Morning Coffee with Dan - Lost Hope

As I sip my caffeine this morning, I am thinking about 2016. I remember listening to some of my friends and colleagues talking about Cheeto’s candidacy for president. The often-asked questions were, “why not give him a chance? What have you got to lose? Maybe a non-politician will be good for the country.” I think after four years the answer is staring at me in all its ugly glory.

After almost four years I can come up with a litany of reasons why the businessman theory didn’t work out – it includes tax reform favoring the rich, unprecedented divisiveness, a horribly mismanaged health crisis, daily lies and misstatements, juvenile tweets every night, disrespect for the military and military service, incompetent appointments from top to bottom, and on and one. However, there is one overarching thought that keeps playing in my head. I think what we “lost” as a country is our sense of hope. My optimism about the future and a belief in what we can achieve has been replaced by a nightly ‘tweet storm’ of negative and mean-spirited name calling and denigration of everything that suggests empathy or humanity. Political rallies are not a vehicle for painting a plan for what H.W. Bush described as a “thousand points of light in a broad and peaceful sky,” but another opportunity to threaten and belittle the opposition which, by the way, is anything and everyone who disagrees with whatever is the issue du jour.

I would like to think that as a country we have developed, maybe evolved, with a ‘can do’ attitude that talks to a better tomorrow. This attitude speaks to the issues of the day with hope realistically realizing that we are not yet there but with hard work and the right attitude, we can get there. Whether we are addressing the caring stewardship of our country and the environment for future generations, a civility in our relationships with fellow citizens, compassion for those less fortunate than ourselves, respect for those who serve(d) the country and community, fairness and honesty in our business and personal dealings, value and respect for differences in gender/ethnicity/religious/sexual preferences, accessible health care, and a willingness to work together for the benefit of our society, a positive vision was the underlying theme. I see most of these aspiration under attack now. I am not sure if and when we can regain out footing again for once the genie is out of the bottle, it is hard to recapture it. Attitude, positive or negative, is very contagious. I do know that, for me, these aspirations are worth fighting for, and it is high time to regroup and put a plan together to recapture the optimism that made this country a beacon of hope that defined us for the first 300+ years.

Instead of dismantling or tearing down what is/was in place, we need to build upon what is in place to make it better, representing all of us, not just those with money and means. Specifically, that means fighting for environmental issues that includes acknowledging and mitigating the effects of climate change; addressing our policies on immigrants and acknowledging that its diversity is what contributed to making this country great; level the economic playing field so the system is not stacked in favor of those with the most money; eliminate systemic bias in the treatment of those who are different from the majority; reform financial and tax laws than favor those who can afford the best lobbyists; ensure that government and corporate policies are secular and fair for everybody; access to affordable health care is a fundamental of any caring society; and above all, cease dividing us by color, region, education and a myriad of other categories that emphasize difference rather than our human bond. It is a tall order, but we must think differently to make this country prosper and regain our hope. To paraphrase MLK, Jr., “We may have arrived at this point in different ships, but we are all in the same boat now.” Frankly, I’m fed up with the attack mentality and want to invest into some optimism based on a humanity which seems to be the missing ingredient in the current administration. If I sound like Mary Poppins this morning, so be it, because maybe we need more spoons of sugar and fewer tweets.

On this uplifting note, I am having another cup of joe with a fresh bagel.

Morning Coffee with Dan - Dark and Dangerous Times

As I consume a fresh cup of DD coffee this morning, I am not feeling very optimistic. We seem to be entering a very dark and dangerous time unprecedented in the country.

As I watched Agents of Chaos last night on HBO, documenting the activities of Russia relative to interfering in our election process, I shuddered as I though about the famous comments from Nikita Khrushchev from many years ago, “We will take America without firing a shot. We do not have to invade the U.S. We will destroy you from within.” The only difference between Nikita's ominous warning and today's events is that a more dangerous dictator is in-place - Vladimir Putin. The other MAJOR difference is that Vlad and Cheeto seemed to be attached at the hip. Is anyone out there still wondering why Russia worked so hard to get Cheeto elected? I don't think it was his hair style that won Russian support.

As the "president" threatens to undermine the elective process by refusing to acknowledge his commitment a peaceful transition, he continues to play "kissy face" with Vlad. He has held several 'secret' meetings in the White House and overseas discussing God knows what, refuses to confront the Russians about their bounties for allied soldiers program, ignores threatening moves against U.S. forces in Syria, and, in general, heaps praises on the Russian dictator. Cheetos former National Security Advisor, John Bolton, has stated that he thinks that Putin believes he can play Trump like a fiddle. From what we have seen so far, I think Vlad can get a Mozart concerto from that 'fiddle.'

If Cheeto's comments about a peaceful transition don't cause you to lose sleep over this administration, I think you are possibly living in galaxy far, far away from the one in which I reside. Cheeto's belief that the Supreme Court will keep him in power is, no doubt, the driving force behind the hypocritical effort on his part to ram a supreme court nominee though the Senate, not to defeat Roe V Wade as his evangelical lemmings believe. It continues to be all about Trump.

We are courting a potential civil insurrection in our future unless we get a grip on the constitutional principles that gave us a relatively peaceful history so far. Without a peaceful and lawful transition of power in Washington, that history is under siege. Cheeto won't think twice about turning his base loose as a surrogate to represent him and stoke his paranoia of life after the presidency.

