Category Archives: Uncategorized
If You Like Your Private Insurance…
Maybe Elizabeth Warren is a little too refreshing. Her plan to take away your current coverage might have been a bridge too far. Rich Lowry says even some Democrat primary voters don’t want to give up private insurance.”
Multi Billionaire Sugar Scourge Michael Bloomberg
Click Mayor Mike to enlarge image.
Multi billionaire sugar scourge Michael Bloomberg is unhappy. And that’s because multi billionaire coffee magnate Howard Schultz wants to throw his latte into the ring. Schultz is taking a page from multi-billionaire Ross Perot’s playbook. He wants to run for president as an independent. And that could make things tough for Democrats, like Bloomberg.
Agent Trump
Click image to enlarge
President Trump took offense when Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro asked if he’s a Russian agent.
She asked because the NYT ran a story Friday titled “F.B.I. Opened Inquiry Into Whether Trump Was Secretly Working on Behalf of Russia.”
And now Democrats want the translator’s notes from private meetings between Agent Trump and President Putin.
Michael Flynn’s Downfall
And Comey’s Ascension
In the early days of the Trump administration FBI Directer Comey did an end run around protocol and sent two agents to the White House to interview National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. No attorney needed. “It’s hard to imagine two FBI agents ending up in the State Room. How did that happen?” “I sent them…,” Comey bragged.
George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley thinks that line sums up Comey pretty well:
Just send a couple of guys over. One line could not more aptly capture Comey and his own professed view of “ethical leadership.” The interview confirmed what some of us have written about Comey for more than two years. The media consistently reinforced his image as a rules driven and principled public servant, often referring to him as an almost naive Eagle Scout. The Washington Post even ran the headline, “Boy Scout James Comey is no match for Donald Trump.” Yet, the history of Comey shows both an overriding interest in his own actions as well as a willingness to violate rules to achieve that interest. But his comments, including a call to the public to defeat Trump in a “landslide” in the next election, have stripped away any remaining pretense. The fact is, there often was more pretense than principle in his final years as director.
Why Did He Lie?
But the feds did catch Flynn in a lie, they just didn’t know it at the time.
Why Did He Plead Guilty?
Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz says the FBI knew the answers to questions they asked him. So why’d they ask?
The FBI knew the truth. They had recordings of the conversations. Then why did they ask him whether he had those conversations? Obviously, not to learn whether he had them but, rather, to give him the opportunity to lie to federal agents so that they could squeeze him to provide damaging information against President Trump.
Not Comey’s First Rodeo
Comey also asked questions he knew the answers to in 2003. When he was a deputy attorney general he appointed a special prosecutor to find out who blew Valerie Plame’s CIA cover. Except he already knew who. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage had already admitted he was the accidental leaker. In that case Scooter Libby was convicted of lying.
Professor Turley called the Flynn conviction a “canned hunt.” “They put him in cage and shot him.”
Eli Lake at Bloomberg says Flynn is owed an apology.
Meanwhile, federal Judge Emmet Sullivan delayed Flynn’s sentencing again.
Bush Funeral All About Humility
Click on someone humble to enlarge the image.
The funeral for President George H. W. Bush was beautiful, and informative. W’s eulogy was touching.
I drew Bush 41 a lot, and felt like I understood him pretty well as a goofy but decent guy. And I was aware of of his other virtues like integrity, kindness, courage, high speed golfing and fishing, airplane jumping and lip reading. But hearing the speakers, all of whom were close to him and loved him, one virtue seemed to stand out – humility. Maybe that’s because it’s a rare commodity these days, especially in Washington. Anyway, former Senator Alan Simpson nailed it in his warm and witty eulogy:
Those who crave the high road of humility in Washington , DC are not bothered by heavy traffic.
Then the camera panned to President Trump and the past presidents the front row and, well, this cartoon idea kind of jumped out.
It’s not often you get a pack of presidents together in one shot. So I try to make the most of it. Here’s a cartoon I drew when they gathered for Nixon’s funeral.
Click a president to enlarge the image.
Maybe I’ll do the Bush bunch pondering, “If Perot hadn’t run…”
I know. I left Jimmy Carter out of the humility cartoon. It’s not the first time.
Click a football helmet or the lump on President Ford’s head to enlarge the image.
