Tag Archives: Clinton Foundation

Why does it have to be so complex?

It appears to me that oftentimes, our government needs assistance in making prudent decisions. If we apply a little common sense and practicality to some of these situations, life for the politicians, and for the public, could be made so much easier and better. For example:

War in the Ukraine

Who does not want to stop the war in the Ukraine, other than Vladimir Putin? I believe we can stop that war in 2 months without sending one more bullet to that war zone. How? It’s really quite simple. All the U.S. needs to do is to start pumping the hell out of our roughly 200-year supply of petroleum reserves. This pumping would lower the price of petroleum on the world market, thus taking away Putin’s primary source of income to continue his invasion of the Ukraine. There are numerous accounts of Russian soldiers leaving the battlefield because of not being paid. By cutting Putin’s money source, there would be less soldiers (who wants to be shot or die for free?), less fuel for military vehicles, less money for bullets and rockets….in other words, Russia could not afford to continue the war without financial ruination.

Think of the positive ripple effects of pumping our own oil. The price of gas would go down. More jobs would be created in the energy industry. Our economy would be stimulated by actual business and economic progress rather than being stimulated by government handouts. We could supply our excess energy to Europe to break their dependence on Russian oil. The currently threatening railroad strike would not have as much economic impact, because we could use our pipelines again. (This would upset the Oracle of Omaha, because his gigantic stake in Burlington Northern is profiting immensely from hauling oil!) And… maybe Joe Biden could afford to replenish our strategic oil reserves at his own expense! After all, doesn’t Hunter Biden have a seat on the board of directors at Burisma? Burisma is an oil consortium located in the Ukraine. So, Joe has juice in the petroleum industry. This would offset his strictly stupid, political decision to use the U.S. strategic oil reserves to lower the price of gas by 2 cents before the midterm election. And maybe, just maybe, the oligarchs in Russia would find their cajones to overthrow Vladimir Putin, and get their mega-yachts returned.

Common sense tells me that there is at least a half dozen ‘positives’ for pumping oil. None of this will get done, however, as long as the democrats are in control. It would make too much common sense and go counter to the Green Deal.

Climate Change versus Environmental Protection

Let me help all the woke-wonks determine the difference between climate change and environment protection. Here it is. Mother nature and the rules of the universe will forever and ever be responsible for climate change. Man does not have one iota of impact on climate change. Man does have responsibility for environmental protection, and we have done it for decades.

Let me begin with environmental protection. Do you have a catalytic converter on your car? Of course, you do. In America it has been required of car manufacturers for decades. The purpose was to reduce harmful emissions entering the atmosphere. A similar requirement was placed on factories. There has to be ‘scrubbers’ on all smokestacks. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has gone to great lengths to keep our rivers, lakes, streams and air free of pollution. We plant trees and create green spaces. We even believe that electric vehicles are the answer to environmental protection. That issue requires more discussion. But the U.S. has gone to great lengths, and has spent billions of dollars, and required industry to spend billions of dollars to protect the environment. The problem is…. many other countries do not do one damn thing to protect the environment of Mother Earth. No catalytic converters. No smokestack scrubbers. They are even cutting down the Amazon rain forest. That rain forest alone supplies a high percentage of our oxygen, and yet they are cutting it down at an alarming rate. What I am saying is that the other 190+ countries need to get on board with environmental protection. The U.S. has taken measures to protect our country, but we are not capable of protecting the whole world.

Sorry woke-wonks. Climate change is beyond the capability of man. Currently there are two volcanos erupting in Hawaii. What if these volcanos spewed enough ash to put a black cloud over the entire planet, and that black cloud would block the sun for two years? Well, it already happened over 500 years ago. The end result? A Little ICE AGE! Yup. People starved and froze because of low temperatures and because the crops would not grow. This event is well documented in Europe. How would man control that? Did you know that the Sahara Desert was at one time a tropical forest? Yup. It became a desert because the axis of the Earth shifted in relation to the sun. How would man control that? There was one volcanic explosion on this planet that spewed more noxious gases into the atmosphere, than all the noxious gases released by automobiles since the invention of the automobile. Yup. How does man control that?

There are going to be years when our summers are hot, and years when our summers will be cooler. There will be years when there will be more ice formed in the Arctic, and there will be years when Arctic ice will be melting. How would man control that? Make ice? Two issues come to mind: 1. How could man change any of these events? And 2. What exactly is going to be done with the trillions of dollars that our government wants to spend and has spent on climate change?

