Author: haroldblackphd

Trump’s interesting surgeon general nominee

Did you know that the president’s nominee for surgeon general Casey Means is not a licensed medical doctor? Means does have a medical degree from Stanford and is described as a “holistic doctor and entrepreneurial wellness influencer”. Is that the modern equivalence of a medicine man? Could be because Means has consulted with spiritual mediums and participated in a full moon ceremony. At her confirmation hearing she focused her testimony on the rise of chronic disease and the need for “restoring wholeness for Americans – physically, mentally, and societally.” Well if not a medicine man then a faith healer? She said “Our nation is angry, exhausted and hurting. If we’re addressing shared root causes, we’re going to be able to stop the whack-a-mole medicine that’s not working for us.” Where have we heard “root causes” before?

Originally Trump’s nominee was Fox contributor Dr Janette Nesheiwat whose nomination was withdrawn over questions about her certification and schooling. Nesheiwat’s public profile on Linkedin listed an M.D. degree from the University of Arkansas, when she actually received her medical degree from American University of the Caribbean in St. Maarten. That Laura Loomer person who is said to influence Trump also opposed Nesheiwat not because of her degree but due to her support for the Covid-19 vaccines during the pandemic.

The MAHA folk wanted Means instead of Nesheiwat in the first place and got the president to nominate her. But Means is controversial – no kidding. Besides not having a medical license she has operated outside the bounds of traditional medicine having delved into psychedelics. Like RFK, jr she endorses raw milk – after meeting the cow. “I want to be free to form a relationship with a local farmer, understand his integrity, look him in the eyes, pet his cow, and then decide if I feel safe to drink the milk from his farm.” Oh boy. She also says that conditions from dementia to erectile dysfunction can be reversed with the help of quizzes and recipes.

Means is a bud of Kennedy’s and has served him as an advisor. She is 100 percent MAHA and is completely on board with his criticism of the use of the Hepatitis B vaccine for newborns and the blanket use of the vaccine for babies. Means has even said that the use of Hep B on babies is a crime. She even repeated almost verbatim what Kennedy has said regarding babies and vaccines “I think there’s a nuanced conversation that American families are looking to have about shared clinical decision making with their doctors about specific vaccines that their children may not be as seriously at risk for.” 

So what does the surgeon general do and is it important? The U.S. surgeon general is the nation’s leading spokesperson on public health matters and oversees the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC), which has more than 6,000 health professionals dedicated to protecting and promoting the nation’s health. Jerome Adams, who was surgeon general in the first Trump administration, and who opposes Means’ confirmation wrote the following.

“Throughout history, the surgeon general has been a beacon of scientific integrity and public health advocacy. In 1964, Luther Terry issued a groundbreaking report linking smoking to lung cancer, a pivotal moment that catalyzed the nation’s anti-smoking efforts. In 1986, C. Everett Koop released an historic report on AIDS, challenging stigmas and promoting education. More recently, in 2018, I issued an advisory urging Americans to carry naloxone, a lifesaving medication for opioid overdoses. Subsequently naloxone dispensing increased 400%, and we are now seeing declines in overdose deaths. These initiatives were successful not because of the individuals behind them, but because of the trust and respect that the Office of the Surgeon General commands.”

He goes on to say “The qualifications for this esteemed position are not merely formalities but essential to its credibility and effectiveness. Traditionally, U.S. surgeons general have been career officers in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC), with advanced medical training and often additional qualifications in public health or related fields.” Means falls short on almost every criteria. She is only being nominated because of her relationship to Kennedy. Adams finds it “incomprehensible” that she is even being considered for surgeon general. Hey, maybe she will issue an advisory on doing jigsaw puzzles to arrest dementia and erectile dysfunction.

Not surprisingly, she does not have the votes for confirmation. Yet the nomination of Means is in a way consistent with Trump’s intent on disrupting things. HHS is in chaotic disarray because of Kennedy and his allies overturning the apple cart. It is certainly not business as usual. The question is whether all this is doing good – or doing bad.

By the way, Kennedy, who says he has a parasitic worm in his brain, is having the National Institutes of Health fund a study on whether ivermectin can cure cancer. Kennedy also touted ivermectin as a treatment for Covid – to the horror of the medical establishment which characterizes ivermectin as “a cheap, off-patent anti-parasitic deworming drug.” I can guarantee that Means is on-board with this study.

What do you think?

The Iranian bombing and the useful idiots on the left

I am no expert on foreign policy nor to I profess to be such. Do you know any? I know only one person and he will tell you that his expertise is localized and not universal. So I wonder what will be the consequences of the attack on Iran? Will the world be safer now that Khamenei and his close associates are now dead? Recall when Sadaam Hussein was deposed and we were told that the world would now be safer? If it happened it was too subtle for me to see. Seems like when Hussein was there, he kept fighting with the Iranians which lessened their terrorism against the rest of us. Or was I just imagining that?

Well Khamenei and his buds had to have been the dumbest leaders ever – this side of Maduro. I can’t imagine that after all the military buildup in the Gulf and Trump’s sword rattling that Khamenei and at least 40 of Iran’s senior leadership would allow themselves to be killed just sitting around sipping tea. BTW, Wikipedia is calling the killing an assassination. Hadn’t they shelters or safe houses? Haven’t they heard of Zoom? Leadership this incompetent doesn’t deserve to continue. But what will take its place? More hardline clerics? Bringing back the son of the Shah? Democratic rule? What will be the impact on the Middle East? What will be the impact on the rest of the world? What will be the impact on Ukraine where the Russians relied on Iran for supplies and drones?

