The Speech

O.K. I endured THE SPEECH!
Other than the obvious contradictions and the unicorn promises, which are the usual provinces of politicians, (and believe me Trump is a politician), THE SPEECH was exactly what one would expect from a Republican reacting to eight years of Democratic purposeful fumbling.

I say purposeful fumbling because I believe that Democrats believe in Income Redistribution on a grand scale. Democrats appear to believe that the United States has become Imperialistic, not through policy, but through a highly competitive culture, and that culture must be tamped down. It is a mirror image of the Japanese cultural collectivist concept of ” deru kugi wa utareru” (The protruding nail must be hammered down.)

Democrats have imbedded this collectivist concept all the way from childhood ideas of not keeping score, to academic “No Grade” to the international political idea of a diminished economic and military posture. 

Trump hopes to react by “Making America Great Again” and “America First” as a reaction to Obama’s “Apology Tour” and cutting our military virtually by half.

His rhetoric aside,bathe concepts are as American as Apple Pie, but his past behavior is anything but.

Tough Love

You can’t throw a rock around this nation without breaking a window of a drug rehabilitation group, and TV has many segments on drug deaths. Twenty-eight deaths last month in Ohio alone.
I’m sorry, but I don’t care. Not one of those drug users was dragged off the streets and forcibly injected. No one forces drinks down someone who becomes a drunk. (Alcoholism runs in my family, so I limit myself to perhaps three drinks a month, to make certain I don’t trigger any gene that might have sneaked into my body.

I had zero tolerance for drunks when I was a Navy man for 26 years — I decked more than a handful of fellow Sailors who insulted me, or my wife — and each braced me the next day, not to apologize but to make excuses, invariably saying, “Hey, I was drunk.”

My reply was always, “I didn’t get you drunk!” I didn’t, and I am not taking guff from those who do.

Yes, I am intolerant. No one has to tell me that I do not tolerate bad behavior. If someone wants to shoot up, be my guest, and if you call me for help the last thing you will hear is the click as I close the door behind me. Do I feel sorry for those remaining loved ones who must mourn…of course.  

The remaining loved ones are the victims. The addicts are voluntary victims, they decided to be junkies. Should the taking of drugs be a death sentence? No, but it is a risk voluntarily accepted.

Drugs are a bane of our society. Like smoking, kids take drug use up before their brains are fully cooked, and breaking the habits can cost families terribly. 

I proposed in one of my columns that we place a town in the middle of the Mojave desert and let junkies go there instead of jail. Give them free drugs, food and housing. The only way they can get back into society is to get clean enough to walk across the desert to rejoin society. They have a choice — live a drug life, or be a member of society.

Tough love. 

A Lesson In Justice

The Step Dad of Jahi Turner is in custody for Jahi’s death some 14 years ago, and that gives us an opportunity to revisit the lessons of the Van Dam murder case years ago.
You think that the jury is supposed to examine the information and come to a decision — but the jury is purposely denied vital information — information that the Defense, the Prosecution, and the Judge know, including absolute iron clad knowledge of the person’s guilt. The jury WILL NOT BE TOLD.

In the Danielle Van Dam case, the body had not been found, and the accused, David Westerfield, offered to tell the Prosecution where the body was if the death penalty was removed.

This offer was discussed with the Prosecutor in front of the Judge, so at that time EVERYONE in the Courtroom KNEW the accused was absolutely guilty because only the accused knew the location of the child’s body.

Now, as it happened, the public found the decomposed body before the deal could be struck, but STILL the jury was not told and could have found the accused Not Guilty while everyone else KNEW the accused was guilty!

Now, I understand the reason, and the reason is valid — that the Prosecutor has a tool to ease the tears of the victim’s family because they can get their loved ones properly buried.

I am not arguing that the Prosecutor shouldn’t have that power, but I am simply noting that our vision of justice is tainted by these cases. I do not believe that easing the tears of victim’s families is worth risking a guilty man walking, and never being able to hold him responsible.

That Va Dam scenario may play off again in this Jahi Turner case. Jahi’s bad you is still missing.

That’s my opinion. Your mileage may vary.

“Anger Drained of Bravery”

“Anger drained of bravery” is a term by David French explaining Trump, and that sums it up. A draft dodger who dismissed POW John McCain as “no Hero” and says his great leadership will get our professional military to kill the families of terrorists.” 
Big talk for a draft dodger (X3. Perhaps four.)

Trump is masculinity on the cheap, not the masculinity of a Navy Seal, or even a Navy Supply Officer, just the masculinity of a guy in the bar who owns a big car, flashes a lot of money and calls women by demeaning names. Faux masculinity. Tough on Megyn Kelly, but Judge Judy would devour him before the first commercial.

