Campaign 2020

Open Thread

Mark Noonan21 Comments

I finished the first draft of “Secrets” and I think it is really good. And then I immediately went into the third book of the series, tentatively titled “Battles”; partially because I’m just on a roll for writing at the moment but, also, because I want the two books to be very integrated and I’m already modify “Secrets” a little bit as things happen in “Battles”. It is a lot more fun dealing with my fictional characters than real life: though I did have a weird dream the other day where Bryce and Rossalyn were arguing with me about how a particular passage in the book should go. I don’t know if any other authors have conversations with their characters…

But, real life goes on!

The official, official, we really mean it totally Expert and this time our polls are right opinion is that Trump is doomed. He’s isolated. Walls are closing in. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

Maybe he is? I don’t really know: no one really does. You can’t rely on anything in the MSM because, as I said a while back, everything they do is designed for the sole purpose of defeating Trump. If they are ever telling the truth in these matters it is only because what is true coincides with what they want. But one smart person I know who follows these things notes that Team Trump is pouring it on in New Mexico. New Mexico went for Hillary by 8 in 2016. Either they’re insane, or they know something…meanwhile, the Democrats are boosting the idea of turning Texas Blue because of this, that or the other reason…but for all the talk of Trump performing badly there in 2016, he did win the State by 9. Can you think of one thing Trump has done which would make the people of Texas who voted for him in 2016 decide that Joe Biden is now the better choice?

And then I saw this video of Trump’s visit to Maine the other day…the streets were lined with cheering crowds of Trump supporters; flags waving, Trump signs everywhere. And it was apparently spontaneous. Let’s see what happens when Trump gets back to rallies.

The Left has gone completely Maoist now – Struggle Sessions included. Don’t know if you’ve seen the video of the Mayor of Minneapolis being forced to leave a BLM rally because he wouldn’t agree to defund the police. And I really love the MSM talking point of this morning that “defund the police” doesn’t mean that they’ll cut funding to the police. Someone at the DNC must have got some poll results! It was laughable on a lot of levels but the really crucial one is that no Democrat will ever agree to cut the pay or benefits of a government worker: that would open up a can of worms they want firmly closed. The Deputy Assistant Director of Diversity Affairs wouldn’t like that one little bit.

All I can say is that my emotions about all this veer from disgust to boredom. That an American would kneel to anything but God is an outrage to the depths of my soul. Meanwhile the rote self-denunciations for being white are just irritating at this point. I’m not typical: in fact, as you know, I’m a little “out there” in my opinions…but I am hopeful that only a small minority of Americans is actually like that. If a majority is, then the nation has been doomed for some time anyway and my hope is for peaceful separation of the parts. And the Left is so deadly dull: they all dress alike, hold the exact same opinions and are impossible to talk to. If we do still have a majority – and November will tell – then we really have to go about defunding the Left…take away their college and corporate sinecures and force them to go get real jobs; that’ll put an end to this as fast as a mandatory 30 day jail sentence would forever end the threat of riots.

We went from “stay indoors to save grandma” to “don’t even talk to grandma until she becomes BLM” rather quickly.

Biden says 10-15% of us are just Deplorable.

Antifa goon beats up an 82 year old man for holding a Trump sign. Do not forget that these people hate you.

Why are we having riots? Because there are some indications that black people are warming up to Trump. Also: the youngsters think this whole riot thing is the hip and cool thing to do…Democrats are now going to try to convince them that the really cool thing to do after a riot is vote Biden. I don’t think that will work.

Day 15 of Lockdown

Mark Noonan72 Comments

Plague. Earthquakes. And, now, a comet. Whomever is opening up the seals of the apocalypse really needs to cut it out.

OTOH, if it isn’t the End, that comet might be quite the light show in the sky – no danger to Earth as its closest approach will be 72 million miles…but if high estimates prove correct, you’re going to see it very bright in the night sky with the naked eye.

