We seem just now to be at a pause with respect to a number of issues. This allows for some random thoughts about what is going on in our world. Call it, perhaps, the calm before the storm after which, inevitably, all Hell is likely to break loose. Regardless, this intermission is an opportunity to take a step back and ponder some matters that might otherwise become buried by the usual shock and awe of the news cycle.
Anti-Semitism Redux
Three thoughts about the pro-Palestinian demonstrations consuming college campuses across the nation:
It never takes much for anti-Semitic hate, eternally just below the surface, to percolate up and for colleges and universities to spout the usual drivel about balancing free speech vs. hate speech. Here we are again.
There are legitimate grounds for protests against Israel’s prosecution of its war in Gaza, but not for the spillover into Jewish hate and endorsement of the aims of Hamas, the perpetrators of this war, namely the annihilation of Israel and its Jewish population. President Biden, fearful of the impact of criticizing the Democrats’ left wing, has inexplicably adopted the Trump Charlottesville strategy—“there are fine people on both sides.” That’s a mistake. Sometimes leaders have to lead.
The Blood on Mike Johnson’s Hands
House Speaker Mike Johnson is earning high praise from mainstream media editors and op-ed columnists for getting Ukraine aid approved by the House after many months of ostrich-like avoidance.
Not so fast.
While Johnson dithered, Ukraine suffered more than 10,000 military and 3,000 civilian casualties and lost more territory to the Russian invaders. Russia’s ammunition advantage escalated to a 10:1 ratio. Ukraine’s anti-aircraft defenses withered away to the point where the beleaguered nation could no longer protect its key infrastructure or its people. Statista.com reports that Russia’s aircraft advantage has grown to 13:1. It has seven times the number of armored vehicles as Ukraine, eight times as many tanks, and almost seven times as many artillery pieces. These disproportions skyrocketed during the months that Johnson fiddled while Kyiv burned. Johnson and the minority of Republicans who voted with him on Ukraine aid finally did the right thing, but only after more than half-a-year doing all the wrong things. While thousands died and Ukraine was brought to the brink of defeat. Johnson and the Grand Old Potty failed to do their job. He deserves some credit, of course, for defying the Putin-favoring crazies to his far right, but no medals, please.
Trump’s Supreme Court Victory
Trump won his presidential immunity case before the Supreme Court long before April 25’s oral argument.
By taking this nothing-burger case in the first place and then leisurely scheduling it, the Court conservatives (a nice way of saying “extremists”) signed on to the Trump plot to delay his other three criminal cases beyond the election.
The Court also went way off the reservation by conflating the specific issue in this case—whether Trump is immune from prosecution for attempting a coup d’état—with the broader question of whether future presidents have immunity from criminal prosecution for future acts. This is not what courts do. So much for the principle—much touted by Chief Justice Roberts, of deciding cases on the narrowest possible basis. Instead, the Court conservatives signaled that that will take the macro-cosmological view and, as Justice Gorsuch said: “We’re writing a rule for the ages,” something no one asked them to do. Isn’t this what the Right complains liberal judges do?
Not a single one of Trump’s White House predecessors ever raised this issue. They functioned quite well for 235 years absent absolute immunity.
Even if the Court shoots down Trump’s absurd claim, his January 6 case is unlikely to move forward before the election. The Court can partially make up for its dilatory approach by immediately reaching a decision to approve the lower courts’ decisions against Trump. Anything else underscores its creeping corruption and plummeting public prestige.
China Dopes Up…
…in preparation for the Paris Olympics.
Three months and change out from the beginning of the Paris Olympics, the athletic world is coping with yet another appalling doping scandal. The story of across-the-board cheating comes from one of the usual suspects: China. Once again, however, it is the purported top doping cop, the badly mis-named World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), that appears to be complicit in conspiring with China to cover-up the scandal.
Some of the 23 Chinese athletes implicated this time won medals at the last Olympics. Given the rampant, systemic nature of Chinese doping, China should be banned from any participation in the Paris games. So, too, should Russia, which WADA and the always suspect International Olympic Committee (IOC) have been treating with kid gloves for decades.
The IOC has yet to correct one of the biggest injustices in its checkered history: the years-long East German doping program that raked in scores of tainted medals in track, swimming, rowing and other sports, all of which was revealed when East Germany ceased to exist and its STASI secret police files were opened. It’s never too late to award those medals to the real winners, many of them Americans. But don’t expect the IOC to do the right thing. We should live so long.
We Need to Be Done with Tariffs
Donald Trump recklessly imposed billions of dollars of tariffs on Chinese goods coming into the U.S. This, plus the billions he gave to U.S. farmers to compensate them for their loss of sales when China reciprocated, amounted to a tax on every American consumer while also contributing to rising inflation.