In my opinion, the only woman he should be concerned with is Hillary Clinton, and Clinton is WAY ahead of him in every poll. EVERY POLL!

I have had a very successful (many) careers, NOT betting against the odds. As they say, “the race does not always go to the swiftest, or the battle to the strong, but that is the way to bet your money.”

The odds. Trump loses big to Hillary, Cruz is 1% point behind Hillary, but that is close enough for a win — but Kaisch beats Hillary by more than 10% points.

The one thing the RNC WANTS IS TO BEAT HILLARY!

(Me too)

While I dislike Cruz’s religious bent, he is intellectually the smartest man ever to run for president, and is about tied with Hillary — but Kasich is probably the odds on favorite for the RNC, because he is a sure bet to beat Hillary. The RNC wants to beat Hillary, and Trump is so far behind that Republicans will lose not just the White House, but the House and Senate and Governorships as well.

We need to get our priorities in a row…

How did we get to the point where Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are the two very best people in this very large nation are e very best people to lead a nation? Not just A nation, but the single most powerful nation in the world. EVER,

The mind boggles! Now obviously, Hillary, having spent years in the US Senate is absolutely better prepared to be president, but she belongs in jail for her private server/e-mail, and her appointments to the Supreme Court would be disastrous to the nation.

And so, I am stuck. Of course, Cruz COULD win the nomination, and save this nation, but that is unlikely. I have to rely on the Flying Spaghetti Monster, since I guess Superman and Batman are busy in Hollywood.

Trump has so many leftist, and anti conservative positions, that it is easy to predict a liberal/conservative alliance to impeach Trump within a year. Even the TrumpBots will have the scales fall from their eyes, when the Trump gaffes, not just humorous, are backed with the raw power of the federal government.

Be afraid. Be very afraid!

No Cuts in the Submarine Budget!

Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut is looking for qualified Submarine builders to support an 11% increase in the Submarine budget. While the rest of the Armed Forces are looking at cuts, even the Democrat Administration can see that Submarines are the part of the weaponry that is hardest to target.
Electric Boat is tasked to complete two Submarines a year, and that means thousands of jobs, which Community Colleges and Trade schools nationally are trying to fill. These can’t be your average garage welder so, and pipe-fitters, of course, Submarines operate at depths that put serious stresses on the boats and the crews.

Even at depths of about 400 feet that the WWII levels the Submarines I spent a decade serving on is too deep for recovering the crew in a Pacific Ocean accident or military encounter, but in the new Subs, keeping salt water away from Submariners is even more vital at thousands of feet depth. Just being at those depths is ultra dangerous, and when you add the speeds with which these modern nuclear submarines run, the stresses are enormous.

I know that those who watch movies believe that Submarines of the WWII vintage raced about the ocean, attacking ships…but we cruised at 3 knots, and could sustain 16 knots for 30 minutes. In truth, shipping had to run over a WWII Submarine, although a few daring Submarine Skippers surfaced and stop everything in sight. The Submarine was so low in the water, that they remained undetected, and the escorts shot at each other.

The new Submarines never surface except in port. I would give my right arm…

New submarines are on the way, and while I am technically Qualified For Command of Submarines, in truth I no longer would be able to determine the bow and the stern

Annoying

The Russian flights within 30 feet of the US Destroyer were indeed threatening, but as retired Captain Rick Hoffman said, “”You don’t get to kill people just because they’re being annoying,”
That is because Commanding Officers of modern US warships are actually Coxswains of motor boats. That is to say, they actually have no say .

Each warship has a seldom used radio communication directly to the White House, and the CO cannot make a “weapons free” command without a direct authorization. The days when the British could direct a Honk Kong submarine to “Proceed to the vicinity of Hainan Island, and operate in the best interest of Her Majesty the Queen.”

Today, the US Navy ship has direct radio, TV and radar contact with the White House and the Pentagon. A decision to prosecute an attack on incoming Russian jets was made above the level of the Commanding Officer of the Aegis destroyer who was buzzed. That CO was not involved in making the decision.

This was a fairly easy decision. The incoming Russian jets have HUGE radar profiles, so the destroyer was tracking them more than 100 miles away, and the destroyer would know if the Russian jet had armed it’s missiles, and could shoot down the Russian jets before the jet was within a dangerous envelope. 

Analysis of Russian jets show that the best of the fighter jets of the opposing forces (F–and Su35) shows that the Russian Su-35 has a radar reflection of an office desk, the American F-22 has a reflection of a marble.

This difference between the stealth capabilities of the two countries gives the US superiority, and the Aegis radar capabilities are enormous. It was obvious to all parties to the buzzing that Russia was being obnoxious, not dangerous. 

It was a stage play for home consumption.

(Not So) Secret of Success: Read The Rules!

