Alongside in the harbor of Otranto: Otranto is on the back of the heel of the boot. We spent the day here, it's one of the upscale resort regions of Southern Italy. There are wonderful fortifications, walls, an ancient village, and a newer section all gathered around a yacht/fishing harbor and beach.
Grand Circle had it planned that we'd walk from our mooring to the village, then walk around it, then walk back - too much walking. I opted to stay aboard.
E decided I needed to see Otranto so we hired a tuk-tuk back into town in the afternoon. We saw the cathedral's mosaic tile flooring, the various sights, and came back to the ship not tired. Costly, but so what?
The Turks decapitated some 800 local people who wouldn't convert to Islam. The Church has declared them martyrs to the faith. Not sure if that makes them saints. I wisecracked to our driver that Italy was again being invaded by the same aggressive faith, but he just looked blank, nonplussed. His English was perfunctory.
Tuesday, June 6, 2017
Monday, June 5, 2017
Travel Blogging IV
Cruising the Ionian Sea, south of Italy: We spent yesterday at a location that could be the sole of the boot, Riace (pronounced REE-ah-che) in the province of Calabria. This part of Italy is poor, it looks like coastal Southern California, has somewhat similar weather, grows oranges and olives, and attracts hordes of tourists to its beaches.
Year round residents are mostly agriculturists and the land is clay, not great for growing. The small villages have lost population for decades, Riace managed to reverse that trend, a classic case of taking lemons and making lemonade.
The mayor took in a shipload of hungry, sick, desperate Kurdish refugees who washed up on the beach, and tried to help them. Being entrepreneurial, he got others (Germans, I think) to fund the effort and created a new "industry" for his dying village - refugee rehabilitation.
He housed them in the abandoned houses, which he then paid them to fix up. The Kurds are mostly gone, having learned Italian, perhaps a trade, and something about being a "European." Now the current refugees in residence are a mix of Africans and Pakistanis.
Our tour group, mostly Trump-hating liberals, should have thought the whole enterprise wonderfully uplifting and holy. Actually, a fair number wondered what doing make-work jobs and living in an ancient village would teach third-world migrants, how they would fare after leaving Riace.
In a region of clay, a logical occupation is potter. The village teaches some to be potters but I have to wonder if there will be a market for so much tourist kitsch.
As is typical with help-the-poor schemes, the main beneficiaries are the villagers who created employment for themselves as professional refugee-enablers. In his own way the mayor is a self-invented hero not unlike the founder of the Grameen Bank which makes loans to the poor.
The mayor of Riace is somewhat famous and in-demand as a speaker, like that bank founder. Perhaps his motives were pure, perhaps self-serving, I cannot say.
On another topic, once you've seen Sicily and Calabria, you understand why so many Italian immigrants ended up in coastal California. Quite simply the California coast looked like home, had the same climate - wet winters and dry summers - and fishing was a realistic occupation. They looked at it and said to themselves, "I know how to deal with this environment."
Year round residents are mostly agriculturists and the land is clay, not great for growing. The small villages have lost population for decades, Riace managed to reverse that trend, a classic case of taking lemons and making lemonade.
The mayor took in a shipload of hungry, sick, desperate Kurdish refugees who washed up on the beach, and tried to help them. Being entrepreneurial, he got others (Germans, I think) to fund the effort and created a new "industry" for his dying village - refugee rehabilitation.
He housed them in the abandoned houses, which he then paid them to fix up. The Kurds are mostly gone, having learned Italian, perhaps a trade, and something about being a "European." Now the current refugees in residence are a mix of Africans and Pakistanis.
Our tour group, mostly Trump-hating liberals, should have thought the whole enterprise wonderfully uplifting and holy. Actually, a fair number wondered what doing make-work jobs and living in an ancient village would teach third-world migrants, how they would fare after leaving Riace.
In a region of clay, a logical occupation is potter. The village teaches some to be potters but I have to wonder if there will be a market for so much tourist kitsch.
