Trump's Mid-Term Convention Speech

I watched most of President Trump’s speech at the unprecedented Republican Mid-term Convention last week. I must admit that it is hard to give a description of what he said as he characteristically meandered all over the place throughout the two hours. I did not attempt to take notes but would like to offer a few thoughts on things that stuck out.

In the first place, I was struck by the manner, and not the matter of what he said. In all my years I have never seen a politician having such a good time while giving a speech. At age 80 he was so full of life that the speech could be called joyful despite the seriousness of some of the topics. He seemed to be really enjoying himself. In this respect, he was in stark contrast to any other politician in either party.

We just have to compare him with his Democratic predecessors in the Presidency. Whether you like Trump or not, you must admit that Barack Obama, or Joe Biden never exhibited the slightest sense of humor in their public utterances. Obama usually appeared as a scolding schoolmaster, who always used a teleprompter in delivering his carefully prepared speeches.  Biden hardly spoke at all. In his four years in office he rarely gave a press conference. He even seemed reluctant to hold Cabinet meetings, apparently having little use for the motley crew that he had assembled. 

Trump’s sense of humor, often self-deprecating, was obvious throughout. I cannot forget the way he described his encounter with French President Macron. His reproduction of the dialogue between two heads of state was almost comical. 

Trump: Sir, you will have to raise your drug prices so that we can lower ours.

Macron: Mr. President, I won’t do that.

Trump: Oh yes you will, or I will impose tariffs of 50 to 100 percent on imports of French wines.

Macron: Please Mr. President, don’t do that.

In the end, Macron complied. 

As far as the substance of Trump’s speech is concerned, it is clear that he was deliberately speaking to his Republican base. By now, he and his advisors know that there is no way that he can appeal to those who dislike him, some to the point of hatred. They will not listen, even if the hostile media would report his words. As far as I could see, only Fox News carried his speech. The President of the United States was giving a major address, and other networks declined to let their viewers hear it.

Trump and his advisors also know that Democratic Socialist primary victories have come with only 10 to 20 percent of eligible voters. These victories have been based on voter apathy. They have obviously decided to concentrate on getting out the Republican vote in the normally quiet off year elections. That is why he insists that he is on the ballot, and why he will campaign so vigorously this year.

He promised in the next two months to continue to list the many accomplishments of his administration that most Democrats, and even Republicans have never heard of because of the largely hostile media.  I am a daily reader of the Wall Street Journal but have never seen it mentioned that drug prices in the USA have gone from the highest in the world to the lowest during his administration. Opponents will say he is lying, but the claim should be easy to fact check.

Despite fears of inflation and affordability he believes that the economy is booming and will continue to do so if Republicans can hold the House and Senate in November.  If that happens, he promised that the government could afford to pay $5000 to each American adult in the same way a successful business will pay a dividend to its shareholders. Democrats, who usually delight in giving money away, will call it a bribe, and naturally oppose. 

With this speech, the President came out fighting.  It will be interesting to see if his strategy works in November. 

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9/11/01: Anniversary

 

I have never written about the destruction of the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001, and the loss of almost 3000 innocent lives on that tragic day. It was just too hard to contemplate or write about. Like millions of others, I know exactly where I was when I first heard the news of first one and then another plane crashing into the Towers. 

At first it seemed like an accident but soon it became clear that it was a deliberate attack not only on the people inside the buildings, but also on the Nation itself by Moslem terrorists. Almost as shocking as the event itself was the reaction of Moslems around the world who publicly applauded the death and destruction.

Twenty five years later it is still sad to hear some still refuse to condemn the 9/11 attack. Many downplay, soft-pedal, or otherwise refuse to blame Islamic terrorists for the attack. Instead, they fear Islamophobia despite the fact that Moslem communities have flourished in New York and other major American cities over the past 25 years. Last year, Zohran Mamdani, the current Mayor of New York City, spoke of his first reaction to the news of 9/11 as a schoolboy. “My experience of 9/11 is one I share with many New Yorkers. My teacher let me know that something had happened that morning and I might be bullied because of it.”

You would think he would get over his fear of Islamophobia now that he is mayor of a city with a thriving Islamic community that was integral to his election. Other Democratic Socialists are even worse. Prominent spokesman Hasan Piker believes that “America deserved 9/11.”

As the mid-term elections approach, here is a suggestion for politicians on all sides. You know how they end their commercials with the following disclaimer.  "I’m so and so, and I approve this message.” It would be good if they could preface their remarks with the following.

 

I pledge allegiance

To the flag

Of the United States of America

And to the Republic

For which it stands

One Nation,

Under God,

Indivisible,

With liberty and justice

For all.

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Affordability

Democrats, Progressives, and Democratic Socialists will make affordability one of the big issues in the upcoming mid-term elections. None of them seemed to care much about rising prices and inflation during the Biden administration. In 2022, a year after the inauguration of President Biden, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 8.6%. During the same period energy prices increased 34.6%, and groceries jumped 11.9%. In particular, eggs were up 32.2%, chicken 16.6%, milk 15.9%, and even soup was up by 13.9%. 

I remember my shock in 2022 when my heating oil company told me that my oil price would be $6.50 per gallon. Thankfully, this year I have been able to lock in my price at about $4.00 per gallon for the coming season despite the war in Iran. Nevertheless, since the election of President Trump, the news has been full of dire stories about affordability and price inflation.

I started thinking about affordability last year during the baseball World Series. I noticed that, whether in Los Angeles or Toronto, the stands were packed with fans most of whom seemed to be young men. I wondered where they got the money to pay more than $1000 for not even a box seat. I wondered where they also got the money to pay the exorbitant stadium prices for hot dogs, beer and soda.

