Another Choice Between AIDS and Cancer

Lots of headlines this morning all saying pretty much the same thing; that the political eyes of the nation are on Georgia. At stake in the January run-off election in Georgia is the control of the Senate. I had long ago decided to and in fact did vote against Trump in the Presidential election, but also decided that I would vote Republican in the senatorial elections to keep control of the Senate to preserve conservative principals. I am still of that mind but am wavering. I don't trust Kelly Loeffler or David Perdue. Every time I see a political advertisement for either of them, I have the impression of plastic people, trying to be everything to everybody but saying nothing. But it's not just an impression about those two that bothers me. For one there is the congressional investigation in which both were investigated for corruption. An article from Wikipedia explains:

"On January 24, 2020, the Senate Committees on Health and Foreign Relations held a closed meeting with only Senators present to brief them about the COVID-19 outbreak and how it would affect the United States. Following the meeting Senator Kelly Loeffler and her husband Jeffrey Sprecher, the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, made twenty-seven transactions to sell stocks worth between $1,275,000 and $3,100,000 and two transactions to buy stock in Citrix Systems which saw an increase following the stock market crash.^[2] Senator David Perdue made a series of 112 transactions with stocks sold for around $825,000 and bought stocks worth $1.8 million. Perdue started buying around $185,000 in stock in DuPont, a company that makes personal protective equipment, on the same day as the Senate briefing up to March 2. On May 26, the Justice Department announced that it had ended its investigation into Feinstein, Inhofe, and Loeffler. "

The investigating committee found no wrongdoing violating either lawful or ethical standards. Loeffler says that third party financial advisers did the trading, unknown to her. Yeah...the financial advisors just happened to do that shortly after a confidential senator briefing, and made all the right choices on what stocks to buy and sell. The same goes for Perdue. I recall that old chestnut that says "If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck and quakes like a duck, it's probably a duck."

Another thing that bothers me is their fawning over Trump; acting like puppies trying to impress their master. That includes parroting his nonsense and lies and dismissing contrary information as "fake news." And like Trump they downplayed the coronavirus. What I find really interesting is that in their earlier advertisements each of them played heavily on their relationships with Trump, but now that Trump is on his way out he has virtually disappeared from their paper and television advertisements. That's probably a smart political ploy but doesn't say much about friendship or loyalty. 

The options are Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, who in my opinion are way too far left, both spouting the same old tired liberal rhetoric. I don't want them and the rest of the liberals controlling the Senate. I am in favor of climate control, but not at the cost of immediate destruction of industry. I am in favor of equality, but not preferential treatment for every minority group who feels they've been ill treated. I especially don't want to see reparations paid for slavery that occurred 200 years ago, or illegals with voting rights. I don't even want to see illegals period. 

Once upon a time there was an American culture. Remnants of it still exist but it is slowly and perhaps irretrievably disappearing. Conservative principles and values are the best hope to preserve what remains. It is my hope that the Republican Party can regroup and once again focus on supporting and defending American ideals rather than an individual, especially one who seems hell-bent on destroying democracy. But I'm not sure that Loeffler or Perdue have the character to defend American ideals. I don't know who does at this point but I am sure it's not Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. 

The Price of Freedom

This from Kayleigh McEnany, President Donald Trump’s top spokesperson in a recent Fox News interview:

“The American people know how to protect their health. We’ve dealt with Covid for many months,” she continued. “But it’s Orwellian in a place like Oregon to say, ‘If you gather in numbers more than six, we might come to your house and arrest you, and you get 30 days of jail time.’ That’s not the American way. We don’t lose our freedom in this country. We make responsible health decisions as individuals.”

