AG William Barr and President Trump

Pushback or White House Distraction

My last post received more views than any other. It was about DJT and General John Kelly. I'm not sure if it was just the search engines catching the names in the title or that my reference to God Bless America struck a nerve.

I hope it was the latter. So this time I hope a reference to AG Bill Barr accomplishes the same.

He has recently made public statements about his feelings that any President should not interfere with the DOJ. It sounds brave. It sounds like someone close to the President is actually showing the kind of courage exhibited by Mitt Romney. Is it true? If so he deserves credit.

Many say this is just another clever White House distraction to both lend some badly needed credibility to the AG and to take attention away from more nebulous White House activity. Either way I refer once again to the powerful emotions stimulated by music.

This time look up and read the lyrics to "America the Beautiful", especially the rendition by Ray Charles. Focus on "And crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea". Do you think Katharine Lee Bates would write the same words today? I doubt it.

Here is another thought for November 2020:

DOJ normally stands for Department of Justice. Justice is supposed to be impartial. The image that depicts it involves a figure holding a balance or scale. It is even. Perhaps DOJ now has a new meaning?

How about "Donald's Own Justice" or "Department of Jury-rigging"?

The Judiciary is supposed to be one of three main elements of the US system of government from the Supreme Court on down. Allow POTUS and any of his Republican cronies to re-define that and you have just re-defined America. 

The rest of the world sees this. We hope the vast majority of Americans do also - especially in November!

The Brewster

Where Were You When President Trump was ...

Memories of 2016 and 2020

If we were alive most of us remember where we were and what we were doing when the following occurred:

• JFK was assassinated
• Man landed on the moon
• They started knocking down the Berlin wall (maybe not)
• The Twin Towers were attacked
• You had sex for the first time (OK - just seeing if you got this far)
• Donald J. Trump was elected initially

Here are 2 for the future:

A. Donald J. Trump was re-elected

B. Donald J. Trump was voted out (YOUR FIRED!)

Every American citizen who can and will vote now has the chance to create one of those moments!

It is not my place to tell them what to do, but I think I can say which one most people in the rest of the world want it to B !

The Brewster

Amy Klobuchar

Make the Presidency Great Again

If America wants to be great again in the eyes of the world it is time to come out of the dark ages. Elect a female President! (That goes for my fellow Canadians also. Kim Campbell does not really count).

Here are some great ones: 

• Indira Ghandi - India
• Margaret Thatcher - Britain
• Benazir Bhutto - Pakistan
• Julia Gillard - Australia
• Golda Meir - Israel
• Jacinda Ardern - New Zealand

I have always said that it is easier for a woman to tone down the warmth and get tough when it is necessary than it is for a man to tone down the macho and turn on the warmth when it necessary.

I can think of no better example. Amy Klobuchar can do both. Donald Trump can not. Perhaps John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan could but DJT doesn't know the meaning of warmth. Taking your jacket off on the golf course does not count.

Amy Klobuchar is the winning lottery ticket that all Americans don't know they have. Just sign it and turn it in!

The world will thank you. Those who wanted to change the Washington establishment with Trump should be seeing the error of their ways by now.

Fix it in November. Everyone will soon learn how to pronounce her name - even my spell checker will recognize it!

The Brewster

Go Ahead – Make My Day

A Compliment can be the Perfect Complement

Friday last I was just starting my workout at a local gym which I attend four times per week. Fridays I happen to begin with more stretching than usual. I should do it every time.

A brief history: in my educational background because I began kindergarten when I was four and skipped grade four, I was always the youngest and usually the smallest in my class. In grade nine high school the physical education teacher announced that the school was offering new sets of Weider weights - 110 pound set - for those who might be interested. They cost $25.

I immediately spent some of my meagre savings on a set and three to four nights per week devoted myself to body building. I had no intention of becoming the local tough guy or creating some Arnie like body but I was definitely at a disadvantage when it came to girls!

By the time I graduated which in our case was grade 13, I had already received some compliments. They meant a lot to me.

I took the set with me to my university residence and used them occasionally but not as often,

Fast forward to today. Throughout my career they sat at home and rusted (no vinyl in those days, just clangy metal with crude collars that tightened with a wrench.) For many years now however, especially since retirement I work out Monday/ Tuesday and Thursday/Friday resting Wednesday and the weekend.

So as I am about to start on a floor mat, a guy whom I have seen there for some time and who is in pretty good shape addressed me - “Excuse me?”. I anticipated that maybe I had taken his spot on the mat but that was not the case. He said he just wanted to compliment me on my condition and workouts and said he noticed it for some time. He continued saying that my muscles, shape, and flexibility were really great and he just wanted to let me know.

He left out the “… for your age …” piece that I was expecting! I am somewhere north of 70 so it felt good. It has actually happened several times before when they usually did ask my age. It makes my day hence the heading – it was the perfect complement to my day and my workout. 

So go ahead – make somebody’s day by paying them a compliment. It will cost you nothing and so far it is not taxable to the recipient!

Another thing that is free is a blood donation which can actually save a life. I will address this in another posting.

The Brewster

Like A Catcher’s Mitt, He Caught A Bouncing Ball.

A Man Among Mice

Back in 2008 when Mitt Romney ran for President I have to say I considered him just like all other politicians. I had little respect. I thought him a little too polished and smarmy. When he went up against Trump and lost but then considered working for him my respect almost disappeared.

I stand corrected.

It took real intestinal fortitude – guts – to stand alone as a Republican and vote for conviction of DJT. The brief speech he made to explain his decision was moving and very well spoken. He displayed more integrity and intelligence in those few moments than Trump did in his entire eighty minute State of the Union address. He will pay for it. He knows it.

He is now in my opinion a man to be respected. President Trump is not.

If the electorate gets a chance to vote this man to the highest office in the land I suggest they should do so. That is to say, if all of his smarmy peers don’t manage to blackball him first.

Of all the speeches and intercourse (yes, that is the appropriate word) I have heard since the impeachment began, this was the best of the bunch. Why did he wait so long? He had to know it was too late to foster a guilty verdict.

OK. My suspicions are not completely overcome. Just the same, well done Mitt. Your colleagues have been put to shame. I hope when they confess that their priests are as brave as you.

The Brewster