WHO DOESN'T LIKE A PARADE !

Well I certainly do...especially if it is a Santa Claus Parade.

Way back, in one of my earliest Blogs, I mentioned being in one cross-starred  Santa Parade in my home town of Brighton where the wind was so strong that day it blew every float away save the sturdy Santa Float.

The parade consisted of that one float plus a station wagon which provided the only music...Gene Autry's Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer with yours truly winding the gramophone and its 78 rpm record.  

So it probably comes as no surprise that upon Donald Trump's return from Paris earlier this year where he witnessed its annual Bastille Day Military Parade, he started planning one of his own.  

A Parade with marching bands, armed forces personnel and tanks.

After all, what is a parade if it does not contain tanks and hopefully a bucket load of nuclear rockets thrown in.

I am sure that you, like me, this brings to mind such worthy defenders of Democracy as Vladd Putin, Xi Jinping and North Korea's Yong-un and their impressive military shows of power and might. 

Not to leave out a plethora of petty dictators and tyrants that circumnavigate the world.  And their need for such displays has more to do with scaring the bejeepers out of their countrymen to ensure none of them have the temerity to challenge their enlightened rules.

And we know of course that this would never be Donald Trump's goal... why he is only out to have a nice sunny 4th of July and enjoy America's delicacy... the Hot Dog.

At least I hope that this is the intended goal for his parade.

But maybe...just maybe there is something else at play here.

Maybe it has something to do with xxxxx envy as was evident recently when the Yong-un bragged about the seize of his Nuclear Button to which Trump quite rightly responded that his Nuclear Button is much Bigger and in fact can kill more than any other country in the world. 

Not though in the tradition of Teddy Roosevelt and encompassed in his oft repeated quote,  'walk softly but carry a big stick'.

From the beginning of Donald Trump's Administration there were several areas where I had reservations about the direction they might be going.  One of those and one of the most important was his reliance upon elderly male Generals.  Indeed his top 3 Advisors all fall into this category.

As a Libertarian, I do not trust Big Government including Big Military especially a Military which is not held in proper civilian check. 

I have written about the Cuban Missile Crisis where had it not been for President Kennedy and to a lesser extent his brother Bobbie, the world would have likely experienced its first nuclear war.  The Joint Chiefs wanted to go into Cuba with guns blazing but thankfully neither Kennedy trusted the Chiefs all that much and devised a less confrontational response, namely, a naval blockade.

I say thankfully since post crisis, America discovered that the Russian Troops on the ground had been instructed from Moscow to respond to any attack, with nuclear missiles.

So have a parade and enjoy your hot dog President Trump and leave the scare tactics to those leaders who are insecure enough to  need them. 

THE NUNES MEMO

This past Friday saw the long-awaited release of the above-noted memo.  

It was light on specifics but the following are the facts I was able to glean from it:

1. In October of 2016 at the height of the bitter Election Campaign between Republican Trump and Democratic Clinton, the FBI and the Department of Justice applied to the Courts for a warrant to allow surveillance of one of Trump's campaign workers...Carter Page.
2. This same Carter Page had been the subject of their investigations prior to the time that Donald Trump came onto the scene.
3. Key information, without which, it is agreed by all, the Judge would not have allowed the issuance of the Warrant was supplied by Hillary Clinton's Campaign and by the Democratic Party at great expense ($) to them both. 
4. All of this Information in due course turned out to be false.
5. It was obtained by Clinton et al from the Russians through an intermediary by the name of ChristopherSteele ...a self professed 'Trump Hater'.  
6. Finally, the application to the Court did not expose the fact that Hillary / Her Party were the principals involved in obtaining this data, but it did allow that it had come from a 'political rival of Trump. 

Trump claims that the Nunes' Memo 'completely vindicates him'.  It does not, but in truth does not matter since he never needed vindication...there has never been any evidence tying him to Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 Election.

The Democrats on the other-hand  say 'there is nothing there ...move on'.

'Nothing there?'  Other than the fact that it confirms both the FBI and DOJ were fully aware of the fact that it was Hillary and her Campaign who were playing footsies with the Ruskies in advance of Election Day.

So in the post Election period is it not the height of hypocrisy for Hillary to blame the Russians and their ties to the Trump Campaign as one of the major reasons for her election loss?  The woman has no shame. 

And how is it that the Meuller Special Prosecutory  Commission was allowed to form to investigate the non-existent Trump - Russia connection when these senior FBI / DOJ officials knew all along that the real culprit in this sorry mix was Dear Hillary?

Talk about being in the bag for one candidate over the other.

Long time readers will know that I jokingly say that you can be sure a politician is lying as soon as their lips start to move.  Sadly this is more often true than not.

