A Way Forward?

For John, BLUF:  While many are ooutraged at President Trump's words and actions with regard to Ukraine and the Middle East, some see that perhaps there is a path to peple in both locations.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Thanks to Trump, Saudi Arabia Gets a Big Week in International Diplomacy

Here is the sub-headline:

Riyadh is hosting U.S., Russian and Arab officials for high-stakes talks on Ukraine and Gaza, more proof of its regional clout and warm relations with President Trump.

From The Old Gray Lady, by Reporters Vivian Yee and Ismaeel Naar, Feb. 20, 2025.

Here is the lede plus four:

Only a few years ago, Washington was calling Saudi Arabia a “pariah” over its headline-making human rights violations. Western business leaders canceled investments in the kingdom. Celebrities and sports stars took flack for doing events there.

With its oil and its regional clout, however, Saudi Arabia proved too useful for the Biden administration to push the kingdom away for too long. And just a few weeks into the second term of President Trump, who nurtured a cozy relationship with the kingdom when he was last in office, Saudi Arabia’s stock is once again on the rise — even if Mr. Trump’s approach to the region is not always to the Saudis’ liking.

This week, all of the diplomacy is in Riyadh, the kingdom’s capital. On Friday, Arab leaders are expected to gather to hammer out a counterproposal meant to persuade Mr. Trump not to deport all of the some two million people in Gaza to Arab countries, mainly Egypt and Jordan, and transform the strip into a “Riviera of the Middle East.”

On Tuesday, senior American and Russian officials met in Riyadh for opening talks over ending the war in Ukraine and re-establishing normal relations, another major foreign policy priority of Mr. Trump’s. The Russian delegation was based at the Ritz-Carlton hotel, where Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, once locked up hundreds of powerful businessmen and royal family members in an early quest to consolidate power. (Saudi Arabia said it was a crackdown on corruption.) This time, Saudi Arabia was presenting a very different image, facilitating the talks on Tuesday with a lunch menu of Arab and Western specialties that included a “symphony of scallop, shrimps and salmon” and knafeh cheesecake, according to Russian state television.

> “Country of peace,” read the hashtag accompanying some social media posts about the Tuesday talks from government and state media accounts. Others had a hashtag calling the kingdom “capital of world decisions.”

I note this because there is a chance that President Trump is trying to tie Saudi Arabia into the Ukraine peace effort as a way of tying that Kingdon into peace efforts in the Middle East.  There should be little double that peace is needed in both places.  And no doubt that peace is difficult in both places.

In the Ukraine Russia is fighting a war to ensure that Ukraine does not become part of a NATO threat to themselves.  While NATO may not think of itself as a threat, a long look at history suggests that some small spark can ignite a big blaze.  An assassination in Serejavo ignited World War One.  It didn't happen in a flash, but from the killing of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, on 28 June 1914 it was only a month until Austria-Hungary declared waron Serbia on 28 July, and then things unraveled from there.  In the case of Ukraine and Russia it is not just the secure border, but also actions that Russian President Putin has found disrespectful, such as breaking away the Ukraine Orthodox Church from the Russian Orthodox Church.

As for Gaza, the Nakba. as seen from the Palestine side, is a never ending tragedy.&nbp; The election of Hamas to power in Gaza in 2006 led to an even more militant approach to Israel.  The current crisis jumped into open warfare with the 7 October 2023 Al Aqsa Flood operation by Hamas against Israel, where 1,180 Israelis were killed and 251 taken as hostages.

The Hamas led Palestinans of Gaza are not prepared to accept Gaza as their permaent home, but rather are intent on returning to their 1947 homes in what is now Israel, except it is now 2,1 million Palistinians, vice the 710,000 displaced in 1947.  No one has come forward to suggest a workable method for squaring this circle.  It would appear that President Trump believes that the involvement of Saudi Arabia in this probglem might provide a solution; an Arab solution.

Regards  —  Cliff

Trust in God

For John, BLUF:  I am late in this, but I wanted to comment on last Sunday's First Reading.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readubg I (Jeremiah 17:5-8):

Thus says the LORD:
      Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings,
          who seeks his strength in flesh,
          whose heart turns away from the LORD.
      He is like a barren bush in the desert
          that enjoys no change of season,
      but stands in a lava waste,
          a salt and empty earth.
      Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD,
        whose hope is the LORD.
      He is like a tree   planted beside the waters
          that stretches out its roots to the stream:
      it fears not the heat when it comes;
          its leaves stay green;
      in the year of drought it shows no distress,
          but still bears fruit.

