Before He Authorizes Torture, President Trump Should Follow the Example of Others and Voluntarily Undergo Waterboarding Himself; He May Not Want Others to Go Through It After That

Veterans who have undergone waterboarding at the hands of enemy nations have told us for a long time that the technique is torture.   Navy SEALs undergo waterboarding as part of their survival training; some former SEALs like Jesse Ventura are adamantly opposed to it, as are war veterans like John McCain who were brutally tortured by the North Vietnamese.

Journalists such as Christopher Hitchens have voluntarily undergone waterboarding to have firsthand experience on what it’s actually like.   Here’s the video of him being waterboarded.  So did Steve Harrigan of Fox News.

I’m of the opinion that if a politician who has not served time in the military and has not been captured and tortured by the enemy should not order torture without undergoing a brief torture session themselves, so that they understand what they’re ordering done to others.

I think President Trump should voluntarily undergo a brief waterboarding so that he can see the consequences of what his executive order authorizing torture really entails.  He may sing a different tune afterwards.

Liberal Outlets Zero In on Trump’s Unsubstantiated Claims Again: Still Waiting for Trump Administration to Knock It Off

Sources: CNN.com, ABCNews.com, CBSNews.com, NBCNews.com

These stories were at or near the top of the news sites listed above this evening, with CNN’s lead story remaining unchanged for most of the day today.   They continued with a “Breaking News” theme on their evening TV shows, even though they carried the story throughout the entire day and it wasn’t the dramatic “Breaking News” that they crave.

Rehashing these stories isn’t helping President Trump build support or confidence in his Presidency. 

I really don’t know if Trump’s Press Secretary is helping or hurting him.   In any case, Trump or anyone in the Administration mentioning any of his more controversial/incorrect statements ends up dominating another news cycle, as it did today.

The Administration needs to settle down and focus on what the President is currently doing, not rehashing past controversies that President Trump hasn’t got time to fight. 

Trump Administration Needs to Stop Giving the Media Ammunition and Tell It Like It Is: Obama’s Inaugurations Were More Well Attended, But In the End, Who Cares? This is a HUGE Distraction, Which is Exactly What the Media Wants

The Trump Administration needs to get rid of the “Whose Inauguration Was Bigger” issue, and they need to do so now.

President Trump needs to accept that Obama’s inauguration was bigger, because President Obama had access to a portion of the population that didn’t vote for Trump, and he needs to state it publicly.   This is a serious non-issue that is providing ammo to an openly hostile press that is gleefully firing it right back at President Trump and his Administration.

His Press Secretary is seriously damaged and may need to be replaced.  “Alternative facts?”  I think not.   That notion needs to be permanently banned from White House communications and President Trump should set the example.   His press conference statement that he’s not sure that he’ll get along with Russia’s President Putin was open and honest and he needs to be like that all the time.  So does his Press Secretary.

He’s thinking like an entertainer and he needs to shift gears, and fast.  Ratings and turnouts to parties don’t matter.

Trump Has Four Thousand Appointments to Make: They’ve Got a Lot of Work to Do

I wasn’t kidding on my last post when I said that the Trump Administration needs time to get set up before getting entangled in various foreign policy entanglements.  Here is the updated list of appointments, and it’s breathtaking. 

Look at all the ambassadors who need to be named, Senate confirmation hearings scheduled, and votes taken.  

It will be some time before full ambassadors are sent to nations around the world, so it’ll be up to the career diplomats in the State Department to keep things together until that happens.

As for the other positions, hopefully wise choices are made, votes are taken and appointees are able to take up their positions very soon.

Senate Needs to Decline Tillerson and DeVos Nominations and Trump Needs Better Choices: Tillerson Will Tempt China to Take Radical Military Action Before New Administration is Ready and DeVos is Heralding a Failed System

The Senate should reject Rex Tillerson for Secretary of State and Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education.

I know the new President wants his choices confirmed, but I think he’s made a major mistake with Tillerson and another with DeVos.
   
