The Parkland Tragedy

   By Florida Bill                                 

                                                       Big talkers in the media, and government bureaucrats from both political parties, are focusing on the wrong solution to the tragic killings of 17 persons in a Florida school.  Guns are an issue--yes.  But the problem demanding immediate attention before all others is absolute safety in the schools of America.
                                                       President Trump has identified the problem, but his talk about arming teachers borders on the ridiculous.  The NRA sides with the President in support of what is an unworkable and inappropriate fantasy.
                                                       Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel whose deputies patrol and guard the community of Parkland under contract, is distracting us from the solution by fingering the school security officer, Deputy Scot Peterson, for his cowardice.  Somehow, Israel continues to describe himself as an "amazing leader" of his law enforcement office.  Contrary to his self-aggrandizement, Israel is seen by many as an inept lawman who should resign or be fired by Gov. Scott, assuming that the governor has the authority to dismiss an elected official in his state. 
                                                       The Broward county sheriff's office is one of the largest in the country with 5,800 employees and some 2,800 deputies. It has an annual budget of $700 million. Israel was elected in 2012.                                                                                                                                   Now in  his second term, Israel needs to explain what is so amazing about his leadership when his office had been bombarded with red flags about the troubled Nikolas Cruz.  His office reportedly responded 39 times to various calls concerning the antics and alleged misconduct of Nick Cruz as he grew up in an affluent Parkland neighborhood, yet no one ever saw a pattern which necessitated a fix. In at least one case, deputies were told that Cruz owned guns and was a school shooter in  the making. 
                                                       The tragedy unfolded on  a sunny Valentines day as the gun-loving Cruz ubered over to the Stoneman Douglas High school with his assault rifle in his back pack.  Cruz had formerly attended the school. 
                                                        The slaughter began when the rat-a-tat-tat of gunfire rang out from Cruz' AR 15 assault rifle, the type soldiers might carry when storming a Taliban refuge in Afghanistan. Deputy Peterson, it has been reported, drew his weapon upon hearing the gunfire and then waited outside the building.  His decision not to enter was not made out of cowardice, according to his attorney, but because of his best assessment of the situation. Peterson has said he believed the shooter was on the grounds and not in the building, in which case his role was to take cover, assess the situation, and report to other law enforcement. Peterson has been a policeman for 33 years and had been commended in the past for his exemplary role as a school officer. 
                                                    President Trump as well as Israel has pointed to his "cowardice."  Should he have charged into the building with his pistol in hand, prepared to "kill the killer" as Sheriff Israel has said. Many believe that if he had entered, at least some lives might have been saved. Yet it is hard to know the motives of this veteran policeman unless you, as is said, walked in his shoes during those crucial four minutes that he stood outside the building.                                                                                                                                                 And let's not lay all the blame on the sheriff's office, as many balls were dropped and red flags ignored in this tragedy. Don't forget the clumsy mishandling of the Cruz threat in the hands of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the world's most elite law enforcement organization.  The FBI blew it completely.  The name of "Nikclas Cruz" had been given to agents last July as a gun-crazy kid who posted on YouTube that he was yearning to shoot up a school.  The FBI said it was unable to track down the person who posted it, despite the inclusion of his oddly spelled name. And in early January of this year, the FBI was notified by  a tipster who knew Cruz.  He informed the G-men that Cruz was a potential school killer and had assault weapons and was a mentally troubled youth.  That tip apparently went into the FBI's file 13, which apparently is a big basket judging from other recent FBI faux pas'.
                                                        Who would ever believe  that something like this could occur in bucolic Parkland, a community of about 30,000 residents where horses are seen regularly and where some residents have dogs, chickens sheep and goats? Many homes there are valued at many millions of dollars and Parkland had a reputation as one of the safest communities in the USA and home to some of Florida's best schools. 
                                                   So now we  have the  media bellyaching and screaming for gun control which it contends is the panacea to all gun misuse. There has developed a firestorm  of calls for banning assault weapons, led by the highly articulate young Stoneman Douglas survivors.  
                                                   I agree that  some guns should be banned and maybe the age for owning firearms should be increased; and maybe the requirements for obtaining certain guns  should be made so difficult that it would make it near impossible to obtain them. 
                                                   Gun control is a vitally  important issue that has been tackled successfully by countries like Australia, but it is an issue that is not going to be resolved quickly in this land where the second amendment is revered. And yet we need immediate action to prevent this carnage from ever happening again.                                                                                                                                                 The key and most urgent  question right now is safety in the schools.  Find a way so that America's children are always safe and protected when in school. If it takes metal detectors, as exist in airports, then put in metal detectors and make sure they work and are monitored. If it takes armed police in the hallways, do it.  If we need  "hurricane impact" interior and exterior doors and windows, that would repel shots, then crank up those budgets and start installing them.  Get it done, now, so as to proscribe this from ever happening again.  
                                               There must never be concern for the safety of students attending schools in the United States.

