Every time I hear about a President issuing an executive order, I can’t help but think of the scene from Harry Potter, when Professor Umbridge took over as Head of School at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry after Dumbledore was removed. Professor Umbridge had Argus Filch hang every decree that was issued on the wall. Professor Dolores Umbridge – Created educational decrees, (rules / laws) to reign in student & teacher behavior that went against that of the Ministry of Magic.
Very similar to Trumps recent executive order telling colleges/universities that if they allow protest in support of Palestinians, they will lose Federal funding. If you use the words DEI or have programs that find equality & equity in services, you will lose Federal funding. And they say he doesn’t want to be a dictator. What happened to freedom of speech? Well, you still have it, as long as it agrees with mine.
My wife and I went to see Wicked a few weeks ago. Good movie once it gets started. I didn’t realize it was part 1 until the end. I guess I’ll go back and watch part 2. I need to bring closure to the demise of the Wicked Witch of the West. I was talking to Tony about this. I brought up the scene where Elphaba meets the wizard because of her natural powers. Things turn bad at this point in the movie. Tony brought to my attention that the real villains in the Wizard of Oz are the Wizard & get this, The Good Witch of the North. Several things ensue about Elphaba’s powers, and the Wizard tells Elpheba “The best way to bring folks together is to give them a real good enemy.” Give them someone to hate. Sound familiar. It shows you how manipulative the Wizard was at developing his control over the people of Oz. There are several key points in the Wizards speech that you should take note of:
- He uses fear and prejudice of an enemy to maintain power over people.
- He developed a façade of power through propaganda.
- He used prejudice to center hatred on a single enemy.
By the way, no former or current president is to blame for the price of eggs. The price of eggs has gone up because of the avian flu. Still can’t understand why Trump has too keep mentioning Biden when dealing with issues. Why not just tell us how you are going to fix things, if they are really as broken as you say. Oh I know why, because you really don’t have a plan, and it is easier to blame someone else. Give them someone to hate. But if you blame someone else, then you can take the focus off your incompetence and make others pick up the gauntlet for you. Then when shit goes sideways, you can always say someone else did it, even though you motivated them into acting on your behalf. Does the name Rudy Guliani ring a bell. I’m sure at some point Trump will blame Elon for something he did, even though Elon is working on Trumps behalf. Real leaders stand next too or in front of those acting on their behalf and accept blame as well.
On the subject of Ukraine sovereignty, they need all the help they can get. I also don’t believe others should be negotiating a settlement for a country without that country being present. I think it is ignorant that the US would think they can negotiate a settlement with the aggressor, without the oppressed being present. That tells the oppressed your opinion or outcome doesn’t really matter. That my friends, is why Vladimir Zelinsky was not happy at his recent Whitehouse meeting. Not to say Puttin has broken every deal he has made. Let’s say Canada decided to invade the northern part of the US and take over Michigan, Wisconsin, Vermont & New Hampshire, while renaming the Great Lakes the “Great Lakes of Canada”. Then Canada, China, Russia and members of the European Union were meeting to decide for the US how to settle things. I can’t imagine what folks around the US would be saying. The root cause of this whole issue is that Russia invaded another country. They were unprovoked and have broken every agreement they have ever agreed to or signed. They only accepted agreements at the time, because it worked for them, then they broke the agreement. Transactional Fraud. Russia needs to get the fuck out of Ukraine and go back to living their lives. The European Union and the US should make them. Our President needs to stop pandering to Puttin. You want peace through strength, then show it.
The money that the US has been providing to Ukraine has primarily come in the form of donations of older weapons. The money that the US is spending has gone to US corporations to supply replacement weapons for those offered to Ukraine. Smart if you ask me. Our military gets new and updated weapons, while we supply older weapons to Ukraine, we help our economy through cash influx to corporations. And yes, European countries have donated more to Ukraine in total, than the US.