The more that the Senate interviews Tillerson, the more I think he’ll provoke the Chinese into taking precipitous military action in the South China Sea before the new government is ready to take them on in a military confrontation, which China thinks it can win.  (It can’t.)

The new Administration needs time to get on its feet and formulate American foreign policy, and the last thing President Trump needs is another military situation at the beginning of his term.  If Tillerson is going to make statements like “we should deny China access to their man-made islands!” then we should prepare to fight for them.  His lack of foreign policy experience is on full display.

If China uses those island bases to close critical international shipping lanes, that’s different, but egging China on before the Trump Administration is fully set up to deal with an international aggressor?   Not a particularly good idea.

I am encouraged that the Senate is expected to approve his choices for Homeland Security and the Department of Defense either shortly before or after President Trump’s inauguration tomorrow.  That will take care of the noise coming out of CNN and other outlets.

With Betsy DeVos, she’s made one mistake after another, and her results have been less than stellar.  Her Great Lakes Educational Project model is inferior to other private school models and is also inferior to that of many public school districts in the state.   At a time when private schools have been very popular in parts of the state, the state’s overall scores on core subjects have declined, and private school scores have been worse than comparable public schools.

Private school competition to public schools is good ONLY if it shows results, and the DeVos model hasn’t.  If a model is failing, it should not be shared nationally, which is partially why I am opposed to the DeVos nomination.

I’m hoping the Senate rejects  both nominees so that President Trump can pick better candidates.  I have no objections to any of his other nominees so far.

It’s OK for Democratic Lawmakers to Criticize Trump, But When He Responds in Kind, It Isn’t OK? Snowflake Hypocrites Are Their Own Worst Enemy

Georgia Congressman John Lewis took a shot at President-elect Trump on the eve of MLK observances across the country but had the unmitigated gall to act surprised when Trump returned fire, regardless of the timing.

Haven’t we all learned by now that if Trump feels like taking to Twitter at 3am in the morning to comment on something, that’s exactly what he will do?  And that he’ll step (stomp) on toes across the political spectrum to get his two cents (and then some) in?

Lewis deliberately timed his pronouncement so that Trump would come under criticism for firing back during civil rights observances being done prior to Monday.

If Lewis wants to stay away from the inauguration, that’s his choice.  I’m staying away from it too, but for my own reasons which are not political.  The way I’m looking at it, there will already be enough of a cross-section of American society that I feel like I’m already represented there.  And it’s going to be a zoo.

As of this morning, 25 others have joined Congressman Lewis in his boycott.  Good, we won’t have to put up with them crying in public next Friday.

It’s a shame that Congressman Lewis chose to use the MLK weekend to make his political statement.  It’s not unparalleled; Democrats have turned funerals, such as Muhammed Ali’s funeral and Paul Wellstone’s (from Minnesota) funeral, into political rallies.

Then-Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura walked out of the Wellstone funeral and then appointed an independent to Senator Wellstone’s seat instead of a Democrat.    The Democrats then lost big in the state and national elections that happened six days after the Wellstone funeral.

By all means, boycott the inauguration.  They should institute a rule that says a work stoppage in Congress means a paycheck stoppage too, just like it is for everybody else.

News Media Can No Longer Use Three Sources: With the Power That Fake News Now Wields, They Need to Have More Non-Web Sources to Confirm a Story

Throughout 2016, there were many fake news stories that have been directed at our political candidates and others.  Some of the more memorable headlines (I left off some of the more disgusting ones) :

“Russians Have Dirt on President-Elect Trump”

"Obama Signs Executive Order Banning The Pledge Of Allegiance In Schools Nationwide"

"Pope Francis Shocks World, Endorses Donald Trump for President, Releases Statement"

"Trump Offering Free One-Way Tickets to Africa; Mexico for Those Who Wanna Leave America"

"Florida man dies in meth-lab explosion after lighting farts on fire"

"FBI Agent Suspected in Hillary Email Leaks Found Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide"

"RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE To Reunite And Release Anti Donald Trump Album"

"Police Find 19 White Female Bodies In Freezers With “Black Lives Matter” Carved Into Skin"

