Writing for RealClearWorld, John Dale Grover argues that Venezuela needs humanitarian aid, not an invasion aimed at toppling the Maduro “socialist dictatorship.” He’s certainly correct that the U.S. has shown no particular skill in standing up replacement governments with any staying power.
Grover’s Rx of sending humanitarian aid is likely, however, to end up propping up the corrupt and counterproductive Maduro regime. It has unquestionably been popular with Venezuela’s poor, who have been the main beneficiaries of its redistributionist policies.
I’d argue that what individual Venezuelans need and what their country needs are not only different but essentially opposite things. Individual Venezuelans need food, medicine, clean water, and hope. Venezuela the country needs to confront the essentially unworkable nature of socialism, and it isn’t clear enough of its people yet accept that bitter truth.
Giving Venezuela aid now is like giving heroin addicts methadone, it keeps them going but doesn’t diminish their dependency. Venezuela’s Chavistas need to confront the failure of socialism to improve their lives. To understand that it fails because it is based on a wildly optimistic assessment of human altruism that is unsubstantiated in real life.
Until the poor of Venezuela give up on socialism’s handouts and get on with earning a living by the sweat of their brow, the successors of Chavez will continue to have a hold on them and their country. Helping that happen shouldn’t be U.S. policy.
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Cautious Optimism Justified
Political analyst Henry Olsen has written a somewhat fine-grained, look at the 2018 midterm election results for the U.S. edition of The Guardian. His look suggests Trump has less to fear in 2020 than some pundits have predicted.
Olsen finds the small city/town/rural GOP bias got stronger while the big city/suburb Dem bias was about the same. From this he concludes:
Olsen finds the small city/town/rural GOP bias got stronger while the big city/suburb Dem bias was about the same. From this he concludes:
Trump will again be competitive in the Midwestern purple states of Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, and Wisconsin, and perhaps even Pennsylvania where two weak candidates this cycle depressed GOP vote share. Should Trump be able to improve only a small amount on his party’s 2018 results in these states, he will again prevail in the Electoral College even as he again loses the popular vote.An incumbent president can normally improve that small amount on his party’s midterm results. Not the landslide we’d prefer, one supposes, but a win is a win. Hat tip to RealClearPolitics for the link.
Monday, November 12, 2018
Travel Blogging XIII
Nawiliwili Harbor, Island of Kauai, Hawaii: Honolulu on Oahu is a big metropolitan city with warm, humid weather. Kauai’s main town Lihui is a small city or big village, by comparison.
Kauai has the same warm weather as Oahu and is even wetter, but has no high rises and much less population and development ... a slower pace, too. Many prefer it for that reason. I find it a tad too rainy for my taste.
My favorite part of Hawaii is the Kona coast of the big island of Hawaii. It is substantially dryer than either Kauai or Oahu, or even Hawaii’s wet side by Hilo.
We went in town today, took the free “crew bus” to Walmart to do some shopping. When there is a ship in port Walmart pays for the bus which brings them 25 new customers every half hour. Because of where the store is located the customers don’t wander off.
Passengers are welcome on the bus too, of course. It isn’t altruism, just good business on Walmart’s part.
A follow-up on the fire in our NorCal region. Not only is the power off, the utility company - PG&E - is saying it may take up to 3 months to get it restored. If that is the case our property on a well pumped by electricity isn’t going to be functional. We’ll have to take our RV and go live where things are less chaotic.
Kauai has the same warm weather as Oahu and is even wetter, but has no high rises and much less population and development ... a slower pace, too. Many prefer it for that reason. I find it a tad too rainy for my taste.
My favorite part of Hawaii is the Kona coast of the big island of Hawaii. It is substantially dryer than either Kauai or Oahu, or even Hawaii’s wet side by Hilo.
We went in town today, took the free “crew bus” to Walmart to do some shopping. When there is a ship in port Walmart pays for the bus which brings them 25 new customers every half hour. Because of where the store is located the customers don’t wander off.
Passengers are welcome on the bus too, of course. It isn’t altruism, just good business on Walmart’s part.
A follow-up on the fire in our NorCal region. Not only is the power off, the utility company - PG&E - is saying it may take up to 3 months to get it restored. If that is the case our property on a well pumped by electricity isn’t going to be functional. We’ll have to take our RV and go live where things are less chaotic.