On that somber note, I am making more coffee this morning

Morning Coffee with Dan - Bar the Attorney General

As I sip my coffee this morning, I wonder where in the hell Cheeto finds his senior cabinet officials or maybe what he is feeding them. My thoughts focused on the Attorney General's comments this week at Hillsdale College.

I have made it no secret that I agree with many who are more schooled in law than I am who believe that Bill Barr is not only a corrupt Attorney General who acts as Cheeto's personal lawyer, but is polluting the Department of Justice with a partisan political culture that will be a damaging legacy that will take a long time to fix.

His comments this week at Hillsdale College were, being kind here, totally asinine. In case you missed them, he responded to questions about the pandemic by saying, " You know putting a national lockdown, stay-at-home orders, is like house arrest. It's - you know, other than slavery, which was a different kind of restrain, this is the greatest intrusion on civil liberties in American History." It appears that Barr is about as good a historian as he is an Attorney General, which is to say, pretty shitty. I can think of two events in U.S. History has might rank as higher intrusions - The "Trail of Tears" and Japanese Interment during WWIII seem to be pretty major intrusions on civil liberties that perhaps rival the mythical 'stay at home orders' referred to by Barr. One suspects he might be mirroring his boss' comments about face masks rather than any sheltering down 'orders' by some state and local authorities. How you can compare the inhumane legacy of slavery to a social health issue like the Coronavirus is amazingly insensitive and outright moronic.

He went on to suggest that politicians are in a better position for making decisions on the pandemic than medical authorities. He said, " The person in the white coast is not 'grand seer' who can come up with a right decision for society. A free people makes its decisions through its elected representative. The last time I checked, the medical community typically advises elected officials but has no statutory authority. I seem to remember one "elected" official recommending the consumption of Clorox and UV therapy as a response to the virus. How well did that go?

Barr is a freakin' disaster and his comments are scary. His intrusion in the Michael Flynn sentencing, pardoning of Roger Stone, and commitment of DOJ resources to defend Cheeto against civil cases are examples of the mismanagement of his office and the corruption of the role of U.S. Attorney General. No wonder his own law school, George Washington University, called for his censure and resignation. Not a heart warming endorsement of its alum.

On that note I am moving on to more java this morning and a couple of toasted crumpets.

Morning Coffee with Dan - Bring Me the Real Facts

As I savor my first cup of 'joe' this morning, I am still chewing on Cheeto's assertion that he wanted the nation to remain 'calm' so that is why he downplayed the Coronavirus. I guess when there is a picture of your hand in the cookie jar, there are not too many good answers to gain a degree of exoneration.

My short musing this morning is framed by a quote from Abraham Lincoln:

“I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they

can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The

great point is to bring them the real facts.”

– Abraham Lincoln

There is no way in my mind that I can ever believe, under any circumstances, that Cheeto will bring real facts to the table in any meaningful circumstance. His reality is simply that the only facts are those that benefit himself, everything else is false. How sad to live in such a world.

Yesterday, was another anniversary of the tragedy of 9/11, and once again I read the litany of false statements made by Trump to politically capitalize on the event. They range from seeing thousands of Muslims in New Jersey cheering to his modest efforts at helping the cleanup effort a day after the tragedy. It was a reminder, as if any were necessary, of the psyche that exists in the White House where he cannot squeeze out a modicum of truth even for a tragedy like 9/11.

The sad reality is that Cheeto's comments about 9/11 were political pablum designed to squeeze out some political publicity to inflate his ego. His decision to downplay and misrepresent the truth about the Coronavirus resulted in the loss on untold lives of innocent citizens who otherwise may have more aggressively 'met the national crisis had they had the real facts,' to paraphrase Mr. Lincoln. Sadly, on September 12th, we still don't have a national plan to meet the challenge except to hope for a vaccine that many experts say will likely not be available in significant quantities for widespread distribution and implementation until late 2021. In the meantime where is our plan to combat the crisis while we wait for the implementation of a national vaccine program?

It is time to move on to my second cup of coffee this morning accompanied by a fresh cheese bagel.

Morning Coffee with Dan - Leadership Redefined

As I enjoy a fresh pot of coffee this morning, I am pondering Cheeto's concept of leadership. It seems that Fox, as well as the rest of the right-wing lemmings, have their talking points now. Let's call Cheeto's actions 'leadership.' That's right, "leadership' because he he wanted the country to remain 'calm' and he wanted to show "strength and confidence" while his steady hand was on the tiller.

What is so ludicrous about Cheeto's version of leadership is that his version is probably not in many text books. He said, "Everybody knew it was airborne." He further went on, "you just breathe the air and that's how it's passed. And so that's a very tricky one. That's a very delicate one. It's also more deadly than even your strenuous flu." Let's run with this one.

If you know it's airborne and "you just breather the air," why would you have five public rallies ignoring face coverings and social distancing after you acknowledged the methodology for spreading a virus "more deadly than the strenuous flu?" Is your need for ego gratification greater than you obligation to contain the pandemic. Evidently so.

I won't even rehash the his campaign of wishful thinking that the virus would go away after the warm weather arrived or one day it would be mysteriously gone. To irresponsibly belittle health guidelines of social distancing and face mask implementation, while promoting untested therapeutics like hydroxychloroquine or publicly speculating on injecting Clorox or inserting a UV in some body cavity stretches the notion of 'strength and confidence' beyond the bounds of sanity.

