The (Daily) Vent 2

(Behind Door #3) Paging Monty Hall. In his classic gams show Let's Make a Deal , contestants would bid on prizes or "take" what was behind some door. It was a risk because sometimes there was crap that was revealed. That being said, House Republicans reached a deal on proxy voting. Nations affected by Trump tariffs will be needing their own deals if trade equilibrium is being sought. The House was able to advance two Bills that deal with voter integrity namely limiting those franchised to be American citizens. On the other hand, House and Senate are still far apart when it comes to passing its Budget. That gulf has to be closed if Reconciliation is moving forward. As it stands, the Senate Bill will not pass the House unless it further reduces spending. A deal in this regard is as imperative as ever. But is with tariff applications that will make the Trump Presidency, China is promising a levy of their own at 34% but Trump is sating he will impose a 50% tariff in just a fe...

(Lenin Was Right) Hands off this ! A new series of anti-Trump and anti-Musk in a campaign being called "Hands Off," like off Greenland. Off Panama. Off the Courts, and so on. Vladmir Lenin had called these types of people "useful idiots." One could go father and describe them as useless idiots. Whatever the term, these people are as irrelevant now as ever. Where were these people during the Biden Administration ? It was not like President Biden himself was "there" for any length of time. If one is discussing leadership, however, when a vacuum is created ? When a leader no longer functions, what happens ? If Biden was no longer in charge, who managed nuclear release authority ? President Biden is as irrelevant as the Hands-Off movement. There are players like President Trump and Chinese Premier Xi. The former imposed a 54% tariff on the Peoples' Republic and Beijing is retaliating. That is the story on the surface at least. Internal Chinese affairs are ...

(Mr. Smith Stays Home) Most people can recall the Frank Capra classic Mr . Smith Goes to Washington . A Senator Jefferson Smith (Jimmy Stewart) is appointed to the U.S. Senate on the death of a predecessor. The Smith selection is not met with universal acclaim and the reality was that certain colleagues were corrupt and a political machine was a true arbiter of affairs. Senator Smith in opposing this graft. Smith is forced into a Senate filibuster that lasts 25 hours. In the end, Smith faints but a sudden constituent response becomes overwhelming and the Senator behind the corruption scheme admits his deeds and he is the legislator that should be expelled. Like Senator Smith, Senator Corey Booker (D-NJ) took to the Senate Floor in his own 25-hour marathon. Like Jefferson, Corey is protesting a corrupt regime, namely the Trump Administration and the DOGE. Unlike Senator Smith, who found himself vindicated at the end, Senator Booker took a trip to the restroom. Booker's stab a windmi...

(Pogo Oscillations. . .) April 4th, 1968. is known for two events. The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr in Memphis and the test launch of Apollo 6, the second un-crewed test flight of the Saturn V launch vehicle. Unlike the first Saturn test, Apollo 4 flown the previous November, was an almost flawless mission. Apollo 6, om the other hand, experience "pogo oscillation." On the rocket's ascent, as fuel was being fed into the combustion chambers to the massive engines, certain instabilities arose reducing thrust. There had been moments in right after lift-off when the oscillation threatened to break apart the rocket but when the third stage ignited, the vehicle achieved orbit and Apollo 6 was considered a success in the end, The data from the two un-manned missions allowed for Apollo 8 to circumnavigate the Moon itself that December. Pogo oscillations, in a sense, are what is being experienced now. It has been revealed that President Biden was more infirm than w...

(Contagion. . .) It is the day after President Trump announced the Day of Liberation where he labeled a series of tariffs that have gone into effect. Globally, in affected nations, their indigenous markets are responding. On Wall Street, the Dow is down 1200+, the Nasdaq about a thousand, and Stanard and Poor is more poor by some two hundred. In Germany, the DAX index is down almost six hundred. In Japan, its Nikkei is negative by a thousand, the London Financial Times is off 150 and the CAC Exchange in Paris is down 250. While all these declines are spectacular, worst performers in months, these transactions were all but predicted. Trump only made his Liberation Day comments only yesterday but there had been widespread expectation that some Trump tariff policy change was imminent. High economics might be involved in tariff policy but in the end, it is all simple math. Any trade imbalance between the U.S. and other nations, in the chart the President precented yesterday, levies from Ch...