"ISIS Leader Calls for American Muslim Voters to Support Hillary Clinton"

Hillary Clinton In 2013: “I Would Like To See People Like Donald Trump Run For Office; They’re Honest And Can’t Be Bought”

"Woman murders college roommate for sending too many Candy Crush requests"

"Donald Trump Protester Speaks Out: "I Was Paid $3,500 To Protest Trump's Rally"

“Obama passed law for grandparents to get all their grandchildren every weekend”

"President Obama Confirms He Will Refuse To Leave Office If Trump Is Elected"

"Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy – 'We Don’t Like The Blacks Either'"

"Security Detail Tackles Homeless Man On Oscars Red Carpet, Turned Out To Be Rob Zombie"

Pence: “Michelle Obama Is The Most Vulgar First Lady We’ve Ever Had”

“African Billionaire Will Give $1 Million To Anyone Who Wants To Leave America if Donald Trump is Elected President”

“Obama Signs Executive Order Declaring Investigation Into Election Results; Revote Planned For Dec. 19th”

“Graham Says Christians Must Support Trump or Face Death Camps”

“BREAKING Romanian Hacker With Access To Clinton Emails Found Dead In Jail Cell”

“The United States Revokes Scientology's Tax-Exempt Status - ABC News”

“Pope Francis Shocks World, Endorses Hillary Clinton for President, Releases Statement”

“Trump Claims America Should Never Have Given Canada Its Independence”

-----------------
Many who should know better have been suckered in.  All the news networks, both party candidates, members of the House and Senate, including one from today during the DHS secretary confirmation hearings, have been taken. 

Does anyone remember Rathergate?  The Stephen Glass scandal?  There used to be a time when reporters who used unconfirmed stories (or in the case of Glass, falsified ones) in their reporting were punished.   Brian Williams is still paying the price for his part in embellishing his stories.  

Get it together, news media.

Liberal Meltdown Continues Unabated: Libs Took to Stage at Golden Globes Last Night (As Expected) and Turned It Into a Democratic Pity Party Again

I decided that I wasn’t going to watch the Golden Globes again, as I knew it was going to be a Democratic pity party and liberal meltdown scene again, which it was.   Actors took to the stage and cried about mean Mr. Trump being the president. 

Organizers failed to stem the tide, even with their very expensive participation handouts.  Guess that only works with the college students, not with over-emotional actors who do raise a few valid concerns about Trump’s vicious streak but manage to insult voters at the same time. 

I found in watching the recaps that I focused more on what they said about Trump voters more than what they were actually talking about.  Good job. 

I’m hoping that once Trump takes office he’ll tone it down (a lot) and act presidential, as he’s done in some of his more recent speeches.

Biden Did His Constitutional Duty and Kept Joint Session of Congress On-Track in Verifying Electoral College Results

I was impressed with Vice-President Biden’s presiding over a joint session of Congress to verify the Electoral College votes.

He really stuck to the rules and shut down 15 objections because they were not in order.  Here is the entire session; it’s very interesting.

Electoral College Does It’s Duty: Donald Trump is the 45th President

The campaign to stop Trump at the Electoral College utterly failed, as anticipated, and Donald Trump will be the 45th President of the United States.

This kind of campaign should never be attempted again, by activists on either side.  The Constitutional quagmire that would result if the College was disrupted cannot be allowed to happen, under any circumstances.

The effort was an attack on the Constitution itself, by desperate people who seem to want to feed parts of the Constitution into a shredder, without any thought of what would happen afterwards.

Yes, the election would go into the House of Representatives, and the majority party would almost certainly vote for their candidate, but why do that?  We have a system that works without getting the do-nothing Congress involved.

Hey, I didn’t like the College very much either, when they voted for Barack Obama twice and for Bill Clinton twice.  But they did their duty, which is something that is very necessary to the health of our electoral system, no matter who is elected. 

The Constitution must prevail.

Intel Briefing for Electoral College Electors is Unnecessary and Possibly Unconstitutional: They’re There to Do a Job and Vote For Whichever Candidate Won Their State

I am opposed to having the Electoral College receive any kind of intelligence briefing.  They’re simply there to vote for whichever candidate won their state, and nothing else.

