‘Troubled Man’ Trump

Bill Barr, former Attorney General under Donald Trump, Ramps Up His Showdown With ‘Troubled Man’ Trump in Stunning CBS Interview: He’s Like ‘A Defiant 9-Year-Old.’

In a stunning CBS interview on Sunday with Robert Costa, Barr doubled down on his opinion that Trump has only himself to blame for his current predicament.

“This is not a circumstance where he’s the victim or this is government overreach,” Barr said. “He provoked this whole problem himself. Yes, he’s been the victim of unfair witch hunts in the past. But that doesn’t obviate the fact that he’s also a fundamentally flawed person who engages in reckless conduct. And that leads to situations, calamitous situations like this, which are very destructive and hurt any political cause he’s associated with.”

The former attorney general did say that while Trump has “many good qualities” and “accomplished some good things,” his actions ultimately endanger the GOP cause.

“He is a consummate narcissist and he constantly engages in reckless conduct that that puts his political followers at risk and the conservative and Republican agenda at risk,” he said.

Barr then added this jawdropping postscript:

“He will always put his own interests and gratifying his own ego ahead of everything else, including the country’s interests. There’s no question about it. This is a perfect example of that. He’s like a 9-year-old — a defiant 9-year-old kid who’s always pushing the glass toward the edge of the table, defying his parents to stop him from doing it. It’s a means of self-assertion and exerting his dominance over other people. And he’s a very petty individual who will always put his interests ahead of the country’s, his personal gratification of his ego. But our country can’t be a therapy session for a troubled man like this.”

Donald Trump Should be VERY Afraid!

The Associated Press (AP) published an article today asking answering this question, “How much prison time could Trump face? Past cases brought steep punishment for document hoarders.”

Donald Trump should be very afraid if he is found guilty of the crimes he has been charged with doing.

The AP full response should have Trump shaking in his boots. However since Trump really believes he has done nothing he most likely believes he will be found not guilty or there will be a hung jury.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI investigators who searched Harold Martin’s Maryland property in the fall of 2016 found classified documents — including material at the top secret level — strewn about his home, car and storage shed.

Unlike former President Donald Trump, the former National Security Agency contractor didn’t contest the allegations, ultimately pleading guilty in 2019 and admitting his actions were “wrong, illegal and highly questionable.” But his expressions of contrition and guilty plea to a single count of willful retention of national defense information didn’t spare him the harsh punishment of nine years in prison.

The resolution of that case looms as an ominous guidepost for the legal jeopardy Trump could face as he confronts 37 felony counts — 31 under the same century-old Espionage Act statute used to prosecute Martin and other defendants alleged to have illegally retained classified documents. Even many like Martin who have pleaded guilty and accepted responsibility have nonetheless been socked with yearslong prison sentences.

Orange is Power! Or is Orange the New Black?

Because it’s associated with optimism and energy, many brands use orange to convey a message of positivity. If you’re looking to get your audience excited about something, go for orange. It’s an attention-grabbing, warm color that really pops when combined with cool blue or green tones.

The Orange Man believes in his heart that he is above the law and can do whatever he wants. It is not just holding and sharing secret documents. While Trump is entitled to the presumption of innocence like any other American, the indictment appears to underscore his personal belief that the law does not apply to him and that he has the power to do exactly as he likes. That behavior defined his administration and post-White House life.

Late last year, Trump called for the “termination” of the Constitution, including all “rules, regulations and articles.” And he’s pledged on day one of a new administration to direct the DOJ to “investigate every radical district attorney and attorney general in America” for what he claims is the illegal and racist enforcement of the law. Trump has already pleaded not guilty to falsifying business records – charges that arose from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation of a hush money scheme. And he’s waiting to hear whether he will be charged in another special counsel investigation into the run-up to January 6, 2021, and a separate investigation into his attempt to overturn President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory in Georgia led by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

After blue my favorite color is orange. Can the bright Florida sunshine bring an end to madness? A unanimous twelve man jury in each indictment will be required and that is very difficult to achieve. In conservative Florida the evidence will have to be overwhelming.

I am not betting on any guilty verdicts. I hope I am wrong.

