Tag Archives: Donald Trump

national news

‘American carnage’ becomes Trump’s signature line

It turns out Donald J. Trump found a phrase after all that likely might stick in the minds — and perhaps the craw — of millions of Americans.

“The American carnage is going to stop right now,” the president said in his inaugural speech on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.

American carnage.

Wow, man!

I guess the president has chosen to ignore the crime trend in this country, which is that violent crime is at a 40-year low. Sure, some communities have been victimized by evil-intended criminals. Chicago has been torn by waves of violence, as have other large American cities.

Does this portend a nationwide “carnage” that has gripped the nation, a place where all Americans are living in fear of being shot? I’m having difficulty understanding why the brand new president would send this kind of message out across the vast landscape of the nation he leads and around the world that continues to rivet its attention on what occurs in this country.

The president has painted a stark, forbidding and frightening picture of the United States. So help me, I believe he has severely misstated the condition of our great nation and has delivered the same message that fired up the Republican base to nominate him in the first place — and helped carry him to victory in the general election.

The campaign has ended, Mr. President. It is now time to unite the nation. Rhetoric that tells of a fictitious “American carnage” only does more harm.

national news

This isn’t ‘peaceable’ assemblage, folks

Protestors have every right to protest.

They have no right to damage or destroy personal property, which has been occurring today during the inauguration of Donald J. Trump as president of the United States.

I am going to submit that this is the most profoundly disappointing element of today’s events. No, it’s worse than that. It’s disgraceful.

Indeed, I get that many Americans are unhappy with what is transpiring today. I am one of them. Some members of my family are, too, along with some of my best friends.

I don’t believe any of them have burned motor vehicles or broken storefront windows or tossed things in the direction of others to voice their disagreement with public policy.

Those who are angriest are more than welcome to spare me the “this is free speech” malarkey. It’s nothing of the kind. It’s criminal mischief.

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right “… of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

Not a single word can be found in there that condones vandalism or violence.

Shame on those who have sullied a time-honored tradition.

national news

So much for unity at this inaugural

I have a message to the new president of the United States, if only he receives it.

The campaign is over, Donald John Trump. You won. You’re the president. You promised to unify the country. You could have started when you delivered the inaugural speech. Sadly — in my mind — you didn’t.

What the country heard from the president was a recitation of the themes that won over enough voters to elect him president.

He painted yet again a dark, forbidding portrait of the greatest nation the world has ever known. He talked about job losses, a dispirited military establishment, fear of radical Islamic terrorists, a general feeling that the nation has gone to hell in a hurry.

This wasn’t your typical inaugural speech. It contained little of the high-minded hope that presidents bring to their high office.

Here is the speech in its entirety. Take a look and judge for yourself:

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/full-speech-president-donald-trump-inaugural-address/ar-AAm3VY0

Believe it or not, I was hoping there would be at least a glimmer of recognition of the progress that President Barack Obama made during his eight years in office: dramatic reduction in the jobless rate; revival of the auto industry; huge reduction in the annual federal budget deficit; success in the war against terrorists — including the killing of Osama bin Laden.

None of that came forward.

Interestingly as well was the lack of mention of the dreaded Affordable Care Act, which Trump has vowed to “repeal and replace.” Nor was there a mention of the Iranian nuclear deal that Obama negotiated to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

He talked instead of restoring jobs, bringing back manufacturing jobs. Here’s a news flash, Mr. President: Those jobs fell victim to automation, not poorly negotiated trade deals; good luck if you think manufacturers are going to forgo robots for human beings.

I’m going to wish the president well — believe it or not. If he succeeds in all that he wants, more power to him, and to the country he now leads.

Failure, as the saying goes, is not an option.

If only he could have lifted our spirits just a little bit.

national news

Hoping for a beautiful sunrise tomorrow

A lot of aspects of American life likely could change sometime this afternoon.

At 11 a.m. (CST), Donald John Trump will become the 45th president of the United States. Barack Hussein Obama will exit the world stage and jet off to Palm Springs, Calif., for some well-deserved R&R with his family.

The new president will attend a parade, shake some hands, then venture into the Oval Office.

Then — he says — he will sign some executive orders, which he is entitled to do.

Will these orders undo some of the many positive aspects of Barack Obama’s presidency? Trump, after all, has called the current president a “disaster.” He’s said his policies are “stupid.”

Trump, who calls himself a “smart person” with a “good mind,” and someone who will surround himself with the “best minds” and a team that has highest collective IQ of any in the history in the history of the republic, will get to work to make his mark on the presidency.

What that entails, at this moment — on Inauguration Morning — remains virtually anyone’s guess.