Of all the uncertainly in the world, one thing was certain. When the bombing started I was awaiting the announcement from the Iranians of a school or mosque or a hospital being bombed with a bunch of children killed (remember the hospital in Gaza?). I was also expected the sycophants in the west to run with the story without vetting it trying to drum up sympathy for the poor revolutionary guards and henchmen that were killed. I was also expecting the Israelis and Americans to counter the story saying that the hospital/school/mosque was actually hit by a stray Iranian missile – the old gang that couldn’t shoot straight story. And lo and behold! All that happened just like clockwork. Also certain was that like clockwork our local Muslim cheerleaders like Zohran Mamdani, Illan Omar and Rashida Tlaib would rush to condemn the US attack and parrot the Iranian propaganda. You mean they were happy with Khamenei’s oppressive regime and the export of terror around the globe? I really don’t believe that. Rather they relish any opportunity to condemn America and especially Trump. Its like that old story about if Trump fell out of a boat and started walking on water, the headlines would read “Trump can’t swim!”

Omar, a Somali, tweeted “Trump has launched an illegal regime change war. As someone who has survived the horrors of war, I know military strikes will not make us safer; they will inflame tensions and push the region further into chaos.” Mamdani, an Ugandan, said “Today’s military strikes by the United States and Israel mark a catastrophic escalation in an illegal act of war of aggression. Bombing cities, killing civilians, opening up a new theater of war — Americans do not want this. Americans do not want another war in pursuit of regime change. We want an answer to the affordability crisis. We want peace.” Tlaib, a Palestinian, was the most forceful of the group saying of Trump “He doesn’t care about our loved ones in the military. He doesn’t care about the Iranian people. He is corrupted. Don’t fall for the lies.” Tlaib cares about our military? Now that’s a new one. She also bought the Irani propaganda about the bombing of the school lock stock and barrel saying “The Trump Administration and Israeli regime’s illegal war of aggression on Iran has already killed dozens of children, and more horrific death and destruction will come.” Are they defending the barbaric actions of the Khamenei regime that spread terror across the region, threatened to nuke Israel, imprisoned and raped women who wouldn’t wear a hajib, viciously repressed women, gays and religious minorities and culminated in the killing of thousands of their own citizens? 

I guess I am not surprised by these comments or by the western media immediately accepting Iranian propaganda as fact. I think we call these “useful idiots.” We have seen this too many times before. We have also seen the “organic” instantaneous appearance of protests across America against the bombing. You mean all these people are pro-Khamenei? Hardly, they are not pro-Khamenei. They are anti-American. But don’t misunderstand, I am not one to believe the American and Israeli propaganda either. 

But did you notice that the reaction of most of the democrat leadership was different from these Muslim-Americans? Typically it was just whining. Chuck Schumer complained that the administration failed to provide Congress and the public with “essential details about the scope and urgency of the threat” and that “President Trump’s erratic cycles of escalation and the risk of a widening conflict do not constitute a sustainable strategy.” Ho hum. Mark Warner bemoaned that Trump recognizing the Iranian threat was insufficient to exempt the president from the obligation to operate within the law and called on the president to present a clear strategy, a defined objective, and a plan to prevent escalation. Whoopie. And of course John Fetterman was on the other side saying “President Trump has been willing to do what’s right and necessary to produce real peace in the region. God bless the United States, our great military, and Israel.” Sidebar: for those who say that Fetterman should switch parties, please shut up. Fetterman is far to the left of every republican senator and has no business being in the same party as Marsha Blackburn. Fetterman needs to stay a democrat and we should hope for more democrats like him. More and more he is reminding me of Scoop Jackson.

One last point, I know that there are those among us who want to deport every illegal saying because they are illegal it means that they have broken our laws which by definition makes them criminals. But consider this a case of bait and switch. Biden and the democrats made them welcome and invited them in. And in response here they came. Many left families, friends, their homeland and culture – giving it all up for a better life for themselves and their children. You want to send them back when most embody what you contend are your own values? They are Christians, have strong nuclear families, are against abortions, hard working and want to fulfil the American dream. Thank your stars that our neighbors to the south are Christians and not Muslims. We are not being invaded by a group that wants to impose Sharia law. We are not being invaded by those who want to veil our women, make them cover their faces and heads, not send them to school or radicalize them to go kill those who don’t agree. If anything, experience has shown us that the immigrants from the south will become enculturated, love America and contribute to our wellbeing. I have often said that I wish our native born had the same drive, determination and work ethic as those who came across our southern border. Again, thank your lucky stars that those from the south have western values and aspirations because can you imagine how different our problems would be if there had been 10 million Muslims walking across the border instead?

It’s my fault

I am absolutely blessed. I was born to smart parents. Grew up with a brilliant older brother. Lived in a neighborhood full of educated smart people who had smart kids. Nuclear families. Got a first rate – albeit segregated – primary and secondary education. Went to the University of Georgia where every day was a challenge, forcing me to try to excel in every aspect of campus life. Go to Ohio State and work under the world’s foremost monetary economist. Have a career that I could not imagine being around smart people doing smart things. Have great friends from all walks of life with all levels of education but having one thing in common – they are all smart. So what is there not to like?