The Kennedy Center – basically, a welfare program for the rich – got $25 million from the Stimulus and then canned the workers. Rep Scalise wants to rescind the grant. That’s fine, but we really aren’t getting anywhere unless the directors of the Center are flogged.

More talk of Democrats dumping Joe for Cuomo. Can’t see it as other than a disaster for the Democrats – the only alternative to Joe is Sanders. Cuomo hasn’t even entered the race…the DNC works some crooked deal to put Cuomo on the ticket and the Bernie Bros will revolt. I doubt it would happen, anyway – and not because Biden would be opposed. He likely doesn’t even know where he is most of the time: but his handlers are licking their chops at the amount of patronage they’ll be able to dispense in Biden’s name and they won’t want Cuomo to barge in and mess up the program.

New York City is being hammered while Las Vegas, so far, is getting off lightly…perhaps gambling and whoring isn’t as much an affront to God as being largely in favor of infanticide, as New Yokers – by their votes – seem to be? Just a thought.

The Great Facemask Debate goes on. As for me: from what I’ve learned, most transmission is via being in close contact with the infected for a significant period of time or literally touching the virus (on a person or surface) and then touching your face. This is why hand washing and social distancing are so important: from what I can gather, if you do the washing and distancing, your chances of catching the disease fall remarkably. But, for anyone who does have to go around people…wearing a mask seems to be an effective way of not touching your face, which would help.

China simply rebroadcast MSMers and American Democrats as part of their propaganda effort. Seriously, that’s all they did: the MSM and the Democrat Party are broadcasting Chinese Communist propaganda. I only hope they got paid for it – I don’t want to think some of my fellow Americans are stupid enough to do that for free. We woke up one fine morning to discover that a pandemic exposed how much of America China has purchased.

Related: backlash against China grows. China really screwed the pooch on this one – I’m with those who theorize that China knew what sort of problem they had back in December and made the conscious choice to ensure the whole world got the same problem.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan40 Comments

So, had my first work from home day.

Plus: when I suddenly wanted a hot dog, I went and got one. Getting up half an hour later and immediately being home after work.

Minus: Dull.

Still don’t know anyone who has caught Coronavirus – and I’ve lots of friends and family in hot zones. Also rather surprised at how relatively lightly we’ve got off in Las Vegas. It can change, of course, but we went into lockdown 9 days ago and we’re at 350 cases and 10 deaths so far. The number of Chinese and other foreigners who come through this town is very large, so I really expected us to be hammered by it. I mean, look at New York! But, also, we didn’t have our leaders and health people telling us to get out there and hug a Chinese because Orange Man Bad. That might be the difference.

There is a theory that warm weather will abate the virus – we’ll find out in about a week as we’re supposed to get up into the 80’s with dry weather.

The stimulus bill is hot garbage, for the most part and they will have to re-work it in the near future. Be that as it may, it will at least provide some help for those dislocated by the virus. Seems there’s a bi-partisan consensus that every corporation and special interest group out there should be showered with cash but regular folks just aren’t smart enough to handle it.

Some Democrat rumblings about scratching Biden and putting Cuomo on the ticket. This is not an indication of a party which likes its chances in November. I’m thinking that absent a real virus meltdown in the USA (increasingly unlikely at this point), Trump will win rather easily, and likely get the House back into the bargain. Huge amount of time until election day, but Trump has done well and the Democrats got nothing.

The biggest problem with the virus is that we don’t know what its all about – the Chinese data has to be discarded as entirely untrustworthy. Italy and Spain are terrifying, but there seems to be local reasons for how bad it is there. Other places are not bad at all. Until we know the real rate of infection and mortality, we’re rather stumbling in the dark. And this is why it is wise to socially distance…but as we get better numbers and learn what the real threat it, it will be time to start reopening the economy.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan22 Comments

Well, I’m officially work from home, now. Got all the stuff I need; so, one less thing to worry about.

