Graham Platner - the "me too" iconoclast

"But wait - didn't you hear Platner say he did not know it was a Nazi tattoo because he got it one night when he was drunk? Yes, I did. And I also believe that pigs fly."

Well, he did it. Graham Platner won the Maine primary by a sizable margin. Now for a moment of truthful disclosure. I lived up in northern Maine in 1971-1972. Why? I was stationed up there, at an outpost station called Winter Harbor. I lived off base in a very rural town called Steuben. Since I was living in the community, I got to know many of the "Mainers" (please don't call them "Maniacs" - they hate that nickname).

Living in the community in my off hours, I got to know the locals quite well. Socialized with them, played cards with them, shot guns with them. Good folks. Many were in the timber trade, lobstermen, blood worm diggers and so forth. Not a well to do area of Maine, but the folks were rock solid. Why bring this up? I NEVER met ANYBODY even one percent similar to Graham Platner. If anything, they were the polar opposite of Platner.

How in the world, in this day in age, did a guy with a very checkered past, carry the entire state of Maine for the Democrats? And here is the strangest part. The way he treats (or treated) women. Wait - what? Where is the Democrat "me too" movement? Remember Brett Kavanaugh? Hello? "Always believe the woman" has morphed into NEVER believe the woman - that is, with Maine Democrats. 

I loved watching certain feminist Democrats being questioned about why (or how) they could support a guy like Platner. Oh - did I mention his Nazi tattoo? I guess that kills all the jargon the left uses against the MAGA crowd. Can't call them Nazis of Gestapo anymore since their senate candidate has a now concealed Nazi tattoo on his chest. But wait - didn't you hear Platner say he did not know it was a Nazi tattoo because he got it one night when he was drunk? Yes, I did. And I also believe that pigs fly.

Many thought Susan Collins was a "dead senator walking" coming into this election. Even though she is a very unreliable vote for many Republican bills, she is at least kind of red. In any event, now that Platner is running against her, and even though the Democrats love his chances of beating her, the odds are that Collins will stomp on him in the general. Why? Not all "Mainers" are crazy. Only the ones who vote blue. 

Living on the edge of tomorrow...

"Is tomorrow going to be better? Or are we going to stumble into 2027 in worse shape than ever? Oh yes - 2027 is the year many Pentagon planners think that China is going to invade Taiwan. That will be thing one for the day AFTER tomorrow's musings."

"When tomorrow comes, things will look better." Will they? Really? How many times have we heard that old saying when we were growing up? Especially when we are having a bad day. "When tomorrow comes" - really? Here we are, living on the edge of tomorrow. I mean, we can see part of tomorrow already. We have messed up today, so maybe we should look to see how the table is set for tomorrow:

Disclosure Day - The long-awaited film by the semi-retired Steven Spielberg. Spielberg thinks that when his truth is told in this story, it will shake the foundations of many of the world's religions - even Christianity. However, those deep in the Christian faith know that this film might be part of the "great deception". In other words - beware. In any event, the film breaks to the public this week, so buckle up and hold on tight.

Iran - "Another two weeks, another two weeks, another two weeks - the deal is almost done!" More and more people think that Iran is playing us like a fiddle. Even General Jack Keane thinks we should unleash our dogs of war on them again. Finish the job. Meanwhile, the Strait remains closed, and now the Houthis have announced they will start to control entry and exit to the Red Sea. Israel keeps getting hit by Hezbollah with rockets out of Lebanon, and when Israel hits Lebanon back, the US and Israel bicker about it. Where are we? Nowhere.

Fraud - On my - where to start on this one. The DOJ has announced that they are going after Walz and Ellison for failure to act on the well-known fraud which has been plaguing MN for at least six years. But it is not just Minnesota - the fraud bug is all over the country. In California, their elections are highly suspect of voter fraud. Just look at the recent vote count in LA - more votes than people. In fact, many states are seeing symptoms of voter fraud. Whereas the Save America Act would help fix this issue, the Senate can't seem to get this commonsense act over the finish line. Bottom line? This Fraud-O-Rama will continue into the midterms as well as many of the federal and state programs. Maybe we do need the aliens to land and help us fix this. We sure can't.

