Pass the Rolaids

            There doesn’t seem to be any end to the acid reflux in the stomachs of Trump haters. They spent over two years accusing the president of collusion with Russia, going so far as to call him a traitor. Then Mueller, after spending $25 million looking for evidence of collusion and conspiracy, concluded there hadn’t been any. But that didn’t stop the pain.

            Silenced on collusion, Democrats and the mainstream media then screamed OBSTRUCTION. But Mueller didn’t give them enough glue to make that stick either. Now what? Let’s look at his taxes and his business dealings; surely there’s evidence of criminal behavior there. Lots of luck.

            The Trump haters will keep on looking for indictable culpability. Democrat committee chairmen will issue subpoenas and command witnesses to testify against the president; TV anchors will interview an endless stream of bilious commentators on Trump’s moral shortcomings; newspaper reporters and letter writers will continue to accuse the president of incurable mendacity; and Maxine Watters will scream IMPEACH-IMPEACH-IMPEACH until Nancy Pelosi finally gets her to shut up.

            Meanwhile, Democrat presidential contenders are trying to outdo each other in pushing issues farther and farther to the left in calling for a Green New Deal, Medicare for all, free college tuition, open borders, confiscatory taxes, and prisoner voting rights. Nothing is too extreme, not even infanticide. Is there anyone who can save this band of lemmings from stampeding over the socialist cliff?

            Enter old, gaffe-prone Joe Biden, the touchy-feely centrist who will save the soul of America by bringing back the magic of Obama (who won’t endorse him).

            Trump haters have never gotten over the election of, in their eyes, an immoral and incompetent buffoon with bad hair and an abundance of character flaws. He must be defeated in 2020. But is there anyone among the 20 pretenders who can beat him? The haters looking at all the faces on this latest Post Office Most-Wanted poster are not likely to have their acid reflux go away anytime soon.

Sweet Dreams or Nightmares

            Attorney General William Barr is fast becoming the worst nightmare possible for Democrats and their sycophantic media mouthpieces. Testifying before the Senate Appropriations Committee April 10^th, Barr said the he thought spying on Trump’s campaign by the government Intelligence agencies had occurred, and that it was a big deal.  He also hinted that he was putting a team together to look into it.  That has to be a horrifying prospect for those who face accountability for what many see as an unprecedented abuse of power by the FBI, the DOJ, the Democrat National Committee, and the Obama Administration.  

            Democrats and the mainstream media, consumed with hate for President Trump since he won the last presidential election, have deliberately ignored what could end up being the biggest political scandal in memory.  Now it looks like the Attorney General is going to use all the power of his office to get to the truth. All of it: the leaks, the phony dossier, the lies to the FISA court, the false testimony, as well as the unlawful surveillance. And let’s not forget the collusion with Russia—not by Trump, but by Democrats.

            But why should voters care? Because, like Attorney General Barr said, it is a big deal. Republicans lost their majority in the House of Representatives in the 2018 elections largely because the unrelenting accusations of Russian collusion and conspiracy painted Trump as a traitor. Then Barr summarized Mueller’s report and the Trump haters’ guns grew silent. Now the guns are pointing at the conspirators in the Deep State.

            What will the Trump haters run on now? The virtues of Democratic Socialism? Are their sweet dreams of 2020 now turning into nightmares?

Thoughts of Chicago

            Lori Lightfoot has been elected mayor of Chicago, a city with historic violence, public corruption, and crushing debt. I don’t understand why a black and openly gay woman would want to assume an office with such intractable problems, especially when she has to know that racist, homophobic, and sexist detractors are surely predisposed to reminding her that she shouldn’t have gotten into a tough game with a losing hand. For her sake, and for Chicago’s, I hope she proves them wrong.

            Speaking of Chicago, the city really didn’t need the embarrassment of Jussie Smollett’s phony claim of having been the victim of a racist attack and of the district attorney’s subsequent decision not to prosecute him. Celebrity justice slapped him on the wrist but did not exonerate him. Now, the classic definition of chutzpah is when a man who had murdered his parents asked for leniency because he was an orphan. But when Smollett had the gall to insist he had told the truth and then demanded an apology from the Chicago police, that raised chutzpah to a new level.

            I have many fond memories of Chicago, a city I visited often on business. I loved its restaurants, its piano bars, its museums, its shops. I still have two pairs of shoes I bought there many years ago.  I also remember the snow and the wind. Mostly, when I think of Chicago, I remember my now-deceased brother Arthur who lived there for a short time.

            Arthur loved Chicago’s architecture, and on one of my visits he took me for a stroll down Michigan Avenue after dinner to point out some of his favorite buildings. It was very windy, and we had probably had too much to drink. That combination turned out to be fateful. Arthur was pointing to the features of a tall building across the street when a strong gust of wind came up and blew him bodily over a low hedge. We roared hilariously as he climbed back over the bush and regained his composure.

            I much prefer thoughts of Chicago that make me smile.