The Democrats, in my view, really messed up on the stimulus…not that the GOP plan is all that great, but trying to lard up the program with abortion and green new deal stuff was an act of political idiocy I don’t think we’ve ever seen in human history. But, they did it – and I think it is because they are in a closed-loop: they simply don’t get much information which isn’t a mere variation on Orange Man Bad.

A recent poll showed Trump’s overall support rising and especially giving him high marks on handling the virus and the economy – it was the sort of poll number that would make him invincible if it holds to November. But the odd thing I saw in it was that Trump’s support among GOPers and Independents on the virus was about the same (around 60%) while his support among Democrats was sub 30%. Theoretically, everyone is getting the same sort of news, right? Well, I guess not: Democrats are clearly getting a set of information which is widely at odds with what GOPers and Independents are getting…and I think this is largely a function of GOPers and Independents tuning out the MSM while Democrats still follow every word of it. If you only watched CNN and MSNBC, you would believe that we’re days away from bodies piled up in the streets and 30% unemployment for a decade.

Now, it’ll be interesting to see what happens if, in the event, we don’t have bodies piled up in the streets and the economy makes a brisk recovery through the Summer. How will our Democrats square that with what they watch on the news? If it finally does penetrate, then Trump may win in an epic landslide.

Be that as it may, no one can really predict what is going to happen in November – though that hasn’t stopped our Experts from proclaiming that Trump is doomed. The situation is entirely fluid and while Trump is getting good poll numbers, now, a major change for the worse in a week or two would likely knock him down. Until it all happens, we won’t know what will happen. But I’m suspecting as bad as the virus might get, it won’t be a catastrophe and, also, as bad a hit as the economy is taking, it won’t take us long to get back out of it. And with Biden – who looks like he’s aged ten years the past month – leading the Democrat charge, I’m liking our chances in November.

Parishoners bought their ill priest a respirator. Priest found out someone else needed it and gave it up. The priest has now died. No greater love…

The Dow rose 2,112 points and so we’re back in Obama’s economy again – we’ll be in Trump’s if it drops tomorrow, for those keeping score at home.

The virus is not a flu – and you should familiarize yourself with the symptoms. Still, after all we’ve learned, the prime markers seem to be fever and a very bad cough. But it can also start with other symptoms and you can actually start to feel better before getting very much worse. Stout hearts, though: most people who get it survive and most who die have underlying conditions. If you have underlying health conditions, I really do suggest you barricade yourself at home and ride this out.

Trump wants to re-open the economy as fast as possible and in general I agree: we can’t stay locked down for a very long time. I think it should be a phased re-opening. As we get better numbers on how many are infected and what the real mortality rate is, we’ll be able to assess the actual danger and start letting up on the restrictions. Overall, oldsters should probably be the last to come out – and everyone who is work from home had probably better stay there for at least a couple months.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan59 Comments

There is talk of Michelle Obama entering the Presidential race. This is a sign of extreme desperation. The power people in the Democrat party are clearly dismayed at the current crop, are watching impeachment backfire and seeing President Trump starting to rise high, buoyed by an increasingly booming economy.

I doubt she’ll get in. I could be wrong, but I never saw in her a desire to enter electoral politics. If she did get in, the MSM would treat her as the Second Coming, of course…but I think that most people just don’t give a darn what the MSM is saying these days. It would be positive coverage in a void and I believe that most would see it for what it would be: a ploy to avoid defeat in 2020.

The British Labour Party is going so anti-Semitic that the chief Rabbi of the UK penned an op-ed about it in the Times of London – and was seconded by the Archbishop of Canterbury. I understand that polling indicates that 80% of British Jews will opt for some other party in the upcoming elections. The op-ed, of course, called upon Britain’s Labour Party to address the problem and correct it. The op-ed will fail in its intent: the British Left – followed now closely by the American Left – has made the calculation that there is vastly more money and votes in Islam than there is in Judaism. Offending Jews – especially as long as the MSM keeps covering up for you – is a nearly cost-free exercise…and if by so doing you can get Muslim votes and (really more important) Muslim oil money, then its all good. It must always be kept in mind that for the Left, power is everything – the only thing that matters. There’s a meme which goes around that if it was found that Mexicans were voting Republican, Democrats would build the wall 50 feet high at the border. And this is an exactly correct analysis. It is all about power.