(Half Moon Rising) The Soviet Union detonated its first nuclear weapon on August 29th, 1949. In a flash, literally, the American nuclear monopoly was ended. The year before, in 1948, a plan called Operation HALF MOON anticipated the use of nuclear weapons in any major conflict with the USSR. When the Soviets conducted their test in 1949, Western planners were faced with first "assured destruction" and, once the Soviet arsenal reached a certain level, all weapons all deliverable to American targets, assured destruction evolved into Mutual Assured Destruction. Operation HALF MOON anticipated these events. Today, April 2nd, that President Trump has been saying is "Liberation Day." On this day, the United States will impose tariffs on various countries with varying products and varying rates. In the President's mind, this new trade reciprocity will go into effect to equalize what has seen as an imbalance. Trump is always complaining how the U.S. is being mis-treat...

(Bell Whether ?) Happy April Fools' Day ! As some could re-call, in years past, The (Daily) Vent is declared closed and, some convoluted reason and make it sound serious. Then "April Fools" and a laugh is had by all. Not today. These elections today are being called a bellwether as to the President's popularity and if Republicans do well, if the House Seats are held and if the Conservative prevails in Wisconsin, then the night-mare scenario for Republican does not materialize. Conversely, if Trump tariffs and the liberal judge wins in Wisconsin, Democrats demonstrate strength in Florida and flip at least one Seat, Democrats will have had their first "good" week since November. These events could indeed be bellwether. Or, would it be a "Bell Whether ?" Whether or not Republicans or Democrats will wake up tomorrow after a good night's sleep, and who will be waking up with heartburn. As has been mentioned, these races have been scheduled but are a...

(Barbarian At The Gate) This phrase represents the time when barbarians found themselves, literally, at the gates of Rome. More recently, it was the title of an HBO docudrama, Barbarians at the Gate , about the fight for cigarette giant, RJR Nabisco. President Trump, still a New York developer at the time, was not involved in the RJR negotiations but he was aware of the principals. Now, as President, Donald Trump is presenting himself as looking to make a deal to put Greenland in America's orbit and for President Putin to make a bigger contribution to ending the Ukraine War. Greenland is more white than green. A more reasonable name would have been "iceland" but that name is already taken. President Trump wants to make the island an American protectorate, with or without input from Greenland residents or Copenhagen. Trump is not necessarily ruling out a use of force in acquiring Greenland. In a central regard, the President is correct. Greenland could be a critical piece ...

(A Failed Education) The Right to Vote is a Constitutional guarantee. That does not necessarily mean that all those eligible should actually go and pull a lever. People who watch the news. People that monitor political podcasts. People who know the issues and when a choice of candidate is selected, it is nor some boob that one gets off the streets. Like all those protesting Musk and Trump. They do not seem to be those who impress. Any idiot could compare the two men to Hitler and that is what one has one the street. What is the reason ? Musk is attempting to slash government spending and because of that he has to be so savaged ? He and Trump ? Fault not in the stars but in themselves ? Either man could be revealed as the Second Coming and there would still be these protests would continue. For the sake of protesting. That is not a sign of sophistication or finesse, It is a blunt instrument and is unwieldly. It is a virtue signal alone and has no broad based appeal. However, a lot of pe...

(Presage. . .) Society is replete with people who take themselves too seriously and or have too much time on their hands.  These are people who latch onto some issue. and in order to "make things right," days of rage or action. There probably no less boring words in the English language than action or rage. Action against what ? Rage, against what ? The target in these circumstances is Tesla, car, company and CEO. Elon Musk. As one would know, Tesla is an electric car company, founded by Musk. If climate change is the issue people say, one would an electric car with no emissions is a desirable quantit0. However, Musk made an alliance with the Devil. The Devil is asking Musk to cut wage fraud and abuse, the DOGE mandate, Such an effort is offending sensibilities of those who "call to action and rage and burn and otherwise vandalize Tesla products. The burnt cars. The attacked dealerships. Even Teals owners are being harassed. There is even a movement to sell all Tesla mod...

