"The Month That Was - July 2018"

Sydney M. Williams

swstotd.blogspot.com

The Month That Was – July 2018

August 1, 2018

“No other date on the calendar more potently symbolizes

what our nation stands for than the fourth of July.”

                                                                                    William “Mac” Thornberry (1958-)

                                                                                    U.S. House of Representatives (R-TX)

Liberty has special reverence for July. On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed, or, at least, that is the date we celebrate its signing. It gave birth to the greatest nation and the freest people the world had ever known, which in subsequent years has become larger and freer. On July 14, 1789, the Bastille, a military fortress and prison, was stormed and the prison gates opened, a turning point in the French Revolution. And, on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the Moon – a manifestation of the power of freedom and capitalism and a giant step in technology, science and courage.

Three news items during the month deserve special notice – the miraculous recovery of twelve boys and their coach from two and half miles into a water-clogged cave in northern Thailand; the truce on trade wars agreed to between Mr. Trump and European Commission President Jean-Clade Juncker, and the poor performance by Mr. Trump in Helsinki and the even worse reaction on the part of his critics.

Let me tackle the latter first. There is an advantage in having an outsider in Washington – the absence of political ties that prevent fresh looks at long-persistent problems, formed, in part, by long associations. Perhaps voters felt, given the soiled nature of relationship politics, that a fresh face would be a reminder of Lord Palmerston’s admonition that a nation’s interests have more permanence than its friends?

There are, though, disadvantages: Washington works differently than business; there are three co-equal branches of government, making collaboration imperative and executive orders undemocratic. In politics, grey is more common than black or white. Also, while ultimate power is vested in the people, administrators and bureaucrats, through knowledge of how things work, do hold power – which needs to be recognized by the occupant of the oval office. The Presidency is unlike any other job in the world. It comes without training wheels. Thus, beginner mistakes are made. Nevertheless, the President sets the tone. As an outsider, Mr. Trump, in his quest to fulfill campaign promises, has run afoul of mainstream media and establishment insiders. Why, for example, at his joint news conference with Mr. Putin, did Mr. Trump state that he trusted the words of the Russian President over revelations of the intelligence community?  Why did Mr. Trump’s attempt to correct that error – a claim that it was the use of a double negative – remind us of President Clinton when he said it depends on your definition of “is?” Why did he appear on the cusp of offering up former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul and progenitor of the Magnitsky Act Bill Browder for questioning by Vladimir Putin, in exchange for Robert Mueller being given the right to interview a dozen indicted Russians for allegedly hacking into the Democrat National Committee’s computers?

The answer, in part, lies in the visceral responses by Mr. Trump to the unprecedented attacks on him from mainstream media, the establishment and what from passes for so-called cultural parts of our society: the entertainment industry, university professors and administrators, and television talk-show hosts. Their attacks are vulgar, violent and disquieting. Voters in 2016 did not elect an angel or a saint. They elected a 70-year-old white man who had for decades been involved in the murky world of commercial real estate. They voted for a man who had been twice divorced and whose extra-curricular activities had been well-documented. But he was also a man who reflected their inner fears and concerns – that elites in politics, business, finance, universities and the media, with a focus on plastic straws, transgenders and multiculturalism, had ignored the more pressing needs of stagnating incomes, jobs and respect.

The press, Democrats and many Republican “never-Trumpers” deliberately conflate two distinct words – meddling and colluding – as they apply to the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election. The first is a “dog bites man story;” the second is a “man bites dog story,” and is worthy of investigation and, if true, punishment. President Trump’s animus toward the press is well known, and understandable given its ferocity toward him. His reactions, therefore, are unsurprising. As well, people see through the obvious bias of those doing the investigating. The release of the heavily redacted FISA application for a warrant against former Trump campaign aide Carter Page confirmed that the FBI relied on the Steele dossier without acknowledgement, a dossier funded by the DNC and the Clinton campaign. Even so, many of us would prefer Mr. Trump use humor to deflect the slings and arrows flung at him, rather than nasty Tweets.