Curiously, Joe Biden retained most of the Trump tariffs. This makes no sense, especially since reducing them would also reduce prices and enable him to do something concrete to counter the ravages of inflation.
The Futile Search for Spines
Remember all those Republicans whose harsh criticisms of Donald Trump deluded us into thinking that they had finally seen the light about this reptilian reprobate? Now, only months later, they have placed their only recently retrieved spines back in escrow, returned to the Trump fold, and endorsed the disgraced, traitorous creature who has no business being able to run around free, much less occupy the highest office in the land.
Stopping the Steal, Act III
The current Trump trial, a.k.a. the Stolen Election Case, was Act I in the Republican attempt to overthrow democracy and the rule of law. Act II was the 2020 election, when the MAGA cabal came disturbingly close to succeeding in its quest. Now here we are in 2024, when it is guaranteed that Trump will try once again to commit electoral grand theft. And, if he does not succeed via whatever subversive machinations he foments between now and election day, you can bet the mortgage that he will continue post-election to undermine the result and make January 6, 2021 look like a House party.
Given that, it would be useful to know what Democrats and other freedom-loving Americans intend to do about it?
Despots Are Lazy
Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Donald Trump. Charter members of the Autocrats’ League of Non-Workers. They all rose late, idled around much of the time, and did actual work only when they could no longer avoid it. Hitler and Stalin never got around to working until late afternoon. Trump toddled into the Oval Office around 11:30 AM. Moreover, any real work these guys did was often interrupted by distractions: Hitler enjoyed haranguing captive audiences of sycophants with endless lectures about subjects he knew nothing about. Stalin broke up military strategy conferences with alcoholic binges marked by ordering his field marshals and Politburo colleagues to perform Georgian dances. Trump, blessed with the attention span of a distracted gnat, interrupted intelligence briefings in order to tune into the latest lie-laden Fox News broadcast or to tweet out a word-salad tirade.
In all three cases, these were bad looks that had to be concealed from the public. German and Soviet newsreels showed der Führer and Uncle Joe hard at work on behalf of the fatherland and motherland, respectively. Trump’s daily schedule typically labeled the mornings “Executive Time” without further explanation.
Tyranny sure beats work.
Dick Hermann
April 29, 2024
Anti-Semitism Redux
Three thoughts about the pro-Palestinian demonstrations consuming college campuses across the nation:
- How come these students, anguished about Gaza, aren’t equally upset—or upset at all—about Russia’s brutal and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine? Or Bashar al-Assad’s genocide against his own people? Etc., etc.
- Why aren’t the student demonstrators clamoring for the release of the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas? Or condemning Hamas for its October 7, 2023 atrocities?
- Would they be taking place at all if Israel were not a Jewish state?
It never takes much for anti-Semitic hate, eternally just below the surface, to percolate up and for colleges and universities to spout the usual drivel about balancing free speech vs. hate speech. Here we are again.
There are legitimate grounds for protests against Israel’s prosecution of its war in Gaza, but not for the spillover into Jewish hate and endorsement of the aims of Hamas, the perpetrators of this war, namely the annihilation of Israel and its Jewish population. President Biden, fearful of the impact of criticizing the Democrats’ left wing, has inexplicably adopted the Trump Charlottesville strategy—“there are fine people on both sides.” That’s a mistake. Sometimes leaders have to lead.
The Blood on Mike Johnson’s Hands
House Speaker Mike Johnson is earning high praise from mainstream media editors and op-ed columnists for getting Ukraine aid approved by the House after many months of ostrich-like avoidance.
Not so fast.
While Johnson dithered, Ukraine suffered more than 10,000 military and 3,000 civilian casualties and lost more territory to the Russian invaders. Russia’s ammunition advantage escalated to a 10:1 ratio. Ukraine’s anti-aircraft defenses withered away to the point where the beleaguered nation could no longer protect its key infrastructure or its people. Statista.com reports that Russia’s aircraft advantage has grown to 13:1. It has seven times the number of armored vehicles as Ukraine, eight times as many tanks, and almost seven times as many artillery pieces. These disproportions skyrocketed during the months that Johnson fiddled while Kyiv burned. Johnson and the minority of Republicans who voted with him on Ukraine aid finally did the right thing, but only after more than half-a-year doing all the wrong things. While thousands died and Ukraine was brought to the brink of defeat. Johnson and the Grand Old Potty failed to do their job. He deserves some credit, of course, for defying the Putin-favoring crazies to his far right, but no medals, please.
Trump’s Supreme Court Victory
Trump won his presidential immunity case before the Supreme Court long before April 25’s oral argument.