My cynical side says his notion of leadership was to ensure the Dow and NASDAQ remained at 'electable' levels. Clearly his actions were not aimed at calming the public, but calming a jittery market. The market may have remained at unsustainable levels, but the economy has tanked, and now Cheeto must accept the price of his mismanagement.

On that note, I am toasting a couple of crumpets to go with my second cup of coffee.

Morning Coffee with Dan - White Privilege - Really?

There is so much to think about this morning as I drink my first cup of coffee. As I read the accounts of Bob Woodward's conversations with Cheeto, one, in particular, stood out for me since I already commented on the subject in an earlier morning coffee musing. It concerned his attitude toward white privilege.

The transcript went like the following:

"We share one thing in common: We're white, privileged," Woodward told Trump. "My father was a lawyer and a judge in Illinois, and we know what your dad did.

"Do you have any sense that that privilege has isolated and put you in a cave, to a certain extent, as it put me and I think lots of white, privileged people in a cave? And that we have to work our way out of it to understand the anger and the pain particularly Black people feel in this country?"

"No. You really drank the Kool-Aid, didn't you? Just listen to you," he responded. "Wow. No, I don't feel that at all."

If you remember I commented on the administration's order for federal agencies to stop racial sensitivity training, labeling it "divisive, anti-American propaganda." Trump's comments to Woodward puts this in perspective. Cheeto feels no responsibility or need to understand the anger minorities feel in this country. This cretin is the POTUS who is ostensibly responsible for addressing the issues of the country and developing programs to fix them. Without an understanding of the underlying causes and frustrations of the social unrest that exist in our country, how in hell can he exercise a modicum of leadership? He can't and he won't. And the people who encourage this kind of understanding are drinking some kind of special Kool-Aid that improves their empathy and humanity.

I just couldn't help but be amazed at the unequivocal answer he quickly gave Woodward. He is truly unfeeling and doesn't care. Of all the people who live in a privileged bubble, Cheeto has to be at the top of the list, and probably needs to mainline the Kool-Aid.

On that note, I am toasting a bagel to enjoy with my second cup of coffee.

Morning Coffee with Dan - What is the Real Threat?

As I am savoring a fresh cup of coffee this morning I am mulling over the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) draft Threat Analysis for 2021.

The report which seems to be flying under the radar is the third draft which states that white supremacist extremists are the deadliest threat through 2021. It seems that the language has been softened from the early editions substituting 'domestic violence extremists' as a euphemism for 'white supremacist extremists.' I wonder where that pressure emanated? The report concluded that some US-based violent extremists have capitalized on increased social and political tensions in 2020. It does state that foreign terrorist organizations will continue to call for attacks on the U.S. but they "probably will remain constrained in their ability to direct such plots over the next year."

The 2020 draft report also finds that Russian state-affiliated actors will continue targeting US industry and all levels of government with "intrusive cyber espionage." China and Russia are the most capable nation-state cyber adversaries, but Iran and North Korea also pose a threat to the US. It concludes that Russia probably will be the primary covert foreign influence actor and purveyor of disinformation and misinformation in the Homeland."

Isn't it interesting that both white supremacist extremists and Russia are cited as key threats, yet Cheeto continues to promote the notion that China is a bigger threat and BLM and Antifa are creating havoc in our cities. Of course, we don't want to offend our buddy Vlad, and we also need to acknowledge that there are 'very fine people' on right wing white supremacist team. I can't help wondering what will happen between the third draft and the final report once the White House has an input? Will this be another casualty to truth like purged data on climate change and COVID-19 where the facts don't quite fit Cheeto's political narrative.

On that note, watch for the final report, and you can read it with more roast coffee in the morning. My crumpets are almost ready so I'm off to the world of good eating.

Morning Coffee with Dan - No Love Affair with the Military

As I enjoy a 'late' cup of coffee this morning, I am surprised at Cheeto's comments about the Pentagon made on Monday. He often surprises me with his comments, but these comments are particularly puzzling.

In comments made on Labor Day, Cheeto said, "I'm not saying the military's in love with me -- the soldiers are, the top people in the Pentagon probably aren't because they want to do nothing but fight wars so that all of those wonderful companies that make the bombs and make the planes and make everything else stay happy," I would think during the run up to the election his comments would be more judicious, especially in the aftermath of his insulting comments about the soldiers who died and were wounded for this country.

I'm no fan of the industrial-military complex, for sure. I think this country spends way too much on the military and hardware than is necessary. That said, Cheeto has continued to brag about the size of his military budgets since becoming POTUS. I'm not sure who Cheeto should be attacking. The military is managed, directed, and funded by civilians - it is designed that way. Isn't he implicitly criticizing congress and the pentagon officials he had a hand in appointing? I think Congress declares war and the Secretary of Defense oversees the execution based on the military strategy recommended by the JCS.

My cynical side thinks that Cheeto's feelings are hurt because the Pentagon did not jump-up more vociferously to his defense after the Atlantic article about his disparaging comments about the military. This is his way of throwing a tantrum. He may also be trying to throw a wedge in the works by seeding divisiveness between the 'brass' and the 'troops.' He is suggesting the 'soldiers' love him (a statistically questionable assumption), but the top people don't. He is suggesting that he on the 'soldier's side against those 'bureaucrats.' Interesting posturing from someone who mocks those soldiers who lost their lives defending this country.

