John

It appears the United States will abandon Ukraine, a democratic nation fighting for survival against Russian invasion.  Trump appears to be cozying up to Putin again, something I could never understand during his first term.  Further the United States seems about to forsake our NATO friends and allies in Europe.  Although I was an objector in Vietnam, we seem to have forgotten the WWII lesson of Poland in 1939.

It is estimated something in excess of 500,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded.  Russia does not say exactly.  Ukrains says they have lost about 45,000 soldiers killed and 325,000 wounded, plus 150,000 civilians killed or wounded.  The war seems to be more or less at a stalemate with an increasing proportion of the Ukrainian population wanting it to end.  My compassion extends equally to Russian families who did not choose this war, even now to North Koreans thrown into the battle.  The human race has had great trouble with strong-man tyrants and dictators.  Only four generations since the world rose up to swat down that last one.  Regardless the agressor, once the blood starts flowingi it seems to find its own justification.

I suppose the answer at this point, not a solution but an answer, is a cease-fire more or less in place ….. until Russia and Putin starts this shit again.  When Trump and Putin met behind closed doors in Helsinki, and Trump demanded even the interpreter’s notes be given to him, that was the first time the word “treason” entered my mind.  And today our President is tearing down the United States security institutions while inflaming  culture war divisions within the country.  How deep is the moral abyss?  The institutionalized corruption of the Eric Adams debacle may be only the beginning.  Border patrol turning off their body cameras, what is that about?   The depth of cruelty in mass firings without cause;  see my previous post about efficiency not cruelty.   Are we paying attention?  Or are we mostly working just to get by?  Inflation has notched up again.  Food prices continue high and rising.  Fuel, which had dropped to near pre-covid levels, jumped up again here in the last week.  Is it the Trump tariffs?

Has extreme partisan politics brought us to this?

This morning, 2/19, Trump is saying exactly Putin’s claim, that Ukraine started the war.  Where is the conscience of our nation?

I don’t have a lot of heroes but Voledymyr Zelensky is one.  A very brave man.

Below I outline how I would make the Federal Government smaller and more efficient   Would I have done this without the current Musk/Trump/DOGE fuss?  I think I would because I have been thinking about this and like all those people lined up at the Park in Eagle Pass, a deeper dive into the numbers is very disturbing.

Of first and foremost importance to me however is how individual people are treated.  Wrongful firings, mass layoffs, the gratuitous vengence of cancelled security details, pulling of security clearances, all unnecessary cruelty.  The unimaginable cruelty of cold turkey cancelling USAID, food, medicine and medical care to impoverished people.  And in the case of firing senior national security officers, it is terribly short sighted.  I hate cruelty.

So here is what I would do.

1.  A government wide hiring freeze and shrinkage by attrition.  (Department heads can replace critica skills on an individual basis.)
2.   Offer early retirement.
3.    A Transition out of Government” program which allow a limied number of unpaid days off to seek other work.
4.    A cautious pruning, working with Congress, of programs and branches, which can be combined or deleted.

I would replace DOGE with the “Presidential Task Force for Efficient Government”  working steadily and continuously with select committees of Congress.  It is not flashy and it is not cruel, but it works.

The posts here on my web-site are often written from the perspective, if I were actually President of the United States, what I would do.  Rather than a cronicle of the bizzare over the last couple weeks, here is what I would do.

First the mid=air collision and crash on approach to Reagan Interational Airport in Washington D.C. just acoss the Potomac River from the Capital.  It is never easy to find the right words in these tragedies.  The president’s role should be compassion for the victims and families, and support for the responding agencies.  Full Stop.  I was proud of the first responders’  immediate massive response.  I was pround of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for their immediate response, even while efforts to recover survivors were still underway.  I was equally proud of the NTSB in their determination to conduct an exhausive and fact based investigation.

Regarding disaster relief for the Los Angeles fires, as well as hurricanes in the southeast, Federal disaster asistance should be immediate and not tied to any political issues.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has developed a proceedure from experience of multiple disasters.  Improvements are possible.  Getting people back on their properties is the first priortiy, even if that means a tiny home or mobile home.  Reconstruction of thousands of homes will invariably take time.