I absolutely cringe when I hear about the Green Deal, or by proposals to spend another trillion or two on ‘climate change.’ Why do I cringe? I cringe because I think this whole climate change and Green Deal crap is just that…. crap! I believe this whole issue is a way of bilking the American public out of monies which eventually end up in pockets or reelection campaigns of dishonest politicians. The idiotic woke-wonk public will buy into it, because they think we need to prevent climate change. Do you remember when Obama was POTUS, and $4 billion was granted to a solar company? I do. That company went out of business within 9 months of receiving the money. What happened to that money? I am not aware of any government investigation to determine what happened to our tax dollars, or of any effort to get the money back. I am irritated seeing Al Gore expounding climate change and eliminating fossil fuels…. while he is getting off his private jet. He made millions by forcing companies to buy ‘environmental credits.’ What happened to that money? As far as I am concerned, Al Gore is a dipshit that ought to be walking…. right to prison. Purchasing ‘environmental credits’ was just a way of extorting money from business and industry.

I would dare say that a proposed spending bill for climate change and the Green Deal, after being loaded with political pork, would be similar to the amount of money spent on benevolent projects by the late Clinton Foundation, about 4%. Through the use of grants, loans and contracts to unscrupulous contractors, I would say very little money really gets to its intended use; and much of the money finds its way into pockets and campaign coffers.

Elon Musk

Elon Musk has suddenly become less popular than a prom queen with acne. With the Green Deal, Elon was mister popular because he owns the most successful electric EV) company on the planet, Tesla. The liberals loved him. And then, Elon did two things that have absolutely placed him in disfavor with liberal woke-wonks.

Firstly, he bought Twitter and fired practically all the woke-wonk employees that were exercising censorship. This censorship was largely against positive conservative conversations or against any negative liberal conversations. For instance, no tweets were allowed that had anything to do that was negative about Hunter Biden. (Executive woke-wonk Mark Zuckerberg has admitted the FBI contacted him about not allowing negative Hunter Biden posts on Facebook prior to the presidential and midterm elections!) But Elon has stated he is going to change the business climate at Twitter to allow free speech! The liberal press is going wild, as is the White House. Last week, the White House stated they are thinking about investigating Twitter. Really? Why? Apparently, it is against White House and Democratic party principles to have some right-leaning executive own a media source.

Secondly, Elon brought disfavor on himself with the following statement, “If the 2024 election were held today, I would vote for Ron Desantis.” OMG! No censorship at Twitter! Voting for a Republican! In the liberal mindset, this man needs to be destroyed.

Be cognizant of what the White House and the liberal media will do to destroy Elon Musk, or any of the Republican presidential frontrunners in the 2024 election. Sorry Elon. No date to the prom for you.

(Please excuse me for using the term woke-wonk excessively through this blog. I am a baby boomer and have lost track, and don’t really care of the names of the generations that followed the baby boomers. So, rather than saying, ‘whiney entitled liberals that have their heads up their asses,’ I thought woke-wonk would be more appropriate. Amen.)

Lessons Learned from the Mueller Report

I, like most Americans, was hoping that once Mueller reported his findings from his lengthy investigation, maybe the investigation would just vanish and disappear from the media. (I think the Korean War was shorter than the Mueller investigation media coverage!) I, like most Americans, was hoping it would provide definitive answers that would address the whole purpose of the investigation. I, like most Americans, was hoping those definitive answers would be so ‘clear and concise’, that even the village idiot would not have any problem understanding the conclusion. (A rather vain hope, as the investigation was lead by lawyers! My mortgage documents are an easier read.) The majority of Americans may well be disappointed by the findings of the investigation, or how they were presented, or by the political manipulations that have occurred since the release of the findings, but as a casual observer, I will offer my perspective of “lessons learned’ by this whole affair.

But first, a little background information. Robert Mueller was appointed to head an investigation into the Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election. He was appointed by Assistant Adjutant General, Rob Rosenstein. All of this was begun based on a now proven fictitious document called the Steele report. This fictitious document was paid for by the Clinton campaign. So..with some prompting from high level officials, (one of these purported to be the late Senator John McCain!), our intelligence agencies revved into high gear. The FBI and CIA were licking their chops to delve into this issue. Why? Because Hillary Clinton lost the election and in the eyes of these organizations, that should not have happened. It had to be the Russians! Those borscht eating barbarians somehow stuffed all of the ballot boxes in those states where the ‘incorrigible and deplorable’ Trump supporters live. And once the Mueller investigation shifted into high gear with its 18 left leaning lawyers and its 40 assigned FBI agents, the investigation took a turn to the left. Trump had to be investigated. All things Trump had to be investigated; business dealings, children, friends, former attorneys, bathroom habits, etc. Over 550 people were questioned during this investigation.

