DEBATE TWO BELONGED TO TRUMP

                                                BY WILLIAM JUNEAU

                            The second and final debate is now in the history books, but the controversy attached to the emails authored by Joe Biden's "troubled" son is  a long way from being resolved.  In fact, Biden simply dodged offering any explanation, and called the incriminating emails a "Russian plant..." He then added the fiction that some 20 CIA persons agreed.  Its all "garbage," he declared in his hesitant, "slow Joe" way. 

                          "You know me and my reputation for honesty," said the 77-year-old Biden as he stared into the eye of the cameras which was live streaming the debate to millions of viewers in America and throughout the world. "Check us out closely."  Not a wise thing for Biden to say, as viewers might take him up on his invitation and his questionable past might not be helpful to his campaign.                                            The debate went on for 90 minutes in the halls of Belmont University in Nashville.  There were no rest periods as the moderator, Kristen Welker, White House Correspondent for NBC, led the discussions touching upon various topics.  During the debate, the normally pugilistic Trump thanked Welker for her able moderating, although prior to the actual debate, the President had said that Welker, whom he sees regularly in news conferences, was a "radical Democrat," and that he preferred someone without an agenda. Welker for sure ought to take that as a compliment.

                                Trump has said that he was disappointed with the conduct of Chris Wallace, a registered Democrat who moderated the first debate on Sept. 29 and allowed his prejudices to ooze out with his mush-mouthed questions and body language. 

                                 The emails which have the President up-in-arms were found on the computer of Hunter Biden, 50, Joe's son, and are now in the hands of the FBI which reportedly is conducting an investigation into "money laundering."  Both the FBI and the nation's Director of Intelligence have said that the computer is the property of the Biden son,  and that emails were authored by him, and recipients of them have confirmed their authenticity. 

                                   Trump lashed out at Biden on the debate stage and called him a corrupt politician and has said that the Biden family is a "criminal enterprise' with everyone sucking money out of China, the Ukraine and other countries.  He even asked Biden to explain why Hunter took three and one-half million dollars from the ex wife of a Moscow mayor, but Biden never responded. 

                                    Other emails authored by Hunter, who has a history of drug abuse, said that a share of the cash obtained in deals was being held by "H" for the "big guy," and associates of Hunter have said that Hunter is "H" and Joe Biden is the "Big Guy." 

                                " What about it....we need an explanation from you," Trumped demanded at the debate. Biden had nothing to say, but he never denied  that it was his son's computer with emails authored by him. "A smear," was the Biden response.

                           Reportedly the FBI and possibly a senate committee is considering subpoenaing the troubled Hunter Biden who was released from the naval reserve in 2012 because of a cocaine addiction.  In 2014, when Vice President Biden was the Obama administration's "point man to Ukraine," Hunter became a board member for a Ukraine gas company and received a salary of $83,000 per month though his duties were never defined.  He did not live in the Ukraine and did not speak the Ukrainian language and had no special expertise in gas matters.  His most powerful credential was that he was the son of the vice president of the United States.     

                          Livestreamed throughout the globe, the debate  opened with a back and forth on the Covid-19 pandemic which has brutalized much of the world.  Biden contended that masks and distancing would have solved the problems and that Trump was responsible for the deaths of 225,000 persons in the country. His charge was without basis, and  President Trump argued that the country was rounding the curve and recovering and that he was confident that a vaccine was coming soon and that machinery was in place using the military to make it available to all Americans  

                          When the debate focused on climate change and the threats it presented, the former vice president stated he intended to rid the country of the oil industry, "retrofit" millions of homes and large buildings and install 500,000 charging stations on the highways to accommodate the takeover by electric cars. 

                                    As he spoke of "transitioning" the country away from fossil fuels and eliminating all oil by 2025, Trump interrupted and said that he hoped that the states of Texas, Pennsylvania and Oklahoma were listening to the Biden plan, which Trump said would cost $100 trillion and knock out thousands and  thousands of jobs. 

                                    The Biden plan for the climate is a remake of the "Green New Deal" conceived by the Marxist/Socialist advisory team of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and First term Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, a former New York bartender.  The Biden Plan and the Green New Deal are identical except for the name. 