                                                xxx
      

"Hurricane" Ruth

                           By Florida Bill

                             During the 2016  presidential campaign, Associate Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a bit wide of being wise and judicious.  
                             Unlike most judges who are reluctant and careful about wading into political frays, the 84-year-old Ginsburg went after candidate Donald Trump, now President Trump.  Her horse in the race was the disingenuous Hillary Clinton.  Clinton  didn't make it and that caused some disappointment for Ginsburg, who believes it is way past time for a woman to be president. She is definitely on board with the "MeToo" movement.
                             You could say that "Hurricane Ruth" just let it "all hang out"  when asked by obsequious CNN reporters about her feelings for candidate Trump. 
                                                                                   Trump is a "faker" who has a "big ego" and no consistency, and will say anything that comes into his head...and how has he gotten away with not producing his tax returns? If he wins---"I don't want to think about that possibility, but if it should be, then everything is up for grabs," she told an Associated Press reporter last July.                                                      
                               To her friends at the New York Times, she said, "I can’t imagine what this place would be — I can’t imagine what the country would be — with Donald Trump as our president. For the country, it could be four years. For the court, it could be — I don’t even want to contemplate that.  Referring to words of her late husband, Martin Ginsburg, a tax attorney, she quipped that --"perhaps now is the time for us to move to New Zealand."                                                                                                             Trump is pretty used to getting scorched by Democrats.  But a Supreme Court justice-- that was a bit unusual.  In a twitter counter punch, the President, as is his nature, slapped back:  Ginsburg is an "embarrassment whose mind is shot...her comments are highly inappropriate and she is a  disgrace to the court. She should resign."  

                          With Trump in office, Ginsburg didn't exactly  apologize for her attack on the President, but she said she regretted saying what she said. But she was not taking it back, and for certain she said there would be no resignation. 
                           Recently, at a time when her  disparagement of Trump was off the front pages,  she was interviewed by CNN's Poppy Harlow at Columbia University.  Reflecting upon the collegiality on the nation's highest court, Ginsburg observed that she had "the best job in the world.....and I respect all of my colleagues and genuinely like most of them."  Just "most of them."  So who does she have in mind with that sophomoric evaluation?
                              Court observers believe that she was referring to its newest member, Neil Gorsuch, nominated last year by President Trump and installed with approval of the Senate. Apparently, to Ginsburg, Gorsuch is cut from the same cloth and branded with a "T" for Trump,  and for that, Hurricane Ruth, a committed liberal,  does not like him.  
                               Traditionally,  justices of the high court, as well as jurists in lower courts, are pretty tight-lipped during interviews with the press.  Unlike lower courts, however, there is no code of conduct which sets forth the dos and don'ts for the nine Supreme Court Justices relative to what they say when their robes are off. Basically, they can say what they want and when they want to say it, and there is no proscription or penalty. 
                              Goldberg, a justice of the Supreme Court since 1993, appointed by President Clinton, appears to relish the microphone and media interviews. She is most comfortable, it appears,  being around the liberal news reporters, particularly those from CNN, who ask soft ball questions and welcome her denigration of President Trump and the overall unwholesomeness of Republicans.  

                                  She was probably taken aback when her beloved New York Times noted in an editorial that she ought to kind of "zip it" when it comes to politics and the President.  And it was probably that paper that prompted her to offer her regrets for her unjudicial comments. 

                                   Will her comments necessitate her recusing herself from cases in which the the President is being challenged? That is up to her.  New York University law professor Stephen Gellers, notes that there is no obligation for her to do so, but her comments are clearly political and she should not have said them.  But "I agree" with what she has said, Gellers added.

                                      In other publicized comments, Stetson university professor Louis Virelli has said that her comments might be seen as grounds for recusing herself although she would not be required to do so.  Participation in some Trump-involved cases would invite challenge to her impartiality, he explained.   