By taking this nothing-burger case in the first place and then leisurely scheduling it, the Court conservatives (a nice way of saying “extremists”) signed on to the Trump plot to delay his other three criminal cases beyond the election.
The Court also went way off the reservation by conflating the specific issue in this case—whether Trump is immune from prosecution for attempting a coup d’état—with the broader question of whether future presidents have immunity from criminal prosecution for future acts. This is not what courts do. So much for the principle—much touted by Chief Justice Roberts, of deciding cases on the narrowest possible basis. Instead, the Court conservatives signaled that that will take the macro-cosmological view and, as Justice Gorsuch said: “We’re writing a rule for the ages,” something no one asked them to do. Isn’t this what the Right complains liberal judges do?
Not a single one of Trump’s White House predecessors ever raised this issue. They functioned quite well for 235 years absent absolute immunity.
Even if the Court shoots down Trump’s absurd claim, his January 6 case is unlikely to move forward before the election. The Court can partially make up for its dilatory approach by immediately reaching a decision to approve the lower courts’ decisions against Trump. Anything else underscores its creeping corruption and plummeting public prestige.
China Dopes Up…
…in preparation for the Paris Olympics.
Three months and change out from the beginning of the Paris Olympics, the athletic world is coping with yet another appalling doping scandal. The story of across-the-board cheating comes from one of the usual suspects: China. Once again, however, it is the purported top doping cop, the badly mis-named World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), that appears to be complicit in conspiring with China to cover-up the scandal.
Some of the 23 Chinese athletes implicated this time won medals at the last Olympics. Given the rampant, systemic nature of Chinese doping, China should be banned from any participation in the Paris games. So, too, should Russia, which WADA and the always suspect International Olympic Committee (IOC) have been treating with kid gloves for decades.
The IOC has yet to correct one of the biggest injustices in its checkered history: the years-long East German doping program that raked in scores of tainted medals in track, swimming, rowing and other sports, all of which was revealed when East Germany ceased to exist and its STASI secret police files were opened. It’s never too late to award those medals to the real winners, many of them Americans. But don’t expect the IOC to do the right thing. We should live so long.
We Need to Be Done with Tariffs
Donald Trump recklessly imposed billions of dollars of tariffs on Chinese goods coming into the U.S. This, plus the billions he gave to U.S. farmers to compensate them for their loss of sales when China reciprocated, amounted to a tax on every American consumer while also contributing to rising inflation.
Curiously, Joe Biden retained most of the Trump tariffs. This makes no sense, especially since reducing them would also reduce prices and enable him to do something concrete to counter the ravages of inflation.
The Futile Search for Spines
Remember all those Republicans whose harsh criticisms of Donald Trump deluded us into thinking that they had finally seen the light about this reptilian reprobate? Now, only months later, they have placed their only recently retrieved spines back in escrow, returned to the Trump fold, and endorsed the disgraced, traitorous creature who has no business being able to run around free, much less occupy the highest office in the land.
Stopping the Steal, Act III
The current Trump trial, a.k.a. the Stolen Election Case, was Act I in the Republican attempt to overthrow democracy and the rule of law. Act II was the 2020 election, when the MAGA cabal came disturbingly close to succeeding in its quest. Now here we are in 2024, when it is guaranteed that Trump will try once again to commit electoral grand theft. And, if he does not succeed via whatever subversive machinations he foments between now and election day, you can bet the mortgage that he will continue post-election to undermine the result and make January 6, 2021 look like a House party.
Given that, it would be useful to know what Democrats and other freedom-loving Americans intend to do about it?
Despots Are Lazy
Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Donald Trump. Charter members of the Autocrats’ League of Non-Workers. They all rose late, idled around much of the time, and did actual work only when they could no longer avoid it. Hitler and Stalin never got around to working until late afternoon. Trump toddled into the Oval Office around 11:30 AM. Moreover, any real work these guys did was often interrupted by distractions: Hitler enjoyed haranguing captive audiences of sycophants with endless lectures about subjects he knew nothing about. Stalin broke up military strategy conferences with alcoholic binges marked by ordering his field marshals and Politburo colleagues to perform Georgian dances. Trump, blessed with the attention span of a distracted gnat, interrupted intelligence briefings in order to tune into the latest lie-laden Fox News broadcast or to tweet out a word-salad tirade.
In all three cases, these were bad looks that had to be concealed from the public. German and Soviet newsreels showed der Führer and Uncle Joe hard at work on behalf of the fatherland and motherland, respectively. Trump’s daily schedule typically labeled the mornings “Executive Time” without further explanation.
Tyranny sure beats work.
Dick Hermann
April 29, 2024
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