I am going to hold out hope for one thing to occur. It will be that the sun will set tonight and we’ll all be able to awake Saturday to yet another beautiful sunrise.

I am going to pray that the new president is successful in whatever plans he has laid out for the next four years. The consequences of failure are too grim to ponder.

business news, national news, political news

Will the new president violate the Constitution right away?

An argument making the rounds for the past several months goes something like this: Donald J. Trump is going to be in direct violation of the U.S. Constitution at the moment he takes the oath of office as president of the United States of America.

The source of the violation? His myriad business interests.

This isn’t just a Democratic Party point of view. Republicans also are buying into a notion that Trump’s refusal to separate himself completely from his business dealings is creating a monstrous potential for conflict of interest.

http://www.npr.org/2017/01/19/510574687/ethics-lawyers-call-trumps-business-conflicts-nakedly-unconstitutional

According to National Public Radio: “A president is not permitted to receive cash and other benefits from foreign governments,” Norm Eisen tells Fresh Air‘s Terry Gross. “And yet, Donald Trump is getting a steady flow of them around the world and right here in the United States.”

The “emoluments clause” is front and center in this debate. It’s written into the U.S. Constitution. It should be called the “anti-bribery clause.” Trump has refused to divest his myriad business interests; he has refused to put them into a blind trust.

NPR, quoting Richard Painter, former ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush, reports: “The president needs to focus on protecting the United States and American interests in a very dangerous world,” Painter says. “I really hope that President Trump takes the steps he needs to, to be free of conflict of interest in that endeavor.”

There are questions about whether Trump’s business dealings abroad could interfere with U.S. policy. Trump refuses to release his tax returns. He declines to provide detailed financial reports. He keeps saying this discussion is a media creation.

Holy cow, dude! You’ve got some serious experts on this stuff suggesting you’re going to violate the Constitution you will swear to “defend and protect.”

Does a direct violation of that sacred oath create a reason for, um, impeachment?

Let’s all wait for this to play out.

national news, political news

Whether to boycott inaugural

I want to open this topic up for discussion after declaring my own view that might ruffle a feather or three.

I’ve been stewing over this notion about boycotting Donald Trump’s inauguration on Friday. Several dozen Democratic lawmakers say they aren’t going to attend the inaugural out of protest over Trump’s election to the presidency.

I’m not comfortable with that notion.

I’m going to launch my own mini-boycott Friday. I’ll watch the new president’s inaugural speech, but I’m going to forgo the rest of it: the parade, the pageantry, the balls, the “first dance.” I am just a schmuck out here in Flyover Country who is not elected to a public office that is part of a federal government that sets laws for everyone to follow.

A Democratic boycott of a Republican president’s inaugural seems, to my way of thinking, to miss the point about what these inaugurals are all about. They aren’t about the individual who is elected president; they are about the office. We salute the office and the principles on which it was founded.

The inaugural is meant to honor democratic tradition, not Democratic politics.

Do I wish someone else had been elected president? Sure I do. But here’s another point: That other person I supported — Hillary Rodham Clinton — is going to attend the inaugural with her husband, the former president. She’ll be on the podium. She’ll stand and applaud when the new president takes the oath. If anyone had reason to boycott, I think it would be her.

Those who detest the president don’t have to applaud. They can keep their hands warm by sticking them in their pockets.

This event Friday isn’t about Donald Trump; it certainly isn’t about those who are boycotting the event. It’s about the presidency, which is going to keep on functioning the moment the chief justice tells Donald J. Trump, “Congratulations, Mr. President.”

***

Let me know what you think. Those of you who see this on Facebook likely will comment on that social medium. Feel free to comment on High Plains Blogger as well.

I don’t think anyone will change my mind. Nor do I think I’ll change anyone else’s mind, either.

environmental news, national news, political news, State news

‘Oops’ Perry now ‘regrets’ earlier call to end DOE

I want to give a half-hearted shout-out to Rick “Oops” Perry for something he said today at his confirmation hearing to become the next secretary of energy.

The former Texas governor said he regrets insisting that the Department of Energy be one of three such agencies he would eliminate if he were elected president.

He tried to say so during a 2012 Republican presidential debate, but suffered a brain freeze at a critical moment. Hey, it’s happened to all of us, right?

He said he’d toss out the departments of Education, Commerce and … then he forgot the third one. He fumbled around before muttering his infamous “oops.”

Why the change of heart? He said he’s learned about the Energy Department and what it does to promote energy policy. I want to presume he also knows about the myriad forms of energy involved in that policy that go far beyond fossil fuel production that, of course, is a big deal here in Texas.