Well, have you ever had a favorite item be discontinued? It’s my fault. I have come to the conclusion that the stores monitor my purchases and then discontinue the things that I most often buy. To that end I have stopped using merchant specific credit cards – except for Sam’s because of Sam’s cash and Kroger’s for the coupons. But Sam’s did stop carrying my favorite jelly beans, protein bars, bottled tea, tea bags and chicken broth. There are probably some others as well. When Walmart had its own card, they discontinued my favorite salsa, hot sauce, trail mix and mustards. Kroger stopped carrying the chocolate clusters, type of frozen vegetable, yogurt, organic cereal and ice cream flavor that I like. Ingles stopped the type of eggs, hot sauce (again), cow bones for my dog and frozen bread that I use for pizza crust. Publix no longer carries another hot sauce (yes I like hot sauces), yogurt, BBQ sauce and marinade. Publix said that they had in stock my favorite Publix brand ice cream (chocolate trinity). When I couldn’t find it, I had the manager look for it. He said “I will find it for you.” It was in Sarasota. One day when I was at the checkout, I saw the cereal I buy in the clearance section – naturally. Costco stopped carrying the cereal and the granola I always buy. They stopped the pimento cheese I liked for a couple of years. If they discontinue their salsa and coastal cheddar cheese I would have no reason ever to go back to their store. BTW, why all the crowds? Are they giving away liquor and drugs? I don’t get it. They, too quit stocking the bottled and packaged teas I buy. Highland brewery of Asheville made my favorite stout. Not only did it disappear from the store where I bought it, it vanished from all of East Tennessee. I send my deepest regrets to all those stout lovers out there. It’s all my fault. Yee Haw brewery found out that I liked their imperial Scottish ale and stopped brewing it.

Then there are the items that are out of stock. Even on the internet the same things happen. I bought 3 dozen of my favorite mustard a year or so ago because I knew it would disappear and lo and behold when I ran out and tried to reorder, it was gone (out of stock and we do not know when it will be back in stock. We will let you know). Even when I go to ebay and miraculously find a favorite product, it too is out of stock. I placed an order once when it said there were 30 in stock. When it was slow in coming I sent a query and was told that it was no longer available and that I would get a refund. Last couple of months I have gotten three refunds from my American Express card and one from ebay. So if you buy the same things that I do and they suddenly are no longer available, its my fault. 

I love jigsaw puzzles and mine invariably are missing a piece. So if yours also is missing a piece, it is probably the same one that I bought. My daughter also loves puzzles but her’s are never missing a piece. For Christmas she gave me the perfect present, a puzzle full of dogs of various breeds showing much angst while watching a Georgia football game. She wrote “This is exactly how I feel when watching Georgia play.” When I finished the puzzle, it had a piece missing.  

Even in Gray, GA site of the family farm, there are only 4 sit down restaurants that are not fast food. There used to be six. One had great catfish where we would go every Friday. The other was a pizza place with the absolute best calzones ever. Both lasted through Covid but couldn’t last through me and both are now out of business. I apologize to all their former patrons. It’s my fault.

A sporting goods store ran an ad for a rifle/scope combination I wanted at a substantial discount. When I got to the store I was told that they had just sold the last one. Naturally. When a patron came up behind me and wanted the same gun, he was told it was no longer in stock. I apologized to him saying it was my fault. 

If I like a particular store and it is a chain, they will announce it is closing a few stores. Why is that store always the one I go to? There is a famous used book store in Knoxville with stores in Nashville, Chattanooga and Asheville. Only the Knoxville store is closing. Also why is it that anytime anything goes wrong, the repairman always says “I have been doing this for 30 years, and I have never seen this happen”? I am so used to it that when the other day, I was told that something was an easy fix, I was convinced he was lying. He was. Turns out it wasn’t so easy after all. Sometimes I feel like Joe Btfsplk, the cartoon character in Lil Abner who always had the cloud over his head being rained on while others enjoyed the sunshine or Charlie Brown who seemed to attract rain at the most inopportune times. But not to worry. This just simply makes life a bit more interesting. As a public service I will no longer reveal my preferences to retailers. But just keep in mind when some product you like disappears, it’s my fault. 

Senator Jasmine Crockett?

Way back when Texas republicans decided to follow California in gerrymandering out the opposition party from its congressional delegation, I warned of the possibility of a Senator Jasmine Crockett. No one took me seriously. To recap, the Texas gerrymander was aimed at getting rid of Crockett and Al (Full of Fire) Green – who hates Trump and was evicted from the State of the Union address. Well Crockett announced that she was running for the Senate. The right wing press laughed having branded her as a loud (and often foul) mouth kook. Well who is laughing now?

The republican senate primary has become increasingly ugly with Texas attorney general Ken Paxton and congressman Wesley Hunt challenging the incumbent John Cornyn. Both Paxton and Cornyn are in a virtual tie in the polls but Hunt is within striking distance causing both Paxton and Cornyn to release attack ads on Hunt. Meanwhile, they are spending $100 million attacking each other viciously as well. Cornyn attacked Paxton as a “crooked home wrecker” in accusing him of sleeping with a married mom-of-seven. It also claims that Paxton’s net worth has grown by as much as 7,000 percent since he took office.

Just like in several other races, if Paxton wins the primary, he is projected to lose the general election, where Crockett awaits. Crockett is leading her opponent Texas State Rep. James Talarico in the democrat primary by double digits. The polls show that Paxton would lose to either democrat while Cronyn would likely beat either. Paxton is scandal ridden and only draws his strength from being a super MAGA. Cronyn is more moderate while Hunt is somewhere in the middle.