As is typical with help-the-poor schemes, the main beneficiaries are the villagers who created employment for themselves as professional refugee-enablers. In his own way the mayor is a self-invented hero not unlike the founder of the Grameen Bank which makes loans to the poor.
The mayor of Riace is somewhat famous and in-demand as a speaker, like that bank founder. Perhaps his motives were pure, perhaps self-serving, I cannot say.
----------
Sunday, June 4, 2017
The Chief Knows
Writing in the Dallas Morning News, former Dallas Police Chief David Brown says some insightful things about the drug problems at the center of much police work.
Prison keeps the mentally ill off the street (for some limited period) but does little to identify and treat their underlying pathologies. See my recent rant on our non-treatment of mental illness here.
When I first joined the force, I thought it was about supply, and to the extent that you could curtail that supply, I reasoned, you could restore some order. That is not entirely untrue, but that approach does not do anything to address the demand for illegal substances. The drug dealers exist only because their customers keep buying.There is a huge amount of undiagnosed, self-medicated mental illness in our society. We no longer have the institutions necessary to deal with those, so many sufferers end up in prison.
What first drives people to experiment with drugs, and why do they keep returning? Aside from basic physical addiction, they keep coming back because, on some level, the drugs are working for them. They are meeting a need. They are blunting a pain that feels too overwhelming to contend with. Or they are medicating a mental illness that, in a world that still stigmatizes mental illness, has gone undiagnosed.
Prison keeps the mentally ill off the street (for some limited period) but does little to identify and treat their underlying pathologies. See my recent rant on our non-treatment of mental illness here.
Saturday, June 3, 2017
Travel Blogging III
Valletta Harbor, Malta: Today we boarded the MS Artemis, sister ship to the MS Athena we sailed on some years ago. It can handle 48 passengers and we have over 40 aboard, plus the crew which is from Croatia, Montenegro, Romania, Slovakia, India, and Indonesia. There may have been a Serb in the mix, too.
Most of these guys - all guys, no women - are not far from home. We will sail up the western shore of the Adriatic Sea, and their homes - most of them - are on its eastern shore. Not, of course, true for the Asians who work in the "hotel" side of the ship - food prep, dining service, and room stewards.
It turns out Croatians are a seafaring people, our captain and his next couple of guys are from there. Some years ago the ship we sailed to Antarctica had a Croatian crew.
A fun fact: Valletta has a bunch of electric taxis that can zip you around its hilly streets. They are truly just big golf carts - no meters - but it got the job done, took us from atop the hill down to sea level and along the harbor promenade to the ship terminal. Perhaps other cities should consider it as they're quiet and non-polluting.
Valletta is not the historical capital of Malta, but was built on a greenfield site by the Knights of St. John Hospitaller, aka Knights of Malta. They built it as a fortification/headquarters city to defend the main harbor of Malta. It is the largest protected harbor in the Mediterranean and, as such, much desired by various occupying powers - most recently the British. Those who don't know their World War II history were reminded Malta was heavily bombed by the Axis powers.
We got a language lesson this morning, about Maltese language and culture. Maltese is an amalgam of Arabic grammar, Italian, Arabic and English vocabulary, written in Roman characters by a Christian people. There was no effort to teach us Maltese, as our lecturer said even Maltese kids don't speak it much, preferring English.
Most of these guys - all guys, no women - are not far from home. We will sail up the western shore of the Adriatic Sea, and their homes - most of them - are on its eastern shore. Not, of course, true for the Asians who work in the "hotel" side of the ship - food prep, dining service, and room stewards.
It turns out Croatians are a seafaring people, our captain and his next couple of guys are from there. Some years ago the ship we sailed to Antarctica had a Croatian crew.
A fun fact: Valletta has a bunch of electric taxis that can zip you around its hilly streets. They are truly just big golf carts - no meters - but it got the job done, took us from atop the hill down to sea level and along the harbor promenade to the ship terminal. Perhaps other cities should consider it as they're quiet and non-polluting.