Popularity in Politics is Fleeting

I have empathy for Robert Mueller. Robert is very much like the lovely high school cheerleader that develops a bad case of acne. Initially popular, but then a pariah. Once selected to handle the investigation, the Liberals were going bonkers from the ecstasy of having ‘their man’ heading the investigation. He was covered with accolades. Pelosi, Schummer and the whole Democrat party referred to him as honest, capable, yada yada, about how wonderful he was. But then poor Robert released the findings from his ‘way too long’ investigation. And those findings? There was no collusion between Trump and the borscht eating barbarians. And, just like the lovely high school cheerleader developing acne, now the Democrats don’t want to touch Robert Mueller. The liberal media cannot provide enough coverage of the disappointment of the Democrats. Now, rather than being a crusader with a gold sword, the Democrats want Mueller to appear before any committee they can possibly convene to explain how he could not find collusion between Trump and the Russians.

But wait. There is hope. The acne could eventually clear up on our cheerleader. In true political fashion, Mueller or a member of his team, authored a letter, released to the media, saying that the investigation could not find evidence that Trump colluded with the Russians, but they did not find evidence that Trump did not collude with the Russians.

OMG! Don’t you just love lawyers? After 22 months and over $25 million, someone felt the heat of the liberal media backlash and felt compelled to throw them a bone. They released this letter bypassing the Attorney General, who had already provided a four page letter surmising that there was no collusion between Trump and the Russkies.

Where the hell do these lawyers go to school?

How many people know the definition of the word, ‘illegal?’ According to google, illegal means, ‘contrary to or forbidden by law, especially criminal law.’ Wasn’t that easy? So why is it that all of these attorneys, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schummer, James Comey, Adam Schiff, Lisa Page, Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder and all of the lawyers that have become career politicians in the Democrat party have difficulty with the word, ‘illegal?’ They especially show ignorance when the word ‘illegal,’ is paired with another word, such as ‘illegal surveillance,’ or ‘illegal aliens,’ or ‘illegal spying.’ The village idiot doesn’t have any problem with these words, nor do the ‘incorrigables and the deplorables.’ It only seems to be a problem with those gosh-darn, lawyer-educated liberals!

If I were a parent of one of these people, I would want a refund on my child’s education, because it is obvious they were skipping classes or receiving their law degrees as ‘participation certificates.’ Just sayin’.

The Loonies are in Charge of the Asylum

I find it absolutely frightening that a pompous, egotistical, psychotic person such as James Comey was ever selected to head the FBI. He is a lawyer by education, but yet, as the head of the FBI, it is now evident that he broke the law by spying on candidate Trump. It has also come to light that he planted an agent into the Trump campaign to coerce the Trump campaign people to collude with the Russkies. How was this allowed? Well, Comey has a definite history with the Clintons so he had a political bias. He and one of his biased lieutenants, namely Peter Strzok took their animosity for Trump to new levels. Strzok justified his actions by proclaiming that “he knew what was best for Americans.” Couple this with two weak-kneed Attorneys General during the Obama years, namely Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch. These two Attorneys General were not smart enough to come up with an original thought, but they, like Comey, bent to the will of the Obama White House. The Obama White House wanted a POTUS Hillary to preserve ‘his legacy.’

Have you every heard John Brennan speak? It is amazing that this psychopath headed up a government organization with the word, ‘intelligence’ in its name. Yes, John Brennan headed the CIA. And…he has been on the liberal media talking head shows over 130 times since the 2016 election! Brennan’s favorite word in the English language? Treason! Yup, John has accused Trump of being guilty of treason, but has never produced one shred of evidence. John has never met a TV camera he has not liked.

Not to be outdone, Adam Schiff, a Democrat representative from California, has almost surpassed Brennan in appearances on the liberal media outlets. His message for the last two years is that there is ‘conclusive proof’ of collusion between Trump and the Russkies. Like Brennan, he has not produced his proof…but unceasingly flaps his jowls about this proof.

The best defense is a good offense

I love sports, but I like football in particular. This is the kind of football that is played with the ‘pointy’ ball, not the round ball. One strategy that has been used over the years in many sports is that the best defense is a good offense. Put in other words, there is no worry about the weaknesses of your defense if you are continually on the attack. Attack! Attack! Attack!

Does this sound familiar when applied to the political machinations surrounding the Mueller investigation? As the skin of the onion is being peeled away, it is obvious that there were many people in high places that performed activities considered ‘illegal!’ But the Democrats, rather than spending one second of time on why the Mueller investigation or the illegal activities performed to promulgate its existence, are spending their time focusing on the ambiguity of the last letter written by Mueller or one of his staff that was released to the media. They want Barr impeached. They want Trump impeached. They want Mueller and Barr to spend countless hours in front of Congressional committees. Attack! Attack! Attack! Don’t legislate…continue to investigate. The hell with what is right for America, we need to get Trump and take control! (Power + prestige = money; my previous blog.)

