Some more Random Thoughts
Trump has nominated Kimberly Guilfoyle to be ambassador to Greece. Guilfoyle was once married to Gavin Newsom and then was engaged to Don Jr. Some wags said that Trump nominated her to get her out of the country since Don Jr is now dating some Florida socialite. Guilfoyle was once a regular on The Five. She always sat on the end – in the seat now occupied by Judge Jeanine Piro – and wore very short dresses and low cut tops. I actually once wrote Fox asking if it was a company policy that all their women (except Dana Perino) were instructed to wear short dresses. Thankfully those days are over. But going back to Guilfoyle, I guess it wasn’t Fox’s dictates after all. Long after she left the network she was still obviously proud of her looks and proudly displayed them. I am sure she will do a great job as ambassador – whatever ambassadors do.
So now Trump has nominated four from Fox to positions in his administration: Pete Hegseth, Sean Duffy, Megyn Kelly and now Guilfoyle. I once jokingly asked if Trump was going to nominate Greg Gutfield. But on a serious note, a nomination of Harold Ford, Jr to one of the top cabinet positions would have been a home run.
Trump also nominated Herschel Walker to be ambassador to the Bahamas. Walker, who came back to graduate from the University of Georgia after being gone 42 years, is probably more fondly remembered for running over Tennessee’s Bill Bates than his run for the Senate in 2022.
Is a recession coming? Some of the women on the networks are now wearing long dresses. The so-called Hemline Index, attributed to Wharton economist George Taylor in 1926, states that the length of women’s dresses forecast changes in the economy. If times are going to be good, hemlines go up and if bad hemlines go down. There has actually been some serious econometric research on the issue with one study finding no predictive power in the length of women’s dresses. It looked at the correlation between hem length and the stock market. However, there was an indicator that fashion actually follows the economy with a lag. That is after good times come in, dresses get shorter and after bad times they get longer. So is this a chicken or the egg issue?
What’s up with all these pardons?
Will Biden pardon himself?
Will Biden pardon his brother? James Comer, chair of the House’s Oversight Committee is convinced that Hunter, Joe and brother Jim constitute a crime family. His committee is investigating the Bidens and with the pardon of Hunter for crimes real and imagined, Comer will probably go after Joe’s brother Jim. Comer has said “Joe Biden obstructed my and (Jim) Jordan’s investigations. He lied multiple times. He lied about his knowledge and involvement.” Stay tuned.
Apple is going to introduce a foldable iphone. Why don’t they just call it a flip phone?
France’s government has fallen after a no confidence vote. I thought that it meant that Macron was ousted but no, it was Macron’s prime minister Michel Barnier who only served three months must leave. Macron doesn’t have to stand for re-election until 2027. I am confused and don’t have the energy – or the interest – to try to figure out the French form of government.
Britain’s Liz Truss lasted only 44 days as prime minister and the country has had 30 governments since WW II.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz has also lost a no confidence vote triggering early elections in February. Scholz actually called for the vote knowing that he would lose it. Go figure.
Both Germany and France have multiple parties and must cobble together coalitions to form a government. Those coalitions tend to be fragile giving rise to no confidence votes. The poster child for change in governments is Italy. Its prime minister is Giorgia Meloni heads the 68th government since World War II. That is a new prime minister and a new cabinet every 13 months! But Meloni has actually been prime minister since 2022 which must be a post-war record.
I have mused that it would be logical for the democrats to split into two parties, the progressives and the liberals. The republicans could also split into two, the MAGAs and the traditional conservatives. Then a newly elected president – from one of the four parties – would have to cobble together a coalition in both the House and the Senate in order to govern. Would this mean better or worse governance for the United States or just the chaos of European governments? Likely worse governance because the smaller more radical parties would have outsized influence – see the Greens of Germany or closer to home the eight disgruntled republicans who voted to oust Kevin McCarthy.
Did you see where the North Koreans mistakenly killed Russian soldiers in the Ukraine’s Kursk region? I guess they all looked alike.
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