WSJ: Blame McCain
Writing in The Wall Street Journal, Jason Lewis argues that Sen. John McCain’s vote against replacing Obamacare with a GOP alternative was the cause of the GOP losing the House majority in the recent election. The House passed an Obamacare replacement, but the Republican-controlled Senate couldn’t quite pass it.
Most pundits concluded McCain voted “No” because he was pissed at President Trump and wished to frustrate Trump’s promise to dump Obamacare. At the margin, I suppose that could have made a difference.
On the other hand, it is a rare midyear election when the president’s party doesn’t lose House seats - mostly it happens. Who is to say the loss wasn’t inevitable?
Most pundits concluded McCain voted “No” because he was pissed at President Trump and wished to frustrate Trump’s promise to dump Obamacare. At the margin, I suppose that could have made a difference.
On the other hand, it is a rare midyear election when the president’s party doesn’t lose House seats - mostly it happens. Who is to say the loss wasn’t inevitable?
Sunday, November 11, 2018
Travel Blogging XII
Honolulu Harbor: I have an update on the status of our CA place. We reached a neighbor who has been evacuated but allowed back in to check on stuff.
Our neighbor says our house and RV barn came through okay, although the grassland around the house burned. Actually, that is quite good news for two reasons. First, the major buildings are apparently unscathed, including our vehicles parked therein. Second, now that the grass has burned off there is no further wildfire danger as the burned area is a giant firebreak.
PG&E has the power off, and our neighbor says there are poles actually down out on the highway, so the stuff in our refrigerator will spoil. We’ve had a frig go bad once before and managed to eradicate the rancid smell with much effort. E says maybe this time we’ll just buy a new one.
I guess we won’t have to winter over in Wyoming after all. It is wonderful in summer, decent in late spring and early fall, but there’s already snow on the ground.
Winter in WY wasn’t particularly a prospect I relished, I have a Southern California native’s attitude toward snow: it something to visit, not to live in.
Our neighbor says our house and RV barn came through okay, although the grassland around the house burned. Actually, that is quite good news for two reasons. First, the major buildings are apparently unscathed, including our vehicles parked therein. Second, now that the grass has burned off there is no further wildfire danger as the burned area is a giant firebreak.
PG&E has the power off, and our neighbor says there are poles actually down out on the highway, so the stuff in our refrigerator will spoil. We’ve had a frig go bad once before and managed to eradicate the rancid smell with much effort. E says maybe this time we’ll just buy a new one.
I guess we won’t have to winter over in Wyoming after all. It is wonderful in summer, decent in late spring and early fall, but there’s already snow on the ground.
Winter in WY wasn’t particularly a prospect I relished, I have a Southern California native’s attitude toward snow: it something to visit, not to live in.
A Treat, Not a Treatment
President Trump is in Paris for the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the end of World War One. It is a sort of rump summit with allied leaders there together for the commemoration.
The Daily Wire reports (with unretouched photos) a couple of women protestors in Paris ran out to President Trump’s motorcade topless. This was maybe supposed to prove something or get Trump to feel ashamed of something?
Good luck with that. If he saw it I’m sure he thought it was fun, remember his history of marrying supermodels and ‘dating’ other attractive women, including porn stars and nude models.
The ploy might have worked with choir boy Mike Pence, it clearly didn’t with Alpha Male Donald. It won’t surprise me if he wisecracks about it in a Tweet, something like it was “very French” meaning “sexy.”
The Daily Wire reports (with unretouched photos) a couple of women protestors in Paris ran out to President Trump’s motorcade topless. This was maybe supposed to prove something or get Trump to feel ashamed of something?
Good luck with that. If he saw it I’m sure he thought it was fun, remember his history of marrying supermodels and ‘dating’ other attractive women, including porn stars and nude models.
The ploy might have worked with choir boy Mike Pence, it clearly didn’t with Alpha Male Donald. It won’t surprise me if he wisecracks about it in a Tweet, something like it was “very French” meaning “sexy.”