I'm sure he has his motivation, but all I know is that it is unprecedented and is another avenue of attack to create more divisiveness in an environment replete with divisiveness.

Enjoy your day while I have another cup of joe.

Morning Coffee with Dan - An Ethics Swamp

As I wait for my crumpet to toast this morning to accompany my coffee, I am reminded of Cheeto's indifference to ethics. Yesterday I posted comments about his cancellation of multicultural training in the the government which reminded me that there is a precedent for his lack of vision and management competence.

Since 2000, the government has provided ethics training for the incoming presidential team during the transition of the government. Both the Bush and Obama staffs were participants to the training. After all, government regulations and requirements can be confusing to professionals not conversant in the nuances of the requirements and regulations. When Cheeto became president he said ethics training was not necessary and he would use the transition team leaders, initially Chris Christie and later Mike Pence, to handle the training. To me that feels like listening to an Irishman lecture about temperance from a bar stool.

So what did we reap from this brilliant dismissal of necessary ethics training? A polluted swamp of unethical behavior, unprecedented in history, as well as a continuing blatant disregard of government regulations like the Hatch Act and product endorsement restrictions. Multiple cabinet officials (over half) were accused of accepting gratuities, partaking in illegal personal travel, ties to business groups they regulate, conflict of interest, etc. I guess when the boss models bad behavior it is contagious. Of all the recent presidents, the one with the most checkered history of serious ethics issues is our incumbent, and he continues to hire a staff equally deficient in ethics genes, and in many cases, deficient in the necessary knowledge to manage the position to which they are being appointed.

So, you would think that Cheeto would learn that cancelling programs like cultural sensitivity training and ethics awareness might have some impact on the effectiveness in the execution of his constitutional responsibilities. Not. A 'president' with a history of racial insensitivity and outright prejudice and ethics issues as long as Shaq's arm is not going to embrace anything that resembles a program to confront these issues. He will likely continue to surround himself with like thinking appointees. This is why a majority of voters in this country think this administration is a disaster in progress.

On that note, I am going to slather my crumpet with things that a health conscious senior citizen should avoid.

Morning Coffee with Dan - No More Diversity Training

As I enjoy a fresh cup of joe this morning, I am wondering to what lengths Cheeto will go to pander to his base. His latest target is "diversity training."

Cheeto is now prohibiting federal agencies from conducting cultural sensitivity training because, according to the report, they are “divisive, anti-American propaganda.” Diversity training that focus on educating participants about white privilege, critical race theory and the racist origins of the United States apparently create “division and resentment” among federal employees.

I remember when I worked at Digital Equipment multi-cultural training was considered an essential part of the management development objective of the company. When we formed the new management team while building our new plant in South Carolina, the entire staff flew to San Francisco to attend an intense three-day workshop on 'cultural sensitivity.' Since the plant staff came from New England and had virtually no context of operating a plant in the South, the company wanted us to understand the cultural, ethnic, and racial environment, as well as the perspective of the local employees we were hiring. It was probably the most intense and effective training session I ever attended among the many that the company sponsored.

To suggest the such program is divisive and anti-American propaganda could only come from a person who has lived in a racial bubble his entire life and has no idea how to support and encourage multicultural sensitivity, much less promote actions to address the problems. I am relatively sure that much of his 'base' will applaud his position that the training is a waste of time as they close their minds to the notion that we have issues in this country that can be solved with more awareness as well as action to address racism and prejudice.

Enough said as I count the the days until we can get a real president in place.

On to a fresh bagel this morning with another cup of coffee.

Morning Coffee with Dan - Blow-back on Veterans Comments

As I am enjoying my java this morning I am thinking about the blow-back from Thursday's Atlantic story about Cheeto's attitude toward the military.

I don't normally circle back on my coffee musings, but this one is getting so much response that I am making an exception. Maybe, if the public reacted to Cheeto's original attack on the war record of John McCain during the 2016 campaign as they seem to be reacting now, we might have been spared the last four year. Unfortunately, the base seemed to have opted for a "if I shot someone on 5th Avenue" attitude which let Cheeto off the hook. Anyway, I haven't seen this much turmoil from a story in a long time. Cheeto seems to be really sweating this one and is in full time damage control mode.

My feeling is you 'reap what you sow.' When you tell over 20,000 lies during your tenure and people believe you are lying every time you move your lips, denial has a very week launch platform. Also, when you start your denial with a verifiable lie it is even weaker. Cheeto began his damage control scenario with a denial that he ever called John McCain a 'loser,' yet the news outlets played back his video and showed his tweet with his actual 'loser' comments. This kind of gets the whole denial thing off to a bad start. I think the coup d'etat on this denial trip was when Fox news reporter, Jennifer Griffin, independently confirmed key details of the story. I think when Fox turns on Trump it is almost like having your niece write a 'tell all' book about your character flaws.

I could go on about all the ancillary behaviors that Trump has displayed toward the military like diverting budget money from military programs to build his cockamamie wall, etc, but I'm not sure it matters at this juncture. If you are a Cheeto supporter, no amount of data that challenges your cognitive dissonance is going to matter. You are going to ride that horse until it drops. I just have to say if you were a 'sucker' for serving your country because Trump thinks activities that don't have an ROI are a waste, imagine what he thinks about the voter who votes for him. If you vote for an incumbent who passes tax relief for the rich, mocks our allies, trashes the environment, is slowly destroying the USPS, mismanages the worst pandemic in history, who do you think is laughing at the suckers from whom he conned their vote?