But here’s the real problem: for Labourites, they see it as a calculation…for the anti-Semites they’ve invited in, it really is about massacring the Jews and destroying Israel.

I saw some polls which indicated an astonishingly high level of support for President Trump among African-Americans. Its good that I don’t trust polls – but I did enjoy the shrieks from the Left and Never Trump…they stoutly asserted it couldn’t be possible and only an idiot would believe it. They then went on to tout polls showing this or that Democrat will beat Trump. They do love to have it both ways, don’t they? If it wasn’t for double standards, they’d have none at all. As for me: I don’t know. I do know some black people who despise Trump. I can’t say that I know a single black person who is an ardent supporter of Trump. OTOH, most black people who do back the guy would probably keep it low key simply to maintain peace among family and friends. One observation I made is what, really, are Democrats offering black voters? Do black voters care deeply for trans rights? Open borders which depress wages? Do black voters want good schools? Better job opportunities? There is an opportunity here – and even a relatively small movement of African-Americans to the GOP would be devastating to the Democrats. Someone on Team Trump thinks so…and they’re doing a big ad buy in black radio and print media across some battleground States.

The World Socialist Web – which is as far left extremist as you imagine – did an interview regarding the “1619 Project” with historian James McPherson…which means the far left commie readers of WSW will be better informed than New York Times readers. Do read it: it is very good. WSW is also better at interviewing than the MSM.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan95 Comments

Polls are meh, but there is a poll which says that Trump’s approval among Hispanics is at 37% and African-Americans at 26%. If so, the Democrats are doomed. But, once again, it is a poll. On the other hand, I’ve seen various news stories indicating that Team Trump is rolling out a very sophisticated voter outreach program…not just designed to do the usual stuff, but do things like bring people into voting who haven’t voted before or not very often. If they can really pull off something like that, then the 2020 results might be the shocker of all shocks…and other than a few bits and pieces fed to MSMers (some of which will be deliberate misdirection), most people won’t see it until it happens.

Beto decided to hand the GOP a gift in the form of admitting that liberals like him are after gun confiscation. Beto knows he won’t be the nominee – and he also knows that he has no real future in Texas politics. So, he’s just setting fire to things because it will generate attention and money and allow him to live well. But the bottom line is that a Democrat President for candidate has called for confiscation…and you can rely on it that none of the others will really dissent from that view. They can’t: they’ve told their mostly-mindless base that guns are bad and for a Progressive, all bad things must be utterly destroyed. Just that one assertion might get Trump two or three million more votes in 2020.

Democrats want to impeach Trump – because they’ve been told that Orange Man Bad and, once again, all bad things must be destroyed. However, the Democrat leaders know that doing such a thing absent a half dozen GOP Senators willing to vote with them is political suicide…and that wouldn’t happen unless Trump’s approval among GOP voters drops below, say, 75% (latest poll shows him at about 94% approval among GOP voters). So, they are trying to have it both ways – telling their base that they are super serial gonna get that guy Trump, but behind the scenes not actually doing anything. Well, Trump’s DOJ is calling them out on it – essentially telling them to sh** or get off the pot; which boxes the Democrats in nicely. They’ll eventually either have to drop it or drive forward…either way it would be a political disaster for them.

Abortion “doctor” kept body parts of his victims…you know, like serial killers do. This is not at all surprising – no decent doctor would perform an elective abortion. Only the dregs of the medical field would go into that as a primary means of making money…and the dregs tend to be low caliber people. Like this house of horrors abortionist.

China has some food problems:

…lifting the tariffs, China has just admitted it cannot produce enough protein for national consumption, both as a staple or as a preferred meat. Imagine a US shortage of wheat and chicken, with no real access to corn or beef, and a couple dozen urban areas of 20 millions or more with just a third arable land as now. That’s China.

