ofthisandthat
Weekly Letter to the President
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INAUGURATION, January 20, 2009
Drunk in its stale air
For two hundred years.
Fettered in mind and body,
The soul, the safe escape
To let me breathe the cries
Of my heart singing
Tears of mel-an-choly.
The tears flow free today
Washing the stains of blood
And sweat in brotherhood.
Raise the curtain then an'
Let the world look in
On this promised land --
We breathe free today.... almost.
--- Arshad M. Khan
We will be known forever by the tracks we leave.
--- Native American proverb
February 21, 2020
Mr. President: You may make fun of Senator Elizabeth Warren and dub her
Pocahontas but watch it, she maybe gunning for you in November.
Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, or as he prefers to be called, 'Mike', spent $400
million of his $60 billion fortune on ads, raising himself to third place among
candidates as a can-do 'Mighty Mike'. It bought him a place at the Democratic debate
last Wednesday. But that $400 million, a colossal fortune for any of us, and in lottery
terms what would count as one of the biggest wins ever, was blown away in a few
minutes by Warren as she went after him on his racially-charged stop-and-frisk policy
to fight crime in New York City. That his efforts worked was made irrelevant by his
clearly limited ability to debate. Yet with $59.6 billion still in his kitty, probably growing
at several billion a year, who can write him off in this age of TV ads?
Then there were his non-disclosure agreements with numerous women -- though
asked repeatedly he never gave a number. His lame defense that these were
voluntary, seemed to assume the audience were dupes. Everyone knows the
persons charging him with unwarranted advances received money as settlements and
in exchange signed the agreements.
The Bloomberg charge thwarted, Bernie Sanders could be counted the real winner for
leaving the debate unscathed. He leads nationally by double digits with Biden second.
A botoxed Biden with whitewashed teeth tried to put a spring in his step with
purchased 'youth'. He talked of present and past presidents of Mexico, and of other
countries, he was acquainted with and how personal connections get things done -- a
mindset reminiscent of the Burisma job in Ukraine son Hunter was given when his
father was Vice President with a major policy role in the Ukraine. As board member of
Burisma, Hunter Biden was paid up to $50,000 per month. His function was to advise
on corporate governance and legal issues yet never found it necessary to attend a
board meeting or visit the company in Ukraine. The company's owner has been
recently charged with corruption in obtaining licenses and tax fraud over the period of
Hunter Biden's tenure at his firm.
It's all in a day's work. Personal connections, that's how things get done. Imagine the
labels Trump will attach to him should he win the nomination.
A normally chirpy Pete Buttigieg was skewered by Amy Klobuchar and appeared
chastened. Not too well prepared, he ascribed an astronomical $25 trillion cost to
Bernie Sanders' health plan. Sanders responded the plan would save $400 billion
and had the figures to prove it. Not a successful outing for Pete.
But then Senator Klobuchar appeared to lose her cool when pressed on a case
during her job as prosecutor, before she became a senator. Visibly angry, she
continued to press her claim as being highly electable but Sanders and Warren are
elected senators too, and Sanders for much longer. Senator Klobuchar also has the
highest turnover of staff (36 percent) of any senator, and a rumored reputation of
being abusive towards them. Not the kind of quickly angered temperament one would
choose to have in the White House, or for a person with a finger on the dreaded
nuclear button.
Seems the best option we have is Sanders and Warren but political demographics
preclude two liberals from the northeast on a ticket. Born in 1941, Sanders will be
almost 80 when he takes office, an age when Warren would have left the White House
were she to win and serve two terms. Bernie is eminently likeable and a staunch
fighter but it seems like Hillary Clinton stole his best shot at the presidency.