Nancy to Donald: Not in my House!

Nancy Pelosi didn't request a RSVP from  President Trump to the State of the Union address; in fact she uninvited him.

But Nancy Pelosi seems to have flummoxed Donald Trump. She brought something new to the table. Some call it "legislative experience" and others just pure confidence and toughness that brings her to confront the President on equal terms. Trump, not one who likes equal terms, looks around for leverage and instead takes a whipping from right-wingers Ann Coulter and Lou Dobbs. Those pundits, Ann the author and Lou the broadcaster, hurl insults at Trump-- "wimpiest President" ever or "Cave Man" as the New York Post dubbed Trump for caving to the Democrats no-wall position.

Details never trouble Donald Trump. He must be given credit for flexibility. The guy assumes more shapes than Hermes the god of speed, businessmen and thieves. He has had trouble transacting to the Pelosi refusal to invite him to her house, the House of Representatives, to give the State of the Union speech.

Pelosi's strategic response to the government shutdown was to disinvite Trump for the big State of the Union speech on supposed security concerns. Her move has been acknowledged as political genius. We've never seen it before so let's give the Lady Speaker credit.

Pelosi denied Trump a megaphone. Trump likes giving speeches more than just about anything else. He likes being the center of attention and feeling respected by important people. The environment for the State of the Union provides all those things but Donald got denied. Seemed to throw him off his game.

Maybe concerns about the Mueller investigation setting sights on Trump pals like longtime political crony Roger Stone made him more vulnerable. Trump has handled immense amount of pressure but does not age from  pressures of the presidency in the usual manner. Everything about the guy is unprecedented.

Watching the Democratic presidential candidate hopefuls step to the fore.

Older generation-- Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, and did I hear Hillary Clinton's name mentioned...?

* Bernie-- a socialist at heart, set the progressive agenda now reflected by Democratic left-wing
* Joe-- has the "centrist" touch the Democrats need
* Hillary-- OMG

3 Female competitors-- Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand and Kamala Harris have all formally announced:

* Elizabeth-- a numbers person, shows an accountant instincts for rich people's thievery
* Kirsten-- may be a Republican in sheep's clothing, make that donkey's clothing
* Kamala-- smiles nicely with impeccable grooming, a tough DA type, somewhat intimidating

2 Billionaire independents-- Michael Bloomberg and Howard Schultz

* Michael-- capitalist but also Mayor of New York City, fights large soft-drinks and pollution
* Howard-- the former Starbucks CEO, business savvy, invented $5 coffee

The question for everybody considering the Democratic nomination. Can you beat Trump?

One candidate I've never heard mentioned-- Nancy Pelosi.

Trump Goes to the Mattresses

Donald Trump came into office just like a Mafia Don. Don Donald. Michael Flynn, the guy who led chants of “Lock her up,” and Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal lawyer, began selling favors before the inauguration. Flynn could be seen making deals on his cellphone from the White House lawn. Cohen sought out multi-national companies and advertised his strong access to the President of the United States as a strong selling point.

No hesitation in these gangster types. They get a foot in the door and you have to pay them protection…. Or else. 

Trump took the same approach as his associates. Emoluments clause? Hell with it. I can run a business and the USA at the same time. He did not want to divest his business holdings and never did.

Trump has “played” politics just the way the recently risen Mafia Don works his crew, the streets and the civilians. Everything’s for me. Everybody sends a cut of their earnings  to the top. 

Donald Trump will steal your lunch money until you fight back. America has not fought back and he keeps gouging until the final dollar is pressed into his personal coffers. Don’t like it and you can try your best to get him out of office.

Office never mattered to much to Donald Trump. He loves the theater and confrontation of electoral politics and loves watching television. But a certain movie captures the Trump phenomenon, even better than Celebrity Apprentice.

In Casino, the 1995 Martin Scorsese film starring Joe Pesci, Sharon Stone and Robert De Niro, we get an insight into Donald Trump. 

Robert De Niro as Ace Rothstein is quietly running a casino in Vegas. The De Niro character translates to Barack Obama, a capable man doing an honest day’s work. Joe Pesci is Donald Trump—the guy who shows up like a tornado, kills the game for everybody else. 