I find it distasteful that nearly all the electors demanding a briefing are Democratic electors and won’t be voting for Donald Trump anyways.  They’re from states that Hillary Clinton won and who they’re supposed to vote for.

Only one Republican has joined in the call for a briefing, which is not enough to sway the Electoral College vote.

Electors refusing to do their duty to the Constitution and their respective states should be replaced by their home states that they’re at the Electoral College to represent.  The various state laws as they pertain to electors are available for download here through the National Association of Secretaries of State web site as a PDF.
 
I’m going to add that it’s highly hypocritical that the Democrats who were screaming about the Electoral College before the general election are now making all this noise about using the Electoral College to stop Trump from taking office.  Get over it.

Rex Tillerson Will Be Trump’s Nominee for Secretary of State: Senate Needs to Block This Nomination

Donald Trump confirmed that Rex Tillerson will be his choice as the new Secretary of State.

This is a mistake, and I hope that the Senate blocks the nomination.  He’s not qualified for the reasons stated in an earlier post. 

Russia and China will run in circles around him, no matter how much they say they like him.   I’m sure they’ll be nice to him at first, but when the new President comes into conflict with Putin or with the Chinese government (and he will), they won’t pull any punches.

I dislike this nominee as much as I disliked Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, and that’s saying something.  His name was well-known to me prior to President-elect Trump putting him under consideration for the Secretary of State position.

The more I read about his activism (not only with the BSA, but elsewhere too), the more opposed I get to the idea of this nominee making it through the confirmation process.

Did Trump really do his homework on this nominee?

Those Protesting “Star Wars: Rogue One” As Being Anti-Trump Are Not Well-Read: They Ought to Spend a Few Weekends Reading Some Books

I’m really finding it amusing that some Trump fans are threatening to boycott the new “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” movie hitting theaters on Friday as they’re claiming some of the reshoots establish the Empire as a racist outfit with a Trump-like figure having a prominent role in the construction of the Death Star.

They obviously haven’t read any of the Star Wars Expanded Universe books.  Unfortunately for them, I have.  This is going to be a fun entry.  For me.

It’s pretty clearly established in multiple books that the Galactic Empire in the Star Wars Expanded Universe WAS a “humans only” organization. 

The Emperor’s circle of advisors was entirely human, the stormtroopers and clonetroopers were all human, and they enslaved races such as the Wookies and the Bothans.  You don’t see aliens in Imperial service in any of the seven Star Wars movies so far, but tons of them in Rebel/Resistance service. 

Here are the Emperor’s Advisors posing on the Death Star II set:

Nice hats.  Crabby looking bunch.

The only alien in Emperor Palpatine’s Imperial command structure in the Expanded Universe was Grand Admiral Thrawn, a blue-skinned, red eyed Chiss who the Emperor liked because of his proven military genius and his dedication to the Empire.  He was featured in the “Heir to the Empire” series and is currently appearing on “Star Wars Rebels.”

Grand Admiral Thrawn as he appears in “Star Wars Rebels.”

In contrast, the Rebel Alliance had many alien species in it, from Mon Calamari to Wookies to Bothans to dozens of other sentient species.

Admiral Ackbar, Commander-in-Chief of the Rebel fleet, in “Return of the Jedi.”

True science fiction fans take these things in stride, but political hacks interpret a humans-only Empire (that has been established over dozens of books and long before Trump entered politics) as an anti-Trump thing. 

Sorry, boycott participants, but enjoy your weekend at home.  I’m planning on seeing it once in our little theater in town, and then once in a larger theater within a week or two, and I’ll plan on not having to share any theater space with the likes of you.

Couple of questions:

Have you even considered that your boycott may be base on fake news?

And you’re not the same group that boycotted “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” because there was a black stormtrooper, are you? 

