Update from the
Heartland
No.828
6.11.17 – 12.11.17
Blog version: http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/
To
all,
The follow-up news items:
The follow-up news items:
-- The Texas church massacre last week [827] highlighted yet another unfortunate reality of our contemporary
lives—existing laws were not complied with or enforced. The shooter made no effort, or at least
very little effort, to hide or mask his violent nature, or the myriad reasons
he should have never been allowed near a firearm. All of the systems intended to protect us from bad men like
that shooter failed us and 26 innocent people died, and now countless others
will suffer the tragedy of loss.
-- Special Counsel Robert Mueller [804 & sub] is reportedly investigating former White House
National Security Adviser Mike Flynn for conspiring to kidnap dissident Turkish
cleric Fethullah Gulen in exile in the United States and deliver him to the
Erdogan government. According to
the allegations, Mr. Flynn and his son, Michael Flynn Jr., were to be paid as
much as US$15M million to deliver Gulen to the Turkish government. Like the Manafort indictments last week
[827], the current allegations are
not related to the primary, instigating charter of the Mueller investigation,
and they are a product of collateral investigations. More importantly, these allegations and potential charges
are tools Mueller will use to conclude the work of his group.
-- The Wall Street
Journal reported increased early enrollments in the first week of the annual
PPACA [432 et al] open-enrollment
period. According to the report, insurers
suggested the early influx was at least partially stimulated by current public debate
over the PPACA and the Republican efforts to repeal or change it. The early enrollment surge does not
represent a forecast of final, total enrollments. A frequent contributor offers in the Comments section below an
important personal observation on the health insurance issue.
The
elections this week do not bode well for Republicans in the mid-term elections
next year, when all of the representatives and one third of the senators face re-election
campaigns, with some needing to survive contentious primary elections, first. Before that, we have the election next
month to replace Sessions in Alabama, involving a highly controversial
Republican candidate.
Comments and contributions from Update no.827:
“Cap, we’re hearing
of another shooting-when will common sense prevail my friend? How many to die
before your nation realises that you are not still a cowboy nation?
“My thoughts as an
Englishman who has carried firearms for the purpose they should only be
considered for, i.e. fighting the nation’s enemies not killing the innocent.”
My reply:
Yep,
yet another tragedy occurred Sunday morning last at a First Baptist Church in
Sutherland Springs, Texas . . . yet another deranged person was allowed to slip
through the cracks in our protective systems. On the flip side, two citizens with firearms stopped the mad
man from killing more. Nothing can
justify such incidents. The word
that continues to come to me in such moments is the Italian exclamation—Basta!
[Enough!]
. . . a follow-up comment:
“Indeed cap, we have seen the interviews of your heroes-should
they be done for attempted murder? Now then that’s a toughie. Apparently he finally killed himself with the third shot. Hey Cap-nothing personal here-‘Basta’. . Lo
spettacolo va avanti.”
[The show goes on.]
. . . my follow-up reply:
Buon’giorno, [Good
day,]
Infatti! [Indeed!]
Interesting
question. In some states, the good
guys could be prosecuted for vigilantism, i.e., taking the law into their
hands. However, in Texas, they
will be praised for their initiative and courage. The more we learn about the perpetrator, the more we see our
system of protections (such as they are) failed . . . miserably.
Comment to the Blog:
“Special Counsel Mueller's investigation rivals movies in some
ways. For example, Paul Manafort
has/had at least three passports with different numbers and traveled under
false names. If this were fiction,
he'd be a high-level drug dealer. As
it is, he worked for the Orange One as well as himself. Maybe like attracts like. In any case, the various investigations
continue.
“I'm still more interested in the content of the DNC emails than
anything else about them. Donna
Brazile has corroborated that content in a large way. I find it disturbing that Senator
Sanders, who knew he'd been pushed out despite the support of Democrat voters,
went on to give way to Hillary Clinton and to campaign for her. Given the strife in both major parties,
perhaps we need three or more new parties and to let the old ones go away.