Valletta is not the historical capital of Malta, but was built on a greenfield site by the Knights of St. John Hospitaller, aka Knights of Malta. They built it as a fortification/headquarters city to defend the main harbor of Malta. It is the largest protected harbor in the Mediterranean and, as such, much desired by various occupying powers - most recently the British. Those who don't know their World War II history were reminded Malta was heavily bombed by the Axis powers.
We got a language lesson this morning, about Maltese language and culture. Maltese is an amalgam of Arabic grammar, Italian, Arabic and English vocabulary, written in Roman characters by a Christian people. There was no effort to teach us Maltese, as our lecturer said even Maltese kids don't speak it much, preferring English.
A Promise Kept
Like Trump or hate him, you have to say he is checking off his campaign promises, at least those he can do without needing Congress to dedigitate and enact legislation. Pulling out of the Paris climate accord was a campaign promise, now a promise kept.
Friday, June 2, 2017
Travel Blogging II
Valletta, Malta: Yesterday we visited what is the supposedly most ancient site of neolithic human archetecture on the planet. A temple (they think) on a promontory overlooking the sea, made of enormous blocks of limestone by a people who vanished a thousand years before the pyramids were built, two thousand years before Stonehenge.
The temple has the same "aligned with the solstices" feature as Stonehenge, sun worship seems to have been very widespread among early humans. Apparently the temple is one of many on this island, some 50 miles south of Sicily.
Archeologists are relatively certain Malta was settled from Sicily, as it can been seen from there on an exceptionally clear day. The way they describe that process is brutal: primitive boats didn't have an excellent chance of reaching Malta from Sicily. Probably many foundered and the occupants died. However, if you launch 70 such rafts or boats, some will make it, and viola, settlement has occurred.
Today we transit from hotel to ship, but remain here in port until tomorrow as we have more of Malta to see, the ship becomes our "hotel."
The temple has the same "aligned with the solstices" feature as Stonehenge, sun worship seems to have been very widespread among early humans. Apparently the temple is one of many on this island, some 50 miles south of Sicily.
Archeologists are relatively certain Malta was settled from Sicily, as it can been seen from there on an exceptionally clear day. The way they describe that process is brutal: primitive boats didn't have an excellent chance of reaching Malta from Sicily. Probably many foundered and the occupants died. However, if you launch 70 such rafts or boats, some will make it, and viola, settlement has occurred.
Today we transit from hotel to ship, but remain here in port until tomorrow as we have more of Malta to see, the ship becomes our "hotel."
Thursday, June 1, 2017
Travel Blogging I
Valletta, Malta: We flew 1/3 the way around the world yesterday - Wyoming to Malta via Denver and Frankfurt - 8 time zones. Tell me that won't screw up our bio clocks a bunch.
Malta is a funny place, if you fly in as we did today you see how dry and barren the island is at this time of year. Rain happens mostly in winter, something it shares with California.
Malta is climatically more related to North Africa than to Europe. If you sail in you see the harbor which looks renaissance Italian.
The local language is a mixture of Italian and Arabic written in Roman script, very odd looking. The island holds a major election on Sunday and there are these billboards each picturing a most mainstream European looking man in suit and tie labeled with the frankly hellish looking local language touting their strengths, platforms or maybe their hat sizes, there's no way to guess.
It isn't clear why the Maltese bother with a local language, they were a British colony until the mid 1960s and nearly everybody speaks and reads English. Off island they use exclusively English as nobody there knows Maltese.
Parts of the quite large metropolitan area of Valletta look North African, parts look Southern Italian, and the formerly British parts look modern. Its population is roughly 300,000+.
The original inhabitants were Phoenician and Carthagenian, and most of today's indigenous population is nominally Roman Catholic. Brits retire here, if they can afford to do so, for the warm, dry weather.
Our hotel, the Corinthia Palace, resembles the palace hotel in Cairo - very atmospheric.