One note: the Expanded Universe was scrapped by Disney as they’re re-writing Star Wars canon.  They did pull Grand Admiral Thrawn over from the scrapped EU, and some other interesting characters and ideas, but it remains to be seen as to what else Disney’s going to do as they expand the Star Wars franchise.  They may not carry over the “humans only” part of the Empire into the new stories.  It is what it is, and what it will be, and I’m fine with it.

ExxonMobile’s CEO to Be Secretary of State? This May Not Be a Good Idea: The Chief Diplomat of the United States Should Have Some Diplomatic Experience

I’m not sure if this is accurate, but NBC is reporting that Rex Tillerson, the CEO of ExxonMobile, is expected to be nominated by President-elect Trump to be his Secretary of State.

I’m opposed to this idea, and only for the fact that Mr. Tillerson has not held a government office or position before, and has no diplomatic experience.  The Secretary of State is fourth in line of succession to the President, and is the chief diplomat of the United States.  

The international situation is very complex, and requires someone who has an idea of how to deal with the EU/Brexit situation, the ISIS situation, the Middle East troubles, Iran, piracy on the high seas, the China/Taiwan situation, international terrorism, and a whole myriad of other entanglements.
Russia’s and China’s foreign ministers will be challenging enough for an experienced American diplomat, but putting someone with no diplomatic experience up against them is not an appealing idea.  

I think the U.S. and Russia will engage in a conventional war over Syria, or at least a limited battle (probably a clash between the U.S. and Russian air forces), and it will take a skilled American diplomat to lower tensions.  Negotiating a gas contract is not the same as negotiating a cease-fire between nations at war.

I hope this story is wrong and the President-elect is going in a different direction with his choice for Secretary of State.

As Anticipated, Trump Calls Air Force One a Step Down From His Own Aircraft; Calls on Boeing to Cancel Air Force One Order Over Potential Costs

I saw this one coming.

Trump doesn’t like the idea of flying in Air Force One, with all of its advanced communications and on-board defense technology and considers it a step-down.

It’s easy to see why:

The above photo is one section of Air Force One.  That’s pretty much the motif throughout the aircraft in terms of design and comfort.

The photo below is a shot from Trump One, or whatever he’s calling his personal aircraft.   It’s gorgeous.     

 

The President-elect fired off a Tweet yesterday citing the potential $4 billion development cost for a new-generation Air Force One currently under design over at Boeing and calling for the order to be canceled.   That caused a stir.

Just wait until then-President Trump has to fly aboard a no-bells-or-whistles Air Force transport into a conflict zone.  The Air Force may get some nice upgrades afterwards.

In any case, I don’t like the idea of putting military tech onto a civilian aircraft.  He should bite the bullet, and get used to flying on Air Force One.  

The development cost should be looked at.   Is it better to upgrade a 25 year old airframe, or buy a new one? 

What’s the Media Doing, Pointing Out Giuliani Conflicts of Interest, While Sticking Their Head in the Sand When SecState/Clinton Foundation Problems Were Made Public? Hypocrites!

The media shouldn’t give Giuliani a hard time about conflict of interests; they didn’t even bat an eye when Clinton’s pay-to-play affair was going on with the Clinton Foundation and gave her a virtual pass during the campaign.  A few papers pointed out the problems, but most didn’t.

The press has no leg to stand on.  Attacking Giuliani for doing a good job for his company as a private citizen, while ignoring Clinton violations of the law that gets other public officials into serious trouble is among the worst kinds of journalism out there.  There are literally dozens of stories on lesser (than Secretary of State) public officials being shown the door because they broke the law.   Do a Google search on “conflict of interest resigns” and see what happens.  Hit the News tab.

The media’s ploy to get their candidate into the White House failed, and now they’re doing their best to disparage everybody who is being looked at for a possible position in the Trump  Administration.  Tabloid journalists.

Romney Would Do a Better Job as Administrator for the Small Business Administration or Postmaster General than as Secretary of State: Trump Needs Someone as SecState Who Has a Similar Worldview as He Does

I’m concerned about a possible Mitt Romney nomination as Secretary of State.   He and President-elect Trump do not share a similar worldview, which is vital for the President and Secretary of State to have.