(House Bets. . ) There is something to be said for intrinsic value. In assembling his Cabinet, President Trump had picked a few Republican House Members to fill key positions. Michael Waltz, previously a Florida Congressman, is, for the moment, the National Security Adviser. Matt Gaetz, also from Florida, had been selected as Attorney General, but that nomination imploded. Elise Stefanik had been tapped to be U.N. Ambassador, but the President had to withdraw her nomination, so she could still stand in Congress. In some fashion, the GOP Majority in the House is an artificial creation. The Gaetz and Waltz seats could be filled by next Tuesday, hopefully with two more Republicans, or at least what the RNC would be expecting. It must also be remembered that Speaker McCarthy was forced out by Congressman Gaetz and he left for California. And George Santos from New York could have been allowed to retain his seat. None of these options were explored, however and assuming two Republicans get ...

(Bomb Damage Assessment) The latest incarnation of The Joe Schmo Show ran its season finale last night. Basically, and this has been done before, some individual and he or she play a series of contests in the belief that a grand prize can be won. With this caveat. The Joe Schmo Show is fake. Aside from the "mark," all other contestants are actors. At the end of the show, it gets revealed to the mark, in this case it was an electrician from Baltimore named 'The Greatest of All Time" a fictional international contest. When it was revealed that show was fake, and all the other players were indeed actors, fun was had by all and Ben walked away with $200,000. Houthi targets have been struck over the weekend and damage has been re-ported. Houthis were killed and infrastructure has been destroyed but like The Joe Schmo Show , reactions have been fake or more specifically it is faux outrage over Democrat hysteria as to who was and who was not on that SIGNAL communique. Lis...

(A Retained Focus) To begin, President might have cause to dismiss a member of his Cabinet. National Security Adviser, Mike Waltz could have inadvertently copied a memorandum to a journalist at Atlantic magazine, The subject of the material had been targeting lists of Houthi positions in Yemen. As far as anyone knows, operational details were not compromised. That being said, members of the Trump Administration are being handled to the point where access might be accidentally granted. So far, Waltz is not resigning, and President Trump has indicated that Waltz is staying, For now. In politics, it is best for one Party to allow the other Party to implode as the case seems to be with the Democrats these days. But Republicans are in Office not to mull Democrat destruction but to work on their own agenda. There has been serious discussion that Democrats will be un-able to recover in two years and Republicans could buck tradition and keep their Majority. In doing so, however, it would be b...

("THE MARCH 24TH OPERATION") Of all the thousands of books written about the Second World War, one of the best would be from the Supreme Commander himself, General of the Army, Dwight D. Eisenhower and his excellent volume, Crusade in Europe . In one of the concluding chapters, the General was making the point that by March 24th, 1945, Germany's fate was sealed. That was the Rubicon where any sort of recovery on the part of the Third Reich was no longer possible. On March 24th, virtually the entirety of the Allied host was finally on the far bank of the Rhine. All that remained was pursuit and final reduction. The Germans did finally surrender on May 7th. The difference is in options. The Allies could, and did, strike at will, while the Germans could only watch. That has been the story for President Trump's opposition and like the Germans facing annihilation, like those judges or politicians who think Trump is acting as an oligarch, the President is displaying a flexi...

(Things To Know. . .) In talking with President Trump, he will make things clear. He will tell you that he won all swing stats. He won the popular vote by millions. Trump has been saying that he is dealing with horrible people. That President Biden is incompetent and Truup has been cleaning his mess. Paet of that mess were all the criminal illegal aliens. Some are being sent to El Salvador. But some federal judges. Trump has said that these jurists are un-fair and should be impeached. The President can seem thin skinned at times. He is imposing tariffs because the United States is being treated so un-fairly by other nations like Canada and Mexico, China, Europe and so on. His mission seems to be a personal slight rather than policy. Like because he was almost killed, twice, because he had been impeached, twice, Donald Trump believes that he is on a Mission from God. Someone should tell him this is not The Blues Brothers . To be honest, it can be dangerous for a politician to believe he...

