Dispatches from Vilnius

Time and time again we hear Trump profess how smart he is.  At one time he was ready to challenge Rex Tillerson to an IQ test when it was revealed the former Secretary of State had called Trump a fucking moron .  He may have topped that audacious challenge with his recent proclamation that he is too intelligent to believe in climate change . Tillerson wasn't the only political ally or close adviser to call him an idiot.  The  list  is pretty long.  You might notice that all of these persons are now gone.  He doesn't take kindly to anyone questioning his intelligence. We've come to understand that the White House doesn't like facts that counter its policy decisions.  You can call it the inconvenient truth or whatever you like, but the most recent report on climate change was released by the White House.  Trump, however, chose to openly refute it, as he did a previous CIA assessment that the Saudi Crown Prince was fully aware of what ...

Bernie appears to be channeling Martin Luther King Jr. in his latest book.  The title is derived from one of King's landmark speeches  in the wake of the Civil Rights Act.  Pretty hard to top that powerful speech.  Not that Bernie really tries.  For all I know, he's a fan of Peter Sarstedt . His is an account of his ongoing campaign against corporate America, venting his frustration on the Trumpian world we now live in and taking credit for liberal upstarts like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who he thinks give his "movement" legitimacy.   He is particularly scornful of corporate media for constantly belittling his brand of social democracy.  However, this NPR reviewer wasn't overly impressed, noting that the book is a slog offering little insight into the man or his mission. Bernie is another Eugene McCarthy, who ran for president in 1968 , and actually won more votes in the primaries than Robert F. Kennedy, only to lose on delegates at the ...

The Beast Shades of 2008 as we see American auto companies struggling again, largely because their attempt to shift to smaller, economical cars hasn't taken hold of the American imagination, which remains obsessed with gas-guzzling SUVs and trucks.  GM announced it will close down eight auto plants , at least five in the "Rust Belt" because its sedans aren't selling.  This includes the Chevy Volt, its venture into electric cars.  Ford is similarly struggling.  Chrysler remains a work in progress , relying largely on Fiat to keep it going.  It too sees most of its sales in SUVs and vanity cars like the Charger and Challenger.  None of these companies have been able to market a successful electric car.  Ford has its economical Focus, with an EV version , but isn't a high-demand car.  Ford has had more success marketing its super-charged Mustang . Of course, our Jobmaker-in-Chief is none too happy about this turn of events.  He had pro...

... while supplies last Fortunately, Black Friday isn't the stampede in Lithuania as it is in America.  You are relatively safe going to the shopping mall.  Never could figure out why so many persons go batshit crazy over this day other than it has become a rite of passage in America, imagining what it is like if actually this was the last run on the stores before the Apocalypse.  Many Eastern European countries actually had to go through this in the waning days of the Soviet Union when there were long lines for just about every product, as so few were available.  Even in the early days of independence, or restoration as they call it in Lithuania, supplies were limited, and persons tended to stock up on essential items.  There were long lines at gas stations because you didn't know if Russia would issue another oil blockade.  Even still there is fear that Russia could launch an attack at anytime given its oversized military base in Kaliningrad, whi...

Trump spends the weekend in Mar-a-Lago while 5200 troops are stationed along the Mexican border.  Our President called to remind them to stay vigilant, but where they are stationed (Texas) and where the migrants finally arrived (Tijuana) are well over a thousand miles apart.  Just one of the many absurdities highlighting this Thanksgiving weekend. At least the troops will get a huge repast with over 51,000 pounds of turkey, 16,000 pounds of sweet potatoes, 81,000 pies, 19,000 cakes and 8000 gallons of eggnog.  They can watch the Dallas-Washington football game on big screens, as there won't be much to worry about along the border. With the President under fire again, House Republicans provided cover by handing subpoenas to James Comey and Loretta Lynch for one last go-around in regard to Hillary's e-mails before they are shown the door at the end of the year.   The do-nothing Congress, whose only notable accomplishment these past two years was a $1.5...

I don't know what's worse: Washington keeping its ridiculous moniker or the throwback uniforms that hint back to the 70s when the Redskins were led by Joe Theismann?  Owner Dan Snyder has refused to budge on the moniker.  He clings to it like one would an aging brand because of the nostalgic comfort it provides.  He even claims Native Americans accept the moniker, pointing to a poll taken in 2016  that showed few really cared anymore.  They have deeper concerns. Just the same, Snyder should have dropped the logo and remade the team when he had the chance because the Redskins limp along from season to season, not having been to a Super Bowl since 1992.  That's a pretty long drought for this once formidable team. To be fair, the Redskins aren't the only team with a Native American moniker.  Kansas City still goes by the Chiefs and Seattle fashioned its Seahawk logo after a transformation mask an artist took from The Art of Northwest Coast ...

One of the most ironic elements of the Trump White House is how much his kids are involved in his administration.  We were supposed to be so deeply concerned by the return of Bill and the emergence of Chelsea in a Hillary Clinton White House that to vote for Trump was to vote against nepotism.  Yet, here we are with Javanka (Jared and Ivanka) serving as key advisers to the President.  Jared is in a quasi-official capacity as Innovations Director.  The role was made up so that he wouldn't need to have Congressional approval.  Ivanka essentially serves as First Lady. It doesn't stop there.  Donald Trump Jr. is a very active surrogate on the never-ending campaign trail for his father. Eric and his wife Lara less frequently stump for Daddy, but can always be called on in a pinch .  Even Donald's ex has come to his aid, letting us all know he is not a racist and that he has the smarts to be POTUS. The only ones not involved in Trump's adminis...

