Miscellaneous
Thoughts Posted to Linked In Between October and December 2018
By William J. Dodwell
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TRUMP CAVES ON THE WALL. The president is looking for an out from his
government shutdown, as that tack has failed to get the legislation for border-wall
funding. The outgoing House voted for it
but Leader Mitch McConnell refused to invoke the nuclear option required to
pass a funding provision in the Senate with only a 51-vote majority. There is scant chance the new Democratic
House will support the funding. Of
course, this position has nothing to do with the cost as Democrats claim, but
rather to deny the president a political victory. Also contrary to public statements, the left
knows the wall would be very effective in permanently stanching the flow of
illegal aliens whose votes through eventual amnesty liberals covet. Combating drug smuggling, human trafficking, crime,
disease, overcrowding, and other pathologies is purely ancillary to potential
votes. The opioid crisis be damned. The people be damned. This is truly a perversion of the
republic.
Trump has been weak on the wall issue asking
for only $5 billion out of some $25 billion needed. And it is rumored he is willing to negotiate
it to under $2 billion. The word is that
now he will accept “border security” measures in lieu of a wall and call it
victory. While that might improve
migrant detection, it would not seem to do much to prevent crossings unless border
agents can engage with gunfire or other force, which is unlikely. What’s more, unlike a wall, future
administrations could easily deactivate alternative infrastructure. This is why Democrats expressed support for a
short fence (that could be dismantled) instead of a high permanent concrete barrier. In fact, Trump’s acceptance of a fence in lieu
of a tall wall is a trap. The term fence in
the legislation would preclude a wall by definition, as they are two different
things. Invoking the letter of the law,
Democrats could challenge wall construction and win. In any case, eminent domain legal challenges
by property owners would likely prevent building for years.
If Trump were serious, he would
consider selling some agency assets worth hundreds of billions of dollars, such
as a massive portfolio of loans to farmers.
This is property of the executive branch. Moreover, he has talked about taking funds for
the wall from the military budget and foreign aid, as well as confiscating
foreign remittances and imposing a special tariff, but no action. Congress might challenge the
constitutionality of these options but they are worth pursuing.
This outcome is most
disappointing. It hurts Trump’s
credibility. Whether this signature
issue now adversely affects his reelection prospects remains to be seen. 12/31/18
“Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” at
https://youtu.be/rhwyOM_3x5U
“Jingle Bell Rock” at https://youtu.be/EGX-vVWK0_w
12/19/18
- WOMAN
OF THE YEAR. The Comprehensive
Conservative announces its first Woman of the Year tribute. Drumroll please …
https://sites.google.com/site/thecomprehensiveconservative/special-notice-8/special-notice-9/special-notice-10/special-notice-11
Stormy Daniels
2018 Woman of the Year
As a
prominent figure in the news throughout 2018, Stormy Daniels is a fitting
ballast to the concurrent #MeToo horror which she embodies as its very
antithesis. While the movement
admonishes men not to touch women, Ms. Daniels refreshingly symbolizes a
primordial reality: woman as sex
object. Although humanity has evolved well
beyond that singular focus, it is not enough for the feminist left which punitively
negates basic instinct to disempower men for political advantage. Therefore, it is appropriate to invoke in
juxtaposition the movement’s diametrical opposite. As such, Ms. Daniels is to be celebrated as a
theoretical antidote to the puritanical #MeToo model that has garnered so much
blind support to the detriment of human relations.
As to her
image as a nemesis to our great president, we now know that Ms. Daniels did not
authorize her sleazy lawyer, Michael Avenatti, to file her failed lawsuit. So, that move should not be held entirely against
her. In fact, she has become a largely sympathetic figure as she swings from
poles in strip clubs across America to raise some $300,000 to pay multibillion-dollar
Trump’s legal defense fees according to court order. Fortunately, her national publicity has
multiplied her performance fee, which might say something about what some people
really think of #MeToo. 12/18/18
He exposes the truth that has destroyed men’s careers, reputations,
families and finances in the wake of false and frivolous accusations of sexual
misconduct brought forth by grifters, vengeful colleagues, man-hating lesbians,
spurned spinsters and corporate vestal virgins.
Mr. Dodwell blows the whistle on dubious allegations treated as fact by
a media standard which holds that a woman accuser is always right and due
process be damned. #MeToo fraud was
borne out in the Bret Kavanaugh confirmation hearings and the faltering Harvey
Weinstein prosecution. Of late, the
movement is taken aback by those embarrassments, as well as growing public
support for the accused, and some media acknowledgement of the widespread injustices
this horrible feminist crusade has wrought.
In honor of his heroism Mr. Dodwell will always be prominently recognized
by The Comprehensive Conservative that he founded and for which he is the sole
writer. 12/17/18
My first selection entitled, “Cute”, is a 1950s Neil Hefti composition and
jazz standard I recorded in 1991.
Hear it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjSrMs9o2OQ
“You’ll Never Walk Alone” is a timeless inspirational song by Richard
Rodgers featured in the 1945 Broadway production, “Carousel”. I recorded it just last week. Hear it at https://youtu.be/ZoODU_aUFys
Finally, I present “A Sunday Kind Of Love”, a 1940s standard I recorded in
2017. Louie Prima wrote it in
collaboration with three other composers.
Hear it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze_upLUXkxg
For a large sampling of my piano recordings see my You Tube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrgNxZBhgoNNZ6nmb7SAKxA 12/12/18
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GO
AHEAD. CALL ME A RACIST. That is the attitude America must adopt to
disarm the left in its effort to intimidate the public into submission. The charge of racism shuts down debate
rendering easy victory for the accuser, and for liberals writ large. Conservatives, afraid to resist, fall for the
gambit hook, line and sinker. Even
though the epithet has become devalued as the left invokes it so gratuitously, the
charge still imposes dreaded social and professional banishment on the accused. As such, fear of the race card has to stop through a grass roots challenge to its power.
Casualties of the race card
Many absurdly
claim that criticism of Obama is racist.
In particular is the verboten questioning of his birthplace despite abundant
indications of his foreign origin that would have rendered him constitutionally
ineligible to be president. But the
media and legal authorities never allowed that evidence to see the light of day
as everyone on the left and right still shuns the topic because of supposedly
racist implications. Anyone who dares to raise the issue is ipso
facto racist, the Constitution be damned.
In addition, citing any differentiation between races on the basis of
physiology, genetics or statistically proven social facts is impolitic. For example, those who contemplate the
subject of highly disproportionate black crime and a predisposition for
violence are summarily dismissed or vilified. And, of course, they are called racist with
all the injustices that might ensue.
Celebrities
are especially vulnerable because the racist moniker applied to them sends a
message to large populations, even if it has no basis in fact. As such, the left makes examples of them in
illustrating the wrath it visits upon those who dissent from its fascist orthodoxy. The media silenced well-known oddsmaker Jimmy
the Greek in the 1970s for pointing out certain innate physical advantages of
black athletes. Meghan Kelly lost her
job for speaking benignly about wearing black face on Halloween as a child. ABC fired Rosanne Barr for a comical quip
about Valerie Jarret’s appearance, inferred by the media as a slur on her black
heritage. (How many even knew Jarret was black?) Kitchen maven Paula Deen lost her longtime television
program because of a racial slur she uttered thirty years prior. Papa John’s co-founder,
John Schnatter, had to resign because he used the N word in a conference call
about how to deal with the fallout from his public lament about the adverse
effect the NFL national anthem protests had on his business. In fact, in mentioning the word Schnatter simply
referenced chicken king, Colonel Sanders’ past use of the term with impunity,
suggesting the alleged racial implications of his anthem protest complaint were
unfounded. Florida Republican gubernatorial
candidate, Ron DeSantis took heat for referring to his black opponent’s
“monkeying around” with existing good policy.
LA Clippers owner, Donald Sterling, was crucified by the media and
forced to sell his team. All he did was
make a negative comment about blacks to his half-black girl friend in a private
phone conversation she exposed in an extortion attempt. The hit list is endless.
The left’s dependence on blacks
Twenty
years ago I overheard a long telephone conversation between a college professor
and an associate about having to recruit a black instructor. The white speaker kept repeating that a
particular candidate was “articulate”. Several
times in the course of the conversation he said, “… but he’s articulate”. Desperate to add a black to the faculty, apparently
under pressure from the administration, he figured that speaking well was
enough to make the candidate seem credible in the position and thus allow the
college to further demonstrate its diversity.
His background and expertise did not seem to matter as it was not
discussed. Surely, if the candidate is
articulate everyone will assume he is a qualified academic. Blacks play a major role in the diversity
game by which the left tries to divide and conquer. In fact, their grievance is stock in trade
for the left.
The left is
desperate to maintain the monolithic black Democratic voting block. It is said that if it falls under 85% from
the historical 90+%, the party cannot win at the ballot box. Liberals also depend on black pathologies to
justify trillions of dollars of government assistance. That largess empowers liberal politicians
through the black votes it garners. It
also enriches the institutions that get lucrative contracts to deploy the
goodies in exchange for political donations. Blacks
are a major meal ticket for the left. The
last thing it wants is a cure for poverty and other black ills. Indeed, the left uses black voters as pawns,
dupes, or as Marx would say, useful idiots.
As such, liberals are extremely protective of blacks, vilifying all who
refuse to pander to them and their allies. The race card is a major weapon for doing this.
But the
black electoral monolith that Democrats have taken for granted for so long may
be weakening. Witness the relatively
substantial black support for Donald Trump in the 2016 election. Also consider influential Kanye West’s public
support for him in a call for blacks to rethink their political loyalty. On the other hand, this serious threat to the
Democrats might cause them to double down in their charges of racism in an
effort to curry favor with questioning blacks and thus minimize defections. All the more reason to marshal a resistance
to the race card.
Fighting back
The public
must fight back against the race card the left uses as a tool to silence political
opposition. Rational debate is not
enough as the left is wedded to selfishly protecting blacks against criticism
no matter what, and it will lie, distort and defame as necessary. Truth means nothing to the left and political
expediency is everything in which intimidation is an important propaganda tactic.
The solution therefore is to challenge,
not shirk from, accusations of racism, not to just disprove it, but to mock the
charge as meaningless. (The same
resistance model can neutralize the left across the spectrum of intersectional political
identities in the battle against institutionalized victimhood.)
Show that the
accusation doesn’t faze you and that you will not give in to the intimidation. Respond insouciantly in a firm tone with, “Yeah,
whatever you say.” Ask the accuser if he
knows what a racist is, or to define one.
He will look foolish at his loss for words. Then turn it around by
calling him a racist because of some analogous behavior of his. Or, just jokingly call him a racist repeatedly,
every time you see him, especially in the presence of others. Say loudly, “Hey racist, what’s up?” That accuser will soon become very defensive
and retreat. But even after he relents,
keep taunting him by saying, “Aren’t I a racist anymore? I’m insulted.
But I bet you’re still a racist.”
Use your imagination. The
scenarios are limitless.
Those who
invoke the race card too much lose credibility.
Indeed, they are viewed as having no argument, and even as stupid. That
reality must suffuse the public consciousness.
Bill O’Reilly when he was with Fox News said his tactic for dealing with
the accusation is to look sternly into the accuser’s eye, say nothing, walk
away, and never speak to that person again. Good start, but people have to be more
proactive to win the war.
Of course,
reacting to the R word on a one-on-one basis is one thing. A bigger problem is when an employer or a
social affiliation gets wind of the charge. Their dread of guilt by association
can result in immediate expulsion for the accused. Not because they think there is anything
wrong, but because they have to pretend to think so in order to avoid serious
backlash from the left. And if the media
get involved, forget about it. A public
drubbing is anathema to anyone.
The
solution is to effect a popular revolt to get institutions to overcome their
fear of media backlash and join the grass roots, bottom up resistance described
above. This attitudinal revolution can
start with individuals adopting the aforementioned turnaround tactics en masse
in their daily lives as to declare a resounding collective No! to political
correctness. And blacks can help the
cause enormously to the extent they renounce the race card and their historical
fealty to the Democrat Party as they embrace political alternatives.
In time,
institutions will see that the emperor (the left) has no clothes as critical
mass sets in and fear abates among the people. Cowardly corporations will no longer fire
employees frivolously accused of racism, and advertisers won’t pull their
business when they see that gratuitous charges of racism are not taken
seriously anymore by the public. The
people have the upper hand if they would use it. If they do, the charge of racism will go the
way of “Your mother wears combat boots.” And America will say, Go ahead. Call me a racist. 12/10/18
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DON’T DONATE TO YOUR ALMA MATER. One effective way of protesting academia,
that Marxist bastion, is to withhold donations.
So, when your alma mater calls for that annual alumni fund, stiff them –
and tell them why. Starve that beast.
Your money is used to promote multicultural, environmental, LGBTQ and
anti-American awareness, as well as the rest of the radical left agenda. In particular, it goes to free rides for
minorities which enable the colleges to tout their diversity and burnish their
liberal bona fides that sustain government funding. Meanwhile, tuition for whites rises unabated.
It’s a typical socialist wealth redistributionist scheme. Some colleges are declared sanctuaries for
illegal aliens who get free or discounted tuition. A number of them join gangs
that maraud over campus. Cowardly
administrators refuse to quell disruptive behavior by naïve brainwashed
students. Don’t be a sucker. When the
endowments fall maybe the indoctrination will abate in favor of academic
freedom and campus discipline. Money talks.
http://www.williamjdodwell.com/ 12/6/18
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CELEBRATING SIX YEARS OF RIGHT-WING PONTIFICATION. This month marks the sixth anniversary of
“The Comprehensive Conservative”, the website dedicated to the proposition that
the best antidote to political correctness is POLITICAL INCORRECTNESS. If you
yearn for a conservative firebrand who takes no prisoners in the war on
liberals, check out The Comprehensive Conservative at http://www.williamjdodwell.com/
. This website obliterates leftist
shibboleths regarding race, climate change, #MeToo, and all political
correctness, while promoting individual freedom, limited government, the rule
of law, the sanctity of the Constitution, political and cultural sovereignty,
fiscal austerity, free markets, and personal responsibility. In the interest of unadulterated truth,
content focuses on the glass half empty for a change with no apologies for the
offended. It also condemns cultural deviancy that has undermined classic
standards of language, behavior, appearance and music. Atavistic?
Anachronistic? So what? Let’s celebrate in honor of the norms of yore
that built this nation, in particular the meritocratic model now lost in the
egalitarian cesspool of liberalism.
11/30/18
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TRUMP
VS. THE FED. Here is the dilemma in a
nutshell. The Fed continues to raise,
and normalize, rates to gradually deflate overpriced financial
assets created by the investor flight to higher-return assets in reaction to
chronic near-zero short-term rates. Or,
the Fed defers rate hikes and risks eventual inflation that will raise
long-term rates fast. This would
cause inflated asset prices to plummet precipitously and trigger a
recession. Unlike Trump, I call for the
former.
In
addition, the Fed should gradually sell off its $4 trillion securities portfolio
amassed from its post-crisis quantitative easing policy. This will raise, and normalize, long-term
rates as well. The net result would be
higher (normal) interest rates for savers, lenders and investors who fund the
real economy of goods and services. It
also would produce lower (normal) prices for investors in stocks and other
riskier assets that comprise the casino that is the financial economy.
Of course,
a higher interest-rate environment all around threatens current GDP growth
which most concerns Trump. But we must
endure some disruption and at long last pursue a return to normalcy in the
financial markets. This will help to ensure
sustained and more balanced economic growth in the future. 11/28/18
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CELEBRATING
SIX YEARS OF EXEGESIS FROM THE FAR RIGHT.
Today is the sixth anniversary of the shot heard ‘round the world with
the launch of my website, “The Comprehensive Conservative” at http://www.williamjdodwell.com/. Dedicated to the proposition that
the best antidote to political correctness is POLITICAL INCORRECTNESS, it
defies liberal sacred cows, shibboleths and third rails to expose truths no one
dares to broach. Covering politics,
culture and the economy from the perspective of the far right, it embraces a
truly comprehensive view of conservatism that decries a range of ills from
government intrusion and corruption to artistic and behavioral
deterioration. No one is spared in this
most impolitic pursuit of truth and propriety lost in the massive encroachment
of the left that has eroded individual freedoms, diminished America’s
exceptionalism, and degraded the quality of life. “The Comprehensive Conservative” invokes the
way it was in the hope of restoring a meritocracy consistent with the
principles of the founding, and reviving cultural standards of yore. Indeed, it’s about doing it the right way –
the right-wing way. 11/27/18
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AMERICA: DUMB AND DUMBER. Despite victories giving Republicans the
presidency and complete control of Congress in 2016, as well as retention of
the Senate in 2018, the country is dangerously close to a newly radical Democratic
Party permanently taking over. The
checks and balances inherent in government provide some solace. But the declining reliability of an
electorate that has largely succumbed to systemic political sabotage and
cultural erosion is call for alarm. Closet
socialist Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in the last presidential race,
while open socialist Bernie Sanders garnered huge support in the Democratic
primary. In 2018, Arizona radical
leftist Kyrsten Sinema won a senate seat, and Florida gubernatorial candidate
and avowed socialist, Andrew Gillum, lost by a whisker. Socialist “Beto”
O’Rourke came close to winning a senate seat in formerly pure-red Texas. In addition, once solidly conservative Orange
County, California has gone completely Democratic. What is going on with the American voters to
produce this outcome?
To be sure, significant
demographic changes have contributed to the leftward electoral drift. Witness the
growing Latino influences in Arizona, Texas and Florida, all rich in electoral
college representation. One wonders how
much of this derives from illegal aliens in the voting booths. But liberals from the northeast also are
moving in droves to those states, perhaps by some political design. It would seem that ethnic and ideological
changes could create certain structural transformation that might interfere
with the historical swing of the political pendulum.
Another
problem concerns the longstanding collaboration of the media and the
educational establishment to suppress serious thinking. This campaign aims to defuse challenges to
liberal orthodoxy, in particular the call for the ever-growing size and power
of government at the expense of individual freedom and thought. The mass media shroud truth while promoting
identity politics to balkanize the country and thus blunt its potential
resistance. The schools and colleges
have cravenly promoted the liberal agenda, infecting young minds with
propaganda and diluting academic standards to quash critical thinking. In particular, the academy has largely ended
the study of civics and American history to suppress that which made America
great and to extinguish the notion of sovereignty and patriotism. The result is a largely ignorant America that
elects far too many radical Democrats.
The left
diverts public attention from serious issues by celebrating sports and
entertainment to render the populace uninformed and thus predisposed to liberal
propaganda. As a consequence, we have a
citizenry that wallows in frivolity, shuns reading, and mocks scholarship. Indeed, the culture rejects serious
introspection and embraces the interests of the least common denominator in society,
all with a new technological impetus. This
is not a prescription for preserving American exceptionalism. But that destruction is exactly what the left
wants – a borderless, globalist amalgam of insoluble cultures beholden to a few
government elites presiding over the spoils that could be a massive underclass.
The country’s
obsession with sports is symptomatic of a cultural malaise that undermines a
seriousness essential to combating the nefarious incursions of the left. Wherever parents are heard talking about
their kids’ school activities it seems conversation always centers on the teams
they belong to, including those of the girls, and never their academics anymore. We must revert to the values of yore and
forge radical cultural change. Imagine a
country engaged in a cultural sea change in which empty sports stadiums and
arenas dot the landscape, and sports bars convert to brain bars that feature
televisions locked into Fox News, C-Span and InfoWars while Sinatra music streams
over the sound system. On a massive
scale, that is a recipe for a thoughtful cultivated electorate that will save
the nation against the onslaught of the radical left. Election Day would be much different. (I can dream can’t I?)
Make America
think again! 11/26/18
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#MeToo QUASHES
SEXUAL REALITY IN THE WORKPLACE. The recent
Google employee walkout in protest of sexual harassment is testament to the
groupthink and naivete of the movement’s sycophants. Even the CEO publicly embraced the event,
although intimidated workers would not speak with reporters. Never is sexual harassment defined, and the
woman is always to be believed. It would
seem that any overture is off limits, and a mere allegation is enough to banish
an accused. In fact, the Google CEO announced
that no payments will be made to anyone named in a sexual harassment
claim. What a travesty!