                                      University of California at Irvine Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, whose far left positions are widely known, gives Ginsburg a pat on the back for speaking out.  "More speech is beneficial...We are in a relatively new era of public statements by justices and I applaud it."  
                                        One thing is for sure.  If the mouthy "Hurricane" elects to sit in judgment on a challenge to President Trump, her predicted negative vote will incite a firestorm.  With comments that she has made and can never take back, and her being an octogenarian, it is definitely time for Ginsburg to haul it in and resign and maybe go to new Zealand to live.  
                                      

                                            xxx

                               





                                   

A Cairn for all Times

                                     

  By Florida Bill 

                           "To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious
                                         afternoon is to be back in Eden where doing
                                          nothing was not boring--it was peace                                                                                         
                                      As I was reading of the death of Evangelist Billy Graham, a truly great man, I  looked into the faces of my two Cairn terriers, Sammi Smith, 10, and Wendy, 8.  These two girls are getting up there, and like it or not, someday they will be checking out.
                                      But then, we are all going to be leaving for places beyond some day. When the Rev. Mr. Graham was asked if his dog would go to heaven, he answered: "God will prepare everything  for our perfect happiness in heaven, and if it takes my dog being there, I believe he'll be there,"
                                       Not too long ago, I saw a short piece on a Cairn terrier page on Facebook about a 17-year-old special little guy named Sparky who would be leaving his home soon for places unknown and beyond.  Left behind with indescribable sadness and grief will be the human family who raised and loved him.  
                                        Over for all time?  Maybe not.  The Rev. Mr. Graham is not the only person who predicted that our furry friends will be with us in the hereafter.  Other authority on  this subject has come from Pope Francis who made a visit to the United States in 2015.  We heard his voice  calling for peace in the world and for love and respect for all men.  But in another  message, the Pontiff observed that our four-footed friends are not lost forever and that "Paradise is open to all of God's creatures."   
                                       Actually,  Francis is not the only Pope who has said that beloved pets do not make a permanent departure.   Some years ago, Pope Paul VI, while consoling a broken-hearted little boy whose pet had died, told the youngster that he would again see his dog in the "eternity of Christ."  His words were very comforting to the boy; and yes, those words resonate in the same way with us old timers.
                                     The great American icon and humorist Will Rogers was a man who had a special affinity for four-footed family members.   And who knows, Will may this day be tossing the ball to his canine friend up there beyond the clouds. Before he left, he was quoted as saying that "if there are no dogs in heaven, then, when I die,  I want to go where they went."    And of course, Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, author of "The Secret Life of Dogs," was asked in an interview if she believed that all dogs go to heaven. Her answer was logic at its best: "If there are no dogs there, it is not heaven."                                     
                                    Just what is this story and legend of the Rainbow Bridge?  Neither Pope Francis or Pope Paul mentioned the legend of the bridge, but I am betting that they are subscribers to it.   Accordingly, when a pet dies, it goes to a meadow and is restored to perfect health, and spends its days running and playing with other dogs, with plenty of fresh food and water. The only thing that is not perfect is that he misses his owner left behind on earth.                                       When the owner dies, he approaches the meadow and it is at that moment that his pet sees him and their eyes meet.  Excited, the pet, with his little legs churning at top speed,  runs to the owner's outstretched arms  licking his face in joy, and side by side they cross the Rainbow Bridge together into heaven, never again to be separated.  I love that  story, and yes, Sparky will be among the residents having fun and waiting.
                                   Sammi Smith and Wendy play a huge part in the lives of me and my wife of 46 years, Christine. We don't travel too much because we are a bit resistant to leaving "the kids" behind at a kennel.  Suffice it to say, they occupy an important spot in our household. Often I will look into those faces and wonder who is running things; we or them; and then I realize, it is "them."
                                    Years ago I was a soldier in Korea for some 16 months. Soldiers were permitted to have a dog, and I had a small four footed pal  I named 'Maggie."  She ate the leftovers from meals and hung out in my barracks, finding security in the sleeping bag on my bed.  When I walked guard duty, she was there helping to keep watch during the black of night. When my tour in Far East Asia came to a close, I left in the back of an Army truck and my final vision of the post was "Maggie" sitting by the side of the road.  Unable to take Maggie with me, I often wonder about her final days, and, as a believer in the hereafter and the legend of the bridge, am confidant that I will see that little lady again.
                                     As to "Sparky" who provided many years of unconditional affection and good times for his family, he may not be checking out permanently.  "See ya again" Sparky, and same goes for all of the other four footed companions which have departed after injecting that special love into a home.  
                                                    