                                     Ask him about "fracking," President Trump called out to the moderator.  He charged that Biden had said he would ban it in accord with his new climate plans for America.  Fracking is a drilling technique used to extract natural gas and oil from the earth.  Biden contradicted Trump and said that he had never said he would ban fracking.  "Show me where I ever said that," said Biden, and he called upon the President to "prove it."  Trump promised to do so, and the following day his campaign posted ads with films of Biden and his vice presidential running mate promising to ban fracking.

                                    In other areas covered, Biden complained that the Trump's border police were throwing small children into cages, separating them from their parents. Trump said efforts were underway to reunite all children with parents, but too often the parents cannot be found or do not want to be found. Trump pointed out that it was Biden and Obama who built and made use of the cages.  "Who built the cages?" Trump asked Biden on three occasions, in an effort to make his point, but Biden declined to respond.                               

                            With Biden asking viewers to look him over closely,  it's my guess that some will take him up on that.  If they do, they will find that he has a long established reputation for telling lies, and making gaffes.  The Washington Post in fact has called him the "Lamborghini of Gaffes."

                            As a student at Syracuse Law school in the 1960s, Biden was caught plagiarizing and came close to being expelled.  He finished school and received a law degree, but then told constituents and friends that he had finished in the top half of his class.  He finished very close to the bottom of the class and was regarded by classmates as the "dumbest s.o.b." in the school.

                           

                            

                                   XXX

THE CONFIRMATION HEARING

 

                                    BY WILLIAM JUNEAU

                             For three days, the 10 Democrats on the 22 member Senate Judiciary committee sought to paint the scholarly and widely praised and respected Judge Amy Coney Barrett as a Donald Trump surrogate hell-bent on torpedoing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and a woman's right to have an abortion. 

                                      It was a raw political attack which lacked  substance and good judgment, and actually made the interrogators look petty and obtuse. 

                                  Some Senators, like Cory Booker of New Jersey and Maize Hirono of Hawaii and others, stood out in the circle of detractors by making untrue statements, and by asking cantankerous questions designed to generate controversy and link the nominee to statements related to the fabricated misdeeds of President Trump.

                                  Each of the 22 senators were allotted 40 minutes over two days to question Judge Barrett who made available some 2,000 items of background information----speeches, legal opinions, articles, pictures, letters, etc.--- which senators perused in anticipation of the confirmation hearing.  The framework was set up by committee chairman Lindsey Graham.

                                   Republicans moved expeditiously through their allotted time drawing from the judicial candidate the story of her life on and off the bench and as a professor of law at Notre Dame school of law.  Chairman Graham of South Carolina extoled Barrett for her remarkable accomplishments and as the first pro-life, Christian woman and mother being considered for appointment as an associate justice.  She will fill the vacancy of another remarkable woman, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on Sept. 18 after serving for 27 years on the nation's highest court.         

                                  Taking their turns in questioning Judge Barrett. some senators were crude and insulting.  All were frantic to discover something with which they could accuse Judge Barrett of untoward conduct. Her pro-life views and legal articles written as an academic and her opinions as an Appellate Judge on the 7th circuit were always under special line-by-line scrutiny in an effort to prove they foreshadowed some future harmful conservative action on her part. They insisted Barrett would be a vote to repeal the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision which gives women the right to have an abortion, and they brought forth numerous cases of severely ill children who would be deprived of insurance  should she become the deciding vote on the  nine member court to strike down Obamacare. 

                                    But the stately, articulate and scholarly 48-year-old candidate stood her ground and responded respectfully to all questions asked her.  She answered those questions within her purview as a nominee to the highest judicial office in America, and declined to respond to those inquiries where legal ethics proscribed her from answering and giving an opinion.  

                                  Many times she told the committee that she had no agenda and would rule in accordance with the law.  She said that she has made no commitments as to how she would rule on any case and has never discussed cases with President Trump or anyone else, and that if she was ever asked to commit to something--it would "be a very short discussion." On several occasions she emphasized to senators that she was not gunning to take down the Affordable Care Act. 