The Joe Pesci character, based on Anthony Spilotro, a real life mob enforcer and hit man, arrives and things spiral downward and end with a thud. Joe’s character lacks self-control. He is programmed to hurt others. He lives only for himself. The Joe Pesci  character adds insult to injury by stealing and banging De Niro’s wife—Sharon Stone as Ginger McKenna.

Okay, so Donald Trump never made a play for Michelle Obama. I’m sure she’s not his type. He likes tall women but prefers Eastern European and Russian woman. That’s how you end up with a daughter named Ivanka.

Trump’s daughter’s name does not imply he’s colluded or conspired with Russians. Trump’s most obvious trait—acquisitiveness—includes the element of bringing everybody else down. It’s not enough for him to win. The others, (i.e. the American citizenry) can fend for themselves. 

We must protect ourselves from Donald Trump’s habit of playing the game so hard, working the casino till every nickel has dropped out of the slot machine and then declaring bankruptcy. 

After 5 bankruptcies, including Atlantic City casinos, Trump moved to the next hustle. Bankers lost confidence in his Midas touch and Donald Trump went east to Moscow to find new bankers. 

Russia, as the banker of last resort, may prove to be the end of Trump. Putin is a better gangster, probably more cruel and efficient than the garrulous Donald Trump. Putin is more the Carlo Gambino style mob boss. He keeps quiet and motivates associates—called Russian oligarchs—to do his bidding. Putin is said to be the richest man in the world.

The Mueller probe gets closer to President Trump and Don Donald hires an army of lawyers. I heard 40 lawyers hired—but maybe 17, the more conservative number is accurate? In either case, that’s a lot of lawyers. 

Trump hiring an army of lawyers is a presidential version of the old Mafia term “going to the mattresses.” Mob wars required the Mafia soldiers to move into apartments and sleep on mattresses on the floor—until matters were settled. 

Trump’s two greatest assets are:

1)   His base of loyal voters

2)  His mastery of media communication

Like a good gangster movie, the two sides are lined against each other and ready to do battle. Carlo Gambino survived by following the traditional Mafia rule of omerta—silence when questioned by police and total loyalty to the mob family. But that is more Putin. Trump plays more like John Gotti—very fond of the spotlight and his notoriety.

Gotti flamed out quickly as “boss of all bosses” precisely because he was too loud, too flamboyant and overly narcissistic. 

Sound familiar?

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Yellow Vests: fighting Society's Reboot

The Yellow Vests, Gilets Jaunes, have taken Paris by storm. Yellow protective vests, mandated by the French government for all drivers, have become the symbol of dissatisfied French citizens. The protesters, many of them from rural areas or districts far removed from the central city, feel abandoned by President Emmanuel Macron and the ruling elites. 

Macron has goals to protect the environment and imposed a gasoline tax. That decision stirred Yellow Vest protests and rioting in the streets of Paris. The workers cannot afford to live in central Paris where mass transit is easily available. They drive cars, burn gas and feel the pain of a fuel tax hike imposed by Macron. The Yellow Vests took to the streets and the fuel tax quickly disappeared.

The consistent theme is that people outside the urban centers are taking action to be included in the new social contract.

Sound familiar? Look at England. Britain had their Brexit partisans, those determined to remove England from the European Union. The Brits outside of London got Brexit passed and they too seemed to feel they were getting shafted by the new social contract.

In the USA we have the Trump base who shocked the world by getting Donald Trump elected. They express a desire to return America to its days of heavy manufacturing. That day seems to have passed. Industry has moved to the Third World and may soon move entirely to AI, artificial intelligence… the dreaded robot society.

The new social contract is an elusive concept. The consistencies between these movements is twofold:

1)  A nostalgic longing for past conditions. 

Belgium protestors were heard chanting something like “We don’t want to change.” Perhaps this was a longing for the days before the big demographic change. Immigration to European countries from Third World countries threatens the status quo. The vaunted charms of the European lifestyle seem under assault.

2)  A desire to survive the technological revolution and the resulting society re-boot. 

The rich get richer. The educated have enough computer mastery to sustain themselves and even flourish with their programming skills. The robots get jobs once held by the blue collar folks. 

Protestors realize there is a re-organization of society taking place. They don’t want to be left broke, cold and devoid of the wine, cheese and pub life that makes for an enjoyable life, European style. 

Can’t say that I blame them.