                                                  XXX

The Generous USA

 By Florida Bill 

                                        It is an understatement to say that the United States is the most magnanimous nation on planet earth. Its great arms and largess extend to 142 countries, touching 76 per cent of the globe.
                                        Annually, it writes checks totaling $35 billion in foreign aid and it does all this despite being saddled with a national debt of $20 trillion dollars.  That generosity goes out, compliments of America's taxpayers.  Eighty six per cent of the money goes to nations in the Middle East and Africa.  
                                         It is difficult to get your mind around the enormity of the $35 billion being doled out by the United States.  In raw numbers, a billion dollars is 1,000 millions.  So the aid which is distributed to other nations, big and small, amounts to thirty-five thousand million dollars each year.  
                                         If you consider that there are 306 million Americans living in some 30,000 cities, towns and villages inside 50 states, you might wonder how come some of those billions are not used to improve homegrown infrastructure; to pave roads and to repair tottering bridges as federal projects. Use a few billions to make life a little easier for the poverty-stricken--imagine the jobs that could be created. 
                                        With Donald Trump as the President, he should be able to find a measly $15 billion for the wall he talks about, assuming, of course, that the tab for the wall is not picked up by the Mexican government. Any spill over can be applied to the debt. 
                                          Lots of Americans are meat and potatoes people who are careful not to let their personal spending go haywire, driving them into a black hole of debt.  In view of the country's huge debt, its largess is remarkable--kind of crazy you could say. Yes, let's help those who need it, but does it make sense to allow our own house to get in disarray while printing and handing out money.  America's debt increases by $32,000 each second and by two billion dollars each day.  Some financial experts tell us that the USA, with its wild spending, is headed for bankruptcy. 
                                          Nineteen trillion dollars, the national red paper,  makes the $35 billion in foreign aid look like peanuts. A trillion equates to one thousand (1,000) billions; so 19 trillion equates to nineteen thousand (19,000) billions.  The amount is staggering, incomprehensible.   One fascinating descriptive analogy of the national debt is that if you live to be 80 years old, your heart will beat about 3 billion times;  And it would take 602,000 years for 19 trillion heartbeats to tick away. 
                                         The debt is what it is. But then, what is foreign aid all about, and where and to whom does the money go?  It helps out a lot of needy countries and people and maybe the countries will like us in return.  Kind of a quid-quo pro, you might say.  The United States has an annual budget of about $4 trillion dollars.  Relative to this bottom line, foreign aid constitutes less than one per cent of annual spending-- not enough to make any real difference.
                                          The top recipients of aid in 2014 were five nations in the Middle East:  Israel, $3.5 billion;  Egypt, $1.5 billion; Iraq, $300 million; Jordan, $300 million; and Pakistan, $280 million.  Israel is a cherished friend and America's only genuine ally in the Middle East. Over the years, Israel has received well over $100 billion dollars in aid from America and has developed the military strength to counter any attack.    Egypt which has been in and out of favor,  has received more than $70 billion dollars between 1948 and the present. 
                                           American foreign aid is designed to assist individual countries in two general areas: economic assistance and military assistance.  The billions for Israel currently and in the past have been used primarily for military build up and protection against nations like Iran and the Palestinians who refuse to recognize Israel's right to exist and are dedicated to its destruction. For sure, America has its back. 
                                          Conservative members of Congress and Libertarians question the extent of America's foreign aid.  Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has said that "in our hours of need, why send billions of tax dollars to countries which hate us.  I support aid to allies when it promotes American interests, like  Israel; but I oppose foreign aid for countries that hate us and burn our flag.  It is the wrong thing to do."                                         
                                          Yes, America is--and should be-- generous, no question about that.  Yet Sen. Paul has an excellent point--no aid for countries that hate us.  Remember the films of jubilation in Pakistan,  men, women and children dancing in the streets, after hearing news of he 9-11 attack in New York where  2,500 Americans were killed.  
                                        But something needs to be done about the national debt which soared by $10 trillion under President Obama. 
                                   America needs to put its own house in order and be sensible in its foreign aid programs, and it should quit doling out money it doesn't have to countries which stomp Old Glory and hate us.

President Adams' Pet Gator

     By Florida Bill                                     

                                    One thing about living in Florida, you can never predict when an alligator might turn up as an uninvited guest.  A few days ago, a Boca Raton Florida home owner stepped from his door into the sunshine of his backyard and prepared for a swim.  