Mr. Trump is the Constitutionally-elected President and a certain level of respect should be shown him and the office he represents. Mr. Trump was wrong to criticize his own intelligence officers and to suggest that Mr. Putin might be correct when he denied interference in the 2016 election. But the hyperbolic reaction of those who dislike him works to their disadvantage: John King, CNN commentator, said the President had “surrendered” to the Russians. Jill Wine-Bank, on MSNBC compared the President’s performance in Helsinki to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor or Kristallnacht, Former CIA Director John Brennan claimed that Mr. Trump’s joint press conference with Mr. Putin was “nothing short of treasonous.” Mr. Trump is fortunate in receiving such diabolical diatribes and in having political opponents like Elizabeth Warren and Nancy Pelosi. Whenever they speak, they make him look good.

The meeting in Washington between Mr. Juncker and Mr. Trump was big news. Tensions have been high between the European establishment elite, represented by Mr. Juncker and the American elephant in the china shop, Mr. Trump. The latter has been concerned with a mounting trade deficit between the U.S. and Europe and unequal tariffs that, for example, favored European auto manufacturers over their American counterparts. When the two men announced an alliance against third parties’ “unfair trading practices” they didn’t have to explain the reference was to China. Tellingly, the day following the meeting CBS Radio made no mention of the agreement on its 6:00AM news. The New York Timespublished a front-page report of the meeting next day, but under a misleading headline: “Truce on Trade Follows Route Obama Paved.” Both sides – Europe and the U.S. – would like to declare victory, which means that only time will expose the details. Regardless, the fact of the meeting was big news, and it was good news. 

The saving of the boys in Thailand was a miracle, only marred by inappropriate comments from Elon Musk. The feat combined what best characterizes our species: faith, meditation, perseverance, courage, audacity, patience, intelligence, and the technology we have developed. The world waited and watched as SEAL-teams from a dozen countries assisted Royal Thai SEAL-team members in rescuing the boys and their coach, from a narrowly-accessed, water-filled cave. Time was of the essence, because the onset of the Monsoon season would have meant a possible delay of another three or four months. A colossal human tragedy was averted. Most news reported is tragic or bad, for that’s what sells. This rescue provided daylight for the boys as they emerged, but the story also shone sunlight on the world.

……………………………………………………………………

President Trump visited NATO and Great Britain, before meeting with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki. At NATO, he repeated his demand that Europe pay more for its defense needs, which is gradually, but reluctantly, being done. While he still has misgivings about the seriousness of EU members regarding defense, he reiterated his support for NATO. He did, however, question the wisdom of invoking Article 5, should Montenegro, NATO’s newest member and a nation of 630,000, be attacked. His is a position that Lord Palmerston would have understood, even as his opponents did not. In England, in an interview with the British tabloid The Sun, Mr. Trump belittled Theresa May’s handling of Brexit but the next day defended her, in an amusing and friendly joint press conference. Tea with the Queen followed. Protestors, with their “Baby Trump” blimp, were visible on network and cable TV, but small-town Brits were ignored when they expressed solidarity with Mr. Trump, like the mayor of Ramsgate Trevor Shonk who said the President was moving things in the right direction, globally.

Foreign Minister Boris Johnson and Brexit Secretary David Davis resigned from Mrs. May’s cabinet over the slow and bumbled walk toward Brexit. A few days later, Brussels rejected Theresa May’s Brexit plan for City access to the EU market. Israel and Hamas agreed to a cease-fire in Gaza brokered by Egypt. Syrian government forces re-took the city of Deraa, seen as the cradle of the revolution against Bashar al-Assad, which began in 2011. (It was Russian military intervention into Syria in 2015 – ironically, invited in by former Secretary of State John Kerry – that turned the civil war in Mr. Assad’s favor.) A Syrian jet fighter was shot down by Israeli forces when it entered her airspace. Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, having won re-election in June, appointed his son-in-law to head the newly formed treasury and finance ministry, replacing market savvy persons who had held the position in Mr. Erdogan’s previous government. Turkish stocks and the Lira fell. Robert Mueller indicted a dozen Russian intelligence officers for engaging in a “sustained effort to hack into the computer networks of the DNC and DCCC(Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee)” – a provocative gesture, as it immediately preceded the Helsinki talks, and empty, as Mr. Mueller knows the accused will never stand trial.  

