The (Daily) Vent 2

(Old News. . .) When the covid-19 virus first materialized in the Wuhan area of China, it was originally attributed to the consumption of infected wildlife. A more sensible explanation, and the one adopted in these pages, was that it had been a lab leak. That explanation however was not politically correct and scorned in media. That it was also the explanation that President Trump was using at the time. The true value of the pandemic would be the removal of Trump from Office but to accuse the Chinese of negligence would dilute the media's anti-Trump message. Heroes in this effort like Dr. Fauci and others had been the ones to promote the infected bat theory because he had a contribution to the gain of function research being carried out at the Wuhan Lab, where the spill happened. Now, the release of the virus was not necessarily deliberate on the part of the Chinese but to say that the Peoples' Republic has not benefited. The defeat of Trump meant the ascension of Biden who has

(Familiar Territory ) Last month was the anniversary of the signing of the 1973 Paris Peace Accords that ended American involvement in Vietnam. Only Afghanistan was a longer conflict and both ended in American failures. Neither result was inevitable, however. Vietnam had been allowed to persist because there was never the political will, starting in the Kennedy and ending with the Nixon, with the escalation in Southeast Asia under Lyndon Johnson. Had there been decisive leadership in Washington, the Vietnam War could have been concluded in 1965 but the danger of Soviet intervention always burned the mid-night at the White House, the National Security Council and the Pentagon. Half measures in the conflict were deemed adequate but that ensured that the "mission" was never fully defined and no one could describe what "victory" would look like. It had been the same situation in Afghanistan. In ways, it was a worse debacle than Vietnam. Going back to Eisenhower, Communi

(An Honest Politician) Under most circumstances, that would be a contradiction in terms. There might have been "Honest" Abraham Lincoln but he would be by far the exception. By and large, any politicians' veracity is comparable to that of a used car salesman and there are numerous examples or public servants with extended wooden noses. Sometimes such false-hoods can result in a removal from public life. However, that would depend on the nature of the politician. Joe Biden has run for President several times going back to 1988 when he had to drop out when plagiarism charges surfaced. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) has claimed tours in Vietnam, that never happened. The latest to be caught in a fib of sorts would be Congressman George Santos (R-NY. However, no action can probably be taken against because Santos' removal would decrease the Republican Majority in the House. In that regard, George Santos has been made indispensable. Political corruption is a fact of life

( Outside The Line) The other day, it was mentioned that President Biden had the demeanor of an amateur compared to present company. As the saying goes, "God save us from amateurs." This morning, there was a worse than expected inflation report meaning that the Federal Reserve will continue to be active in raising interest rates. Not good news for Wall Street and as of now, all major Averages are displaying significant declines. As it also happens, the Vice Chair position at the Fed is currently vacant. The Biden Administration has announce that, in the name of equity, that will be the criteria for filling that spot. God forbid that one find a competent economist but the Administration has to check a requisite number of "boxes." Pete Buttigieg is gay and married. Kamala Harris is black. The reason the Biden Administration has been so in-effective is that it checked those boxes first. Now the same approach is about to be applied to the Fed. To be sure, Fed Chairman J

(Appearance Sake) There is a reason why President Biden prefers the Ukraine to Ohio. That is Trump country and the Administration, and its Transportation Secretary. That is why the former President will be making an appearance and render aid, namely bottled water and cleaning supplies. Not quite appropriate to hold a rally as the locals would be more concerned with recent events and, as Trump will not be President again, he can use what influence he does have to do "some good." That being said, the visuals that it is Trump rather than Biden shows how the latter is distracted. With big issues like Ukraine and China and the global nature of both, why would he have time, or the inclination, to deal with a chemical spill that Mayor Pete could not handle in the first place ? One year has passed since the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine but the President has done nothing to hasten the conclusion. How does that look ? More to the point, who is watching ? This has been a series of