Keep the other team off balance by continual attack. Why? Because they want to divert the attention of the American public from the illegal activities of our highest intelligence agencies and Justice department during the Obama administration. If Obama was so concerned about Russian influence in the 2016 election, why did he not do something about it? How would his legacy appear if one or both of his Attorneys General and the head of the FBI and CIA were all thrown in prison? (It now appears Mueller held his report until after the midterm elections, knowing full well before the elections that there was no collusion.)

Admittedly, I believe there was Russian collusion involving our last election. Definitely. It was called the Uranium One deal where we sold 20% of our uranium reserves to…of all the people…those borscht eating barbarians! And with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Obama leading the charge, this deal was done without consent of Congress. Coincidentally, the Clinton Foundation received a $147 million donation from Russian sources. Where did that money go?

Conclusions and speculations

  1. The Mueller investigation was begun because of political vindictiveness. Forget about what the people want, we career politicians and career government employees know ‘what is right for America.’
  2. Eventually the skin of the onion will be peeled back and there will be legal ramifications for the proponents of this investigation.
  3. The American public knows the difference between legislation and doing what is right for America, and investigation, which accomplishes nothing but 24/7 biased media coverage. Democrats beware.
  4. Americans should be less concerned about how a billionaire became POTUS, and more concerned about how politicians become millionaires.
  5. All of this political juxtapositioning by the Democrats is for one thing, and one thing only: Power (P) + Prestige (P) = Money (M) And in this political game, the stakes are really high!

P + P = M The New Political Formula

During my formative years (now known as the young and dumb years!), I had an idealistic attitude toward our government and to the people that represented us in that government. I thought the job of these people was to do what is right for America. Now that I am old, somewhat mature, and somewhat knowledgeable (?), I am taking a rather dimmer view of the quality and motivation of the people representing us at the highest levels of government. It’s not my fault! 24/7 news channels, loaded up with ranting educated idiots have made me this way!

Did you know that at the time of the founding of our country, many men lost everything they had because they were representatives of the new federal government. Yup. They were patriots and they thought it was their duty, once selected, to represent their constituents in Congress. For some, this resulted in great financial loss. While they were in Congress, there wasn’t anyone representing their best interests with their businesses, their farms or at their plantations. Thus they suffered great financial and personal losses. My…how things have changed.

I have lived through thirteen different presidents. Without a doubt, I believe one of those thirteen was the most scrupulous of all. Want to take a guess? My choice would be Harry S. Truman. Why? Because once his second term in office was completed, Harry and his wife Bess moved back to Missouri and lived in the house that they had once shared with her mother. Once out of office, Truman quickly decided that he did not wish to be on any corporate payroll, believing that taking advantage of such financial opportunities would diminish the integrity of the nation’s highest office. He also turned down numerous offers for commercial endorsements. Since his earlier business ventures had proved unsuccessful, he had no personal savings. He faced financial challenges and only had an old army pension. Because of his financial condition, a pension was eventually granted to retiring presidents, and Harry was the first recipient. (Herbert Hoover also received it, as he was the only other surviving former president. Hoover was wealthy, but took it so as to not embarrass Truman!)

I think the ethical/patriotic component of being a politician, started by our founding fathers, may well have died with Harry Truman. I believe the new inspiration for most people seeking political office lies in my formula: P + P = M. Power + Prestige = Money. Yup. I think that too many of our politicians are running for office for the pursuit of the almighty dollar. I also think too many decisions made by our elected officials are being influenced by the almighty dollar. And…being the skeptic that I am…I am wondering from where this money is coming.

Campaign contributions

During the last presidential election, over $1.5 billion was raised by the two major party candidates, with Hillary Clinton raising about $1 billion herself. My question is, what happens to the unspent campaign contributions, especially for a losing candidate? Let me offer a theoretical situation. What if Hillary’s campaign spent only $750 million, what would happen to the other $250 million? Supposedly, there are strict rules governing this very situation. But, like all things coming out of Washington, D.C., there are loopholes and shady gray areas in the regulations. The candidates are forbidden from using those funds for personal use. (Yeah. Like I believe that!) And…the money is supposed to go to the political party or back to the contributors. (Really? Back to the contributors? Another fairy tale!) Once the political party has the money, they can do with it as they please. Does that mean they could give it back to the candidate? There are instances where candidates have purchased season athletic tickets, and paid extravagant salaries to friends and relatives. Yet….it has never been enforced. (Do you think all campaign contributions are reported?)

Could these campaign contributions be at least part of the reason we have almost fifteen people vying for the Democratic presidential nomination? Let’s be realistic. You and I both know that about a dozen of these people have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning the nomination. But here they are…stumping and posturing for the first caucuses. How much money are we talking about? When Beto O’Rourke announced his candidacy, his campaign raised $6.5 million in 24 hours! And when all the losers drop out of the race, do you think all of the campaign contributions will be returned?