Travel Blogging XI
At sea approaching Hawaii: Tomorrow morning we’ll be alongside in Honolulu ... we’re there all day and into the evening. Then we cruise overnight to Nawiliwili Bay on Kauai for another port day, after which it is five more sea days to Los Angeles.
Wildfire is a rural California thing, I grew up watching forest fires burn across the mountains of the Los Padres National Forest that rim the Ojai valley. It happened every 3-4 years then, probably still does.
Our CA home is in the large region in NorCal evacuated because of the so-called Camp fire, so named because it started near the intersection of Camp Creek Road and Highway 70. We didn’t evacuate, of course, because we were already long gone on this month-long cruise.
We may or may not have a CA home to return to when we land a week from tomorrow. Because our neighbors are evacuated too, we have no way to learn the state of our property. I suppose we’ll drive north in our rental car and see what we see when we get there. We might spend a winter in Wyoming after all, that’d be very weird.
Our NorCal place has been threatened by fire 3-4 times since we built it 31 years ago. So far we’ve dodged the bullet, I’m guessing we will this time too, but could easily be wrong. I’ll let y’all know in a week.
Wildfire is a rural California thing, I grew up watching forest fires burn across the mountains of the Los Padres National Forest that rim the Ojai valley. It happened every 3-4 years then, probably still does.
Our CA home is in the large region in NorCal evacuated because of the so-called Camp fire, so named because it started near the intersection of Camp Creek Road and Highway 70. We didn’t evacuate, of course, because we were already long gone on this month-long cruise.
We may or may not have a CA home to return to when we land a week from tomorrow. Because our neighbors are evacuated too, we have no way to learn the state of our property. I suppose we’ll drive north in our rental car and see what we see when we get there. We might spend a winter in Wyoming after all, that’d be very weird.
Our NorCal place has been threatened by fire 3-4 times since we built it 31 years ago. So far we’ve dodged the bullet, I’m guessing we will this time too, but could easily be wrong. I’ll let y’all know in a week.
Friday, November 9, 2018
Travel Blogging X
At sea west of Hawaii: About a day after we left Guam we ran into rough seas and have ‘enjoyed’ same for several days. It has varied between somewhat and quite a bit of ship motion in response to the swells we’re cruising across.
When the motion is substantial a lot of people stay in their cabins. This crowd of veteran cruisers probably aren’t really seasick, just cautious. Cruisers are not young and a fall could result in breaking old, brittle bones, especially if osteoporosis lurks.
I’ve been thinking of a line from Gordon Lightfoot’s ballad about the MS Edmund Fitzgerald. It goes something like:
When the motion is substantial a lot of people stay in their cabins. This crowd of veteran cruisers probably aren’t really seasick, just cautious. Cruisers are not young and a fall could result in breaking old, brittle bones, especially if osteoporosis lurks.
I’ve been thinking of a line from Gordon Lightfoot’s ballad about the MS Edmund Fitzgerald. It goes something like:
Lake Superior it’s saidI’ll take Gordon’s word about conditions on Lake Superior, he’s Canadian. I grew up a half hour’s drive from the Pacific Ocean. Based on familiarity, I’m thinking the “gales of November” came a little early in the middle of the planet’s biggest ocean. Unfortunately. I’m tired of them.
Never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early.
Thursday, November 8, 2018
Further Afterthoughts
If Democrats are less than ecstatic with the election results, they’ve a reason. The party out of power is supposed to pick up more House seats and at least a few Senate seats in the first midterm election after a president is elected. Democrats underperformed the norm on House seats and actually lost 3 Senate seats - not a rousing success.
If forced to characterize their outcome, I’d probably call it “disappointingly mediocre.” Dems of course want to see the glass half full, but the truth is they haven’t figured out how to deal with Donald Trump.
Perhaps Dems’ current identity group politics and their former class-based politics are substantially incompatible. I suspect you can do one or the other but not both.
Blue collar whites pay attention when Dems pander to the more extreme nonwhite elements in their coalition of victims. Joe and Jill Sixpac are not amused. Trump “gets” this conflict, and clearly points out how Dem policies hurt his folks.
Several articles are “out there” which take white women to task for not hangin’ with the sisterhood when they vote. And why should they? Housing patterns tell the story.