National Discourse - Our motto, which many of us grew up with, was "I am my brother's keeper." That has been replaced with STFU or worse. For reasons which escape me, we (collectively) have so much pent-up anger, we can't even celebrate a sports victory without acting like hooligans. And where does this anger really manifest itself? Politics. The art of getting along has been supplanted by the ugliest of all language and behavior. Whereas hate was once considered toxic and rare, it is now part of our culture, and our language towards others is filled with vile slurs and invectives. 

Is tomorrow going to be better? Or are we going to stumble into 2027 in worse shape than ever? Oh yes - 2027 is the year many Pentagon planners think that China is going to invade Taiwan. That will be thing one for the day AFTER tomorrow's musings. Until then, may we all do better and be better. Why? We are better than how we are now. Trust me, we are.   

 

"Cutting off his nose to spite his face..."

"Can we ever be friends with Canada and the UK again? In their minds, as soon as we are done with Trump, and have somebody like Biden in charge again. In our minds, as soon as the UK is done with Starmer and they have somebody like Lady Thatcher again. Or with Canada, with Carney is gone and Canada has somebody like Brian Mulroney again." 

Recognize these two guys? They are the head of two countries which at one time, were out closest allies. In fact, our history is loaded with good things to say about the UK and Canada. That is, once we got the War of 1812 behind us. No, for the most part, the UK and Canada have been good friends, good allies, and good trading partners. That is - until both of those countries started tilting left, and the United States hired a businessman to be our POTUS, who could see through their *bleep*.

Both the UK and Canada are in a world of hurt right now, and don't even realize it. Trump has tried to reason with them, tease them, and even threaten them. But they are right and we are wrong. After seeing how much they helped us in the Iran War (they did not do buttkiss), that was about the last straw. Now don't get me wrong - most people in this country (included myself) love Canada and the UK. It is the leadership which has gone astray. Really, really astray.

Trump is still so miffed that Starmer would not allow our bombers to use Diego Garcia during the war, Trump is looking at buying all of the Chagos Islands, including Diego Garcia. Why? Trump sees the strategic value in having a base in that part of the Indian Ocean which he could use whenever we needed to. If that means buying the entire island chain - so, be it. It is like why we want to buy Greenland. Strategic vision. Europe does not understand that. They did at one time - but no more.

Can we ever be friends with Canada and the UK again? In their minds, as soon as we are done with Trump, and have somebody like Biden in charge again. In our minds, as soon as the UK is done with Starmer and they have somebody like Lady Thatcher again. Or with Canada, with Carney is gone and Canada has somebody like Brian Mulroney again. 

Until then, I guess we will need to play nice with these two bed wetter types. If the UK and Canada can hold on, better days might be in the offing. Or not. As for us, it is MAGA all the way. Our stock market is proof that MAGA is not a better way, it is the best way.    

The high price of open borders

My biggest fear is that after Trump, we will elect another clone of Obama or Biden. Then all the idiocy that we practiced during the Obama and Biden years will return. Up is down, right is left, and evil is good. Here we will go again. That is my fear, and I pray it will never happen again.

To the people who hate ICE today, but did not hate ICE during our yesteryears, hear this out. ICE is the same organization with the same charter it always was. They are now and have been enforcing the same laws that Congress has had on the books. Then why in the world is ICE villainized today by the secular humanists who protest just about everything? Why? Because, for four long years, our borders were wide open. With millions pouring in, unvetted and unchecked, ICE now has to clean up that mess. And often times, it is not pretty.

But now, thanks in a large part to fraud (and our growing awareness of it), we are finding out that open borders may have only been the tip of the iceberg. Meaning what? There seems to be a cottage industry in both China and India of making fraudulent credentials for people who wanted to get a work visa to come to the states. And it has worked very well. In fact, many of the females who received fraudulent documents came here just to have a baby. Why? Our birthright citizenship. Result? An instant citizen who should have never been born here in the first place. 

The more I hear about the way our borders and visa system were twisted, the more I realize just how important our Border Control and ICE agencies are, and how much we need them. The money we spend while going after people who snuck into this country as well as rooting out the fraud which let illegals come here under false documents, is staggering. All that money, which could have been spent on bettering life for our citizens, is used instead for remedy purposes. We need to remedy the malice and misuse which was visited upon our country by not only the fraudsters, but also by Biden, Mayorkas, and Garland.