……………………………………………………………………

It is becoming difficult for Democrats to continue the pretense that the tax bill signed last December was a sop to the wealthy. Connecticut, a “Blue” state with one of the highest disparities in income, joined a lawsuit filed by Maryland, New Jersey and New York contesting new limits on the state and municipal tax payments that filers can deduct on their federal returns. (The tax bill capped deductions at $10,000, which has no effect on those earning $100,000 or less. Median household income in Connecticut, for example, is $73,400.) Unstated is the fact that the suits, all supported by the states’ respective Democrat governors, are designed to help their wealthiest citizens. Scott Pruitt resigned as head of the EPA, but, fortunately for the economy, only after he had undone many of the restrictive rules implemented during the previous Administration. Peter Strzok’s disingenuous and disrespectful testimony before the House was a vivid manifestation of the arrogance and condescension that characterize progressive, professional bureaucrats. 

……………………………………………………………………

Preliminary Second Quarter GDP growth was reported at + 4.1 percent, the strongest in four years. China continued to weaken the Yuan, to offset the effect of tariffs on exported goods. But devaluing one’s currency starts a country down a slippery slope, as it serves to scare away foreign investors. The price of a Bitcoin continued volatile, up 28% for the month, back to where it was in May. In U.S. equity markets, volatility remained muted, as the DJIA moved up 4.7 percent. The yield curve continued to flatten, with the spread between the Ten-year Treasury Bonds and the Two-year Treasury Note narrowing to 16 basis points, (from 32 basis points a month earlier). What gets economists concerned is that every recession in the past sixty years has been preceded by an inverted yield curve – short rates higher than long rates. But, as The Wall Street Journaleditorialized on July 23, “…it’s hard to know what this means given the Fed’s continuing dominant role in the long-bond market.” Following the 2008 credit crisis, the Fed took unprecedented steps to keep short rates at extraordinary low levels and their quantitative easing programs did the same for long rates. The lifting of Fed Funds’ rates, which began in the fourth quarter of 2015, has taken that rate from 25 Basis Points, where it had been for seven years, to 200 Basis Points today. (In the 1990s, when inflation was about the same as today’s 2.3%, Fed Funds averaged around 550 Basis Points.) The unwinding of the Fed’s long-bond purchase program ended in October 2014, but these rates, too, are historically low. In other words, both short and long rates remain uncommonly low. Mr. Trump is wrong to try to talk rates down. 

……………………………………………………………………

In sports, France and Croatia played for the World Cup, with France winning 4-2. The U.S. did not even qualify for the tournament. The New York Timesreported that the number of players in the U.S. aged 6-12 has declined 14% over the past three years. Germany’s Angelique Kerber beat Serena Williams at Wimbledon, while Serbia’s Novak Djokovic defeated Kevin Anderson for the men’s title. Australia’s Georgina Hope Rinehart National Training Center took both men’s and women’s championship at Henley, winning the Grand Challenge Cup and the Remenham Challenge Cup respectively. The British Open was won by Italy’s Francesco Molinari. The Tour de France was won by Welshman Geraint Thomas. Baseball’s All-Star game was won by the American League 8-6, its 13^thvictory in the past sixteen years. LeBron James signed a four-year, $154 million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers.

…………………………………………………………………….

A still-raging California wildfire has killed eight, burned over 100,000 acres and destroyed more than seven hundred homes near the city of Redding. Missouri’s Democrat Senator Claire McCaskill, seeking sympathy and preparing for a possible loss, has already blamed Russia for meddling in her re-election bid. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old avowed Socialist defeated longtime Democrat Representative Joe Crowley in New York’s 14^thCongressional District. Joe “Jaws” Chestnut, the perennial winner of Nathan’s Fourth of July hot dog eating contest on Coney Island, downed 74 hot dogs in ten minutes to win his 11^thvictory. A duck boat, an amphibious craft, sank in Missouri’s Table Rock Lake, during a sudden squall. Seventeen of the thirty-one passengers died, nine from one family. A steam pipe exploded in New York’s Flatiron district, dislodging about 500 people for a number of days. Twisters, with no warning, struck several Iowa towns, leaving seventeen injured. New York City subway ridership is down, so Democrats did what Democrats do – blamed Uber and proposed fare hikes. Stormy Daniels’ husband filed for divorce on grounds of adultery! Who would have suspected? In good news, Japanese-based Eisai and Biogen disclosed results from a mid-stage study that appear positive for their Alzheimer drug, BAN2401. Republicans should be heartened, as the disgraced James Comey said he would support Democrat candidates in this fall’s election. 