The nouveau
puritanism imposed by #MeToo denies the natural sexual dynamics of the
workplace. Indeed, what was normal male pursuit is now considered sexual
harassment. As such, the new mores leave
little room for starting relationships. The
fact since time immemorial is that women want and expect to be wooed,
especially if still disposed while the biological clock winds down. Oftentimes the workplace is the only venue
available to them, and men, as time constraints and circumstance preclude
alternatives. But for the #MeToo crowd
emasculating men to empower women is more important.
Historically,
women rely on the workplace to meet men in the hope of marriage, children, and
yes, sexual recreation. Middle age women
can’t go to clubs anymore. And they may
not be interested in adoption, surrogacy, childlessness or maidenhood. Men instinctively initiate the interactive
process that accommodates women’s desires.
Perhaps, it’s a prolonged gaze, an innocuous touch, mutually furtive
knee contact under a conference table, or a slightly salacious double entendre
with a smile. This is not sexual
harassment. It’s flirting. It’s sexual reality in the workplace. Indeed, it’s life. So, get out of the way #MeToo!
When a few men
and women work in close proximity for an extended time, such as a temporary
office at an offsite function, sparks will fly. Many men would eventually make a pass at a
woman in that circumstance. And many
women would be disappointed if they didn’t. But #MeToo makes that quite dangerous today.
I know of one man’s
experience that is instructive as a microcosm of sexual reality in the workplace. On three separate occasions in different
years, he cautiously indicated sexual interest in a woman colleague. In each case, she appeared with a plunging
neckline the next day exposing abundant cleavage. The message was clear: You started it, so you complete it. Today, such a scenario might prompt a woman
to cash in through a frivolous sexual harassment lawsuit.
#MeToo
deprives women of important emotional experience because of its taboo against
sexual expression in the workplace, as it deters many men from behaving
normally as women would expect. The
movement is supposed to benefit women.
But in reality it probably makes many of them quite unhappy.
See my
manifesto, “War On MeToo: The Real Story
About Sexual Harassment” at https://sites.google.com/site/thecomprehensiveconservative/culture/current-commentary
11/6/18
-
A PERSONAL
APPEAL TO SAVE THE NATION. Vote
Republican on November 6th. Turnout
is vital! It’s all been said but the following cannot be repeated enough.
-
This election
is mainly about keeping Democrats out so Republicans can retain control of the
House and Senate. But it’s also about
increasing those majorities to facilitate passing Trump’s agenda. Undesirable Republicans can be dealt with
later.
-
A Democratic House or Senate would undo the economic
prosperity enjoyed since Trump’s election as business and consumer confidence
wane and the left thwarts Trump’s reforms.
-
The Democrats
would raise taxes and abandon all immigration controls as they lead key
committees that control the legislative process.
-
Democrats have
lurched radically to the left in their dedication to making America a socialist
nation on the order of Europe. They are
globalists.
- Remember the corrupted
Kavanaugh hearings, the caravans, and sanctuary cities all of which have shown
the Democrats’ true colors. Democrats support
unbridled illegal immigration ultimately to create legions of new voters, the
vast majority of whom will certainly vote Democratic if citizenship is eventually
granted. They don’t care a whit about
the effect of waves of impoverished migrants and the many criminals among them. 11/5/18
-
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THE NEW FOX
NEWS: ALL CHICKS ALL THE TIME. Ever since Fox News settled several sexual
harassment lawsuits last year it has flooded the zone with female anchors,
contributors and panelists in desperate atonement for its supposed sins. The news set now rivals the Rockettes conga
line at Radio City Music Hall across the street from its New York City offices
often appearing in the background. What’s
next, the Menstrual Minstrels? It’s not
that the women on the air aren’t whip smart and competent. It’s a cultural thing. There’s little testosterone left there. Since men rule the world they are best suited
to report on it, and probably constitute the bulk of the audience.
Here are some
hypothetical substitutions that would improve the already good ratings. Retain Sean Hannity, Lou Dobbs, Brit Hume,
Mark Levin and Brian Kilmeade, and add Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Mark
Steyn, Bill O’Reilly, and Alex Jones.
Want gender balance? Keep Jean
Pirro, the hottest chick in cable news, and give Ann Coulter and Michelle
Malkin their own shows. As to the other Foxettes,
send them to Naked News. I’ll gladly
watch them over there. (Take that
#MeToo!) 10/31/18
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TRUMP IS WRONG
ABOUT INTEREST RATES. The president has
been quite vocal about his opposition to the Fed raising short-term interest
rates, even calling into question the wisdom of his appointing Jerome Powell as
chairman. This concern no doubt stems
from Trump’s historical sensitivity to interest rates as a real estate
developer heavily dependent on borrowing.
But now he should concern himself with the entire economy and the need
to normalize interest rates long suppressed by monetary stimulus following the
financial crisis. It is time to get off
the medication and end the artificial comfort. (I was a lone wolf calling for
rate normalization in my writings over five years ago.)
To stimulate
the economy after the financial crisis the Fed kept short-term rates near zero
for ten years. It also tried to suppress
long-term rates artificially to stimulate consumption and investment. This was achieved through two years of quantitative
easing by which it purchased over $3 trillion dollars of Treasury and mortgage
bonds, the proceeds of which flooded the financial system with liquidity. As a result of the low rates, investors
sought higher returns in risky financial assets such as stocks, exotic bonds
and private-equity.
Barring an impending
recession, it is long past the time to normalize artificially low rates to
redirect capital away from the inflated financial economy and back to
traditional bank loans, savings accounts, C/Ds and corporate bonds that finance
the real economy of goods and services, as well as to compensate ordinary
savers again. That has started to happen
in response to the Fed’s rate hikes. For
example, safe bank C/Ds now fetch about 3%, enough to compete with volatile
stocks, which recently have declined substantially. But eventually, the Fed also has to unwind
its $4 trillion-dollar balance sheet bloated by its aforementioned bond purchases. This will almost inevitably raise long-term rates
as capital is withdrawn from the financial system to buy the bonds the Fed is
selling. The Fed’s need to liquidate
such a massive bond portfolio distinguishes today’s monetary circumstance from
any in the past.
Why normalize
interest rates while the economy is doing fine with 2% inflation, 3.6%
unemployment, around 4% GDP growth, a 2.25% Fed benchmark rate, and a still relatively
low 10-year Treasury bond yielding a little over 3 %? Because the Fed thinks the economy is
flirting with overheating having reached its long-awaited 2% target inflation
rate, the central bank wants to nip potential inflation in the bud. To that end, the Fed seeks an equilibrium rate
that is neither stimulative nor restrictive. But some argue there is still enough slack in
a possibly structurally changed economy not to warrant more rate hikes yet as
unemployment has uncharacteristically declined in the face of rising interest
rates. Indeed, for the first time on
record, available jobs substantially exceed job seekers this year.
However, recent
growth is primarily a result of Trump’s tax cut and deregulation that have
generated new private capital in the place of banks, as well as the capital
markets that have been distorted by a yield-chasing escape from low interest
rates. Eventually, the economy will need
that diverted capital to support production and consumption for continued
growth as the effects of lower taxes and deregulation abate. That means raising rates to make traditional
saving and investment in traditional bank C/Ds, money market accounts, bank
loans and investment-grade corporate bonds attractive enough again to fund the production
and consumption of goods and services.
Otherwise, that capital will continue to be locked up in the financial
economy in the form of stocks and bonds.
Current economic conditions probably call for short-term rates in the 4%
range and a 10-year Treasury at about 5.5%.
Mr. President, brace yourself.
10/30/18
-
#MeToo IS REELING. The movement has not only suffered from the behavior
of its advocates in the Brett Kavanaugh hearings and from the lies of Harvey
Weinstein accusers exposed in his trial.
Its credibility diminishes every day as more women bemoan its
politicization and the risk it poses for their male loved ones. In addition, more and more realize that the movement
doesn’t speak for women any more than NOW has.
Rather, it is largely promoted by bull dykes whose worst nightmare is to
be touched by a man, even as an innocent “grope”. These women are motivated by their man
hatred, not the genuine abuse of women.
Here is an excerpt from my
manifesto, “War On #MeToo: The Real
Story About Sexual Harassment” available at https://sites.google.com/site/thecomprehensiveconservative/culture/current-commentary
“What role does the proverbial
man-hating lesbian play in the filing of frivolous and false sexual harassment
claims? Is #MeToo a subrosa
manifestation of the LGBT community? Does #MeToo plan to emulate the activism
and thuggery the gay mafia displays in its promotion of same-sex marriage and
other demands? Perhaps when #MeToo’s
real identity and motives become apparent, women will realize that the movement
might not speak for the majority of them any more than NOW has all these
years. No offense to lesbians.” 10/24/18
-
BEWARE THE DEMOCRAT LIE ABOUT HEALTH CARE PRE-EXISTING
CONDITIONS. Since health care is currently
the number one issue among voters according to polls, it is important to
challenge the incessant Democrat mantra about GOP support for excluding
pre-existing conditions in health insurance policies. The fact is every Republican proposal covers
them and not a single Republican official objects, including the president. Of course, the left knows this but it
shamelessly lies to scare many fearful citizens into voting Democratic on this
basis next month. Without constant
rebuttal everywhere, this lie could do serious damage to Republican candidates. It must be forcefully and persistently
challenged on cable television panel discussions, Republican advertising, public
debates, social media and grass roots political conversations. 10/23/18
-
THE KHASHOGGI HOOPLA IS ABOUT GLORIFYING
JOURNALISTS. Would we hear about this
case so much if the victim were not a journalist? Or a journalist working for a conservative
publication instead of The Washington Post? This is largely about media glorifying their
own by portraying journalists as sacrosanct.
10/22/18
-
HARVEY WEINSTEIN PROSECUTON FALTERS. The #MeToo movement may get another black eye
to add to its embarrassment in the Kavanaugh hearings. The rape trial of Harvey Weinstein, the
supposed universal symbol of sexual misconduct and catalyst for the crusade, has
exposed some inconvenient truths. As it
happens two of the accusers engaged in consensual, not coercive, sex with
Weinstein according to revelations and an email. In addition, the judge dismissed a leading
figure of the prosecution for withholding exculpatory evidence that discredits
an accuser. With that, the leading
Assistant DA resigned just before she reached a 20-year tenure that would
qualify her for a pension. Then a second
Assistant DA quit.
It’s funny what
comes to light when sexual harassment cases go to trial where plaintiff lies
are exposed and the rule of law is applied.
That’s why only 25% of sexual misconduct cases go to court and only 5%
of those result in conviction. The
#MeToo modus operandi capitalizes on the reluctance of both the accuser and
defendant to bear the cost and humiliation of trial by forcing lucrative
settlements that sustain false and frivolous charges. They also encourage more phony accusations that
collectively create the inaccurate impression of massive injustice against
women. 10/22/18
-
FEMINIST PROTESTORS UNDERMINE THE QUEST FOR
WOMEN’S EQUALITY. The behavior of
Kavanaugh protestors in the Senate hearing room, outside the Supreme Court, in elevator
cages and elsewhere really makes women look bad. These screeching hysterical broads are
unbearable, many with crewcuts and buzzcuts that typify what one might expect
in this lot. Their fragility, self-pity
and irrationality don’t inspire support for women’s equality. On the contrary, they remind us of why women
have always been subordinate. They must
be an embarrassment to the many level-headed conforming women who contribute so
much. From a man’s perspective, these
demonstrations, coupled with the fraud and injustice of the #MeToo movement,
reinforce the affinity for the proverbial old boys network. Considering it is still a man’s world, all
this ruckus moves women several steps backward.
It does more to send them to the unemployment line than to the board
room. 10/12/18
-
#MeToo IN DAMAGE CONTROL MODE. In the wake of the black eye resulting from
the Kavanaugh imbroglio, #MeToo runs for cover. The new mantra is to remind the world that men
who make accusations about sexual misconduct also should be listened to. Witness recent statements by Kamala Harris
and Melania Trump, just to name a couple.
So now that the movement acknowledges that men may also file phony
charges of sexual assault everything is supposed to be fine. No consolation here. Only an infinitesimal percentage of sexual
charges are filed by men against women. After
all, what red blooded straight American male would complain about sexual
aggression from a women? Is this
concession aimed at same-sex offenses? In
any case, nothing mitigates the gross injustices of so many he said/she said
disputes that have defined the movement.
10/11/18
- “Rally grass roots
support for a non-violent insurgency using “War on MeToo” T-shirts, hats, buttons and bumper stickers.
Feature man/woman couples arm-in-arm wearing the gear.”
- “Fire suspected troublemakers before they sue
for sexual harassment. An employer is legally free to terminate an employee for
any reason other than discrimination, barring specific contract proscriptions.
Therefore, the employer must ensure that the termination does not appear to be
retaliation for an anticipated sexual harassment claim. State of the art
surveillance technology is available that could surreptitiously monitor
employees to detect brewing sexual harassment lawsuits. For example, employers
increasingly use sensors to track working performance, communications, and
customer service.” 10/10/18
-
#MeToo IS ON
THE ROPES. GO FOR THE KNOCKOUT. Brett
Kavanaugh’s confirmation is a huge battle victory in the war against #MeToo as the
movement’s undue influence in the senate hearing backfired. Now is the time to leverage a public
awakening about #MeToo abuses in the effort to slay this beast. The new calls for due process involving an
initial presumption of innocence and appropriate evidentiary standards for the
accused must be adopted in the workplace where so many are targets of false or
exaggerated allegations of sexual misconduct. The automatic credibility of the accuser must
end. Henceforth, Kavanaugh’s name should
be invoked as a caveat to every sexual harassment accusation.
For background
information about the movement and inspiration for defeating it, see my
manifesto, “War On #MeToo: The Real
Story About Sexual Harassment” at https://sites.google.com/site/thecomprehensiveconservative/culture/current-commentary
(It was published two weeks before
Christine Blasey Ford came forward.) 10/9/18
Here’s another
excerpt from the paper under the heading “What hath #MeToo wrought?”
“The new paradigm is a godsend for
feminists, particularly the man-hating lesbians among them that give the
movement impetus. #MeToo also invites
the pursuit of potentially lucrative paydays for the litigious and their
lawyers, and provides an outlet for personal vengeance against work
colleagues. Now employers face potential
liability amid new workplace conventions that negate natural male tendencies
toward women. Indeed, today companies
hire women at their own peril.”
As in any war, collateral damage is
inevitable. As such, talented, productive women may be caught in the cross fire,
even some who may run rings around their male counterparts. But just as war is the price of national
security, it is also the price of national justice. 10/3/18
-
#MeToo
EXPOSED. The #MeToo mentality was on
display for all the nation in the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings. The Democrats and their operatives
demonstrated how the movement leverages the feminist agenda for larger
political purposes. Indeed, its credo
has been exposed: Defend the accuser and
vilify the accused regardless of exculpatory evidence, and perpetrate lies,
concealment, and any dirty trick toward that end. Now for the first time, commentators are
defending the generic accused. Let’s see
if this change of heart extends to the countless cases involving companies and
other settings where so many defendants faced gross injustice.
The confirmation
spectacle makes my anti-#MeToo manifesto all the more compelling. See the complete paper at https://sites.google.com/site/thecomprehensiveconservative/culture/current-commentary
10/2/18
Christine Blasey Ford
Ever since
Christine Blasey Ford came forward she has been coddled ad nauseum by the
Republicans and, of course, the Democrats.
This includes the Republican senators on the committee, Brett Kavanaugh
himself, the interrogator for the Republicans, Rachel Mitchell, and even the
president. Indeed, the Republicans have
been loath to criticize Ms. Ford at all out of fear of appearing to bully her
and thus alienate women against confirmation in the court of public opinion,
and as voters in the midterm elections.
As such, Senate Judiciary Committee leader, Senator Grassley, bent over
backwards to accommodate Ms. Ford’s conditions for testifying, except for an
unprecedented demand that the accused appear for questioning first. Meanwhile, the Democrats on the committee and
Ford’s lawyers subvert the process through delay tactics in the hope of
extending the process to the November elections and thus end Kavanaugh’s
nomination.
Under questioning,
Ms. Ford appeared weak and childish, but nonetheless credible. In fact, many say she seemed somewhat
imbalanced. Besides her odd demeanor
before the committee, her statements about her state of mind, supposedly
attributed to Kavanaugh’s alleged attack, are telling. One example concerns her paranoia in
installing a second front door on her house against her husband’s adamant
objection. In addition, some speculate
that hypnosis administered during a session with her therapist might have
created a false memory involving Kavanaugh.
Would any Republican suggest that she submit to a psychiatric
examination that might call into question her wholly unsubstantiated claims
about the incident in question in the face of Kavanaugh’s categorical
denials? After all, Democrats cite
Kavanaugh’s alleged vulnerability to blacking out during drinking as a taint on
the veracity of his firm denials. Of
course, Republicans would not dare challenge Ms. Ford.
Her lawyers
As mentioned,
the Democrat game plan is to delay the process past the midterm elections. This affords the possibility of snuffing out
Kavanaugh’s candidacy, as well as any other conservative nominee, through a
newly elected Democrat Senate majority in January. (A confirmation during the
lame duck session is very unlikely.)
That Democrat majority could further diminish the prospect of a
conservative nominee by keeping the vacancy unfilled until a possible Democrat
presidential victory in 2020.
To that end,
Ms. Ford’s lawyers, recommended to her by Senator Feinstein in a most
unorthodox intervention, have been quite instrumental. They stalled Ms. Ford’s appearance in
Washington for ten days while insisting on outlandish demands and lying about
her fear of flying. As to the latter,
her lawyers withheld from her Senator Grassley’s offer to fly a representative
to her home in California for the questioning.
Her counsel also refused to present Ms. Ford’s medical records of the
alleged assault. And, those lawyers did
not present to the committee the complete notes of Ms. Ford’s therapist
concerning a 2012 session. Ms. Ford says
she mentioned the incident to the therapist then, but admits that Kavanaugh’s
name did not appear in the notes. One
has to wonder whether these lawyers are the culprits who leaked to the
Washington Post Ms. Ford’s letter she sent to Feinstein, thus denying her the
privacy she coveted by thrusting her into the public spotlight for purely
political purposes.
Committee
senators
No Republican
on the committee questioned the dishonesty of Ms. Ford’s lawyers in trying to
delay the process, because by extension that would impugn Ms. Ford. Might that restraint also be out of some
perverse sense of professional courtesy to fellow lawyers? Rather than confront Ms. Ford and invite
accusations of bullying, the all-male Republican majority on the committee
hired a female prosecutor to interrogate her, while those members remained
totally silent. What cowardice. The search for truth should transcend
political optics, which were exaggerated anyway.
Most
reprehensively, Democrat Senator Feinstein concealed from the committee Ms.
Ford’s letter to her about Kavanaugh’s alleged offense for some six weeks,
raising the issue just before a committee vote on confirmation was to be
taken. This was the most egregious delay
tactic. It forced additional hearings
and another FBI inquiry that could have occurred much earlier. Now the current one-week FBI investigation of
allegations against Kavanaugh could raise additional implausible or bogus
allegations in an extended probe that could run out the clock on the
confirmation process.
