Devastation caused by the Woolsey Fire in Suburban Los Angeles

The Führer is Coming – “Heil Trump”

Donald Trump seems to believe he has the power to override the United States constitution by executive order.

We are seeing a man trying to become America’s first dictator. He believes he can end birthright citizenship. By executive order he will decide who is an American. He is now putting soldiers on the border and soon will have them marching through our streets. He will soon decide that he alone has the power to appoint all judges without senate approval. He will soon determine abortions will be banned by executive order. He will decide your sex. He will decide what businesses will exist. He will have absolute power.

Unless stopped by the congress in November, the congress will pass only the laws that he wishes.

It took just one year for Adolph Hitler to rise from chancellor to permanent dictator of Germany.

In an ever faster manner Donald Trump will, by executive order, dismantle this democracy. Sooner than you expect it to happen, he will declare himself president for life.

The sad thing about this is that a majority of Americans are in support of our coming Führer.

What Canada’s legalization of marijuana means for travelers

Bill Powers, a 57-year-old Canadian has a license for medical marijuana, and pot had been legal in the state of Washington for six years. Like that, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents turned him away with an extreme decree: He had been banned from the United States.

Lying to a border agent can result in a person being denied entry. But so too can being honest about past marijuana use. So Canadians will most likely lie when asked if they use marijuana.

As laws surrounding recreational marijuana slowly change state by state in the United States, Canada as a country has just legalized the substance. Adults 18 years and older in Canada can now purchase pot and and even grow it in their homes for personal use.

Fox News reports that Canadians could be banned from the US forever if they smoke legal pot. A Canadian citizen who drives from Vancouver to Seattle may be asked by a border agent if they have smoked pot before, and if they say yes, they could get banned from entry to the U.S. for life, even though pot is legal in Washington state. The Los Angeles Times has already reported on one man on medical marijuana was stopped from entering the United States.

Marijuana is illegal under federal law even in states that legalize it. Ten American states have legalized the use of marijuana.

So how did the ban on alcohol consumption by the United States (18^th amendment to the constitution) work out? The result was gangsters selling booze and evolving into an even more serious problems.

History.com reports the results of prohibition this was: “Under Prohibition, the illegal manufacture and sale of liquor–known as “bootlegging”–occurred on a large scale across the United States. In urban areas, where the majority of the population opposed Prohibition, enforcement was generally much weaker than in rural areas and smaller towns. Perhaps the most dramatic consequence of Prohibition was the effect it had on organized crime in the United States: as the production and sale of alcohol went further underground, it began to be controlled by the Mafia and other gangs, who transformed themselves into sophisticated criminal enterprises that reaped huge profits from the illicit liquor trade.”

Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions may oppose marijuana use but a growing part of society clearly does not agree.

Voting motivated by fear

There are 12 propositions on California’s November 6 ballot. California’s secretary of state mailed a 71 page Voter Information Guide to every household where there are registered voters. That is a good thing. The bad thing is that only the most diligent readers are likely to read the analyst reports and the arguments that are provided.

The actual laws themselves are not part of the mailed information. The major sponsors of the proposals are also not included. Instead readers are provided with website addresses for more information.

Most of us will not avail ourselves of that on line data. Instead we will be seeing the non-stop television commercials that will be coming with even more ferocity for the last two weeks before election day. Already I have seen commercials for propositions that I support that are obvious lies.

Proposition 6 that would repeal a recently raised gas tax for road improvements is a perfect example. I support the tax. But one commercial contended that repealing the tax would endanger fire fighters and police due to poorly paved roads. Many of the roads in my neighborhood are in need of repair but I have not seen even one situation where road conditions have impacted those services. Clearly that television ad was meant to create fear.

Other ads on topics related to subjects from taxes to dialysis may have similar fear mongering.

Honesty in providing accurate information is only in that 71 page circular. How many will read it?

I am quite certain that this situation is going on in every state and municipality.

Brett Kavanugh nomination to the Supreme Court

Christine Blasey Ford’s accusations of attempted rape by Judge Brett Kavanugh have created a dilemma for the GOP that could easily change the November make up of both houses of Congress. The Republicans want Kavanugh seated on the court before October 1 when the next Supreme Court session begins.

The Democrats know that when all is said Judge Brett Kavanugh will be seated on the Supreme Court since they are in the minority. My guess is that the Democrats hope that is done before the November election because then they will be campaigning that Republicans are not interested in protecting women who have been sexually harassed or have been the victim of a rape. If that campaign issue is well promoted than Democrats could easily win some additional seats in the House of Representatives and maybe win another seat in the Senate.

Can there be a Coup in the United States?

The answer based on an anonymous Op-Ed in the New York Times is YES!

Democrats should not be clapping their hands with delight over this situation. The same insider behavior could have occurred during the Obama administration.