Redoine Faid, France’s most recognized and notorious gangster, made a daring and dramatic escape by helicopter from the Sud-Francillien Prison in Réau, about 35 miles south of Paris. Israel’s Mossad agents made a daring raid on a Tehran warehouse where they grabbed Iranian nuclear archives, which included warhead designs and production schedules. Russian hackers gained access to the networks of several U.S. utilities. One hundred and thirty-two died in Pakistan, during a troubled election in which Imran Khan, a former cricketeer and anti-American politician, was elected Prime Minister. Maria Butina, a red-haired Russian agent who offered sex in exchange for information, was charged with acting as a foreign agent. Wild fires near Athens, Greece killed at least a hundred. Four people were hospitalized during Pamplona’s annual running of the bulls. Russia announced its intent to raise the retirement age to 65 from 60 for men and to 63 from 55 for women. Life expectancy in the former Communist country is 66.5. A shooting in the Greek district of Toronto left two dead and twelve wounded. The shooter, Faisal Hussein, was killed by police. In a case of perverted priorities, some of the press and many Democrats were upset when President Trump did not bow to Queen Elizabeth, but they were okay when President Obama did bow to Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah in 2009. It is fascinating how retirement can turn a hard-left partisan into a statesman. But that is what Barack Obama showed in an hour and eighteen-minute speech in South Africa celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s birth. He spoke of the importance of borders, citizenship and listening to those with whom one disagrees, concepts he ignored as President.  

In a sign that sanctions are biting, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned: “Mr. Trump, don’t play with the lion’s tail. This would only lead to regret…” The American President naturally responded on Twitter: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN…” Pundits and mainstream media immediately suggested Mr. Trump – not Mr. Rouhani – was war-mongering. But, how should he have responded? Turned the other cheek? A few days later, the mercurial but pragmatic Mr. Trump said he would be willing to meet with Mr. Rouhani about the nuclear issue. 

…………………………………………………………………….

Lord Carrington died at 99. He was born Peter Alexander Rupert Carrington and served in the governments of Winston Churchill, Harold MacMillan, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, Edward Heath and Margaret Thatcher. As well, he had been secretary general of NATO, and he had been a member of the House of Lords for 78 years. Sergio Marchionne, the man who revived Fiat and Chrysler, died at 66. Nancy Sinatra, the first of Frank Sinatra’s four wives and the mother of his three children, died at 101.

………………………………………………………………….

The month ended amidst heat and humidity, at least here in Connecticut, just payment for the below-average, cooler spring we experienced. August will bring primaries in fifteen states, including my state of Connecticut, so politics, if not the weather, will remain intemperate. As Caroline and I will be on the Jersey shore, we have already voted. I urge everyone to get to the polls and exercise your right, which is truly a privilege. A country is best served when its representatives most fully reflect all its citizens.

                                                                                    

                                                                                                

"The Month That Was - April 2018"

Sydney M. Williams

swtotd.blogspot.com

“The Month That Was – April 2018”

May 1, 2018

“A gush of bird-song, a patter of dew; a cloud and a rainbow’s warning,

Suddenly sunshine and perfect blue – an April day in the morning.”

                                                                                                Harriet Prescott Spofford (1835-1921)

American writer, poet

When in Rome, as the saying goes, do as Romans. Caroline and I spent a few days in Rome during the middle of the month, and one thing Romans don’t do is read a lot of English-language newspapers. I was, however, able to read the New York Times International Editionmost days, but no doubt missed some of the news. For that I apologize.