Committee
Democrats and Ms. Ford’s lawyers subverted the process through corruption and
character assassination amid the total absence of evidence supporting the
complainant. And Republicans lacked the
courage to call foul on the lawyers’ dishonesty and were too timid to
effectively challenge the accuser. In an
eleventh hour flourish Senator Lindsey Graham forcefully denounced the attacks
on Kavanaugh to good effect. But it was
not nearly enough. As many have said, if
these hearings are prologue, justice in America is seriously endangered. 10/1/18
Miscellaneous Thoughts Posted to Linked In Between January and March 2019
By William J. Dodwell
-
MORE CONSERVATIVE CULTURE. Here is a very different depiction of the
late great pianist, Roger Williams, who influenced me for many decades. See him play two pianos at the same time alternating
quite impressively from one to the other without missing a beat. Hold on for the complete clip to fully
appreciate this performance at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGcdH_141hU 3/22/19
-
MY FIRST
LINKED IN VIDEO. I retreat from the
political wars again for a brief conservative musical respite. Here I feature a just recorded video of my piano
rendition of the Jimmy Webb ballad, “By The Time I Get To Phoenix”. Note that the piano needs tuning, and I’m not
really as gruff as I appear (except when irked by liberals). Access the video at https://youtu.be/-bwhpp2c9uQ For more selections see my You Tube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrgNxZBhgoNNZ6nmb7SAKxA This is
an appeal to conservative culture. 3/22/19
-
REPARATIONS? YOU’VE
GOT TO BE KIDDING. The word
“reparations” increasingly emerges among Democrat presidential candidates. The stated justification is to compensate
blacks for slavery. But nobody mentions
the $20+ trillion of taxpayer-funded government social programs directed to the
black community in the last fifty years, as well as massive affirmative action,
and the anti-discrimination legislation passed on their behalf. Imagine the reaction to a new deduction on the
pay stub labeled “reparations”. One could
hear the shot launching a revolution.
As to slavery,
consider Kanye West’s suggestion that perhaps blacks willfully remained with
their masters. After all, they had a
job, food and a roof over their heads.
To fend for themselves on the streets would have been quite daunting. Not to deny real atrocities, but most slave owners,
including some of our founding fathers, probably were benign.
Maybe blacks
should compensate America for the havoc they have wreaked over the years. Call it reverse-reparations. Consider all their violent crime and other
pathologies that cost lives, deplete the national treasure and diminish the
quality of life. How about a White Man’s
Restitution Fund? Imagine blacks on seeing
that item on their pay stubs.
Let’s declare
it even and move on. 3/12/19
-
STIFLE THE GREEN NEW DEAL TALK. To say the Green New Deal is
implausible is to state the abundantly obvious.
The left relishes the attention the proposal is getting because, absurd as it is, it raises awareness about the
general climate change issue and might even convert the extremely naïve in the
process. Conservatives should hector
anyone who mentions the Green New Deal and tell them to shut up and sit
down. The Green New Deal is as
preposterous as the Abominable Snowman, so why do we mention it in serious
discourse? Bury the issue. 3/11/19
-
NATIONAL WHITE MAN’S DAY.
Consistent with International Women’s Day and Black History Month it is
appropriate to designate a time to celebrate the white man, the most significant
identity group. Critics would say such
tributes focus on oppression and overcoming it, so the white man as supposed oppressor
does not qualify for commemoration. But
his accomplishments and current plight parallel the celebration criteria of
other groups.
Since the dawn
of humanity the white man has conceived and produced almost everything: Product, businesses, technology,
infrastructure, medicine, indeed the totality of human knowledge. But now he endures serious trouble in the
face of efforts by the body politic to marginalize him. Consider same-sex marriage, gender fluidity, #MeToo
attacks and cultural emasculation. Men
are overlooked for many jobs, and are the first fired and last hired with
swings in the business cycle. Recall the
“mancession” in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Some even say there is no room for a white
male on the 2020 Democratic presidential ticket.
As such, a
holiday is in order to honor the white man’s historical dominance, as well as to
highlight the need to rectify the inequities he faces today. 3/11/19
-
NEW YORK CITY NOW PERMITS POT IN SCHOOLS AND RELAXES ALL OTHER
DISCIPLINE. The purpose of my many
irreverent posts and writings is to create acute awareness of the scourge that
liberalism has wrought and to spark public outcry and corrective action. The deterioration of New York City public schools
is an example of the societal damage that motivates my contempt for the left.
While not
officially sanctioning the use of marijuana, city school officials will no
longer issue summonses to students for smoking pot on the premises, thus
creating de facto acceptance of the practice.
It’s an “if you can’t beat them, join them” policy. Now students are given a “warning card” about
which their parents are notified. The
reason cited for the change is to prevent students from establishing a
permanent criminal record that can later disqualify them for college, jobs and
other prospects. This problem is
understandable. But the solution is to
amend the legal sanctions for possession, not adopt tolerance carte blanche. Chronic violators of this and other offenses
should be segregated at separate locations like special education students are,
permanently if necessary. They have to
learn the consequences of breaking the rules, to include the possibility of
life on the margins of society or even prison.
To be sure, the
new policy will result in an inevitable increase in pot consumption as the
greater immediate availability of the drug, peer pressure, and an ongoing atmosphere
of intoxication encourage kids who would not otherwise indulge. How will students concentrate on class
lessons, or function while taking exams?
The secondary smoke alone is debilitating. These questions do not even seem to be of concern. Perhaps pot tolerance is a deliberate way to
further dumb down youth, along with diluted curricula and performance standards,
to ensure future docile adults. Surely,
they will not challenge evermore encroachments on their freedoms by government
or question ongoing media promotion of the liberal agenda. They will not have the awareness or motivation
to do that. Indeed, the future dolts
will likely vote Democrat if they vote at all, as the left declares victory.
What about the
health effects of marijuana use? There
is no question that chronic use of cannabis in one’s youth damages cognition
and mental stability, some more than others, especially considering the
strength of today’s brand. And studies
show that marijuana as a gateway drug is no canard. Might the left deny these dangers because it really
wants to weaken America? Meanwhile,
cigarette smoking is verboten – but nary a word about banning it because it is
a huge source of tax revenue that funds leftist activities. Doubtless, New York Democrats who dominate
the governorship and legislature are chomping at the bit for the tax windfall
that will come from eventual pot legalization.
Fortunately, the New York State Republican Party actively opposes that
proposal.
But wait, there’s
more! The New York City Department of
Education also has stopped enforcing all other rules of discipline as a matter
of policy because punishments disproportionately impact minority students. According to one study, the suspension rate
for blacks was almost three times that of whites for 2016-2017. The concern is that constant admonishment and
a long record of violations will put at-risk students on a school-to-prison
path. Now teachers report that acts of
violence and gross disrespect occur with abandon, as even good students are
encouraged to misbehave because of impunity.
Perversely, some school officials will take credit for a perceived
improvement in conduct because of a decline in violations which, of course, are
no longer recorded because all restrictions are removed. Again, offenders must be extracted from the
general student population to protect the others.
Furthermore, New
York City under uber-liberal Mayor de Blasio has abandoned the rigorous
admission test for its elite high schools because minorities are drastically
under-represented. What’s more, a
proposal to lower a minimum passing grade from 65 to 37 is under consideration. Meanwhile, city and state governments resist
the urgent call for charter schools. In
fact, de Blasio refuses to rent vacant space to them for classrooms while Governor
Andrew Cuomo imposes restrictive caps on their number. Despite their stellar records of performance and
desperate demand for them in minority communities, the liberal Democrat
establishment remains opposed to charter schools in obeisance to the odious teachers unions that fund its election
campaigns.
The left is
obsessed with accommodating minorities and forging artificial racial equality
at any cost for political expediency.
But jettisoning behavioral and academic standards just alienates the
compliant and achieving students as to exacerbate the racial divide in the
classroom and beyond. Truth be told,
blacks and whites are largely insoluble populations in the public schools and
should be separated where necessary. But
the end game for the left is to destroy meritocracy to make way for its
opposite, an egalitarian socialist state. And the people, and the students, be
damned. Law-abiding concerned Americans
should be mad as hell, speak out, and act en masse! 3/8/19
-
THE OSCARS: WHAT A
MESS. Of course, I did not watch
Sunday’s Oscar Awards as I practice what I preach (for the most part). So I searched YouTube clips and read articles
to renew justification for my ongoing diatribe against Hollywood and for my annual
appeal to “Ignore the Oscars”. I was not
disappointed. Continuing last year’s
repentance for the much criticized paucity of black representation among
previous Oscar nominations and winners, Hollywood went all out down the Diversity
Highway.
The
nominations were replete with black actors, and black-themed films, including
three nominations and Best Picture. Blacks
pranced all over the set like gazelles as Spike Lee, Samuel Jackson and others
displayed their buffoonery. And all
manner of foreign winners boasted their heritage, notably Mexican actor, Diego Luna,
who gave his acceptance speech entirely in Spanish in a supposed dig at President
Trump for his immigration policy.
Sexually ambiguous actor Billy Porter appeared on the red carpet in a
dress in support of the transgender set.
The diversity festival culminated in an unctuous speech by Queen Bee,
Barbra Streisand, lamenting racial discrimination as if it hasn’t changed in 50
years.
For most, Lady
Gaga was a much anticipated standout. Her
“Shallow” won Best Original Song which she sang with Bradley Cooper in the
nominated “A Star Is Born”, as well as on the Oscars stage. I ignored Lady Gaga for several years in the
beginning as some deviant decadent nihilist.
Then I saw her perform with Tony Bennet a few years ago on television
singing my kind of music, that is, standards from The Great American
Songbook. Wow! She’s an enormous talent, if only she would
stick to that musical genre. See my
article about her in The Comprehensive Conservative athttp://www.williamjdodwell.com/archives Scroll down to Culture, December 22, 2014.
All said, as a
life-long pianist, I have to see Best Picture winner “Green Book” featuring a
segment of the life of world class black pianist Don Shirley, who I never heard
of until this movie. (Nor did Kris
Bowers who performed the piano parts.) But
I certainly won’t see the film in a movie theater. I’ll wait for it on YouTube.
A major consolation
is that this year’s Oscars, which attracted about 30 million viewers, was the
second lowest rated show, only to last year’s program which garnered 27 million
viewers. At its peak, the Oscars touted
over 60 million viewers. It seems the
public has had enough of political charade, but Hollywood doesn’t care. Those folks are dedicated to degrading our
culture and dooming the republic. 2/26/19
-
THE COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATIVE SIDES WITH THE LEFT. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously against state
statutes that allow asset forfeiture.
The decision upholds the Eight Amendment concerning cruel and unusual punishment
as it relates to excessive fines, already applied at the federal level. Asset forfeiture is the practice where police
confiscate property of individuals apprehended in a crime. They then sell the illicit assets and use the
proceeds for police expenditures, to include bonuses. The Court’s ruling establishes that property
taken by state and local police must be proportional to the crime. Confiscating cash obtained in a drug deal is
one thing. But expropriating the house
of an old lady whose grandson is caught secretly selling drugs in her basement
is quite another. Seizing a
perpetrator’s legitimately purchased automobile over a few hundred dollars of
drugs is also outrageous. The
disgraceful former Attorney General, Jeff Sessions supported asset forfeiture.
It is great to see justice served on both the left and the right. 2/22/19
-
LOCAL POLICE GET MILITARY SURPLUS. President Trump has arranged for certain
military surplus to be donated to local police departments, despite some
resistance from the Department of Defense.
Driving down the road in my neighborhood today I saw a full size police-marked
military Humvee parked in front of a middle school. Why? This in a New York City suburb where
there is probably no crime. Put it this
way - the black population is less than 1%.
That said, crime could originate with invaders from notoriously
crime-ridden Newark, NJ 20 miles away on the other side of a small mountain. On
second thought, maybe we do need a police Humvee. But why in front of a school? 2/21/19
-
IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN.
TIME TO IGNORE THE OSCARS. I
reprise my annual appeal to ignore the upcoming Oscar Awards. Leftist, anti-Christian Hollywood is a major
enemy of conservatives. It promotes
Marxist dreck in its films and throughout media capitalizing on the public’s
ignorance and mindless infatuation with its celebrities, the so-called American
equivalent of royalty. No doubt the newly chastened (not) hedonists again will
highlight #MeToo and Time’s Up nonsense for political absolution. Let’s hope eventually we see more defectors
like the great James Woods. Ban the box
office! 2/19/19
My comment about net operating losses (NOL) referred to
federal taxes. Your mention of tax
incentives, while legitimate, applies only to state and local taxes. The far greater reason Amazon doesn’t pay
taxes is because of the federal tax code as it relates to NOLs as I
explained. For many years Amazon did not
turn a profit during which it accumulated net operating losses to offset its huge
current pre-tax profits. In addition, Amazon and many other companies paradoxically
reported losses in 2018 because of Trump’s new tax law. Specifically, the
aforementioned losses of prior years (and potential future tax credits) that accumulated
at the old 35% corporate rate had to be reduced in value to reflect the tax
benefit at the new 21% rate. Also,
Trump’s new tax caused multinational companies to pay U.S. taxes for the first
time on repatriated overseas earnings of many years prior, now subject to a
lower tax rate. All this resulted in
large charges to earnings that lowered or eliminated the current tax liability
for Amazon and many other companies. 2/18/19
-
MY THEORY ABOUT THE DEMOCRAT LURCH TO THE FAR LEFT. I believe the menagerie of Democrat
presidential candidates, in concert with the party at large and the mass media,
are orchestrating an experiment. The
goal is to rapidly accelerate a heretofore gradualist effort to impose
socialism on the nation a la Europe. The
sudden turn sharply to the left on issues across the board is no accident. The initial impetus for this move was the
surprising popularity of self-described democratic socialist Senator Bernie
Sanders in the 2016 presidential election, particularly among the increasingly
influential millenials. Many of that
generation became disaffected in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Others are amenable to radical change amid
growing income inequality, intensified divisiveness promoted by identity
politics, and in response to indoctrination by radicalized schools and colleges,
and to intense anti-Trump media. Further
momentum came from the surprising successes and near-successes of many far-left
candidates in the 2018 elections, most significantly, young outspoken socialist
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) who won a small Hispanic-dominated district over
a white Democrat stalwart.
The new Democrat approach
to socialism involves first testing the national appetite for the radical agenda,
and then determining how viable it is at the ballot box. In the process, the Democrats are quite
willing to concede some elections. If
they can garner, say, 35% of the vote in support of a radical platform in the
2020 presidential election, they will have established a benchmark by which to
evaluate what adjustments are necessary to get the vote to 45% quickly, and
soon thereafter to an electoral majority. Meanwhile, the radical agenda will
suffuse state and local governments everywhere for added impetus. If the Democrats get only 20% of the national
vote, their plan will have failed and they probably would revert to the former norm
(for a while).
The first step has
been to stake out extreme positions throughout the party at federal, state and local
levels while blocking moderate candidates.
California and New York have taken the lead through Governors Brown,
Newsom and Cuomo, as well as Mayor de Blasio.
Freshman New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a de facto
rabbit in the race to the left tasked with touting the most radical reforms to
set a baseline from which to proceed. These
elected officials have promoted such drastic proposals as sanctuary cities,
open borders, termination of ICE, post-birth abortion, Medicare-for-all, elimination
of private health insurance, absurd environmental changes codified in a Green New
Deal, usurious tax schemes, free college, and a guaranteed income, even
for those unwilling to work. In the
process, political candidates have renounced their former moderate positions
out of an epiphany of sorts. All this
with the full cooperation of newly radicalized media.
A central plank of the
plan is to admit as many illegal aliens as possible in order to maximize the
potential Democratic votes that inevitably would result in the event of
eventual amnesty and citizenship. Relatedly,
Democrats strive for massive reapportionment that will ensure victory in the
electoral college. To that end,
Democrats, contrary to positions taken a few years ago, shamelessly oppose
border security, despite the dangers of incoming illicit drugs, human trafficking,
crime, disease and the attendant scourges on communities throughout the nation.
Most expected
candidates for president in 2020 have rallied around the new radical agenda,
much in response to the AOC catalyst. But
one dissenter and traditional liberal, former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, is
running as an independent much to the chagrin of Democrats fearing a split
ticket. Former New York City mayor,
Michael Bloomberg, also has expressed objections to the proposed economic
extremism. And House Speaker, Nancy
Pelosi, has denounced the Green New Deal as unrealistic, partly out of concern
about ceding influence to the party insurgency.
In time the radicals will likely moderate their positions in response to
polls in hope of ultimately landing substantially left of the status quo with a
critical mass of support for a socialist state.
The new Democrat Party
believes the time is ripe for a precipitous radical shift to the left given the
political disposition of the largest demographic that is the maturing
millenials, as well as successful litmus tests in recent elections, and media inspired
anti-Trump sentiment. But advocates risk
overplaying their hand such that a backlash ensures a Trump reelection and a
new galvanized resistance to leftist forces, now recognizing what they really
want. However, one cannot overestimate
the danger of the uninformed voter and the growing appetite for free things,
considering the left’s success in elections and policymaking. One hopes the Democrats have jumped-the-shark
in their current maneuver and have shaken the voter permanently back to his
senses. 2/11/19
Not posted. Dick: If government doesn’t borrow another dime, we
still have $22 trillion of existing debt that has to be paid. Taxes from economic growth that exceeds the
spending rate of increase can produce future budget surpluses but not enough to
retire debt before doomsday, especially considering interest. Even more restrictive spending is necessary
to pay down the debt to a reasonable percentage of GDP, which is now over
100%. It was 40% when Obama became
president. Yes, budget surpluses as you
describe can help pay off the debt but more spending cuts are also
required. To get debt back to 40% of GDP
debt must decline some $14trillion to $8 trillion (even ignoring interest).
Therefore, drastic spending cuts are necessary unless ongoing surpluses from
growth are huge. Just reducing the rate
of spending to below the GDP growth rate for many years would fall short,
especially considering inevitable periods of slow growth and recession.
Posted. Dick: I
see it this way. The issue is not to
balance the budget. Rather, it is to
retire or reduce the $22 trillion of debt.
Let’s look at some quick and dirty numbers. 3% annual growth on $20 trillion GDP = $600
billion annually. Taxing as much as
one-third of it = $200 billion of incremental revenue. Compare that income to 2% growth in $4
trillion of annual spending = $80 billion.
This leaves a $120 billion annual surplus to retire the $22 trillion
debt. That would take some 183
years. And it doesn’t take into account
interest on the debt or inevitable periods of slow growth and recession. To reduce debt $14 trillion to bring it to a
reasonable 40% of GDP (now over 100%), would still take over 100 years. Economic growth can contain future debt but
it is not enough to reasonably mitigate existing debt. We must drastically cut
spending to enable sufficient debt reduction to prevent it from eventually
swallowing the economy.
Agreed.
I can’t imagine when the political will for spending reduction will
return. There have been proposals in
recent years, such as pegging spending growth to GDP growth, as well as the
“Penny Plan” that would eliminate 1% of spending every year. But they never materialize. Even Trump has been weak on this issue. 2/9/19
-
WHITE AMERICA:
WEAR BLACKFACE IN PROTEST. The
latest firestorm about blackface has to be challenged. Virginia Governor Ralph Northam
and AG Mark Herring are crucified for having worn blackface decades ago. So what?
While some blacks may be offended because the media say they should be, of
greater importance is the control the leftist media assume in dictating public thought.
Fighting that power takes precedence
over the feelings of a few who feign offense. If society decides the practice is
inappropriate, private citizens may prevail on the offenders and they can
decide whether to desist.
Cultural appropriation
is a new bogeyman of the left advanced in the face of a long history of common
practice. Consider the many sports teams
that invoke the image of the American Indian, and myriad racial representations
in Halloween costumes. Yet, Meghan Kelly
was fired for having said blackface was innocuous on Halloween when she was a
child. This prohibition is just another
cudgel of the left to promote identity politics as a weapon of submission. THE LEFT MUST NOT HAVE THAT POWER.
Therefore, white
America should wear blackface in defiance of PC dictates. But, as Governor Northam mentioned, shoe
polish does not come off easily. Try what
ball players use to deflect sun glare. 2/7/19
-
IT’S BLACK HISTORY MONTH AGAIN. WHY? Why
does Black History Month continue? Advocates say it is to highlight suppressed
black accomplishment, and to promote a history of oppression. But actually, the
invocation is to ensure the black community remains a permanent symbol of
victimhood and a pawn of the left. The black
plight helps to justify government intervention and trillions of dollars of ongoing
government spending through regulation and programs that empower and enrich
liberal operatives. Indeed, this
exploitation perpetuates the basis for the race card as a tool for political
advantage.
Of course, if blacks
were to adopt the values of the white man, they would be better off and would
not need ersatz recognition. But black success
and assimilation are the last things liberals want, as that would end black
dependency on the left, and thus nullify its power.