Malta is a funny place, if you fly in as we did today you see how dry and barren the island is at this time of year. Rain happens mostly in winter, something it shares with California.
Malta is climatically more related to North Africa than to Europe. If you sail in you see the harbor which looks renaissance Italian.
The local language is a mixture of Italian and Arabic written in Roman script, very odd looking. The island holds a major election on Sunday and there are these billboards each picturing a most mainstream European looking man in suit and tie labeled with the frankly hellish looking local language touting their strengths, platforms or maybe their hat sizes, there's no way to guess.
It isn't clear why the Maltese bother with a local language, they were a British colony until the mid 1960s and nearly everybody speaks and reads English. Off island they use exclusively English as nobody there knows Maltese.
Parts of the quite large metropolitan area of Valletta look North African, parts look Southern Italian, and the formerly British parts look modern. Its population is roughly 300,000+.
The original inhabitants were Phoenician and Carthagenian, and most of today's indigenous population is nominally Roman Catholic. Brits retire here, if they can afford to do so, for the warm, dry weather.
Our hotel, the Corinthia Palace, resembles the palace hotel in Cairo - very atmospheric.
Longtime Lefty Slum
The New York Post, as well as others, have recently written about the way radical students have taken over Evergreen State College in Washington state. The wuss president has caved into minority demands to basically let them run the place and routinely humiliate him.
Chances are, you've never heard of the school and imagine something drastic has happened to it. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Evergreen State has been a slough of despond, a haunt of doped-up, 70s-nostalgic flower children and radicals for decades.
It is this very reputation, as a hangout of radicals, deviants, and malcontents, which attracted the black racists and native American nationalists who now terrorize the spineless president. He was doubtless chosen to maintain the school's unique "character;" assuming reports are accurate, he has succeeded admirably.
California has its own version of Evergreen State: the Santa Cruz campus of UC. Centralizing most of the odd bods in one location has its advantages, so long as those who go there understand its de facto "specialization" in weirdness.
Chances are, you've never heard of the school and imagine something drastic has happened to it. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Evergreen State has been a slough of despond, a haunt of doped-up, 70s-nostalgic flower children and radicals for decades.
It is this very reputation, as a hangout of radicals, deviants, and malcontents, which attracted the black racists and native American nationalists who now terrorize the spineless president. He was doubtless chosen to maintain the school's unique "character;" assuming reports are accurate, he has succeeded admirably.
California has its own version of Evergreen State: the Santa Cruz campus of UC. Centralizing most of the odd bods in one location has its advantages, so long as those who go there understand its de facto "specialization" in weirdness.
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Punch, Kick and Stomp Elites
The Chicago Tribune's John Kass has good insight. He sees Trump as a symptom of the failures of the coastal elites to respond to the needs of the "deplorable" interior, as we noted yesterday.
I grew up with these people. They don't deserve the shaming that comes their way.Do you see much with which to disagree? I don't. A brash wealthy guy who was able (and willing) to self-fund a campaign was the only sort of candidate who could represent their values. All others were dependent on the donor class which was happy with the status quo and wanted no change therefrom.
They were betrayed. And all they want, really, is meaningful work and to not be told they're idiotic or hateful simply because they dare support traditional values, and that a nation should shape its culture by controlling its own borders.
They knew Trump was loud, they knew he was vulgar, they knew he was trouble. And they voted for him because they wanted him to make trouble.
They wanted him to punch the Washington elites in the mouth, to kick them and stomp on them as they had been kicked and stomped on. They detest the ruling elites in the modern Versailles so much that they installed a character like Trump.
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Wisdom from An Odd Source
Andrew O'Hehir has spent the last 20 years at Salon, a left-wing website I normally avoid like the plague. Atypically, he has written a long article you might enjoy, taking fellow Democrats to task about their party's many failures. His message to delusional Democrats:
Trump represents a beginning in the rebuilding the Republicans needed to do, the Democrats haven't yet begun their needed rebuilding, but O'Hehir thinks they need to get started. Hat tip to Instapundit for the link.