“Paul Rand is a credible Libertarian with a track record of
actually voting and working in precisely that agenda. He could surely revive and expand the
existing Libertarian Party. Governor
Kasich, Senators McCain and Flake and others could form a credible centrist
party by working with the Obamas and other Democrat centrists. They'd have an advantage in corporate
sponsorship over just about anyone. That would leave progressives with Nina Turner, Tusli
Gabbard, Tim Canova and others very popular with millennials, minorities, and
the working class to form a real progressive party. That would be enough parties to break the two-party system
for good. At least two of those
parties would have an interest in changing the campaign finance system and
making Congressional districts fairer, which would help.
“I will disagree with you just a little on journalism. I just want to bring up, not CNN or any
of those, but Fox. Fox News is
owned by Rupert Murdoch, who realized long ago that he could further his
political agenda to his own benefit by controlling things like story priorities
and hiring decisions at his news outlets. He gathered enough blind loyalty to further his interests in
issues including de-regulation of news source ownership. Within a news organization, that is a
short-sighted approach, and Fox seems to be finally letting go of it to a
degree.
“Having read and discussed issues on this blog for years, I see
your self-description as accurate, except that your version of ‘committed to
national security’ (military, diplomacy, spying) puts you pretty far into the
conservative rather than Libertarian realm.”
My response to the
Blog:
There
are many aspects of the Manafort case that heighten suspicions. There are very real, pragmatic and
prosecutorial reasons Mueller went after Papadopoulos, Manafort and Gates
first. I suspect Mueller sees much
more in this investigation. We
shall see.
Interesting
observations about the Brazile revelations. We have at least two other political parties—Libertarian
& Green. I find it difficult
to embrace any political party, but if I had to pick one, I would be closest to
the Libertarian approach.
Rand
Paul’s daddy was more Libertarian than he is, but Rand seems to be more
Libertarian than Republican, from my perspective. Yes, the moderate Republicans could join with the moderate
Democrats to form a credible middle-ground party . . . nice thought . . . not
likely to happen, I suspect. As
the intransigence of the two major parties continues, the viability of other parties
grows. I see less and less value
in the two major political parties.
Well,
now, I do confess my agreement with your observations about Rupert Murdoch and
Fox News.
Once
again, your observations regarding my political self-description is rather accurate,
I do believe . . . which is also why I claim to not find affinity with any
particular political party.
. . . a follow-up comment:
“The central lesson, for me, is that the impact of negative
campaigning has lessened. Trump, for all his obvious-to-many bullshit, offered
people change. Clinton offered ‘we're
not Trump.’ The millennials, those
folks in Iowa, and many others don't want to hear any more about how
awful the other candidate is. They
want to know how you will address their problems. That is what Trump has in common with the progressives who
won this month's elections. Trump
won despite his ideas being see-through bombast because his
opponent had no ideas that might upset her Wall Street and corporate
sponsors. Many of the new
office-holders are Democratic Socialists or even Green party members. This month's winners have no big-donor
ties. They put forward plans to
address problems, not just complaints about the Republicans, and that
brought out voters.”
. . . my follow-up response:
I
cannot quibble with your observations.
I will only add that the “not Trump” movement is not likely to be
successful in and of itself for one primary reason—they seriously underestimate
the “I’m really pissed off at the Washington establishment (of any
party).” The strength of that
element of our political community has found the means to overlook the very
serious personality flaws in their standard bearer that speaks volumes for the
magnitude of their anger. NBC
Nightly News just broadcast a story about four very young (teenagers)
candidates (three notional Republicans + one notional Democrat) for governor in
Kansas—who’da ever thunk’it? We
may well be witness to a political revolution. We can only hope.
Another contribution:
“Well, Cap, I respectfully disagree with your disagreement with
the disagreements we agree upon, but I appreciate the agreeable tone with which
you disagree with my disagreements, and I look forward to continued agreement
upon our disagreements and disagreements about our agreements. I recently gleaned a quantity of and
ate some "apple bananas" diverted to Gulfport, MS, because of
hurricanes. These are small
banana-like fruits that have a banana texture but apple taste! So there. Keep smiling.”
My reply:
LMFAO!
Trying
to keep up the intertwined string of negatives made my head spin. LOL
I
am truly sorry your fruits are so confused.
I
will keep smiling. I urge you to
do so as well.
