One Vote in 2020

President Trump criticized the Navy for the handling of Chief Gallagher's war crimes trial.  Okay, fine.  Now he is making the call on whether the Chief should be a SEAL. My question is:  Why does he think he should be interfering with the military discipline system?  That is micromanagement at it's worst.  He is short circuiting the credibility of the system, and he should be focused on Presidential issues, not Navy discipline of a single man. As a former submarine officer, I don't get it.  It was a mistake.  Here's the well written opinion of a retired admiral that I agree with.  As a voter in 2020, I say:  Mr. President, get back to business!

Some of the Democratic presidential candidates propose that we can pay for their programs by taxing the rich and the big corporations.  I'm not going to address the rich at the moment, but let's talk about the big corporations. The candidates say "Let's reign in those greedy corporations!  They are getting rich at our expense!  Why should they be so profitable, when we could use those profits to pay for our programs?", or words to that effect. Here's my reality check for those of you that have saved all your life to retire.  If you are invested in the stock market, and chances are very good that you are, then who do you think will pay for "free education", education loan paybacks, etc.?  By these candidates analysis.  The corporations will pay, with a benefit to all. No, you the almost retired (count me among those hoping to retire within the next 5-6 years), will pay for these programs .  I will pay for these programs out of my retirement whe

The CDC has the 2017 statistics for death-by-injury posted on the internet.  Here are some quick statistics from 2017: Death by injury:                                             243,039 (74.6 per 100,000 people) Death by injury due to a firearm:          39,773 (16.3% of deaths by injury) Death by automobile:                            38,659 (11.9 per 100,000 people) Death by poisoning or overdose:           75,354 (23.1 per 100,000 poeple) Death due to a firearm:                                    39,773 (12.2 per 100,000 people) Death by suicide using a firearm:          23,854 (60% of deaths by firearm) Death by homicide using a firearm:      14,452 (36.3% of deaths by firearm) Death by mass shooting (at least 4 injured in the event):             346 (0.1 per 100,000 people) Shocking numbers.  They also help us have some perspective on how people die and how much policies can impact these numbers.   Elizabeth Warren tells us that she is going to save 32,00

John Hickenlooper withdrew from the presidential race today.  Too bad.  He is a moderate with good ideas.  I might have voted for him. I can tell you, that as of today, I have no plans to vote for a non-centrist candidate.  As far as I can tell at this point, that means I won't be voting for a Democrat.  That leaves me to vote for President Trump.  I don't see that happening either for many reasons.  I will get those reasons written here soon.  For now, I will say that his moral character and deceitful behavior are not befitting the leader of our country.  I'll put it in Nuclear Navy-speak, for those of you that can interpret this:  He is demonstrably unreliable.  That is a fail for me. I sure hope a real candidate shows up soon.

Politicians live on a microscope slide.  The higher their profile, the higher the magnification.  For example, every time Joe Biden opens his mouth, we get to read about any misspoken word.  Here is the Wall Street Journal's latest summary of Candidate Biden's gaffs over the last few days.  That is a very high standard to live up to.  We all make mistakes.  Making a mistake should not overshadow everything else you do.  Of course, not everyone is affected.  President Trump produces a constant stream of half-truths and questionable policies and positions.  The media piles on him too, without effect.  I wish I understood that phenomena better. BTW, I'm not planning to vote for Candidate Biden because I have concerns about his mental acuity.  I just find the media machine to be shockingly self-righteous, opinionated, and out of balance.  It's good to be able to add my two cents.  😇

The Wall Street Journal is reporting  that Democratic candidates are calling for us to boycott Walmart until they stop selling guns.  I don't see the link between Walmart selling guns and unstable young men killing people. Suggesting that boycotting Walmart is going to help solve the problem is going to be about as effective as doing nothing.  I guess it is just about getting headlines by attacking one of the most successful retailers in the United States.  The initiative is a great example of these "elite" candidates not understanding our country.  The WSJ story quotes Elizabeth Warren as saying:  “It is up to every Walmart customer who worries about the safety of her children, of her neighbors, of her friends, of people across this country to say, ‘I’ve got choices on where I spend my money.'"    I wonder, when was the last time any of these candidates made the choice to shop at Walmart.  They don't need to:  They are wealthy and they live in big citie