Henry Kissinger

Henry Kissinger, the influential Secretary of State for two Presidents and arguably the most impactful Cabinet member of the 20th century, has died at age 100.

Kissinger helped define American policy in the final third of the last century, playing major roles in "opening" China to the West, solidifying our ties to Israel, and negotiating the end of the American war in Vietnam. 

He was, in my childhood, the unquestioned Dean of foreign policy, whether you looked at him as friend or foe.

Kissinger's polices were anethema to the Left during the Vietnam War, and some of the latest generation - separated by decades from both Kissinger's tenure and the stresses and demands that dominated it - have gone a step further. They are cheering and applauding his death, a display I find both distateful and telling. 

RIP

Rosalynn Carter

Rosalynn Carter, 1/2 of the longest married Presidential couple in American history, died today at the age of 96. 

The Carter Administration was the first that I have memories of, and I think it's telling that it even as a child of a democratic household the bits and pieces that came down to me at the time were negatives: the Iran hostage situation, a troubled economy , and the defeat to Reagan in 1980.In the histories I've read, she was often far more attuned to what was needed, and what consequences were to follow, than her husband. 

I have of course watched Mrs Carter spend the last 42 years alongside her husband as he salvaged his personal reputation through personal service to communities across the nation. I've always been impressed by her stature and her obvious intelligence. 

With her death the 77 year marriage comes to an end, and I can't help but fear that Jimmy himself will long to meet her again soon.

RIP

This isn't the kind of history you want to see created

 Let’s be clear about one thing: the unprecedented – literally – ousting of sitting Speaker of the House by a maverick group of extreme-right Republicans yesterday?

Idiotic.

Last week Speaker Kevin McCarthy orchestrated a bi-partisan effort to avoid a government shutdown. Whatever the merits of the act, and your opinion of it, it was mundane. It was not, by any stretch of the imagination, a grand betrayal of the Republic.

Enter Rep. Matt Gaetz, who as part of the deal McCarthy made to secure his leadership, had pushed for a rule change to allow any single lawmaker the ability to file a motion to vacate the Speakership.

He did so.

Gaetz and seven Republicans voted to oust; they were joined, ironically, by 208 Democrats.

No Speaker had ever been ordered to vacate the post. Until yesterday.

Don’t try and tell me that this was some triumph of principle over tradition. That’s a lie, both for the extremist cadre of Republicans and their newfound Democratic allies. The former are content to scorch the earth, as governance seems a secondary desire to them. And the Democrats? A petty, partisan pile-on. Unless you think they voted to oust McCarthy because he worked with them last week, which seems like a good way to ensure no olive branches are extended in the future.

Chaos rules the House today. There is no Speaker. There is no easy *path* to Speakership, as any candidate would have to concede points to the fringe to get the votes, and after yesterday, who will trust them?

If Gaetz and company wanted to demonstrate to the world that the party is in turmoil, mission accomplished. If they wanted to handcuff a third of the government, the mission was accomplished.  Beyond that . . .

Shameful.

Dianne Feinstein

 

Diane Feinstein, the longest serving Senator from California and the oldest member of the Senate, has died. She was 90. 

A centrist by her state's standards, in 1992 she became the first California woman to be elected to the Senate, after previously serving as Mayor of San Francisco. 

That centrist reputation served her well through the first three decades of her Senate career, but put her at odds with her constituents as California moved further Left in recent years. 

You might remember recent questions about her mental acuity - even from party members - as her age began to affect her work. Partly if not fully in response to that criticism, she had announced she would not seek re-election after her current term, which was to end next year. 

RIP 

RIP Walter Mondale

RIP to former VP and Presidential candidate Walter "Fritz" Mondale, age 93. I remember my Grandma comforting me the night he lost in '84, as I cried in my bed. 

The Centennial of the Harding Presidency

100 years ago today, Warren Harding was inaugurated as President. Even after a century his reputation is largely that of an incompetent surrounded by crooks, but that is a falsehood historians have been trying to rectify for years.

The "Tea Pot Dome scandal" seems to have been partially a frame up, as in retrospect it turned on the word of a now- known perjurist. And many of the "truths" about the era, from a distance, appear as blatant political attacks. Harding was an adulterer and Prohibition wasn't exactly taken seriously under his Justice Dept, but c'est la vie. 