You have to learn the rules. I took a Los Angeles TV station’s management control away from a multi – billionaire by reading the by-laws, and Cruz is near to stopping the Trump Train by reading the rules.
(Business Week magazine called me five years ago to explain (again) how I stole management from my opponent, thirty five years ago. It was a bloodless coup — but it was classic, and all because I read the rules…and maneuvered it so the attorney opposing me didn’t have time to read the rules. My opposition was filthy rich, and stone brilliant…heavy-hitting Hollywood types and to all repute pretty nice guys, but they thought they had a rube Submariner with no corporate experience, so they underestimated me and they didn’t do their homework. Fatal.)

Kasich and Rubio relied on TV, Trump on name recognition and free media coverage, but Cruz read the rules and established a ground game to meet those rules. TV gets there early, ground game late There is no way for anyone to counter the huge advantage that Trump can gin up through his emotional TV appeal, accelerated by free TV, and Cruz can’t match that. But Cruz hired good ground managers who know what they are doing. 

Trump is doing that now, but even with his money he may find that he has too much ground to pick up — unless he can put this away quickly. 

Trump seems to think that anytime he loses that the game is crooked. It isn’t crooked, but it is rigged, and every state gets to “rig” their own — so you can’t run Colorado from the Trump Tower

Monkey Tossing?

I wish I had saved the blog entry I read several days ago so I could give the guy credit, but alas…so I’ll do my best to paraphrase him:
Mr. Trump, what do you think of “monkey tossing?”

Trump: Monkey tossing? I have tossed thousands of monkeys, and ahhh…we have the World Champion Monkey Tossing Team at my Trump headquarters — I bat cleanup on that monkey tossing team. I am the greatest monkey tosser in the world, absolutely the greatest…I can really toss monkeys, and they love me. Monkeys love me! They REALLY do! When I am elected president we are going to have a Department of Monkey Tossing — an AWESOME Monkey …the best monkeys, the best tosses, the best Tossing Department! And we will get Mexico to pay for it! We will…they will pay for it…the Mexicans. 

1,237 Is the Number

Fish do not know that they live in water, and megalomaniacs don’t know what they don’t know. They think they know EVERYTHING! 
I am convinced that Saddam’s believed he had WMD. 

I am convinced that Kim Jon UN believes he can crush South Korea and the United States, or at least cause sufficient damage that we will surrender to North Korea.
Japan REALLY believed they could attack Pearl Harbor, and we would sue for peace. Admiral Yamamoto was the only voice of reason…

Donald Trump actually believes that Mexico will pay for the wall, that he can deport 11 million illegal aliens without hearings, and that he can get the US military to commit War Crimes through his superior leadership.

In part it is megalomania, but the Megalomania is supported, indeed reinforced by fawning staffs, who love their perks and are proud of their positions. Admittedly, Saddam’s military advisors would face a firing squad, as would Kim’s, if they dared tell the truth. Trump has no advisors, or at least none he would listen to — he says he is his own advisor. Obama’s advisors speak out only after they resign.

Staffs are not known for their honesty in office.

Trump is toast! He can’t get to 1,237 and that is the magic number. Don’t get there and there are rules that COULD make it impossible — and having insulted everyone in sight, he has made it impossible for himself. 

He gambled on 1,237, didn’t make it and now can’t make it. Foot stamping follows

Economic Warfare is the Trump Plan

As many of my readers know, I have a long history of dealing with illegal Mexican aliens, so I know first-hand about remittances, having taken many to the Western Union office to send remittances.
Trump is absolutely right that he could put a serious hurt on Mexico by restricting remittances — but it is a bank shot…he hurts individual poor families in Mexico’s rural interior that supply most of our Mexican laborer, and Trump believes that those illiterate and unrepresented Mexicans, will then rise up and demand the government fund the wall.

Wrong! The farm families in rural Mexico will just bow their heads and plow their fields. Only in the last few years have two or three rural communities risen up against cartels that have raped their women and killed their men — losing American dollars will hurt them, but not motivate them. They are passive by nature, seeking only to feed themselves.

The Mexicans I dealt with came from a tiny town in central Mexico, where my workers would use my phone to call the only phone in town. Someone would ride a donkey to the local ranch and tell the wife to come by donkey to the phone on a set time the following day. We are talking poor — dirt poor. They have neither time nor interest to rise up to pressure anyone!

Then there is a question of what happens if the Mexican government gets their backs up against the Trump pressure. We in Estados Unitas do not understand the Mexican government’s belief that we are the Empire, but they have a museum in Mexico City dedicated to American aggression, and Mexico will respond to Trump pressure by opening ports Russia and China. 

That ups the reaction, substantially. Is that a Trump legacy — economic war with the world?