I wanted to focus on the early admonition:.

Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings

Putting our trust in others often produces sad results.  You make a comment and someone just dismisses it and denogrates a third party in the process  I had this happen on City Life Show this morning.  I said how my son, a Federal Civil Servant, said that he ges more work done working from home than he does in the office.  Given his area of effort, I can understand that.  The Producer dimissed my comment with "That is what he says."  I felt my son was denegraded, and I was also.  Such is life in the real world. ; People do and say disapponting things, even friends.

But, sometimes the disappointment is especially strongn when someone you have admired for integrity goes off and does something that calls it all into question  My example would be Michael Hayden, one of the 51 signatories to Mr Antony Blinken's letter on the Hunter Biden Laptop.  While the letteer was technically correct, the laptop from hell story did appear to be like Rusian disinformation, it was, nevertheless, true.  The letter was an effort to protect a Presidential Candidate from adverse publicity, and it worked, helping to propel Joseph R Biden into being our 46th resident of the White House.

My disappoijnntment with General Hayden is based upon my admiration for him when I was assigned to Headquarters, United States Air Forces in Europe.  He was then a young Major and someone I saw as incorporating all the best qualities of an Air Force Officer.  I was so impressed that when my Wife and I took a short story writing course at UMass Lowell I based my hero in a couple of such stories on then Major Hayden.  It was very disappoiinted to me when he signed on with Mr Blinken.

I am back to my sense that Jeremiah has it right.

Regards  —  Cliff

Rating the US Presidents

For John, BLUF:  This is a good sorting of our Presidents in terms of how well they performed in Office.  It is different to some degree from what I leanred in Elementary School, back in the 1950s.  But, our understanding evolves.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Rating the Presidents on Presidents' Day

From Vodka Pundit, by Blogger Stephen Green, 17 February 2025, 12:31 PM.

Here is the lede:

Presidents' Day is a stupid holiday.  We used to have two presidential holidays.  One for Washington, who showed noteworthy restraint in setting the precedents that his successors ought to live up to — and that's on top of successfully commanding the armies that won the Revolutionary War.  The other was for Lincoln, who saved the Union from rupture and was murdered for his efforts

Then Mr Green racked and stacked our Presidents.

As one might expect, the top two were Presidents Washington and Lincoln.

Then there are 15 described as worth remembering, including:

• John Adams
• Thomas Jefferson
• James Madison
• James Monroe
• James Polk
• U S Grant
• William McKinley
• T Roosevelt
• Calvin Coolidge
• Harry Truman
• D D Eisenhower
• Gerald Ford
• Ronald Reagan
• GHW Bush
• John F Kennedy

Then there is the list of the ten worst:

• James Buchanan
• Andrew Johnson
• Woodrow Wilson
• Herburt Hoover
• Franklin D Roosevelt
• Lyndon B Johnson
• Jimmy Carter
• Barack Obama
• Joseph R Biden

He does bring the receipts.

Regards  —  Cliff

Presidents; Day

For John, BLUF:  There are Presidents to celebrate and Presidents for whom we shouold have distain.  But, overall, oour Constitution has allowed us an Executive who can lift us up, but not drag us down too far.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Happy Presidents Day!

I am so old I can remember when we had both a Washington's Borthday and a Lincoln's Birthday, both in February.  Then we got a consolidated holiday.  Which is not a bad thing.  And now someone comes along and tries to make it better.

Congresswoman Tenney Moves to Make President Trump’s Birthday a Federal Holiday

A Congresswoman Claudia Tenney Press Release 14 February 2025.

Here it is:

Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-24) today introduced the Trump’s Birthday and Flag Day Holiday Establishment Act to officially designate June 14 as a federal holiday to commemorate President Donald J. Trump’s Birthday and Flag Day.

Born on June 14, 1946, President Donald J. Trump’s birthday coincided with Flag Day, which is observed annually and recognizes the anniversary of the adoption of the Stars and Stripes as the official US flag in 1777. This legislation would permanently codify a new federal holiday called “Trump’s Birthday and Flag Day” on June 14 to honor this historic day.

“No modern president has been more pivotal for our country than Donald J. Trump. As both our 45th and 47th President, he is the most consequential President in modern American history, leading our country at a time of great international and domestic turmoil. From brokering the historic Abraham Accords to championing the largest tax relief package in American history, his impact on the nation is undeniable. Just as George Washington’s Birthday is codified as a federal holiday, this bill will add Trump’s Birthday to this list, recognizing him as the founder of America’s Golden Age. Additionally, as our nation prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary, we should create a new federal holiday honoring the American Flag and all that it represents. By designating Trump’s Birthday and Flag Day as a federal holiday, we can ensure President Trump’s contributions to American greatness and the importance of the American Flag are forever enshrined into law,” said Congresswoman Tenney.

