The (Daily) Vent 2

(Now What ?) Looking at New Year's Eve, 2024. Whatever one can say for the last year, it was not boring. There had been wars and rumors of wars, an Election Year with a political comeback for the ages while at the same time, there had been an enfeebled President who perhaps should not have been in Office to begin with. The truth is that 2024, like 2023, was another year of President Biden's failures. There are many but the big three would be economics, foreign policy and immigration. In each of these areas the Biden Administration has been an abject failure. This is not including the Biden family business where now pardoned son Hunter got his father his cut. That being said, however. the most remarkable thing about President Biden was that he was cast aside in favor in what was thought to be superior personnel, Vice President Kamala Harris.  Joe Biden was an accidental President in the same manner by which Trump's considered his own first term. And his fall over this last y...

(Merged & Acquired ?) In cooperate America, it's not un-common for certain corporations to pool their resources and combine them. When such a paring is seen as too large, the government steps in and halts such arrangement. The merging of Albertson's and Kroger or Spirit Airlines joining JetBlue. The Trump Administration might have other ideas but any such merging of grocers or discount airlines will pale in comparison to what the President-Elect might be considering with regards to Canada. From Day One in the Trump transition, the President-Elect made clear that if Canada or Mexico do not do more to curb illegal immigration with fentanyl smuggling, Trump would impose a 25% tariff. Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau made a trip to Palm Beach to discuss the relationship. AT this point, Trump called Trudeau "Governor of Canada the 51st State." A lot of what Trump says is tongue-in-cheek but when it comes to annexing Canada or removing border constraints so Montanites ca...

(Things Left. . .) The out-door can be exceedingly long for one departing President Joe Biden. In the process, the President has commuted capital punishment sentences for over thirty convicts. He had vetoed that allowed for new judicial nominees to be confirmed with three Democrat jurists delaying retirement, staying on the Bench to prevent Trump from filling their vacancies. China just un-veiled the largest amphibious assault ship that doubles as an aircraft carrier. Like breaking furniture on the way out the door. President Biden has been cast aside by both friend and foe and his Administration will be remembered as one of the worst in history. At this point, however, it is doubtful the President even cares. The more he can place obstacles in front of Trump, the better. That is why he is commuting those sentences to life. The crimes were horrific and the perpetrators justly received a capital judgement. What sense of justice might a President have if these are denied a just reward ? ...

(RE-Gifting A Fruitca ke. . .) Happy post-Christmas ! December 26th is the day to come down off the hilarity from Yesterday. All the egg nogg, the hoarseness from caroling and the acres of wrapping paper and how to dispose of the tree. Also, it is highly possible that fruitcakes were exchanged, In modern contexts, a fruitcake is the equivalent to getting a lump of coal from Santa. Now the big guy has parked the Sleigh, the reindeer are out to pasture for the year so what remains, is fruitcake. Fruitcake material has yet to be identified by modern science. It is very durable which explains how it can be, and often is, re-cycled. That does not make it palatable. Just as palatable is the dead-lock in the House of Representatives and its so-called GOP Majority and the faction that might not vote to re-elect Speaker Johnson back to the Gaval. That has to be done by January 3th and if the House cannot decide on a Speaker on time, or if Johnson is discarded, what will that do to the schedule ...

(Good Morning. . .) Merry Christmas ! Depending on where you live, gifts will have been un-wrapped, the grown-ups will be having coffee and a good time had by all. Lots of electronics, other toys, clothes and so on. Maybe it is a new car ? In any event, this morning a ritual takes place that has its tradition going back two thousand years. But not everyone has the same experience. Not everyone can afford those electronics, or other toys, or clothes and no new car. A lot of people have a Merry Christmas as far as gifts and so on but many do not. Christmas has a great commercial aspect but the commercialism is not universal. Christmas music is played in stores by Halloween and is a milestone in Year End Festivities. So, when someone asks if he or she had a good Christmas, say "yes." Even if did not any gifts, nothing that was under the tree, it would still be a Good Christmas. There was a gift. A Birth. That 2,000 year tradition. Eventually there was a death. Some seventy-two h...