On that note I am moving on to another topic while my crumpet enjoys the heat of the toaster oven.

Morning Coffee with Dan - More Loser and Suckers

As I am enjoying my java this morning I am thinking about the blow-back from Thursday's Atlantic story about Cheeto's attitude toward the military.

I don't normally circle back on my coffee musings, but this one is getting so much response that I am making an exception. Maybe, if the public reacted to Cheeto's original attack on the war record of John McCain during the 2016 campaign as they seem to be reacting now, we might have been spared the last four year. Unfortunately, the base seemed to have opted for a "if I shot someone on 5th Avenue" attitude which let Cheeto off the hook. Anyway, I haven't seen this much turmoil from a story in a long time. Cheeto seems to be really sweating this one and is in full time damage control mode.

My feeling is you 'reap what you sow.' When you tell over 20,000 lies during your tenure and people believe you are lying every time you move your lips, denial has a very week launch platform. Also, when you start your denial with a verifiable lie it is even weaker. Cheeto began his damage control scenario with a denial that he ever called John McCain a 'loser,' yet the news outlets played back his video and showed his tweet with his actual 'loser' comments. This kind of gets the whole denial thing off to a bad start. I think the coup d'etat, on this denial trip was when Fox news reporter, Jennifer Griffin, independently confirmed key details of the story. I think when Fox turns on Trump it is almost like having your niece write a 'tell all' book about your character flaws.

I could go on about all the ancillary behaviors that Trump has displayed toward the military like diverting budget money from military programs to build his cockamamie wall, etc, but I'm not sure it matters at this juncture. If you are a Cheeto supporter, no amount of data that challenges your cognitive dissonance is going to matter. You are going to ride that horse until it drops. I just have to say if you were a 'sucker' for serving your country because Trump thinks activities that don't have an ROI are a waste, imagine what he thinks about the voter who votes for him. If you vote for an incumbent who passes tax relief for the rich, mocks our allies, trashes the environment, is slowly destroying the USPS, mismanages the worst pandemic in history, who do you think is laughing at the suckers from whom he conned their vote?

On that note I am moving on to another topic while my crumpet enjoys the heat of the toaster oven.

Morning Coffee with Dan - Suckers and Losers

As I sip my coffee this morning, I am having a hard time not choking on it after reading Jeffrey Goldberg’s article in the Atlantic about Cheeto’s attitude toward the military. I might warn you that what I say should be read with the understanding that Cheeto thinks I must be a sucker and not very smart since I served in the military. Forewarned is forearmed.

Allowing that the article is anecdotal in content, but written by a respected journalist who not only is Editor and Chief of the Atlantic but also recipient of the National Magazine Award for Reporting, suggests that we need to respect that Mr. Goldberg is no schmuck who wandered in off the street. His article has also received corroboration from other independent reporters. That said, I am appalled at Trump’s attitude about the military and, trust me, it takes more than a ton to be more appalled than I normally am with anything Cheeto says or does.

In his article Goldberg talks about Trump’s visit to Paris in 2018. When Cheeto canceled a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris in 2018, he blamed the rain for the last-minute decision, saying that “the helicopter couldn’t fly” and that the Secret Service wouldn’t drive him there. Neither claim was true. He rejected the idea of the visit because he feared his hair would become disheveled in the rain, and because he did not believe it important to honor American war dead. According to four people with firsthand knowledge of the discussion that day Cheeto said, “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” In a separate conversation, he referred to the 1,800 Marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as ‘suckers’ for getting killed. I am beyond speechless for his appalling disrespect. Belleau Wood is revered grounds to the Marines as a key battleground in WWI.

Is it no wonder he refuses to fulfill the sacred obligation to protect the military from harm by confronting Putin over the bounties for allied soldiers’ effort perpetrated by Vlad? If you disrespect the military and disrespect their service, why would you stand-up for them and confront Putin as any Commander and Chief with principles should do?

Goldberg suggests that Trump finds the notion of military service difficult to understand, and the idea of volunteering to serve especially incomprehensible. As we know he received a medical deferment from the draft during the Vietnam War because of the alleged presence of bone spurs in his feet and in the 1990s, Trump said his efforts to avoid contracting sexually transmitted diseases constituted his “personal Vietnam.” As a Vietnam vet I find his comments more offensive than you can imagine.

As reprehensible as Cheeto’s attitude toward the military is, perhaps he sinks no lower than his attitude toward wounded warriors. When planning military events/parades, Trump asked his staff not to include wounded veterans on grounds that spectators would feel uncomfortable in the presence of amputees. “Nobody wants to see that” he said. Let me parenthetically add that I gladly volunteer every week at the local VA clinic, and I assure you, I consider it an honor and a privilege that I can help those who were wounded serving their country and am more proud to be in their presence than you will ever know.

How anybody who has a scintilla of respect for the military or has served a day in uniform could possible support this POS stretches my understanding beyond the breaking point. In the 10 years I spent in the Air Force, I would like to think that at least a small piece of my motivation was the notion that citizenship carries some degree of obligation to give something back for the opportunities our country has provided to us. I would like to think that the soldiers with whom I served were not losers and suckers but cared a lot more for their country and its principles than the incumbent currently sitting in the White House. The only ‘loser’ in this analysis is the disrespectful and selfish buffoon occupying the presidency.