So far as making government more efficient, my approach would be a hiring freeze, allowing the government to get smaller by attrition and causing the varios agencies to tighten their belts, as did Bill Clinton.  Department heads are allowed to replace critical skills only.  Evaluation of whole departments is the work of bi-partisan select committees of Congress.  Certainly I would restore the security details for several individuals, restore the security clearances of past national leaders of the intellegence agencies.  Their experience is valuable.  And I would return to work those others terminated by mass firings or layoffs.  As I said, consideration of whole departments is the work for select committees of Congress.

I am of the view that abandonment of the North American Free Trade agreement (negotiated with Canada and Mexico during the first Trump administration) and the imposition of tariffs on Mexico and Canada will likely result in increased costs for most Americans.  This again should be studied by a select committee of Congress before any action is taken.

On the Southern Boarder I would make every effort to seal off illegal entry even if I have to line up U.S. military shoulder to shoulder to fill the gaps in the boarder fence.  Law abiding people who have been here awhile, who have jobs, families and may be paying taxes should not be deported.

While I am very concerned about illegal immigration and energy, one of my greatest concerns for our country is food prices which are already high.   A Declaration of Emergency should be for a threat to life, public health or property.  Food prices could get there.  I would not shoot ourselves in the foot by deporting agricultural workers.  We certainly need more farmers.

Contributing members of our national community, neighbors, friends, essential workers ….. now comes the deportation.  This is inhumane, absolutely wrong and cruel.   Law abiding immigrant working families often with U.S. citizen children.  Been here awhile, they should not be deported.  I keep thinking of Suazo and his crew, patching the pot holes at night on the Francis Scott Key bridge when it went down.  The type of hard work that every new wave of immigrants have done in this country.

Wrong, inhumane, cruel and stupid as well.  Essential workers, harvest crews, disaster clean up, reducing fire hazard in our forests, all the work that immigrants do.  Farmers know that most American citizens will not take these jobs.

We need to stop the influx of refugees at the southern boarder.  There are far too many.  We do not need to deport our friends, neighbors contributing to our nation.

News this morning says Trump will ban trans individuals from serving in the military.  Also wrong.  Mom was a MASH nurse in WWII and told us of the trans men and women serving at that time.  Honorably doing their part for their country.

All of the above, have we really become this intolerant?  Have we become this damn stingy?

Read the letter in full below.

Dear President Trump,

As I take leave of this sacred office I wish you and your family all the best in the next four years. The American people – and people around the world – look to this house for steadiness in the inevitable storms of history, and my prayer is that in the coming years will be a time of prosperity, peace, and grace for our nation.

May God bless you and guide you as He has blessed and guided our beloved country since our founding.

Joe Biden 1-20-25

Biden’s letter to Trump

Amendment XIV of the U.S Constitution

Section 1.  All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.

There has been NO interruption of water supply to Los Angeles.  The California Aqueduct  and the Los Angeles Aqueduct continue to deliver water to the city.  Because of the fire fighting efforts,  there has been an over capacity issue with water mains within the city and a loss of pumping capacity because of power failures.  This is a fire driven by hurricane force winds in a region which is unusually dry.  Los Angeles will need to make major adjustments in fire safe construction, urban fire breaks, and threats posed by the Santa Anna winds.

People who loose their homes in hurricanes, fires and other natural disasters did not cause the hurricanes.  They should not be penalized or politicized.  Hindsight being what it is, it will always be possible to say  we should have been better prepared.  In this case there were some advance preparations, fire safe building codes, pre-positioned fire engines, but there are also deficiencies.  Notably staffing levels in the LA fire department are lower than many other cities.  The intensity of a fire driven by hurricane force winds is hard to imagine unless one sees it first hand.  I doubt even a fully staffed LAFD could have stropped it during high winds.  There need to be physical barriers and sprinkler systems engineered and installed in advance.

For the most part these were residential neighborhoods.  Los Angles will have to take steps to keep them residential and prevent opportunists from buying up the land for high end developments.  Rebuilding will be slow.  Los Angeles should take note of what Hawaii has done after the Lahaina fires.

It is always about the economy.

On not distancing herself from Biden.  Addressing issues in practical specifcs tends to do this automatically.

There appears to be a portion of the electorate that is not culturally able to vote for a woman.  A misguided notion about strength.

There was more misinformation in this election than any previous amplified by on line platforms.

I remain committed to four principles of leadership, thoughtful, compassionate, honest, strength when necessary.

Cruelty is always the wrong policy.

