WAG THE DOG

Let’s cut through the bullshit.  Thanks to Iran’s restrain in their retaliatory response, we are not beginning another war in the Middle-East.   Trump’s assassination of an Iranian general could have gone unbelievably bad.

Iran is as large as Afghanistan and Iraq combined.  It has a formidable field-tested army and air force, along with missile capability of reaching any target in the middle east with accuracy.    Iran has surrogate forces around the world.

We have spent eighteen years bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan, and there is no reason to believe that a war with Iran would be short or decisive. 

 

Let’s begin at the beginning: In 2011 President Obama made fun of Trump during the White House Correspondence Dinner.    Trump has never been able to let that go.   His jealousy of Obama was the only reason for pulling out of the Iranian Nuclear Agreement, which was verified as being adhered to.    Since that time, any diplomatic cooperation with Iran has been out of the question. 

Senator Bob Corker described the White House as ‘an adult day care center.’    General Kelly called Trump an Idiot.    The people from NSA that brief the President say that Trumps attention span is ten minutes maximum, he doesn’t read intelligence briefings, and in order to keep his attention they prepare their briefs as show and tell.   When he doesn't like the content of the brief he gets belligerent. 

Trump is swayed more by Fox and Friends then he is by his intelligence community.   He is a person that reacts in the moment without any restrain or concern for the consequences, other than what is good for Trump at that moment.   He is ignorant of history, ignorant of political science, ignorant of government and the Constitution.  He is a charismatic con man; but not very bright.  His wealth came from wealth he inherited, and very possible from laundering money for the Russians.

For two years political pundits have predicted that in Trump’s last year in office, just before the 2020 election, he might start a military conflict to enhance his image as Commander in Chief.  

There was no immediate threat.  The decision to assassinate the Iranian General was made in Trump’s last year in office, just as his impeachment trial is to begin in the Senate.   Trump could give a shit about the Middle-East, except for Turkey and Saudi Arabia where he has financial dealings. 

 

We are fortunate that no U.S. military casualties resulted from Iran’s response to the assassination of an Iranian official.  But, 176 people have died from collateral damage when Iran mistakenly shot down a passenger aircraft immediately after launching ballistic missiles against U.S. targets in Iraq. 

 

The decision to take out the Iranian General was strictly an attempt to wag the dog.  Trump is now taking victory laps for his irresponsible action.  

the Ol'Buzzard

 

THE ELECTION IS THE DEMOCRATS TO LOSE.

Democrats are the nerdy kid in school, and the Republicans are the school bully.   Even though the nerd excels in the classroom, he feels he must survives in the school yard by capitulating to the bully.

Democrats need to keep their eye on the ball.   The only goal they need to peruse is beating Donald Trump in the Electoral College.

All the policy wonk doesn’t amount to a hill of beans for an electoral college victory.   The only thing Democrats should focus on is running someone that can neuter Trump. 

Winning the Democrat nomination is a totally different fight than winning the Presidency.   Biden or Bernie or Warren might walk away with the nomination; but any one of these three would be raped by Trump in a debate.  He would go where they would not, or could not tread.

Warren has a plan for everything.   Of course, none of it is realistic as long as McConnell is in charge of the Senate.   Obama had great plans, but McConnell killed them one by one.   The main problem is, that when attacked by Trump, Warren would respond intelligently – which doesn’t work on a school yard bully.

Bernie reminds me of the old man yelling at clouds.  He would have the same problem with implementing any plan as Warren; and like Warren he wouldn’t know how to get down in the mud and spit in Trumps face.   He might bluster, but he would never land a fatal blow. 

Everybody loves Biden.  He is a good man and has spent his life in government service.   The problem is that Biden is passing his sell by date.    When attacked by Pamala Harris he didn’t know how to respond, and his come-back was: I think my time is up.    While campaigning in Iowa he said, ‘Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids,’ and twice in the last recent weeks he referred to British Prime Minister Theresa May as Margaret Thatcher.    Biden stated that the parents of the Parkland School shooting came to see him when he was Vice President.   The Parkland shooting was in 2018, and he was not Vice President in 2018 – he was probably thinking of the Sandy Hook School shooting.    When asked by the press about Trump calling him Sleepy Joe, Biden’s response was to challenge Trump to push-ups.   Biden might win the Democratic nomination, but Trump would eat his lunch on stage.

 

I understand what Biden is going through.  I am a few years older than him.   When in conversation, I go to comment on a person or incident and a word or phrase will not come to me.   I can visualize the object or person or what I am trying to say, but the word is not readily retrievable from my hard drive.    I would not presume to participate in a critical debate.  Biden is not up to it.

Again; the object is to beat Trump.   Policy be damn – we can debate policy after taking the Presidency. 

The pit-fighter we do have is Kamala Harris.  She is fast on comebacks, she is aggressive, she is take-no-prisoners.   She is black, she is a woman, she is by far smarter than Trump: she is everything Trump fears.   She could castrate him on stage; and she wouldn’t hesitate to do so.

Rather than falling into the standard Democrat mode of getting all policy obsessed and moaning and groaning about purity and politically correctness, we need to focus on who can take on Trump in a debate and make him look like the ass-hole he is.   In my opinion, Kamala Harris is the only one on the debate stage that can perform that task.

 

Fuck the poles.  I am not concerned about the idiot base of the Republican Party; I am afraid that the Democrats, in their naiveté, will hand Trump 

another four years.

the Ol’Buzzard