Black History
Month is a convenient backdrop for Jesse Jackson’s “Rainbow PUSH Wall Street
Project”. This extortion enterprise
occurs every February as it shakes down banks for large donations and affirmative
action hiring mainly for the black community. Doubtless under pressure from
government, financial institutions readily oblige or face regulatory reprisals
and public vilification by PUSH. 2/6/19
-
ENOUGH ALREADY
WITH THE WIND-CHILL READINGS. Amid
record-breaking cold around the country weather reports more than ever cite
wind-chill factors in lieu of regular temperatures. Make no mistake, this practice is aimed at
getting the public to buy into the climate change hoax by making them believe
weather might be more severe than it really is (notwithstanding actual dangers).
Indeed, the media implicitly sell the current cold as a sea change attributable
to the growing man-made carbon footprint.
Reporters try to mislead people into thinking the wind-chill readings
are actually the traditional temperature levels. "What’s that, Marge, the television says it’s
40 degrees below zero? That’s
unprecedented. Maybe there is something
to that climate change talk." In
reality, the regular temperature is a quite common 5 degrees above zero.
The left has
played a similar mind game for years in trying to substitute Celsius temperatures,
as well as the metric system, for English measurements to promote a Marxist globalist,
one-world mindset. The public is
bombarded with constant leftist propaganda from all quarters. Can we not trust even the weather man
anymore? 1/31/19
-
THE GILLETTE
AD SHOULD SEND A MESSAGE TO CORPORATE #MeToo ADVOCATES. The tremendous backlash to the #MeToo
inspired Gillette ad is a great opportunity to register a major blow to this
corrupt movement. Men should permanently
boycott the company’s products to reduce sales dramatically. This would send a message to other companies
and their leftist ad agencies never to play the #MeToo card. In fact, it might give pause to companies and
their agents that have promoted societal emasculation through their television
commercials for some time.
Relatedly,
sexual harassment claimants who are found to have lied, either by admission or
in the course of a trial, must be prosecuted.
That has yet to happen. More sexual
misconduct cases should go to trial rather than settle in order to ferret out
the many liars. Very few cases are
legitimate by legal standards. Obliterate
the “we believe” mantra.
The #MeToo
movement motivated Gillette and inspires many accusers into thinking they can profit
from making false or frivolous charges with impunity. But a growing resistance is forming as the
unsavory truth emerges. The leftist agenda
to empower women by disempowering men must be defeated. Boycotts and prosecutions can be quite
effective. 1/22/19
-
A WORD ABOUT ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ. AOC looks like she needs a good lay. Why doesn’t anyone mention this? It probably explains her frenetic behavior. The chick is a tri-fecta for the Democrats: minority, woman and a millenial, who also is an avowed socialist. Bingo. That profile automatically makes her a media star.
Her joining the House Financial Services Committee chaired by Maxine Waters is quite worrisome. They will fleece the banks by forcing them to liberalize lending standards. Sound familiar? They will push new social engineering programs. Corrupt organizations like the former ACORN will spring up to distribute the largesse (largely for themselves). Recall the billions of dollars of financial crisis bank settlements diverted to the ‘hood.
In addition, the Committee will coerce banks to flood the zone with minority hires. Minorities have dominated bank teller and floor positions for years. Now the newly empowered Committee will aim for the executive ranks. Bank profits will suffer from giveaways, mismanagement and corruption. The Committee will browbeat financial executives to extract concessions. Imagine Jamie Dimon taking guff from AOC.
Maybe AOC’s new status will earn her a much needed roll in the hay. 1/18/19
-
LIBERAL
PROPAGANDA IN REALITY TELEVISION SHOWS. The public has been exposed to leftist mind
control in news, entertainment, sports and advertising for some time. But now I notice propaganda penetrates even so-called
reality television shows. Generally, the
only such programs I see are when I briefly leave Fox News/Business to other channels
during commercials. But over time, even
that short interval is enough collectively to see the brainwashing. Since I am not a regular viewer, my
conclusions could be wrong. But consider
the following impressions.
The Profit – It
seems protagonist, Marcus Lemonis, is never critical of rank and file employees
when clearly at times they would be at fault for business failure or certain problems. Rather, the criticism always falls on the
ownership or management. Is this a
socialist dog whistle to put down the haves and protect the have nots,
notwithstanding the capitalist theme of the show? And now amid the #MeToo movement, a recent episode
featured a requisite case of workplace sexual harassment. I have not seen how that issue played
out, but I would bet the accuser
prevails.
The Undercover
Boss – Just as The Profit conveys its liberal message by exempting underlings
from criticism, The Undercover Boss sends a similar signal by lionizing and lavishly
rewarding certain under-appreciated low level workers. Every show culminates in a selected employee,
almost always female, tearfully reacting to the boss’ life-changing monetary gift.
The message: Celebrate the proletariat and denigrate the
bourgeois. The show seems also to
promote gender equality by portraying indispensable women mainly who never get
the recognition they deserve. The
program is reminiscent of the 1950s television program, The Millionaire, in
which each episode a particular philanthropist anonymously gives away one
million dollars to a down-on-his luck beneficiary. Come to think of it, Was that program
promoting a wealth redistribution theme?
It aired in the aftermath of the Senator McCarthy hearings that investigated
communist infiltration in the U.S., to include Hollywood productions.
Shark Tank –
It seems Mark Cuban has a soft touch for black participants, as he makes deals
with them he might not do with others. In
fact, people of color seem to fare better on this show.
Deal Or No
Deal – Although a game show rather than a reality show, my point applies. In the early airings of this revived program,
host Howie Mandel, went out of his way to insinuate that the banker is now a
woman, unnaturally emphasizing the pronoun “she” when referring to her. And, her shapely silhouette appears above the
set throughout the show just so no one forgets.
Whenever animals are featured they are portrayed as sympathetic figures. The camera does not show a close up of a
killing. And the act is prefaced by the
killer’s expressed reluctance to end a life, as when the animal is deathly ill,
or even when hunted for food. In one
case a character protested an order to kill an elephant that broke loose
threatening dozens of lives. The
narrative always lectures about disposing of animals humanely. God forbid that one kill an animal.
The public should
be aware of this effort to inure viewers to the liberal agenda. The next step is to object proactively to this
politicization in daily interactions with others, and with the remote control. The producers will get the message when they
know so many viewers see through the manipulation, especially when ratings
drop. 1/14/19
At this point, she seemed impatient tapping
her fingers on the table as if to say, “When are we going to get down to
business?” But she seemed to look at me
as a revenue source rather than an object of affection. I know she’s swinging from poles in the wee
hours of the morning to pay President Trump’s legal fees he incurred defending
against her failed lawsuit. So, I
thought perhaps she’s looking for a job at The Comprehensive Conservative. Then she turned aggressive and lascivious. I sweated profusely saturating three
napkins. At last I got a hold of myself
and asked her what would #MeToo say about this?
Frustrated, she got up and yelled, “Who gives a !@#$^%&(z you wimp?” 1/10/19
-
THE LADY IS A TRAMP. Here’s some fodder for the #MeToo
movement. Recall the hoopla about the
1940s song, “Baby It’s Cold Outside”. Feminists
call for its ban as they absurdly claim the song’s theme is predatory and
suggestive of rape because a man amorously pursues a woman in his apartment
after a date. Well, what does the left
say about a much more well-known song, “The Lady Is A Tramp”?
This Rodgers and Hart song of the 1930s features
a woman who rejects the customs of the high class set in favor of a simple life,
an independence that renders her a “tramp”.
Actually, the lyric could be viewed as a comment on Marxist class
differentiation. But the term tramp in
today’s parlance is pejorative connoting a loose woman, a trollup, or a
baglady. I would think #MeToo would
object to celebrating such a characterization of women. I await the battle cry.
The song has been a popular classic among
men and women performers. See Frank
Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald in a duet at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xafBWOxqssg
Buddy Greco gave it his own sexist
treatment at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HeQVMMrVKg (Take that, #MeToo!)
Irrespective of the politics, the song is a
great jazz standard. Here’s my piano
arrangement at https://youtu.be/eGA7mwZN8Rk
1/7/19
Trump’s tax cut and deregulation will
likely continue to support economic prosperity in an over-ripe 10-year
recovery. This, despite the vicissitudes
of the stock market, which is largely driven by anomalous algorithmic trading
formulae that seemingly override positive economic fundamentals to some degree.
However, economic slowdown in Europe and
Asia will challenge U.S. exports and curtail foreign investment here. But Trump’s persistence in trade policy may
finally pay off as China relents in the face of its faltering economy. 1/2/19
By William J. Dodwell
-
A TRIBUTE TO DORIS DAY. Singer/actress
Doris Day died Monday at 97. Perhaps the
last original exponent of traditional popular music, her songs topped the
charts in the ‘40s and '50s. In the true
spirit of conservatism, I am dedicated to at least the memory, if not return,
of this great genre of music. In
particular, I remember getting dressed for school in the mornings while
listening on the radio to what would become her signature song, “Que Sera, Sera”.
Here’s a clip of that performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZbKHDPPrrc
. For perspective, it played at the same
time that newcomer Elvis Presley was shouting “Hound Dog”. 5/14/19
-
WASHINGTON HEEDS
MY WARNING ABOUT STUDENT LOAN EXPOSURE? The
Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration hired McKinsey &
Co. to investigate the accounting methods adopted for reporting the
profitability of the federal student loan program. In particular, McKinsey is charged with
estimating the potential loan loss exposure in the student loan portfolio in
connection with a possible sale.
As it happens,
in 2015 I published a white paper entitled, “The Developing Federal Student
Loan Debacle and the Real Cost to Taxpayers” detailing the anomalous accounting
methods of the CBO and Department of Education that grossly understate loan defaults
reported to the public. See my report at
http://ssrn.com/abstract=2653119. I sent this paper to John Crudele of the New
York Post, who dedicated a portion of his column to my thesis without
attribution. I also sent it to still Chairman
of the Senate Budget Committee, Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., and then Chairman of
the House Budget Committee, Congressman Tom Price, R-Ga. In addition, I sent the report to The Wall
Street Journal Editorial Page Editor, Paul Gigot, along with a request to write
an op ed piece on the topic. Not
surprisingly, I never heard from any of those recipients, but a couple of subsequent
WSJ editorials some time later seemed to have drawn from my paper.
Interestingly,
I was prompted to write the piece when I heard presidential candidate Donald J.
Trump suggest that the sizable reported profits of the student loan program be
applied to defraying costs for student borrowers. Knowing that the portfolio really posed a
potential multitrillion-dollar cost to taxpayers, I began writing. In view of the McKinsey contract, now Trump apparently
knows the truth about misleading accounting at the CBO and Education Department. Might I be presumptuous about my possible influence
here?
Well informed citizens can make noise in Washington from scoops
appropriately documented and suitably disseminated to have
an impact beyond the ballot box. This
intervention should be encouraged. 5/6/19
-
MEDIA LIBERALS DERAIL TWO FEDERAL RESERVE NOMINEES. The left torpedoed two successive conservative nominees of President Trump for open seats on the Federal Reserve
Board of Governors. Former Kansas City
Fed Governor and 2012 presidential candidate, Herman Cain, had to withdraw
because of bipartisan objections about allegedly having hit on a few broads many
years ago. Likewise, supply-side economist
Stephen Moore had to pull out partly on account of long-past statements about his
disinterest in women’s basketball.
This absurd #MeToo
influence on our politics, most prominently displayed in last year’s Bret
Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, is a corrosive force that must be challenged
en masse. Ongoing vociferous grass-roots
opposition would show elected officials that they should not fear this leftist
cabal because it does not have substantive public support. Rather, media propaganda sustains it and, as
such, the Fourth Estate demonstrates it is indeed the enemy of the people. Rise up America! 5/3/19
. #MeToo REARS ITS UGLY HEAD AGAIN IN THE BIDEN
FLAP. After a period of seeming
hibernation following the embarrassment of the Bret Kavanagh debacle, the
#MeToo movement re-emerges to capitalize on Joe Biden’s physical proclivities
toward women. During the retreat many
women finally have awoken to speak out about the excesses of the movement. Interestingly, this attitudinal change coincides
with the publication of my anti-#MeToo manifesto last September at https://sites.google.com/site/thecomprehensiveconservative/culture/current-commentary
I like to think that treatise was influential in driving
the movement underground for a while, and inspiring an epiphany among many women. You’re welcome.
Was Biden’s now infamous behavior
weird? Absolutely. Is it disqualifying for his possible presidential
run? Absolutely not. As expressions of affection, his tactile impulses
are anomalous as a matter of decorum, but heretofore considered harmless. Now #MeToo gets involved to construe his
physicality as predatory behavior against women, calling for the vilification
of any man who would similarly engage. On
that front Biden and his fellow grabbers must be defended. Of course, sudden concern about Biden’s
behavior is partially borne out of an effort by Democratic presidential
candidates to keep him from joining the race.
But #MeToo is bent on exploiting the issue to advance its radical
feminist agenda.
Men have harbored sexual thoughts
about women since the Garden of Eden. It
is quintessentially natural. In fact,
most women want that attention. But
#MeToo and the political left proscribe the so-called objectification of women in
order to empower women and disempower men through the hyper-politicization of
frivolous offenses. Women who cannot navigate
or tolerate common, albeit inappropriate, libidinous forces in their midst
should get thee to a nunnery or join the LGBTQ brigade. They should not expect equality in the
workplace because in a #MeToo atmosphere they pose a serious threat to men’s careers. As such, those women deserve circumspection,
avoidance and even expulsion.
How bad is it? Amazon recently cancelled a four picture deal
with Woody Allen because of his comments characterizing #MeToo cases as
potential “witch hunts”. Amazon claims that
heresy diminished the benefit the films could be expected to deliver. Such is the perverse power of the
movement. Fair-minded people must stand
up to this rein of terror by ensuring #MeToo gets no further traction through such
opportunistic incidents as Joe Biden’s unorthodox touching practices. 4/8/19
Miscellaneous Thoughts Posted to Linked In Between July and September
2019
By William J. Dodwell
Fill all positions
from middle management upward with white males.
All remaining jobs will go to women of color from around the globe with
a mandate to serve their bosses with elan.
(Use your imagination.) That leaves men of color and white women who will
be assigned to a breeding pool. This is in keeping with the left’s effort to transform
demographics through mass interracial propagation, as promoted by Hollywood and
Madison Avenue in today’s television, film and commercials. Those employees
will be paid in direct proportion to the offspring they produce.
In time, the
societal results will be celebrated in a Hollywood re-make of the 1967 classic
motion picture, “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” starring Sidney Poitier about an
interracial marriage. Imagine when the mother is introduced to her white daughter’s
porcelain-faced beaux, she turns tearfully to the father and says, “Where did we
go wrong?”
Like it? Consult your Chief Diversity Officer. 9/26/19
-
THE LEFT’S PLAN TO DESTROY AMERICA (Reader warning: The following expresses some unspeakable
truths banned from polite discourse.)
The leftists are
coming! The leftists are coming! Just as
Paul Revere alarmed the colonists of the oncoming British Army bent on their destruction,
so do Americans today need an acute warning about the nefarious ideological revolution
brewing on the political left.
Make no mistake, the
goal of the left today, implicit in its evermore audacious policy proposals, is
to destroy America and preside over the spoils in the creation of a new
globalist Marxist order. It accomplishes
this with full complicity of mass media, academia and a growing number of
representatives in government, as well as through the worrisome politicization
of the courts. The evidence is
clear.
Immigration and demographics
Consider the sudden call
for open borders and sanctuary cities, support for orchestrated caravans of invaders
from Central America, as well as systematic voter fraud. The ultimate goal is to create virtually permanent
electoral Democratic control of government by capitalizing on a large socialist
predisposition that results from chain migration and eventual blanket amnesty
with citizenship. This outcome would
sustain an ongoing Marxist agenda that would dismiss American sovereignty and
culture. Impoverished immigrants from
south of the border and elsewhere, having no interest in assimilation, flood
communities around the country to strain resources, perpetrate horrific crime, and
diminish the quality of life while contributing relatively little as a whole. A society riven by such malaise is destined
to collapse. Indeed, the left’s
obsession with diversity is a ruse to balkanize America toward that end.
The left hopes to
transform American demographics on a grand scale through unrestricted
immigration and a naive spirit of egalitarian tolerance. For example, Madison Avenue, a major ally of
the left, assists that conversion by subtly promoting mass interracial
propagation among citizens in most advertisements today. Of course, that prospect has grave implications
for the country’s DNA as to affect global competiveness, economic progress and
national security. Countless individual
exceptions notwithstanding, the scientific reality of the strategy overall dilutes
the fountain of intelligence, industriousness and ingenuity that built America. At the same time, creeping Muslim
infiltration aimed at imposing Sharia law overtakes communities and penetrates
institutions, even Congress now. The debilitating genetic and social polyglot
that results from the left’s transformation plan sets the stage for a docile
population that readily submits to the lure of largesse from an unchallenged
tyrannical government.
Education
Consider the abysmal
quality of public schools as leftist teachers unions deliberately dumb down
America through diluted curricula, lowered performance standards and relaxed
discipline. In the process, they
re-write or eradicate American history to degrade the country’s heritage in the
minds of malleable youth, undermining their allegiance to the country. The liberal education establishment vigorously
opposes efforts to rectify failed education through decidedly more effective
charter schools in order to preserve the power of the teachers unions, a
self-interest that far supersedes student well-being. (But, of course, it wants
them to be ignorant anyway.) In the colleges,
intellectual diversity and impolitic speech have become verboten in the face of
relentless left-wing indoctrination aimed at advancing the “destroy America”
agenda.
Media and technology
Mass media are
already corrupt. The networks and liberal cable outlets distort or suppress news
that does not conform to the left’s agenda, such as black crime. Consider that 90% of news about President
Trump is negative according to media studies.
What is more, 90% of journalists identify as liberal. Media promote outright lies, such as the
“Hands up, don’t shoot” narrative that leftist news outlets continue to report
as a murder despite rigorous investigations, including by Eric Holder’s Justice
Department, that determined a police officer fired in self-defense. CNN and MSNBC present gross hyperbole as
legitimate commentary. Publishers and bookstores
suspiciously restrict the distribution and availability of conservative works. And most reprehensibly, monopolistic technology
companies Facebook, Google and Twitter increasingly quash conservative content
on the internet to the benefit of a global socialist order, and the detriment of
free speech.
Societal emasculation
The left promotes
societal emasculation through pervasive female favoritism in the grade schools,
a hiring bias toward women in the workplace, a rejection of the traditional male
role in the family, a mockery of men in advertising campaigns, and of course,
the weaponization of natural male behavior toward women through the #MeToo
movement. Unchecked, all this makes for
a castrated, marginally employed American male that is a very prescription for
destroying the nation.
The rule of law
The left is trying to abolish
the rule of law, a principal underpinning of civilization, to foster the
collapse of the republic. Its operatives
ignore immigration statutes and allow criminals to re-offend repeatedly with
impunity. They hamstring police from
enforcing the law for minor offenses resulting in miscreants blatantly avoiding
mass transit fares and illegally smoking pot in public places. They permit
homeless encampments on public property that threaten the safety, health and
viability of surrounding households and businesses. Lawlessness has resulted in stand down
mayoral orders that protect marauding Antifa thugs, citizens dousing police
with water, open marijuana smoking in inner city schools, and a general decline
in the quality of life that continually slides down the slippery slope.
Worst of all, the
courts become politicized. Consider the
2018 decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to disallow President
Trump’s temporary travel ban applied to several Muslim countries for security
reasons. The Court struck it down despite
explicit statutes to the contrary. The
Supreme Court overruled it, but only in a 5-4 decision. And, of course, many consider John Roberts’
deciding vote to uphold Obamacare in 2010 a gross politically motivated legal
contortion. What’s more, the Supreme
Court too readily defers regulatory cases to unelected bureaucrats in the
agencies because of their technical complexities. As such, regulators often render partisan
applications of law in the rulemaking process that result in confiscation
and tyranny. This is particularly true
in environmental and discrimination cases.