(Alignment. . .) After his "surprise" trip t Kiev the other day, he spent today in Warsaw. Poland, as a declared NATO Member and also on the front line, such as it is, President Biden trip is coming to an end and, aside from a pledge for more Ukrainian aid, the further alienation of Russia and now China have created an altered paradigm where Beijing and Moscow are moving on the same Axis, with President Putin and Premier Xi now in a partnership, provoked by the American counter-part who should have deferred to those who knew better. To begin, Vladimir Putin has announced Russia's withdrawal from the Strategic Arms Reduction (START) Treaty.  Biden has been promising additional sanctions on Russia so Putin's reaction is not surprising. Abrogating START is one mechanism forward and would mean that any expansion of Russia's strategic arsenal can proceed without diplomatic impediment. Russia has been modernizing its ICBM's, bombers and sea launched missile force. 

( Only Bush Could Go To Baghdad) And only Nixon could go to China. Why did President Biden make a surprise visit to Kiev ? It is true that the Biden family has had ties to the East European country, specifically with Hunter's involvement at Burisma. Then, when Joe was Vice President, he extorted Ukraine to the tune of several hundred million dollars if a prosecutor was not removed. This was where President Trump made that phone call to Zelenski and where he was impeached. The one-year anniversary to the Russian invasion is days away and one can say that the reason Russians are in the Ukraine is because it is Joe Biden in the White House. Any President can get tested but it has been Biden that has been taken particular advantage. Biden is not one to engage in high diplomacy and having a photo-op with the Ukrainian President, in battle dress compared to his American counter-part in his suit, who promised to re-affirm Ukraine's "sovereignty, democracy and territorial integrit

( Pursuits To Mediocre. . .) Certain people need to be held in justifiable contempt. on February 19th, 1945, three Marine Divisions and an Army combat regiment were put ashore on the eight-square-mile piece of volcanic rock called Iwo Jima. On February 23ed, the infamous Rosenthal photograph of the "Flag Raising on Mount Suribachi" was taken. People had been under the impression that the island had been secured by that point though weeks of fighting remained.  Could Iwo be taken today ? Could Suribachi still be scaled and not one but two Flags in actuality, all while under Japanese fire ? Ultimately, over 110,000 troops were placed on that Island and some six thousand Marines and Army stayed there. The Greatest Generation has been dying off. Men, and women, that served not just on Iwo but indeed every Theater, Pacific and Europe. Those who  survived, those who had to adapt to conditions in the field was the difference from being a Veteran of World War II, or a casualty. When

( The Company One Keeps) A Presidential adviser can be a most important position. Those that are chosen to staff an Administration can be some of the more consequential roles one could have. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had his War Cabinet with Hull at State, Stimson at War, Knox at Navy, General Marschall at Army Chief of Staff, Admiral King as Chief of Naval Operations. All competent men who proceeded to win a War. And that was a War to be won. The members in the Biden Administration, however, can make no such claims. Not just Buttigieg but Granholm at Energy, or Garland at Justice, and whoever runs EPA. Mayorkas at Homeland Security. What has been pointed out is these are less government officials and more activists. Now, the traditional definition of public service would be to serve the public. How is the mis-management of East Palestine count as public service ? As so-called "activists," these people are neglecting the public good. They are on board with the Admin

(De-Railed. . .) One is generally familiar with the phrase "up in smoke." It is more than a metaphor these days  after a chemical-loaded train went off the tracks in East Palestine, Ohio and the subsequent decision by authorities to set the load ablaze. Toxic smoke has since been billowing since the wreck but assurances are being made to the public that the water is still safe to drink and the air is still fit to breathe. That is in spite of the fact that residents are getting head aches and the fish seem to have died off in the local stream. But the government has given assurances. At some point, it should behoove people to not be so trusting of people in charge because, so often, it is the very people in charge who screw up the most. Who thought it was a good idea to set the load on fire and not anticipate any ill health effects ? Common sense usually suggests that burning chemicals in said manner would not be free of any effect. So, the people who are supposed to be in cha