With whom do white women live? Mostly with white men in white neighborhoods. They don’t live in women’s collectives with women of all races. I’m tempted to call it Cotton’s Law: In our culture, tribe largely trumps gender.
There are tribes, mostly in the rainforest, where people live with others of their gender, in the men’s house or the house for women and children. We aren’t one of those.
If forced to characterize their outcome, I’d probably call it “disappointingly mediocre.” Dems of course want to see the glass half full, but the truth is they haven’t figured out how to deal with Donald Trump.
Perhaps Dems’ current identity group politics and their former class-based politics are substantially incompatible. I suspect you can do one or the other but not both.
Blue collar whites pay attention when Dems pander to the more extreme nonwhite elements in their coalition of victims. Joe and Jill Sixpac are not amused. Trump “gets” this conflict, and clearly points out how Dem policies hurt his folks.
—————
With whom do white women live? Mostly with white men in white neighborhoods. They don’t live in women’s collectives with women of all races. I’m tempted to call it Cotton’s Law: In our culture, tribe largely trumps gender.
There are tribes, mostly in the rainforest, where people live with others of their gender, in the men’s house or the house for women and children. We aren’t one of those.
Bye-Ku for Jeff Sessions
Multiple media outlets report Attorney General Jeff Sessions has resigned, likely because the President activated his preexisting pro forma letter of resignation. As everyone who has been paying attention knows, President Trump has been very unhappy with his choice of AG.
With the customary hat tip to its popularizer, James Taranto of the WSJ, we offer a bye-ku or haiku of farewell for Mr. Sessions.
With the customary hat tip to its popularizer, James Taranto of the WSJ, we offer a bye-ku or haiku of farewell for Mr. Sessions.
So long, Jeff Sessions.
Not revealing a need to
Recuse ruined you
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
Election (and Other) Afterthoughts
Democrats are happy they won a House majority and not very sad they didn’t get the Senate majority too. Why do you suppose that is? Perhaps it’s because if they had majorities in both chambers they’d have to legislate and oops, they have no legislative agenda except pie in the sky stuff (free nearly everything) for which there is no money.
Their main program is “we hate Trump.” Dems can’t legislate Trump out of office but with House subpoena power they can ‘investigate’ to their angry hearts’ content.
Democrats define “investigate” as hauling some poor SOB in front of a subcommittee, putting him or her under oath, asking the SOB “when did you stop beating your wife” questions, and making long badgering speeching at said SOB while playing to the TV cameras. As a way of dealing with Dem anger, it at least feels good. The bureaucrats on the receiving end won’t like it much.
Their main program is “we hate Trump.” Dems can’t legislate Trump out of office but with House subpoena power they can ‘investigate’ to their angry hearts’ content.
Democrats define “investigate” as hauling some poor SOB in front of a subcommittee, putting him or her under oath, asking the SOB “when did you stop beating your wife” questions, and making long badgering speeching at said SOB while playing to the TV cameras. As a way of dealing with Dem anger, it at least feels good. The bureaucrats on the receiving end won’t like it much.
——————
Binge watching a TV show more or less “works,” binge reading books about the same set of characters may not work as well. On the trip we’re on now I’ve binge read the RCN: Lt. Leary and Lady Mundy sci.fi. series by David Drake.
They’re good stories written to “work” as stand-alone books. Thus Drake explains a lot of the same basic scene-setting stuff in each book. That gets old after the fifth book, or maybe sooner. I can’t blame Drake, but I’d probably have enjoyed the books more if read with elapsed time between them.
Gridlock, Redux
Okay, ladies and germs, we’ve survived the midterm election and won’t have to put up with campaign folderol for another year and a bit. The election results had something for everyone, meaning nobody’s exactly happy at the moment.
Democrats won the majority in the House. It wasn’t exactly a “wave,” more like an oversized ripple that was nevertheless big enough to do the job. Just about what the pollsters expected, in fact. And they got closer to having half of the governors.
The House majority will suffice to enable Dems to make unending trouble for Trump and his minions for the next two years. Looking at the results, I’ll bet those cabinet secretaries who had planned to stay are reexamining their options, maybe honing their vitas.
The appointees who already have plans to leave are glad to be headed out the door. They’ll be harder to replace as quality people will take a dim view of volunteering to be a punching bag for House Dems.