I know that there are many on the right who are totally stupefied that a Jasmine Crockett could be elected a senator in a state where no democrat has won since 1988. Trump openly hates Crockett and has called her every name in the book. Crockett uses Trump’s distain in her campaign running against 

Trump rather than against her primary opponent. Crockett is not hesitant to match Trump’s insults calling him “Tamu Hitler” and doing her best to tie him to Epstein insinuating that he is a pedophile and saying “We have a 34-count convicted felon and there are people that are still shielding him from any time of accountability as it relates to a child sex-trafficking ring.” When Trump called her “a low IQ person” Crockett shot back “For you to be in charge of the WHOLE country, you sure do have my name in your mouth a lot. Every time you say my name, you’re reminding the world that you’re terrified of smart, bold Black women telling the truth and holding you accountable. So keep talking…”

Crockett who likes to position herself as one of the people went to toney Rhodes College in Memphis and has a law degree from the University of Houston and who has over a million followers on social media has used that to her advantage. She has said “I’m even more appalled that the very people who unequivocally support Trump—a man known for racially insensitive nicknames and mocking those with disabilities — are now outraged. Keep that same energy for all people, not just your political adversaries. Finally, this is yet another distraction. Instead of obsessing over and hanging on to my every word, maybe my political foes should focus on doing the work of the people who elected us to improve their lives.”

In her senate race she emphasizes that “I’m up with Latino voters and young people, independents favor me by a double-digit margin, and I am the preferred candidate of working-class voters This is who we need to rebuild our winning democratic coalition.” By the way, 71 percent of Texas democrats view Crockett favorably while none of the republicans have approvals of over 50 percent.

Cornyn is clearly the establishment republican choice with ad support from

the National Republican Senatorial Committee, that hammer Paxton highlighting his messy ongoing divorce and accusations of corruption and calling Paxton a “wife-cheater and fraud.” But Paxton remains the MAGA favorite even though Trump has not endorsed anyone yet. In response Paxton says “It’ll be grassroots, just like it always has been, and we’ll be out trying to compete. Obviously, Cornyn has got a lot of money, D.C. money. I don’t have that money. We’ll have our money from Texas.” But the NRSC said “John Cornyn is the only

Republican candidate who reliably wins a general election matchup,” and warned “Paxton puts this seat at risk.”

Hunt says the got in the race because he feared that Paxton would beat Cornyn and lose in the general election.

Crockett is focusing her campaign on affordability. “The first thing that we could do on day one is to rein in the tariffs. I’m really excited to say that last week, the House started a process, and we got enough votes from the Republican side to start to rein in some of those tariffs. We still have a lot more work to do.” She also said “But I think that in this unique moment, at this inflection point, people want to know, are you real or not? And I think that that is what they get from me.” 

Wouldn’t it be the height of irony that in an effort to get Crockett out of the House that she lands in the Senate? Regardless of who finally wins the republican primary, there is a really possibility that the next senator from Texas may be Jasmine Crockett.

New York affordability, Boneless wings and more travel miles for the Gerald R. Ford

Now the warm bosom of collectivism

I had basically decided to ignore the vacuous babblings of those on the far left. It must be awful to have AOC as your spokesman – much like having Al Sharpton as the spokesman for black people. So even though in the past I have devoted some time to write about New York’s Zohran Mamdani, I decided to cross him off the list as well. Until now. New York has a budget of $127 billion and a shortfall of $5.5 billion. State law requires a balanced budget and Mamdani wants New York state to allow him to raise the taxes on the uber-wealthy and corporations. The state doesn’t seem to have the inclination to do so and as a result Mamdani is threatening to raise property taxes by 9.5 percent. Now this budget does not even include all the free stuff Mamdani promised in his campaign to make the city more “affordable”. But isn’t an increase in property taxes a violation of his promises? Won’t the increase make New York less affordable? Mamdani, like most socialists has a distain for market economics but he should heed the Laffer curve and raise more property taxes by lowering property taxes. That should also stimulate more supply as landlords will be able to afford to bring some of the thousands of empty housing units back on line. The lack of affordability in socialism reveals itself in shortages because they always ignore supply.

Meanwhile, New York may be facing a budget crisis with a deficit of $5.5 billion but that did not stop its mayor and AOC recording a video in Spanish urging everyone regardless of immigrant status from signing up their children for free pre-school. Mamdani said this was part of his effort to bring free universal healthcare to everyone while AOC said “free childcare is one of the most important ways we can make our city more affordable for everyone.” Do you see the disconnect here? Won’t this widen the budget deficit? How is the city paying for this? Or rather who in the city is paying for this? How is this making the city “more affordable?”

I don’t go to Buffalo Wild Wings because I hate their commercials

There was a court ruling on whether Buffalo Wild Wings was deceptive in having its boneless wings made from chicken breasts rather than deboned chicken wings. I am not kidding. How this nonsense ever made it to federal court and was not thrown out is beyond me. Some litigious person sued Buffalo Wind Wings. I guess he claimed emotional damage when he found out he was eating chicken breast meat rather than wing meat. He sued claiming breach of express warranty, common law fraud, and unjust enrichment. In a 10 page decision the judge ruled that “This complaint has no meat on its bones,” because the plaintiff “does not plausibly allege that reasonable consumers are deceived by boneless wings.”

I absolutely love Buffalo Wild Wings’ response “It’s true,” the company tweeted “Our boneless wings are all white meat chicken. Our hamburgers contain no ham. Our buffalo wings are 0% buffalo.” I hope the plaintiff was made to pay court costs. I think a better suit would be that their commercials cause undue emotional distress.

Can I put these miles on my frequent traveler account?