(Always Forty-Seven) The history of aviation from the Wright Brothers to today has been one of technology advancement. Generations of aircraft have been developed over the decades. For example, when the military utility of the airplane was recognized in the First World War, so-called Generation 1 airplanes like the Sopwith Camal took to the skies. In the Second World War. Generation 2 airplanes like the P-51 Mustang took to the skies. For Korea and Generation 3 meaning jets like the F-86 Sabre or the F-4 Phantom in Vietnam. After Vietnam and the lessons learned from that War, technology began to have a greater influence in combat plane design and several excellent like the F-15 Eagle or the F-14 Tomcat , Generation 4 airframes. When stealth technology became practical, Generation 5 fighters like the F-22 Raptor or the F-35 Lighting II achieved operational capability. But technology doesn't stand still, and innovation is an ongoing process. The other day, President Trump and D...

(Bad Apples) People can get emotional. These days, such emotions can evolve to irrationality. Like burning a Tesla or their dealerships. Vandalism committed on their facilities. Why ? One would think an electric car would be praised in this climate of global warming. But the CEO, Elon Musk, has joined the Dark Side and has been working with President Trump to cut government spending. This generated a rage that has yet to be assuaged. One can easily blame the education system for these actions. People cannot read or write but they know of a menacing Tesla when they see one and those responsible will be charged with domestic terrorism. What do people learn these days ? For the last few decades, that has been a question posed to the Department of Education where it has been less important. An educated population is a less compliant population. The Department in recent years has focused on its bureaucracy and resistance to altering the status quo. Cemetaries are full with plans to reform t...

(Warmer Weather ?) So, this is Spring ? For those who had a brutal winter, your deliverance is at hand. There are those this season will experience more warmth, however and those that are still with Winter's chill. Who is being favorably reviewed and who is not ? Who is looking forward and who still wrestles with the past ? So, one is enjoying glorious summer and one is still in the winter of dis-content. President Trump seems fearless. He is promoting his tariffs is watching the sell-off on Wall Street. He is dispatching criminal migrants to hell on earth and is facing wannabe Judges who are complaining. Trump and Elon Musk are making their cuts to government spending, itself a big thorn. Consequences be damned. There are consequences to be had, however. Along with the President, the current GOP House Majority is also enjoying favorable ratings. But the Republican Conference has an expiration date. The Trump tax cuts need to become Law, meaning the House and Senate need to come to...

(Interfering With Interference) Remember that Donald Trump was the "interference" candidate and then President. There has always been resistance against Trump like the endless lawfare from the previous campaign. The truth be told, President Trump remains a convicted felon. Now that he is back in Office, and attempting to effect policy on deportations and spending cuts, the Trump Administration is being sued by activist judges who think the Election is not over, that the proud traditions of Alvin Bragg, Leticia James, Fanny Willis. and Jack Smith, even Judge Merchan. President Trump is holding high level phone calls with the Presidents of Russia and Ukraine. The most dangerous gangs are in the process of being deported into one of the harshest prisons on the planet. Is the maintenance of these criminals in this country really what these Judges are promoting ? Trump has issued a ban on transexuals serving in the Armed Forces that was also blocked. There seems to a difference of...

(Background Noise. . .) The 70's bend, Steely Dan had a hit with the song "FM (no static at all). In deference to these 'Anti-Heroes" of that Decade. However, static is all one is hearing as confluence of events are taking place simultaneously. Israel has renewed its offensive against Hamas after the collapse of the cease-fire, civil war has erupted among Democrats, and sometime today, President Trump will be calling Russian President Putin to discuss a possible cessation of hostilities in Ukraine. In the pausing of hostilities in Gaza, ostensibly to re-cover remaining hostages. Hamas demurred, however, and Jerusalem was given the green light to continue the anti-terror campaign. Air strikes resumed. IDF ground forces could also be re-introduced. The choice for Hamas had been simple and that was to let the hostages depart. That apparently was a bridge too far and the group is out of options.  As are the Houthis. That campaign is also not under abatement and dozens ...