Compensation Excess

            According to a recent survey, 41% of American voters prefer socialism to capitalism. That number is far worse among voters under 25. That’s not surprising. The virtues of socialism peached by popular politicians like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and parroted by leftists in the media are viewed as utopia by starry-eyed adolescents and the key to equality by adults who are totally ignorant of the failure of socialism throughout history.

            Socialism is the politics of envy. It promises falsely that it is the way to equality, as if confiscation of wealth for purposes of redistribution will achieve its goal. We can understand how that envy might be a natural reaction to the outrageous compensation of athletes, entertainers, and CEOs. Is Bryce Harper of the Phillies really worth $330 million? What did George Clooney really do to earn $239 million last year?  Did Jeff Bezos really earn his net worth of $154 billion? It’s just not fair, is it? Why shouldn’t we be envious?

            While it is understandable that people should decry such unfathomable excess, socialist politicians usually target big business and Wall Street. That’s where you’ll find the people who don’t pay their fair share, they say, irrespective of the fact that the top 1% pay 24% of income taxes, the top 10% pay 53%, and the top 20% pay 85%. For socialists that’s not enough. They ignore the fact that the top earners are the ones who produce the wealth; take away their incentive to produce, and what you’re left with in the extreme is everybody’s equal share of poverty.

            But let’s take one idea that might convince the envious of the fairness of the apparent inequality of corporate compensation. Generally, the millions that CEOs earn are tied to their performance. For example, one of the highest-paid business executives in 2018 was Walt Disney’s CEO Robert Iger. His pay was $65.6 million, but 90% of that was tied to his performance as head of a company that returned 20.4% to its shareholders last year. And that’s as it should be.

            The most extreme example of compensation tied to performance has to be Doug Parker, chief executive of American Airlines. His salary last year was $0. However, he earned $12 million in company stock, because the shares he received increased in value. In other words, Parker made money last year only because American Airlines under his leadership had a good year. If AA had done poorly, the value of Mr. Parker’s shares would have gone down. I wonder how many executives would be willing to put their performance on the line like him.

The Absurdity of Ignorance and Prejudice

            There seems to be no limit to the absurdities of the left.

            The grossly misnamed Equality Act approved by the Democrat-controlled House would sanctify the LGBT ideology to the point where a male asserting he is a female would not be prevented from walking around naked in a girl’s locker room and peeking at girls taking showers. Absurd? It has already happened in a South San Francisco high school.

            The San Francisco (who else?) Board of Education is considering removing a mural from one of its schools because its depiction of slaves could traumatize students. Absurd? The main figure and subject of the mural is George Washington, the Father of Our Country.           

            Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh will not be leaching law at Harvard any longer. He withdrew after 800 graduates signed a letter of protest because of allegations of sexual misconduct, even though these were thoroughly refuted at his confirmation hearings. Kavanaugh was also scheduled to teach a course on the origins of U.S. Constitution at George Mason University. But students don’t want Judge Kavanaugh on their campus, either. Absurd? Kavanaugh’s course was to be taught on-line from England.

            Kate Smith’s popular rendition of “God Bless America,” a cherished tradition at sporting events, will no longer be aired at New York Yankees and Philadelphia Flyers games. Why? She recorded a song from a movie back in the 30s that included lyrics that some consider to be racially offensive. Kate Smith’s statue outside the Flyers arena is now draped in black and will be removed. Absurd? Kate Smith is a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She raised millions of dollars in support of our military in World War II. One of her broadcasts raised $1.4 billion in today’s dollars.

            There really is no limit to the lengths the left will go to demonstrate its ignorance and prejudice.

Great Golf

            Situated halfway between Elizabeth City and Edenton, Hertford does not get as much attention as its larger and wealthier neighbors. But it does have one annual event that has become the best of its kind and is actually in a class by itself. I’m referring to the Biggs Golf Classic played on Albemarle Plantation’s Sound Golf Links. This event, now in its 6^th year, has set a standard for developmental golf tours, because it is the best at what it does when it comes to community support.

            Professional golf tournaments like this one would not be possible without the operational expertise of the GPro Golf Tour and the financial support of local sponsors like Biggs Cadillac-Buick-GMC, Sound Bank, and Swimme & Sons Building Contractors.         

            The young pros also appreciate the help of Albermarle Plantation residents. Unlike baseball, professional golf does not have minor league teams supported financially by parent clubs. Unlike football and basketball, it does not provide instant security to college stars who are lucky enough to be picked in annual drafts. Talented golfers who want to make it to the PGA Tour must make a name for themselves by playing on developmental tours, and they must do this at their own expense. That’s why they love to come to Hertford for the Biggs Classic: they not only compete for purse money, they stay with Albemarle Plantation residents who provide them with a warm bed, home-cooked meals, and cheers of support on the course. Over 150 of these residents also serve as volunteers both on the course as starters, spotters, and scorers, and off the course with parking, shuttles, refreshment carts, and hospitality functions.

            Last year the Biggs Classic had a cutoff of 120 players for the tournament. This year the cutoff has been increased to 144 to accommodate even more young pros. Tournament week starts on May 21^st with the Pro-Am and continues with the three-day tournament, which starts on May 23^rd. Attendance is free and the entertainment value is priceless.

           

P.S.  How good are these young pros? On the final day of the tournament last year David Gazzolo stood on the 18th tee tied for the lead. The 18th hole is a 434-yard dogleg Par 4 that curls around the waters of the Albemarle Sound. Gazzolo decided to go for broke by taking the shorter, direct route over water. His drive carried all the way to the green, a distance estimated at 330 yards. The ball ended 18 inches from the cup, a tap-in eagle for Gazzolo. It was without a doubt the greatest shot ever made on the Sound Golf Links. It may even have been the greatest shot ever made in North Carolina tournament history. Are these guys good? Oh, yeah.

The Monroe Doctrine Revisited

            History repeats itself. And some lessons have to be re-learned. Such is the situation in Venezuela today.

            Back in 1902 Venezuela was a basket case heavily in debt to European powers. To force Venezuela to pay up, Germany, Italy, and the UK blockaded the country. When its Maduro-like dictator Cipriano Castro refused, Germany threatened military action. But President Theodore Roosevelt would have none of it: he sent a fleet of 50 warships to intervene. He not only got the Europeans to back off, he came up with a plan to settle the dispute.

            I’m over-simplifying this bit of history, of course, but the point is that Roosevelt invoked the Monroe Doctrine in two important ways. First, he used U.S. military might to prevent European powers from imposing their will on this side of the Atlantic. Second, he asserted the right of the United States to intervene in the financial affairs of a neighboring country to preclude military action.  

            The situation in Venezuela today is eerily similar. The country is in complete chaos, run by a dictator backed by a well-fed army while the people are starving. But Maduro is just a puppet. Pulling his strings and taking control of the country are Russia, China, and Cuba. Even Iran wants to get in on the action. Millions of Venezuelans have taken to the streets to force Maduro out, but, as of this writing, to no avail.

            The United States could invoke the Monroe Doctrine, but the Administration clearly prefers not to shed American blood to resolve this conflict. While “all options are on the table,” time is running out for a peaceful solution. If foreign powers, especially Russia, keep pouring in military assets, we may have no choice. And the longer we wait, the higher the costs will be.

            Do we need to re-learn the lessons of the past? What would TR do?

             

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.