The Republicans won additional seats in the Senate, perhaps enough to confirm a pro-life Supreme Court justice like Amy Coney Barrett, bypassing the objections of prochoice Sens. Collins and Murkowski. They will be able to confirm judges and presidential appointees, as these require no House action.
The Democrat-controlled House conceivably could impeach the President or Justice Kavanaugh. The Republican-controlled Senate will never convict so it would be a purely symbolic act.
It is within the realm of reason that executive branch personnel could refuse to testify before House committees, precipitating a Constitutional crisis of sorts. I presume the goal will be to bankrupt executive branch personnel via unending legal fees. Perhaps Trump can appoint an Attorney General who would defend them on the government’s nickel, or they could take the Fifth.
One thing you can count on, your Federal government will solve no problems during the next two years. Expect each chamber to pass things the other won’t even bother to consider.
Symbolic behavior - basically posturing - will be the order of the day. Anything Congress can’t get done before the new people take office next January won’t happen.
Democrats won the majority in the House. It wasn’t exactly a “wave,” more like an oversized ripple that was nevertheless big enough to do the job. Just about what the pollsters expected, in fact. And they got closer to having half of the governors.
The House majority will suffice to enable Dems to make unending trouble for Trump and his minions for the next two years. Looking at the results, I’ll bet those cabinet secretaries who had planned to stay are reexamining their options, maybe honing their vitas.
The appointees who already have plans to leave are glad to be headed out the door. They’ll be harder to replace as quality people will take a dim view of volunteering to be a punching bag for House Dems.
The Republicans won additional seats in the Senate, perhaps enough to confirm a pro-life Supreme Court justice like Amy Coney Barrett, bypassing the objections of prochoice Sens. Collins and Murkowski. They will be able to confirm judges and presidential appointees, as these require no House action.
The Democrat-controlled House conceivably could impeach the President or Justice Kavanaugh. The Republican-controlled Senate will never convict so it would be a purely symbolic act.
It is within the realm of reason that executive branch personnel could refuse to testify before House committees, precipitating a Constitutional crisis of sorts. I presume the goal will be to bankrupt executive branch personnel via unending legal fees. Perhaps Trump can appoint an Attorney General who would defend them on the government’s nickel, or they could take the Fifth.
One thing you can count on, your Federal government will solve no problems during the next two years. Expect each chamber to pass things the other won’t even bother to consider.
Symbolic behavior - basically posturing - will be the order of the day. Anything Congress can’t get done before the new people take office next January won’t happen.
Monday, November 5, 2018
News You Can Use
Pollster Rasmussen Reports has a last-minute look at the generic ballot, which asks: “For your Representative do you plan to vote for a Republican or a Democrat?” They write:
The final Rasmussen Reports Generic Congressional Ballot before Election Day shows Republicans edging ahead by one point, but in essence, the two parties are tied. The survey has a +/-2 percentage point margin of error.Loving it, maybe we’ve got a shot at a win after all. That would be so sweet....
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey of Likely U.S. Voters finds that 46% would choose the Republican candidate if the elections for Congress were held today. Forty-five percent (45%) would vote for the Democrat. Three percent (3%) prefer some other candidate, and six percent (6%) remain undecided.
Guess Who’s Mainstream
Marc Heatherington and Jonathan Weiler, political scientists at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, have a new book about left and right with the spritely title of Prius or Pickup. I echo a quote from it out of a review done by the New York Times’ Thomas Edsall.
Second, if Heatherington and Weiler are right, maybe the vote tomorrow will be less painful than expected. It’s an outcome devoutly to be hoped.
Third, Kurt Schlichter’s frequent jibe that we are the “normals” and they are the weirdos may be more than partisanship, it may have a real basis in fact. Liberals do go overboard defending every group of lowlife losers while pissing on us solid citizens.
