Conflict Of Intererst

       Here's an interesting situation according the Huffington Post. President Trump has a  newly opened hotel in Washington D. C., which was formerly a post office and is still owned by the Federal government. Trump leases the property. There is, however, a clause in the lease which states that no elected official may be involved in or profit from any lease for any governmental property.
       Therefore if Trump is still involved in that lease when he takes office in January, he will be in violation of that lease. He would be both landlord and tenant. Its what you might call a conflict of interest. In fact it would be a conflict of interest, no question about it.
       But this hotel isn't the only conflict of interest he's involved in. According to an article in the Huffington Post today, in 2013, Trump entered into an agreement with GSA for a lease on the property. As President, Mr. Trump would oversee the GSA and would appoint its administrator, another conflict of interest. Trump's list of conflicts keeps growing.
       So just what will Pres. Elect Trump do about these many conflicts of interest? He has recently stated that he's president, so there can't be any conflicts of interest. In other words, if I understand his thinking he might be in a conflict of interest now, but as soon as he's sworn in, they all get wiped away, a clean slate, so to speak. Slick deal if you can pull it off. But the hotel lease clause is a little sticky, don't you agree? It'll take some pretty fancy dancing to wiggle out of it. I mean, how can we be sure he doesn't profit from it if his kids are running it? Where's the proof? None of this "Trust Me" business.
      

Oh No! Not Betsey.

       Trump's latest pick for his cabinet walks on water. Can you believe it? Betsey DeVos is the new Education Secretary and she can walk on water at the same time. Some folks have been wondering, why Betsey? Well the very wealthy Betsey DeVos has been helping to fund school choice and voucher schools and that sort of activism. She's also on record as disliking public schools more than a little. Now she'll be in charge of funding public schools and at the same time depriving them of funding. Well done again, Donnie.
       The reason I mentioned her walking on water is to satisfy the ultra-right wing folks who adore and defend anyone President Elect Trump even considers appointing to a position in his administration. No matter how profane or sexist or racist or anti-education they may be. Speaking of Betsey, the one who walks on water, she also wants to educate only those with the money to afford a good private school or take money from the public school of their choice in order to defund schools to the point they will only be able to afford to teach kids to put their mark on the dotted line in order to get paid, so little Georgie will know how to spell X.
       See, the way voucher systems work is that if a student wants to get into a better school and is smart enough, then he's entitled to get a voucher to pay his tuition to the better school and his old public school gets to pay for that voucher funding. so, in theory the old public school winds up defunded eventually.
       Of course that's the whole point to the voucher system. That's why Betsey DeVos makes such a natural for Education Secretary. She hates public schools. Secretly, I don't think she wants poor kids educated at All. After All, X is good enough for them, right? Ya teach those poor kids too much, they may figure out they're not happy being poor. That's no way to keep allowing the rich to get richer. All hail dear Betsey, she walks on water in the dark of night.

Good News For Those Who Voted For Him.

       I haven't written anything for a bit because I was looking for something humorous to write about. But I just couldn't find any such thing in the buildup to the Trump presidency and post-inaugural government. Every time I turned around it seemed more bad news by a thin skinned president in waiting who told the sitting president not to say anything to world leaders because he would soon be the president.
       So I started watching to see who his selections would be for his cabinet and kitchen cabinet. Mostly, it seems, it's his daughter and son-in-law with a sprinkling of anti- Jews, anti- Muslims, anti- Hispanics, anti- Blacks, anti-Women and, probably children, Europeans, Asians, Africans, So. Americans, and any other Minorities. And then to balance it all, he has a man named Reince Prebius who cancels out at least a few of those named. While he thought Trump was a bad joke during the Primaries, he now considers Trump to be a very good choice.
       Unfortunately Mr. Trump does not like Hamilton or at least the cast of that show and expects an apology for the horrible statements made toward the Vice President in waiting. Who doesn't think it was all that bad.
       Mr. President must have thought he was meeting with the Boogie man because he was too uncomfortable to be alone with the leader of Japan, so he had his daughter join him in all the private meetings. Or was it to make sure Mr. Trump wouldn't make any mistakes or slips of the tongue. We can be proud of our new President Elect.                                                                                           

A Promise Made Is A???

       It certainly looks like a real boon to working men and women who voted for President elect Trump in part because of his promise to dump all those lobbyists and industry consultants. So in order to live up to his promise he has appointed to his transition team, a generous number of.... guess who? Lobbyists and industry consultants, of course. They'll be the ones who will select the folks who will be in Trump's cabinet.
       According to the New York Times, people like Jeffrey Eisenach-telecommunications, Michael Catanzaro-big oil & gas, Michael Torrey-big food industry and the fun is just beginning. The list of potential appointees to cabinet positions seems to include some big name corporate and lobbying leaders and a few unsavory politicians as well. Of course these last are only on the shortlist of actual appointees.
       I still have high hopes for Pres. Trump to begin to kick out all those Wall Street people, and those lobbyist types will surely be hoisted up on his Piccard. And I hope all The Donald's faithful followers will hold their breaths as will I.
       Seriously though, I realize that many campaign promises are meant and expected to be left in the dust of convention halls all across the country to be swept up by maintenance crews. But some promises are meant to be swept up into the actions and arms of the winner. Apparently the promise of a  lobbyist free government is not to be of the latter. So if you have more interest in that promise, check with maintenance.

It Ain't Over Til The Talkshow Host Says So.