So, what’s the problem with China’s agricultural industry? Basically, they simply do not have enough land to grow the volume of soy they need; and, their pork production is highly diffused and is ravaged by a massive and seemingly uncontrollable swine flu epidemic. In fact, it is estimated that up to 60% of China’s pigs are infected with the flu.

To compound a bad situation to worse, Chinese officials are both incapable of enforcing a quarantine and too corrupt to stop the spread of the flu.

China is a giant on spindly legs. We have far more leverage over them than we suspect – and we’ve never used it, until just recently. We’ll see how Trump does.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan106 Comments

Been hearing – and not just from Never Trumpers – that people are simply growing tired of Trump and all the drama and will opt for Biden simply because they want someone dull. I don’t buy it – I mean, I can understand that the whole circus around Trump is abnormal and people can get frustrated with it, but I don’t feel like it makes we want to vote for Biden, nor anyone I know. What do you think?

PM Johnson has got the Queen to prorogue Parliament: ie, put it on ice for a period of time; in this case, until such time as the PM finishes extricating Britain from the EU. This is something Americans don’t know much about as it is outside our political experience. But in a Monarchy, sovereignty doesn’t reside with the people, but with the Monarch. That’s why they call it “Her Majesty’s Government”. It has been nearly two centuries since a British Monarch exercised any authority outside the advice of the Prime Minister, but the authority is still there under the British constitution and Boris advised the Queen to exercise it – to forestall Remain efforts to prevent the PM from carrying out the will of the people…and because we live in insane times, the PM is being criticized on grounds of being undemocratic in his insistence that the results of a democratic vote be implemented. I still doubt Johnson will pull it off – too much of the British Ruling Class is dead set against it; they really, really want faceless bureaucrats in Brussels who take their orders from Berlin to run things. But, he’s clearly got the brass to give it a try.

Laurence “Stop the Hammering” O’Donnell tried to revive the Trump-Russia debacle with a “scoop” claiming that Russian oligarch’s close to Putin co-signed some Trump loans. I didn’t pay much attention to it because, well, the Trump-Russia thing is drivel and I just don’t care about it…but this is interesting:

According to Harder’s demand letter, “The Program and Tweet make the false and defamatory statements that ‘Russian oligarchs’ co-signed loans provided to Mr. Trump by Deutsche Bank, and described these ‘co-signers’ as ‘Russian billionaires close to Vladimir Putin.’”

Harder is also warning others against republishing the allegedly false statement. (The Hollywood Reporter is doing so because it believes such republication is necessary to convey what is a matter of utmost public concern and protected by the First Amendment in connection with anticipated litigation.)

In a tweet following Harder’s letter, O’Donnell wrote, “Last night I made an error in judgment by reporting an item about the president’s finances that didn’t go through our rigorous verification and standards process. I shouldn’t have reported it and I was wrong to discuss it on the air. I will address the issue on my show tonight.”

Trump likely wouldn’t win any case – the judges would all rule that he’s the President and the MSM can say pretty much whatever it wants. But, the vigorous pushback shows that Team Trump feels, at least, that the facts are on their side.

More and more Democrats are latching on to the Wealth Tax, under various forms. Now, our Democrats are doing this simply because they want the money to shovel to their cronies…but it will be popular, boys and girls; and even if not particular popular, very hard to fight against. Who wants to stand up and defend a billionaire’s horde? We should be stealing a march on the Democrats…and making sure that any wealth tax hits heavily at constituencies favored by Democrats…tax free foundations; private college endowments (Harvard sits on $37 billion – the college is more of a tax dodge as far as the money goes); Soros-type Progressive moneybags. Like getting out in front of student loan debt, it will allow us to push Conservative policy while taking issues away from the Democrats.