(Panama. . .) The best song, according to many, from Van Halen . Or The Path Between the Seas ? In 1977, author David McCollough released the eponymously named work about the history of the Panama Canal. A short-cut between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans had long been envisaged. Previously, a vessel had to sail the tip of South America where the violent seas around Cape Horn proved the foundering of many a ship. So, a "canal" across central America, Panama had the shortest distance to cut the alternate route, but it proved no easy task. The French had been the first to attempt constructing a channel but the attempt failed after a few years. Then American President Theordore Roosevelt and with his will and very good project managers, the center of Panama was flooded, billions of tons of rock were removed, and two sets of locks were constructed, one for each Ocean. The Panama Canal opened in 1914.  The event also marked how the New World overtook the Old as 1914 was the start...

(Winters Of Dis-content. . .) Welcome to the first day of Winter. This is no Richard III making glorious summer by that son of York. In a part of the year when one can look forward to Glad Tidings, Today is the shortest one of the year.as the Winter Solstice and there is advantage to this as the news, here and overseas has been grim. In the ancient German city of Magdeburg, during an open Christmas Market, a man ran his car through some shopping patrons, killing five and wounding some two hundred others. The suspect is 50-year-old Saudi Doctor. He plowed his vehicle some four hundred yards into the crowd. The attack was terrible and is probably terrorist-inspired. In this country, the Government avoided a shut-down and if there is good news, the bill that made it to Biden's desk for his signature to keep the government in operation till March was reduced in size from a fourteen hundred page plus to just some 120 pages that funds essentials for the time being. But the Bill, though t...

(The Invisible Man ?) The drama on Capitol Hill might be on-going but until that gets resolved, things are in neutral. General of the Army, Douglas MacArthur, Army Chief of Staff and Supreme Allied Commander for the Southwest Pacific during World War II and Supreme Commander of the Korean Theater until he was relieved by President Truman. In a closing Address to Congress, the General expressed his core principles, West Point maxims of "Duty, Honor, Country." He closed with this: "Old Soldiers never die, They just fade away. . ." That being said, where is President Biden ? Has he just faded away like MacArthur ? To be sure, the President has been "fading away" for some time, if not from the beginning; what has been making news is the efforts by the White House to conceal Biden condition. This is the reason why the President cannot hold regular news conferences. Biden cannot Cabinet meetings or he has the Secretaries compose questions in advance and the Pres...

(Best Be Silent. . .) The total of this oft used phrase is: "Best be silent and believed a fool than speak and remove all doubt." Fed Chairman Powell, when discussing prospective rate cuts for next year indicated the probability of two cuts rather than the anticipated four. The Market reacted violently to the news, the Dow shedding more than a thousand points and the other Indices sold off just as badly. Powell had been installed as Federal Reserve Chairman in his first Administration. When the American economy, the Chairman took it upon himself to all but unliterally raise interest rates. Markets sold off on that occasion and Trump had expressed his dis-pleasure. However, when Joe Biden came into Office, and his policies that could not help but cause inflation to rise, the peak at 9+%, Powell was forced into a position where he would have to aggressively raise rates to combat the effect. What goes up must come down and inflation has re-treated, to a point, and such progress ...

(Welcome To Washington. . .) As if on schedule, House Republicans and their enamel-thick Majority need to fund the government before Friday. A 1,547-page omnibus bill, with extra spending is being presented and, as usual, the Conference does not have the votes as GOP defections still materialize. Speaker Johnson will need Democrat votes to pass the measure or the government closes. It is a matter of course that Republicans will be blamed and they will be. This whole situation is not sitting well with Elon Musk. Were the Tesla-SpaceX and X CEO in the House, he would be with the insurgent Members. Aa the World's Richest Man and one who is about to attack government in-efficiency, he has nothing on the U.S. House. Musk might be a newly minted Republican, a "Black MAGA" as he has put it, it is becoming clear that the greatest resistance to Trump's agenda will be coming from Republicans. All throughout the Campaign, Doanld Trump has said he would be a Dictator, on Day One....

