HAPPY 248th BIRTHDAY!!!

To the greatest fraternity the old Lobsterman has EVER been a part of…

Especially to you…Edward “Chico” Baines!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MEASURE HIM FOR HIS ORANGE SUIT

Recent polls suggest that almost 55% of US voters disapprove of Joey Biden’s performance. They also suggest that Boy Orange is slightly ahead of Biden in head-to-head polling before the election now a year away. Finally, they suggest that Trump is ahead of Biden in five of the six most important “battleground” states. In ALL, a Trump victory is a clear and future danger!!!

What would that mean?!! The most important answer is that the US, NOT just the world’s most powerful democracy, but its savior in the 20th century, is NO longer committed to democratic norms. The most fundamental of such norms is that power has to be won in free and fair elections.

Whether US presidential elections are “fair” is debatable. But, they do have rules.

Efforts by the incumbent to overthrow those rules amount to insurrection. That Trump attempted to do so is NOT debatable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Neither is the absence of evidence of fraud to support his attempted coup. The Orange Despot is properly under indictment. Yet he might still win a presidential election. One reason why he might do so is that close to 70% of people who identify as Republicans say they believe his lies. This is shocking, though, NOT that surprising.

“Maga” is now a cult with a sizeable number of believers. As they say in most quality horror films, “They’re out there!”

What would another Trump presidency mean for the US, beyond an endorsement of a man who attempted to overthrow the constitution?!!

Obviously, the answer would depend partly on the balance in Congress. Yet it would be wrong to draw additional comfort from how he behaved last time. Then he relied [at least it was his intent!] on traditional figures from the military and business. Next time will be different.

A crucial domestic plan of Trump’s is to replace!!! the career civil service with loyal servants of the president. The excuse is the alleged existence of a “deep state”, by which critics mean knowledgeable career civil servants whose loyalty is to the law and the state, NOT to the person in power.

One enormous reason this is objectionable is that modern government can NOT run without such people. The bigger reason is that if the intelligence, homeland security and internal revenue services, the military, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice are subservient to the whims of a head of state, one has autocracy.

Yes, boys and girls, it’s that simple. With a vengeful head of state, abuses of power could/would be pervasive.

h/t: Monmouth University Polling institute and The Economist/YouGov.

NIKKI & THE BOYS

GOP DEBATE #3…

Nikki Haley is now starting to separate herself from the pack.

Don’t mistake what I’m about to say about Nikki, but in my opinion she did NOT win ALL her arguments, but the contrast between her and the other four was stark…for the most part. 

One point, specifically, her abortion answer was fundamentally evasive but rhetorically more effective, with its show of nuance, than the answers from her rivals. When the pro-life position is in electoral retreat, now is the wrong time to talk about national bans.

She was hawkish on Iran, steadfast in supporting Israel, steadfast in supporting Ukraine and hawkish on China. Her message was clear: American weakness anywhere will be exploited by American enemies everywhere.

But…

It was Nikki’s exchange with Ramaswamy [get out of the race!!!] that will perhaps be the most memorable of the evening. After Ramaswamy mocked Haley for pledging to ban TikTok while her adult daughter was a user of the app, Nikki snapped back, “Leave my daughter out of your voice,” she said. “You’re just scum.”

The old Lobsterman slept well last night.

A WORLD ON FIRE

As if Ukraine wasn’t bad enough, October 7th made its presence known to Planet Earth.

And a good presence it was/is NOT!!!

As we approach one month of the Israel-Hamas War, the international pressure mounts to relieve dire conditions in Gaza, the US secretary of state, Tony Blinken, was meeting with regional officials in Jordan today, local time, to discuss efforts to get more aid into the battered enclave and to contain the war.

Blinken was expected to hold talks in Amman with his counterparts from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, as well as Palestinian representatives, Jordan’s foreign ministry said.

Those countries have been among the most forceful in their condemnation of Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Hamas and is home to 2.3 million Palestinians.

Blinken visited Israel yesterday and appealed for “humanitarian pauses” in the fighting to allow more aid into the territory.

But soon after meeting with Blinken, Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu of Israel appeared to rebuff the American request, saying that any cease-fire would be contingent on the release!!! of more than 200 hostages abducted in the October 7th attacks by Hamas that killed at least 1,400.

The unfolding humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where the health ministry says that more than 9,200 people have been killed, has provoked outrage in the region, in the United States and around the world, causing the Biden administration to be more vocal in its commitment to protecting Palestinian civilians.

And, if the above concerns are NOT enough, we’ve got the likes of Russia, China and North Korea watching ALL of this from the sidelines…waiting; make NO mistake, Iran is ALREADY in the game.

OBVIOUS SHORTCOMINGS

The recent killing of 18 people with an assault-style rifle in Lewiston, Maine [the mill town where I was born], points to how shortcomings!!! in the mental health system, weak laws and a reluctance to threaten personal liberties can derail even concerted attempts to thwart violence in a country awash in guns.

Robert Card‘s behavior had markedly changed in the months leading up to the mass shooting.

Specifically, he, Card, was hearing voices, and he told people that he was planning violence.

His family, his superiors in the military and the local police knew ALL of this. Yet…NO one stopped him.

NO one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Card was on the radar of a lot of different systems, and they still could NOT get him intervention.

But…

Even as the aforementioned communicated with each other and law enforcement, even as he was confronted and hospitalized and had a sheriff’s deputy come knocking, NOTHING went far enough.

The first public record of family members notifying law enforcement of their concerns came in May, when Card’s teenage son and ex-wife reported that he had become paranoid and angry, and had picked up 10 to 15 guns from his brother’s house.

May!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In July, Card came to the attention of the authorities again, when he attended annual training at Camp Smith in New York with his Army Reserve unit. There, according to police records, Card accused three soldiers of calling him a pedophile, shoved one of them and locked himself in his room.

Card was taken to a medical treatment facility at the US Military Academy in West Point, and from there to a civilian psychiatric hospital in New York, called Four Winds, where he stayed for 14 days!!!

Maine authorities could have sought to use Maine’s “yellow flag” law, which allows the police to remove someone’s guns for up to a year if that person presents “a likelihood of foreseeable harm.”

ALL law enforcement officers in the state receive training on how to use the law, which requires them to take the individual into protective custody, arrange a medical evaluation and present the results to a judge.

NOTHING HAPPENED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Think the families of the 18 victims deserve some serious and poignant responses?!!?!!

THE JOURNEY…53 days

Yup, it’s me.

It’s been almost two months, but with some coercing from two of my sons, along with my incredible oncologist, the old Lobsterman is back in the game.

Weaker for sure, and now under 170 lbs, I’m going to give it my best shot…as we ALL move forward!!!

I’m now back on another inhibitor drug for the cancer. As I was about to get some of my strength back in the early part of September, I started feeling really weak again, toward the beginning of the third week in September.

My better half took me into the ER on the 26th of the month for hydration. As I was getting dressed to leave, my attending physician came into the room; shut the door; and, proceeded to utter those three words of infamy: “You’ve got COVID!“

You could have leveled me with a feather.

To say that it has knocked the crap out of me would be a gross understatement. One day, I’m myself…the next two or three…I’m Bela Lugosi.

So-o-o, continue to ride along with me…

My deepest appreciation for ALL your cards/emails…

As The V said, be ready to Laugh, Think and Cry again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!