Here's what is not in dispute: Harding spoke out for Civil Rights and vigorously, if unsuccessfully, pursued a federal anti-lynching law (FDR, for the record, opposed one as President.) He negotiated a successful naval treaty, released political prisoners taken under Wilson, expanded the nation's use of radio, was the first President to visit Canada, established the Budget Office that is still in use today, and got the country out of a Recession through the use of said Budget Office. 

Not a great President. But not a bad one either. 

Happy Anniversary President Harding!

George Schultz

 

I'm very sad to hear of the passing of former Sec'y of State George Schultz. RIP sir.

You Don't Say

Network (CBS iirc) shows crowds of thousands in Times Square celebrating Biden's media coronation

Anchor: There's a lot of masks, but no social distancing . . . But I guess the pandemic doesn't matter anymore. 

***

I can't tell if that was snark or a confession.

What changed?

 Democrats in 2016: "Russia rigged the election!"

Democrats in 2020: "How DARE you question the validity of this election!!? The process is pure!"

Uh-Oh

Huckleberry sheds a tear as Biden pulls ahead . . . #RedKingdom

Election Day is Finally Here

Am I anxious? Sure. I've probably taken in 4k calories so far today. But I've seen my candidates win, and I've seen them lose, and life will go on. I'll be PO'd, but I'll live. The girls tho are real nervous. YaYa showed up this morning with candidate cookies and ham and rolls, and Junie and her friends are sometimes cheerful, sometimes morose or fearful. But like I told them - 100 years ago, someone's daughter started the day distraught over the thought that Harding might lose to Cox, and her fears were every bit as heartfelt and genuine. The calendar page turns, and life goes on.

Too Accurate

Enough with the Ads

Honestly, no one is unaware of the election. No one. If you need 10k reminders from the media, your Hollywood elite, and politicians to go out and vote . . . Well, I won't interfere with your right to do so, but I seriously doubt your contribution to the process is a plus for anyone.

The President has Covid

My prayers are with you Mr. President, and with FLOTUS.

Score!

I scored this great selection of political buttons at Rummage O Rama this afternoon. Of particular note, check out the Eisenhower bracelet!

Reminder

Reminder: If you're a legal US Citizen eligible to vote, please do so today.

If you're not a citizen, ineligible due to age or felony convictions, or long dead, then I'm sure you're eager to vote Democrat and no reminder was needed. My bad for wasting your time.

Hollywood Double-Standards

Rosie O’Donnell:  “f*ck u u closeted idiot"

Kathy Griffin: "Look at Miss Lindsey Graham trying to be all tough! What?Does Putin have a picture of Lindsay f*cking a donkey?"

Bill Maher joked that Graham needed the “stabilizing influence of his dead boyfriend" John McCain.

When they're not busy supporting pedophiles (Allen and Polanski) rapists (Cosby) and creeps (Weinstein) Hollywood is busy being homophobic.

On Kavanaugh

Assume,  for intellectual purposes, that Kavanaugh is completely innocent, and the accusation merely a  weaponization of the public's [rightful]  opposition to sexual assault.  How do you successfully defend yourself? By saying you're innocent? By trying to prove a negative? By somehow magically determining you were somewhere else (impossible, since neither time nor place nor even year is remembered by your accuser)? 

If there is no opportunity for defense, there is no adversarial process. 

If there is no adversarial process there can be no justice, and it's nothing more than a circus where most of the "jury" - the Democrats on the panel - have already rendered their verdict in the press. 

 It's wrong.  And if you don't think so, so are you.

If Only

Propaganda on Campus

I just sat through a seminar in which Obama was praised for "speaking out" ("Great to see him again!"), Cory Booker was lauded for his courage (nevermind that he lied about it all, as CNN and MSNBC even went after him), Kaepernick was hailed as a "great quarterback, one of the best in the NFL" who is "full of courage", cops "routinely shoot black men for no reason", and true Americans were those, like the professor, who protested the Vietnam war. 

I did speak up again, knocking down his Booker speech, and another student ripped his diagram of the political spectrum, correctly calling for fascism and authoritarianism to be placed where it belongs - on the far left. So there's some hope that the system hasn't completely Sheepled the generations that followed me. But all in all, college hasn't changed much since the '90's

the potential exists that it was an effort to foster thought and debate and no agenda was intended. I just think, given my experience, that that isn't the case.

Just by coincidence, as I sat typing my last post here on the porch, Smiley came to talk to me about his day at school - where the subject of one class had been a discussion about letting non-citizens (aka illegals and legal residents) vote. Although I never talk politics with the kids unless they ask, Smiley shot down the idea, and later defended the electoral college. Good for him - and boo for the school.