President Trump has achieved the greatest victory of his presidency. The supposed collusion with Russia has been an anchor on him. Some desperate Democrats are trying to keep it alive but their efforts are likely to be counterproductive. This is a time to take a victory lap and prepare for next year’s election. Instead, he has made a colossal mistake.

A judge from Texas declared Obamacare unconstitutional several months ago. President Trump has decided that the administration will support the judge’s decision as it winds its way through the appeal process. He has promised a much better replacement once it is struck down.

Healthcare is likely going to be a big issue next year. Everyone knows that there is no way a new law will be enacted. It couldn’t be done when Republicans controlled Congress. Now they have to deal with Nancy Pelosi. Democrats can now attack him and talk about improving Obamacare rather than the so-called Medicare for All.
Waiting for the case to wind through the courts takes away any control he may have had over the issue. There are three possible scenarios, all of them bad for Republicans. The Supreme could uphold it. That would be hugely embarrassing and does nothing to advance his agenda. It might not be decided before the election. That leaves him on the sidelines. If it is overturned, then it will be necessary to develop an entirely new law during an election year. This would be a situation similar to what Britain is facing with Brexit.

He won in 2016 because the Democrats had a bad candidate and a horrible strategy, he has broad appeal talking about the economy and he had a very solid base. It now seems that his strategy is do whatever he can for the base and ignore everyone else. The economy was a great issue for him in the midterms but he chose to focus on the border wall.
​
Any uncertainty over healthcare is going to worry millions of voters. He has no answers for them.
​

The Mueller report marks the conclusion of the dirtiest political trick in our history.

It all started when either the Clinton campaign or the DNC contracted with a law firm to dig up dirt on Donald Trump. They hired a firm called Fusion GPS which in turn hired a former British spy and Trump hater named Christopher Steele. He created the infamous Steele dossier. He has admitted that much of the information came from a CNN web site anybody could post to.

Steele then met with reporters and FBI agents. He needn’t have bothered. Democrats were spreading it around. John McCain received a copy and sent it to the FBI, concerned that the allegations might be true. An official at the Justice Department had a wife who worked for Fusion GPS. He could see to it that the FBI investigated it and intelligence agencies were notified.

The story might have ended there but Trump won the election. Democrats then had a feeding frenzy over the supposed collusion. The story was hyped so much that they made it sound like talking to a Russian was a felony.

Jeff Sessions recused himself since he regularly talked to Russians as part of his Senate duties. That put it into the lap of Rod Rosenstein, a recent Trump appointee. He named Robert Mueller as a special counsel. Mueller then hired people like Peter Strzok and Lisa Page to conduct the investigation.
​
A few diehards are trying to keep this going. One member of Congress is even claiming the Steele dossier is true. The Democratic Party and the country would be better off if we never heard the word collusion again.
​

The line is from a poem called The Hollow Men by T.S. Eliot. I think it is an apt description to the end of the Mueller investigation.

It began with great fanfare twenty-two months ago. The country was in an uproar over the supposed collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. It was as if even talking to a Russian was a felony. It was clear from the start that Mueller didn’t intend to be fair. The vast majority of investigators had donated to the Clinton campaign. They probed into the lives of Trump associates hoping to find something they could use to turn them. Several were convicted of crimes that took place years ago. Others were convicted after the fact for perjury or lying to Congress. Nobody was charged, let alone convicted, of colluding with Russia. So far, the only evidence we know of was a phony dossier bought and paid for by Democrats.
​
Republicans shouldn’t cheer too loudly. All this proves is that there was no collusion. All but the most partisan Democrats reached that conclusion long ago.      

There is a lot of suffering going on in the world. Sadly, some people seem to care more about how they can use it to their political advantage.

There are lots of examples out there. A few tried to tie the New Zealand shooting to President Trump. Some women confronted Chelsea Clinton blaming her (BuzzFeed gave them a forum to spew their venom). I grew up in Iowa and Nebraska so really feel what they are going through. I have heard claims that this disaster was caused by climate change. There is absolutely no way to prove that. The Right is also guilty. They publicize crimes committed by illegal aliens.
​
I cannot understand people that think like that. It’s almost like they are happy the disaster happened. Their voices are being heard over those of good people in both parties. It’s time to denounce them, whether we agree with them politically or not.  

Unless you are a political junkie or are from Indiana, you probably have never heard of with Birch Bayh. He died yesterday at the age of 91.