Increased tariffs on imports will hurt this country. Trump has suggested that by implementing tariffs we will have this windfall of profits to pay down our debt. If that is the case, how come our debt rose during his last presidency with tariffs. Here is why. The countries who had tariffs imposed on them, imposed them on us, stopped buying US products in return or sent their products through other countries. For example, distributors in China have already started sending their goods to Vietnam, who then sends them to the US, with no tariffs. That is a reciprocal action for imposing tariffs. We do this, they do that. I never really knew the meaning of the word reciprocal until Trump explained it in his address to Congress the other night. He is so smart. You can read through the links below to see how tariffs backfired during Trumps first administration. Remember he keeps putting the implementation of tariffs on hold once he realizes how the outcome will affect US citizens. There are many more examples of industries suffering in addition to the farmers.
What happened to farmers with tariffs:
Bullying tactics are not a long-term solution. They will back-fire. If anything good could come out of this, it’s getting players to the table. JD Vance said it in the oval office meeting just last week. Use diplomacy to bring people to the table to negotiate better deals for the US. I like buying “Made in America” as much as anyone, but if you limit imports and force citizens to purchase just American made products, you have a closed system. That closed system can control pricing, and the consumer pays more. Closed systems will implode for Americans.
I think Government cost cutting is good, but I believe there is a more effective way to get it done. There was a time when I thought you could run the Government like a business, until I started working in Government (alt be it at the State level). You cannot run the Government, like a business. I had a conversation with one of the folks I play hockey with just last week. I like discussing issues with him. He reads intensely and is intelligent. He has commented that he likes some of the programs the Democrats offer, they just don’t know how to implement them. I tend to agree. I asked if he thought making drastic cuts like DOGE was doing and then having to rehire later is the proper way to cut the work force for an organization. He said it was standard practice in large corporations. He said his company did it just last year. Made a percentage of cuts across the board, then had to hire back once they looked at their processes. In some cases, hire back the same or other people at a lesser salary. That is great for the owners or stockholders, not good for people. There is a better process. If corporations make cuts like that, the organization suffers. If the customers suffer, they go somewhere else. In the end, only the organization suffers. If you make cuts like they are doing in the Federal Government, the organization suffers, but so do your citizens. Those who receive the services. The citizens don’t have another provider to go to. Not good. There is a better way.
The dismantling of Federal agencies is a way to consolidate services under other Federal agencies that the President has control over. That way he also consolidates the power to do what he wants under the executive branch. He is leading this country towards an autocracy. A dictatorship. Those that support the President & DOGE efforts to dismantle/restructure the government have not been affected by any of the moves. Take for example the freeze of USAID funding that has stranded USAID employees (US Citizens) in Congo. They were told to return home on their own, at their own expense. Easy to say when you are worth a few million dollars and don’t give a shit about anyone else. How about the colleges on Native American lands that had funding cut & programs closed. What do those students do now? It’s all good until it hits home for someone. Many of the agencies that DOGE & Trump are gutting are agencies that provide consumer protections for the citizens of this country. By removing consumer protections, you give more power to the corporations to do what they want. The consumer suffers. We cannot stay on this track of gutting services provided by the Federal Government, knowing full well State governments cannot pick up the tab. There will be those who have, and those who have not. Look at China, India, Russia, North Korea, and even some middle eastern countries. We will move further away from a United States of America, and closer to a Divided States of America.
Finally, as if he saw some great shining light, Mitch McConnell is standing up to Trump. Let me guess what his rational is, yup he is no longer speaker of the house, he has medical issues and will probably not run for re-election. Now that he does not have a political dog in the fight, his spine has regenerated. I didn’t like him before (actually hated him, I don’t hate many people), and I sure don’t care for him now regardless of medical condition. In the early 1930’s many people rallied around Adolf Hitler. Their focus was profits over people. Many of them were tossed aside once Hitler had reached his goal. Many of them regretted their decisions to support Hitler. A little too late.
Keep those things in mind as we move through the next 4 years. It started way before now.
It is so Wicked!