                                  Maize Hirono is the Asian American senator from Hawaii and she was an embarrassment, even to other Democrats, as she lit into the nominee.   "Since you became an adult," she asked, " have you ever made unwarranted requests for sexual favors or committed any physical or verbal harassment or assault of a sexual nature?

                                 "Have you ever faced discipline or entered into a settlement related to this kind of conduct."  Dutifully, Judge Barrett answered "No" to the dim Hirono. 

                                 In another response to an asinine  Hirono question, Judge Barrett spoke of not discriminating on basis of  "sexual preference."  Hirono promptly castigated her for using that expression which she said was "offensive and outdated." and is used by anti-LGBTQ critics.  Barrett apologized and said she would never intentionally offend in that way.

                                   The senator then took up the Democrat party line endeavoring to show that the judge would be doing her part to end a woman's ability to have an abortion and to repeal the Affordable care act which she said is indispensable as the insurance program assisting millions of Americans. 

                                  Cory Booker, the African-American senator from New Jersey,  wanted to demonstrate that the judge was a closet racist, notwithstanding that she is the mother of seven children, including two adopted Black children from Haiti.  

                                  "Do you condemn white supremacists?" inquired Booker, a senator since 2013 and a former mayor of Newark.  "Yes" said Judge Barrett.  Booker said he was pleased to hear that she did condemn them, noting that he really hoped that President Trump would also condemn them, but he will not do so. I am sorry I had to ask the question, he added.  His comment was disingenuous, but remains a part of the Democrat's  playbook to fire up racial tensions with an election coming in a few weeks. 

                                 Sen. Booker continued down the racial path.  Did judge Barrett believe that the country is systemically racist?  Noting that he is "troubled," about some of her responses, he asked if she'd be “surprised” to learn the findings of a U.S. Sentencing Commission study that "Black defendants were more likely to face harsh mandatory minimum sentences than White defendants in similar cases." 

                                 Barrett said that she was aware that racism exists.  As to statistics concerning sentencing, Barrett said---"I don't know, Sen. Booker, that seems an odd thing for me to express an opinion on."  

                                Booker pressed on calling into question Judge Barrett's opinion in a employment case in which she found that a man discharged did not prevail against an employer who had called him by the "N" word.  Barrett explained her reasoning in that dissent of a case and Booker moved on to point out that the nominee was nominated by a President who had promised to name judges to the Supreme Court who were conservative and would be in favor of repealing the ACA. 

                                On the fourth day of the confirmation process, the committee heard witnesses who spoke in opposition to Judge Barrett and opined on the impact on Americans if the ACA is repealed and the dire consequences of being without insurance and protection against pre existing injuries.  Other witnesses spoke in support of Judge Barrett praising her as a Judge on Circuit Court of Appeals since 2017, and as a  revered law professor at the University of Notre Dame for 20 years. 

                               Committee Chairman Graham said that the committee would assemble on Oct. 22 and vote the nominee up or down.  A favorable vote is anticipated since Republicans are a majority on the committee and all of them have said they will vote to support Judge Barrett as the next Associate Justice. The committee action will then be sent to the senate floor and its leader, Mitch McConnell has said that the nominee will be voted upon prior to the Nov. 3 election.  

                              The Senate membership lists 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats.  Fifty-one Republicans have said they will vote for Judge Barrett and it is anticipated that she will be sworn in by the end of the month. 

                                 

                                                    xxx

PENCE AND THE NASTY KAMALA--GOOD JOB MIKE

                                             BY WILLIAM JUNEAU

                              Watching the Vice Presidential debate, we got a good look at the grimacing, smug grin and head shaking of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris who is relatively new on the national stage.  She is Joe Biden's selection as his running mate and the televised debate with Mike Pence, the sitting vice president, allowed Democrats to showcase Harris.

                              The debate was livestreamed for viewers all over the world and the candidates were pictured side by side on a screen, though they were actually separated by about 10 feet on the stage and by sheets of plexiglass, respecting the need for distancing as is prudent in avoiding the covid-19. 