I am so damned tired of hearing about how wearing a mask and taking health precautions is an infringement on personal freedom. If someone takes a shot at you and you have the opportunity to duck, do you duck or continue to stand because ducking would infringe on your freedom to stand? You duck! In many ways Covid-19 is even worse than a bullet. The 250,000 people dead in this country didn't hear the shot or see the bullet coming...didn't have the opportunity to duck. Or maybe some of them did. Maybe some of them killed themselves by ignoring all of the medical experts. A nurse recently interviewed said that dying patients told her that it can't be the virus, it must be something else killing them because the virus is a hoax. 

Ms. McEnany, half of the people in this country don't "...know how to protect their health", or, "...make responsible decisions as individuals." They refuse to wear a mask. They refuse to avoid gatherings. They refuse to accept that the virus is real, and by their cavalier behavior are endangering the health and perhaps lives of others. And if/when the vaccine is made available, those same people will refuse to take it. And some of them will die, still doubting that the virus exists. So, Ms. McEnany, when you say, "We don't lose our freedom in this country", you should probably add that the price of that freedom could be our lives. 

Maybe what I wrote in this post has offended someone. I don't care. I may not understand or agree with someone else's opinion but I respect their right to hold it. It's okay to have different opinions, but not regarding Covid-19, because your opinion and resultant behavior may be responsible for me or my wife's death. That's not okay. Wear a mask, maintain safe distancing, avoid gatherings, and most of all, get off of this 'loss of freedom', and 'hoax' thing! Geeze! 

Judge Gordon, We Are Already There

This from an ABC news article this morning:

"When Republican lawyers in Nevada complained their observers were not close enough if they could not hear everything poll workers were saying, U.S. District Judge Andrew Gordon pushed back. "At what point does this get ridiculous?" the exasperated judge, an appointee of President Barack Obama, asked before ruling against the Republicans."

Judge Gordon, it has passed the point of ridiculous. With every passing day, Trump and incredibly the majority of the Republican party leadership, either by their open support or silence are making a mockery of conservative ideology. Voters in 2024 will carry with them to the ballot box the images of a leaderless political party in shambles and a President who's sanity must soon be questioned, and who had to be physically ejected from the White House while shouting "I was robbed!" Don't laugh. This is Trump we're talking about...it could happen.

Four years is a short time. Can a coherent platform of conservative policy and principles be reestablished by 2024? And who would be a candidate? It will have to be someone who is not now on the horizon...someone who is not associated with Trump or those still openly supporting him; someone who is intelligent, mature and has the wisdom and leadership ability to carry the banner of conservative thinking. 

(A little later) I've been thinking about the scenario I painted above about Trump not voluntarily leaving the White House and wondering how far fetched that is. There are plenty of ultra-right bubas here in Appalachia who would be perfectly willing to jump into their Trump banner bearing, muffler less, vintage pick up trucks with their AK rifles and drive up to Washington to protect their leader. If that were to happen I would be shocked but not surprised. Nothing that is Trump connected surprises me anymore.

Why there will never be a Walmart in Peru

Walmart has thousands of operating units around the world but except for Chile has very few in South America. There's a reason for that. Walmart doesn't build in countries lacking political stability. Peru is one such country, and the root cause of Peru's instability, as with many other South American countries is corruption. To understand the magnitude of the problem you need to see and experience it as I did, for nearly ten years. Corruption is the name of the game.  It covers the spectrum from the President of the country to the lowliest desert village official. It is the way of life, deeply imbedded in the Peruvian culture. The population assumes that all public workers are corrupt. They don't accept it but they expect it, and there is not much difference between the two.

Jobs and positions can be bought, laws can be circumvented, and fortunes can be made by greasing the appropriate palms. I could offer so many examples of everyday, every situation corruption but will limit it to one. Chiclayo is the fourth largest city in Peru with a population of about 224,000. The long-time mayor was up for reelection and running on the platform of 'manos limpias' (clean hands). At a ceremony in city hall the mayor, along with the director of tourism presented Maribel and I with awards for service to the city. Less than a year later the mayor was charged with corruption; ran, was captured in a small village, and to this day is still in jail. The director of tourism and her daughter (the mayor's girlfriend) were also charged and jailed. Nobody was surprised. Everyone knew these people were corrupt when they were in office, and anyone who didn't know assumed it. 