“…suddenly sunshine and perfect blue…” After a cold and wet April, some sunshine appeared in the past week, at least here in the northeast. As well, the month provided signs of optimism – perhaps only visible to those of a cheerful disposition. And, this despite on-going concerns: the Islamization of European nations like Belgium and France; the threat to liberty that comes from an expanding, unaccountable European government in Brussel; the risk of protectionism; the confluence of expanding government debt and rising interest rates; and the threat to democracy from those who persist in using all means possible – including nasty innuendos and circumventing civil liberties – to end, or at least stymie, the Trump Presidency.

Kim Jung-un, in preparation for a June summit with President Trump (and I suspect under orders from Beijing), agreed to suspend nuclear and missile tests and shut down the site of the last half dozen tests under Mount Mantap – a location many scientists suspect is in danger of collapse. Mr. Kim crossed the border into South Korea – the first North Korean leader to do so since 1953 – to meet with President Moon Jae-in. Also, leaders of the world’s largest countries met: India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China’s President Xi Jinping. After 59 years of rule, the last Castro left office, though it is uncertain that Miguel Diaz-Canel will serve the people any better. Jobless claims fell during the month. Unemployment is at 4.1% and work-force participation is rising. After years of stagnation, there was a modest increase in hourly earnings of 0.3%. Even the stock market, following two months of declines, rose modestly. Following publication of Steven Pinker’s book Enlightenment Now, op-eds appeared by Jonah Goldberg in National Reviewand Daniel Finkelstein of The London Timesnoting what every student of history should know: The world has never been richer, healthier, more democratic or fairer – a consequence of the Enlightenment: western values, self-determination, democracy, rule of law, market-driven economies, humanism, reason and science. Something to keep in mind, when we find ourselves in a funk.

In a Nashville Waffle House, James Shaw pushed back against what has become a social norm of non-interference: where fear of offending allows bad people to do harm, where universities bow to students’ unreasonable demands, and where children freely disobey parents and teachers without consequence. Mr. Shaw rushed the shooter Travis Reinking, preventing him from killing more than he had. Individuals across the political spectrum praised him, as they did Barbara Bush, suggesting that traditional values do still abound. Mrs. Bush, the wife on one President and the mother of another, was a woman of high moral character who put her family above all else. She did not have to join #MeToo to justify her independence and sense of self. Had she been born at a different time, she might have become a chief executive, but she never regretted her role. Like Mr. Shaw has become, she was an inspiration to millions of Americans, who struggle to find a moral compass in the mishmash of today’s multicultural morass.

In Hungary, Prime Minister Victor Orban won a third term, gaining a two-thirds parliamentary majority. He is a concern to Brussels, who fear right-wing authoritarians rising in eastern European nations like Poland, Romania and Slovakia. It is true that these countries are governed by nationalists and that they are net monetary beneficiaries of the EU’s largesse, but they are also subject to laws made in Brussels over which they have little sway, including those that control immigration. Perhaps today’s nationalism is but a backlash against an intrusive EU? Self-examination would be useful for bureaucrats in Brussels. As well, there has been a rise in anti-Semitism throughout the EU, but especially in western Europe. This is not a re-birth of Nazism and Fascism; it is the Middle East come to Europe. France today has twelve times as many Muslims as Jews. Germany has thirty-five times more Muslims than Jews. 

Before he was confirmed as Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo traveled to North Korea to prepare for the proposed meeting – possibly in June – between Mr. Trump and Kim Jong-un. Joined by Great Britain and France, the United States struck chemical facilities in Syria, in retaliation for a gas attack President Assad made on his own people. When red lines are crossed, push-back is critical. Emmanuel Macron visited Washington. Mr. Trump and the first lady hosted the French President and his wife at Mount Vernon. The next evening, they were given a state dinner, the first of Mr. Trump’s Presidency. M. Macron’s purpose was to dissuade Mr. Trump from walking away from the Iran deal and urging him not to abandon the Paris Agreement. Instead, he suggested both could (and should) be improved. As to whether his goals were achieved remains unknown at this point, but good feelings between the two leaders were obvious. Angela Merkel, a lame-duck in Germany, arrived a day later with the same message. Earlier in the month, to little fanfare or press coverage, Japan’s President Shinzo Abe visited Mr. Trump at his home in Palm Beach.