It was the same thing at the Super Bowl, March Madness, and the NBA finals. I have grandchildren, recent college graduates, who were actually able to attend such events. One even flew from California to San Antonio to watch the Knicks beat the Spurs in the season’s finale.

These events paled in significance to the recent World Cup held at packed venues in the USA, Canada, and Mexico. Millions of people from all over the world paid ridiculous sums to attend. It was not just the tickets, but the travel, hotel, and food that hardly seemed to faze them. One day in my dentist’s office, I could overhear the hygienist, who happened to be from Cape Verde, tell the dentist that she had flown down to Miami for the weekend to watch her team play.

Sporting events are just one way people spend money. Entertainers like Taylor Swift have become some of the richest people in the world giving concerts packed mainly with cheering young women. Another of my grandchildren even flew to Europe for one of Swift’s concerts.

From my own limited viewpoint I can say that many of these people have jobs and choose to spend their earnings on their own entertainment. That’s ok, it's their money. But they don’t seem to have an affordability issue.

Others, I suspect, can ‘t really afford to attend these events, but just use their credit cards. Recent studies indicate that credit card debt is at an all-time high, as is the number of people who are more than three months behind in their card payments.

I knew a young man with a good job who had amassed credit card debt of over $100,000. The interest alone on that debt would have been over $18000 a year or $1500 per month with no way in sight to ever pay off the principal. How could he afford to buy a home, or rent a decent apartment? No wonder he might be concerned about the price of food or gas. His out-of-control spending created his own affordability problem.

Yes, I know that most people do not attend these high-priced events, and that many are having to deal with higher prices for their daily living expenses. There are many ways to deal with higher prices, but I will leave that discussion to another day. Here I would just like to point out that government waste and fraud is a major culprit.

Another of my grandchildren is disabled. He is able to live independently and participates in the SNAP program. One month his SNAP payment was stolen from his bank account by a fraudster. This is just one example of how the massive amounts of government aid that have been meant for the truly poor and needy have been hijacked by fraudsters in recent years.

It is not only taxpayers that have been victimized by fraud but also the needy who never received the funds appropriated to help with their living expenses. They can blame the fraudsters and the politicians who enabled them for their affordability crisis.

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Random Harvest

  

 

Greer Garson and Ronald Colman co-starred in Random Harvest, a 1942 Hollywood film that is one of the great sentimental romance films of all time. Early critics scoffed at the film, but it was an immediate box office success and is now an enduring favorite. Introducing the film on Turner Classic Movies a few years ago, the late Robert Osborne said he loved the film, and guest host Gene Wilder claimed that while it was not the best film he had ever seen, it was still his favorite.

My own experience confirms their opinion. On a couple of occasions, I have presented Random Harvest at my local senior center and the audience, mainly women, loved it. I can watch good films over and over and my wife often balks at watching Random Harvest for the umpteenth time, but once the credits roll, she is all in. Why?

What is there about Randon Harvest that made it MGM’s biggest hit back in 1942, and that still makes it enjoyable today? Based on a 1941 novel by James Hilton, best known for Lost Horizons, and Goodbye Mr. Chips, the screen adaptation seems somewhat implausible. Colman plays a British soldier who has lost his memory due to shell shock during World War I. He was captured by the Germans who included him in a prisoner exchange before the end of the war. He winds up in a mental asylum in an English manufacturing town still with total loss of memory, and hardly able to utter a sentence. He is given the name John Smith.

Implausibly, one night he is able to walk off the asylum in the hubbub arising from the news that the war is over. He gets into town, unaware of what is going on, and is surrounded by a host of cheering revelers. He stumbles into a tobacco shop whose proprietor senses that something is wrong with him and calls the police. Even more implausibly, an attractive young woman, played by Garson, takes pity on him and spirits him away. She is an entertainer in a travelling vaudeville show and takes him under her wing. Her name is Paula and eventually, she nurses him back to health, they fall in love and marry although he still has no memory of his past life. She calls him Smithy.

They proceed to live a normal life. She has a baby and he becomes a writer to the point where a Liverpool newspaper offers him a job. He travels to Liverpool to take the job but suffers a head injury after being hit by a car.  His memory comes back and he remembers that he is the scion of an aristocratic English family. Incredibly, he has no recollection of the last three years with Paula. 

What happens next, I will not describe but just say that the remainder of the film deals with Colman’s return to his family home and business, but still haunted by the gap in his recent memory, and Garson’s determined search for Smithy who has disappeared without a trace.

Implausible yes, but the acting puts the film over. I think it safe to say that no one ever spoke like Ronald Colman. Although his good looks made him a silent film star, his voice was a revelation when talkies arrived. In Random Harvest he plays two roles superbly. He plays the mentally handicapped veteran, as well as the aristocratic polished gentleman businessman. 

Colman’s performance was more than matched by Greer Garson, an extremely beautiful, mature actress of great talent. She also plays two roles. First, she is the vivacious, music hall performer who can put over an unforgettable song and dance routine in front of a packed house celebrating the end of the war. Later, she seems perfectly at home playing a sophisticated woman who can eventually travel in the highest rungs of English society. 

Ronald Colman’s performance earned him a well-deserved Best Actor nomination. Greer Garson was not nominated for this role probably because the studio nominated her for her performance in Mrs. Miniver, the story of a courageous British housewife during the dark days of WWII, a role for which she did win the Best Actress award. It is interesting to note that British Prime Minister Winston Churchill credited Mrs. Miniver for building British morale as well as American support for the success of the war effort.  Nevertheless, Mrs. Miniver seems dated today while Randon Harvest endures. Colman and Garson were an incomparable pair.

125 minutes. CC.

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