(Out Through The In Door) Apologies for the going dark. There had been an un-anticipated technical issue but it has been resolved.  Such absences can be in-convenient as events transpire without the ability to comment. Like what is with those drones ? Why is President Biden holding a fire-sale to off load Trump's border wall materials. Why is Biden still granting clemency ? On the other side, why are all the Big Tech and other CEO's engaging the President-Elect ? Former adversaries are now seeing Trump as a possible ally as the plans for de-regulation and the removal of other business impediments. In the Laws of Navigation, ships passing each other operate on a "Green to Green" approach, meaning a starboard side passes a starboard side. However, the Biden Administration has been sailing "red to green," meaning port, or left side of the vessel. In other words, the Biden Administration is off course. Which explains the Administration's inability to determi...

(Short Time. . .) The economic history of the Biden Administration has to be one of contrasts. Positive news, and there have been for the last four years, none of it can be attributed to any Biden policy. Nonetheless, the President was at the Brookings Institute the other day and he was bragging about economic success. To be fair, the President probably is believing his own press and really has no idea of the reality, That has been the constant for his whole Presidency.  However, next month he will be gone but his economic program might endure. If Capitol Hill Republicans, House and Senate, are un-able to pass President Trump's signature item, namely the tax reform because, if it to next year, and the GOP has not acted, raising taxes for everyone regardless. One appreciate that Republican Majorities are far from overwhelming, there is still a path forward but of the President-Elect cannot have his agenda compromised by establishment Republicans. If the Trump landslide means anythin...

(Looking Ahead. . .) There are any number of insurance commercials where an allowance for healthy groceries is provided. Sadly, for many people, subsisting on such meager rations could result in starvation. It is an immutable truth that that are bad taste good. If one mainlines bacon cheeseburgers and also goes heavy with Hostess' treats like Ding Dongs or Twinkies, and at the same time has moderate weight and controlled cholesterol.  That might be the situation for some but not all. Roert F/ Kenedy Jr, would have a field day with these people but they are rare. What is also rare is an individual like Donald Trump. It is getting tedious with all singing hie "praises" and everything else that is being said, but any objective analysis comes to the same conclusion. For all intents and purposes, Trump has been President, not just President-Elect since Election Day. He has been the one collapsing governments, al Assad in Syria is just the latest. President Biden while Uncle Sa...

(Familiar Territory ?) When news broke this morning of the collapse of the al Assad regime in Syria, it was something of a surprise. Syria has been mired in a civil war for the last twelve years. One can go back to the so-called Arab Spring and the Damascus response. This was the Obama Administration and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Their intervention removed Muammar Qaddafi of Libya. President Bashar al Assad of Syria, however, was allowed to persist and wage a brutal are against his own citizens. President al Assad has left Syria and is in exile in Russia. That was when ISIS became active, carving out territory in both Iraq and Syria, what President Obama referred as the JV team. That terror group was all but eliminated by President Trump. Will the fall of Assad government allow for a resurgence ? There are some 900 American service members in Syria. There has also been a contingent of Russians in country including air assets. In fact Russia has been assisting the regime again...

(By The Numbers) A couple of years ago, the military crime drama, NCIS, had an episode titled "The Arizona " where guest star Christopher Lloyd played an elderly vet who claims he was a crewman from the doomed ship, lost 7 December, 1941. One of the questions asked by Lloyd was "how many men died on the "Arizona ?" Of course, no one on the NCIS cast could answer. One thousand, one-hundred and seventy-seven sailors and Marines died when the Battleship exploded when her forward magazines were set off. There is the Arizona Memorial that straddles the Wreck and, at the end of the episode, Lloyd's character had passed and, when it was confirmed that he had indeed been a Member of the Arizona crew, Mark Harmon "escorted" Lloyd's ashes back to Pearl Harbor and had them interred, which is the right of all Arizona survivors, within the Battleship's hull. At 1177, the Arizona casualty list is roughly half of the total toll of the Pearl Harbor att...

