Thursday, November 10, 2016

Second-day thoughts

1.) To all the TV pundits, columnists, folks famous and not on social media writing indulge-my-feelings drivel about having to "process their anguish", and the mobs trying to cause riots in cities across the nation: knock it off. In the Novembers of 2008 and 2012, I went through plenty of wrenching mental states and entertained thoughts of doing all kinds of outlandish things, but I kept it to myself and a couple of close friends. Get a grip. If you ever want a majority of your fellow citizens to embrace what you stand for, you're first going to have to earn their respect. Having a kindergartner-style meltdown is an ill-advised step in that direction.

2.) Putin and other top Russian government officials have public expressed gratification at the turnout the US presidential election. In fact, check this out:

Putin’s advisor Sergei Glaziev went as far as to officially suggest that Trump’s victory saved the world from WW3. “Americans had two choices: WW3 or multilateral peace. Clinton was a symbol of war, and Trump has a chance to change this course.”

Wow!

But I think we can see that such pronouncements need to be interpreted as coming through the filter of an official Russian worldview. Putin makes clear that he intends to stand firm on how he sees the roots of the current juncture:

“We understand and are aware that it will be a difficult path in the light of the degradation in which, unfortunately, the relationship between Russia and the U.S. are at the moment.” And then, he added: “As I have repeated many times, it is not our fault that Russia-U.S. relations are as you see them.”
And Volodin starts the hard-nosed negotiating  right off the bat:

Vyacheslav Volodin, an aide to Putin, expressed his excitement with Trump as well. He stated that with “the end of the Obama administration there will be an end to the problems it caused between Kremlin and Washington, including the sanctions.”
“Sanctions is the tool used by the weak,” he claimed, referring to the economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. and European Union for Russia’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea. “With sanctions you can’t have mutual respect,” he then added, which suggests that with Trump’s victory Russia hopes the sanctions will be lifted.

So there is no room for the first subatomic particle of naiveté as we proceed on that front.

3.) The best minds of both houses of Congress need to get busy from day one crafting legislation on these four areas: health care, tax rates, energy and the Iran "agreement." Shall I spell out what LITD wants to see in each? Repeal the "A"CA, have vigorous discussions about the multiple market-based replacement plans put forth over the last several years, distill the best features of each, and write a bill. Reduce corporate and individual tax rates to the levels Squirrel-Hair outlined in his speech to the Economics Club of Detroit. Immediately stop all subsidies to "companies" in the "business" of producing play-like energy forms. Unleash the Keystone XL pipeline, allow no dithering over the Dakota pipeline, and discuss any other oil pipelines that might be an economic boost.

And, of course, scrap the Iran "deal." Aggressively pursue channels of communication with European countries that are encouraging economic ties with Iran and serve notice that the US has a new policy that frowns upon such activity.

Speaking of channels of communication, Congress will of course have to keep the White House apprised of what it's doing. Squirrel-Hair's ego will insist that his name - his brand - be associated with these initiatives. Fine. His advisors will tell him that they are good things to go with, and he'll sign what you send him.




10 comments:

  1. You kept quiet? You blogged and commented on social media for 8 years and never let up. Trump lost the popular vote. He got fewer votes than Romney or McCain. These protests are only the beginning and are payback for all his insults during the campaign. I can't help it if your hero who was personally insulted along with his wife and family now want to embrace this wealthy embarrassment, a whole lot of ain't playing that. Onto the world stage now for the Insulyer in Chief. Still, I won't be blocking him from speaking at ND. We aren't gin a take it though.

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    1. It would be possible to argue that Trump did not win so much as Hillary Clinton lost -- except that lots of other Democrats lost who had been expected to win. So it is more accurate to say that the Republicans won and the entire Democratic Party was repudiated. Trump may have been the beneficiary of this trend, and not the one who generated the trend.

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  2. You might not be, but a whole lot of people are very very upset to have Trump as our leader. I urge all citizens to continue to speak their minds and to resist whatever evil his actions result from his gross and inflammatory pie hole.

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  3. I didn't say I kept quiet. You bet I went on the attack immediately. But it was in forthright defense of my principles

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  4. You are exceptional. Trump insults on the 3rd grade level so he deserves 2nd grade retaliation.

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  5. Well, then you - and all the world! - can rely on LITD for exceptional assessment of developments as we go forward into a very interesting future.

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  6. Well, then you - and all the world! - can rely on LITD for exceptional assessment of developments as we go forward into a very interesting future.

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  7. This election cycle marks 10 years I have been blogging here. Sure I'm often full of it, admittedly, for the sake of perceived artistic license but I again want to express. my gratitude to have a safe space to argue, away from the maddening crowd on facebook and you replied and engaged with me and others I brought here (sadly not for long, I really really think doing this almost daily here as a relatively enjoyable writing adventure it has, improved my writing, and for that I thank you, my English major friend with the MA in History from respected institutions. I've learned so much from my youngers....

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  8. Isn't it an interesting techno-cultural twist that a blog like this could be a safer space than Facebook in late 2016? There's some wild shit over there.

    And you're welcome. As you know, I actually love to argue. It hones my thought processes and my reasons for embracing the principles I have, and as a result, as you say, it hones the writing skills.

    Re: punctuation: at least you're a pretty good speller. I have one editor I write for whose fits of ire over misspelled names can make a guy wither up into a quivering mess doubting his right to a square inch of the planet. I check and check the stuff I send off to him and still say one extra prayer upon hitting "send."

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