Earl R. Smith II's Blog, page 22

Barr disputes key IG finding about FBI’s Russia investigation

Now here is a real shocker. A schlock lawyer at his best! Barr doesn’t accept key inspector general finding about FBI’s Russia investigation. “Attorney General William P. Barr has told associates he disagrees with the Justice Department’s inspector general on one of the key findings in an upcoming report — that the FBI had enough […]

Meet Your Pope & Führer Compliments of Bill Barr

Hitler’s Propaganda Minister said, “Let me control the media and I will turn any nation into a herd of pigs”. Paul Joseph Goebbels would feel totally vindicated by the success that Trump and the GOP have had in convincing a substantial part of the American citizenry that up is down, right is wrong, truth is […]

Survey Question – Jobs, Suicides and Hate Groups

I would like to highlight three trends and ask if you see a relationship. The first is that American jobs are getting worse, a new index shows. “The history of private-sector employment in the U.S. over the past three decades is one of overall degradation in the ability of many American jobs to support households […]

Panem et Circenses

In a political context, the Latin phrase means to generate public approval, not by excellence in public service or public policy, but by diversion, distraction or by satisfying the most immediate or base requirements of a populace – by offering a palliative: for example food (bread) or entertainment (circuses or games). Fast forward several millennia […]

Putin’s Public Army vs. The Pastels

The 2016 election brought a major effort by the Russians to tilt the results towards a candidate that they could manipulate, and it worked beyond their wildest dreams. The discovery that a substantial percentage of the American people saw their lives and politics as a reality TV show was a shocking but very useful discovery. […]

Two Possible Americas and the 2020 Choice

Americans will face a choice in 2020 which will define the path for the country for the next several decades. The two sharply different paths are going to be on the ballots. These paths are highlighted by two series of events. The first is the impeachment hearings while the second is the contract between two […]

What Americans are taking away from the hearings

The contrast is as stark as I have ever seen it. On the one side you have career civil servants telling, in a strictly non-partisan way, what they know. The majority, led by Representative Adam Schift, is clearly dedicated to bringing out the truth and allowing the witnesses to tell what they know. Here you […]

Delusion is all that is left for Trump

When the facts are against you, invite your supporters into a fantasy land fueled by your delusions. Trump supporters are sure to take him up on the invitation. Having left any ability to think critically far behind, they gobble up the thin gruel that he serves them. In an article titled “Trump says question stumped […]

Smoking Guns and Band on the Run

There is a lesson to be learned from Watergate. That crisis was brought to a head with the discovery of the existence of the tapes. The contents of the secret server in the White House poses a similar threat to the current administration. As with Watergate, the process of obtaining access to that server is […]

Why Don’t They Ever Learn

It seems to be a characteristic of humans; one that is particularly concentrated in the super ambitious. Whether it is climate change or politics, the short game dominates even in the face of its absurdity. This is the great blind side of humanity – the tendency to focus on the immediate even when it is […]