But at least you get an opportunity every 4 years to vote the most notorious out of office.

What can you do though in the case of faceless senior enforcement officers who try to influence the outcome of our democratic elections.

More on that another time.

As I see it...

'K.D. Galagher' 

IT IS A SAD STATE OF AFFAIRS WHEN YOU CANNOT TRUST THE COPS !

As in the Senior Cops like the FBI and the Justice Department.

In that regard, we are waiting breathlessly for the release of a memo which will chronicle efforts by both of the above to discredit Donald Trump.

As an aside, I can say that even in my home Province and Country the Ontario Provincial Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police..have been caught out from time to time giving succor to one party or the other...usually in support of the Liberals.

The same thing has happened in America especially during the 8 year tenure of Barack Obama.

Permit me to list but a few of the most egregious:

• The Black Panthers were never charged even though they intimidated voters from voting against Obama in 2008.
• The Internal Revenue Agency launched a campaign to specifically to audit Conservative Non-Profits Organizations. Again, no one was charged.
• The ATF's program named Fast and Furious which put guns in the hands of Mexican Drug Cartels resulted in an agent's death. The White House blocked all attempts to get to the bottom of it.
•  In the Benghazi fiasco Hillary Clinton and her senior officials in the State Department tried to blame it on some obscure video when they knew all along it was a pre-planned terrorist attack and when they had all along turned a deaf ear to their Ambassador's request for greater security.  Again no inquiry.
• Then there was Hillary's use of insecure servers even though she was the second most powerful person in the Obama Administration.  Again no follow-up.
• And in regard to Hillary again.  Senior Officials in the Democratic Party were actively working for her against her main competitor Bernie Sanders.  Little was done to rectify this certainly nothing was done for poor Bernie.
• And to get back to the infamous memo about to be released, it will confirm that it was one and the same Hillary who had her campaign pay the Russians for dirt on Trump.  

And all the while Hillary was accusing Trump of working hand and glove with the Ruskies.  

Why it even led to the Meuller Special Prosecutor's investigation of how Trump et al worked with Russia to turn the last Election in his favour.

It wasn't Trump who was doing it...again it was dear Hillary.

But you would never know it from the Left Wing Media.  Silence.

I have said from the get-go that Trump was not working with the Russians or any other country for that matter in his victory over the Dems.  

But I cannot comprehend how Meuller did not come to realize that early on in his investigation.  He should have at least expanded it to include malfeasance on the part of Hillary and her Campaign Team.

So why is this so important?  Why is it not just interesting reading?

I will tell you why.  A Democracy without the Rule of Law is not worth the Constitution it is written on.

And in order to have Rule of Law, a country needs Impartial Enforcement.

This has been lacking in the United States for too long and if that state of affairs continues, the net effect of that is just too dangerous to contemplate regardless of who calls the White House home.    

As I see it...

'K.D. Galagher'

IT'S ALL IN THE NAME.

It must be or how else can you explain why the first two candidates out of the gate to replace the hapless Patrick Brown are a brother of a deceased Mayor and a daughter of a former Prime Minister.

Yes, I am speaking of course about Doug Ford and Caroline Mulroney.   The former's brother was Mayor of the City of Toronto... the infamous Rob Ford and, the latter's father is the humble Brian Mulroney.

This is Star Power at its worst and will certainly not work for Ford and hopefully not for C.M. either.

I say hopefully, since Justin Trudeau's status as the offspring of the late great Pierre Elliott certainly launched him into the Prime Ministership of Canada with little more than drama teacher experience. And not much of that.

Ford's biggest problem is that he lacks the charisma possessed by his more popular brother.  He could have benefited from the sympathy vote for his late brother had he run for the leadership in 2014. Now, 4 years later, that sympathy vote has evaporated with time. 

With respect to Caroline whatever happened to earning your stripes so to speak?  It borders on arrogant to think you can just opt for the top job without moving up through the ranks.

She will have her famous father beating the hustings for her but these will be Ontario hustings...not that of Quebec, so his help will be muted at best. Voters here in Ontario still remember that it was the big BM who added greatly to the National Debt during his 8 years in power.  After 14+ years of the Liberals, the last thing we  need are more big spenders.

There is though one man in the PC Ranks who has more than earned his stripes....proprietor of his own Marketing Business, former Mayor of North Bay, Member of the Provincial Legislature since 2011, in recent years Critic for Finance and today the Interim Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party.

I am speaking of course about Vic Fedeli but he has announced he will not seek the permanent leadership.

Pity.

As I see it...

'K.D. Galagher'

IT'S JOHN BAIRD'S IF HE WANTS IT.

And that is the question...Does He Want It.

For those Readers who have no clue who John Baird is, permit me to enlighten you.