Get over Montana already — and stop trolling yourself with that stupid special election in Georgia too. They don’t mean anything, and anyway — that dude Jon Ossoff? He’s about the lamest excuse for a national progressive hero in the entire history of Democratic Party milquetoast triangulation. Oh, and since we’re on the subject: Forget about the “blue wave” of 2018. Forget about the Democratic majority of 2019. Forget about the impeachment of President Donald Trump. Have you even been paying attention? Because none of that stuff is happening and it’s all a massive distraction.About Gianforte's win in a Montana by-election, after decking a persistent reporter:
I think it’s safe to say that likely Republican voters in Montana, and damn near everywhere else, can be divided into two groups: those who didn’t much care or were inclined to look the other way, and those who were absolutely thrilled.As for the future:
My position is that Donald Trump is a symptom of the fundamental brokenness of American politics, not the cause.Yes, O'Hehir hates Trump and wishes he would just go away, but his political grasp otherwise isn't far off the mark. Trump was nominated because establishment Republicans were empty suits, do-nothing careerists. Trump was elected because a huge swathe of voters felt unrepresented by the Democrats.
Right now the Democratic Party has no clear sense of mission and no coherent national message, except that it is not the party of Donald Trump. I can understand the appeal of that message, the longing for a return to normalcy, calm and order that it embodies. (snip) There is no “normal” state we can return to.
Trump represents a beginning in the rebuilding the Republicans needed to do, the Democrats haven't yet begun their needed rebuilding, but O'Hehir thinks they need to get started. Hat tip to Instapundit for the link.
Tuesday Wisdom
Stephen Green, who guest blogs at Instapundit, pens a very puissant sentence (scroll down) describing today's politics of the left and its problems with black voter turnout.
My prediction presumes Democrats continue to be serious about winning, unlike Britain's Labour Party which seemingly has given up.
The Democratic party has been captured by gentry liberals and tech titans who don’t share many interests in common with African-American voters, and President Obama’s race could provide cover for only so long.Note: Green's "only so long" = 8 years. I'll remind you of my prediction - Democrats will nominate no white for president during the next several quadrennial cycles.
My prediction presumes Democrats continue to be serious about winning, unlike Britain's Labour Party which seemingly has given up.
Trump Right, Merkel Upset
CNBC columnist Jake Novak writes that Trump's approach to Europe - backing away from the Paris climate accords and insisting Europe pay its fair share of defense costs - is the right one. I won't try to summarize his arguments, you should read them for yourself.
Basically, Novak observes Europe has been "free riding" on U.S. aid and defense spending for the last 70+ years. You could argue it was justified for the first couple of decades of rebuilding wartime damage, it hasn't been justified for the past 50 years.
Free riding is how Europe affords elaborate social spending. Social spending we cannot afford because our money defends them, in addition to ourselves. Trump is absolutely correct affluent Europe needs to carry its own weight.
Basically, Novak observes Europe has been "free riding" on U.S. aid and defense spending for the last 70+ years. You could argue it was justified for the first couple of decades of rebuilding wartime damage, it hasn't been justified for the past 50 years.
Free riding is how Europe affords elaborate social spending. Social spending we cannot afford because our money defends them, in addition to ourselves. Trump is absolutely correct affluent Europe needs to carry its own weight.
Arriviste
Writing at Investor's Business Daily, Dennis Prager examines the reasons why there are conservatives who persist in never-Trumpism. His main reason is one I'm not certain I share, it's the Flight 93 thing.
He believes the country was doomed if Hillary was elected, and the anti-Trumpers don't agree. I lean toward the "don't agree" side, but don't find that hindering me from supporting Trump, while recognizing his shortcomings. If we could survive Obama, we could have survived another Clinton but will do better with Trump, in my view.
I find more persuasive Prager's other reasons.