Net Worth

Will someone please explain to me how Barrack Obama can enter the White House with a net worth of less than $500 thousand, and now have a purported net worth of up to $140 million? If I am not mistaken, his annual salary as POTUS, was $400 thousand per year. That equates to a little over $3 million for his eight year term. He would net, after taxes, about $2 million. How do you take a leap of $138 million in such a short period of time? There is nothing the Obama’s have done; book deals, speeches, consulting that would earn this type of money. My skeptical nature tells me that money had to come from somewhere else. Campaign contributions? Executive decisions such as the Uranium One deal? Other executive decisions that resulted in donations or contributions? I am not accusing. I am just wondering out loud! Real loud!

How could I possibly bring up net worth without mentioning Bill and Hillary Clinton. According to Bill himself, the Clinton’s left the White House $16 million in debt. Much of this was because of attorney fees and settlements paid out for sexual harassment law suits. But yet, today the Clinton’s have a purported net worth of $240 million! Now that is what I call a miraculous financial turnaround! How did all of that occur? Well, there was that wonderful organization called the Clinton Foundation. This was a foundation located in Canada to protect the donor list, that was never certified as a charitable foundation because less than 3% of its donations were used for charitable causes. It sounds to me like it was more like a personal Clinton piggy bank. And some of its donations were huge. One $145 million donation came from the Russian investors involved in the Uranium One deal. This deal took place while Hillary was Secretary of State and Obama was POTUS. Coincidence? Do you find it coincidental that the Clinton foundation donations ceased as soon as Hillary lost the election, thereby forcing the closing of the foundation?

How were these large net worth amounts attainable? P + P = M!

Influence Peddling

Who made this statement?

“People who enter the United States without our permission are illegal aliens, and illegal aliens should not be treated the same as people who entered the U.S. legally.”

Donald Trump? Mike Pence? Sarah Sanders? Mitch McConnell? Well, in 2009, that statement was said by none other than Chuck Schumer, the Senate Minority leader. My…how things have changed. But I digress.

Is the real reason that the Democrats are fighting the wall is to stop Trump from keeping a campaign promise, or is it something else. Something else…like money. I brought up in my last blog that it was not coincidental that the marijuana legal states are controlled by Democrats. Correspondingly, most of these states are fighting immigration reform and border security. As well as the influx of illegal aliens, there has been an influx of illegal drugs. How much money is generated between legalized marijuana and illegal drugs in those states? I don’t think anyone really knows because there have not been any drug lords in America that have religiously filed personal and corporate tax returns. I am willing to speculate that amount of money is enormous ( or gi-normous in modern vernacular) and would probably astound the average person if known. So…is that money finding its way into the campaign coffers of politicians from those states? Because once money is in campaign coffers, that money seems to find its way to parts unknown.

I know that one reason for resisting the wall is that the Democrats are speculating that illegal aliens will increase their political base. That is so they can maintain POWER+ PRESTIGE. If my formula is correct, the MONEY will follow.

The Mueller Investigation

The Mueller Investigation results were released this past weekend. With eighteen full time attorneys and forty full time FBI investigators, at an expense of over $25 million over two years, the Democrats are doubling down on their efforts to discredit the report. I predicted that the Democrats would rather investigate than legislate and it appears my crystal ball is still finely tuned.

Here’s another quote. Who said this:

” Carry the battle to them. Don’t let them bring it to you. Put them on the defensive and don’t apologize for anything.”

Chuck Schumer? Nancy Pelosi? Cory Booker? Hillary Clinton? Nope. This quote was made by Harry S. Truman. I believe he was referring to World War II, but does it sound like the battleground being fought today by the Democrats. Does that quote pretty much describe the political climate in Washington? I am convinced that the Democrats, even though losing the last presidential election, even though not getting the desired ‘goodies’ from the Mueller report to impeach Trump, will do anything to gain/retain POWER + PRESTIGE. After all, with it comes the MONEY.

One more prediction? I think that Trump is going to rip the scab and expose all the puss surrounding this whole affair. Watch for the cockroaches scurrying for the darkness.

I WANT THE MUELLER INVESTIGATION TO CONTINUE!

Do you ever have those moments when you just don’t want a good thing to end? A birthday party? A graduation? A marriage? Well, I feel the same way about the Mueller investigation. After all, if it ended today, what would we do with all those unemployed liberal lawyers on the Mueller investigation team? They would just go out and, like teenagers without anything to do, just get into trouble elsewhere. And, let’s face it. They are effective. What other band of merry men could send 26 agents with 17 vehicles and with guns drawn, to arrest Roger Stone in a pre-dawn raid? Luckily, a CNN camera crew happened to be cruising Stone’s neighborhood at just that same time and captured the elderly, apparently dangerous Roger Stone arrested on camera. What a stroke of luck! Now that is what I call efficiency!