He served with distinction in the US Senate for three terms. He was a true gentleman. He put the needs of the country first. He was willing to work with Republicans. In fact, one bill is named the Bayh-Dole Act.
​
Our country would be much better off if people like Bayh (and Dole) were still in the Senate.
​

The college cheating scandal has been in the headlines the last few days. The outrage is certainly understandable. However, I have a slightly different take. The parents were absolutely in the wrong and will need to face the consequences their action. However, nobody seems to be upset by the actions of the ringleader or those who betrayed their trust by taking bribes. I believe they are more culpable. They were motivated solely motivated by greed. The parents were trying to help their kids.

I am really upset by how the case has been handled by the justice system. Normally they go after the small fry and work their way to the top. This time they cut a deal with the ringleader. They had him wear a wire so he could entrap the parents.  Going after rich people will generate more headlines.  
​
It is easy to apply our hard-earned liberties to those we like. We keep them by ensuring those we dislike are protected.

Democrats are getting worried that the Mueller Report won’t give them the smoking gun that hoped for. So, they have taken a step which, as far as I know, is unprecedented. They have launched a massive investigation with 81 witnesses. Instead of pursuing evidence of wrongdoing, they are tearing apart President Trump’s life hoping to find something. Since this is, in effect, a criminal investigation, witnesses are potentially exposed to jail if their testimony isn’t 100% accurate. They will need to hire lawyers. Undoubtedly some will be destroyed financially.

I heard part of an interview with the man heading the investigation. He cited Trump’s business association with Russia as proof of campaign collusion. He also said that Trump calling the Mueller investigation a witch-hunt was obstruction of justice. A loose cannon like that will hurt their cause, not help it.

There have been three serious impeachment efforts in our history. Nixon resigned before the vote. I believe he would have been impeached and convicted. Andrew Johnson was impeached because he ignored a law that said he couldn’t fire a member of the cabinet without Congress’s approval (a law which I believe is unconstitutional). Bill Clinton was impeached for perjury over whether or not the activity he and Monica Lewinski engaged in met the definition of the word sex.
​
Those that went after Johnson and Clinton ended up being the losers. Unless something totally unexpected happens, I think we will see the same result this time.
​

I have always waited until the weekend but am confident I have found a winner already. So many Democrats have come to Rep. Omar’s defense that Nancy Pelosi couldn’t get a resolution through that mentioned her by name or focused on anti-Semitism. The most outrageous remarks came from Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina. He said her experiences in a Kenyan refugee camp were more personal than Jews who had ancestors in Nazi concentration camps. He also tried to make a comparison between the Holocaust and the detention of Japanese citizens in World War 2. To make matters worse, he is a member of the Democratic House leadership.
In my last post I outlined those groups the Left feels it is permissible to hate. It looks like Jews may be soon added to the list.
​

It is against our core values to hate anyone because of their race, gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation. No matter how disgusting their views, they still have First Amendment rights.

We have seen a rise of a pair of trends that I find disturbing. Many on the Left believe that it is perfectly acceptable to hate people who are white, Christian or straight. If they are conservative, talking about killing them is just good clean fun.
​
They also have set themselves up as judge, jury and executioner. Recently some have portrayed The Star-spangled Banner, Peanuts and Dr. Seuss as racist. Often, they try to deny people their First Amendment rights. This is becoming a real issue in social media. Speech that endangers public safety can be banned (the classic example is shouting “Fire” in a crowded theater). If that is not the case, they should have a right to say what they want.

We now have an interesting case that involves one of their own. Rep. Ilham Omar has said that some members of Congress support Israel because they have been paid off and that allies of Israel are giving their allegiance to a foreign country. However, there is no doubt that she is anti-semetic given past statements. People are calling these remarks anti-semetic. They are hateful and mean-spirited but not anti-Semitic. They are aimed at people’s political opinions but their ethnicity. She deserves to be censured but not lose her committee assignment.

I really enjoy political analysis. Even though the 2020 election is twenty months, I can’t resist the urge to write about it.

If Democrats want to regain the White House, they need to do two things: keep the base together and devise a plan to win back the states they lost. There are six states that President Obama won in 2012 and Hillary Clinton lost in 2016. They are Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. They are all either swing states or slightly lean Democratic. Together they have 99 electoral votes, over a third of the votes needed to win.

Twelve Democrats have announced their candidacy so far. Nine are from heavily blue states. Two are mayors, which gives a narrower base. The ninth, former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper, is a long shot. None of them are from any of the six states.

 Politically they have shown even more disregard for those states. Every candidate is trying to outdo the other in moving to the left. They do not represent the views of the people in those states.

Another approach is to reach out to the people themselves. President Clinton talked of feeling their pain. His wife called them deplorable. They are continuing the theme that being Republican is a sign of poor character. Joe Biden ran into a hornet’s nest when he said Mike Pence was a decent guy.
​
They are not reaching out to the residents of these six states geographically, politically or personally. How do they expect to win?
​