       Well the first obligatory meeting between the outgoing and incoming is over and it went well. What now? Mr. Trump has a good many meetings and briefings ahead as well as decisions on who to appoint where. The questions as to how good he's likely to be as President over the next four years depend greatly on who gets to run what departments of our government. Let's hope he neither pleases the alt-right nor the ultra-liberal wings of the political establishment.
       If he can do that, he may have a chance to get some badly needed work done for Americans. On the other hand if he decides to go for a more hardline group of leaders in his cabinet, he's likely to have a difficult time getting past those pesky Democratic Senators. Remember, the Republican Senate does not have a filibuster proof chamber. And while I hope the Democrats don't use that action as freely as the Republicans have, I certainly hope they block any totally harmful attempts the Republicans try to push through Congress. Remember what doesn't reach the President's desk can't become law.
       But here's the remarkable thing. Nearly every talkshow host, pundit and even some pollsters are frantically explaining how they knew this was going to happen exactly as it did. Or at the vary least how they thought it was extremely likely. From both sides of the political spectrum, hints of their prior knowledge are exploding into the media air, one not to be outdone by the next.
       Its too bad we can't have a campaign to elect the winners for these talk shows, but then we might wind up with The Onion. Seriously folks, why do we need media types to tell us who will be selected for the cabinet and what they will do. My 13 year old granddaughter is probably better informed than any of these. But then I think she may be on her way to Canada. Hitchhiking. Or maybe New Zealand, she likes New Zealand.

Election Result.

       All I can do is put my chin on my chest, tuck my tail between my legs and congratulate President Donald Trump on his election success. I wish him success in governing and hope and pray that he can deliver what Americans want and need most. My congratulations to all his supporters, you've won! Now is the time to put away the divisions of the past and hope we can once again become one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Last Minute Thoughts.

       Well, tomorrow will be the end of it. Boy oh boy do hope so. Here's the thing about this campaign. Both Hillary and Donald are deeply flawed which begs the question, how can you decide which to vote for, right? I mean, let's face it, neither candidate can be trusted, based on what they've said or done in the past or during this campaign.
       So, again, how to decide? Because Hillary would be the first female president? Because Trump would be the wealthiest president? Neither would be reason enough to vote for or against either. Well how about age? But both are pretty close there too. What about experience? I think you'd have to admit Hillary doers have an edge there, but Trump has built what amounts to an empire. Which is more important, being near the governing action or being a business tycoon?
       No, its something else. There's got to be some defining quality upon which to make the decision to vote for or against Clinton or Trump. There's fewer letters in Trump's name, but that's not a quality, its just happenstance. Who would be the better loser? Actually it would be Clinton, but it would be close. Hillary has wanted the job a lot longer than Donald, again not a big deal.
       But all those reasons are not reason enough to vote for or against either. So what's a voter to do? There is one quality we haven't mentioned. Its interest. Enough interest in the job to research, look into, digest the information supplied by those who have the very latest, most nearly correct information. And be most familiar with all the world players as well as all the domestic players. That makes Hillary the only one left to be worthy of being elected our next president.
       You may not like her, I'm not enthralled, but there she is. She's got what we need most. And I do believe she'll be a better leader than Mr. Trump, for all his bravado and sting. We'll be safer with her hands on the nuclear codes. Good luck out there. Don't be swayed by bullies. Happy days.

Fit To Be President.

       Every liberal pundit and most conservative writers, have pointed out the horrible flaws that make Donald Trump unfit to be president, including the worst, authoritarianism. He doesn't see that anyone who disagrees with him  should have any rights at all. But the real seal of his unfitness is the fact that even Charles Krauthammer, Krauthammer an arch-conservative, said in an editorial today in the Washington Post, that "Comey's announcement brought flooding back every unsavory element of Clinton's character. But it still doesn't make Trump fit to be president."
       Fit To Be President. That's the whole point in this election. Everything boils down to fitness. Hillary could be a horrible person, as is Trump. But at least Clinton is fit to be the leader of our diverse country. Trump is completely unfit to lead any diverse organization. His hatred of anyone who is not just like him is too obvious.
       Oh he's changed, he's changed for the purpose of running for the presidency. But he hasn't changed, not really, not at his core. He's still a racist, sexist, protectionist, xenophobic authoritarian. And to top that off, add the fact that he should never be allowed anywhere near the button that controls our nuclear arsenal.
       But I admit he's good at some things. He knows better than anyone I've ever heard of at pushing hot buttons. He can make some people believe he's the answer to their prayers. He agrees with everything they've ever wanted. And if he doesn't agree, give him a few minutes and he will agree. After the election I assure you, he'll be his same old self. And even his loyal supporters won't like what he'll become.

Planning To Vote?

       If you're planning on voting for Donald Trump, you might want to sell any Florida coastal property you own. For that matter, you may want to sell any U.S. coastal property you own, because his plans to pull out of any Climate Change treaties we're in, eliminate the EPA, and bring back the coal industry endangers all of us. Now there's a triple whammy for ya. And if you're one who agrees with Trump that Climate Change is a hoax, you might want to ask the folks along most of our coastlines if they agree with you. But be prepared to duck.
       Donald Trump is perhaps the most irresponsibly dangerous candidate for the presidency in our history. And not just because he likes to grab women. Think about him holding the switch on our nuclear arsenal when somebody makes fun of him. Or finds fault with him or calls him for what he is.
Lord help us all if he gets elected. So don't let it happen.
       I know, I know, you may not like the choices, but you'll hate the outcome if The Donald wins. You definitely should vote, just not for Trump. If you were planning to vote for Trump, vote for Mickey Mouse or Oil Can Harry or anybody but Trump. Don't know who Oil Can Harry is? That makes you younger than me. He's a much nicer villain than Trump.