                              They were watched as they spoke and observed as their opponent was speaking.  It was revealing.  For the most part, Pence, who was never bothered by a nasty fly that landed on his neatly cropped white hair, was always respectful, reserved and unrattled by his distaff opponent; and he was poised and thoughtful when he spoke. 

                             As was her style, the 55-year-old Harris was seen smirking and annoyed as a composed Pence rejected her claims that President Trump had mishandled the pandemic and that thousands had died because of his slow reaction to the crisis. "Joe," said Harris, knows how to cope with Covid-19, and fix it. Throughout their 90-minute debate, Harris always referred to her running mate, former Vice President Biden, in a folksy way, as just plain "Joe." 

                            "Sounds to me," said Pence , "like 'Joe' wants to do  exactly what President Trump has done in confronting and beating down the pandemic...he is taking it right from the Trump handbook," he said. 

                          "Looks a little like plagiarism....which is something Joe Biden knows a little bit about,"  Pence pointed out to Harris' discomfort.  

                             The plagiarism reference recalled how Biden came close to being expelled from law school in the mid-1960s for plagiarizing the work of others.  Biden squeaked through Syracuse law school, finishing near the bottom of his class. Classmates have  remembered him as the "dumbest s.o.b." in the school.  In 1988, Biden, a Delaware senator,  made his first run to be President, but  was forced to withdraw as a candidate after he was caught plagiarizing portions of a speech given by a prominent British politician.  

                             Harris often fell back on listing her biography in excruciating detail when she did not want to answer a question.

                             The 90 minute debate was held in Kingsley Hall of the University of Utah.  Moderator was Susan Page, Washington Bureau Chief for USA Today, a newspaper well known for its enmity for President Trump, disparaging him in editorials on an almost daily basis.  Page is the author of a book on Nancy Pelosi, "Madam Speaker" scheduled for release next April.  So far as is known, Ms. Page is not a registered Democrat, but her employment  credentials and asking of questions speaks to her liberal loyalties. Chris Wallace of Fox News, a registered Democrat of long standing, moderated the Trump-Biden debate on September 29 and there was no hiding his political preferences. 

                             Responding to questions from Page,  Harris, 55,  assured viewers that "Joe" would not be raising taxes on anyone other than those making at least $400,000 per year.  Pence noted that Biden had said that he would repeal the Trump tax cuts in 2017 which put $2,000 in the pocket of all average working families. Can't have it both ways, was Pence's message. 

                             Harris repeated a couple more times that there would be no tax increase by "Joe."  Pence interrupted Harris, offering  Biden's own words that he will "repeal the Trump tax cuts on his first day in office."  

                          "I am speaking," Harris snapped, in a tone reminiscent of your most disliked school teacher . "I am speaking."  

                            Pence appeared amused at Harris' contrived grin as she continued to extol Joe's plans for righting the ship of state, which she and "Joe" clearly blame Trump for sinking.  "You are entitled to your own opinion, but not entitled to your own facts," admonished Pence.   He added that he  respected Harris right to have an opinion, but said that truth does matter.  

                            When Moderator Page steered the candidates to the subject of the Supreme Court, Pence praised Amy Coney Barrett as a woman who will make an outstanding Supreme Court justice. He said that he hoped that Judge Barrett will receive a fair hearing with questions from senators on the judiciary committee---"unlike the treatment which Justice Kavanaugh received from you, Sen. Harris, and others"  said Pence.

                            During the Kavanaugh hearing last year, Harris, as a member of the Senate Judiciary committee, attempted to bulldoze Kavanaugh with obtuse and irrelevant questions.  President Trump has called Harris "a real beaut" and a very nasty woman who wanted the spotlight.   Pence also referenced her having disparaged another judicial nominee for being a member of  the Knights of Columbus which holds pro-life views.  Harris did not deny or apologize for torching a judicial candidate because of his religion, while asking questions as a member of the senate's committee on the judiciary,  but offered the mitigating thought that "both Joe and I are people of faith." 

                           Moderator Page ignored the subject of "court packing" which Democrats have promised to do in the event that conservative Amy Barrett becomes a Justice of the Supreme Court. Nevertheless, Pence considered it important and asked Harris how she and Biden stood on the question of adding justices to the court.   Harris declined to say how she stood on that question, and then got angry and said, If you want to talk about "packing: I will talk about it...I will not be lectured by you."  

