News & Articles

Stealing Canadian water with a “large faucet”  
Trump’s most recent absurdity is a rant about diverting Canadian water to help combat wildfires in California. This is such a dumb idea – and based on total ignorance of everything involved – that it is hard to know where to begin. Thankfully this is just another example of Trump running his mouth without benefit of a brain, so it will soon be forgotten.  

At a press conference in Los Angeles, Trump was asked what he plans to do to assist Californians facing danger from wildfires. Trump replied, “So you have millions of gallons of water pouring down from the north, with the snow caps and Canada, and – all pouring down, and they have a – essentially – a very large faucet, and you turn the faucet and it takes one day to turn it, it’s massive. It’s as big as the wall of that building right there behind you. And you turn that, and all of that water goes into the – aimlessly into the Pacific. And if they turned it back, all of that water would come right down here, and right into Los Angeles.” 

Apparently he was referring to the Columbia River which originates in Canada. But it flows across Washington and along the Oregon border to the Pacific. It does not flow near southern California. Plus there is no “massive” faucet to divert or turn the Columbia river on or off. 
Once again Trump has a “massive” case of diarrhea of the mouth. Someone should shut off that “faucet” of stupidity. 

Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory
 Democratic politicians have a propensity for dumb, self-defeating behaviors. A classic case was Hilary Clinton not campaigning in Wisconsin in 2016. She lost the state by 22,700 votes (0.8% of the total votes cast). Thinking Wisconsin was in the bag was a dumb mistake.
 Kamala Harris’ campaign appears to be doing well. She has inspired the Democratic party faithful. Polls numbers are close but show her gaining support. She is doing well with young and suburban women. Young people are registering to vote in record numbers (which should be good for Harris). Even lifelong Republicans are publicly backing Harris.

But there is a dark cloud hanging over her campaign. The Biden administration’s support for  Israel may be an Achilles heel for the Harris campaign. There are many people opposed to the U.S. support for Israeli’s genocide against Palestinians. These people may not vote for Harris and the votes lost in close swing states could cost her the election.

 U.S. support for Israel’s genocidal behavior makes no rational sense. It can only hurt our country. If she loses because of this issue it will be a huge tragedy and an unbelievably stupid mistake. 

Fear mongering on WHO
Rep. Tom Tiffany is once again fear mongering. This time regarding China, the World Health Organization (WHO) and ongoing negotiations to strengthen pandemic response across the world. Once again Tiffany is misleading the public about an issue he knows nothing about. Once again he is more interested in bashing Biden than doing his job for the people of Northwest Wisconsin.      

Tiffany is accusing the Biden administration of “unilaterally giving them (the Chinese communist party) a say in our health and pandemic management.” This is a total misinterpretation of what is actually happening. But, once again, Tiffany has proposed legislation to deal with a “problem” that doesn’t exist (the “No WHO Pandemic Preparedness Treaty Without Senate Approval Act” which has passed the House by a vote of 219 to 199). 

What is actually happening is the State Department is participating in ongoing, multi-national  negotiations to improve pandemic responses worldwide. Disease does not respect national boundaries. Detecting infectious disease quickly and responding with internationally coordinated countermeasures is essential to limiting global transmission and protecting everyone. 

The State Department says, ”...facilitating equitable domestic and global access to medical countermeasures is the best way to minimize global morbidity and mortality...these actions will make the United States, and the world, safer from the risk posed by the spread of harmful pathogens.” 
But in Tiffany’s fevered, anti-communist brain, international cooperation is surrendering “... control of our public health system to unelected bureaucrats at the WHO and the UN.” He claims his unnecessary legislation “...is essential to protecting our nation’s sovereignty and ensuring that the safety of American citizens remains in the hands of the U.S., not a corrupt international organization.” 

Maybe Tiffany – a small-minded, marginally educated, small businessman –  should not presume to second guess the international policy and medical experts at the State Department.