Identity politics
A principal cudgel by
which the left undermines American society is through identity politics that promotes
an egalitarian utopia that seeks to eradicate traditional and historical
boundaries that delineate black/white, male/female, gay/ straight, and
rich/poor. By highlighting grievance
between races, genders, sexualities, and economic classes, leftists try to
create societal conflicts that result in a divide-and-conquer approach to their
Marxist goal. The left celebrates
diversity as a holy grail branded by the LGBTQ moniker and associated rainbow
color scheme. Immigration and class
warfare play to race and economic status.
#MeToo plays to gender. Gay
and transgender rights play to sexuality. A multiplicity of grievance groups results in
a hypersensitive society that becomes paralyzed by a fear of offending. A panoply of politically correct dictates codifies
the sensitivity as to render the general population acquiescent to the
encroachments of the left in a growing tyranny.
The Democrat Party
The Democrat Party has
long embraced big government. But now in
its lurch to the far left it espouses maximum government control to redistribute wealth in pure
Marxist fashion. The left hopes to
expand government by nationalizing as many economic sectors as possible, such
as health care, education, housing and energy.
It does this, not only by means of legislation, but also through executive
regulation involving the fatuous expansive enforcement of that law. The Green New Deal, Medicare for all, and
free college for everyone are the latest voter gambits among some of the
Democratic presidential candidates.
The left also wants to
nationalize the energy industry through a chimerical environmentalist agenda
that eliminates fossil and nuclear fuels in favor of extremely limited alternatives,
including solar and wind. The prohibitive cost of the whole agenda at tens of
trillions of dollars would bankrupt the nation. This imperial move is about power and the
economic residuals that ensue for those in control from taxation, extreme
indebtedness, fees, penalties and confiscation.
In the final analysis,
a few elites will rule from the top over a massive underclass robbed of
freedoms and possibly consigned to squalor. Just look at Venezuela, Cuba and
North Korea to name just a few examples. It is up to an informed and motivated
electorate to avoid this Armageddon. A
tall order indeed. 9/5/19
-
“THE BIGGEST ACCOUNTING FRAUD IN HISTORY”. The Wall Street Journal published an
editorial 8/21/19 headlined “The Great Student-Loan Scam”. Briefly, it claimed income-based repayment
plans, as well as loan deferment and forbearance allowances, adopted during the
Obama administration conceal the real cost to taxpayers. Thus, the reported results of operations are
grossly overstated. In fact, The WSJ says, “This may be the biggest
accounting fraud in history.”
Separately, the
editorial reports a mere 10% outright default rate in addition to the two repayment
categories mentioned. But in my 2015
white paper entitled “The Developing Federal Student Loan Debacle and the Real
Cost to Taxpayers” at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2653119
, I detail how the CBO methodology for default accounting severely understates
defaults, and thus further conceals the huge taxpayer cost of the student loan
program. (I sent a copy of my report to the WSJ Editor of the Editorial Page
upon publication.) In other words, nonpayment
is even worse than what the WSJ says. Until recently, the government reported the student
loan program as profitable since inception in 2010. Now, finally recognizing the drag from the repayment
concessions cited by the WSJ, the CBO reports a projected loss over the next 10
years. But it has not fully recognized economic
reality by changing its misleading default accounting method I disclosed in my
paper.
Citing statistics of
the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the WSJ reports that 30% of the $1.5
trillion loan portfolio is subject to income-based capped repayment plans, and
20% is in deferment or forbearance. Adding
the reported 10% default rate, this means that 60% of loans is non-performing
or heavily discounted. However, my 2015 study shows that according to CBO
accounting, defaults are effectively amortized over the remaining term of a
loan (up to 20 years or more), rather than entirely charged off in the period
incurred, as a bank would do according to Generally Accepted Accounting
Principles (GAAP). On this basis, the
default rate would be much higher than 10%.
The Trump
administration recently hired McKinsey & Co. to analyze the accounting for
the student loan portfolio, particularly with respect to a possible sale. Given
a 60% effective non-performance rate, the $1.5 trillion face value would
decline to only a $600 billion valuation.
This would result in an immediate $900 billion write-off added to the already
projected $1 trillion FY 2019 budget deficit. But considering the greatly underestimated 10%
default rate, that charge would be significantly larger.
This massive portfolio
devaluation renders the loan forgiveness political argument almost moot. Heck, the government has forgiven most of the
loans already in the form of foregone repayments. But the public would not know this from CBO
reporting. 8/26/19
-
THE LEFT PUSHES THE 3 Rs: RACISM, RECESSION, REPARATIONS. Democrats are hellbent on pushing Racism,
Recession and Reparations to defeat Trump in 2020. Mass media constantly portray the president
as a racist based on his immigration policy and a gross mischaracterization of
his comments about last year’s riot in Charlottsville, Va. “White supremacism” has become a faux topic
de jour.
At the same
time, the left tries to convince the public that the economy is on the brink of
a recession despite data to the contrary.
Liberals hope to trigger a huge sell-off in the stock market that will
cause consumers and businesses to retreat, making recession a self-fulling
prophesy.
And there is
reparations. It’s a topic much infused
in the Democrat presidential campaigns.
Look for a show of hands for reparations during one of the upcoming televised
debates. What’s more, The New York Times
has just launched “Project 1690” invoking the arrival of the first slaves in
America 400 hundred years ago. As if on
cue, other publications are increasingly featuring articles about slavery to
promote national guilt about its history.
The left is
beating the drums with this triplet, and it gets louder as the election
approaches. Don’t be duped. 8/20/19
Much has been
written about the need for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, even
beyond the July cut, the first one in eleven years. Indeed, the latest escalation of trade
tensions with China and its concomitant currency depreciation might make further
cuts more compelling. Or not. The
principal purpose of a rate cut is to provide liquidity to foster greater
consumption and business investment that stimulate economic growth in the face
of sustained opposition forces. But rate
cuts without sufficient justification, such as those based on transitory
developments, reaction to presidential jawboning, miming other central banks,
or inadequate consideration of market fundamentals can thwart economic
progress. 8/19/19
-
A STARK REMINDER: Leading up to the 2008 financial crisis we
know the government prevailed on banks to relax their mortgage underwriting
standards, and pressured the GSAs to ease their credit criteria for their
securitizations, all under the guise of the Community Reinvestment Act. The aim was to increase home ownership among
the near-poor.
NEVER ASKED: DID THE GOVERNMENT ALSO PROD THE MAJOR RATING AGENCIES TO DO
THE SAME TO FURTHER ACCOMMODATE LOW-INCOME BORROWERS THROUGH PRIVATE-LABEL
SECURITIZATIONS, WHICH AT THEIR PEAK EXCEEDED THOSE OF FANNIE AND FREDDIE? DID
GOVERNMENT CORRUPT THOSE AGENCIES FOR POLITICAL GAIN? THEY NEVER HAVE BEEN HELD FULLY ACCOUNTABLE,
BEFORE THE CRISIS AND SINCE.
What’s more, over $100 billion of bank settlements compensated
(nationalized) Fannie and Freddie, the FHA, public pensions and previously
compensated low-income homeowners for losses. But Obama's DOJ left non-public pension
private MBS investors high and dry, including 401(k) plans. Even the MBS
Trustees charged with protecting them against underwriting fraud sided with the
bank issuers who paid their fees and hired them for new business.
The politically motivated lending and much of
the disposition of bank settlements were a massive wealth redistribution scheme
under the affordable housing agenda. 8/18/19
-
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TONY BENNETT (FEI post). Set aside those assets and liabilities for a
bit and see singer Tony Bennett perform near FEI Headquarters in Morristown, NJ
at The Community Theater on August 13th. Here’s my piano arrangement of his signature
song, “I Left My Heart In San Francisco” in celebration of his 93rd
birthday this week, and in honor of his guardianship of The Great American
Songbook, that body of traditional popular music from the 1920s, 30s and 40s. 7/29/19
-
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TONY BENNETT. Tony Bennett, singer and
guardian of The Great American Songbook, that body of traditional popular music
from the 1920s, 30s and 40s, turns 93 this week. In celebration, here’s my piano arrangement of
his famous signature song, “I Left My Heart In San Francisco”. 7/29/19
-
MUELLER: A
SYMPATHETIC FIGURE. Recall Admiral James
Scottsdale. He was Ross Perot’s running mate in the 1992 presidential election
who shocked the nation with his bumbling performance on the national debate
stage with Al Gore and Dan Quayle. Robert
Mueller’s impaired conduct before Congress this week elicited a similar reaction.
Some attributed Scottsdale’s behavior to torture experienced in Vietnam, but was
still unanticipated. As for Mueller, at
74, he apparently faltered from two years of intense political pressure
generated by speculation about his work amid extreme media scrutiny.
The mental health
of certain elderly political figures deteriorates before the public eye. Many
say 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden seems visibly dissipated. Some
questioned Rudy Giulliani’s mental state when he made some boneheaded
statements in defense of President Trump. Speaker Nancy Pelosi appears to
stammer and sputter frequently. And, of course, many suspected cognitive
impairment in President Reagan, possibly affirmed by an Alzheimer’s diagnosis
in retirement.
Mental illness
looms large among the elderly. Politics aside, Mueller and the other high
profile figures cited remind us of a universal vulnerability for which
compassion is warranted. 7/26/19
-
WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO #MeToo? It seems that ever since I published my anti-#MeToo manifesto last September at https://sites.google.com/site/thecomprehensiveconservative/culture/current-commentary the movement has been fading fast. Coincidence? As a self-proclaimed leader of the #MeToo resistance, I stood alone in the beginning publicly lambasting gross injustices, as the masses on the left and right flocked like lemmings in knee-jerk defense of the generic accuser.
But in less than two years the tide has turned. Recently, even a Hollywood actress and seven Democrat senators have moderated their blind support for #MeToo. Meryl Streep criticized the feminist campaign against “toxic masculinity”, and the liberal senators expressed their regret for their support to remove Al Franken from the Senate in response to sexual harassment accusations without any due process, thanks to coercion from a cowardly Chuck Schumer. And daily news reports of sexual misconduct stories have dwindled to a trickle.
In a major strike for justice, the Trump administration ordered colleges to enforce due process rights in campus sexual misconduct cases. This overrode an Obama directive that encouraged outrageously unfair prosecutions by threatening to withhold federal money from insufficiently aggressive college administrators. This injustice potentially destroyed the professional lives of student defendants. Now many accused fight back winning exoneration and large settlements from academia.
Public opinion about #MeToo has shifted significantly, as sympathy has emerged for men who lose their livelihoods and suffer major financial loss at the hands of this vile movement. Indeed, for many converts, false and frivolous claims, often fabricated by corrupt plaintiff lawyers, have caught their own friends and family members in the net. What’s more, the new weaponized feminism undermines legitimate calls for better opportunities for women. (What man would hire or even associate with women prone to filing sexual harassment complaints?) Societal castration in the course of empowering women by disempowering men no longer holds the day, except among man-hating lesbians likely behind many lawsuits. The new consensus is, enough is enough. People now realize the importance of due process under the law, such that “Always believe the woman” is an unjust standard. The backlash is well underway.
We await the results of the Harvey Weinstein rape and assault trial that begins in September. A separate $44 million settlement was reached in connection with civil lawsuits brought by dozens of women. The verdict in the criminal case will be a landmark test for due process and standards of proof in sexual harassment litigation. What a blow to #MeToo if Weinstein walks. And it is hoped that corporate pests who bring dubious sexual harassment lawsuits, some many years after the fact, will be brought to heel by legal rebuke and the absence of public support.
#MeToo is somewhat diminished. But let’s not relent until we witness its complete demise. 7/24/19
-
MORE CLIMATE CHANGE PROPAGANDA. The weekend heat wave in the northeast
prompts leftists to seize yet another opportunity to dupe the public. The latest tactic is the “heat index”. My wife said she heard on the local television
station that it was 112 degrees outside.
I thought that can’t be right because it has never been near that hot
here. Then I discovered that the meteorologists
cite the new (to me) heat index, which is a composite of the temperature and the
humidity to arrive at the Fahrenheit reading it “feels” like. The real temperature was 98 degrees.
Of course,
this deception is designed to make people think that man-made climate change is
creating unprecedented adverse conditions.
Indeed, many, like my wife, think they’re hearing or seeing the actual
temperature reported. Last winter I
commented on the same ploy as it relates to the “wind-chill” factor, which has
been around for some time. Now we have to
be on guard against the weather nazis all year round. 7/22/19
-
THE SQUAD AND THE RACE CARD. President Trump’s comments denouncing anti-American criticisms and lies expressed by four freshman Congresswomen of color (the Squad) became a predictable lightening rod for mass media to invoke the race card, especially as the 2020 election approaches. Even many Republicans joined the chorus. Of course, race has nothing to do with Trump’s admonishment. He simply pointed out the irony of two Squad members enjoying American freedom and prosperity in stark contrast to the crime, pestilence and despotism of their countries of origin. Albeit impolitic, Trump spoke of ideological differences, not race.
But the fear of being called a racist prevents the proper response to the four renegades. (See my 12/10/18 post “Go Ahead. Call Me A Racist” at http://www.williamjdodwell.com/special-notice-8 .) This is why these anti-American Members are not challenged by the Democratic leadership. The Squad even called ultra liberal Speaker Pelosi racist. Imagine four white freshmen getting away with what these ladies are doing. The race card also intimidates cowardly Republicans into verbally joining the media outrage over Trump’s comments. It is what gave Obama a pass on so many issues. But Trump displays the audacity, candor and political incorrectness to challenge the race-baiting for which he should be roundly supported. This is how to defeat the race card.
Let’s be clear. The Squad hates America and disdains the Constitution on which it is founded, despite claims to the contrary. The two Muslims among them likely would hope to set the stage for Sharia law. Meantime, they join the other two in an effort to plunge the country into socialist chaos as a prelude to that primary goal. This development raises a serious question: How does the U.S. defend itself from foreign infiltration into the political system? We see Muslims creating enclaves that grow to the point of legitimately electing themselves to local office and eventually to Congress in allegiance to Islam, not America. How does the country protect itself from the nefarious intentions of this largely alien force that has no desire to assimilate, and transforms their communities to pig sties? We see a similar threat in the invasion of Central American emigrants storming the border waving the flags of their homelands, who, if Democrats rule, would have voting rights.
The solution, of course, is to keep truly inimical peoples from entering the country through sound constitutional immigration policy. But such a program flies in the face of leftist legislative support and judicial empathy for sanctuary cities and ending border enforcement. Democrats embrace open borders to admit new voters who eventually would ensure their permanent control of government. They ignore the horrific cultural effects that divide and potentially doom the nation. Look no further than Europe.
Ultimate control over immigration policy lies with Congress. The growing open borders crowd in Washington opposes the changes to immigration legislation that would quickly defuse the current border crisis. And for many others, the fear of the race card undermines the effort to uphold constitutional protections against these threats to our security and sovereignty. Imagine if enough politicians would emulate President Trump’s courage to defend the nation from destruction through alien ideology and foreign influences. 7/17/19
-
MASS MEDIA PROACTIVELY MOLD PUBLIC OPINION. Liberal media promote Kamala Harris’
candidacy as they relish the prospect of a black woman president. At the same time, they try to eliminate front
running, old white male, Joe Biden, the antithesis of the Democratic diversity
model they cherish. Accordingly, the
media speak as a chorus in decrying Biden’s debate performance.
But in fact, Biden
performed reasonably well. His response
to Harris’ challenge concerning his position on school busing in the 1970s and
his conciliation with “segregationist” senators was eminently reasonable for
the time. In fact, the public
overwhelmingly opposed busing, thus dooming it as a policy. And Biden looked decidedly better than he did
in the weeks before the debate.
Meanwhile, the
media celebrate Harris for her prosecution reflective of her role as California
AG. But all she did was raise the busing
issue, with faux personal drama, to play the race card. The contretemps with Biden was a
nothingberger, but media insist it was a game-changer.
Mass media try
to mold public opinion through a constant drumbeat for Harris and against
Biden. Since the public is gullible and
malleable, Harris’ poll numbers have risen significantly. How much more can the electorate be duped? 7/8/19
By William J. Dodwell September 5, 2019
The leftists are coming! The leftists are coming! Just as Paul Revere alarmed the colonists of the oncoming British Army bent on their destruction, so do Americans today need an acute warning about the nefarious ideological revolution brewing on the political left.
Make no mistake, the goal of the left today, implicit in its evermore audacious policy proposals, is to destroy America and preside over the spoils in the creation of a new globalist Marxist order. It accomplishes this with full complicity of mass media, academia and a growing number of representatives in government, as well as through the worrisome politicization of the courts. The evidence is clear.
Immigration and demographics
Consider the sudden call for open borders and sanctuary cities, support for orchestrated caravans of invaders from Central America, as well as systematic voter fraud. The ultimate goal is to create virtually permanent electoral Democratic control of government by capitalizing on a large socialist predisposition that results from chain migration and eventual blanket amnesty with citizenship. This outcome would sustain an ongoing Marxist agenda that would dismiss American sovereignty and culture. Impoverished immigrants from south of the border and elsewhere, having no interest in assimilation, flood communities around the country to strain resources, perpetrate horrific crime, and diminish the quality of life while contributing relatively little as a whole. A society riven by such malaise is destined to collapse. Indeed, the left’s obsession with diversity is a ruse to balkanize America toward that end.
The left hopes to transform American demographics on a grand scale through unrestricted immigration and a naive spirit of egalitarian tolerance. For example, Madison Avenue, a major ally of the left, assists that conversion by subtly promoting mass interracial propagation among citizens in most advertisements today. Of course, that prospect has grave implications for the country’s DNA as to affect global competiveness, economic progress and national security. Countless individual exceptions notwithstanding, the scientific reality of the strategy overall dilutes the fountain of intelligence, industriousness and ingenuity that built America. At the same time, creeping Muslim infiltration aimed at imposing Sharia law overtakes communities and penetrates institutions, even Congress now. The debilitating genetic and social polyglot that results from the left’s transformation plan sets the stage for a docile population that readily submits to the lure of largesse from an unchallenged tyrannical government.
Education
Consider the abysmal quality of public schools as leftist teachers unions deliberately dumb down America through diluted curricula, lowered performance standards and relaxed discipline. In the process, they re-write or eradicate American history to degrade the country’s heritage in the minds of malleable youth, undermining their allegiance to the country. The liberal education establishment vigorously opposes efforts to rectify failed education through decidedly more effective charter schools in order to preserve the power of the teachers unions, a self-interest that far supersedes student well-being. (But, of course, it wants them to be ignorant anyway.) In the colleges, intellectual diversity and impolitic speech have become verboten in the face of relentless left-wing indoctrination aimed at advancing the “destroy America” agenda.
Media and technology
Mass media are already corrupt. The networks and liberal cable outlets distort or suppress news that does not conform to the left’s agenda, such as black crime. Consider that 90% of news about President Trump is negative according to media studies. What is more, 90% of journalists identify as liberal. Media promote outright lies, such as the “Hands up, don’t shoot” narrative that leftist news outlets continue to report as a murder despite rigorous investigations, including by Eric Holder’s Justice Department, that determined a police officer fired in self-defense. CNN and MSNBC present gross hyperbole as legitimate commentary. Publishers and bookstores suspiciously restrict the distribution and availability of conservative works. And most reprehensibly, monopolistic technology companies Facebook, Google and Twitter increasingly quash conservative content on the internet to the benefit of a global socialist order, and the detriment of free speech.
Societal emasculation
The left promotes societal emasculation through pervasive female favoritism in the grade schools, a hiring bias toward women in the workplace, a rejection of the traditional male role in the family, a mockery of men in advertising campaigns, and of course, the weaponization of natural male behavior toward women through the #MeToo movement. Unchecked, all this makes for a castrated, marginally employed American male that is a very prescription for destroying the nation.
The rule of law
The left is trying to abolish the rule of law, a principal underpinning of civilization, to foster the collapse of the republic. Its operatives ignore immigration statutes and allow criminals to re-offend repeatedly with impunity. They hamstring police from enforcing the law for minor offenses resulting in miscreants blatantly avoiding mass transit fares and illegally smoking pot in public places. They permit homeless encampments on public property that threaten the safety, health and viability of surrounding households and businesses. Lawlessness has resulted in stand down mayoral orders that protect marauding Antifa thugs, citizens dousing police with water, open marijuana smoking in inner city schools, and a general decline in the quality of life that continually slides down the slippery slope.