                                          As he looked at the swirling, inviting blue water, he was taken aback to see an eight-foot long gator cruising about the bottom of the pool.  Gathering his aplomb, homeowner and father, Matt Fino, notified his family of the unwelcome fellow, and his wife, kids and a small dog all came to take a look.  Police and wildlife trappers were called and hustled to the home, where they removed the interloper and sent him (or her) to a place where gators can live and  not cause problems. 
                                         Gators have actually been around Florida and the southern states for a very long time--and they don't seem to have evolved much. They have a decidedly prehistoric look about them. Some 1.8 million of them are said to be residing in the magnificent Everglades which covers one and one-half millions acres in the central portion of the state.  They wander off from time to time, moving about via the canals which weave in and out of many communities. 

                                          And believe it or not, some persons might even look upon a big toothy gator as a pet---just keep him well fed and away from some one's foot or the family dog and he can be part of the family.  And his digs could be anything from a fenced in muddy pen behind a barn, a tub, or even special quarters provided by the rich and famous.  

                                           Way back in 1826, America's sixth president, John Quincy Adams, received an alligator as a gift from the Marquis de Lafayette, a general in the American Revolutionary war and a leader of the Garde Nationale during the French Revolution.  Apparently he was both a friend of Adams and an admirer of dangerous reptiles.  He presented the big-toothed fellow to President Adams who resided in the White House on Pennsylvania avenue. 

                                           Historians tell us that Adams developed affection and a healthy respect for the critter which he then kept in a bathtub in the East Room.  The President enjoyed introducing guests and dignitaries to his pet and was tickled when they first came upon it and reacted  nervously, unaccustomed to seeing such a critter sitting in a bathtub in the nation's most famous house. 
                                            That was President Quincy Adams, son of John Adams, America's second President and the successor to George Washington. 
                                             About 100 years later, in 1931, President Herbert Hoover had the company of two alligators in the White House.  It wasn't  exactly Hoover who gave them a home there--it was his son Allan Henry Hoover who enjoyed and promoted his pets.  Allan had charge of two gators, which he kept in a bathtub.  From time to time, so the story goes, the gators would find their way onto the White House grounds where they would slither about sunning themselves.  Occasionally, when surprised White House visitors stumbled upon the alligators, they would stare a bit and then report their presence to the Secret Service.  Allan would be notified and his wards would be returned to their tub. 
                                            Actually,  it isn't too unusual for alligators to show up in a pool in sunny Florida, like the recent incident in Boca Raton, as these intimidating animals do get around. Florida with its everglades is a maze of intersecting canals and waterways and stories abound of their turning up in unusual places.  It is the rare Florida golfer who has not bumped into one on the links, sometimes even on the greens. 
                                            Just a few days ago, a four foot  alligator crawled under a car in a Sarasota shopping center while the patron was in the mall. A couple of sheriff's deputies corralled him and had him moved to an "appropriate wetlands."   
                                       Last July, a ten-foot alligator made its way to the dugout of a baseball field in Port Charlotte.  It unnerved players as they arrived for a game, but after the animal was rousted, the game was played. In 2016 there was a report of a Florida congressman who attended a funeral on Merritt Island and when he prepared to leave found a big guy under his automobile. An animal squad relocated the gator, and the congressman left safely with just a story to tell.  
                                       In April of 2016, in Sherlington, Louisiana, a homeowner was greeted by a sizable intruder behind an easy chair in his living room.  As you might guess, he was a bit unnerved, and called police. A wandering gator from the bayous, or maybe a neighbor's pet out for a walk? 
                                        Spring--mating season-- is undoubtedly the most likely time to see male alligators on the move, looking for females to make baby gators with. They are often seen stopping traffic, cutting across backyards to get from pond to pond, and just generally making themselves obnoxious in residential neighborhoods.
                                       At one time alligators were approaching extinction and were an endangered species. As a result, hunting was prohibited and their habitats protected.  No more. The alligator has made a dramatic recovery and the "endangered" designation was removed in 1987.  About the only predator an adult gator has is an especially large python, and there has been evidence of a few epic battles between the two  in the Everglades. Usually there is no winner.
                                       So of course, the presence of gators today is  way up and licensed hunting is now a sport and the sale of alligator meat and skin has become a respectable industry in the South. 
                                       