Baird was the second senior Minister next only to Prime Minister Stephen Harper during the Conservative Government of Canada from 2005 to 2015.

Baird resigned his Ministry unexpectedly during the dying days of Harpers Administration for which I have never received an adequate explanation.

If it was just because Baird sensed the good Ship Harper was going down and simply got out when the going was good, he would not be too blemished should he decide to go for the Leadership of the Conservative Party in Ontario in the wake of the recent resignation of Patrick Brown. 

And should he do so, he would win a landslide victory in the coming Ontario Election which by law must be held this Spring. 

The Liberal Party, which ruined the economy of our Province over the course of its 14+ years in power, will be left as nothing but a rump.

There will be lots of interest in the coming Leadership Race, but when the dust settles it will be Baird who stands victorious.

That is of course, should he decide to run.

As I See It...

K.D. Galagher

WELL THERE GOES MY FIRST NEW YEAR'S PREDICTION OUT THE WINDOW....

In my list of predictions for the coming year, which I just completed the other day, I said that the Progressive Conservatives under the Leadership of Patrick Brown would win this coming June Election and he'd become the Premier of Ontario...Canada's largest Province.

That will now not happen...Patrick Brown has just resigned his Leadership allegedly due to two sexual indiscretions of some 10 years ago. 

For me personally, there is both good and bad in this development:  the good being that I will now likely be able to vote Conservative in the coming Election.  The bad part is that Politics is a dirty business and despite my misgivings about Brown as Party Leader, I feel very sorry for him... he did not deserve to have it come to an end in this way.

That said, it is somewhat ironic that Brown had this hidden in his closet, a year or so ago, when he cashiered our own Member of the Legislature... Jack MacLaren from the Party.  MacLaren had made an off-colour joke at a 'male, off the record charity fundraiser' the joke, is alleged to have been given to Jack to say by his Wife.  Knowing Jack as I do, I suspect his wife was just trying to make her straight-laced farmer husband look just a little more like 'one of the guys'.

Looking back now it seems to me to have taken a lot of gall on the part of Patrick Brown to have acted so swiftly and decisively in regard to MacLaren when his own record in these matters was less than pristine.   

So what did he do?

Again, both events are alleged to have occurred 10 years or so ago.  In one, he kissed a staffer and when she resisted and asked to go home, he drove her home.

The second, involved oral sex.  He asked a woman to give him oral sex and she started to do just that.  Then she stopped saying she did not want to have this go any further.  So what did Brown do?  He stopped.

On the Harvey Weinstein sexual assault scale, Brown's actions barely register.  

Could this just come down to Patrick Brown's ability as a Lover, as his ability as a Leader, is wanting?

I remember vividly, an elderly Statesman of the olde school upon hearing that one of his colleagues had been charged with sexual harassment commented, 'has the guy not learned by now how to approach a woman".  

But there is something in the air that does not smell right.

I spoke earlier today with my life-long friend Johnny who summed it up quite nicely, ..."there is someone(s) out to destroy Brown" and I agree.  It just does not add up.

And to have his entire senior staff quit on him too makes little sense if the 10 year old assertions really contain so little substance.  I never had any use for his staff and maybe this is just another example of why I have held that belief.  But just maybe they know something that we don't.  With so many involved, it will soon come out.

And, if there is nothing there but what has been reported, it is another example of Brown's Deficient Leadership since he was the one who put these senior staffers in place.  

So politics is dirty but as always...very interesting. 

As I See It...

'K.D. Galagher'

Generally Speaking, I Am Opposed To The Death Penalty...

There is one group for which I find the DP entirely acceptable and that is with respect to Islamic Terrorists.

I say that not so much for their cowardly and inhuman ways as much as for the danger posed by their delusional accomplices who in all likelihood will take innocent people hostage to try and exchange them for their freedom.  

They should be immediately taken out and shot.

And that reminds me of a well traveled satirical joke  that I will mention just in case you have never heard it.

Islamic Terrorists are apparently so stupid they believe 72 Virgins await them in whatever they call their heaven.  The story goes that one such unfortunate, upon attaining his sought after hereafter, was met by 72 Virgins alright but they were all Nuns brandishing AK-47s and pointed in his direction.  Can't say his prayers were not answered!

But recently another situation has been in the news where I would not hesitate to prescribe this type of speedy justice.  You probably heard about it.  A Mother and Father were charged with venal abuse of their 13 children.  Starving them, tying them up, beating them and so on.  One girl, age 17, managed to call 911 and the first responders who found her said she looked no more than 10.

As a parent of three children and 6 grandchildren I cannot imagine the horror inflicted upon these innocents.  Hanging is simply too good for the pair of them. 

As I See It...

'K.D. Galagher'