I hope the Gerald R. Ford carrier group gets frequent traveler miles. It was in the Mediterranean and was sent to the Caribbean. Then Trump ordered it to the Persian Gulf joining the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group now that Trump is rattling his swords at Iran. Reports are that the longer than usual deployment is causing some angst amongst the crew and their families at home. One wonders why it is always the Ford and not one of the other eleven carriers that seems to be always chosen to show the flag.

Recall when the president told Iran to stop killing the protestors or else? “Iranian Patriots, KEEP ‍PROTESTING – TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!… HELP IS ON ITS WAY,” Well they didn’t and he didn’t either. Now the only reason why we have two carrier attack groups in the Persian Gulf is to attack Iran if they don’t knuckle under to whatever the president is demanding. I am not so certain what that is. Is it the protestors? Is it the nuclear program that I thought Trump said was destroyed by our earlier attack on their facilities? Is it the funding of terrorists? Is it the financing of Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis? Is it regime change? Somehow I don’t think that they will try to kidnap Khamenei.

Iran’s Gulf adversaries, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates don’t appear to be enthused about a US military strike on Iran – at least not publicly. Are they worried that a US attack on Iran will lead to war in the Middle East? Would a destabilization in Iran spread to citizen unrest against their own authoritarian regimes? I haven’t a clue but apparently they are comfortable with the status quo. Would such attack also lead to a reigniting of terrorist bombings and kidnappings worldwide? Also does Trump realize the irony in holding his so-called Board of Peace meeting while at the same time threatening war against Iran?

By the way, we are withdrawing our troops from Syria. Does this mean we are abandoning the Kurds again? History repeats itself as we are once more leaving our allies to fend for themselves. In his first term, Trump withdrew our troops from Syria to appease Turkey prompting Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to resign. No way Pete Hegseth will ever oppose anything that Trump orders. One wonders why any group would align themselves with the United States against the dominant force in their country – Afghans anyone? And Taiwan should start getting worried too.

Lastly, I want to congratulate Ukraine and its embattled president Volodymyr Zelenskyy for defying all expectations and battling the Russians to a virtual stalemate over four long years. How many predicted that Ukraine would fold almost immediately with its territory seized by the Russian bear? The Russians think that they can keep throwing soldiers lives away along with Russian resources and eventually the Ukrainians will give up. The Ukrainians think that they can hold on and force the Russians to withdraw. Trump has always been the wild card here, often siding with his buddy Vladmir Putin wanting Ukraine to give up territory in exchange for a nebulous guarantee of security. But Zelenskyy knows that is a nonserious starter. He is a former comedian so he can recognize a joke when he hears one. Trump has stopped selling Ukraine arms and is now selling them to Europe which then sells them to Ukraine. It looks like European continuing aid along with Ukrainian grit may yet win the day. I certainly hope so. In any regard, why anyone would fear the Russians and the Russian army is beyond me. All Russia is is a loud mouth bully with nuclear weapons. But as NATO has reminded the Russians “We have nukes too.”

How many seats will the republicans lose in the mid-terms?

In the past 80 years, the president’s party has not lost seats in the off-year elections only four times, 1902, 1934, 1998 and 2002. If the president’s approval rating was below 50%, the party lost seats every time. Even if the president’s approval rating was above 50%, the party lost seats seven times. Currently, there are 217 republicans, 214 democrats and 4 vacancies in the House. As close to you can get to a slam dunk in politics is that the republicans would lose the House even if Trump had an approval rating above 50 percent. But with Trump’s approval rating at 41 percent and falling, the only question is how many seats will the republicans lose? On average, with an approval rating less than 50% the president’s party has lost 37 seats. The previous record in modern elections is the 63 seats lost by the democrats in 2010. 

Given the evenness of the divide in the American political scene, the republican loses might not be that large. However, with all the gerrymandering going on out there in Texas, California and Virginia there will be some shifting of seats anyway. So be prepared for the democrats to take back chairmanships of all the committees and for Hakeem Jeffries to be speaker. Welcome back Maxine Waters! Also be prepared for a rash of subpoenas, indictments and impeachments. The Trump agenda will grind to a halt in the House and will only be furthered by executive orders. And expect each executive order to be contested in the House and in the courts. You think we have chaos now? Just wait until January 2027. Would a democrat House force the president to be more presidential, compromise and become less belligerent? Once can only hope but I am not optimistic. Trump is likely to become more belligerent.

Even if the president all of a sudden decided to become “presidential” it is still certain that the House would flip although it might be by a smaller margin. While the public endorsed control at the border, the public does not like any of the president’s current initiatives. The public does not like the tariffs. Polling shows that 56 percent of Americans say that tariffs hurt the economy. It is no surprise that 86 percent of the democrats feel this way. But 66 percent of republicans and 66 percent of independents also say that tariffs harm the economy. More telling white men without college degrees, a key voting constituency for Trump, 51 percent disapprove of the tariffs. The public does not like the tactics of Homeland Security. Cabinet members are viewed unfavorably. Pam (Blondie) Bondi is the most disliked with the highest favorable rating of only 26 percent. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr’s is 50 percent and may be falling given his agencies actions on vaccines. Vice President JD Vance’s unfavorable rating is 52 percent. 

The president’s approval ratings on the economy are a dismal 31 percent. Remember “It’s the economy stupid?” Well despite Trump always saying “It’s Biden’s fault” only the diehard MAGA zealots pretend to believe this – and I doubt it they really do either. The economic numbers spell disaster for the republicans in this election regardless of what lipstick Trump and his reporters are trying to put on this pig. 