                         Harris then contended that President Trump had appointed some 50 justices to the Appellate courts, and not one was was Black. "Lets talk about 'packing,' " she said.  Her comment was  totally irrelevant, and has nothing to do with "packing" the supreme court with Democrat judges so that the nation's highest court will become a super legislature.  Many Blacks have been appointed as district judges by President Trump, and while no Black was among the past appointments to the Appellate court, one new judge was Hispanic and eight others were Asian Americans.  Bottom line:  Harris refused to provide her position or "Joe's" position on "packing."  

                  Both Biden and Harris are on record for having said they were opposed to "fracking" a technique used to produce natural gas. In September of last year, Harris said at a town meeting that "There's no question I'm in favor of banning fracking." But when the subject came up, Harris said that she and "Joe" will not prevent fracking.  "Joe and I are for fracking."  

                       Harris at one point referred to some plans for redoing the justice system and mentioned that Joe's administration will "get rid of private prisons and cash bail....,

                      On the subject of police reform,  Pence said that Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina brought Republicans and Democrats together and tried to pass a solid reform bill and "you ( Sen. Harris) got up and walked out of the room, and later filibustered the bill on the Senate floor."

                       The debate went on without a break and other questions dealt with the economy and health care.  Page declined to ask Harris about her endorsement for tax funded abortions,  open borders, free schooling and free health care for all, including illegal aliens. 

                      This was the only vice presidential debate.  Debates between Trump and Biden are scheduled for October 15 and 22.

                                                   XXX 

                             

  

                               

TRUMP/BIDEN DEBATE 1

 

                                  BY WILLIAM JUNEAU 

                            If you call 9-11 for help, expect a uniformed policeman and a psychiatrist at your door.  The doctor's job will be to not only talk reason to the bad guys, but to prevent the police from using force.  This is part of what befuddled Joe Biden and his socialist advisers, Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman Alexandria Occasio Cortez, have in mind for policing when the malleable Biden is in the Oval office.  

                           Biden revealed the use of doctors as a part of the "reimagining" of policing during the recent debate with President Trump, who is seeking reelection.  It was the first of three scheduled debates to be held before the Nov. 3 election. 

                          However some rescheduling could become necessary, since President Trump tested positive for the Covid-19 virus on the third day following the debate. He is currently under close watch in Walter Reed hospital. Reports to the public are that, although he is in a risky demographic, he is doing well and physicians are optimistic the President will be back at his desk  in the White House soon.  As of now, the scheduled debates for Oct. 15 and Oct. 22 have not been canceled. 

                           An estimated 73 million Americans watched on television  as the incumbent President Trump and challenger Biden faced off in a Cleveland auditorium. It was a 90 minute slug fest with Biden and Trump exchanging insults and allegations of misfeasance. At various times, the former Vice president under President Obama, came so unglued that he told the President to "shut up," and called him a liar, and a racist.  

                     As is his style, Trump counter-punched hard and interrupted frequently,  clearly part of a strategy to unnerve the frail-looking Biden, while reminding viewers of the former vice president's questionable mental acuity.  In one heated moment, Trump glared at his opponent, shook his head and said, "Joe, you are not smart"...never imply you are smart around me.

                           The President and his challenger for the office stood at a podium some 10 feet apart and faced the moderator, Chris Wallace of Fox News, who asked all questions.  Wallace, 72,  is a registered Democrat and has been a media reporter for many years.  His late father, Mike, was with CBS and other stations for decades and was revered by Democrats. The senior Wallace always leaned toward the side of the donkey whenever political matters were on the table. Some pundits have said that Chris Wallace is a "chip off the old block" when it comes to politics, and his debate questions  provided reason to support that assessment.  

                         It was the topic dealing with 'law and order" and "protests" which generated a lot of the fireworks. Trump said that his opponent would not even say the words, "law and order," since doing so runs counter to the demands placed upon him by his  progressive base. "Not true," Biden responded. 