On that notion, I will try to keep my next cup of coffee in my mouth without choking. To say I am pissed beyond words is an understatement.

Morning Coffee with Dan - A Bit Unhinged?

As I wait for my jalapeno bagel to toast this morning, I am thinking about Cheeto's interview with Laura Ingraham on Monday. If you weren't already worried about whether his elevator goes to the top floor, you should be after this interview.

When asked by Ingraham who is "pulling Biden's strings," Cheeto declared, "people you never heard of. People that are in the dark shadows." This response kind of suggests that maybe he is about to suggest they work in the basement of pizza parlor in Uzbekistan. Of course, he didn't name any of these people we never heard of. I guess the little voices in his head didn't reveal themselves. When pressed for details he said, "They’re people that are on the streets, they’re people that are controlling the streets.” He further went on to talk about somebody he knew "flying on a plane full of “thugs” who were wearing black uniforms." He provided no details of his mental meandering except that it was a plane 'from a certain city." Aren't they all from a 'certain city?'

His comments sound like something you might hear at a QAnon rally or hear on a Laura Ingraham podcast. I've always suspected that Laura was a few fruit loops shy of a full bowl so this interview was a little ironic for me. If you are looking for an intelligent, well-thought out line of thought from the man who holds our country's nuclear codes, this interview was far from reassuring. Were it a member of your own family, you might be planning an intervention by now.

I'm going to munch my bagels with another cup of coffee while I try to find out who these people are that I never heard of.

Morning Coffee with Dan - A Special Relationship - Really

As I sip my reheated coffee this morning I am once again thinking about Russia and the relationship between Vlad and Cheeto.

It was probably no surprise that Angela Merkel reported yesterday that Russian dissident Alexy Nevalny was definitely poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok. The MO was almost identical to the poisoning of Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia Skripal in England in 2018 to which Cheeto was reluctant to condemn and very late to the party when he did respond. This latest attack drew quick condemnation and the demand for answers from Britain and Germany. As you might expect Putin's puppet Cheeto and pliable Pompeo were silent on the whole incident. A lower level official in the National Security Council was left to comment. Does this follow a well-established pattern by now?

It continues to be very troubling that Cheeto has embraced Russia and is willing to ignore anything they do. As I noted yesterday, it has been over two months since the revelations about the bounties for U.S. soldiers was released and Cheeto has yet to condemn the action - an indifference of the first order when your "Commander in Chief" doesn't defend the military. Is it any surprise that he would not criticize Russia for the poisoning of Alexy Nevlany? In the meantime, Russian aggression in Syria continues to put U.S. forces in an untenable position and at increased risk. It will be interesting to see if Cheeto and the DoD have a falling out over these incidents which he dare not ignore.

It seems like the most definitive response Cheeto is going to give is to continue to lobby for the admission of Russia into the G7. That's right, let's reward Russia's aggression and destabilizing activities with admission to the G7. That will show them how tough Cheeto can be.

Maybe someday we will find out what the magic potion is that Vlad uses to control Cheeto. But it is clear, that Vlad can act with completed impunity and the the 'official U.S. response' will be to ignore his actions.

I am going to work on another cup of java this morning while I think about Vlad and my favorite dummy, Jerry Mahoney.

Morning Coffee with Dan - A Time to Heal - Not Divide

As I sip my coffee this morning, I believed that I was finished doing my morning coffee shtick anymore. It has pretty much run its course and I have vented enough until the election is over. However, when a 'target of opportunity' presents itself, it is too difficult for me to restrain myself.

I was taken by Portland, OR, Mayor Ted Wheeler's news conference last night and I felt I had to add my support to his perceptive and biting comments. Addressing Cheeto directly he asked, "Do you seriously wonder, Mr. President, why this is the first time in decades that America has seen this level of violence?" "It's you who have created the hate and the division. It's you who have not found a way to say the names of Black people killed by police officers even as people in law enforcement have. And it's you who claimed that White supremacists are good people. " He continued. "Your campaign of fear is as anti-democratic as anything you've done to create hate and vitriol in our beautiful country."

His comments came one day after a person was shot and killed in downtown Portland after an evening of violent clashes between Trump supporters and protesters denouncing police brutality.

His comments continued when he lamented that, "for four years we've had to live with you and your racist attacks on Black people. We learned early about your sexist attitudes toward women. We've had to endure clips of you mocking a disabled man. We've had to listen to your anti-democratic attacks on journalists. We've read your tweets slamming private citizens to the point of receiving death threats, and we've listened to your attacks on immigrants," he said.
"We've listened to you label Mexicans 'rapists.' We've heard you say that John McCain wasn't a hero because he was a prisoner of war. And now, you're attacking Democratic mayors and the very institutions of Democracy that have served this nation well since its founding."

I could add nothing more to his comments which size up this administration as accurately as anyone can. Of course, as you would expect, Cheeto launched a series of sophomoric insulting tweets, which i won't even dignify with a comment in this post. Cheeto has the power of his office to heal and bring a nation together which he has chose to squander on his narcissistic rantings which only further exacerbate a troubling time in this country. He needs to go and preferable before November.

On that note I am making more coffee.