(Managed Expectations) At the start of things, before any link to any chain can be forged, there will be the matter of the strength of things, how things will develop and if goals in the end are realistic. Is the DOGE really going to trim $ 2 trillion in a few months ? Will the millions of illegal aliens still be deported ? Will Trump get his preferred Cabinet ? The tax cuts passage is already an open question. President-Elect Trump stands alone in his ambitions but his problem is that that ambition is not shared. There are vested interests in the status quo and that is beginning to manifest itself. The two trillion is a bill as well as a price-tag and it is expensive. Departments can be identified, regulations can be cut and Musk-Ramassamy can move on their mandate. Like everything else, however, there is fine print. It is the understanding that while things might look good on the surface, underneath is the reality of how things operate. The Trump Border Tsar, Tom Homen, has been on T...

(Expiration Date,. . .) There is a common story told about Capitol Hill. A brand-new House Freshman goes to one of the more senior legislators and asks him/her "where is the enemy," thinking of the other Party. The more senior Member who had more experience, replies that the "enemy," is the Senate. This year, however, there is a time constraint. Like the Angel of Death. the President-Elect has been causing the collapse of governments, among which is France. When the Notre Dame Cathedral re-opens, Trump will be attending in contrast to current President Biden who fell asleep in Angola. Trump has an expiation date. He has two years to attempt his agenda so certain items for passage. Among the more urgent is the Trump tax reform bill. Sueh measures had been central to his Campaign; no levies on tips, Social Security and so on. As had been reported, there are two Reconciliation Bills that have been planned from the House to the Senate but the tax reform is being include...

(Simple Math. . .) South Korea just came off a bout of Martial Law. The Ukraine War has yet to be resolved. The so-called cease fire between Israel and Hezbollah is one in name only. No segment on Earth goes un-affected by the Pentagon and sometimes monument to Murphy's Law, is without a Secretary. One has been Nominated by President-Elect, Trump, Pete Hegseth but, like Matt Gaetz for Attorney General before him, the Hegseth Nomination might become problematic for the President-Elect. As always, the issue are Republican Senators that are hesitant to embrace Trump and his people. That stopped being an option after the Trump win. There should be no question as to Hegseth's qualifications as he is familiar with defense-related issues and he could make the Department by Trump's requirements. The mandate for the Pentagon from Trump is one where his Nominee could excel. Hegseth will have a Hearing and questions concerning skeletons will need to be addressed. If the Proceeding is...

(Start With A Corner. . .) Puzzles originally came about as maps, cut into sections that had to be re-assembled. Since then, obviously, images from everything that makes a picture. A really advanced practioner, ones who put 5,000+ pieces. The ones that take time. The ones that are part of a hobby. Washington D.C. is a 5,000+ piece puzzle and one has to find a corner with which to begin. One can start with Donald Trump. The President-Elect is a focal point and everything is radiating from his central position. That would include his Cabinet, Kash Patal for FBI Director is the latest pick. Patal, is promising to a transformative figure, like all of Trump picks for Department Heads. Trump has been a disruptor since Day One. The "interference candidate." When he assumes Office, again, he people he will have with him, assuming their Confirmation, will be the President team and how they will execute Trump's plan. Once in their Posts, Rubio at State, Hegseth at Defense, Radcliff...

(When The Lame Duck Squawked) Or, whatever sound a duck makes. As is known by now and after repeated statements denying the action, President Biden has pardoned son Hunter for all acts committed over the last few years. Hunter Biden had been the most visible element of Biden "Inc." Assuming that President Biden had always been the "Big Guy," Junior was able to use that fact to funnel money to Biden and his family. The Ukraine venture, ties in China. Kazakhstan, Moscow and Romania, all part of a pyramid scheme that made this corruption the second family business outside of politics. And the Laptop from Hell had also been Hunters. Hunter Biden is a drug addict. He is a failed Naval Officer. And over the years, has experienced gun charges was found guilty on tax evasion. He was the focal point in the House Republican investigation into President Biden. Younger Biden was also introduced to a so-called Plea Deal that was un-acceptable on its face. Hunter, like President-...