Now I must make an assumption. I will assume that in the near future, the Mueller investigation team will be wrapping up its investigation into how the Russians influenced our 2016 presidential election. Surely, as efficient as they are, they must have found some stuffed ballot boxes with borscht stained ballots. Of course, these ballots would all be for Trump. Thereby, we must investigate anything and anyone that has ever been in contact with Donald Trump. Trump attorneys, Trump accountants, Trump bathroom attendants, and now it appears Donald Trump, Junior, will now all be subpoenaed by the Mueller investigation team. Now that is what I call progress! And…it has only cost the American taxpayer about $40 million for this team to accomplish all it has done in the last 19 months.

But alas. All of this will soon come to an end, and then what will we be able to watch on the 24/7 news channels? Maybe another supreme court justice nominee roast? Possibly another Corey Booker ‘Spartacus moment?’ Do we have a new Attorney General? Boo hoo. What will we do?

Never fear dear readers, for I, Grandpa T, have a proposal for two new items that the Mueller investigation team can investigate. I am confident that they will investigate these items with the efficiency and alacrity for which they have shown the Russian collusion investigation. And…to make it more interesting, these two items also relate to the 2016 presidential election. Robert and the boys will need a new copier to print up all the subpoenas they will need for my two proposals. (I am on a personal mission to assure that the 24/7 news channels do not run out of material. Or, like Mueller’s liberal attorneys, those reporters will be out raising hell elsewhere!)

As I have mentioned in previous blogs, I attended a midwestern university and was a member of ROTC. There were about 320 cadets in the four ROTC classes. The school graduated about 80 future Army officers each year. I graduated in 1971. That year was the year that the Vietnam Conflict began winding down. But in my old age, my thoughts always return to the Army ROTC graduating class of 1968 at our university. I knew many of these guys well. They were young. They were patriotic. They all volunteered to do what they thought was right for America. They persevered to graduate from college and become Army officers. And, because of the luck of drawing a short straw, they were all commissioned at the time of the most intense fighting in Vietnam. About one-fourth of that graduating class was killed in Vietnam. Some of the best people I have ever known were struck down before experiencing marriage, children, grandchildren….all of those things that make life worth living. Gone. These guys were brave. These guys were patriotic. These guys sacrificed their lives for what they believed was right for America.

So here is my challenge to Robert Mueller and his investigators. In light of what I have just related, I need to add that at the most, these fine soldiers got to determine their fates by being able to vote only once; in the 1968 presidential election, before being killed in the defense of America. And, in light of the fact that the Robert Mueller investigation is purportedly about Russian collusion, I want the Robert Mueller investigation team to investigate the number of non-American citizens that voted in the 2016 presidential election. I want to know how many. I want to know how they were allowed to vote. I want to see subpoenas and punishment for those officials that allowed non-citizens to influence and participate in our election. Because, in my eyes, anyone that allows a non-American to vote in our elections has ‘stolen the valor’ from those who made the ultimate sacrifice to defend this country. This valor has been stolen not only for my Vietnam compatriots, but also from those that have served in all of our wars and conflicts. In effect, American citizenship has been cheapened and sold wholesale. I am positive that there will be millions of votes found that are fraudulent and in numbers that the Russians could ever imagine to influence. Go get’um Robert!

Here is my second proposal for the Robert Mueller investigation team. In my last blog, I presented statistics indicating that there are ten states with legalized recreational marijuana in the United States. Of those ten states, seven of them consider themselves ‘sanctuary states, sanctuary counties or sanctuary cities.’ The sanctuary counties and cities are the largest in each state, if the state, as a whole is not considered a sanctuary. Coincidentally, these sanctuary areas are controlled by liberal politicians. So let me be clearer: we have seven sanctuary areas, controlled by liberal politicians, that have legalized marijuana. Coupled with the fact that these liberal politicians are diligently fighting against a southern border wall with Mexico, I want to know the following: How much illegal drug money and marijuana money is being poured into our elections and who is getting it?

Let me give the Mueller investigation team some guidelines. What we need to know is how are the drug cartels benefiting from our current situation. Do they benefit with no wall? Yes. Are they able to move money, drugs, and their compatriots across our border easier without the wall? Yes. Do they use civilians illegally crossing the border as their ‘drug mules?’ Yes. Are some of the people illegally crossing the border going to become customers for the drug cartel? Probably.