Worst of all, the courts become politicized. Consider the 2018 decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to disallow President Trump’s temporary travel ban applied to several Muslim countries for security reasons. The Court struck it down despite explicit statutes to the contrary. The Supreme Court overruled it, but only in a 5-4 decision. And, of course, many consider John Roberts’ deciding vote to uphold Obamacare in 2010 a gross politically motivated legal contortion. What’s more, the Supreme Court too readily defers regulatory cases to unelected bureaucrats in the agencies because of their technical complexities. As such, regulators often render partisan applications of law in the rulemaking process that result in confiscation and tyranny. This is particularly true in environmental and discrimination cases.
Identity politics
A principal cudgel by which the left undermines American society is through identity politics that promotes an egalitarian utopia that seeks to eradicate traditional and historical boundaries that delineate black/white, male/female, gay/ straight, and rich/poor. By highlighting grievance between races, genders, sexualities, and economic classes, leftists try to create societal conflicts that result in a divide-and-conquer approach to their Marxist goal. The left celebrates diversity as a holy grail branded by the LGBTQ moniker and associated rainbow color scheme. Immigration and class warfare play to race and economic status. #MeToo plays to gender. Gay and transgender rights play to sexuality. A multiplicity of grievance groups results in a hypersensitive society that becomes paralyzed by a fear of offending. A panoply of politically correct dictates codifies the sensitivity as to render the general population acquiescent to the encroachments of the left in a growing tyranny.
The Democrat Party
The Democrat Party has long embraced big government. But now in its lurch to the far left it espouses maximum government control to redistribute wealth in pure Marxist fashion. The left hopes to expand government by nationalizing as many economic sectors as possible, such as health care, education, housing and energy. It does this, not only by means of legislation, but also through executive regulation involving the fatuous expansive enforcement of that law. The Green New Deal, Medicare for all, and free college for everyone are the latest voter gambits among some of the Democratic presidential candidates.
The left also wants to nationalize the energy industry through a chimerical environmentalist agenda that eliminates fossil and nuclear fuels in favor of extremely limited alternatives, including solar and wind. The prohibitive cost of the whole agenda at tens of trillions of dollars would bankrupt the nation. This imperial move is about power and the economic residuals that ensue for those in control from taxation, extreme indebtedness, fees, penalties and confiscation.
In the final analysis, a few elites will rule from the top over a massive underclass robbed of freedoms and possibly consigned to squalor. Just look at Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea to name just a few examples. It is up to an informed and motivated electorate to avoid this Armageddon. A tall order indeed.
©2019 William J. Dodwell
By William J. Dodwell
- HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE FAR RIGHT. May all right-wing zealots be prepared to lead
the battle to get President Donald J. Trump re-elected next November. They must also persuade the electorate to
record Republican victories that win back the House, increase the majority in
the Senate, and take over the State houses.
Let’s paint the town red! What’s
more, we look forward to the Durham report, along with the ensuing convictions
and imprisonment of Democrat crooks. 2020 could be a watershed year that restores
the founding principles that ensure a meritocratic and judicious nation.
May America do it the right way - the right-wing way. 12/31/19
- MY YEAREND MISSIVE:
HIGHLIGHT THE SCOURGES OF THE LEFT FOR VICTORY IN NOVEMBER. As we face a new year fraught with political
turmoil running up to the 2020 election, conservatives must establish how they
will engage the enemy that is the newly emerged far-left as it systematically tries
to destroy the nation. This is not
exaggeration. At stake is the presidency
of the United States and gains or losses in Congress and statehouses that will determine
the success or failure of the radical liberal agenda. Conservatives must strive to win maximum
hearts and minds by next November to defuse the threat to the republic. This requires intense focus, not only on
President Trump’s many triumphs, but also on specific new pathologies of the
left foisted on the citizenry. How has liberalism wreaked havoc? Let us count the
ways.
At the federal
level, leading Democratic presidential candidates attempt to legitimize outlandish
proposals for tens of trillions of dollars of new spending that would suffocate
the economy and thereby drastically lower the standard of living for most
Americans. Plans include such chimera as
Medicare-for-all, free college tuition, student loan forgiveness, and a Green New Deal that would abolish fossil
fuels and retrofit all buildings and infrastructure. What’s more, the left wants to relinquish
America’s sovereignty in a new globalist orientation and vitiate the education
system by lowering academic standards and politicizing curricula and practices
that includes eradicating American history.
Ultimately, this is to produce docile uninformed Democratic voters. And now, post-birth abortion is acceptable to
many liberal officeholders, and the effort to nullify the Second Amendment
gains currency among them.
In recent
years, liberal politicians have relaxed the rule of law. This comes in the form of support for open borders
and sanctuary cities and states that accommodate violent crime, drug smuggling,
sex trafficking, opioid abuse, as well as create overcrowding and a burden on
the public fisc. Corrupted prison release programs put dangerous criminals on
the streets despite promises to the contrary. Law enforcement curtailment gives rise to
widespread homelessness that poses threats to community safety and health, and the
viability of proximate businesses. Mayoral
stand-down orders to police forbid them to engage Antifa thugs in acts of
violence, and apprehend shoplifters and fare-beaters at great expense to local
businesses and the public transit budget.
A look-the-other-way policy regarding water thrown on police officers
diminishes respect for them, seriously lowers their morale, and invites
escalation. To undermine the rule of
law, the linchpin of any civilization, leftist George Soros is funding
ultra-liberal candidates for Attorney General throughout the country.
Government is
not the only culprit. The left also
operates through a now corrupt media, including Hollywood and Madison Avenue,
as well as a radicalized academe that promotes societal division and
demographic transformation that subvert the nation’s heritage, identity, and
ultimate survival. Increasingly
intrusive identity politics founded on a proliferation of contrived grievance
groups fosters this destruction.
To be sure, the goal
of the left is to destroy this nation through insolvency from government
largesse, chaos in the absence of the rule of law, social strife from forced
heterogeneity, and through an ongoing effort to disarm Americans. Conservatives have to promote acute focus on
this reality and constantly highlight its manifestations in drumbeat fashion to
help achieve electoral success in November that will render the nefarious Democrat
Party a smoldering pile of rubble. 12/30/19
. MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATIVE. Here are a couple of piano selections from my
Christmas CD to help make the spirit bright. 12/23/19
The Christmas
Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GivJtMPobwU&list=PLqHqmHiumqK-vT0oislpcr_UouVo6DDcq&index=79&t=0s
Rockin’ Around The
Christmas Tree https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlN8YX_uUhs&list=PLqHqmHiumqK-vT0oislpcr_UouVo6DDcq&index=77
. MY EVENING WITH THE 2019 WOMAN OF THE YEAR. As the Comprehensive Conservative’s 2019 Man
of the Year, I had the (fictional) honor of meeting my counterpart, Woman of
the Year Heather Mac Donald. We compared
notes over a piece of cherry pie at a cozy café amid a roaring fireplace, copious
Christmas decorations and seasonal cheer.
(Tight budget + tight host = Cheap date) In preparation, I sent out my thinking cap for
repair and maintenance in order to fully engage this brainy lady. Apparently, she just had a cosmetic makeover
– new hairdo, skin treatment, sporty glasses.
Looking good!
We are both secular
conservatives but my views derive mainly from reading, observation and
anecdotal evidence while hers rest on research and scientific method. Thus, it is gratifying that her more
conclusive empirical analysis often corroborates my intuitive opinion. What’s more, we share the courage to be most
impolitic about incendiary issues. Her many media appearances make her an
important exponent of conservative thought.
Our discussion was
wide and varied covering, among other things, race, #MeToo, immigration and law
enforcement. She indulged expansive
monologues, some that challenged my powers of concentration and comprehension. She even cited a longitudinal study of
comparative behaviors in Europe going back to the Peloponnesian Wars. Finally, after one arcane soliloquy she
inquired of my opinion. Suffering brain
melt at that point, I deftly changed the subject.
Feeling a bit
amorous, I sauntered over to the grand piano nearby and played an apt Gershwin
classic, “I’ve Got A Crush On You” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=po9m1y2m7Vg
. When I returned to the table she did
not seem impressed. Was it my
arrangement? The key? The clinker I hit in the third bar? I know.
The piano needed tuning. Glancing
at the empty plates, I gazed into her eyes, slowly moving closer. Then, lips millimeters apart, I whispered,
“How about another piece of pie?”
12/19/19
. 2019 WOMAN OF THE YEAR. The Comprehensive Conservative names writer and commentator Heather Mac Donald 2019 Woman of the Year. She is the Thomas W. Smith Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and contributing editor at City Journal. She has written several books on controversial social issues including “The Diversity Delusion”, “The War On Cops”, “The Immigration Solution” and “Are Cops Racist?”
A most articulate spokesperson for the conservative viewpoint, she addresses the issues, not with fire and brimstone, but with sober facts, rigorous reason, and empirical analysis. Accordingly, Ms. Mac Donald exposes truth as she cuts through the political correctness attendant to such lightning rods as black crime, the historical racial gap in academic achievement, #MeToo fraud, LGBT victimhood, and the leftist propaganda consuming college campuses at the expense of academic rigor and intellectual freedom.
Of particular concern to Ms. Mac Donald is the abandonment of traditional academic standards to accommodate underperforming black students, even in medical schools. Colleges jettison such staples of civilization as language, meritocracy, objectivity and discipline for practices that artificially level the playing field. They include significantly lowering college admission criteria, adjusting curricula, and relative grading and assessment in place of what the left considers white appropriation imposed on blacks. Indeed, Ms. Mac Donald believes today’s academe rests on a theme of ersatz racial oppression and a rejection of the cultural past as part of the solution.
Quite visible in the media, Ms. Mac Donald does a service disseminating truth suppressed by the left and engulfed by propaganda and political correctness. Her perspective on social realities is a welcome antidote to liberal excuses for race-based anti-social behavior and failure, and a response to contrived grievances of political identities. Her research and advocacy are testament to conservative principles as a prescription for individual success and national comity. 12/17/19
For the second
year in a row The Comprehensive Conservative names William J. Dodwell, its
founder and sole content provider, Man of the Year. Once again he is honored for his ongoing
assault on political correctness wherever it rears its ugly head. Last year he exposed the #MeToo movement with
his shot-heard-round-the-world manifesto. See
https://lnkd.in/d_xvnvJ This year he targeted the Diversity and Inclusion
racket aimed at destroying America through political, cultural, and economic
division, as well as by demographic transformation. His parody, “The Problems of a Diverse
Workforce” warns of diversity chaos in the extreme. See https://lnkd.in/eeC5SJn
Always the
iconoclast, Mr. Dodwell stands at the vanguard of the anti-PC resistance
producing in-your-face writings and rants that uniquely raise awareness of the
left’s efforts to create a balkanized multicultural national polyglot ripe for
the kill. He excoriates the left for imposing
identity politics that undermines national sovereignty and culture, and for promoting
a pluralism that dilutes the very DNA that built the nation. In the effort to tear down the old to make way
for a new global socialist order, leftists seek to divide America through
racial, gender and sexuality conflicts embodied in the nefarious LGBT movement.
He denounces their destructive tactics that
include open borders, sanctuary cities and states, massive government largess,
pervasive affirmative action, large-scale interracial propagation, politicized
education, and a break-down of the rule of law.
Mr. Dodwell
constantly exposes the evil of the left as it facilitates illegal immigration, dumbs
down education, and indoctrinates students at all levels. Hollywood, Madison Avenue and mass media
promote widespread miscegenation in movies, commercials and television way
beyond natural selection in a pluralist society. Unchallenged, the diversity
cabal ultimately feminizes the patriarchy, reduces the national IQ, bankrupts
the nation, and ensures a permanent Democratic voting class by maximizing
government dependency amid a docile and ill-informed populace. Mr. Dodwell condemns the leftist-inspired corporate
obsession with a diverse workforce and decries the inequities of resultant reverse
discrimination. And he warns of the
ultimate goal of gratuitous diversity that is to reduce America to a
third-world nation subsumed into a global amalgam.
Cowed
Americans fearful of lame charges of racism, sexism, misogyny, and homophobia readily
submit to evermore nonsensical dictates imposed by the left. It takes a staunch proactive conservative like
William J. Dodwell to foster a backlash against indiscriminate diversity in a
mass awakening from acquiescence. In so
doing, he voices the unspeakable truths that put the lie to the leftist egalitarian
model that undermines the meritocratic law-abiding standard that has sustained
this nation.
Mr. Dodwell
cautions against diluting that ideal in blind devotion to gratuitous diversity
that creates incongruous forces that weaken the social and genetic fabric. Recognizing
a benign heterogeneity that has evolved since the nation’s founding, certain
diversity is accommodated out of societal comity. But it should be elective
within the discrimination laws, not mandated by PC warriors in contravention to
other values, or constantly propagandized by media images. However, even willful diversity is dangerous
if naively predicated on leftist influences bent on eroding sovereignty, meritocracy,
family, assimilation and the rule of law.
Especially reprehensible, is the left’s dedication to disempower white
America. To be sure, conservative
communication and education are paramount to counteracting the relentless onslaught
of the left.
Mr. Dodwell
does a public service as a crusader for truth in the face of severe
opposition. May his influence grow toward
achieving that critical mass that will turn the tide in the restoration of
diminished principles that, one might say, will make America great again.
In deference
to that past and its prospective renewal here’s Mr. Dodwell’s piano rendition
of “America The Beautiful”. See https://lnkd.in/e_RdrNv 12/16/19
-
PAUL VOLCKER
RIP. Former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker
died Sunday at 92. He displayed
unprecedented courage steadily raising rates to record highs to wring out
hyper-inflation in the early 1980s. The brief but severe recession that
policy engendered turned out to be a reasonable price for the 25 years of
prosperity that followed (notwithstanding the many small business
failures). In my writings of recent years I invoked Volcker's courage as
a model for finally normalizing rates after ten years of near-zero levels
through faster rate hikes. That would return capital from inflated
financial assets back to the real economy of goods and service, as well as to
old fashioned bank CDs of savers. Rate normalization (by historical
standards) is still elusive partially because of politics, especially President
Trump's Fed bashing. The good economy with low inflation amid continued slow
global growth has diminished the urgency for raising rates aggressively, but
the anomaly remains. It doesn't look like rates will rise to normal
levels until after the next recession, absent an unlikely spike in inflation. Have
structural changes yielded a new normal?
12/10/19
-
BRING BACK ANN COULTER
I haven’t seen Ann Coulter in ages, not even on Fox. Is
she banned again? In September 2015 during a GOP presidential debate she tweeted some innocuous comments that some construed to be anti-Semitic. As a consequence, she disappeared from virtually all media for about 18 months missing the entire election extravaganza.
Here’s what she said: https://lnkd.in/eVFWvaS .
.
I thought she had done her penance but it appears Coulter faces yet another blackout in the 2020 campaign, presumably in further retribution for her 2015 “indiscretion”.
I said four years ago that this censorship was OUTRAGEOUS and I say it again. Why is cowardly Fox News, not to mention all other media outlets, afraid to air this woman who had been a staple of the network for years. Maybe it’s because she had a falling out with Trump. If not, certain
powers that be have a bit too much clout that should be challenged in the name of free speech.
Call your local news outlets and say, "I want my Ann Coulter." 12/2/19
-
EXPLAINING MY POST ABOUT TALLER
WOMEN. I refer to my earlier post about “The
Towering Girlfriend”. I recognize that
taller-woman relationships may be genuine between loving partners in the
general population. But I raised this anomaly apropos of celebrity men for whom
it is suspiciously common and seemingly mimicry. The pervasiveness of height mismatches among
them suggests something other than natural selection. Perhaps this is because
celebrity men commonly seek gorgeous models for prestige. Since female models must be a minimum of
5’9”, I think, and many are much taller, male celebrities disproportionately
bear an anomalous height difference in their relationships. But while one may say that love, or prestige,
transcend appearance, that doesn’t change the possible absurdity of the image
by conventional standards.
And there is the political angle. Might liberal celebrity men who accompany
much taller women do so to perversely promote women’s equality, perhaps to make
the oddity standard? One cannot trust
pernicious leftists. Just as they try to eradicate traditional values,
including gender and sexuality boundaries, maybe they want to negate this height
convention on the way down the slippery slope.
If so, what’s next, dating cows?
11/26/19
-
ALERT! ALERT! ALERT!
The Comprehensive Conservative is accepting nominations for its 2019
Woman of the Year Award. (Man of the Year is already decided.) This year candidates
must have been demonstrably politically incorrect. The winner earns a coveted date
with The Comprehensive Conservative to discuss current events
over a piece of cherry pie at a Manhattan café, amid soft Frank Sinatra music
in the background. I may even add some
of my piano recordings.
I look forward
to your cards and letters. 11/26/19
-
GUYS: WHAT’S WITH
THE TOWERING GIRLFRIEND? Why do so many
celebrity men squire taller women, sometimes 6 inches or more? They look ridiculous. Is this emasculation some kind of status
symbol? The practice is not new. Recall
Henry Kissinger and his wife Nancy in the 1970s. And Sylvester Stallone, 5’7” in elevated shoes,
paired with 6’1” Brigitte Nielson. A
most grotesque example was the rotund Roger Ailes escorting a slim woman seemingly
a foot taller and 50 years younger.
If you’re Peter
Dinklage, I get it. But men 6 feet are doing this. How good can it be when a guy needs a ladder
to kiss his girl? Who do these guys
think they’re impressing? What does a woman see in the little guy? His wallet, of course. And prestige.
Another
eyesore is the couple sporting a half-century age difference. The dissipated old man with the young nymph is
off-putting and one would think embarrassing for both. Given today’s cosmetics
women in their 50s and 60s can be quite attractive to an older man. Consider Jean Pirro of Fox News. She’s pushing 70 but still looks like she
could make the bed bounce 9 inches off the floor. 11/25/19
-
ALAN DERSHOWITZ EXPOSES #MeToo. Last week I attended a speaking engagement
featuring liberal Democrat lawyer Alan Dershowitz. Of particular interest were
his comments about the corruption of the #MeToo movement regarding false
allegations about his involvement in Jeffrey Epstein’s notorious activities. Dershowitz vehemently claims he was extorted
by enterprising women at the behest of their lawyers. Nonetheless, now he is
banned from an organization with which he affiliated for decades because of
pressure from #MeToo, despite his acknowledged innocence.
Corroborating the
venality of #MeToo, Dershowitz spoke of a multi-billionaire CEO who also was accused
falsely in the Epstein affair. That man was
told by the claimants’ high profile lawyer that everything would go away with a
payment of $1 billion. The billionaire
made the payment and his name has not emerged since.
#MeToo fallout
is so bad that I’m hearing men are leaving their companies to avoid the risk of
working for litigious women. Others now
insist they not remain alone with a woman in a room. It will be interesting to
see how the growing number of displaced men will retaliate en masse. See
suggestions in my 2018 anti-#MeToo manifesto under Counterattack at https://sites.google.com/site/thecomprehensiveconservative/culture/current-commentary It’s time for
hardball. 11/22/19
Back in the
day the few women employees were mostly secretaries who populated the typing
and dictaphone pools. Indeed, the
male/female dynamic in the office was quite different.
Men assigned
ratings to women. Not performance
ratings, but attractiveness scores. In
particular, men would rate a woman’s rack and derriere on a scale of 0 – 10. Even the women tacitly went along. The ratings weren’t disclosed to the women but
clearly they were concerned about their scores.
Men would be
sure to defer to a woman exiting a conference room, not just out of chivalry, but
to enable a good view for scoring her ass.
There was no interference from Personnel (now HR). In fact, the guys from that department
participated in the scoring. In one
instance, a woman discovered her breast score.
Apparently, a guy inadvertently enclosed his score sheet in a sheaf of
papers he presented to her for filing. Insulted
by her rating, she appeared at the next meeting with a plunging neckline as if
to say, Score this!
