Monthly Archives: June 2019

economic news

No, Mr. POTUS, economy doesn’t hinge on your re-election

Mr. President, you need to stop the braggadocio. As in right now!

I know you don’t heed this advice, but I have to get it off my chest.

You have declared that the fate and future of our nation’s economic well-being depends on your re-election. I read where you tweeted some nonsense about how the market will crash in unprecedented ways if you lose the election next year.

C’mon! Knock it off! If the economy craters it will do so on the basis of a lot of factors that have nothing to do with your re-election. It might have everything to do with the idiotic policies you seek to enact. Starting with those tariffs on imported goods from Mexico.

Your delusion is sounding more like desperation, if you want my humble view of it.

You’ve boasted about having that “big brain,” about how you know the “best words,” how you cut the “best deals,” how you surround yourself with the “best people” and how you are a “stable genius” who attended the “best schools” in human history.

If you were as great and glorious as you say you are, why do so many of us out here — even in Flyover Country — want to see you walk out of the Oval Office for the final time?

Yeah, I know. You have your supporters. God bless ’em. They see things differently than I do, or the way most Americans apparently do.

Just cool it with the bragging and self-aggrandizement. You work for us, Mr. President. Let us decide how you are doing. I am one of your bosses who wants you replaced.

national news

Impeachment talk has me rattled

I am willing to give you a pass if you believe I am foursquare, solidly and irrevocably behind impeaching the president of the United States, Donald John Trump.

Except that I am not.

Really. This impeachment discussion is giving me serious heartburn.

I am torn into itty-bitty pieces over this matter. I am terribly conflicted and I am anxious — yes, anxious! — for some sort of resolution.

On one hand, I have supported U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s notion that the House shouldn’t impeach Trump just yet. She is seeking patience. She wants more information to come forth. She well might be stalling, waiting for a presidential election a little more than a year from now to “settle” this matter for her … with Trump losing his re-election effort.

On the other hand, we have those among House Democrats who say it’s not about politics. It’s about “the Constitution,” they say. They argue that it is their “duty” to ensure that the president is “held accountable” and that “no one, not even the president, is above the law.” They are hellbent on launching what they call an “impeachment inquiry,” which is another way of saying they want to commence impeachment hearings.

What if the House impeaches the president? He will stand forever as one who has been impeached. Trump would become the third president to have been impeached by the House. Never mind what the Senate might do. Senators led by gutless Republicans seemingly aren’t going to convict Trump of any of the complaints brought to him. Many of us see the danger that this individual poses to the country. The Senate GOP leadership is ignoring it, to their everlasting shame!

Does the president run for re-election on the basis of his being an impeached president? How does that play out here among the rest of us in Flyover Country. Well, you know that my mind was made up when the 2016 election results came in: I have wanted him gone since the beginning of his presidency. But I digress.

Another downside of impeachment? You can kiss any type of reform legislation goodbye for the remainder of Trump’s term. The president and the House will have declared war on each other. Immigration reform? Climate change legislation? Infrastructure plans? Hah! Forget about it!

And what in the name of good governance will happen if hell freezes over and Trump is re-elected?

Good grief!

I am on the fence, folks. I cannot get my footing anywhere near stable enough to declare either “yes” or “no” on impeaching this clown.

Someone needs to pass the Pepto.

entertainment news

Sir Paul still packs ’em in

ARLINGTON, Texas — This photograph sets the stage — pun more or less intended — for a comment I want to make about the durability of a certain genre of music.

It looks down on the infield at Globe-Life Park, a baseball stadium where the Texas Rangers play hardball. All those people — tens of thousands of them — gathered Friday night to hear a musician play some music that helped raise a generation of folks … including yours truly.

Sir Paul McCartney returned to Texas and played music for nearly three hours before that rockin’, rollin’ and rollicking crowd.

You know who this fellow is, of course. He once was one-fourth of a band we remember as The Beatles. He still plays his share of Beatles hits, prompting the most spine-tingling sing-alongs one can imagine.

It’s that music that holds up. It is timeless. It is eternal. It will still be on people’s minds and in their hearts long after Sir Paul has left us. Two of his dear friends, John Lennon and George Harrison, already have departed, but Sir Paul took moments to honor them both — again to raucous cheers from the crowd that filled the stadium.

There was a wonderful moment, too, when Sir Paul recognized the difference between fan interest in Beatles songs vs. non-Beatles songs he performs — and last night he performed a healthy share of songs he has recorded since the breakup of the world’s greatest band. He said that when he plays Beatles tunes, fans light up the venue with light from their cell phones; when he plays something else, he said the venues turn into a “black hole.”

What do you suppose happened when he played the next song, which happened to be a non-Beatles tune: The place lit up with cell phone lights. It was, shall we say, fantastic! Of course, Sir Paul thanked us for “proving me wrong.”

It was an amazing evening for those of us old enough to remember hearing that music for the first time. I was a teenager when The Beatles burst on the scene. And for a time Friday night while sitting in the nosebleed section of Globe-Life Park enjoying the evening with one of my sons, I felt young again.