The last thing we need is a SecState making deals overseas and then having President Trump override him, which would severely undermine Romney’s credibility.  That’s the very last thing we need after all the damage that Clinton and Kerry did during their times as Secretary of State.

I think Romney would be better in the Small Business Administration or even as Postmaster General.

Rudy Giuliani seems to share a similar worldview and could represent President-elect Trump very efficiently.  

As far as Giuliani’s conflict of interests goes, the media seems to be overlooking the fact that his overseas deals were as a private citizen on behalf of his company, not as any kind of a government official.  There can be no talk of conflict of interest at this stage of the game because the conditions for it to exist didn’t.  The media’s putting the wagon before the horse.   

The Secretary of State is required to comply with conflict-of-interest laws and he would have to separate from his business interests, unlike the President.  I think he’d put  his business affairs in order before taking office, if President-elect Trump chose him and he agreed to do it.

A decision should be made soon.

Castro’s Finally Gone? Too Bad His Entire Government Didn’t Go With Him

Castro’s finally gone?  Meh. 

Nothing’s changed for the everyday Cuban.  His government is still in place with his brother running things.  It’s too soon to tell if the passing of Fidel Castro is a turning point, or a moot point for Cuba.

We’ll see what the Cubans do next.

Electoral College is the Whipping Boy of the Left Again: Founders Knew What They Were Doing When They Wrote It Into the Constitution

There’s been a lot of talk about blocking the election of Donald Trump in the Electoral College, but it will not happen.  And it shouldn’t.   The Founders knew what they were doing when they designed it.  First, let’s look at a map of the United States as it is today:

The blue-shaded areas are the counties where fully half of the population of the United States lives.   There are roughly 3,000 counties in the U.S. and half the population lives in 146 of them.  Everybody else lives in the remaining 2,854 counties across the country. 

If it was pure democracy as some have suggested, and the Electoral College was no more, the 146 counties above would dominate American politics and elections, leaving the remaining 2,854 counties in the dust and potentially voiceless.  I don’t want to be disrespectful to anyone in these 146 counties, but those are typically Democratic strongholds.

The Founders were so concerned that smaller states would be dominated by bigger ones that they created two houses of Congress: one based on population and one based on equal representation.  They also made the population-based house the “lower” house while the two-per-state Senate is the “upper” house.

I do not live in one of the blue-shaded counties, nor would I want to.  But I do want an equal say in who represents me in Congress, and in the White House.  The Electoral College guarantees it.

Currently we have a part of our population so concerned that President-elect Trump will destroy the country that they’ve taken it upon themselves to destroy the country themselves.  I find it very interesting that the majority of the riots are in the larger blue-shaded areas.  Some aren’t, but many of them are.

Compare the 146 county map with the map where the riots and protests are taking place:

Credit for riot map: Fox News

I’ll take the Electoral College over mob rule every time, thank you very much.

Liberals Should Quit the “Petulant Child” Routine, Act Their Age and Help Fix This Country’s Problems: Saving America By Burning Parts of It Down That You Don’t Like Isn’t the Way!

------NOTE: this applies to the protesters out in the streets, not the people who woke up the next day, went to work and carried on with their lives like normal people do.-----

It’s funny how hypocritical the Dems and Libs street-protesting Donald Trump’s victory are. 

They condemn hate groups and “alt-right” (I had to look up the term as the liberal media has been going on and on about it) fringe elements, but it’s OK for them to go out and burn down buildings, riot, pull people with different skin colors out of their cars and screaming “YOU VOTED FOR TRUMP!” and savagely beating them.  

They should really stop with the “petulant child” routine, act their age and help fix the problem, not contribute to it and then throw blame on everybody else, or the Electoral College, or whatever the scapegoat of the day happens to be.

The ones moaning and bellyaching on Facebook and issuing death threats to this person and that person really need to be locked up for a while, including this fool, although he’s already paid a steep price. 

Street protesters from either side need to practice restraint and respect their fellow Americans.  And take the time to VOTE, not sit home and expect your side to win when not enough voters turn out.

Hate groups can go crawl back under their rotten logs and stay there.