The single person that all Americans elect to lead the country is the president. Members of the House of Representatives and Senate are elected by the district or the state. We rely on the president to lead the entire nation regardless of political party or other affiliations.

There is nothing in the Constitution that gives anyone authority to countermand the president’s decisions except laws passed by the congress or rulings by the Supreme Court.

When other people attempt to undermine or delay the president’s decisions they are interfering with the process of government that has been the basis of the American democracy since its inception.

While I view Donald Trump as a bad leader who could cause a war or an economic catastrophe he is the person that our system of elections has chosen to be president. Unfortunately his faults are many. Trump has been a supporter of groups that sew hate and he has made many nations that were considered allies into enemies.

Despite his obvious failings, I am not comfortable with an inner circle of people in the White House who are attempting to control the decision making process in the White House. They may say their actions are to protect our country but they are unanswerable to the American people.

We do have three ways of removing president. 1) Not re-elect him for a second term, 2) Action taken by the Vice President and “principal officers of the executive departments” to remove the president from power, 3) Impeachment. All of those choices are better than undermining our system of governing.

“America was always great.”

Meghan McCain said during her father’s memorial service that “America was always great.” She also said. “The America of John McCain has no need to be made great again because America was always great.”

I would have added the words “and is still great today.” These have been my words from the beginning of the Trump candidacy for president. I just don’t have the same following as Meghan McCain.

Looking at some facts supports the contention that the United States continues to be the greatest country the world has ever known.

Our country’s GDP is over $19.3 trillion dollars. In second place is China at $12 trillion. Japan is 3rd at $4.5 trillion. Then Germany at $3.6 trillion

Note: This list is based IMF’s World Economic Outlook Database, April 2018.

Military strength? Global Firepower’s 2017 Military Strength Ranking uses more than 50 factors to assign a Power Index score to 133 countries.
The finalized Global Firepower ranking relies on over 55 individual factors to determine a given nation’s PowerIndex (‘PwrIndx’) score. Ranked number 1 is the United States. Number 2 is Russia and number three is China.

The country with the most billionaires? It is estimated there are 680 in the United States worth $3.2 billion. Second place is China with a wealth of $1.1 trillion.

The American dollar is recognized as the reserve currency of the world. Many countries use the US dollar exclusively: Ecuador, East Timor, El Salvador, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Turks and Caicos, British Virgin Islands, Zimbabwe. Many countries employ it as an accepted alternative to their own currency.

We have the universities people want to attend. The number of international students in the U.S. reached an all-time high – 1,078,822 students – during the 2016-2017 school year.

The American constitution and our capitalist enterprise system has made the United States the envy of the world. Our constitution guarantees freedom of religion, a free press, and a judicial system that protects the innocent. Immigrants migrate to the United States because they know that this is a country that rewards hard working people and helps the downtrodden.

We are great and we have always been great!

John Brennan doubles down

It is the chaos president versus America’s security apparatus. This fight will not end soon.

✔ @JohnBrennan

John Brennan tweet

Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki rises to & exceeds the threshold of “high crimes & misdemeanors.” It was nothing short of treasonous. Not onlywere Trump’s comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin.
Republican Patriots: Where are you???

8:52 AM – Jul 16, 2018

During NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday, host Chuck Todd asked if Brennan regretted accusing the president of treason.

“I called his behavior treasonous, which is to betray one’s trust and to aid and abet the enemy,” Brennan responded. “And I stand very much by that claim.”

What is the Robert Mueller Investigation?

For those of you outside the United States the question is what is going on in the USA?

The original Robert Mueller investigation, motivated by the firing of FBI director James Comey, was at the direction of Mr Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general appointing Mr Mueller to look into:

The Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the election

Any links or co-ordination between Russia and Trump campaign-linked individuals

Any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation

That last point gives him quite a broad authority to also determine if the president himself has committed any wrongdoing.

The president’s words and behavior towards Russia and Vladimir Putin since taking office have only heightened the suspicion that his election was tainted and he has committed treasonous acts. The Helsinki summit between Trump and Putin only exacerbates that suspicion.

Donald Trump’s extraordinary performance in Helsinki alongside Russian leader Vladimir Putin may have crossed a red line with his fellow Republicans.

Former Republican Representative David Jolly said Congress was at “an inflection point.”

“This will be one of those moments the long lens of history remembers,” Jolly, who represented a Florida district from 2014 to 2017, said in an interview. “We’ve never had reason to question a president’s patriotism. We question their competence, their judgment, their self-interest, their partisan motivations. Even with Richard Nixon we never had questions of patriotism like we are seeing today.”

Jolly said that for the first time he believes impeachment of Trump — or removal under the 25th Amendment by declaring him unfit — should be on the table. But, he said, “The fates of Republicans on the Hill are too tied to the president. I’m not optimistic that they will be independent.”