Members of Trump’s base are much more like the average American than are his staunchest opponents. A lot of Americans are susceptible to the kinds of rhetoric that won Trump the presidency: especially his appeals to people’s innate xenophobia and fears of threats both internal and external. The liberals, people of color, and traditional conservatives who are outraged by Trump’s comportment and who have avowed to oppose his every move — these are the real outliers.Heatherington and Weiler also write that some voters found Trump’s rhetoric rough but:
neither were they completely turned off by his comments. Indeed, they probably found them more palatable than the tendency of liberals to bend over backwards seemingly at every turn to defend groups of people who aren’t exactly angels in the eyes of many Americans.Several reactions: first of all, pickups are the biggest selling vehicles most years. I do love their book title, and I’m a pickup guy all the way. Love my Ford F-350 diesel long bed, it’s my favorite vehicle. Over the last 35 years I’ve owned 5 pickups and enjoyed every one ... a lot.
Second, if Heatherington and Weiler are right, maybe the vote tomorrow will be less painful than expected. It’s an outcome devoutly to be hoped.
Third, Kurt Schlichter’s frequent jibe that we are the “normals” and they are the weirdos may be more than partisanship, it may have a real basis in fact. Liberals do go overboard defending every group of lowlife losers while pissing on us solid citizens.
Hispanic Votes Not a ‘Lock’ for Dems
Selena Zito specalizes in talking with actual voters, she writes now for the New York Post. In this column she observes that we shouldn’t be surprised if, contrary to conventional wisdom, Republicans win a substantial percentage of the Hispanic votes cast tomorrow.
Zito doesn’t speculate much about reasons but I believe a strong economy with lots of jobs and rising wages has a lot to do with the trend she forecasts. Unlike African-Americans, most Hispanics are volunteers, here willingly trying (and often suceeding) to “make it” in Gringoland.
I expect most Hispanics to assimilate very well indeed. The exceptions are the Central American gang members who’ll spend most of their short, tattooed lives in U.S. prisons.
Zito doesn’t speculate much about reasons but I believe a strong economy with lots of jobs and rising wages has a lot to do with the trend she forecasts. Unlike African-Americans, most Hispanics are volunteers, here willingly trying (and often suceeding) to “make it” in Gringoland.
I expect most Hispanics to assimilate very well indeed. The exceptions are the Central American gang members who’ll spend most of their short, tattooed lives in U.S. prisons.
The Banned Anti-Caravan TV Ad
Perhaps you didn’t get a chance to view the Trump anti-caravan TV ad that several networks have refused to show. Though factual, is considered by them to nevertheless be “racist.”
If you didn’t see it and think it might be something you would like to view, here is a link to a Breitbart site where it can be seen. Enjoy.
Hat tip to Lucianne.com for the link.
If you didn’t see it and think it might be something you would like to view, here is a link to a Breitbart site where it can be seen. Enjoy.
Hat tip to Lucianne.com for the link.
Humor Is Dead
Here’s a great story from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which demonstrates so clearly how weird our society has become. It is, to use the word of a great American, “sad.”
Several members of a marching band for an area high school whose mascot is the Broncos pulled a prank. Using the sousaphone covers which spell out B.R.O.N.C.O.S they rearranged it to spell out “coon,” a derogatory term for black people.
The NAACP got upset, others were outraged too. Ugly racism on display, right? Except, for the following:
This appears to be a slightly altered version of African-Americans referring to each other using the forbidden and supposedly highly toxic N word. It happens, buy the band plain horn covers and forget it.
Several members of a marching band for an area high school whose mascot is the Broncos pulled a prank. Using the sousaphone covers which spell out B.R.O.N.C.O.S they rearranged it to spell out “coon,” a derogatory term for black people.
The NAACP got upset, others were outraged too. Ugly racism on display, right? Except, for the following:
The students — two black, one Asian, and one Hispanic — told administrators that they thought what they did would be funny.Segregation academies are alive and well in the South, including Texas. It’s possible few white students attend that GA public high school.
This appears to be a slightly altered version of African-Americans referring to each other using the forbidden and supposedly highly toxic N word. It happens, buy the band plain horn covers and forget it.
Imagining the Future
It is early Tuesday morning where I’m writing this, but still Monday in the U.S. as I’m west across the International Date Line. Sailing east toward Hawaii we will apparently get two Wednesdays, one before the date line crossing, one after it.
I’m thinking about what is at stake in the midterm election. Most experts consider the Senate to be safe to continue with a Republican majority. Some governorships will shift to D, but the real prize is the majority in the House of Representatives.