( (not) Feelin' The Love ?) Happy Valentines' Day ! Go out and adorn your loved ones with chocolate and flowers and maybe the occasional wedding proposal. The dynamics of true love. Unless you are having problems. Like current Anglo-Sino relations. One can re-cap the flying circus of late and then have the Chinese complain that American air-space is actually defended and whatever was brought down over the last few days, if they all said "Made in China," like the toy section of Wal Mart, then the Red Chinese would have been caught red handed. Remember the IVY BELLS tap from the other day,  still on display in Moscow  ? The Soviets had used it to embarrass President Reagan so now why cannot President Biden stick it to Premier Xi ? Protestations from Beijing notwithstanding, it has been the weakness of the Biden Administration in the first place is why the Peoples' Republic is feeling free to scout U.S. airspace with balloons or whatever and why hostilities between

( Take Us To Your Leader ?) One can probably say this movie has been seen before. An alien intelligence of some sort makes a visit to Earth and. benign or hostile, prefers contact with the leadership. From the original  War of the Worlds to Independence Day , and every other piece of Sci-Fi this or that on TV and film in between, a common question gets posed. What would be the current the quality of leadership ? What had been President's Biden's "quality" during this balloon crisis, where Nena ' s  "99 Luftballoons" is the only idea talking about more inflatable gadgets. The reason that subsequent targets have been more readily engaged is because the first vehicle had the whole tour and, as embarrassing as that incident was and as bad optics are bad optics, no tour was granted to these "flights." Considering the potential nature of these balloon excursions, one would think that the President of the United States, as Commander in Chief would hav

( The Marshall Mission) Next Sunday, NBC will premiere the new Magnum P.I, which is the same show that CBS had canceled last year. But that "Magnum," can trace its lineage back to Hawaii Five -O, which is an extension of NCIS Los Angelas , which goes back to NCIS classic, which was itself a spin-off of the legal drama, JAG. JAG first premiered on NBC in 1994 starring David James Elliot and Tracy Needham, with a couple of cameos from Oliver North. Full circle ? The Age-Old Question. Who lost China ? The originally, it had been the Nationalist Chinese, led by Generissimo Chaing Kai-Chek, and the Communists, led by Mao Zedong. While Japan was the common enemy, both factions cooperated. When the war was over, however, a Chinese civil war loomed. In December, 1945, President Truman dispatched former Army Chief of Staff, General George Marshall to Peking to speak on behalf of the Nationalists, trying to get both sides to an accord that would prevent an outbreak of hostilities. The

( Second Act ?) Clarification might be in order. Cordell Hull was Secretary of State under FDR and it was he that received the Japanese "ultimatum" in essence declaring war but about an hour after the bombes started falling on Pearl Harbor. Once news of the attack was confirmed, Hull looked at the Japanese delegation, and visibly upset, ". . . fifty years of public service, never seen a document so laced with infamous falsehoods and distortions." The President was not being wholly honest the other night. The President's State of the Union has been dissected by everything but forceps by this point so no need to elaborate further only suffice it to it was, as Secretary Hull would have placed it, "laced with infamous falsehoods and distortions." But what of the Vice President ? Ms. Harris sat to the President's right rear and perhaps seeing herself in due course at that Podium and giving her own State of the Union as President in her own right. That b

(Coming Attractions ?) The President is set to deliver his State of the Union speech this evening. Such an address would not necessarily be convenient for those who have to carry the event live and not air its Prime Time line-ups. State of the Union speeches habitually garner low ratings to while President Biden speaks, most Americans could be looking for South Park re-runs, definitely a more cerebral exercise than any comments by Mr. Biden. This is Biden's first SOTU speech with a hostile House. It will be Speaker McCarthy to Biden's rear. Now, there will be two "states of nation" tonight. The first will be what the President will be saying behind the Podium. Will he use the opportunity and explain to the American people his plan to combat inflation ? To perhaps secure the Border ? No, previews of the text indicate no announced changes to policy, save for how he has done great with the economy, how he has kept inflation under control with the Inflation Reduction Act