My shout-out would be full-throated if I actually believed he meant the “I regret” statement. I’m not sure I believe much of what Gov. Perry says about anything these days — not that I fully believed him back when he was governor.

I mean, after all, he did call Donald J. Trump a “cancer on conservatism.” He did accuse the president-elect of lacking any ideology. He did say that his party needed to excise that “cancer.” This all came during his second failed effort, in 2016, to become the GOP presidential nominee.

Now, after all that heated rhetoric, he wants to become energy secretary. He wants to run a department he once said he intended to throw into the Dumpster.

I don’t know which Rick Perry to believe.

Or whether to believe a single thing this guy has ever said.

military news, national news, political news

No tanks, cannons and assorted hardware at parade … please!

Oh, brother.

I just caught up with an item reported by The Hill that gives me the heebie-jeebies. The Huffington Post reports that Donald Trump’s team wanted the inaugural parade to include a display of military hardware: tanks, big guns, missile launchers, lots of troops.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/315184-trump-team-wanted-tanks-missile-launchers-in-parade-report

The Pentagon said “no” to that nutty idea. It seems that the brass realized something that Donald J. Trump’s didn’t understand, which is how such a display would look around the world.

The inaugural parade that occurs every four years is meant to salute the nature of our government, which stipulates that civilians control the machinery. As The Hill reported: “According to the report, the military shot down the request because of concerns about how it would look to have tanks and missile launchers in the parade, as well as the possible damage the tanks, which can weigh over 100,000 pounds, would do to the roads.”

There will be flyovers: The Navy, Air Force, Army and Marines will fly assorted combat aircraft over the proceedings. They’ll be seen and then they’ll be gone. I don’t have a particular problem with that.

But to roll the heavy equipment along Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the presidential reviewing stand? That’s too much. It might play well in Moscow and Pyongyang. Not here!

environmental news, national news, political news, State news

Gov. Perry forced to eat his words

Rick “Oops” Perry called Donald J. Trump a “cancer on conservatism.”

He said his one-time Republican presidential campaign foe was devoid of “principles.”

The former Texas governor once pledged to get rid of the Energy Department, except he couldn’t remember it at the time he made the pledge.

Now the man he condemned with such harsh rhetoric has asked him to lead the department he wanted to eliminate.

Go … figure.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/rick-perry-seeks-to-lead-the-energy-department-an-agency-he-pledged-to-abolish/ar-AAm122q?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp

Gov. Perry’s nomination to be energy secretary suggests two important things to me.

One is that politicians’ views of other politicians always are subject to change when the moment presents itself. Perry’s remarks about the president-elect happened to be accurate, in my view. They didn’t stick. So now, if he’s confirmed, Perry will lead a Cabinet agency that he seems to know little about and will work at the pleasure of a man he once described in extremely harsh terms.

The other is that energy development isn’t just about drilling for fossil fuels. Perry, as Texas governor, knows that. We generate a good bit of wind energy in Texas, especially out here on the High Plains.

Trump, though, has expressed next to zero knowledge of, or interest in, alternative energy production. He keeps talking about grabbing the oil fields of the Islamic State and other terrorists and capturing the fuel for our own needs. Is the energy secretary going to assist in that endeavor or will he proceed with promoting a comprehensive energy policy that includes the myriad forms of alternative energy sources available to us?

Gov. Perry is another one of those questionable nominees with whom Trump is surrounding himself.

I am now shaking my head.

national news

Decision made: I’ll watch inaugural speech … that’s all!

I usually glom onto the pageantry associated with events such as presidential inaugurations.

This time? I’m going to pass on most of it.

You know my feelings about the president-elect. No need to belabor that point. I am going to watch Donald John Trump take the oath of office and will watch his inaugural speech.

I hear it’ll be shorter than the average inaugural address. That’s fine.

I do need grist for this blog and I suppose the new president’s remarks will provide plenty of it.

However, this is going to surprise many of you. I am going to listen specifically for praiseworthy statements. To be candid, my continual bitching about Trump is wearing me out. I’ve told you already that I want the new president to succeed. We could get an inkling of whether he’s headed for success within a few minutes after taking the oath.

Inaugural speeches usually are chock full of high-minded, noble rhetoric that seeks to appeal to our better angels. A few of them over the two-plus centuries of our republic have left indelible impressions, the phrase that lasts throughout history. “Ask not what you can do for your country …” stands out, yes? “With malice toward none and charity for all …” That one, too.

I also get that words alone don’t spell success. We’ll need to see if the president delivers on the promises expressed on the steps of the Capitol Building.

Will the 45th president deliver a signature line, a moment for the ages? We’ll see. I am not betting my next steak dinner on it.

However, as a squishy liberal/progressive, my hope does spring eternal.