If history is any guide the next few days’ articles will center on the Supreme Court so I’ll try to “tidy up” my notes and such a bit first.

Perhaps Not American But Prudent

One of the basic principles of American criminal law is the presumption of innocence until and unless proven guilty in a court of law. I suggest that in the case of Donald Trump (or more accurately cases) the assumption of guilt is the prudent course.

The GOP Numbers Game

I don’t know the exact number and it will certainly increase in the near future but as it was in 2016 there are too many GOP presidential wannabes and that is opening up the path for Trump to be the 2024 nominee. Furthermore, most of them are delusional if they feel they can win the nomination let alone the general election.

Lone Star Incompetence

It’s hot in Texas. Is that surprising? Again, large parts of the state are without power and the last time I checked most American air conditioners run on electricity. If you keep electing the same incompetent people and/or their associates, then expecting a different outcome is an unreasonable assumption. Keep in mind that it was only a huge public outcry that made Texas’ Republican Governor (who is rumored to be contemplating a presidential run), Greg Abbott, reverse course on his ban of water breaks.

The Danger Of Beliefs

I could write a book on this topic but for today allow me just one example. The January 6th insurrectionist who tased now former D C police officer Michael Fanone was sentenced to 12.5 years for his crime- in my opinion a light sentence – shouted, “Trump won,” after receiving the sentence. I will certainly question the intelligence, patriotism and critical thinking skills of the convict but I sadly cannot question the sincerity of his belief. There is a significant portion of the American population (almost all on the political right) who simply refuse to accept reality despite the ample proof of it.

Reputation Laundering?

A proposed deal was announced whereby the Saudi government would buy a minority ownership in several DC area professional sports teams. There is overt Saudi money involved in ownership of several English Premier League teams (and rumors of even more covertly). I think this is far beyond any diversification of an investment portfolio; this is an attempt to buy respectability.

There are other prominent examples of the same but I just wanted to do a quick hit here today.

GOP Values On Display

The House of Representatives censured California Democratic Representative Adam Schiff 213-209 on a party line vote. Basically, Schiff was censured for doing his job too well. To show you how badly the House Republicans are performing this was their second attempt to censure Schiff the earlier one failed because the House Republicans couldn’t agree on the language among themselves. Lack of leadership?

Graying

The median age of the American population is 38.9, up from 30 when Ronald Reagan was inaugurated. In other words, we are graying. That means there are relatively fewer workers available and they are not being replaced at a rate to keep up with economic growth and replace retiring workers.

Germany faced a similar situation a few years ago when then Chancellor Angela Merkel (remember she is a conservative) allowed considerable immigration which provided the needed work force.
Without comprehensive immigration reform, we will be unable to have an adequate workforce in the not that distant future. With our economy still in transition back to full production and many jobs having been lost to foreign shores our unemployment rate is very low. That in turn means the labor supply is smaller than optimal. Birth rates are not sufficient to replace (and supplement) today’s workforce. As we have often in our history, we need “outside help”.
My space is limited but in the above paragraphs you can see both conservative and liberal arguments made for increased immigration.

Hunter In Brief

I haven’t spent any ink on the Hunter Biden situation because there really isn’t much of political significance there and my reasoning was proven correct recently. The federal government began investigating President Biden’s son under the Trump administration in 2019. They found nothing, or at least nothing they felt they could prove in court of any conspiratorial nature. The lead investigator was a Trump appointee that President Biden kept him on after he took office.

Hunter ended up being charged with two counts of tax evasion. He has since paid the back taxes. I don’t think Trump should be casting the first stone when it comes to tax matters! He also committed a gun permit application transgression related to drug use.

Hunter is a bad guy – or at least he’s made some bad mistakes – but he doesn’t justify the GOP investigations which are only spurred on by right wing mythology.

Hunter has entered into a preliminary plea deal (which still requires court approval) and in reality was prosecuted beyond where most Americans would be on similar charges with a similar prior record.
That all said I still expect the House Republicans to waste more time and taxpayer dollars on investigations. Free tip: don’t waste your valuable time following them!

I Agree

The Fed decided not to increase interest rates. Good! They also cautioned that this could only be a pause. That provides enough uncertainly to buttress against the economy rapidly overheating and serves as a caution.

OK, that’s enough for today. Back on Court watch.

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