The Last Gasp of Never Trump

Mark Noonan10 Comments

So, one-term Congresscritter Joe Walsh has decided to challenge President Trump in the GOP primary. I can figure why Walsh would do it: attention hounds do need attention and grifters do gotta grift…I’ve been watching Walsh implode towards this position since 2017 and it hasn’t been a pretty sight. But, he’s going to get media attention and donations and, for him, that is what is must be about. But what about those who engineered his entry?

We must not discount the mere sins of Pride which are likely driving a good portion of this, but beyond the Never Trumpers risking their immortal souls there is, I think, something else behind this: I can’t remotely prove it, but I’m thinking that the selection of the old GOPe money class – seconded by Democrat money bags sowing division – it making one, last effort to recapture the GOP. They only liked the GOP when it was a party of Progressive Light: the Progressive party which wanted low taxes, especially on corporate earnings and large amounts of stored wealth. As far as it went, such people only tolerated gun owners, pro-lifers and such because these people were, by an large, in favor of low taxes. But, all along, these Never Trump types despised their base…considered them hicks and were never going to do anything to help the base’s cause. Trump came along, read the situation precisely as it was (and is), and proceeded to roll over the GOPe simply by speaking to the desires of the GOP base. The real fear of the GOPe types is not just that Trump will be re-elected (though they’d hate that). No: their real fear is that the GOP base will never come back to the GOPe. That after Trump, the GOP will become an increasingly Populist Conservative party and start doing horrendous things like breaking up large corporations; taxing high end wealth; dismantling the education system…you know, destroying everything that keeps GOPe types rolling in wealth and privilege.

So, they’ve been looking not for a way to win, but for a way to show the GOP base that they can’t have what they want. They want to show that Trump was a one-off which only happened because the GOPe was asleep at the wheel and that the GOPe can just whistle up a situation where Trump gets destroyed. After that, the GOP base – in their thinking – will just have to knuckle under and accept a whole string of Mitt Romney’s and Jeb’s and live with the fact that every last iota of the Progressive agenda will be enacted (except high taxes on corporations, of course). Trouble is, they couldn’t really find anyone to go after Trump. In this, I think that the leadership of McConnell and Graham has been crucial: by understanding what Trump really represents, these two (and there are others) have understood that the GOP can win smashing victories for an indefinite period of time…and all it takes is actually doing something for the base. McConnell is cementing his legacy as the most consequential Senate Majority leader in half a century…and he seems to be enjoying the heck out of himself doing it. Why would he want to give that up so that Democrats can take the White House in 2020 just because Orange Man Bad? Why would any serious political leader want to do that?

But now momentum takes over – the Never Trump contingent has to keep going, or admit defeat. Too filled with Pride to admit defeat or error, they just kept going and going and going…until the found Joe Walsh, who seems to be a bit of a raving lunatic. He’s made racist statements in the past – and I’m not talking Progressive versions of racist statements; actual, genuine racist statements. He once tweeted out that if Trump lost in 2016, he’s grab his gun and start shooting. He peddled stories about Obama that would make a paranoid conspiracy theorist blush. The guy, in short, is all over the place…with the only consistency being that he’ll say whatever garners him attention. Being just another trooper for Trump wouldn’t get him anywhere (likely because he’s so mercurial that only an idiot would trust him); so he decided to become anti-Trump…and the Ahoy Boys of Never Trump have now latched on to him. It is going to be fun to watch.

But, mostly, it is going to be fun to see the last of these types. We’ve been sold out by them too many times and for too long. They’ll ride Walsh right out of the GOP and Conservatism, and I believe for good.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan24 Comments

This is certainly interesting:

In Washington state, where his approval rating is 28 points underwater, Trump has still racked up far more donations, big and small, than any of the Democratic candidates — in fact more than the top six Democrats combined.

I’m not talking about total dollars raised — though on that front Trump is a juggernaut, too. But the total number of donations reflects how many people are inspired enough by a candidate to send any amount of money, sometimes repeatedly.