So what would happen if the president stopped tweeting? Stopped threatening? Stop bellicosity? Stopped his childish behavior? What would happen if he dissolved all tariffs and quit weaponizing his agencies against his multitude of enemies? Supposed he concentrated on pro-growth policies of aiding small businesses, continuing deregulation, trusting markets, and pursuing American greatness through free enterprise? Supposed he stopped calling all republicans who disagree with even a sliver of his policies “RINO.” Would that improve those republican chances of being reelected? Maybe. But of course, all that assumes that the president actually cares about the republican party when he acts like he only cares about Donald Trump.

But the one thing he cannot do and will not do is to emulate Ronald Reagan. Everyone now seems to love Ronald Reagan but the Gipper legalized three million illegals and deported fewer in his eight years in office than Trump did in 6 months. Someone said that Reagan figured it was better to enforce the border and to provide a path to legalization of those already here than to treat every undocumented grandmother and restaurant worker as the equivalent of a Tren de Aragua gangster. 

Trump cannot do the same. He wants all illegals gone regardless of their contributions to the country. He wants to shut down legal immigration as well. He has terminated TPS and severely restricted H1-B visas. He has banned visitors from 19 countries and put restrictions on 20 more. Trump has boxed himself into a corner where if he became more like Reagan, his MAGA zealots who now make excuses for his bad behavior will likely turn on him.

Trump threatens Netflix

The president who seems to threaten everybody now has threatened Netflix. President Trump who has all sorts of conflict of interest in the Netflix Warner Bros. deal has now demanded that Netflix oust Susan Rice from its board – or else. Recall that Trump bought $2 million in Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery stock days after the announcement of an agreement between the two media giants. Trump had said earlier that he would be personally involved in the decisions involving the merger. His son-in-law Jared Kurshner has been involved in financing efforts related to Paramount’s effort to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery which is competing against Netflix.

I do not know on what basis Trump thinks he can interfere in the businesses of private corporations but he has injected himself here saying “Netflix should fire racist, Trump Deranged Susan Rice, IMMEDIATELY, or pay the consequences.” Trump said of Rice, Obama’s national security advisor and Biden’s Ambassador to the United Nations “She’s got no talent or skills – Purely a political hack! HER POWER IS GONE, AND WILL NEVER BE BACK. How much is she being paid, and for what???”  A national security advisor and ambassador to the UN with no talent or skills? Maybe Trump is thinking about his own people. Rice’s father Emmitt Rice was appointed by Jimmy Carter to the Fed’s Board of Governors. I was actually interviewed for that seat but was told I was too young (33) and did not have the ”right” political connections (Jesse Helms was my senior senator) and was appointed to the National Credit Union Administration Board instead.

What are these “consequences?” – that Trump us talking about if Nexflix doesn’t do his bidding? Will he not have his “Justice” Department approve Netflix’s attempt to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery and give the bid to Paramount instead? Won’t that make Kushner happy? Media sources say Trump is being influenced by someone named Laura Loomer who has criticized Rice and said that Trump should block the Netflix deal so long as Rice is on the board. Is Trump really influenced by the Loomer person? BTW, Trump called Rice “racist?”

Trump doesn’t like that Rice stated the obvious: that Trump is a short-timer and that corporations need to look to the long run. Rice said that when the democrats come back in power they shouldn’t “forgive or forget” those corporations that “bent the knee” to Trump. “Whether you’re a law firm, whether you’re a university, whether you’re a media entity, whether you’re a big corporation, whether you’re Big Tech, you need to play a long game, not this short game that has been so detrimental.” No wonder, she is on the very very long list of folk that Trump hates.

Tariffs, One more time

Trump probably imposed tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers act because he wanted a tariff regime that did not limit him in any way. All he had to do was declare an emergency and then he could inflict tariffs without constraint. Other acts would have limited him to a specific event and/or and specific time limit. All of these laws restrict presidential action by specifying acceptable rationales, requiring agency investigations, or limiting the size, scope, or duration of the tariffs. None exist under the IEEPA. Yet Trump’s mistake was that he imposed the tariffs universally with only a fabricated “emergency” of a persistent trade deficit. His second mistake was to impose the tariffs on countries with which the US runs a surplus. I

n his decision Chief Justice Roberts explicitly pointed out that “When Congress grants the power to impose tariffs, it does so clearly and with careful constraints.” The president now is forced to chose an act that allows him to impose a maximum 15 percent tariff for up to 150 days without congressional approval. He has done so and again imposed it universally ignoring previous shakedowns – er deals.  

Some say that the president has a deep rooted hostility for trade deficits. I go a bit further. Trump is xenophobic and has a deep hostility for everything foreign – except I guess Melania. He would like to deport all illegals. He would like to curtain all immigration for all non-whites. He wants no trade deficits. Well I have a modest proposal: why not say that for every dollar of imports there must be a matching dollar of exports? That way there will be no trade deficit but the interest rates on Treasurys will explode upward as foreigners will no longer have the dollars with which to buy US debt offerings. Also the real extate market and the stock markets will collapse. Why doesn’t Trump know this?

When six republicans in the House voted against Trump’s tariffs on Canada, the president was furious and vowed to help defeat those six. He has refused to endorse the re-election of Colorado’s Jeff Hurd. Of course, he called Hurd a (Trump) RINO and said that Hurd “is more interested in protecting Foreign Countries that have been ripping us off for decades than he is the United States of America.” Good grief. Trump then promptly endorsed Hurd’s very right wing primary opponent Hope Scheppelman, who is less likely to prevail in the general election. She was removed by the state republican party from her post as vice chair of the state party in response to her extreme posts (for Colorado). She is also “deeply invested in 2020 election conspiracies.” You might remember Hurd’s predecessor was the more controversial Lauren Boebert who switched districts to run in a more solidly republican one.

