Rice bad pick to keynote Barrington Townwarming event

The Barrington cultural commission is touting former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as their ‘most prominent keynote speaker yet’ for their 4th annual Townwarming Event scheduled January 23. Motorola CEO and Barrington resident Greg Brown snagged Rice for a ‘fireside chat’ on Zoom this pandemic year instead of a sold out gala for 200 at Barrington’s picturesque White House.

But as one of the four key architects of the 2003 Iraq war based on lies, fear and propaganda against an imaginary Iraqi WMD program, Rice should be shunned, not celebrated in American culture. Rice bears much responsibility for the hundreds of thousands dead, including 5,984 U.S. military and contractors, from the senseless March 19, 2003, U.S. invasion she championed as President Bush’s National Security Advisor.

Life after fomenting senseless war has been quite good for Ms. Rice. Unlike the other three main Iraq war architects, President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Rice has refused receding into welcome anonymity. She teaches political science at Stanford University while serving as Director of its conservative Hoover Institution. She also serves on the boards of Dropbox and Makena Capital Management, LLC, besides frequent speaking engagements such as the upcoming Barrington Townwarming.

Event moderator Greg Brown could salvage some good from his choice by beginning his fireside chat with Rice on lessons she might have learned from her ill-fated adventure enabling criminal war in Iraq. I'd Zoom to that Townwarming in a heartbeat.

Move up Inauguration Day for third time

 Move up Inauguration Day for third time

The presidential inauguration has been moved up twice. George Washington took the first presidential oath April 30, 1789. All subsequent inaugurations were moved up to March 4 to honor the date government operations began under the Constitution.

That worked well till the Depression era election of 1932. The four month interregnum nearly collapsed the country as outgoing Herbert Hoover and incoming FDR were diametrically opposed on relief needed. Hoover wanted to ride out the Depression as ‘survival of the fittest’, ignoring the 10,000 bank failures (42% of all banks) that had America careening toward collapse. FDR’s proposed governmental stimulus and relief horrified Hoover who dismissed FDR as mentally and physically unfit for office. Hoover railed against his proposed New Deal reforms as ‘socialism, fascism and a March to Moscow’.

Out of office, a profoundly bitter Hoover worked tirelessly for three decades to undue the New Deal, tarnishing his humanitarian and governmental service that vaulted him to the presidency.

Recognizing the disastrous four month stalemate, Congress and the states passed the 20th Amendment in FDR’s first year, moving up the presidential oath a second time to January 20, shortening the presidential transition by six weeks.

That worked well for 21 elections till this year. Once again, government is paralyzed in the face of economic crisis. But unlike 1932-33, this crisis is exacerbated by pandemic and a treasonous attempt to overturn the election. The specter of violence by the losing side haunts the upcoming Congressional election certification; even the inauguration itself.

Congress should propose a 28th Amendment early next month to shorten the current presidential transition of 10 weeks to a single month. The existential crisis we face has yet to play out. The result is potentially catastrophic. Reducing Inauguration Day a third time may be the charm needed to avoid a repeat of the worst presidential transition in U.S. history.

No doubt the loser in 2016 will spend the rest of his life trying to undue the moderate progressives who usurped him. But unlike Hoover, at 74, he won’t carry that on for 3 decades.

Senators Sanders, Paul right to delay defense bill veto override

Conservative Republican Senator Rand Paul and progressive Independent Senator Bernie Sanders almost never agree on policy. But both are threatening to delay the Senate override of Trump’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The House overwhelmingly overrode the veto 322 to 87. The Senate will override as well. But Sanders and Paul can use procedural tactics to delay the vote till Congress adjourns, forcing NDAA legislation to start over in the new 117th Congress beginning January 3.

Paul and Sanders threaten delay for different reasons. Paul’s is more important. He objects to the poison pill inserted by the perpetual war party that Trump can’t reduce troop levels in Afghanistan and Iraq without congressional approval. The Constitution only provides the Congress the power to declare war, not prevent the president ending it. It’s a supreme and sad irony that Congress has abdicated its war making power while usurping the war stopping power.

Sanders is threatening the veto override delay to force a clean vote on extending pandemic relief checks to folks making less than $75,000 ($150,000 per couple) from $600 to $2,000. The problem recognized by economists both right and left is that much of that handout is squirreled away in savings by folks still working and not economically damaged by pandemic. Their money should all go to the unemployed, struggling businesses and state/local governments decimated by reduced tax collections.

The NDAA is a grotesque, $740 billion giveaway to the munitions makers, the bloated military and the proponents of endless war around the world. It should be drastically scaled back to pay for pandemic relief, national health care, infrastructure, education, green energy; indeed, all the things that make life livable.

Bravo to Senators Sanders and Paul for even a tiny delay.

