Robert Leming

It's late, I'll be brief, kinda:

I'm listening to the Dodgers vs the Rockies on my iPos Touch, as I write  :- ) 

First, basically, I was surprised how well it went, flaws, but mostly in the wabi sabi spirit? For the most part, I loved it. 

My take away was that Trump was accurately on display as a man who has petered out .... the air went out of the Baby Trump balloon?

But! let me stop there. The time for complacency is NEVER.

It is not just the Democrats that Trump hates with all his bottomless bile, it is Democracy itself!\.

There was a lot to love though:

     * The roll call was amazing - so wonderful to jump from state to state that way

     * It was great to see and hear the Obamas, right? So stern, so alert to the danger that is Trump 

          Michelle: Empathy: that's something I've been thinking a lot about lately.

                         Sadly, this is the America that is on display for the next generation. A nation that's underperforming not simply on matters of policy but on matters of character. And                                that's not just disappointing; it's downright infuriating, because I know the goodness and the grace that is out there in households and neighborhoods all across                                       this nation.

         Barack: So tonight, I want to talk as plainly as I can about the stakes in this election. Because what we do these next 76 days will echo through generations to come.

We were all, of course, wondering when Joe came up to bat. Then he, for the most part, hit it out of the park. It was a triple anyway. I sat back as it went on, relaxed, and enjoyed it.

Jill made me think "what the hell are we doing, wasting our time, hanging around with Melania?"

I thought they handled the people from the streets: the woman who's Dad's only pre-existing condition was that he trusted Trump: the lovable stuttering kid: ...

The topic of course sprawls, calls for a pre-or-post-COVID bar, and a 4 hour conversation .... 

My take-away: I'm optimistic. I actually like Joe and Mamala.

I'd love to pursue any of this farther, if any of you are game.

___

An interesting opening that the Convention provided, was the opportunity for the Trump-appalled to pile on. Here's on that I especially liked:

https://apps.npr.org/liveblogs/20200820-dnc/share/former-republican-national-security-officials-14.html

who knew that there even were 70 of those characters still alive. I get their point though - Trump is the antithesis of everything they dedicated their woking lives to ...

OK, for tonight, I'm out!

Originally Posted on January 26, 2017

America's ban on Visa's from 7 Muslim countries -

     http://fortune.com/2017/01/25/donald-trump-refugees-ban-syria-muslims/

Let's unpack that.

First, Saudi Arabia, the host country for 911, is not on the list. Why?

Since 911, no one on a Visa from the 7 countries who did make the list has been involved in a post-911 terrorist attack in the US.

I feel less safe today.

I think that the President has put a "strike me" sign on his back (who would stay in a Trump property, play on a Trump course going forward - are they safe?)

I think he has put a "strike us" sign on the back of all Americans.

___

Let me make clear - I do not fear ISIS, the Taliban - any of the terrorist groups who claim to be Muslim - but leave Allah out of their worldview. I support American efforts to break them.

I don't see this ban as in line with those efforts. I am willing to bet that the ban is already circulating as Memes on the ISIS recruiting sites and cells around this country & the world.

#immigration #muslimban #saudiarabia

Originally Posted on February 23, 2017

Both sides are doing this, right?

CNBC says that a team of retired diplomats and Putin staffers are busily compiling a seven-page “portrait” of Trump’s mental state

Former Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Fedorov told NBC that Russian officials now worry that Trump could be viewed as too friendly to the Kremlin, which could weaken his standing among members of Congress and lessen the chance of a thaw in relations.

"Trump cannot come to a meeting with Putin as a loser,” Fedorov said. “He must sort out his domestic problems first."

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Like Russian nested dolls, this story just keeps spiraling to, what?

#politics  #trump #World2Trump #trumprussia

Originally Posted February 17, 2017

At first I was puzzled; how when you have just had to fire your first choice for National Security Advisor to the POTUS - can you not have made sure your 2nd choice would take the job? Is 45 so rusty from his run at The Apprentice, that he had lost track of the real in-the-world logistics of making high profile selections in front of the public?

Then the news started to break that Vice Admiral Harward had more concerns than just the enormous 24-hour a day time demands of the job but that he had tow other serious concerns.

Hard to believe, but on is that he came to believe that he would not be able to choose his own staff.

In this time when the ability to be shocked has been anesthetized, that is shocking.

And, because he had no guarantees that the National Security Council — and not Trump’s political advisers — would be in charge of policy.

___

Still, pretty weird that this all did not work its way out before 45 made the announcement and has not mis-fired TWICE on perhaps the most crucial National Security selection he will make.

___

The points above are circulating widely. I took them from:

http://www.timesofisrael.com/ex-admiral-turns-down-us-nati…/

The world is watching

#NationalSecurity #politics #trump #World2Trump 

Originally Posted on February 20, 2017

#TheGrownups is becoming a thing

This from Politico today:

"Cabinet secretaries — including Defense Secretary James Mattis and Tillerson, as well as Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and CIA Director Mike Pompeo — a group one GOP source called 'the grownups.'"

and

"In their first weeks on the job, the heads of these sometimes competitive departments and agencies are working together, fighting to staff the agencies they lead and to maximize their collective influence over an administration struggling to find stability."

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/trump-ignoring-cabinet-235124

Hope?

#trump

Originally Posted on February 14, 2017

The Russians again - and the word "blackmail".

Was Michael Flynn freestyling, on his own? Was Mike Pence really surprised? Did 45 want the Russians assured that sanctions would be a thing of the past when he took office, that Russia would be a favored State, and wanted his future National Security Advisor to deliver the message?

There is a lot of bottom there, to get to the bottom of this.

The Russians - again!

#Politics #RussianInfluence #trumprussia