Somehow Trump manages to drag everyone into his alternative universe, even the President of Finland .  While in California, Trump brought up his latest reason for the raging wildfires.  We don't rake our forests like they do in Finland.  The White House has come up with a number of prevention tips but this one had everyone scratching their heads. This follows up on earlier comments Trump made that California doesn't properly manage its forests, oblivious to the fact that the vast majority of forest lands fall under the jurisdiction of Ryan Zinke's Department of Interior.  Hence, Zinke felt the need to defend himself, blaming the fires on environmental regulations. The most popular prevention tip is logging.  This is the one Zinke is promoting in an effort to open up more National Forest Service lands for exploitation.  Currently, spotted owls are stopping him from making wide tracts of old growth forests available to logging companies, but it goes ...

Nancy Pelosi finds herself in a fight for the role of House Speaker.  Many Democrats campaigned on the theme they wouldn't support Pelosi for Speaker, knowing the animosity in their Congressional districts toward the Democratic leader.  Of course, most of this animosity was planted and cultivated by right wing demagogues over the last two years in an effort to make Nancy the Hillary of the 2018 midterms.  It didn't work, but still many freshmen Dems and a few senior ones have had their fill of Pelosi as their leader. Marcia Fudge has emerged as the alternative to Pelosi, an outspoken Ohio Congresswoman who has the support of at least 17 renegade Democrats, if we are to believe the stories coming out of Washington.  Fudge has been in the House since 2008 and feels Pelosi is out of step with the new Democratic majority.  She has a point.  Pelosi endorsed many of the new class's opponents during the primaries, most notably Joe Crowley in New York's 14t...

It has become very common to reach out to the public for funds to cover court costs and a variety of other endeavors, even wedding costs.  Kavanaugh and Ford each raised over $500 thousand to help cover their legal fees and other costs during the controversial confirmation hearings.  GoFundMe has a special page for newlyweds .  Scroll down and you see honeymoons and first houses have been funded this way.  I suppose it is a convenient way for friends and families to contribute cash rather than worry about wedding gifts, but since these pages are public who knows who might choose to drop a few bucks toward your honeymoon in Barbados? GoFundMe has also been used extensively to provide charity for people.  One of the more notable examples late last year was the case of a homeless vet helping a damsel in distress, which got international attention.  People were feeling sorry for all these poor veterans forced to live under bridges, so when a young New J...

For all the talk of being social liberals, it seems our tech giants are closet conservatives.  Jeff Bezos is supporting Cory Gardner in 2020, and funds a Super PAC that supports former military veterans running for political office, many of them Republican.  It's odd for a man who has contributed heavily to defend gay marriage in Washington and donated $33 million to fund scholarships for undocumented immigrant high school students would support a party that has fought against both. A lot of tech giants like to split their political contributions among Democrats and Republicans so as to benefit from whomever is in power.  Every once in a while you get a guy like Peter Thiel, who is an ardent conservative and actively supports Republicans.  However, their contributions pale in comparison to conservative mega donors like the Koch Brothers, Sheldon Adelson and Robert Mercer.  These guys throw around huge wads of money, some with political agendas, others...

You figure Veterans Day would be a pretty easy call.  After all, Trump has said on multiple occasions how much he loves troops and that no one has done more for the military than he has.  Yet, here he was in Paris, commemorating the historic armistice, which the United States brokered 100 years ago, and he blew it.  In fact, he blew it bigly. Not only did he fail to visit the American cemetery at Aisne-Marne, but he seemed completely out of touch with events taking place in Paris itself.  The only time he appeared to light up was when he saw Vladimir Putin, and probably when a  topless protester tried to throw herself under his motorcade.  For Macron, Merkl and May, he could only look at them with contempt. Our dear President was very upset that Macron called him out on his use of the term "nationalist."  The word had been haunting him for weeks ever since he first used it at a rally in Houston on October 22.  He later doubled down on i...

I love the term "fact-free."  It seems Republicans no longer have to prove anything they say is true.  It is enough to simply shout election fraud to the masses and their base believes it.  Not just Trump , but Rick Scott, Cory Gardner and a host of other Republicans.  If you wonder why Cory Gardner is so worried by what is going on in Arizona, he's up for re-election in 2020 and Colorado looks more liberal than ever.  Gardner may have the support of Jeff Bezos but that won't help much in a state that just elected the first openly gay governor in the United States. It isn't voter fraud but Democratic backlash that is killing Republicans.  They may have been able to flip a few senate seats in deep red states, but out West the Blue Wave swept Nevada and Arizona.  These were states the Republicans were banking on to increase their majority in the Senate.  Trump prematurely claimed victory Tuesday night but the best the GOP can hope for ...

The aftermath from Election Day 2018 is proving rather ugly with several key elections still disputed.  Trump and Rick Scott are crying voter fraud in Florida, and Trump is calling for a new election in Arizona.  The irony is not lost in Florida where Al Gore came up short in a very close election 18 years ago that was ultimately decided by the Supreme Court to stop a hand recount.  Rick Scott would like to do the same this year as his lead keeps shrinking as votes roll in from Broward and Palm Beach County, where Democrats have the advantage. As for Arizona, the only thing unusual is that so many state residents chose to mail in their ballots, which is why we are having such a slow count.  You have right up till election day to mail your ballot, so it takes several days if not a week or more to receive all the ballots.  Krysten Sinema's lead keeps growing.  He thought he had the state in his bag on Election Night only to see a Senate seat slip away....