Morning Coffee with Dan - "Neither Snow, Nor Rain, Nor Heat...."

As I savor my first cup of 'joe' this morning, I am thinking about the U.S. Post Office and the testimony of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to Congress on Monday.

I cannot fathom how the man was a 'successful' business man given his answers to the committee. When queried by committee member Katie Porter about the litany of changes occurring at the post Office, his response was that either it didn't happen or he didn't order them. When she asked If he did not order these actions to be taken, "please tell the committee who did." DeJoy then said, "I do not know," but did finally acknowledge all this stuff actually happened. Let's break down that answer in simple management terms.

If you are the CEO of an organization (Postmaster General) and major changes are taking place that are both impacting the performance of the organization and getting major publicity throughout the country, wouldn't you want to know "who the hell authorized them?" If not, you are clearly unfit for the job. To say, "I do not know" is management malfeasance of the first order. Clearly, we know what his intent was. It was to avoid telling the truth to Congress. He knows damn well who authorized the changes, and most likely, personally directed them. No CEO says, "I don't know" when he is in charge of an organization. Maybe he learned, "I take no responsibility at all" from Cheeto which was his response when asked about the lack of Coronavirus testing.

To finish this line of thought, you need to look at his answers when asked by Porter that if he didn't direct the changes, would he commit to reversing these changes? DeJoy said "No." So, if there are any, they're meaningless and "I refuse to reverse these changes." Wouldn't a better answer from the double talking Postmaster General be that I am going to review the nature of the changes I didn't authorize, look at the data behind them, and then determine if they should continue or be reversed? No. I am categorically not reversing changes that I didn't authorize or know from where they came.

Welcome to the world of political appointees. DeJoy was appointed because he was a loyal Republican donor and a "successful" businessman. The absence of any knowledge of the Post Office operations is not considered significant in running an organization that delivers 48% of the world's mail and has a payroll of $2 billion a year. A great place for amateurs to learn the business.

On that sad note, I am having a jalapeno bagel with my second cup of coffee.

Morning Coffee with Dan - Textbook Case of "Abuse of Power"

As I am sipping my coffee this morning, I am thinking about numbers – the number four comes to mind. This is the size of the majority in the Senate that has allowed Mitch McConnell and the his fellow Republican Senators to literally reshape America and threaten the very principles of our democracy where political expediency trumps (yes, a fitting choice of words) the welfare of the country.

When I was an undergraduate at UCLA, I use to laugh at the sports commentaries that lamented over the problem of blocking protection for our quarterback. The grumbling centered on our inability to find five athletes who could block from a student body of 30,000 in a state with a population of almost 19 million (1966). If I fast forward, I can ask a similar question about the U.S. Senate. Why is that the progressives of this country are held totally captive to the corrupt, undemocratic, and heavy-handed tactics of Mitch McConnel for a mere four senators – three if the VP were a Democrat? The Democrats enjoy a reasonable majority in the House, give or take 34 representatives. Unfortunately, the demographics of the election cycle for electing Senators didn’t favor a turnover of the Senate in 2018 as it did for the House. The reality that the Senate can pass or thwart virtually anything Cheeto wants is amazing given such a close split in the Senate. Accommodation, cooperation, and collaboration are an anathema to Mitch McConnell and his fellow lemmings.

So where are we because of a four Senator majority? Mitch McConnel is sitting on 395 bills passed by the House that he has no intent of bringing to the Senate for consideration. This is how he earned the nickname “the Grim Reaper,” almost as fitting as “Moscow Mitch” or “the Turtle.” Many of these bills are not merely on the Democratic wish list but passed the house with bi-partisan support. It doesn’t seem to matter much to the Grim Reaper, though. This is why, in an ironic play of words, the U.S. senate has been called “the world’s least deliberative body.” BTW, we are not talking about trivial legislation on-hold. Major bills to address election interference, funding for pandemic relief, support for the CDC and other agencies needed to fight future potential pandemics, medical prescription relief, etc. How one person can thwart the legislative process is beyond my naive understanding of the legislative processes. Why have the charade of a legislative vote if you cannot even get the bills released for consideration?

Mitch’s obstruction philosophy is bad enough, but there are enough ethics questions to make me lose sleep beyond what Cheeto has already done. Mitch’s spouse is Transportation Secretary, Elaine Chao. How is that not a conflict of interest? We have a senate lead by the husband deliberating legislation and funding for a cabinet department lead by his spouse. I am willing to put down a substantial bet that in Mitch’s pile of 395 bills, there are none that would benefit the Transportation department or the State of Kentucky, for that matter. The fact that Ms. Chao’s own ethics are worrisome should bother those who advocate a modicum of Senate oversight. Ms. Chao, a substantial stockholder in Vulcan Materials, recently sold her stock after telling legislators that she would divest her holdings three years ago. Of course, Vulcan provides building and construction materials on government contracts managed by the Department of Transportation. My cynical side wonders how much the Wall Street Journal revelation of her failure to divest resulted in her recent divestiture in May. I don’t know whether Chao did anything untoward, but I do know the appearance of impropriety and the opportunity are enough to raise ethics questions. Interestingly, the Inspector General investigating Chao was removed by Trump (McConnell) in his recent purge of five Inspector Generals who were responsible for investigating the ethics of various government agencies. Is there no end to this corruptions and arbitrary abuse of power?