We have seen this before. The democrats will likely put stealth financial support behind Scheppelman. Republican strategists say that if she defeats Hurd in the primary then democrats will win the district saying that she is “a limited candidate with a limited base, limited runway, andlimited options.” But Trump doesn’t care if republicans lose the seat so long as Hurd is beaten in the primary. Trump should realize the consequences of losing the House – shouldn’t he? 

Hassett beclowns himself. Coarseness in Illinois. 

Hassett beclowns himself

Kevin Hassett who at one time was being considered to be chairman of the Federal Reserve has returned to his old job as chairman of the White House’s National Economic Council. Now back in the fold, Hassett, who is clearly a Trump-pet, lashed out at the results of a research paper from the New York Fed simply because it found that Trump’s tariffs were mainly being borne by American firms and consumers. This, of course, is only a surprise to Trump and those who are paid by him. Mind you this paper merely corroborates the findings of other researchers in both the US and abroad. Hassett, ignoring all the prior results called the New York Fed paper “an embarrassment” and “the worst paper I’ve ever seen in the history of the Federal Reserve System.” Actually Hassett is the embarrassment and the Fed must be overjoyed that he is not going to be next chairman. Hassett even said “The people associated with this paper should presumably be disciplined.” Good grief. The man’s an idiot.

The paper said “Our results imply that U.S. import prices for goods subject to the average tariff increased by 11 percent … more than those for goods not subject to tariffs. U.S. firms and consumers continue to bear the bulk of the economic burden of the high tariffs imposed in 2025.”

Here is the paper

Who Is Paying for the 2025 U.S. Tariffs?

Hassett looks foolish. If he disputes the findings then all he has to do is to produce empirical research that contradicts the conclusions of the paper. He has not done that. Doesn’t he have a staff of economists that can produce contra results for him?

White House spokesperson Kush Desai (another Trump-pet) said “Director Hassett’s comments yesterday were clearly a call for the Fed to return to the practice of upholding the highest of academic standards. This product fell short of that.” Of course, Desai is reading from a script and hasn’t a clue what he is talking about. Neither does Hassett.

But maybe the quality of Hassett’s work on the Council is reflected in the president’s boasting on his social media platform that he has reduced the US trade deficit by 78 percent because of his tariffs. “THE UNITED STATES TRADE DEFICIT HAS BEEN REDUCED BY 78% BECAUSE OF THE TARIFFS BEING CHARGED TO OTHER COMPANIES AND COUNTRIES. IT WILL GO INTO POSITIVE TERRITORY DURING THIS YEAR, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MANY DECADES. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!” Seventy-eight percent? How can that been when the figures actually show that the deficit declined by only 0.2 percent rather than Trump’s 78 percent? The deficit in goods was a record $1.2 trillion. The only reason it was an overall decline, however slight, was that we had also a record high in exports of goods but especially of services. Trump is demonstrating how to lie with statistics. BTW, Trump boasts that by next year we won’t even have a trade deficit. Now, if you believe that, I’ve got a bridge I’d like to sell you.

Cover your ears!

Can someone be elected to the Senate whose only message is F-Trump? Well in Illinois that is being field tested. The current lieutenant governor Juliana Stratton is running to replace the retiring Dick Durbin. She is the latest in the trend I have talked about in the past – politicians being foul mouthed. In the first ad she released, it only carries one message, F-Trump. Oh, and she says that she will abolish ICE (single handedly I presume). Here is the ad – cover the children’s ears.

https://x.com/JulianaStratton/status/2024537125794771151?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2024537125794771151%7Ctwgr%5E05cdda107d758547a742fbf2b05b5e70dedf645d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nationalreview.com%2Fcorner%2Fhas-contrived-coarseness-jumped-the-shark%2F

The latest polls show Stratton running a distant second to Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (say that three times!) despite being endorsed by Illinois governor Pritzker. Let’s hope it stays that way.

Andrew arrested. Oklahoma governor the latest Trump RINO

Prince Andrew arrested

The British police have arrested the man formerly known as Prince Andrew due to accusations that he shared confidential information with Jeffrey Epstein while serving as a British trade envoy. The arrest of Prince Andrew, now Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, brother of King Charles III is said to have plunged the British monarchy into its biggest crisis in years. Mountbatten-Windsor is the first royal to be arrested in 400 years. The last was Charles I who during the English Civil Wars, surrendered to Scottish forces at Southwell in 1646. He was handed over to the English Parliament where he refused to accept demands for a constitutional monarchy. He was tried, convicted for high treason and was executed by beheading in 1649. The monarchy was abolished and the Commonwealth of England was established as a republic. But apparently the British missed the royals and restored the monarchy in 1660 with Charles’ son Charles II as king. BTW, given the personal scandals that marked Charles II life, (12 illegitimate children), I wonder why Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip would name a son “Charles.”

Some emails Mountbatten-Windsor sent Epstein appeared to show that Epstein was forwarded reports connected to the former prince’s visits to Vietnam, Singapore and China, which he undertook in his role as Britain’s trade envoy, as well as information about investment opportunities. That’s two Brits accused of giving Epstein confidential information cementing the charge that Epstein was an Israeli agent. Now the question is are there any other government officials British or otherwise who might have passed confidential information on to Epstein? Want to bet that going forward there will no longer be an email (or voicemail) trail for the authorities to follow?