Dying Newspapers

Once upon a time there were four daily newspapers in Los Angeles. The Examiner, Herald Examiner, Mirror, and Times. Today the Times is the remaining paper and It is not doing well. The circulation The Times reported daily circulation in October 2010 was 600,449,^[48] down from a peak of 1,225,189 daily and 1,514,096 Sunday in April 1990. Today the daily circulation is reported at 142,382.

The Southern California News Group, owner of the San Fernando Valley Los Angeles Daily News was created when the Los Angeles News Group (owners of nine local daily newspapers and websites) and its parent company Media News Group (MNG) acquired Freedom Communications (owners of the Orange County Register and Riverside Press-Enterprise). All this was an effort at surviving the shrinking subscriber base. For now that effort has been a success.

The Los Angeles Times is not alone in the decline of its circulation. Every web site paints a picture of declining newspaper revenue throughout the country. The Philadelphia Inquirer had a daily circulation of 648,000 in 1968 but today it is down to 101,000. Not being able to sustain a profit it is now owned by a non-profit organization in Philadelphia.

It appears that the Washington Post and the New York Times are both continuing to thrive. That says that if you are big enough you can survive. So it appears that local newspapers will be part of the past.

These U.S. Senators were willing to allow the United States to Default on paying its debts

The Senate vote was 63 to 36 to pass the debt ceiling bill. It was a contrived no vote. Those no voters knew the law would pass and were able to display their anger without impacting the resulting debt ceiling hike. Those voting NO could say to their constituents that they stood up to the big spenders. Sadly spending is out of control and everyone knows that is a fact.

Here are the NO voters as reported by the Washington Post. Numbers 1 to 63 were the YES votes

Members of the Democratic Caucus

64. Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts

65. Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon

66. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts

67. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania

68. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont

Members of the Republican Conference

69. Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming

70. Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee

71. Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana

72. Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama

73. Sen. Ted Budd of North Carolina

74. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana

75. Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas

76. Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho

77. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas

78. Sen. Steve Daines of Montana

79. Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska

80. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina

81. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri

82. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi

83. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin

84. Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana

85. Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma

86. Sen. Mike Lee of Utah

87. Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming

88. Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas

89. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky

90. Sen. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska

91. Sen. Jame Risch of Idaho

92. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida

93. Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri

94. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida

95. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina

96. Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska

97. Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama

98. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio

99. Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi

Not Voting

100. Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee

Compromise is what makes the U.S. system of Law Work

The U.S. House of Representatives passed President Biden and Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s debt limit bill. It proves that compromise is possible in what so many say can’t happen in the politically fractured American democracy. This could be the beginning of Democrats and Republicans coming together on other issues such as reducing gun violence and birth control. Of course both parties will have to ignore the fringes of their parties and look for more compromise.

I believe it can be done.

Warner Bros.: Part 2: The Quarrelsome Quartet

This article was written by Martin Cooper, President of Cooper Communications, supervised public relations for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for 10 years. It was published in the Warner Center News in Woodland Hills, California.

Many fairy tales feature a good sibling and a bad one. In the fairy tale of the Warner brothers, it was no different, except their story features four brothers: Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack.

Looking back on the 100 years of Warner Bros., one can’t help but marvel at the incredible legacy left behind by these four brothers. Founding their eponymous studio in 1923, they faced numerous challenges throughout their reign, including navigating the censorship era, managing talent relations, and embracing technological innovation.

Harry (1881-1958), the eldest and company president, took on the role of protector, ensuring the family business stayed on solid ground. Albert (1884-1967) was Warner Bros.’ treasurer and head of sales and distribution, steering the company through acquisitions and ensuring its survival during the Great Depression. Sam (1888-1927) was the technological genius, responsible for the introduction of sound to film, forever changing the way movies were made and consumed. Ironically, Sam died in 1927, the day before The Jazz Singer, which he had nurtured, premiered.

The youngest, Jack (1892-1978), was the charismatic showman, the driving force behind the studio’s creative endeavors, was instrumental in launching the careers of stars like James Cagney and Bette Davis, and is the villain in the Warner’s fairy tale.

Harry Warner’s granddaughter, Cass Warner Sperling, penned a quasi-tell-all book about her family, Hollywood Be Thy Name. One chapter begins: “‘I’ll get you for this, you son-ofa-bitch!’ Harry Warner, raising a three-foot lead pipe
threateningly over his head, chased his younger brother down the streets of the Warners studio lot.”