(Ringing IVY BELLS) Operation IVY BELLS was a top secret joint intelligence operation carried out by the CIA and the U.S. Navy. In essence, a modified nuclear submarine placed a "tap" on Soviet cables running under the Sea of Okhotsk that ran the strategic communications of the Soviet Far East fleets. The tap would monitor all traffic through those cables and, once a month, the submarine would return and retrieve the device and install a fresh one. The intelligence collected from IVY BELLS was significant but it was ultimately compromised by a dis-grunted NSA employee. The tap was recovered with great fanfare, the Soviets relishing the opportunity to embarrass the U.S. and Soviet nemesis, President Ronald Reagan. As of 1999, the IVY BELLS tap remains on display at a Moscow museum. Are there plans to display that Chinese balloon anywhere ? Probably just the opposite. One would think that the Biden Administration would be curious enough to examine the craft and. speak of tec

( The Rise & Fall Of Francis Gary Powers) Francis Gary Powers had been a news and traffic reporter for a couple of radio and TV stations in Los Angeles during the 1970's. A more notable claim to fame was that Powers had been the pilot of a U-2 spy-plane that had been shot down, his rise and fall, over Soviet territory on May 1st, 1960. The U-2 is usually a high-altitude platform, making it ideal for photo reconnaissance over hostile territory, like Soviet airspace. Powers' aircraft could not maintain its cruise level and descended into the operational envelop of Soviet air defenses, where the U-2 was engaged and shot down. Powers ejected and was captured, tried, was convicted in a Soviet court and spent three years in prison and another seven at hard labor. As mentioned, Powers ended up in L.A. as an airborne traffic reporter and then a news station. Power's U-2, or what was left of it, had been quickly secured by Soviet security services and was thoroughly examined. No

(China Is Here. . .) " China is here , Mr. Burton. " They say give credit where credit is due. What does one do when it isn't ? Some 517,000 jobs were added this month and the un-employment rate has fallen to 3.4%. Consumer confidence also emerged with a healthy number. When the number was released this morning, there had been a broad sell-off on Wall Street. Prices have stabilized for the moment and, on cue, President Biden un-equivocally took credit, claiming that it has been his policies like the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act, the things that had caused the inflation in the first place, and making the statement that inflation was all but gone. If the President wants to think he had something to do with today's report, he is more than welcome. However, there is another issue, today, that might also require his attention. China has a hot air reconnaissance balloon that has been drifting over portions of Montana, where the ICBM fields of Malstro

(One Meat Brawl) " A groundhog and his Shadow are a very famous pair . They forecast the weather, together , a trick that is rare . One little thing that bothers me when out of doors I go , Will it be like springtime , or sixteen feet of snow ? Never know which , I just don ' t  remember . Will it be warm ? Or made like December ? The whole thing just confuses me so that is why I sing : A Groundhog ' s Shadow doesn ' t mean a thing . Happy Groundhog day. And if reports are accurate, resident rodent, Pawtextawny Phil did "see" his shadow and one can look forward to six additional weeks of winter. Or, if one looks at the anthem above, "a groundhog's shadow doesn't mean a thing." That is from a classic Porky Pig feature of the same name where Grover Groundhog, Porky looking to add him to his taxidermy collection. So, who is having a "One Meat Brawl ?" The President is dealing with further document questions and looking forward

(A Required Level Of Insanity) As the saying goes, one would have to be crazy to want to run for President. And, looking throughout history, the record is repleat with men who were never of wholly sound mind. President Biden, for his part, does not seem to have much of a mind anymore. But, if one were to look for the best example of this axiom, look no further than President Trump. He could have stayed a developer. He was a reality TV star. But Trump then had a mid-life crisis so profound that he ran for President. And, against all odds, he won. And that was the problem. Trump had been the consummate outsider and had to be schooled in the established ways of Washington. The pandemic and various rule changes in the election laws in some, Democrat controlled states allowed for his ouster. The riots of January 6th was a temper tantrum and was blamed on the outgoing President, who could not attend Biden's Inauguration. Clearly, Trump has a sense of un-finished business and he thinks he