Peru has a history to the present day of deposing Presidents because of corruption, the deposing usually orchestrated by one or more of the opposing political parties, who are also corrupt. A few years ago Pedro Paul Kuczynski was elected President. Pedro was Peruvian and also a citizen of the United States. He had taught in the states and owned a farm near Madison Wisconsin. Everyone thought that they had finally elected an honest politician who would root out corruption. It wasn't long before an opposing political party charged him with corruption in past business dealings. Kuczynski denied the charges, but suspiciously quietly gave up his office and dropped out of site. 

Up to this week Martin Vizcarra was the President of Peru. The Peruvian congress has removed him from office, because they don't like the way he has handled the coronavirus, and because of some corruption allegations from years ago when he was a regional governor. Most of the population believed him to be an honest man, and most people, including the local population, many expats living in Lima and me still believe in him. As of this writing thousands of Peruvians are protesting in the streets of Lima and other cities. The protests will do no good...they never do. Soon the unrest will quiet down to be replaced by grumbling and joking about the corrupt man who displaced Vizcarra. Actually, some of the elements of the Peruvian intrigue resemble the current political climate here. The difference as I see it is that America has just gotten rid of its worst President while Peru got rid of its best. Don't expect a Walmart in Peru anytime soon.

Celebrating the Longest Election in History

Maribel and I are celebrating tonight. Not because Biden won. A Democrat in the White House is not something to be celebrated. Kamala Harris as VP is even less comforting. I understand why Biden tabbed her as a running mate; to bring in the minorities of all types and flavors who feel they have not been given enough by this great country of ours. What concerns me is that she's too far left and the thought that she could be the President if something happens to Biden, or will be the Democratic candidate in 2024 is disturbing. Never the less we are celebrating...we're celebrating that the 'Man Who Would be Emperor' has been voted out. 

Never has anyone so divided this country like Trump has. This guy is a disgrace. He's disgraced this country and himself, though through his eyes he probably sees himself as a savior, though savior of what I don't know. The ship is rudderless. He's been combative, tactless, graceless and incompetent throughout his four year term, and now at the end he can't even graciously leave the scene. One of his favorite expressions is, "No body has ever seen anything like this." He's got that right.

In a way I even blame Trump for the cancelation of my 80th birthday party this coming December because I didn't want to be responsible for the possible transmission of the virus. Yah, I know that sounds like sour grapes but think about this. If, instead of his initially ignoring the virus, and if he had taken the advice of medical experts seriously, and if he had stopped his absurd speculations about the temporariness and treatment of the virus, might we be in better shape than we are now? Could I have had a party without feeling apprehensive about it? What would a real leader have done? A leader would have defined the goal, (defeat the virus) assembled a team with expertise in line with the goal, explained the goal to the team, assured the team that they will be supported with whatever they need, and then gotten the hell out of the way! But not Trump. Trump has to be center stage in the middle of the spotlight, confusing the public and making his team members walk on eggs for fear of contradicting him with facts that rebut his foolishness. And if they should happen to stray from the Trump line they're dismissed as "idiots" and "disasters". It's not reaching too far to say that his meddling, interference and lack of understanding may in part be the reason for the 250,000 deaths we'll soon be facing, and to this day the lack of a coherent plan to combat the virus. 

I think that Biden will do a much better job of bringing some semblance of order and structure to the issues of the virus and the economy. Hopefully whatever his plans turn out to be will help to unite us rather than further divide us. At the very least we'll be back to some sort of normal governing structure. And who knows, maybe I can have an 81st birthday party.

Coincidently and completely unrelated to the announcement today of Trump's election loss we said goodbye to the 'otwor na odbytnice' this afternoon. Somehow it seemed like a fitting day to do it.