I don't know how much we pay ICE officers, but it is not nearly enough. All they are doing is enforcing the laws on the books which Congress (made up of many Democrats) - passed. They are part of the cadre of federal LEOs in our country. But the way = the way they are treated by the mutts in many of the big, blue city is less than awful. Result? Because of our toxic media, we villainize the federal LEOs and lionize the anarchists. Like it was foretold, in the final days good will look evil and evil will look good.

My biggest fear is that after Trump, we will elect another clone of Obama or Biden. Then all the idiocy that we practiced during the Obama and Biden years will return. Up is down, right is left, and evil is good. Here we will go again. That is my fear, and I pray it will never happen again. 

  

Time for another holiday - a gas tax holiday

"High prices or not, summer is summer and time is a wasting. If you close your eyes just for a second, it seems like another month in the summer has slipped by. What am I going to do about it? In about two hours or so, we will head north to our camper. Why? Time is flying by. Time to enjoy what little summer we have in this state."

Had to fill up my truck the other day. Went to the cheapest gas station in the area. And even with that, my durable old Chevy truck took almost $100 to fill it up. I know, I know - it is nobody's fault but the Iranians for giving the Strait of Hormuz a stopper. Meanwhile, gas in the states averages about $4/gal, and in Europe it is much worse. Short of turning Iran into a sheet of glass, is there not anything that we can do to lower our gas prices this summer? 

Actually, there is. Donald Trump first floated this idea. How about a tax holiday from paying the federally mandated 18.4 cents per gallon on gasoline? I know - a drop in the bucket, but it would help. But - Trump would need the help of Congress on this one, and since the TDS and vile hatred is so strong in Washington, that would never happen. How do I know? Just look at the Save America Act, which is a 90-10 piece of legislation. Should have been a slam dunk in the Senate. But it failed. Something that 90% of Americans would favor -- failed due to four RINOs and every single Democrat. Thus, a tax holiday would stand the same chance as a snowball in you know where.

Okay, okay. How about in Minnesota? Surely, we could do a tax holiday here. We are after all, paying a sky-high rate of 31.8 cents a gallon. Whoops - I misspoke. The Democrats raised our gas tax to an even higher rate of 32.6 cents a gallon. Between federal and state, people in Minnesota are paying over 50 cents a gallon in tax! Ouch!

Would Taxing Timmy ever consider giving his residence a break on their gas tax? When pigs fly is my answer. All he cares about is fixing up George Floyd square and getting ICE out of Minnesota. Other than that, with his terminal TDS, he cares not about the pain and suffering his political party has hoisted upon Minnesota's citizens (subjects). Meanwhile, trips up north to the cabin or camping have gotten to be very expensive - very expensive indeed.

High prices or not, summer is summer and time is a wasting. If you close your eyes just for a second, it seems like another month in the summer has slipped by. What am I going to do about it? In about two hours or so, head north to our camper. Why? Time is flying by. Time to enjoy what little summer we have in this state.

President Kamala Harris (oh no!)

"The good news is that we do not live in that universe. In our universe, Donald Trump saved us from economic slavery that Biden left us with. The bad news is if the multiverse is real, President Harris could exist in at least one of those universes. If that is true, I can hear that kackle and a giggle from here..."     

There are some scientists who believe in the multiverse theory. That would be instead of a single universe, we would be living in a realm of countless universes. And as the theory progresses, each universe would look similar to the others, except different things would have different outcomes. For example, the 2024 election would have had President Kamala Harris in at least one of those universes. And this morning, we will explore what that universe might look like.

What would that world look like? First off, the southern border would still be wide open. Illegals, drugs, gangs, terrorists, you name it - would continue to come pouring in. All unfettered, unchecked. DHS Mayorkas was kept on for the administration following President Biden. Why? In the eyes of the Democrats, Mayorkas was doing a fantastic job.