This is Blue Washington. Where you often have to think twice about the risk to your job and social standing if you support the wrong candidate or party. Does this mean Trump will win Washington. No. It’d take a miracle. But, it does show that Trump is not just gaining support, but gaining support which is willing to take a public stand. I’ve been thinking that public opinion polling for this cycle is off because the pollsters simply don’t know about the country they’re living in – that we’re actually very much a populist, center/right nation and that a large part of the populist, center/right people are (now former) Democrats. We’ll find out next year if my theory is correct…but unless the vote comes out that way, I refuse to believe that even a large minority of my fellow Americans are Antifa-loving, open borders trans rights activists.

The Ninth Circuit (yes, that Ninth Circuit) seems to have a struck a blow against the Left’s tactic of finding a judge in Hawaii to issue nationwide injunctions against Trump Administration policies. We’ll see how it plays out – but the higher Courts do have to gain a measure of control here if they don’t want to get crushed under politics. It is ridiculous that some obscure federal judge out there can stop the policy of the duly elected President on a whim. To me, it should be only the Supreme Court able to issue nationwide injunctions.

The New York Times is framing slavery as being central to our existence as a nation. And Beto was out there saying that our nation was founded on racism. Don’t look for any logic behind this view: there isn’t any. It is entirely stupid – but I’ve been pondering this and I recalled the first time I heard this theory. I had watched Farrakhan’s speech at his so-called “million man march” and that is exactly what he was on about: that white people are inherently racist and America is, thus, inherently racist. To call America a racist nation is to assert that everything which has happened in this nation up until just now was evil. I’m not quite sure what the Left’s thinking here is – it could be that hatred has just made them stupid. I don’t know how many people are going to rush out and vote a party which considers your nation evil.

Epstien’s attorneys are not entirely on board with the suicide ruling. I don’t think anyone – left or right – is. But, I also don’t think there’s any way to resolve this: the institutions of government have poisoned the well. Too often caught in flat out lies to be trusted: there’s no way to investigate something like Epstein’s death and remove all doubts.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan7 Comments

I did a little checking with Expert Opinion and its still pretty set: Trump is doomed. And I mean in the “he hasn’t got a chance” sense. But then you see the crowd at Trump’s rally in New Hampshire last night. Honestly, I can’t see how the man loses – his opponents can’t draw flies. But, the polls say he’s done. I guess we’ll find out next year.

As if you didn’t already know this, there’s leaked audio of the New York Times deciding to switch from “Russia” to “Racism” against Trump. Long time readers might remember my very long series of “What Media Bias?” posts. I stopped doing it because it was so obvious that it really didn’t need further explanation. But, still, nice to get some absolute confirmation.

China is cracking down on Hong Kong – some people are officially upset with Trump as he’s not being forceful about it. But, what’s he really supposed to do? He’s already engaged in a trade war with China. He’s already trying to detach North Korea from China’s orbit. He’s already buddying up to India and Vietnam against China. He’s rebuilding our Navy. He’s sending our ships into waters claimed by China. Short of war, there’s nothing we can do for Hong Kong: and I don’t think anyone wants to fight China over Hong Kong. It is sad, but it was inevitable: a tyranny simply will not tolerate the slightest bit of freedom. China only kept hands off until disruption wouldn’t roil markets too badly…and rely on it that Hong Kong’s rich will cut whatever deals are necessary with Beijing.

SpaceX is talking up its mission to Mars. I think we should go visit Mars, but I’m doubtful about our ability to live off Earth for any length of time. The more we learn about the planets, the more incredible it is that Earth has life…things just have to be so incredibly perfect for life to exist that the chances of it existing elsewhere are getting vanishingly small…and we’re also learning that what Earth has is not at all easy to replicate, even on a small scale. Among the massive problems, I see radiation as the largest. Living things don’t like it: our atmosphere and magnetic field keep out lots of it…but once away from Earth, you lose that protection and have to make the means of keeping it off you.

The Trump Administration has been facilitating talks between Israel and various Arab States…this is because Trump is just smarter than anyone we’ve had in the White House since Reagan.