Monday, July 15, 2019

This and That #12

"CNN White House correspondent Kate Bennett echoed the idea with the message of the day, saying that although it was no big deal when previous presidents brought their children to meet the British monarch, “the president perhaps sees his children as American royalty or this is sort of our equivalent … the equivalency, which, you know, it’s not at all how we operate in America.”
This isn’t reporting. It isn’t even “analysis,” the way journos take a drop or morsel of news and make it into a banquet of opinion. It’s practicing mind reading without a license. If President Trump said, “I like people,” Brooke Baldwin and Jim Acosta would pop up on CNN to somberly warn us, more in sorrow than in anger, that our president has just admitted he was a cannibal." (Emphasis added) Kyle Smith NY Post.

Very funny and, unfortunately, very accurate.

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I was exposed to a lot of "liberals" a few weeks ago. Quite unusual for me.

The subject of our tariff "war" with China came up. It was suggested "more in sorrow than in anger" that some Americans were being hurt by Trump's policy and that even Larry Kudlow (Trump economic advisor) is opposed to tariffs.

Yes, some of us are paying a price. Yes Kudlow is opposed to traditional use of tariffs. There is a very important distinction to be made between our current tariff policy and traditional tariff policy.

The distinction is similar to that which differentiates the purpose of our hoped for Border Wall from the purpose of the Berlin Wall. Ours is to keep people out, theirs was to keep people in.

Traditionally tariffs have been used to protect domestic manufacturers from foreign competition. This is generally a very bad idea. It almost inevitably leads to disaster for the manufacturers being protected as they become less and less efficient due to a lack of competition. See US car manufacturers in the 1970's.

Our current use of tariffs is not aimed at protecting US manufacturers. It is being used  as a cudgel to persuade the Chinese to start playing by the rules and to stop stealing our intellectual property.

The only way we lose this "war" is to lose our will. They need us a lot more than we need them, as does the rest of the world. Don't listen to the naysayers. They are, as usual, uncomfortable with the exercise of our power. Others understand on which side their bread is buttered.

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In honor of Pride day or week or month or year, whatever it is.

A phrase never uttered. I hope my son is born gay.

I wish that gay people did not require and demand the affirmation of non-gay people in order to be  comfortable and happy with themselves.

Being Jewish I encounter a lot of that among my coreligionists.  Affirmations by non-Jews of our contributions and humanity are received with profound thanks and broadcast far and wide in the Jewish community.

It is a shame that so many of us require that affirmation in order to be confident in our worth.                 






                                               




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