                        Biden, 77,  opened up on his vision for policing after Wallace observed that he and Bernie Sanders had compiled a joint document (Trump labels it an insane "manifesto") on policing and the "reimagining" of police departments. The word has been used often by anti-police Democrats including Biden's running mate, Kamala Harris, who had been an Attorney General in California for six years, and whose vitriol for police is well known.  So what does "reimagining" mean, Wallace asked Biden. 

                      Biden then explained that policemen must become what they were in the past, a part of the community.  One step would be to have a psychiatrist or psychologist on hand to "keep them (police) from using force and be able to talk people down." suggested Biden. In past years, Biden has supported the cop who risked his life to keep streets safe. But now, under the influence of the far left wing, he said he is "not totally opposed to defunding police departments." 

                     Wallace noted that "protests"  have swept the streets of major American cities and that "peaceful" protests have invariably become violent with lootings, arson, shootings and all-around lawlessness.  In Portland, Oregon, the disorders went on every day for more than 100 days.  These cities, as President Trump has said, are all controlled by Democratic mayors and governors, who did nothing to stop the violence. 

                    "Did you ever telephone the mayor of Portland and ask him to bring a stop to the violence and crime; and to call out the national guard as a necessity?"  Wallace asked Biden. 

                     Biden squirmed a bit and then responded that "I don't  hold public office...I am a former Vice President." He had no further explanation for his recalcitrance even though he had opened the debate asserting that "I am the Democratic Party," making it clear that he made the decisions on his own. "They can do the job, if he (the President) keeps out of their way," he added. 

                     Trump,74, charged that Biden does not believe in "law and order" because his left wing extremists friends call the shots, and would have disowned him if he had ordered an end to the riots on the streets. Too risky for his political ambitions, Trump was suggesting.  

                     Biden, a senator and then a vice president for 47 years, has been  rejected by every police and law enforcement group in the country, charged Trump.  Not a single one supports Biden in his bid to become the President.  "Name one group---just one that is supporting you," said Trump. Biden responded with a not-too-loud "not true," and then Wallace moved the discussions onto other topics.

                    Early in the debate, Wallace asked Trump about his appointment to the Supreme Court, and why he does not allow it to be delayed until after he is reelected or after Biden becomes the President. 

                    Trump said that he was elected for a four-year term which is not yet over; and that he has the constitutional right to make the appointment and have the Senate advise and consent.  The election of 2016 has consequences.  The President praised his nominee to the court. Amy Coney Barrett  to replace Ruth Bader Ginsberg who died on September 18,  as a highly qualified Appellate court judge, and as a professor at the Notre Dame Law school.  He predicted that the Senate would endorse the nominee quickly, adding that there is plenty of time to do so. 

                    Biden said that he considered Amy Barrett to be a good person, but that the process should be put off until after the election. If President Trump is  reelected then Barrett will be the candidate.  If I win, I will nominate a candidate. Biden declined to offer the name of any potential candidate whom he  might nominate.

                    Biden also declined to say whether he would be in favor of "packing" the court with new justices as has been called for by radical Democrats and by members of his progressive base including socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Sanders' close associate, AOC,  a New York city bartender, elected in 2018.  Biden's running mate, Kamala Harris, also favors putting more justices onto the nation's highest court, so long as they are pro abortion and liberal. 

                   On other topics, Biden surprised and probably maddened his liberal base when he asserted that he does not endorse the so-called "Green New Deal."  He boasted that he would bring an end to the pandemic, criticizing the president for mishandling the crisis. Trump countered that with Biden at the wheel, millions more would have died since he had insisted back in February that the nation's borders remain open to visitors from China and other parts of Asia. 

                 Trump referenced the great economy and low unemployment before the pandemic and insisted he has done more for the USA in 47 months than Biden had done in 47 years as a senator and a vice president. Biden blamed President  Trump for increasing racial tensions and said in America there is systemic injustice in law enforcement, work and education. 

             Wallace probably did his best to control the allotted time for answers, but his management skills were dismal. The Commission on Presidential Debates says that format changes are being made for the next debates.  

                  

                                                XXX

                         

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