I don’t want to see anyone killed, so I’m glad that Trump is safe from the attempted assination.  However the children of Springfield, Ohio are not safe because of the trash talk that comes from this man’s mouth and the cowardice of the majority of the Republican Party.

Economy First!  It is where we live everyday.  Agree that Health Care and other support for working families is up front important.  Trump wanted to kill the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) but had no replacement.  Still does not so far as I know.  But how to address the general state of the economy, food prices, fuel, other consumer goods.  I think a Blue Ribbon Commission to advise you and show your direct concern would be a good idea right now!  Economy is complicated, a visible effort to examine the factors would help inform the country and underscore your continuing effort and concern.

In a free market economic system we depend on competition to keep runaway prices in check.  In a global economy that includes foreigh competition.  Sometimes the free market economy goes sideways.  That is why we have laws against monopoly and price fixing.  People are feeling high food prices especially, but a thorough examination of the causes should proceed any assumption of price gouging.  These guardrail laws are not communism.

Visit the Border!  Talk about bringing back the bi-partisan immigration reform bill and what effect it would have.  Why we need to modernize these policies.  Has it been nearly 75 years, it was a different world back then.  We have a monthly jobs report.  People are concerned about the Border, we should have a monthly report about that too, to limit exaggeration and measure our efforts.  California was probably the first State to erect a barrier and Texas seems to be the last.  There are historic reasons.  It is not a political monument, it is a tool, where the Border Patrol believes it will be cost effective and helpful.  It is also not a “wall” but rather a fence.  Border Patrol wants to be able to see what is happening on the other side.  Even this simple change of terminology might lessen the political fervor.

Cruelty in any form is the wrong policy.  Setting up concentration camps to deport eleven million people is insane.  We deport the bad actors and those who have recently crossed illegally.  For those who have been here a long time, built lives and families, part of our communities, we make some accommodation.  And it certainly is not necessary to ban entry based on race or religion.  Entry from terror torn parts of the world requires thorough vetting.  If vetting is not possible, no entry.

An individual storm or natural disaster does not tell us much about Climate Change.  Need to look at world wide averages which is why the NASA Earth Science program is so important.  However extreme, record breaking weather are markers, easily seen, which push the average.  We cannot stick our heads in the sand about this and simultaneously we cannot starve ourselves for fossil fuels.  The whole world is still dependent.  There has to be a compromise while we move to cleaner energy sources.  Donald Trump would have us believe it is all a fiction.  Did I read that he or project 2025 want to shut down the weatherman?  (National Weather Service)

A monthly energy report like the jobs report.  How much are we producing and where does it go?  Too little production, too much export?  Would it make sense, with oil and gas leases on public lands, to give an advantage to petroleum companies that only sell within the United States?

Trump and Vance look like two peas in the pod, two fat cats there to protect the interests of the other fat cats and their self interest.  Trickle down economics has never worked.  The rich get richer.  These guys with SO MUCH MONEY (Elon Musk) get so far removed from where we all live, then think they are qualified to govern.  More about that and the Supreme Court.  And now, after X interview,  it is three peas in the pod, add Musk.  All fat cats looking out for their own interests.

Terminating a pregnancy is a choice that some women have made for hundreds, probably thousands of years.  It does not surprise me that it is not specifically mentioned in the constitution.  I see it as a right of the people that preexisted the constitution and thus wrongly taken away by the Supreme Court.  Our whole nation night do well to note what happened in Ireland.  After several years of a national ban, it was voted out.  An abortion ban is blind to human condition.  It is not where we really live.

Trump always plays the victim but his legal troubles are of his own making.  The pardon power should be used for humanitarian reasons after all legal prosesses of completed.  We are, and should all be, equal under the law.

Another school shooting.  Another AR-15 rifle.  Beyond the absurdity of giving a 14 year old child an assault rifle, to the broader issue.  Any gun can kill but some guns are more lethal than others.  The ballistic characteristics of the AR make it especially so.  An educated guess, that an AR has been used, can be made from the proportion of dead and wounded in a mass shooting.  Two especially good articles in the Miami Hearld after the Parkland shooting.  Rounds for an AR literally tear the human body apart.  This is a military weapon.  It should not be sold to the general public.  There should be a buy back program for those in circulation.  If someone wants to keep the AR which they already have, keep it secured in your home.  It should be illegal in any public place.