that will explode the federal budget deficit on Americans; analyses suggest it will benefit the wealthiest Americans while burdening the rest of us. But that’s OK, says Mitch. Bring it on!

Don’t wait for a duly elected Democrat to take his seat. We gotta get this bill to the president’s desk because we’re desperate for a win.

Oh, and never mind what he said before about Sen.-elect Brown. Hey, if Americans can ignore what the president says about his political foes, surely they’ll give McConnell a pass on his brazen duplicity.

national news

It’s over, Roy Moore; concede, will ya?

I must be feeling all Christmas-y or something. I’m about to agree with Donald John Trump.

The president is calling on Roy Moore, the defeated Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate from Alabama to concede to Democratic Sen.-elect Doug Jones.

Moore was Trump’s guy. He endorsed him, despite the allegations of sexual misconduct that several women had leveled against the former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice. The president recorded some phone messages that were sent to ‘Bama voters prior to the special election earlier this week.

Jones won by about 1.5 percentage points. No need for a recount.

Moore is hanging on to some delusion that the result might change if they recounted the ballots. Um, no, judge. It won’t happen.

As Politico reported:  “I think he should. He tried. I want to support, always, I want to support the person running. We need the seat, we’d like to have the seat,” the president said … “As far as Roy Moore, yeah, it’s — I would certainly say he should” concede.

There you go, judge. Your main political proponent says you ought to give it up. It’s time for you to move on. Make the call, congratulate the guy who beat you.

It’s damn sure time for Moore to retire … and remove himself permanently from the public stage.

Many of us out here have had enough of this guy.

local news

Puppy Tales, Part 43

My wife and I have been catering to Toby the Puppy for a little more than three years. We’ve grown used to spoiling our newest family addition.

Our lives have changed since we moved full time into our fifth wheel. I mean to say “all” of our lives: mine, my much better half’s and Toby the Puppy.

Here’s the deal. When we were living like a “normal” family in a house with walls and doors, all the puppy had to do was traipse outside whenever he felt like it. That presumes, of course, that the weather would allow us to keep the back door open for him to take care of his, um, business. If not, well, we were at his disposal.

The fifth wheel presents another set of concerns for us.

Puppy cannot just go outside. The RV park in Amarillo — just like every RV park where we’ve stayed — mandates dogs must be on a leash. He cannot run around on his own.

No sweat. We get the rule.

My wife and I do spend a lot of time during the course of a day leashing Toby up and taking him outside.

How do we know when it’s time? He “tells” us, more or less.

Since the puppy doesn’t speak English (even though he understands it as well as most human beings I know), he speaks to us with body language and a most expressive face.

He might walk over to either my wife or myself. He’ll start to scratch our leg. We’ll ask, “Do you have to go outside?” Then he’ll shoot a glance usually to the other parent whose leg he isn’t scratching.

We leash him up, take him outside, follow him around the neighborhood, wait for him to, um, “mark” every bit of territory he feels like marking and then we return to our RV. If he has some serious “business” to complete outside, well, he does that, too.

We’re getting used to this increased level of catering Toby the Puppy demands of us. When we resettle eventually in a permanent location, then we’ll have to re-learn how to merely let him have his complete run of the place.

We’ll figure it out … quickly.

political news

Blog deliberates how to handle POTUS references

High Plains Blogger is entering a period of deliberation. It might last a few days, perhaps through the weekend.

It deals with how to refer to the president of the United States during this holiday/Christmas season.

I have sought periodically to tone down the criticism of Donald Trump, seeking to honor the feeling of good will toward “all men (and women)” during this time of the year.

I’ll admit that it is difficult. You see, the president of the United States has this way of driving me nearly to the point of insanity with his ridiculous public pronouncements, his policy decisions, his use of Twitter … you name it, he makes me nuts, man!

If this blog is going to refrain from hurling bombs and brickbats at the president, my hope would be that he would reciprocate at least by acting with a semblance of reason and rationality during this time of the year.

I know I cannot demand such a thing of him. He isn’t likely to read these posts, although I know he has fans who read this blog; they’ll stand up of for the president, defending him against the criticism I might toss at the man.

My inclination is to continue the criticism, but refraining from the epithets I am prone to hurl in his direction. I can do that at least through New Year’s Day. After that? I dare not make any promises.

That’s the ticket! I’ll seek to be a gentleman. Now, the question goes to the president: Will you, sir, do the same thing and behave like someone who occupies the most exalted and revered public office in the United States of America?

national news

U.S. needs to get back into manned space exploration

I grew up waiting for and watching space launches from Cape Canaveral, Fla. They thrilled me to the max and I still miss waiting for those launches.

Accordingly, I was heartened to hear Donald Trump call for a return to manned space flight. The president’s signature this week on a directive for NASA to develop a return of human explorers to the moon and to launch missions to Mars won’t guarantee it will get done, but my hope springs eternal that the space agency will kick start its effort to return to American-made space travel.

The space shuttle program got grounded before Trump took office nearly a year ago. The three remaining flight-ready spacecraft — Atlantis, Endeavor and Discovery — were sent to boneyards around the country under an order signed by President George W. Bush. We’re still sending astronauts into space, where they’re doing important scientific research.

NASA praises Trump

But they’re flying aboard Russian rockets. I’m trying to imagine how Presidents Kennedy and Johnson would react to knowing that tidbit.

Donald Trump said his directive aims to return the United States to its leadership role in space travel. I do hope it comes to pass.

NASA already is developing a new launch vehicle it hopes will be ready for deployment on missions to the moon and beyond. There’s launch date set yet. Indeed, test flights are still beyond the foreseeable future.

“NASA looks forward to supporting the president’s directive strategically aligning our work to return humans to the moon, travel to Mars and opening the deeper solar system beyond,” said acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot.

Of course it does. It should.

President Kennedy declared in 1961 that the United States would send humans to the moon “and return (them) safely to the Earth” by the end of the 1960s. “We don’t do these because they are easy,” he said. “We do them because they are hard.”

He energized the nation, which was caught flat-footed when the then-Soviet Union was first to launch a satellite and then was first to send a human into space. JFK was having no part of playing second fiddle to the Soviets.

We aren’t engaged in a Cold War these days, although that’s becoming more debatable in light of the current geopolitical climate.

Still, my hope is that the president’s directive lights a fire under NASA’s engineers and scientists as they continue their work to restore our country to its place as the world’s premier space trailblazer.

legal news

How about ‘extreme vetting’ of judicial nominees?

Donald John Trump wants to employ “extreme vetting” of immigrants seeking entry into the United States of America.

Fine, but how about vetting nominees to the federal bench, Mr. President? I mean, at least a cursory vetting might enable the president to nominate men and women who know certain basics about the law.

Matthew Peterson sat before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee this week and managed to utterly fluff simple questions about how he would apply certain legal tenets. He has been nominated to a spot on the U.S. Circuit Court in the District of Columbia.

He, um, didn’t do well at his hearing.

Check it out here.

Peterson has never tried a case. Senators asked him about his criminal law trial experience. None. His civil trial experience. None.

The video of Peterson stumbling and bumbling his way through the excruciating committee interview has gone viral, which is a rarity in itself, given that judicial nominee hearings usually aren’t the stuff of social media tittering.

The president has boasted of his administration running like a “fine-tuned machine.” Mr. President, a fine-tuned machine wouldn’t present judicial candidates who cannot answer basic questions from the men and women who must approve these nominations.