While the Left claims that Mr. Trump has abandoned global responsibilities and retreated behind borders, his actions suggest otherwise. The truth is that he has asked more of those with whom we share values – denied the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the hands of authoritarian and terrorist nations; created a coalition of Arab military forces to replace (some) U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq; increased the contributions from European nations to NATO, as Putin flexes his muscles in Ukraine, the Middle East and the Baltic States, and got Japan to recognize its responsibility to help defend Asian seas against a resurgent China.

A caravan of Honduran refugees – possibly including gang members of Barrio 18 and/or MS 13 – crossed Mexico and arrived in Tijuana, which abuts San Diego. President Trump, following in the footsteps of his two predecessors, sent troops to the border; though California’s Governor Jerry Brown, taking a leaf from the Confederacy, wants to declare his state a sanctuary – independent of U.S. federal law. Nicaragua, just south of Honduras and led by Leftist Daniel Ortega, is, like Venezuela, disintegrating into social and economic chaos. Violent protests broke out when the state approved a resolution that would increase contributions by workers and employers into the Nicaraguan Institute for Social Security, while reducing payouts by five percent. Center-left candidate Carlos Alvarado won Costa Rica’s presidential election.

Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan announced his retirement from the Congress, something more members of Congress should consider. After a series of dubious (and vile) accusations, Dr. Ronnie Jackson withdrew his name as nominee to head the VA. Bob Mueller said Mr. Trump was not a target. However, the DNC, wanting to ensure the investigation remains on the front pages and adding new meaning to legal frivolity, filed a lawsuit against the Russians and the Trump campaign. Scott Pruitt, EPA chief who through deregulatory decisions has played a major role in speeded-up GDP growth, became a target of an ethically-challenged Left. Teachers in Kentucky and Oklahoma, following the lead of West Virginia, protested cuts to pay, benefits and school funding. The real problem is growth granted unions and a lack of fiscal stewardship on the part of legislators. Many teachers are underpaid and are consigned to over-crowded classrooms. But public-school enrollments are lower than twenty-five years ago, yet the number of administrators has increased. In the meantime, states’ debts are increasing, interest costs are rising, and budgets are unbalanced.

Preliminary first quarter GDP numbers were reported at plus 2.3% percent, slightly above the Conference Board’s estimate of 1.9 percent. The stock market, as measured by the DJIA, was up less than one percent. FANG stocks (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google), which, over the past two months, had led markets lower, rose in April. Bond prices were lower, with the yield on the 10-Year exceeding 3% for the first time in four years. The question for consumers, investors, policy makers and business: Does this represent a hiccup in a continuing long slide in rates, or have bond markets turned? While no one knows for sure, my guess is that we are witnessing an extended topping in bond prices. Interest-rate moves are long cycles. Rates gradually rose from the end of World War II – passing through 5% in December 1965 – to reach a high on the 10-Year in September 1981 of 15.8 percent.  The low was 1.5%, in August 2016. The U.S. Dollar rose during the month. Bitcoin prices continued their volatile ways, rising 33% for the month. Incidentally (and amusingly) Bloomberg reported that two British economists, Richard Jackman of the LSE and Savvas Savouri of a London-based hedge fund, over a two-bottles-of-wine dinner concluded that the value of a Bitcoin was between $20.00 and $800,000.00 – naming their finding the Côtes du Rhône Theory.

Elsewhere, Finland announced they would halt their trial with “universal basic income,” something Socialist Bernie Sanders wants for the U.S. The Malaysian Prime Minister dissolved Parliament, paving way for a general election on May 9. The U.S. levied sanctions against three dozen Russian oligarchs and entities. At his annual Boao Forum for Asia, held on the southern Chinese island of Hainan, President Xi Jinping promoted openness, but attendees were unable to use Google, log on to Facebook or post to Twitter. The Soar Chapel, in the English farming community of Breton, now has one member, 85-year-old Evan Thomas Jones, who is determined not to let the doors close. A bus carrying members of Canada’s junior hockey team crashed, killing fifteen. In Toronto, ten people were killed, and fifteen injured, when a crazed individual drove his van down a crowded sidewalk. In the good news category, John McGeehan of the University of Portsmouth (England) reported in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesthat an enzyme had been discovered that breaks down and dissolves polyethylene terephthalate (PET) into its original chemical chains. PET is a common plastic, which pollutes the world’s oceans.