I thought it was clever of the Congresswoman to tie the two items together, Flag Day and President Trump's Birthday.  I don't think it will make it out of committee, or if it does, if it will pass through Congress.  But, a clever idea.

I do think it is possible that President Trump will have a major impact on the nation.  His DOGE is one big opportunity.  For sure, to clean up the swamp of Federal Appropriations would be a big deal, especially if he was able to add to that getting the budget under control.  Then there is hihs efforts to bring peace to the Ukriane and in the Holy Land.

Hat tip to my Wife, who noted this to me.

Regards  —  Cliff

Is Elon After Granny's Social Security Check?

For John, BLUF:  Cynicism about Democratic Party cynical efforts to fight President Trump.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Babylon Bee on Elon Musk

From The Babylon Bee, by The Bee, 10 Februry 2025, 2:22 PM.

Here is the post:

Democrats Uncover Devious Billionaire Plot To Spend Billions Buying Social Media Company To Get President Trump Elected In Order To Access The Treasury Database And Steal Grandma's $695 Social Security Check

It is The Bee.

I think the concerns of Democrats about Mr Elon Musk using his position to steal from taxpayers is a little over the top.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

A billion dollars of fraud every week

For John, BLUF:  The Bureaucrats at Treasury, and perhaps elsewhere, slowly slipped into a routine of no checking on the Peoples' money.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Machine Fights Back

Here is the sub-headline:

Inside Treasury's War Against Its Own Reformers

From EKO Loves You, by Blogger EKO, 9 February 2025.

Here is the lede plus one:

When DOGE found empty fields in Treasury's payment system, they uncovered more than missing data.

They found a mechanism.

Simple things were left blank:

• Payment categories
• Payment rationales
• Basic audit controls

The kind of fields any small business would require.  The kind that let you track where money goes.  The kind that stop a billion dollars of fraud.  Every week.

Here's what Treasury didn't want exposed:

Over $100 billion flowing annually to accounts without Social Security numbers.  No temporary ID numbers. No verification. Nothing.

When Musk asked Treasury officials how much was "unequivocal and obvious fraud," the answer revealed decades of corruption: HALF

Let that sink in.

$50 billion per YEAR.

A billion dollars every SINGLE week disappearing into accounts that shouldn't exist.

It is like the Federal Bureaucracy had become an ever growing, self serving mechanism, immune from oversight.

And, it appears the Federal Courts are in sympathy with this jaugernaut, and willing to shield it from scrutiny.

Hat tip to the Citizen Free Press.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Courts Begin to Awaken

For John, BLUF:  The Democrats are battling President Trump by employing law suits.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Judge leaves intact a ban on DOGE access to Treasury records pending a hearing Friday

From the Associated Press, by Reporter Larry Neumeister, 11 February 2025 at 1:50 PM EST.

Here is the lede plus four:

A federal judge on Tuesday made some clarifications but left intact a ban for now that prevents Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from accessing Treasury Department records containing sensitive personal data for millions of Americans.

Judge Jeannette A. Vargas in Manhattan issued an order to continue a ban prior to a hearing Friday. The ban was put in place last week by another federal New York jurist in response to a lawsuit that 19 Democratic attorneys general brought against President Donald Trump.

Justice Department attorneys told Vargas in a filing on Sunday that the ban was unconstitutional and needed to be immediately reversed.

They made additional arguments in a written submission on Tuesday, saying the ban limits Trump's “ability to give direction to his subordinates” to ensure that annual outlays of $5 trillion by Treasury's Bureau of the Fiscal Service are being handled with efficiency.

Vargas made changes to the ban to clarify its reach. For instance, she said Treasury Department officers nominated by Trump and confirmed by the Senate can access the records, making it clear that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is not subject to the ban.

This is a step in the proper direction by Judge Jeannette A. Vargas, allowing the Secretry of Treasury Scott Bessent to actually manage his department, a job for which he was confirmed by the US Senate.  The idea that a Cabinet Secretary was not allowed ot manage the civil Servants within his or her department, or manage the systems therein makes a sham of the job of management and responsibility.

While Friday may bring further clarity and common sense, I fear it will require the involvement of the US Supreme Court.

Hat tip to the Citizen Free Press.

Regards  —  Cliff