He believes the country was doomed if Hillary was elected, and the anti-Trumpers don't agree. I lean toward the "don't agree" side, but don't find that hindering me from supporting Trump, while recognizing his shortcomings. If we could survive Obama, we could have survived another Clinton but will do better with Trump, in my view.
I find more persuasive Prager's other reasons.
Anti-Trump conservatives are a very refined group of people. Trump doesn't talk like them. Moreover, the cultural milieu in which the vast majority of anti-Trump conservatives live and/or work means that to support Trump is to render oneself contemptible at all elite dinner parties.Translaton: It is a social class issue. Trump is nouveau riche - somewhat in fact, particularly in behavior. This is anathema among anti-Trumpers' contemporaries but endears him to many of those who were never rich (and would behave as he does if riches ever came their way). Hint: That group includes most Americans.
In addition, anti-Trump conservatives see themselves as highly moral people (which they often are) who are duty-bound not to compromise themselves by strongly supporting Trump, whom they largely view as morally defective.
Monday, May 29, 2017
Not All Battle Scars Are Visible
Mike Allen writes at Axios about Memorial Day and about veterans' lives, which are often difficult.
About 20 veterans a day commit suicide, per the Veterans Administration: "In 2014, the latest year available, more than 7,400 veterans took their own lives, accounting for 18% of all suicides in America. Veterans make up less than 9% of the U.S. population."By my envelope-back calculation, that means a veteran is twice as likely to commit suicide as a non-veteran. Many get what in the Foreign Legion is called le cafard. Watching friends die, and dealing death yourself ... these things put the mind at risk.
Memorial Day Musing
On Memorial Day, we honor those who have died while serving in our nation's military. I choose to also honor those who risked death and survived, but still carry the scars.
Our freedom isn't free, it was purchased with the blood of those who fought to secure it. Unless I'm much mistaken, we haven't seen the last of such "purchases."
We live in a dangerous world, at the top of the food chain. Our biggest threat is other people, often those who belong to other "tribes" or nations. While an unattractive aspect of humanity, it cannot be denied or wished away.
Our freedom isn't free, it was purchased with the blood of those who fought to secure it. Unless I'm much mistaken, we haven't seen the last of such "purchases."
We live in a dangerous world, at the top of the food chain. Our biggest threat is other people, often those who belong to other "tribes" or nations. While an unattractive aspect of humanity, it cannot be denied or wished away.
The Fourth Reich
ABC News has a longer, more complete version of the Angela Merkel quote cited in yesterday's post. She said:
The times when we could completely count on others, they are over to a certain extent. I have experienced this in the last few days. And that is why I can only say that we Europeans must really take our fate into our own hands.Angela Merkel is the latest in a line of German Chancellors who have stealthily accomplished what Adolf Hitler could not do by force - institutionalize German domination of most of continental Europe. Doing it via economics and the bargaining table in Brussels has generated less resistance but, of course, took much longer and probably wasn't as satisfying as Blitzkrieg.
Of course [we are] in friendship with the United States of America, in friendship with Great Britain and as good neighbors wherever that is possible also with other countries, even with Russia. But we have to know that we must fight for our future on our own, for our destiny as Europeans, and that's what I want to do together with you.
Sunday, May 28, 2017
She Doesn't Mean It
The Daily Mail (U.K.) reports Germany's Angela Merkel wasn't pleased with the G7 meeting featuring Donald Trump. Hat tip to Lucianne.com for the link. Merkel said:
Except ... Trump tends to see things as linked, like a package deal, not as independent issues. Ask the Chinese how that works. Get in his face on climate, maybe he pulls back from NATO or free trade.
If Europe decides to go it alone, they will have to substantially increase defense spending. Doing so will pinch the generous social programs with which they buy internal peace.
Europe has leaned on the U.S. ever since the end of World War II to protect them, first from the Soviets and now from the Russians. Merkel should remember how little fun the Russians were from growing up in an East Germany where Russians called the shots.