A different
contribution:
“The only hope we have is Donald Trump .. but I think you would
never lower yourself to admit this fact after you have been so anti-Trump all
along ... our problem is we have way too many like you, especially Hollywood
celebrities and mainstream media that can't see where we'd be right now if
Hillary was elected .. I did not write the following so don't add this to the
blog unless you credit it to Mark Snider .. this is the Swamp Trump is trying
to challenge if he is only given the chance .. if the left would just quit
their squawking at his every move ... if Russia helped Trump maybe they were
trying to help free America from the grip of the Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama
regime corruption ...”
My response:
“The
only hope we have is Donald Trump”; and, “if the left would just quit their
squawking at his every move.”
Wow! That is a rather
pessimistic view of this Grand Republic and the nation’s history . . . your
choice entirely. I cannot avoid
the historical reference; there were more than a few German citizens who felt
exactly the same way in 1933.
Heck, there were even British, French and American citizens who also
felt the same in 1933, and persisted in their advocacy for the German dictator into
1940. Needless to say, I do not
share your perspective. In fact, I
see him in quite the opposite light—this too shall pass and we shall endure.
“if
Russia helped Trump maybe they were trying to help free America from the grip
of the Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama regime corruption” . . . surely you
jest!
You
are spot on . . . I will “never lower” myself. I have seen and endured his kind far
too many times in my life. I do
not need to learn that lesson, again.
Apparently, you have been more blessed than me, and have suffered his
kind and not learned that lesson, yet.
You have appeared to swallow his snake-oil elixir with a broad smile on
your face; you believe . . . so more power to you.
I
tried for 20 minutes (enough) to find the citation for your Mark Snider
quotation (at least I think it is a quotation); no joy. Per your admonition, I will not include
“his” words in this week’s Update.
[FYI: in the future, if you include another person’s words, please
provide a citation, since many readers like to check sources.] Conspiracy theorists and their products
have flourished since the 60’s and LBJ’s misleading and outright false rhetoric
in the 1960’s. ‘Nuf said.
. . . a follow-up comment:
“Hi ... Yes we most definitely differ on insight and opinion ..
that I will just have to swallow unfortunately .. luckily I have met more
people who believe in Trump and share my views than folk like yourself .. this
greater percentage also is apparent in last November's vote. I suppose the One World Order is your
cup of tea .. not mine. Seen and
endured "his kind"? Besides Hitler (give that a break!!!) who are all these
people you are referring to? And
was your TWA book not a conspiracy theory?
“A note on improved pricing for 2018 healthcare ... still having
to select from Healthnet, the only insurance company in AZ which provides
insurance for individuals who have no access to group plans ... but what I am
seeing during current open enrollment so far is [my daughter]’s choices have gone down $100
to $150 a month on monthly premiums (yes she paid $240 a month on Obama's
loving care) ...and the choices for deductibles have declined from like $6000
to as low as $800 for the same or very similar plans!! With maximum out of
pocket in case of emergencies being less than $2000!! Kudos to Whomever was in charge under
Trump of getting Healthnet to improve their value!!! Will let you know how good MY benefits will be once I
finalize them!! Thank GOD Hillary
was not elected!!!”
. . . my follow-up response:
I
apologize for being such a burden.
I suppose it is simply the nature of the beast.
Yes,
certainly, you are definitely not alone in your unbridled love of the fellow in
the Oval Office.
“in
last November's vote” . . . well, actually, Clinton had 3M more votes
and 77 less Electoral College votes, which is what elected him. Perhaps more significant to our
continuing intercourse is the preliminary election results this week . . . not
looking good for “his” followers.
I
will give him a break from comparisons to the German dictator when he stops
giving us such blatant, glaring, similar conduct.
“And
was your TWA book not a conspiracy theory?” Well, interesting question. Have you read the book? We examined the publicly available facts, examined all
possible causes, and derived the most probable cause given those publicly
available facts. We also examined
the NTSB publicly available data and offered our reasons for disagreement with
their conclusions. I do not think
of the book as a conspiracy theory, since we do not accuse the government of
perpetrating the crime. You are
welcome to label our work as you wish.
Thank
you for sharing your continuing experience with health care insurance. I cannot imagine anyone in the
government being involved in the cost improvement. I suspect the cost reduction is coming from more people
engaging the insurance providers I
am somewhat surprised there are any cost reductions given the current
uncertainty in the insurance marketplace created by Congress.
My
very best wishes to all. Take care
of yourselves and each other.
Cheers,
Cap :-)
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