Thank goodness for jumbo-sized screens that allowed us to see what Sir Paul was doing on that faraway stage.

He was transporting us back in time to an era when music meant seemingly everything to us. He packed a large athletic venue with fans — who were of widely varying ages — and treated them to music that will stand the test of time for as long as there are those able to listen to it.

Well done, Sir Paul.

education news

AISD might soon learn about power of social media

Amarillo’s public school system is still facing pressure from a parental group whose aim is to demand — and receive — more “transparency” from those who educate the community’s children.

I wish the parents well in their quest, although it might be a futile one.

The Parents for Transparency Coalition is using social media as a weapon in their quest to reveal more about what is happening behind the scenes at the Amarillo Independent School District. AISD, thus, might get a stern lesson on the impact social media has on political causes.

The coalition wants an “independent” investigation. It is demanding it through its Facebook account. The group is unhappy with some of the decisions made at the highest levels of the AISD administration.

Why the possible futility?

Well, the board recently accepted the resignation of a trustee, Renee McCown, who got caught up in a controversy over the resignation of Kori Clements, the Amarillo High School girls volleyball coach, who quit after complaining about a meddlesome parent who sought to influence the coach’s decisions regarding playing time for her athletes. Two of those student-athletes happened to be daughters of the parent … who allegedly was McCown, the now-former AISD school trustee.

McCown quit board before her seat was to be decided at the next election set for 2022.

That should be the end of it, right? Not according to the Parents for Transparency Coalition. They are angry with newly installed trustee Dick Ford, who took up for McCown, saying she did nothing wrong.

The coalition is continuing to raise a ruckus about the state of affairs within the AISD, suggesting on Facebook that the group will continue to insist on an independent probe. They have singled Ford out, too, apparently because of the trustee’s defense of McCown.

I am in no position to comment specifically on the merits of what the transparency coalition wants or whether there should be an independent investigation. However, I do sense a growing tension between the parents group and senior administrators that somehow needs a resolution.

Why? Because I do not sense that the Parents for Transparency Coalition is going to let up until someone on the receiving end of its demands — at the AISD headquarters — starts paying attention.

Therefore, we will witness the power of social media.

There will be more to come. Of that I am certain.

media news

Trump delivers Twitter to the top of the communication chain

I am going to give credit to Donald Trump for doing something I never thought would be worthy of praise.

The president of the United States has led the way in turning Twitter into a tried-and-true social media phenomenon.

Trump has something like 60 million followers on Twitter. So, when he fires off those tweets, he gets tens of millions of sets of eyes on them immediately. I won’t belabor the point about how mangled his syntax is on those tweets or the ridiculousness of the messages he delivers via Twitter.

However, as I consume the news daily I am struck by the vast number of public officials who make policy statements via Twitter, just like Trump has done since before he was elected. It seems as though every news story I read attributes a statement from congressional leaders, civic activists, former presidents, public officials of all stripes to something they posted on Twitter.

My goodness, these Twitter-attributed statements have become as ubiquitous anything I have witnessed in the past decade. Or maybe even longer than that.

Of course, I am in no position to offer policy statements via Twitter. I just use the platform to distribute this blog and to make snarky comments of my own about this or that issue of the day … or of the moment.

I certainly cannot claim the vast number of followers that Trump can claim.

Yes, the president has redefined a lot of norms associated with public life, politics, policy and worldwide communication. Being a bit of an old-school kind of fellow, I prefer to read position papers from officials in positions of leadership. As we now know, Donald Trump isn’t into such delivering of policy. He is legendary non-reader of details. He gets a policy into his head, then fires off the tweet.

I am shaking my head, to be sure.

However, I cannot help but admire the tenacity with which Donald Trump has used Twitter and the impact his use of that social media platform has had throughout the entire world.

If only the president could learn how to spell and construct sentences that make sense.

national news

FEC boss says, ‘Wait, Mr. POTUS; that’s illegal!’

Donald Trump has said openly and in front of the whole world that he would “look at” negative information about a political opponent that came to him from a foreign nation, even a foreign government.

Except …

The head of the U.S. Federal Election Commission, Ellen Weintraub, has declared with equal vigor that accepting such assistance is illegal … and unconstitutional.

As The Hill reported: Doubling down on why that’s unconstitutional, Weintraub said “this is not a novel concept,” adding that “our Founding Fathers sounded the alarm about ‘foreign Interference, Intrigue and Influence.'”

Great mother of God in heaven. What in the world is careening around in the vacuous skull of the president of the United States?

He has signaled to the entire world that he would possibly accept such foreign assistance, that he wouldn’t necessarily inform the FBI, despite what the FBI director, Christopher Wray, has said what the president should do, which is tell the FBI.

Weintraub said via Twitter: “Let me make something 100 percent clear to the American public and anyone running for public office: It is illegal for any person to solicit, accept, or receive anything of value from a foreign national in connection with a U.S. election.”

I shall add that Weintraub isn’t some shmuck political hack. She holds degrees from Yale and Harvard Law School. Let me be clear: She knows of which she speaks.