Oklahoma governor a RINO? Only in the eyes of the president

Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt has gotten on the wrong side of President Trump. Stitt chairs the National Governors Association which was meeting at the White House. The president has disinvited two democrat governors, Jared Polis of Colorado and Wes Moore of Maryland. Stitt said that of the meeting ‘If it’s not for all 50 governors, then the NGA is not the right facilitator for it.’” Trump pushed back and said that “This is the White House. I can invite whomever I want.” Trump doesn’t like Polis because of Tina Peters, a former Colorado election official serving time in prison for her role in a voting-machine security breach. Peters was county clerk of Mesa County, Colorado and was convicted of seven charges related to efforts to overturn the election of Joe Biden in the 2020 election for Donald Trump. Trump pardoned her but that had no impact on the state convictions. I guess he is mad at Polis for not pardoning Peters too. But of course, Polis is a democrat. I don’t have any idea why he disinvited Morre although some will say (including Moore himself) it is because Moore is the nation’s only black governor. Moore praised Stitt as having “truly worked in good faith to try to salvage this tradition” of all the governors meeting with the president. The democratic governors have said they won’t attend the White House dinner if Polis and Moore are excluded and at the White House dinner all twenty three were absent.

I’m surprised that Trump didn’t disinvite Stitt too even though Stitt chairs the organization. Stitt is a strong proponent of federalism. He opposed the dictates of Joe Biden during Covid, citing states’ rights. He also said about the ICE incursion into Minneapolis “We believe in federalism and states’ rights. And nobody likes feds coming into their state.” He asaid with regard of deploying the National Guard “If the shoe’s on the other foot, and Biden sends New York National Guard into Oklahoma to enforce a law as they see it, that’s where problems happen over the protests of the governor. So we need to be very, very careful with that.” Naturally, Trump blew up and called Stitt a “RINO” tweeting “When Kevin Stitt, the very mediocre (at best!) RINO Governor of Oklahoma, was losing his Election to a Democrat, primarily because he did a bad job, he called for my help. I Endorsed him, and he won — Sorry, my cherished Oklahoma, to have done that to you!” Trump who always bears a grudge was mad at Stitt for endorsing Ron DeSantis in the primaries (don’t tell Trump but I endorsed DeSantis too). Again, a RINO is now defined as any republican who disagrees with Trump on any issue. But Stitt is no RINO. The real RINO is the president himself.

Trumps illegal tariffs are again declared illegal

Trumps illegal tariffs have just been ruled illegal by the Supreme Court. The only surprise is that the ruling was not unanimous with Justices Thomas, Alito and Kavanaugh dissenting saying “interpreting IEEPA to exclude tariffs creates nonsensical textual and practical anomalies.” I presume that this is English and although I know the meaning of each word, I haven’t a clue as to what this sentence means. But Trump has always said that if the Supreme Court rules these tariffs illegal then he has other options. Treasury Secretary Bessent who I will start calling a Trump-pet has said that half of the tariffs will have to be refunded and that there are “numerous other avenues” by which the president can impose other tariffs.

As expected, the president was less than gracious in his reaction saying that under a different authority he will impose a universal 15 percent tariff under a law that restricts them to 150 days. As to the justices that voted that the tariffs previous tariffs exceeded his authority Trump fumed and said “The Supreme Court’s ruling on tariffs is deeply disappointing, and I’m ashamed of certain members of the court — absolutely ashamed — for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country. They’re just being fools and lap dogs for the RINOs and the radical left Democrats. They’re very unpatriotic and disloyal to our Constitution. It is my opinion that the court has been swayed by foreign interests and a political movement that is far smaller than people would ever think.” The Wall Street Journal called his rant “the worse moment of his presidency.” Wow! That is saying something.

Some time back in an interview in the New York Times the reporter asked the president: “Do you see any checks on your power on the world stage? Is there anything that could stop you if you wanted to?” The president answered, “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me, and that’s very good.” That comment was pure arrogance. Well I think he just got a reminder that his power – like all presidents – is checked by the US Constitution and the Supreme Court. Trump who has pushed to find the limits of executive powers has just found one. The forthcoming rulings on the attempts to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook and eliminate birthright citizenship will be additional tests. I expect him to lose both. Once I thought unanimously but now I am not so sure. But wouldn’t it be interesting if Thomas voted with the majority? I wonder what Trump would then say?

Trump’s own lap dogs and fools are now calling Gorsuch and Coney Barrett “activist judges.” What idiots. 

What is interesting is to read Justice Gorsuch’s concurrence in which he notes that the dissent by Thomas, Alito and Kavanaugh is contrary to their earlier rulings on the limits of executive power. He wrote “My dissenting colleagues have defended the major questions doctrine in the past,” referring to the doctrine which says that when the executive branch seeks to wield significant regulatory power, it must first point to an unambiguous delegation of such power by Congress to the executive. In the tariff case, no such unambiguous delegation exists. As to why the dissenters dissented in this case is an interesting question. It is also interesting to note that the liberal justices in turn also voted contrary to their earlier votes in the same cases cited by Justice Gorsuch where they sided with the Biden administration’s attempt to expand executive reach which the conservative justices had earlier voted against. Sad to say but we have come to expect Sotomayor, Kagan and Jackson to consistently vote their political views rather than follow the Constitution, but Thomas and Alito? This is very disappointing.

I wonder what remarks the president will have for the justices in his state of the union remarks on February 24^th.