There are two outcomes to consider; Republicans keep control of the House, or they don’t. If they keep it, things will be much as they’ve been for the past two years. If not, another set of conditions will pertain, let us consider what those might be.
With a Democrat majority in the House but not in the Senate, neither party can pass legislation. Expect little or no new legislation for two years, absent some black swan event like a war or other cataclysm. Congress will pass continuing resolutions to keep the government funded, and probably raise the debt limit as needed. Otherwise, nothing important passes.
A Republican-controlled Senate will continue to approve judicial and other appointments made by the President, and treaties if any are negotiated. These require no action by the House.
Bottom line: if the election turns out as the experts have predicted, with a GOP-run Senate and a Dem-run House, expect two years of gridlock. The House will refuse to fund things the President wants and campaigned on, like the wall and the new Jerusalem embassy.
Expect Trump to get as frisky with executive orders as his predecessor was. Then liberals will challenge these orders in court, lower courts will issue injunctions, and just possibly the conservative Supreme Court majority will uphold the orders’ legality.
Alternatively, what earlier presidents have done in similar circumstances is focus on international relations as treaties only require Senatorial approval. He may do both, or spend most of his time campaigning for reelection, running against the gridlock-causing Democrats.
I’m thinking about what is at stake in the midterm election. Most experts consider the Senate to be safe to continue with a Republican majority. Some governorships will shift to D, but the real prize is the majority in the House of Representatives.
There are two outcomes to consider; Republicans keep control of the House, or they don’t. If they keep it, things will be much as they’ve been for the past two years. If not, another set of conditions will pertain, let us consider what those might be.
With a Democrat majority in the House but not in the Senate, neither party can pass legislation. Expect little or no new legislation for two years, absent some black swan event like a war or other cataclysm. Congress will pass continuing resolutions to keep the government funded, and probably raise the debt limit as needed. Otherwise, nothing important passes.
A Republican-controlled Senate will continue to approve judicial and other appointments made by the President, and treaties if any are negotiated. These require no action by the House.
Bottom line: if the election turns out as the experts have predicted, with a GOP-run Senate and a Dem-run House, expect two years of gridlock. The House will refuse to fund things the President wants and campaigned on, like the wall and the new Jerusalem embassy.
Expect Trump to get as frisky with executive orders as his predecessor was. Then liberals will challenge these orders in court, lower courts will issue injunctions, and just possibly the conservative Supreme Court majority will uphold the orders’ legality.
Alternatively, what earlier presidents have done in similar circumstances is focus on international relations as treaties only require Senatorial approval. He may do both, or spend most of his time campaigning for reelection, running against the gridlock-causing Democrats.
Sunday, November 4, 2018
Slogans to Live By
Jobs Not Mobs
It’s Okay to Be White
Build the Wall
Lock Her Up
Fair, not Free, Trade
America First
End Birthright Citizenship
Honor Our Veterans
Support Ideological Diversity
All Lives Matter
Vote GOP Tuesday (or Before)
The order of listing means nothing. They’re all important.
NYT: The Wrong Perps
Breitbart links to a New York Times article about anti-Semitic hate crimes in the city. Some choice quotes from NYT:
To put that figure in context, there have been four times as many crimes motivated by bias against Jews — 142 in all — as there have against blacks. Hate crimes against Jews have outnumbered hate crimes targeted at transgender people by a factor of 20.What the Times refuses to say is that the assailants are almost all either black or Muslim. Both are groups Democrats rely on for votes. The Times wouldn’t want to contaminate the party’s narrative or offend its core constituencies, would they?
In fact, anti-Semitism was already quietly on the rise. For several years now, expressions of anti-Jewish sentiment have made up the preponderance of hate crime complaints in the city.
If anti-Semitism bypasses consideration as a serious problem in New York, it is to some extent because it refuses to conform to an easy narrative with a single ideological enemy. During the past 22 months, not one person caught or identified as the aggressor in an anti-Semitic hate crime has been associated with a far right-wing group, Mark Molinari, commanding officer of the police department’s Hate Crimes Task Force, told me.
In fact, it is the varied backgrounds of people who commit hate crimes in the city that make combating and talking about anti-Semitism in New York much harder.
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