As Archie
Bunker used to say, “Those were the days.”
11/21/19
- Diversity bunk
- Climate change bunk
- #MeToo bunk
- LGBTQ bunk
- Green bunk
Identity politics and its offspring political correctness, as well as the ideological poison from which they derive, face unmitigated defiance in the expressions of my blog. Join the war against the left. See http://www.williamjdodwell.com/ 11/21/19
-
A CONSERVATIVE FIREBRAND LETS HIS HAIR DOWN. The Comprehensive Conservative steps out of his
characteristically austere political and financial modes for a little
levity. Consider this a holiday prelude,
but also a celebration of the lofty equity markets fostered by the policies of
our great beleaguered president.
Here’s my
rollicking piano rendition of “Ease On Down The Road” from the 1970s Broadway
production and film, “The Wiz”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nTGXdbgpGU . Largely a ‘30s and ‘40s guy musically, I made
a concession to modernity in this selection for wider appeal. 11/18/19
This program endows new masses of minority graduates with nominal degrees, thus enlarging the pool of minority candidates from which corporations may hire for the better positions that require a degree, heretofore unavailable to many minorities. Apparently, the thinking is that more minorities with “degrees” diminish a pretext for legally discriminating against them in the workplace. In fact, their larger presence forces companies to hire more of them to avoid liability. As a result, corporations become more diverse.
Why is this bad? Because it’s a leftist ruse to super-charge the diversity agenda with its goal of balkanizing the country in order to undermine our culture and traditional meritocratic values. All this aims to advance a socialist globalist mindset toward the demise of the republic. And, let’s be clear – it’s about disempowering white America 10/21/19
Fox has portrayed Hunter Biden as a wastrel. In particular, Greg Jarret said his background suggests he is good for nothing but flipping burgers. I am no apologist for Hunter, but on checking his biography, I was surprised to learn that he is a lawyer out of Yale law school and worked in several substantive capacities. Despite his father’s likely influence, the public would be interested in knowing this background and speculate for itself as to its significance. The guy may be a bum, but let's have all the facts.
I have been laudatory of Lou Dobbs. However, his recent interview with trade maven, Peter Navarro, disappointed me. Coming on the heels of highly chronicled declines in the manufacturing and service sectors, I eagerly anticipated a question about how that related to Trump’s trade policy. Dobbs never brought it up! He is purely a shill for the president. And I say that as a supporter of the Trump/Navarro trade policy, regardless of the economic impact heretofore.
We must insist on honest reporting, even from supposed allies. 10/10/19
I haven’t seen
Ann Coulter in ages, not even on Fox. Is
she banned again? In September 2015 during
a GOP presidential debate she tweeted some innocuous comments that some
construed to be anti-Semitic. As a consequence,
she disappeared from virtually all media for about 18 months missing the entire
election extravaganza. Here’s what she
said: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/09/17/ann-coulter-comment-jews-gop-debate-israel-relations/32543837/
.
I thought she
had done her penance but it appears Coulter faces yet another blackout in the 2020
campaign, presumably in further retribution for her 2015 “indiscretion”.
I said four years
ago that this censorship was OUTRAGEOUS and I say it again. Why is cowardly Fox News, not to mention all
other media outlets, afraid to air this woman who had been a staple of the
network for years. Maybe it’s because she
had a falling out with Trump. If not, certain
powers that be have a bit too much clout that should be challenged in the
name of free speech. 10/9/19
Note: In keeping with my ongoing visceral dedication to defy political correctness in all quarters, I present the following revelations regarding corporate America’s obsession with diversity.
I just returned from a Diversity Summit in Timbuktu. It was a confab of mostly Chief Diversity Officers seeking to improve their methods for achieving a truly diverse workforce. Most interesting were the comments of one particular corporate manager, Whitey. He told me about his struggles dealing with the diversity policies of his CDO, one Ms. Zgbowgoeiw Poebtyoblbaoetn, aka Ms. Z, who hails from a hut in an Amazon rain forest.
The Chief Diversity Officer
Ms. Z herself is the very image of diversity. This androgynous creature stands 6’9” with one black arm and one white, the result of some body modification. She has a buzzcut on the right side, multi-colored tresses on the left, a chrome dome on top and a pony tail in the back. She flaunts one 51” DDD breast, a tattoo on her neck, and wears combat boots. And God knows what’s under that dress. Even her speech is diverse as she alternates from black dialect to the King’s English throughout the day. She worships at the LGBTQ altar, even painting her office in the emblematic rainbow colors.
All hiring decisions go through Ms. Z to ensure the company maintains an optimal diversity profile, while Whitey functions as her chief operating officer. In fact, Ms. Z strives to register the highest government diversity score in her industry, a feat she hopes would put her on the cover of Diversity Magazine and earn her an EEOC award. She insists that all job candidates submit to skin-tone classification measured scientifically in lumens from 1 to 50 where 1 is the darkest, 50 is the lightest. In addition, everyone must gender-identify on a wide spectrum of genitalia variations. Accordingly, she commissioned the building premises manager to make rest room modifications to accommodate all manner of anatomical anomalies. Says Ms. Z, “We cover every color, shape, form and subspecies in the human genome. Hell, we even got an Irishman on board.”
She also commands month-long classes for all employees in the use of appropriate pronouns, the veritable equivalent of learning another language. Ms. Z especially favors profile characteristics that are heavily weighted in the government diversity score, such as dark skin-tones in high positions. As such, she tries to minimize straight white males because they produce negative points in government reporting. (We get no respect anymore.)
Ms. Z draws from a major source of diversity enhancement that is the pool of illegal aliens who storm the southern border. They not only jack up a diversity score, but some America-hating state and local jurisdictions provide tax incentives for hiring them. The current invasion of caravans from Central America has been like manna from heaven for CDOs.
Problems
Here are some of the problems Whitey experienced enforcing Ms. Z’s diversity program.
-
Risk Management told Whitey that the company has to reduce its female population because of excessive #MeToo risk. Women are suing left and right. Whitey asked Ms. Z what to do. She said, “I’m not going to upset my gender ratio. Tell Risk Management we’ll comply with the cut if we can persuade an equal number of gender ambiguous employees that they are female. Somehow I think those “converted women” would be less problematic. You do the interviews.”
-
Whitey approached Ms. Z about a problem with an employee who couldn’t get along with anybody. Figuring his behavior might have something to do with his diversity classification, she asked Whitey how the worker self-identifies. Whitey said the employee doesn’t know because he has three di--s and two vaginas. Ms. Z told Whitey to “throw him in with the transgenders”. Whitey said he suggested that but he took offense saying, “What do you think I am, some kind of freak?”
-
A well-known philanderer complained to Whitey that there are too few females in his immediate vicinity for him to pursue. Rather, he’s surrounded by man-hating lesbians who, not only restrict his prospects, but also put him at risk of bogus #MeToo lawsuits. Ms. Z told Whitey, “Gender ratios are applied uniformly over all units, so transferring him would upset that balance. I could move him to a more hospitable environment in exchange for a gay male, but the lesbians might complain about one less target for a phony sexual harassment claim."
-
After conducting a diversity audit following a spate of departures, Whitey panicked over the results. He ran to Ms. Z to tell her, “We have a crisis. We’re low on hermaphrodites.!” Even Ms. Z started sweating because this classification gets a very high weighting in the government diversity score. She immediately told Whitey to dispatch three employees to the waterfront at 3 AM to recruit replacements from appropriately endowed hookers serving transient truckers. That was a tough sell for Whitey. Relations with his staff have not been the same.
-
A gay guy complained to Whitely about a dearth of homosexuals in the firm. In fact, he suspects discrimination. Whitey brought the case to Ms. Z who said, “The entire LGBTQ spectrum is represented in this firm. Tell him to focus on some Bs, Ts and Qs instead of a pure play. Hell, he might become one of them. I could use the filip in the diversity score.”
-
Ms. Z prevailed on Whitey to take advantage of the many new openings to improve the firm’s skin-tone rating. She told him that through her connections she could get eight people from Ghana in the building by the end of the week. Ms. Z said, “These guys will really lift our score. I’m talking tones under 10 lumens!” Whitey had no choice but to hire them on his staff. Some time later Ms. Z asked him how the Ghanans were doing. Whitey said, “They can’t read, they can’t write, and they don’t speak English.” Ms. Z replied, “So what? We picked up 112 points in our score. Ah, I can see it now. Diversity Magazine today, The New York Times front page tomorrow.”
Whitey’s heart-to-heart talk with Ms. Z
Exasperated, Whitey arranged a heartfelt talk with Ms. Z about his difficulty reconciling diversity compliance with executive demands for suitable people. He explained that the firm needs dedicated competent employees who can interact well with customers and one another. Instead, everyone hates each other and nothing gets done. The only unity centers on a collective hatred for the lily white CEO. Whitey told her that since implementing her diversity program the company has been constantly in the red and the stock has plummeted 70%. Ms. Z replied, “If people meet my diversity criteria they’re qualified. The rest is for the CEO to worry about. It’s PC over profits for me. Between you and me, let’s hope those losses continue. The CEO would get fired creating a bonanza opportunity to replace the honky with a sub-20 lumens black or Hispanic. The diversity score would skyrocket!”
Whitey seeks refuge
Overcome by the displeasure of his job, Whitey went home to decompress with his family. He summoned his three young sons to resume a recent discussion about career aspirations. One had said he wants to be a fireman. Another had said he wants to be an astronaut. Whitey turned to his previously undecided precocious fair-headed boy, Niles, and asked if he had made up his mind yet. Niles said, “Yeah, Dad. I want to be a Chief Diversity Officer.” 10/2/19
By William J. Dodwell
- NEW STUDY:
COVID-19 LOCKDOWNS ARE NOT EFFECTIVE. See
-
UPDATE 2 to my article at LINK. President Trump in his press conference
3/29/20 indicated what seems to be a return to his original reliance on Neil
Ferguson’s 2.2 million projected U.S. deaths if no action were taken. That
projection strongly influenced Trump’s decision to declare a 15 day social
distancing period in mid-March. But on
3/22, Trump seemed to lose faith in the number because of Ferguson’s model
revision, and consequently decided to consider gradually lifting restrictions
starting April 12th.
Now Trump invokes the 2.2 million figure again
(interestingly without reference to Ferguson anymore) as reason for an extended lockdown, also claiming it justifies his restrictions to date that have kept U.S. deaths to only about 2,000. Perhaps this means Ferguson’s
model adjustment only applied to the UK death projection of 500,000, which he lowered
to a maximum of 20,000, while leaving the U.S. projection unchanged.
If so, the question becomes, How can estimated U.S. deaths
of 2.2 million be more than 100 times UK deaths at 20,000, considering the U.S.
has only 5 times the population of the UK?
Are the respective population dynamics that disparate? My skepticism of
the 2.2 million projection continues, and as such, my original question as to whether
the COVID-19 scientific community can be trusted. 3/30/20
-
UPDATE ON MY IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON CORONAVIRUS
POST YESTERDAY. Yesterday I posted an
article LINK about my skepticism concerning 2.2 million
U.S. coronavirus deaths projected by epidemiologist Neil Ferguson of Imperial
College London. Several hours after my posting,
I saw reports that on the same day he radically revised his calculation because
of a model error.
His changed U.S. death estimate does not appear to be
reported. But he lowered his UK death
projection from 500,000 to 20,000, and possibly much lower, he said. This 96%
reduction would translate proportionately to 88,000 U.S. deaths, instead of 2.2
million. The current U.S. death toll is
about 1,400. I don’t know if a strictly linear adjustment to the U.S. figure is
valid, but clearly the revised projection is a small fraction of the original
estimate, that I viewed as way out of line.
My article whimsically challenged
the original 2.2 million projection in the context of a possibly politicized
prognostication aimed at harming Trump’s reelection prospects. But I stand by my warning of the potential
danger of a compromised scientific community as evidenced in the AIDS crisis
and by the climate-change hoax as I detailed. 3/27/20
- CAN WE TRUST THE COVID-19 SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY? The Wall Street Journal and others reported
that the main impetus for President Trump’s social-distancing and lockdown
strategy was a report published by Imperial College London. Shockingly, it
projected 2.2 million coronavirus deaths in the U.S. absent a rigorous
containment and mitigation policy. To
date about 1,000 have died. Does this
study pass the smell test? Apparently not
for Trump anymore as he anticipates ending his lockdown by Easter.
Scientists and business people
fundamentally differ in how they perceive problems. Scientists tend to seek clinical near-certainty
according to rigid protocols to validate conclusions. Oftentimes risk-taking is
tempered by a fear of failure because human life hangs in the balance. Business people rely on a less empirical
risk-reward calculus that may entail uncertain tradeoffs of human, economic and
political variables. Hence, the apparent
divide between commercial-minded Trump and his COVID-19 health advisers
regarding the resumption of normal business activity amid the still extant
coronavirus.
Of course, politics by its nature
inevitably pervades all aspects of life inasmuch as selfish motives always loom. COVID-19 medical experts may honestly
recommend action according to their clinical findings that ignore massive economic
consequences. But in view of the dubious
outcome projected by the Imperial College London study, one might suspect an
anti-Trump political agenda, even outside the U.S. Prescribing a strategy that would destroy the
U.S. economy and unseat Trump in November could be just what the (dishonest) doctor
ordered. Or not. Has the scientific
community politicized the coronavirus against Trump?
This speculation about using the coronavirus as a
tool to influence the 2020 presidential election has become as politically
sensitive as questioning Obama’s birthplace.
In fact, even conservative Fox News suspended (fired?) host Trish Regan
for passionately opining on it. Indeed, the
left has intimidated the right into shunning conspiracy theories regardless of
merit.
A COVID-19 cabal would not be the first special
interest to compromise the scientific community. Recall
bogus statistical extrapolations in
the 1980s that projected AIDS would wipe out much of the American
population. Propagandists democratized the disease by scaring the public
into believing the
general population was at risk, including children. This was to hide the fact that, with scant
exception, only gays and drug addicts contracted the disease, then and now. What’s more, some health officials expanded
the definition of AIDS to inflate reported infections to inspire more donations
for research.
And consider the climate-change
Cassandras in media. They pressure compliant scientists who fear losing their research money
and jobs if they stray from green orthodoxy.
Predictions of widespread temperature extremes, receding Arctic ice and
underwater cities never materialized. Researchers
manipulated data to skew results for political benefit as exposed in the University
of East Anglia’s bombshell revelations in 2011.
How many scientists support the canard that we have only 12 years to
save the planet?
I’m not ready to impugn the
integrity of the COVID-19 scientists. But history shows that when the political
stakes are sufficiently high , there are few saints, even in the laboratory. Is the
intense, even worldwide, hatred for President Trump enough for science and media
to join forces once again?
- FREE THE CORONAVIRUS. It is time to consider the economic side of
the COVID-19 equation. After a 15 day
commitment to a health policy of social distancing involving lockdown
restrictions, President Trump is ready to end the austerity and permit all
business activity. This is particularly
fitting in view of the Democrat attempt to hold the economy hostage in order to
extort Republicans into caving to unrelated concessions in the coronavirus economic
stimulus bill. They include such accommodations as more union representation on
corporate boards, and higher airline emission standards.
The new approach should let the
coronavirus spread naturally and then taper off and die like all other
diseases. Meantime, the elderly and
others with autoimmune deficiencies may be voluntarily sequestered and fully
accommodated for needed amenities. Experience shows that the vast majority of
non-elderly likely will manifest little or no symptoms. Hospitalizations should
be reevaluated for a home care alternative. On this basis all economic activity
should be restored while monitoring the tradeoff against the death rate.
If successful, this plan would
restore prosperity and save taxpayers several trillion dollars as it renders
the economic stimulus bill largely unnecessary, much to the Democrats’ dismay. 3/24/20
-
ARE COVID-19 SCIENTISTS SELFISHLY AVOIDING A BETTER
WAY? Can health policy arrest the coronavirus
without requiring economically devastating mitigation measures? Since the vast
majority of non-elderly carriers suffer little or no symptoms, why the disruptive
restrictions? Officially, it is to
suppress ALL infection so it does not spread to the immunity-compromised elderly
(and non-elderly). Alternatively, why not consensually sequester that group for
the duration of the outbreak and lift restrictions on everyone else? This would relieve the current economic and
social upheaval.
Officials assert that since
COVID-19 is more contagious and deadly than predecessor viruses, illness and morbidity
among the vulnerable elderly would increase exponentially without lockdowns. Is
this necessarily true? Permitting the unfettered
spread of the coronavirus (while quarantining the vulnerable) could result in a
blanket natural immunity that could radically reduce infection. The policy would
render lockdowns unnecessary. This is
under consideration in the UK. Why not here?
Resistance might stem from fear of a
greater outbreak and attendant reputational damage for participating medical
officials, absent an ameliorative vaccine. But don’t the mammoth economic and
social costs of mass lockdown warrant that risk? 3/23/20
-
THE MEDIA COVER UP THE INNOCUOUSNESS OF THE
CORONAVIRUS. The media seem to avoid
reporting about the severity of the Chinese coronavirus. There’s copious coverage about containing it,
and about hospitals operating at overcapacity.
But how sick are the infected? In
most cases, probably not much. But the media act like the COVID-19 were
equivalent to the universally fatal Ebola virus.
The coronavirus is relatively innocuous for victims
not having underlying respiratory and autoimmune problems. And rarely mentioned
is the fact that victims who die are on average 80 years old who might have
passed from other ailments, or natural causes. One wonders if most victims could nurse
themselves at home with OTC medications as with the flu. How many are
hospitalized, not for suffering, but as a containment measure to perpetuate the
obsession with contagion?
A cost-benefit analysis that weighs the economic and
social consequences of containment against the benefit of avoiding or recovering
from what amounts to the common flu highlights the gross overreaction of
government-mandated lockdowns.
Why are the media concealing the
relative innocuousness of the coronavirus?
Because that revelation would nullify the justification for the
lockdowns that tank the economy and threaten Trump’s reelection. 3/20/20
-
CORONAVIRUS AND AIDS. The hysteria over the COVID-19 virus is
reminiscent of the AIDS scare spread throughout the 1980s when mass media
terrorized the public into believing the general population was at risk. But in fact, only two risk groups have ever existed:
male homosexuals and intravenous drug users. Some alarmists extrapolated
current infection rates ad infinitum as to project the eradication of half the
U.S. population. “Safe sex” was the analogue of today’s lockdowns. Propagandists
also expanded the definition of AIDS to elevate the infection rate.
The aim of the sensationalism was to dispel the opprobrium that befell the gay community as a source of the disease, and to create mass
fear to attract research money. Well
into the 1990s people finally got wise to the lies, and even some AIDS activists
had to confess their fraud.
Politics suffuses the coronavirus coverage as well. Anything
that projects government power appeals to the left. Government lockdown mandates
and bloated government stimulus programs make liberals smile. The left exaggerates the severity of the
coronavirus to maximize hysteria. They
hope that will destroy the economy and derail Trump’s reelection. For the same reason, the left continually
discredits Trump’s handling of the pandemic.
3/20/20
-
STOP THE MADNESS! Government mandated lockdowns in reaction to
the COVID-19 virus unnecessarily destroy a great economy and a record stock
market. 95% of the population sacrifices for the benefit of the 5%, that being
the sickly elderly. As I previously suggested, resources ought to be concentrated
on protecting the vulnerable elderly to include their quarantine, and let the
rest of the country get on with their lives.
Contracting the Chinese novel coronavirus among the
non-elderly is no big deal. For the vast majority, it’s less serious than the seasonal
flu, notwithstanding the coronavirus’ higher contagion rate. Some medical
people have said half the population will get the virus anyway. What’s more,
the reported low death rate for the coronavirus is actually even lower because
of the inability to establish the true number infected. It is distorted because of the absence of
sufficient testing kits, and a current selection bias toward the infected who
are sick and thus more likely to die. The unknown is the number of infected who
have not been tested, and those infected without symptoms who will likely never
be tested.