Donald Trump is posing, as former VP Joe Biden said, “an existential threat” to our system of government, our values, our way of life, our political norms.

Astonishingly, the president’s own reckless and feckless mouth has delivered that danger to our doorstep.

national news

Kellyanne Conway needs to go? Sure, do it, Mr. POTUS

This story should be cut and dried.

An independent ethics watchdog organization makes a determination that someone high up in the executive branch of government is violating a rule that prohibits partisan politicking — and then recommends that the individual leave the government post.

The president who hired this person says, “Well, the rules are the rules. You have to leave your office. Thanks for your service, but that’s how it goes.”

Oh, but that’s not how it goes in the Donald Trump administration.

The Office of Special Counsel has determined that senior policy adviser Kellyanne Conway has violated the Hatch Act. The OSC says Trump has to let her go. The president’s response? The findings are faulty and he has no intention to follow the recommendation.

You see, it appears that Conway has been criticizing political foes of the president — namely Democrats — while using her senior West Wing office.

No can do, Ms. Conway, says the OSC, which has ruled that she is direct violation of the Hatch Act, a longstanding policy that seeks to keep partisan politics out of policymaking positions.

According to The Hill: “As a highly visible member of the administration, Ms. Conway’s violations, if left unpunished, would send a message to all federal employees that they need not abide by the Hatch Act’s restrictions,” special counsel Henry Kerner wrote to Trump. “Her actions thus erode the principal foundation of our democratic system — the rule of law.”

The rule of law? Does anyone other than yours truly believe that the president doesn’t give a rat’s rear end about the rule of law? Yeah, I believe there are quite a few million Americans who would agree with that.

Trump is demolishing the rule of law damn near daily.

The OSC has it right. Kellyanne Conway cannot continue to serve in here capacity as senior adviser. If only her boss would recalibrate what passes for his moral compass.

media news

WH press flack is leaving; but the lying will continue

I now will join the chorus of those who are saying that Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s pending departure from the White House will be no great loss to the cause of transparency, accountability … and telling Americans the truth about what their government is doing.

Sanders has served for a couple of years as White House press secretary. I was one who thought at the very beginning of her tenure that she could repair the mess left by her predecessor, Sean Spicer.

Oh, my. I was so wrong!

We now have heard, via special counsel Robert Mueller’s report into the Russian collusion matter, that Sanders actually admitted to Mueller’s legal team that she lied on behalf of the president.

Astounding, yes? Yep, it is.

The regular White House press briefings have been relegated to some form of dormancy. This comes after Sanders spent a good deal of her time parroting Donald Trump’s mantra that any news that he deems critical to be “fake news.” She even uses the term “fake news” while talking to the very journalists who were questioning her.

Sanders’s most ferocious critics have suggested she has attacked the First Amendment. Surely she has joined the president in denigrating media reporters, editors and others charged with the duty of chronicling the news coming from the Trump administration.

I am one observer who won’t miss her.

The task now for the president is to find a successor who will talk candidly, openly and — and most critically — truthfully when faced with the media’s often-aggressive questioning.

I know it’s a huge stretch to think Trump will find such a person, given his own paranoia about the media.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s upcoming departure merely closes another dark chapter in the administration she served.

national news

POTUS gives foes the ammo they now need to, um, impeach

1 Comment

Am I allowed to change my mind, to suggest that the evidence now has reached a form of critical mass that qualifies as an “impeachable offense”?

Of course I am!

I believe it has arrived in the form of an interview that Donald Trump granted ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos in which the president said he would accept negative information on a political foe from a foreign government.

Bingo, bango! There you have it. The president then said the “FBI director is wrong” when he said just a month ago that anyone who gets that kind of “opposition research” should report it to the FBI. How does it feel, Christopher Wray, to take a shiv straight in the back?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been fervent in our belief that impeachment is not in the cards, at least not until there is compelling evidence of wrongdoing. Well, it might that the president has provided it that evidence with his reckless pie hole spouting off how he would do precisely what has been alleged that he did during the 2016 election: that he would use information on a foe provided by a hostile foreign power.

I had stood with the speaker in her resisting calls for impeachment.

Today, after digesting what I have heard from POTUS, I am having second thoughts.

This is a dangerous man serving as our head of state.

FBI

Is this the ‘impeachable’ moment?

Can it be that Donald Trump has just scripted his own impeachment by the U.S. House of Representatives?

I am wondering if his declaration today to ABC News that he would be willing to break the law if a foreign power produced negative information about a political opponent while he is running for re-election as president of the United States. Trump said he would “look at” the information and wouldn’t feel the need to report it to the FBI.

FBI director Christopher Wray just a month ago told Congress that anyone who got such info must report it to his agency.

Trump told George Stephanopoulos that “the FBI director is wrong.”

Who do you trust? The lying, amoral, unethical head of state or the career professional prosecutor and law enforcement official?

I’m going to stand with Christopher Wray.

As for the House of Representatives and, yes, the Republican-controlled Senate, they should, too.

The question of the moment is this: Will they?