                                               xxx

State of the Union

 By Florida Bill 

                                              President Trump's first SOTU address was memorable but not necessarily for its content which was inspiring and patriotic.  But an overhead TV camera revealed the bizarre and testy behavior of his congressional adversaries who snarled and mugged  and grimaced as he spoke.  
                               It would not have been too surprising to see some of the veteran Democrats sticking out their tongues or raising a special finger as a way of conveying their ill will to the nation's 45th President. 
                               So carried away were the Trump haters, that an entire row of Democrats refused to stand in sympathy for a family whose two daughters were murdered in Long Island by members of a notorious gang, known as MS-13. 
                                Congressional Black Caucus members glowered and gritted their teeth and declined to stand and applaud when the President reported that in response to his policies, unemployment in the Black community was the lowest ever recorded.  
                                 New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker just scowled in anger at each word and phrase of the President's. He appeared to be on the verge of a tantrum and the banging of his shinny pate on a chair in front of him, but somehow contained himself. After all, he is sending out vibes that he wants to run for President in 2020.                                         Nancy Pelosi, the long time California representative who is a former speaker of the House, sent her message of opposition by declining to applaud even when the country's 45th President hailed the USA as a beacon of freedom in the world; a nation which has set the standard for goodness on a globe where there are terrorists hellbent on killing Americans.
                                 Decked out in a black dress with a page-boy hairdo, the 77-year-old Pelosi appeared to be chewing a substance and rolling it in her mouth from one cheek to the other.  Was it gum, or food crumbs; a lozenge or possibly a loose bridge?  Whatever, it emphasized a very, very sour face, loaded for bear.  And she was successful in communicating her disdain and enmity for the president on behalf of herself and other Democrats who find that the nation's chief executive is set against their liberal philosophy and their calls for amnesty.                                   
                                   Never to be out stressed by the President's comments on matters of border security and a wall, and the economy and tax reform was "Cry'n Chuck" Schumer, the minority leader in the Senate whose unscrupulous intransigence caused a brief government shutdown in late January.
                                    Some months ago, Trump gave Schumer the name of "Cry'n Chuck" when Schumer wept in public after hearing the President was seeking to ban entry into the USA of refugees who could be terrorists and who needed to be vetted before being allowed to enter. A racist, screamed Schumer.   His tears must have really rolled out when the U.S. Supreme court ultimately endorsed the ban, and agreed with the President. 
                                     During the address, the 67-year-old Schumer was captured by the swinging TV camera burying his head in his hands, seemingly trying to hold back his tears. It was apparently so difficult for the Democratic leader in the Senate to agree with President Trump, even when he spoke of his plan to protect 1.8 million undocumented citizens, including DACA children, that he had to hide his face. 
                                      Even Trump's proposal that  Democrats and Republicans work together to create effective border security and total and permanent comprehensive immigration reform seemed to provoke such painful emotions that Democrats were unable to even clap politely much less smile or nod. 
                                       The cameras zeroed in on other Trump critics.  One was the combative, mouthy Illinois congressman, Luis Gutierrez, from Chicago.  He earned his Democratic spurs while driving a cab and then served as an alderman in the Chicago city council.  He was elected to congress in 1993 from the city's notorious, crime infested west side, and reelected about a dozen more times. Of Puerto Rican heritage, he was a "pull all stops" supporter of President Obama, and a voice for Latinos and wide open borders.  But most importantly, he is a fierce denouncer of President Trump as a racist, and a Russian pawn.
                                       When the camera focused upon Gutierrez, he was grinding his teeth together in apparent disgust.  As the President was speaking there arose loud chanting of "USA, USA, USA."  That sort of Pro-Trump approval, was more than Gutierrez could handle. He hustled from his seat and headed for an exit from the auditorium of the Capitol. Later, asked his opinion of the address, he said "whoever translated it for him from Russian did a good job," a comment as silly as you might expect from a Chicago style, far left, Democrat who takes his orders from Ms. Pelosi. 
                                        Vermont Democrat Sen. Patrick Leahy, in the Senate since 1975, also is aggressive in his animosity for Republicans and specifically for the new President.  The camera captured him glowering and staring at the president as he spoke and congratulated himself for having pushed the African American unemployment rate to its lowest level in many years. Leahy doesn't buy it.  He later commented that Trump has had a year of making petty insults and disgraceful race baiting.  His words "ring hollow."                                                   
                                         All in all, Republicans and even some Democrats  gave  Trump high marks for his first SOTU address. But you wonder what the President would have to say or do to encourage his critics to at least act like adults and show some respect for the office and the time and place.  

                                                   xxx