But I save the biggie for last. Are drug money profits being used to influence our politicians? Before answering this, I need to point out that recently, one of ‘El Chapo’ Guzman’s lieutenants said that the former president of Mexico, received a $100 million bribe to allow El Chapo to run his drug business unmolested in Mexico. Supposedly, this was the amount settled on after the former president requested $250 million! That revelation came and went from the media faster than a speeding bullet. Why? Because if true, it would indicate that politicians could be influenced by drug money. Who knew? But if you think that bribe is fictitious, then we need to discuss the non-fictitious Clinton Foundation.

The Clinton Foundation was never sanctioned as a charitable organization, as less than 3% of their ‘contributions’ were used for charitable purposes. With the Foundation being located in Canada to protect its ‘contributor’ identities, the entire foundation was a money machine for Clinton wealth attainment and for financing Hillary’s 2016 presidential campaign. One contribution of $147 million was made after the completion of the Uranium One deal while Hillary was Secretary of State. How convenient. More amazingly, that contribution came from Russia!

So with the Clinton Foundation and the purported pay-off to the former president of Mexico, now do you think it possible for illegal drug money to be influencing our elections? I certainly do. I believe our politicians may be accepting illegal drug money contributions either knowingly or unknowingly. After all, the drug cartels are not stupid. They would be making contributions through nobly named organizations, such as, ‘Progressive Hispanic Voters of America,’ or some such names.

Does this whole thing make more ‘common sense’ when you wrap up illegal drug monies, with sanctuary areas, with liberal politicians fighting border security with marijuana legalization? Then to complicate this, throw in the votes cast by non-citizens in the last presidential election from these same ‘sanctuary’ areas. Does any of this make for a better America?

So here you go, Mr. Mueller. Rather than you and your investigating team blowing smoke out your asses about Russian collusion in our last election, you need to get busy investigating real voter fraud and nefarious campaign contributions prevalent in our last election. I guarantee you will get better results and much more interesting findings than your current investigation. (If you find that boring, you could always investigate the Clinton Foundation!)

Go! Robert! Go!

To Investigate or to Legislate. What Will Congress Do?

Grandma P and I just got home ten days ago from a 60 day cruise that went around the Pacific Rim.  It was a marvelous, bucket-list cruise that included Alaska, Japan, China, Taiwan, South Korea (North Korea was not conducting excursions that day, or any day!), Viet Nam, the Philippines, Guam and Hawaii.  Whew!  There were to be 22 ports of call, but two were cancelled as we were dodging a typhoon on our way from Alaska to Japan.  There are nothing like 40 foot waves to get your attention on a ship!

Meanwhile, back in the good ole’ US of A, all kinds a ‘goings on’ were occurring.  There were deadly fires taking place in California.  Hurricane Michael, a very late in season hurricane, came ashore just east of Panama City, Florida.  Were we concerned?  Being the eye of that category 5 hurricane came ashore just 59 miles from our house, you could surmise that we were very concerned.  We would have been more concerned if we were not dodging a typhoon at the same time creating the 40′ waves.

The ship did not really have to be concerned about entertaining us for 60 days.  Why?  Because we had the Brett Kavanaugh hearings on three different news channels.  We could watch it on MSNBC, Fox, or the BBC.  As you are aware, the coverage was relentless; almost as relentless as the accusations against Kavanaugh were ridiculous and repulsive.  I am sure that in her mind, Christine Blasey Ford believed something did happen to her.  Without the corroboration of any of her ‘best friends’, the accusations were weak at best.  The whole affair turned beyond ridiculous when the accusation was made that he was the ‘leader of a gang of rapists!’   After 6 FBI background investigations without a blemish?  I don’t think so.   Trust me when I say that I do not enjoy writing about those senatorial proceedings any more than I, and many others, enjoyed watching them.  But the one takeaway from those proceedings that sends a shiver down my spine is the thought that those proceedings, with senators mugging for TV time, with senators posturing to be a presidential nominee, with senators acting as if they are the clowns in a whole new circus firing off ridiculous accusations, that all of this becomes …….the new ‘political reality TV.’  

Oh.  There was one more event that took place during our cruise.  We had the midterm elections.  Was there any drama surrounding that event?  We were not sure who the governor or US senator from Florida would be until almost two weeks after election night.  We got off the ship on November 18, and I believe Ron Desantis and Rick Scott were declared the winners the day before.  (If those damn Russians would quit meddling in our elections, we would have had the results sooner!)  Anyway, after a run-off in Mississippi for senator, and a bucket load of close elections around the country, the end result is that the Republicans picked up two seats in the Senate, and lost about 30 seats in the House of Representatives, giving the Democrats the majority.

So now, dear readers, I have finally gotten to the meat of this blog.  Will our new Congress legislate, or investigate?