Bill Cosby was found guilty on three counts of sexual assault. The 80-year-old could spend the rest of his life in prison. “The Avengers: Infinity War,” which cost Disney $300 million to produce, set a global record its first weekend, taking in $630 million. Roseanne Barr, on the re-opening of her show “Roseanne,” told her audience: “Trump supporters are human.” The Left was incensed. The New York Times: “Roseanne just ends up normalizing Trump and his warped, harmful political ideologies.” James Comey, following other public officials who have used public service to garner private profits, released his memoir, with its officious and self-serving title, A Higher Loyalty. I am a reader but will never buy or read his book.

In basketball, Notre Dame won the women’s NCAA title, while Villanova won the men’s. American Patrick Reed won the Masters Tournament at Augusta.

Death claimed, as mentioned above, Barbara Bush, “the adult in the room,” as John Podhoretz wrote. Winnie Mandela died at 82, and Lois Wheeler Snow, wife of C.P. Snow, died at 97. Linda Brown, whose name became synonymous with desegregation died at 75. Olympic U.S. ski coach Bob Beattie died at 85. Two-year-old Alfie Evans, the center of a tug-of-war between his parents and the NHS, died at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool. And I lost a good friend, Harry Sedgwick, a classmate and associate of Robert Kennedy and remembered for his smile, love of people and twinkling eyes. He died at age 90.

We move on to May, the merry month whose first few days look to finally usher in Spring.  

"RAT - Resist Anything Trump"

Sydney M. Williams

Thought of the Day

“RAT – Resist Anything Trump”

December 18, 2017

“You see, the point is that the strongest man in the world is he who stands alone.”

                                                                                                            Henrik Ibsen

Resistance is ancient. A few brave men and women have always stood against tyranny. The movie “Spartacus” depicted a slave rebellion in ancient Rome. The Protestant Reformation was resistance against Catholicism. Henry David Thoreau gave us civil disobedience. We associate resistance with the French and Polish undergrounds during the Second World War. More recently, George Lucas used resistance as the center of his epic film “Star Wars.” Leia Organa founds a small military force, “The Resistance,” to combat the First Order, which had risen from the ashes of the Galactic Empire.

Resistance is a call for freedom and a means to defend liberty. It was resistance against King John that established the Magna Carta in 1215, which limited the powers of the king. American patriots resisted the imposition of taxes, by tossing tea into Boston harbor in 1773. Woodrow Wilson noted that “the history of liberty is the history of resistance.”

But today’s resistance against Donald Trump has none of that legitimacy or idealism. It’s driven by hatred. It grew out of last year’s election, when Mr. Trump, anti-establishment and an outsider to Washington’s Beltway politics, was elected President. It claims spontaneity, but is led by a group called Indivisible (www.indivisible.org), and comprised of organizations like Black Lives Matter, Women’s March Global and the Center for Community Change. It has been funded by Democracy Alliance, which has steered more than $600 million toward selected liberal groups since its inception in 2005, and by MoveOn.org, the PAC set up by billionaire George Soros. It is supported by those in the media who decry Mr. Trump’s “toxic and menacing presidency,” as L.A. Kaufman, in The Guardian, put it. The “resistance” has the endorsement of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Organizing for Action, the PAC set up by Mr. Obama in 2008, has been relaunched with its purpose to derail Mr. Trump’s Presidency. Ms. Clinton incorporated Organizing for Action, a PAC to help fund resistance groups, transferring $800,000 from her campaign funds.

Most disconcerting, “resistance” is embedded in federal bureaucracies, like the IRS, the State Department and the Department of Justice. It descends from resistance to conservatives – recall the stone-walling of Lois Lerner at the IRS in 2015? Today, the State Department is boycotting the President’s Jerusalem policy, as can be seen with 15-year-old American, Menachem Zivotofsky who was born in Jerusalem and is trying to get his passport to say he was born in Israel. We saw it in James Comey’s testimony, and in the anti-Trump e-mails between Peter Strzok and his paramour, Lisa Page. It was seen in Sally Yates, a holdover from the Obama Administration, refusing to enforce a legal order on immigration, and in the refusal of Leandra English to hand over control of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau after the President had appointed Mick Mulvaney to be interim head. It can be seen in the Senate’s “slow-walking” of hundreds of administrative appointments, and in the endless investigations into alleged Russian-Trump collusion.