Gas would be over $5/gal nationwide - in California, closer to $10/gal. President Harris has continued on with many of the Biden energy policies. Shuttering coal mines and abrogating drilling leases for starters. Natural gas has become all but illegal in most states, and the electric grid is strapped from running on mostly renewables. Brownouts and blackouts are as common as afternoon thunderstorms. The mandate for everybody to drive an EV has stuck and charging stations are few and far between. The United States, while sitting on a caldera of oil, is headed back to the 1800s with Obama/Biden/Harris energy policies.

More and more police departments are being defunded. Another hangover from Biden. Police nationwide are being replaced with Anger Management Specialists and Violence Disrupters. In most cities crime is so rampant that normal citizens refuse to go out at night. Some fear even the daytime. Money to fund the FBI and ATF has been redirected to fund more agents for the IRS. Why? With the mandatory minimum tax now being 40%, tax cheating is endemic. The IRS (if they catch and convict you) will have you put away for 20 years for even the smallest of errors or omissions on your tax forms.

Finally, President Harris, (who gets along famously with the socialists in Canada and Europe), has suspended the requirement that NATO self-fund their militaries. We will take care of it. In fact, all tariffs on all goods we ship to them are now suspended. We will continue to pay Euro tariffs, but they will not pay any to us. President Harris has a motto - "Uncle Sugar, first, last and always!" She is so popular in Europe, there are statues of her in just about every country. And her former motto of "lead from behind" has been replaced with "MASLA - Make America Stay Last Always". 

The good news is that we do not live in that universe. In our universe, Donald Trump saved us from the economic slavery that Biden left us with. The bad news is if the multiverse is real, President Harris could exist in at least one of those universes. If that is true, I can hear that kackle and a giggle from here...     

Our sequence of events - sadly...

"With three carriers, dozens of support ships, and our Air Force in the area, we should be able to finish this job long before the 4th of July. We should have free transit through the Strait by the middle of June. But to make all of this happen, we really do need to unleash our dogs of war. No halfway measures. We need to go all out."

I think many of us have figured it out so far. The sequence of events which have led us to this temporary spike in prices (especially with gasoline). Ready? Here it goes: Hezbollah, who hates Israel, continues to lob missiles at them from Lebanon. Israel, who has no time for any more of this crap, retaliates with air strikes. Iran, who is the father of the proxy Hezbollah, accuses the US and Israel of breaking the peace, and stalls the talks for a lasting peace. Then nothing happens, and the Strait of Hormuz stays closed. With the Strait closed, inflation ticks up and gasoline prices stay high.

Meanwhile, our feckless Democrats have passed a war powers resolution (with the help of a handful of RINOs). What does that mean? Time is up, for the president. If this bill became law, we would have to pull our forces out of the area. Of course, in order for this bill to become law, President Trump would need to sign it. That will happen on the 12th of Never. Thus, the beat goes on. The sequence of events leading up to higher gas prices stays intact.

Where does all this leave us? Kind of in a box canyon. To leave Iran before the job is done would be a fool's errand. If we left, Iran would work like crazy to get back what was lost in the bombing. They would be more committed than ever to build a nuclear bomb(s). And then, all that time, treasure and blood spilt during this war would be for naught. 

If I were in charge of this mess, what would I do? I would first put Iran on notice that we are not playing this game anymore. They have 72 hours to agree to our terms. If no agreement is reached, I would unleash Israel on Lebanon to root out Hezbollah, and I would instruct our forces to "finish the job". If it is war Iran wants, we will give it to them as well as Hezbollah. If it is peace they want, they have 72 hours to agree to our terms. And - this is the important part - the 72 hours is cast in concrete. They will be no more extensions.

With three carriers, dozens of support ships, and our Air Force in the area, we should be able to finish this job long before the 4th of July. We should have free transit through the Strait by the middle of June. But to make all of this happen, we really do need to unleash our dogs of war. No halfway measures. We need to go all out. Same way with Israel. Finish off Hezbollah. Finish off Hamas. Finish off the Houthis. And we will finish off the IRGC. 

We are tired of this stork dance Mr. President. The "perfect deal" you have been waiting for with Iran might be a bridge too far. These guys are snakes, sir. You gave them every chance in the world. Now it is our turn. Finish the job.