Pompeo should put U.S., not Cuba on Terror List

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, like his boss Trump, is not going quietly in that goodnight. With 19 days left to continue promoting U.S. perpetual war round the world, Pompeo mulls designating Cuba as a state sponsor of terror. Pipsqueak Cuba, whose 11 million souls suffer poverty and degraded health courtesy of 61 years of American political and economic sanctions, would join North Korea, Syria and Iran on Uncle Sam’s Terror List.

Cuba’s great crime warranting Pompeo’s exit valentine furthering Cuban regime change? The support Cuba gives fellow socialist neighbor Venezuela, suffering even worse U.S. economic sanctions that have killed tens of thousands there.

For all the poverty and degradation America began imposing on Cuba before most Americans were born, Cuba proudly provides all its citizens full health care, education, housing and employment; things Pompeo’s America never even considers.

While mulling this last minute move to further demonize Cuba, Pompeo may also be promoting a late administration military strike on Iran. Why? Iran didn’t cave to U.S. blowing up the Iran Nuclear Agreement designed to force Iran to crawl on all fours for U.S. sanctions relief.

Terror List for Cuba, Mr. Secretary? Look in the mirror for best candidate.

Trump rescues coal industry

Coal has fallen below half of U.S. energy source first time ever and will never return. Coal plants close for maintenance but never reopen due to exorbitant cost, environmental concerns and lack of demand, down 40% in last decade. Just 50,000 minors left, from a high of 860,000 in 1923.

In 2016, Hillary told West Virginians the truth. Coal was not coming back but her administration would retrain them for the 21st century economy. Trump said ‘Don’t’ believe lying Hillary’, promising to resuscitate the dying coal industry. Voters there responded giving Trump 69% of their votes.

For three years, eleven months, Trump did nothing to rescue coal. Then with 30 days left Trump ordered up more coal than any president in history to revive the black gold of West Virginia. Alas, it was just virtual Christmas coal that could only be mined in the delusional recesses of Trump’s degenerating mind. It was virtual coal instead of economic relief for the millions suffering the ravages of pandemic recession. For eight months Trump silently egged on his Republican Congressional minions to stall a second desperately needed relief package. He tacitly applauded their refusal to cross the third rail of a trillion dollar relief package, allowing a measly $600 in stimulus checks.

When the Trump endorsed plan passed, he jettisoned both it and his party, demanding they raise the $600 to $2,000 and pay for it by dumping Republican pork like 3 martini lunches.

How did West Virginians respond to Trump’s imaginary bailout of the coal industry? Same 69% vote for Trump to serve them up more virtual coal purchases in 2021.

Trump ‘locked and loaded’ for last minute Iran strike

When it comes to perpetual war, Trump is not going quietly into that goodnight. Yesterday he warned of an imminent strike on Iran if a single American is killed in local Iraqi militia rocket attacks on U.S. positions there. Those Iraqi militias are the same Shia religion as the Iranians, which is all the proof Trump needs to put the entire blame on Iran and threaten massive retaliation.

It doesn’t matter Iran is begging the Iraqi militias to stand down so Iran can sidle up to incoming President Biden who has promised a return to the Iran nuclear deal. But local Iraqi militias simply want the infidel U.S. invaders out of Iraq after 18 years of defilement and death, tuning Iraq into a failed state. Shia militia leader Asaib al-Ahl Haq told Iran “The Americans occupy our country, not yours. We will not listen to you anymore because our motives are 100 percent nationalist.”

Iran, indeed every peace loving person on Earth, is hoping we can slither thru the last 26 days of the Trump presidency without a new war to join, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Somalia, Niger and others on America’s smorgasbord of perpetual war.

I’m shocked, shocked, Russia might hack U.S.

Does anyone really believe the U.S. doesn’t hack into Russia, Chinese, Cuban, North Korean, Venezuelan, Iranian and a slew of other imagined adversaries’ sensitive information? I sure don’t.

Russia may be responsible for the ten month hack of U.S. government information while Uncle Sam was snoozing at the computer screen. But if not, the real culprit must be laughing hysterically that U.S. Russophobia would give them cover.

Come on folks. Since foreign affairs began centuries ago, every country spies on every other country they deem dangerous. That includes 21st century high tech hacking. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said it best about incoming Prez Biden’s call for retaliation for unproven Russian hacking: “We are definitely not expecting anything good from people, many of whom made their careers on Russophobia and throwing mud at my country. Russia registers hacking attempts from the US and other foreign countries every day but does not make a fuss about it.”

Instead of expanding NATO up to Russia’s borders; then inserting troops and military gear that are not much different than Russian missiles on our doorstep 58 years ago, America should tone down Cold War II and engage Russia with responsible diplomacy. With each side pointing 1,500 nukes at each other, the current policy is madness.