Analysis: Merkel is irritated and grumpy with Trump, so she's acting-out. But Europe going it alone? No, she doesn't mean it. There really is a bear in Europe's woods (classical reference) as she well knows.
Later ... Politico Europe reaches essentially the same conclusion we did.
The times in which we can fully count on others are somewhat over, as I have experienced in the past few days.And the Mail adds:
Merkel on Saturday labelled the result of the 'six against one' discussion "very difficult, not to say very unsatisfactory."Maybe Trump has decided to dump the Paris climate accords, and Europe doesn't like it. Fair enough, they can do what they think best and we will do the same.
Except ... Trump tends to see things as linked, like a package deal, not as independent issues. Ask the Chinese how that works. Get in his face on climate, maybe he pulls back from NATO or free trade.
If Europe decides to go it alone, they will have to substantially increase defense spending. Doing so will pinch the generous social programs with which they buy internal peace.
Europe has leaned on the U.S. ever since the end of World War II to protect them, first from the Soviets and now from the Russians. Merkel should remember how little fun the Russians were from growing up in an East Germany where Russians called the shots.
Analysis: Merkel is irritated and grumpy with Trump, so she's acting-out. But Europe going it alone? No, she doesn't mean it. There really is a bear in Europe's woods (classical reference) as she well knows.
Later ... Politico Europe reaches essentially the same conclusion we did.
Saturday, May 27, 2017
Leakers on Short Leash
CBS News reports (scroll down):
CBS News has confirmed from two sources that three leakers of classified information at the White House have been identified and are expected to be fired.I'm guessing maybe translators - civil servants of some sort. They aren't easy to fire but could be transferred to the GSA where careers go to die.
Officials within the Trump White House believe leaks of Mr. Trump's conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are a "deliberate attempt" by officials who are holdovers from President Obama's administration and are trying to damage the Trump presidency.
Who Cares?
On the PBS Washington Week program yesterday, Associated Press reporter Erica Werner said the following about Trump people having contact with Russians (scroll down):
Estonians care, Poles care, Moldavians, Czechs, Montenegrins and Georgians care as they're all "under the gun," more or less literally. Americans? Not so much.
The exceptions: people inside the Beltway and Democrat activists (including most of the media) desperate for a scandal labeled R.
Can you say "out of step?"
I’ve heard from several lawmakers of both parties that they do not hear about this issue in town halls, from their voters when they go home. They don’t hear about Russia. They hear about health care. They hear about jobs. So they aren’t getting pressure from constituents, even Democrats, on this issue.No kidding, it's what media types like to call a "nothingburger." Nobody thinks Russia is about to attack any part of the U.S., and it no longer is the marketing arm of an international political conspiracy called "Communism." So most Americans aren't fussed about who talks to them.
Estonians care, Poles care, Moldavians, Czechs, Montenegrins and Georgians care as they're all "under the gun," more or less literally. Americans? Not so much.
The exceptions: people inside the Beltway and Democrat activists (including most of the media) desperate for a scandal labeled R.
Can you say "out of step?"
A Smoking Gun
This particular gun has been smoking for about a year, well before the 2016 election. The New York Post reports the Obama administration routinely spied on Americans with little or no cause beyond prurient curiosity and political animus.
We now know the National Security Agency under President Barack Obama routinely violated privacy protections while snooping through foreign intercepts involving US citizens — and failed to disclose the breaches, prompting the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court a month before the election to rebuke administration officials.Wouldn't Obama doing a perp walk be some fine viewing?
The FISA court called it a “very serious Fourth Amendment issue” that NSA analysts — in violation of a 2011 rule change prohibiting officials from searching Americans’ information without a warrant — “had been conducting such queries in violation of that prohibition, with much greater frequency than had been previously disclosed to the Court.”
A number of those searches were made from the White House, and included private citizens working for the Trump campaign, some of whose identities were leaked to the media.
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