As a number of political pundits have suggested, Mitch McConnell will go down in history as one of the least productive and most obstructive majority leaders in history. The fact that his Senate lemmings don’t have the anatomical appendages to do what’s right for the country is beyond frustrating. It is very sad that the Senate has abdicated so much of the separation of powers envisioned by our constitution. The arbitrary failure to consider the valid Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, may be the most arbitrary and blatant abuse of a political position in the history of the Senate. It cries out for a major reform of the rules to prevent it from ever happening again, no matter which party has the majority in the Senate. Under McConnell’s ‘leadership’ they have continually ‘rubber stamped’ all of Cheeto’s political appointees and judges with no regard for their qualifications, only their political loyalty and affiliation. This is why we have so many corrupt and incompetent cabinet and senior clowns like Betsy DeVos, Rick Perry, Michael Flynn, Ben Carson, etc. ‘Advise and Consent’ is a travesty.

On that note, I am moving on to toast a fresh bagel with my second cup of coffee.

Morning Coffee with Dan - Only the Best - Not

On a rainy Friday while I am sipping a cup of reheated coffee I am thinking about incumbent turnover in Cheeto's administration. Yesterday's indictment of Steve Bannon continues a legacy of embarrassment for the President and continues to reflect on his inability to hire and retain people of quality to run our government.

While Cheeto was running for president he boasted that he would "surround myself only with the best and most serious people" -- adding: "We want top-of-the-line professionals." I guess we can file this under "bullshit" along with "Mexico will pay for the wall, I will be known as the "jobs President, I'll eliminate the deficit, we will replace Obama care with a plan that is better and cheaper, and a dozen other drug-induced promises. The turnover among the "best and most serious people" is nothing short of astounding. As of this month, there has been an 89% turnover on his "A" team - you read that correctly, 89%. BTW, the turnover does not count multiple turnovers of the same position if there were multiple incumbents like his Chief of Staff. In this latter category of multiple turnovers, the turnover is 40%, a pretty amazing number in itself.

Over the years as I have had a chance to observe and work with many different organizations and companies, and one of the observations I noted was that a key characteristics that made sound and well-run organizations was 'stability.' Those organizations who had people in jobs for longer periods tended to run well for obvious reasons, e.g., incumbents knew their jobs, they had seen and dealt with issues previously, they were well connected, etc. When there is constant 'churn' in an organization, you have a scenario where incumbents are still learning their jobs or may be on their way out the door, either case is not particularly healthy for an efficient team. In the interest of brevity, I am skipping over the whole notion of the background and qualifications of the incumbent where Cheeto's record is less than notable in that regard.

Getting back to the notion of top-of-the-line professionals, independent of turnover, Bannon's indictment highlights the corrupt nature of Cheeto's management style. Bannon is the 7th associate indicted or convicted from his team. You know all the characters by now, Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, Michael Cohen, George Papadopolus, and now Steve Bannon. Quite a rogues gallery of the best and most professional, I would say. You can skip over the part where Cheeto says, "he barely knew any of them."

I am thinking it will be wonderful when we have a 100% turnover of the entire group of 'top-of- the-line professionals come January 2021. Maybe the new found stability can bring us back to the time when we knew was responsible for what activity in the government and they remained in the job long enough to do it right - at least by government standards.

On that note, I am having more coffee and a fresh bagel.

Morning Coffee with Dan - No Appreciation for the Power of the Presidency

As I savor my shot of caffeine this morning, I have a lot to mull over, but high on my list was President Obama's speech last night at the Democratic convention, unprecedented in many ways. Of the many themes that he articulated so eloquently was his assessment of his successor which, in itself, was unprecedented in it bluntness, and in my opinion 'spot on.'

In his speech he said, "I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously; that he might come to feel the weight of the office and discover some reverence for the democracy that had been placed in his care," He further said, "but he never did. For close to four years now, he's shown no interest in putting in the work; no interest in finding common ground; no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends; no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves. Donald Trump hasn't grown into the job because he can't."

As if to support Obama's assessment, we have to look no further than Cheeto's comments earlier in the day when talking about QAnon. This group which exists on the lunatic fringe has had its conspiracy theories labeled a potential domestic terrorist threat by the FBI. If you seek the love and affection of a group because they think you are saving the world from 'a satanic cult of pedophiles and cannibals," you are clearly a few fruit loops shy of a full bowl. Cheeto was pleased that the group 'likes him very much" for which he is appreciative and they 'love their country.'

If you think about President Obama's comments about "Donald Trump has ..."no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself," it frames the problem for me. Cheeto has never appreciated that everything he does or says carriers the weight of the most powerful office in the world and prior to his tenure, the most respected positions on earth. When he speculates that consuming disinfectant may kill the coronavirus, people actually listen, just as they think Mr. Pillow actually knows something about virus treatments. His ill conceived positions and comments reflect a total lack of understanding and appreciation for the power of the office. Obama was right on the mark. Cheeto's comments about QAaon yesterday will very likely create a new enthusiasm for QAnon, just as his comments about the Nazi sympathizers in Charlottesville were good people provided tid bits for the hate mongers.

The list goes on and on, but everyday is another barrage of idiotic and ill conceived tweets and utterances which do nothing to move the country forward, and we can thank our former president for doing us a service by articulating it so forcefully and clearly.

I'm off of another cup of joe and cheese bagel.