The “resistance” has been abetted by a press more interested in advocacy than news. In his recent history, The Second World Wars, Victor Davis Hanson writes about one of Mussolini’s characteristics: “…appreciating the power of propaganda, especially ideological driven journalism.” The “resistance” has the same skill; they are fortunate in an accommodating media. The repeated use of fake stories – even those later retracted – serves their purpose. As Lee Smith of the Weekly Standard and Hudson Institute recently wrote: “When you repeatedly publish ‘news’ that isn’t true, you’re no longer in the news business.”

Granted, Mr. Trump makes an easy target. With his dyed hair, Tweets, solecisms, vulgarisms, complex financial history and three wives, he is a caricature of a modern-day Mr. Potter, as portrayed by Lionel Barrymore in “It’s a Wonderful Life.” In looks and behavior, he is the antithesis of the bureaucrat who, mired in establishment muck, speaks impeccably. Lacking suavity, Mr. Trump treats people the same, regardless of race, sex, age or religion. He doesn’t differentiate, as his recent Tweet to Senator Gillibrand (D-NY) showed. (He used the same words “will do anything” about Mitt Romney.) He does not subscribe to identity politics. He does not compartmentalize voters. He is a threat to a progressive culture that has dominated Washington for the last eighty years.

Mr. Trump’s character prevents me from being a whole-hearted endorser of the man. However, I agree with most of his policies, especially those that relate to the economy, taxes, regulation and his handling of Islamic extremists. Mr. Trump is that rare individual who says what he means and means what he says. Diplomacy and the English language are not his strong suits. I admire him for calling out the sanctimony and hypocrisy that have become the norm in Washington. We see the latter in the pomposity and duplicity of Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, who, with each Presidential Tweet, dash toward cameras and microphones, to condemn him with feigned astonishment and undisguised scorn.

What has happened in the past twelve months is unprecedented in American politics, with the exception of the Civil War. Political parties have disagreed, but none since John Breckinridge in 1861 have tried to destroy a Presidency so blatantly. Smooth transitions in democracies are integral. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were political enemies, but when Jefferson won the election of 1800, Adams did not try to sabotage Jefferson’s administration. Lyndon Johnson and Hubert Humphrey did not try to invalidate Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford gave way graciously to Jimmy Carter. Carter, while disappointed with his loss in 1980, did not impair Ronald Reagan. George H.W. Bush did not undercut Bill Clinton. The Clintons may have trashed the White House, but they didn’t interfere with President Bush. And George Bush did not criticize Barack Obama. A Presidential transition is the point when democracies are most at risk. In the past, outgoing Party’s stood by and let the new take over – not enthusiastically, but not as resistors.

Think about it: After leaving office, Jimmy Carter built houses with Habitat for Humanity; Ronald Reagan disappeared into the mists of Alzheimer’s; George H.W. Bush enjoyed his large family; Bill Clinton went to New York and made a couple of hundred million dollars; George W. Bush went to Texas and painted portraits of veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Barack Obama, however, is staying in Washington to set up a PAC to help discredit his successor.

Democracies are fragile, so vigilance is wanted. They are susceptible to the whims of powerful, but evil, seductive and persuasive men and women – autocrats who can come from either the right or the left. In my opinion, the risks are greater from the left, as those manning the ramparts – the Fourth Estate – have eyes right, watching for Fascists and nationalists. They ignore the slow-growth, but insidious, left-leaning administrative state, which is quietly gathering strength and size. The federal government employs two million people – overseen by 535 elected representatives. The bureaucrats who day-to-day manage those employees are, for the most part, progressives who, because of where and how they live, are largely immune from the effects of their policies – programs said to be beneficent, but designed to give them more power.

Keep in mind, it is mice that do not stir, when “the stockings [are] hung by the chimney with care.” As for RATs, they’re still scurrying around, and will be on Christmas Eve. Nonetheless, enjoy the Holidays!