I have some suggestions for our Congress if they feel like performing their jobs and decide to  legislate.  Firstly, that caravan of immigrants, that caravan that the media tried to convince us was imaginary, has now appeared at our borders.  Recently, things turned ugly when bottles and rocks were thrown at our border security people.  Not only that, it is confirmed that there are more caravans on the way.  We have all heard different stories as to the composition of these caravans.  The most reliable information for me comes from the Mexican government.  I am skeptical of our media coverage, so the Mexican government has no reason to sugarcoat the caravan composition.  They are reporting that 75% are working age males.  The remaining 25% is divided between women and children.  Less than 5% of these people have a tinge of a case for political asylum.   The Mexican government has offered jobs.  But yet, they decline and keep coming.  The Mexican government has offered ‘political asylum.’  But yet, they decline and keep coming.  The Mexican government in conjunction with our border security people cite that a full 10% of these people have criminal records.  Do you want these people as your neighbors?  If these people are really trying to escape bad countries in the hope of entering our country, why are they carrying the flags of the country they left and not the flag of our country.  To me, this indicates they do not really want to assimilate and contribute to our society as Americans, but abuse our benevolence as immigrants.

So Congress, if you want to listen to the electorate and legislate:  build the wall, establish border security and pass legislation for allowing people to apply for and establish rules for becoming US citizens.  This should apply to new immigrants, and to the ‘dreamers.’

If that sounds like a boring prospect, how about addressing the problem of Russian aggression in the Ukraine and the military build-ups by both Russia and China.  Still boring?  Well, then throw in North Korea and Iran to boot.  That should keep Congress busy for a while.  Our past politicians have failed to address these issues for years and now this has festered into a bigger, global problem.

Here is a thought.  How about establishing voting requirements for elections.  You know.  Simple stuff like being a US citizen to vote in our election.  How about a photo ID to vote?  I know this would inconvenience the average US citizen about 10 minutes to prove they are actually a US citizen, but I believe that the inconvenience is well worth it.  It gores my bull when I think that my vote could be cancelled by someone not remotely eligible to vote in this country.  And with that in mind, Robert Mueller is still, after two years, trying to determine how the Russians influenced the 2016 election.  Let me help you with that Robert.  They didn’t.  After $40 million, you still cannot pinpoint Russian influence on that election.  Yet, I am sure that many non-citizens voted in our election.  The Russians could only dream of affecting our elections as much as states allowing illegals to vote.

Have you heard one item that the Democrats plan for legislation after they control the House of Representatives?  One item?  Anyone?  Naw….me neither.  What I have heard is that they plan to ‘investigate.’  What do they plan to investigate?  Well, they are foaming at the mouth about being able to investigate Donald Trump’s tax returns for the period when his father passed the corporation from himself to Donald.  Considering Fred Trump died in 1999 at the age of 93, and retired from business in the 70’s, that would be one helluva IRS investigation.  How many corporations or individuals keep records for almost 50 years!  But wait!  This investigation would make great ‘political reality TV,’ and maybe, just maybe we could create enough skepticism to get Trump impeached!

Believe it or not, I am OK with the IRS doing an audit on Donald Trump.  Because America is the land of opportunity and fairness, I would want an IRS audit done on each and every member of Congress!  I would want to know how a person gets elected to Congress as a pauper and walks away as a ‘gabillionaire.’  Wouldn’t you want to know?  How is it that Barack Obama is elected POTUS with a net worth less than mine and now has a net worth of $135 million. (Yes. That net worth is more than mine.  But I wrote this blog and what did he do?)  Don’t you want to know?

And, to make this really fair and equitable, as long as the Trump Organization is being audited, I would want the Clinton Foundation audited.  I would want the Uranium One deal investigated.  (I would actually like to see ‘all things Clinton’ investigated!)

I have this nagging feeling that far too many people in this country like and enjoy ‘political realty TV.’  I think that because of some of the candidates that won in the last midterm election.  For example, New York elected a socialist.  Furthermore, a senator from Arizona says it is OK to fight for the enemies of the US such as ISIS.  Are these people really qualified candidates?  Were they the best candidates available?  Or, were they elected to create more dissension and confusion within Congress, thereby creating more opportunities for more ‘political reality TV?’

After watching the Kavanaugh hearings (And the new Murphy Brown show!  But, more on that later.), I hope that ‘political reality TV’ is not the new norm.  If it is, heaven needs to help us through the next two years.

A lesson learned from all of this?  Grandma P and I cannot leave the country for extended periods of time.  It goes to hell in our absence and political programming like Murphy Brown appears on TV, attempting to pass itself off as a comedy.  You failed, and you have been canceled.  Thankfully, good judgement prevailed in that decision.

I am beginning to think that I, too, may be a ‘dreamer.’  I dream that maybe one day, our Congress will legislate, and eventually do what is right for America.  Legislate, not investigate.  GET TO WORK!