In the same book, producer and screenwriter Milton Sperling recalls, “Boy did Harry and Jack fight. I spent most of my
time on the Warner lot carrying truce flags back and forth between them, just to keep them from tearing the studio apart.”

Jack was a tough and ruthless businessman. He was notorious for his abrasive and domineering personality, and was known to be difficult to work with. He was also accused of mistreating his employees and engaging in unethical business practices, such as double-dealing and price-fixing.

Additionally, he was often at odds with other Hollywood executives, and was involved in several high-profile legal disputes and controversies. All of these factors contributed to his reputation as a disliked and controversial figure in the film industry.

And the fact that he “named names” during the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings that resulted in the Blacklist, gained him no fans in Hollywood.

But the ultimate perfidy was how Jack Warner became president of the studio.

More than in most industries, motion picture studios’ balance sheets vary widely year to year. Warner Bros. was no different; by 1956, the studio was losing money, declining from a net profit of between $2.9 million and $4 million each of the previous three years.

In May 1956, the brothers announced they were putting Warner Bros. up for sale. Jack secretly organized a syndicate, headed by Boston banker Serge Semenenko, which purchased 90 percent of the stock. After the studio was sold, Jack, without informing his brothers, joined Semenenko’s syndicate and bought back all his stock. Shortly after the deal was consummated, Jack, now the company’s largest single stockholder, appointed himself its new president.

According to Lou Lumenick, film critic for the New York Post: “Harry suffered a debilitating stroke shortly
afterward, and a furious Albert never spoke to his younger brother again.”

“Jack Warner Jr. reports that when his jovial father visited Harry for the last time at his 50th wedding anniversary party, the ailing old man simply shut his tear-filled eyes to avoid his betrayer.”

“Jack Sr. did not even return to Hollywood for his eldest brother’s funeral, remaining on the French Riviera.”

The family rupture never healed.

Lawsuits and contentious relationships between Jack Warner and his stars were also not uncommon. In 1935, James Cagney sued him for breach of contract; in 1943, Olivia de Havilland brought suit against him for the same thing. In 1948, Bette Davis, Warners’ leading actress, angry with Jack, left the studio, along with others, after completing Beyond the Forest.

Humphrey Bogart and Davis were constantly being put on paid suspension for refusing to appear in what they considered to be low quality movies that the studio wanted to legitimize with their star power.

Sadly, the four brothers who left Poland for America and went from being penniless immigrants to owning one of
the largest and most successful motion picture studios in the world, ended their lives in disharmony. One died the day before his biggest triumph while two others become embittered over betrayal by their youngest sibling.

In the Warner Bros. fairy tale, few remember Harry, Albert and Sam; the black knight emerged triumphant.

Well Known People Banned in Russia

Former United States President Barack Obama, late night television host Stephen Colbert, and CNN’s Erin Burnett are some of the “500 Americans” Russia has banned from entering the country.

The list includes Obama, former US Ambassador Jon Huntsman, several US senators and the next expected chairman of the joint chiefs Charles Q. Brown Jr.

The rambling list of names also includes American late night TV hosts Jimmy Kimmel, Colbert, and Seth Meyers.

If was one of them I would wear their banning as a badge of freedom of thought.

I view them all as heroes.

Old but Able

President Biden left for Japan on Wednesday for a meeting of the leaders of seven major industrial democracies who get together each year to try to keep the world economy stable. He decided to shorten his Far East trip and not visit other countries but return to the United States to confront the debt ceiling issue.

That is a lot of travel and a lot of issues for a man that many say has lost his ability to handle multiple problems. Is Biden slowing down and unable to deal with the variety of challenges he must confront?

Biden’s occasional incorrect words is something that everyone experiences. The man has a “full plate” of issues every day. Regardless of your age, how many of you reading this posting could handle the 24-hour job of president of the United States? My guess is few of you could meet the challenge.

Of course you could vote for a non-stop liar in November 2024. You know who I am writing about. The man who as recently as last week held a rally on CNN claiming that the election was rigged and a woman he sexually molested is “a whack job.”

Biden walks slowly. Is that your problem?