At some point the austerity will create a backlash if
the coronavirus continues. The overkill
will become apparent and cries of protest will ensue. 3/19/20
-
END THE CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWN. The economic cost of arresting the COVID-19
virus through blanket closures that devastate the quality of life is too disruptive. The focus should center on isolating the
elderly having underlying immune-compromising conditions. After all, the average age of death from the
virus is 80. No need to shutter schools and businesses.
The perennial flu afflicts and kills far more than
the coronavirus without massive economic dislocation. Like the flu, the coronavirus should be
allowed to spread organically and run its course while concentrating resources
on the sickly elderly. It is reported
85% of those infected experience little or no symptoms.
Indeed, the coronavirus spreads
much faster than the flu and kills at a considerably higher rate. As such, mass containment
aims to minimize the number of infected and thus limit the spread to the
defenseless elderly. Can’t a program insulate the elderly while the rest of the
population functions normally, except for the temporary debilitation of some of
those infected? How about quarantine of the vulnerable elderly?
The severe economic and social impact of massive lockdown, as well as the cost of remediation,
are too much for a policy that may not be necessary or even effective. 3/18/20
-
BLOOMBERG WAS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT ABOUT BLACK CRIME. Presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg was
absolutely right in his 2015 audio about black crime relative to the stop,
question and frisk policy when he was NYC Mayor. Ironically, law and order conservatives now denounce
his view for political advantage in the 2020 campaign, and even Bloomberg
himself recants it to shore up his black vote.
Bloomberg, in response
to a study commissioned by his Police Commissioner, Ray Kelly, reported that
virtually all crime in major cities was committed by minorities, mostly black,
between 16 and 26. Therefore, Bloomberg
said, police could justifiably frisk blacks disproportionately, and in the
process take illegal guns out of circulation.
Since racial blacks commit all the crime they should be subject to all
the frisks. The corollary is that virtually
no whites should be frisked. Accordingly, Bloomberg rightfully pointed out that
whites probably were frisked too much.
Of course, this is racial
profiling, but so what! It’s reality. Anecdotal evidence supports this too. Miscreants seen breaking the law and violent
criminals pictured in the newspapers are almost always black. But in politics this truth is verboten as
media grossly under-report black crime. Let's be real! 2/13/20
-
SPEECH NAZIS RUN AMUCK. PETA, the leftist animal rights group, now says
the word “pet” is derogatory and could lead to animal abuse. Therefore, it suggests more inclusive terms
like “animal companion”. At the same
time, a New York City law was enacted that carries a fine of up to $250,000 for
uttering the term “illegal alien”.
The left strives to maximize
conforming language and group-think to augment its influence in social settings
and then codify its authority through legislation. As a byproduct, the
lawyers get rich on new litigation opportunities.
Unfortunately, the public
acquiesces to this oppression out of fear of adverse social consequences. For example, I encountered a man at a diner who
talked about the revived XFL spring football league. He lowered his voice to a whisper to say that
it would have limited appeal, like women’s basketball. He then quickly
apologized for insinuating a denigration of women.
This is why the left
has progressed so far! People are so
easily intimidated into caving to political correctness, and they vote
accordingly. But I did my part. I said loudly, “Yeah, who the hell wants to
watch women’s basketball?” The wimp was
not amused. 2/12/20
- WE BROKE THE WOKE! 2020 OSCARS POSTS RECORD LOW
RATINGS. Sunday’s Academy Awards show
posted its lowest viewership in history.
It attracted 11% fewer viewers than the previous record low set in 2018, and
20% fewer than last year’s program. This
is great progress for America. Thank you
for once again heeding my call for ignoring the Oscars in the quest to vanquish
leftist Hollywood. 2/11/20
-
OBAMA HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ECONOMIC RECOVERY. Democrats
keep attributing the Trump economic recovery to Obama. Rather, it was the Federal Reserve that
fostered the small growth of his administration, not Obama. The Fed’s liquidity
infusions through near-zero short-term interest rates and quantitative easing broke
the logjam in the financial markets.
That stimulated a modicum of consumer spending and some business
investment, while turbo-charging the stock market producing a wealth-effect
that added further impetus.
Meanwhile, Obama
raised taxes, increased regulation and restricted energy development – the
antithesis of stimulus. President Trump
did the direct opposite and beneficially transformed trade policy to own the
recovery. Give credit to Obama’s Treasury Secretaries for recapitalizing the
financial system during the crisis.
Democrats praise Obama
for a greater decline in unemployment from 10% to 5%, while Trump brought the
rate down only from 5% to 3.5%. But Obama
proceeded from a much higher base making more change easier. Similarly, liberals point to some 175% stock price
appreciation in the Dow Jones Industrials under Obama, versus only about 60%
under Trump. However, the Obama increase
rose from a 6,500 starting point versus Trump’s 18,000 baseline. 2/10/20
- IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN.
TIME TO IGNORE THE OSCARS. I
reprise my annual appeal to ignore the upcoming Oscar Awards. Leftist, anti-Christian Hollywood is a major
enemy of conservatives. It promotes
Marxist dreck in its films and throughout media capitalizing on the public’s
ignorance and mindless infatuation with its celebrities, the so-called American
equivalent of royalty. No doubt the newly chastened (not) hedonists again will
invoke #MeToo and Time’s Up nonsense for political absolution, and celebrate
every other stripe of wokeness. Let’s
hope eventually we see more Hollywood defectors like the great James
Woods. Ban the box office! And, make this ceremony the lowest rated in
its history yet again! 2/6/20
- BLACK HISTORY: THE GLASS HALF-EMPTY. In keeping with this perennial
February commemoration, The Comprehensive Conservative highlights select
chapters in black history:
-
The demise of the black family 1970 – present
-
Black crime 1970 – present
-
Black incarceration 1970 - present
-
Black homelessness 1970 - present
-
Urban blight 1965 - present
-
Drive-by shootings 1965 - present
-
Poor academic performance 1900 – present
-
Black illegitimacy and illiteracy 1965 - present
-
Black drug dealing 1920 - present
-
Government dependence 1965 – present
-
Affirmative action 1970 – present
-
No-bail liberation 2020
-
Rampant corruption among black public officials
1965 - present
-
Rampant corruption in black non-profits 1965 -
present
-
Rampant corruption in black churches 1965 – present
-
Degrading rap and hip hop music 1985 – present
-
Black takeover of the NFL and NBA 1980 - present
-
Beautiful jazz and traditional music 1900 -
present
Black pathologies, fostered by longstanding
Democratic policies, derive largely from personal irresponsibility and moral
deficits. I spotlight them here to
invite their denunciation in the black community as to encourage a new chapter
in black history founded on conservative values. That transformation is essential to black progress. 2/5/20
- KAMALA HARRIS’ FALL FROM GRACE. Talk about not ready for prime time! Kamala
Harris’ abominable presidential bid has reduced her to a bit player on the
political stage. Did you see Senator
Schumer push her aside dismissively with a scowl at the podium last week after
the witness vote in the Senate impeachment trial? It looks like she may have to go back to
servicing Willie Brown to get attention.
However, she’ll have to adjust her technique because Brown, at 86, probably
needs a splint by now. 2/4/20
-
OH NO!
IT’S BLACK HISTORY MONTH AGAIN. Why? Will it ever end? This has been going on since 1926. Hell, the white
man couldn’t fill that much time touting his accomplishments. OK, the idea is to promote ongoing social
harmony with blacks through an understanding of their experience. But why aren’t they assimilated by now,
especially considering all the institutional support from government, media and
the body politic? No other group is so
accommodated and commemorated.
Huge swaths of the employment market have been
reserved for blacks through affirmative action – retail, security guards, food
service, loading docks, etc. What’s more,
the NFL and NBA are theirs. And, they
get free taxpayer-funded Smart-phones and usage accounts for life. What are they complaining about? The white man has bent over backwards to help
blacks. What are they doing to help
themselves?
Until blacks modify their behavior to eradicate their
many pathologies, all the Black History Months over the decades will not move
the needle toward full integration. To
cite an apt metaphor - The ball is in their court. 2/3/20
- WHY NOT DIVERSITY IN THE NFL AND NBA? Recall the days when the likes of Johnny
Unitas, Frank Gifford, and Paul Hornung graced the gridiron. Also remember Bob Cousy, Jerry West, and Harry
Gallatin on the hardwood. Back then,
nearly all white players populated the NFL and NBA. But today they're a rare bird. What happened?
Well, a true meritocratic standard took over. Perhaps
the comedy “White Men Can’t Jump” suggests why.
That is, team owners recognize the reality of certain race-based physical
prowess. Accordingly, they hire blacks
in highly disproportionate numbers based on corresponding superior performance. But as a byproduct, these players changed the
NFL culture to one often characterized by clown acts on the field, mayhem in
the locker room, and criminal violence in the street. Bye, bye Miss American
Pie.
If “white men can’t jump”, could it
be that the paucity of blacks in the executive suite is because “black men can’t
read”, so to speak? A meritocratic model as that properly adopted in
professional sports would support unfettered white dominance in commerce. But instead, government and politics impose diversity
requirements. Why the double standard?
For consistency, either the NFL and
NBA practice affirmative action, or business discontinue it. 1/31/20
- THE COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATIVE: A TRUTH MACHINE. In these days of nefarious hyper-opposition
from the left, The Comprehensive Conservative remains laser-focused on reality in the face of political correctness, public emotion, lies, propaganda, and
faux Kobe hysteria. He calls a spade a
spade with respect to often stealth radical left-wing forces dedicated to
destroying this nation through demographic transformation, diluted education, certain
discontinued law enforcement, and intrusive spendthrift government.
The corrupted Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, the grossly
politicized impeachment process, and the socialist platforms of major
Democratic presidential candidates demonstrate how truly serious the leftist threat
is to the republic. The Comprehensive Conservative
is a self-anointed truth machine that will not relent in exposing dishonesty, fraud
and subversion that none dares to broach.
In view of a corrupt media, Congress and administrative state, vigilance
is paramount. Acquiescence is fatal.
Because of his comments on the Kobe tragedy, and due to his many right-wing rants, The
Comprehensive Conservative is said to have no heart.
Let it be known that his cardiologist just gave him a clean bill of
health.
http://www.williamjdodwell.com/
1/28/20
- ENOUGH ALREADY WITH THE KOBE BRYANT
TRIBUTES. It’s only been 24 hours and I’m
already vomiting over the incessant unctuous encomiums. And God knows what’s yet to come. Yes, Kobe
was a great basketball player and a supposedly all-round good guy. His fate is most tragic, especially
considering his 13-year old daughter perished with him. Nonetheless, the media react to his death as if
he were Frank Sinatra, or Oscar Peterson, the great jazz pianist.
I wrote a piece in 2014 lamenting
the media hype about the impending retirements of Mariano Rivera and Derek
Jeter. Ihttps://lnkd.in/dB59GUR
In that article I posed the question whether
the intense media fawning would have occurred if they were white. I raise the same question about Kobe. The leftist media capitalize on the triumphs
and misfortunes of black celebrities to garner mass empathy for that demographic
writ large, and thus the liberal agenda built around it. The more the media can get people to grieve
over Kobe, the more people will tend to support the government social programs,
diversity initiatives, affirmative action, and crime absolution directed to
black society. To that end, to what
extent do the media create sympathy for Kobe beyond what really exists? 1/27/20
- THE NFL (THE NATIONAL FELON LEAGUE). As Superbowl Sunday approaches it is fitting
to reflect on a certain history of The National Football League, referred to as
The National Felon League in private circles.
Specifically, consider how players’ off field behavior has transformed
from the days of nearly all-white teams to today’s nearly all-black teams. In recent decades, countless players have
been charged publicly with assault, robbery and even murder, in addition to
many more such transgressions concealed by the NFL. By contrast, probably none of the white
players of the 1950s ever engaged in any violent criminal activity. Indeed, this
contrast is instructive as a social microcosm. When extrapolated to society at
large, the NFL’s behavioral transformation has grave implications amid the political
left’s effort to promote diversity through mass interracial propagation.
In yet another example of the left’s
lurch to extremism, its powers-that-be have gone beyond just advocating
interracial comity, to promoting genetic integration. This is obvious in Hollywood content, Madison
Avenue commercials and general media. In
addition, bank ATMs, that have featured interracial couples on the opening
screen for some time, have kicked it up a notch. Now, lest the viewer think
that the couple are just friends, the woman is visibly pregnant. Message delivered. Yes, even the diversity-obsessed
Federal Reserve Bank is in on it.
The left is bent on eroding the nation's gene pool in order to destroy America and build a new Marxist globalist social
order in its place. The history of behavioral change in the NFL demonstrates
what mass miscegenation would do to the social fabric. Through interracial
breeding, coupled with open borders, the left aims to transform national demographics. The new DNA inevitably will reduce the nation
to third-world status.
As the late great conservative
radio talk show host, Bob Grant, used to say, “Someone’s got to say these
things. It might as well be me.” 1/23/20
- BELOW-MARKET INTEREST RATES DISRUPT THE REPO
MARKET. See my latest article,
"Below-Market Interest Rates Disrupt the Repo Market". Here's an
excerpt.
Of late, a paucity of capital in the repo market has caused short-term
rates to rise creating upward pressure on the Federal Reserve Bank’s federal
funds overnight rate which is supposed to be the designated benchmark for all
other short-term rates. In order to keep this rate at the Fed’s desired
economically optimal level, the Fed has been infusing liquidity into the
financial system through repo loans of its own to borrowing banks needing cash.
This reduces the repo rate to slightly above or below the fed funds rate.
The result of liquidity infusions
by the Fed is to produce artificially low short-term rates which further
discourage banks from lending to each other in the repo market. Once the Fed
repo stimulus wears off, market forces raise the rate again to natural and more
profitable levels based on the supply and demand for money.
CONTINUED AT https://lnkd.in/eP_BPRd 1/14/20
- COMBAT ON THE 2020 CAMPAIGN TRAIL. 2020 is here and the gloves are on in the
battle for a Trump victory on November 3rd.
The Comprehensive Conservative is reporting for duty and ready for
combat. It is not enough to win the
arguments. The right has to win the fist
fights too. Given the intensity of Trump
haters, including Antifa thugs, conservative men should expect physical
encounters. As such, Trumpians must
combine intellectual prowess with pugilistic skills.
When a male Trumpian engages
in a fight with a male leftist out of self-defense, here’s the drill.
(Initiating violence is not approved.)
In a rapid-fire succession of
punches the Trumpian executes the following:
-
A left jab to the face.
-
A right upper cut to the chin.
-
A left blow to the solar plexus.
-
A right round-house to the head.
-
A left cross to the face to put him away.
When a crazed female leftist shouts
profanities in his face, the Trumpian responds as follows.
Woman protestor: “F—k you!!!!”
Man Trumpian: “Do you want to? I’ll pay for the room.”
After the deed the Trumpian tries to convert
her in the ensuing pillow talk. If he’
good, he might even extract a Trump campaign donation.
Let’s rumble. 1/6/20
- ·LOCK AND LOAD. It’s 2020 and time to get busy. There are only ten months left to orchestrate
a disastrous defeat for Democrats at the ballot box. Avenge the Democratic injustices of the Kavanaugh
and Impeachment hearings, as well as the social decay left in the wake of
liberal Democratic policies. Let’s get Trump re-elected big time on November 3rd. 1/1/20
-
ESG: THE LEFT AT WORK. The
growing movement on the left to promote environmental, social and governance
considerations in company management is aimed at co-opting the business sector
in government’s ongoing pursuit of a new socialist order. Having institutionalized
political correctness toward that end, and having indoctrinated youth in
leftist politics through public education, government and mass media extend the
Marxist model to business in the name of corporate social responsibility.
At bottom is the newfound “stakeholders”
model dedicated to constituents besides traditional shareholders, to include customers,
employees, and the community. Indeed, this mindset has companies doing
government’s bidding with respect to diversity, income redistribution, racial
inequality, green projects, and immigration, under the guise of better operations. Of course, this comes at the expense of
profit in favor of supposedly nobler social benefits. But those ultimately redound to more
controlling government. To ensure
compliance with the new egalitarian corporate ethos, regulators impose
increasing ESG reporting requirements.
Some good notwithstanding, the seemingly
benign ESG mandate undermines the capitalist archetype and incrementally
empowers the state in typical Marxist fashion. 6/30/20
- THE MASK HAS BECOME THE COVID-19 FLAG. Suddenly mask mandates proliferate everywhere. Pelosi and her lackeys grandstand with one
around their necks all the time now. Dr.
Fauci, who mocked the effectiveness of masks initially, now wears one. And Biden now says that as president he would
order everyone to wear a mask in public.
The impetus behind the drumbeat is
to promote the mask as a symbol of the leftist COVID-19 movement to derail
Trump in November through renewed mass hysteria and continued economic
sclerosis. The mask has become the rallying
flag. It is also a meme by which to
condition the public to ongoing obeisance to imperious government, a signature
of the new Democrat Party.
In any case, the mask is unhealthy
as it traps harmful carbon dioxide and bacteria that has caused pleurisy. The mask is also ineffective as it contains
pores that are hundreds of times larger than the virus that escapes through
them. Once a sign of virtue signaling
for good heath, the mask is now a political statement. What’s needed is a standard stenciled
image. How about a government jackboot
on the people’s neck? 6/29/20
-
THE COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATIVE.
He’s so conservative he works from a 1958 calendar with a pinup photo of
Brigitte Bardot. http://www.williamjdodwell.com/ 6/23/20
- CORRUPTION IN THE COVID-19 COMMUNITY. In March I wrote an article entitled “Can We Trust the COVID-19
Scientific Community?” bit.ly/2N8yOxU
Although skeptical, I was not ready to impugn
that group’s integrity. But less than three
months later, I conclude that, like climate-change and the AIDS crisis in the
1980s, the COVID-19 community is seriously compromised. This charge applies to certain scientists,
hospitals, researchers, elected Democrat officials, medical literature, pharmaceutical
firms, and health experts who have politicized or otherwise exploited COVID-19. How so?
Let us count the ways.
-
The
World Health Organization (WHO) consorted with China to conceal the initial
impact of the Wuhan coronavirus. Properly, President Trump withdrew U.S.
membership costing the organization some $440 million annually.
-
Many
American epidemiologists openly support China’s prohibition against
investigations into the Wuhan origin of the COVID-19 virus out of solidarity
with the profession. This pandering to
China undermines the search for a vaccine and adds to the death count. Could payoffs be at play here?
-
The
U.S. inaugurated nationwide lockdowns based on a now discredited 2.2 million
U.S. coronavirus deaths projected by researcher Neil Ferguson of Imperial
College London. But oddly, that was 100
times his projection for the UK, even though the U.S. has only five times the
UK population. That error, on which President Trump relied with concurrence of
Dr. Fauci, led to national alarm and grossly overestimated hospital capacity, equipment
and supply requirements.
-
Leading
COVID-19 expert, Dr. Fauci, and Democrat governors kept moving the goal posts
for a return to normalcy. Starting with
just “bending the curve”, mass mitigation continued according to various
timetables, including a wait for a vaccine in some quarters. The apparent attempt to delay economic
recovery until November to hurt Trump’s reelection became increasingly
transparent.
-
Two
prestigious medical journals, The Lancet and The New England Journal of
Medicine, published articles about COVID-19 based on fraudulent data that
bypassed the standard peer review process.
Following objections raised by the medical community, the authors
withdrew their works when they could not get the cooperation they needed from
their data provider to respond to critics.
-
Inflated
death rates make the disease seem more serious than it is. They encourage longer and more draconian
mitigation practices that suppress the economy to the detriment of President
Trump’s reelection. Health officials
redefined death to include comorbidities coincident with COVID-19. Some doctors said hospital authorities forced
them to classify deaths as COVID-19 against their will. A particular motivation for hospitals is a
government payment of $13,000 for each COVID-19 classified death, and $39,000
for each patient on a ventilator. In
addition, some hospitals harboring COVID-19 patients proactively admitted and
comingled non-COVID patients. What’s
more, New York Governor Cuomo and other Democrat governors ordered nursing
homes with non-COVID residents to accept COVID patients rather than send them
to newly erected near-empty facilities.
More than 5,000 deaths occurred thereafter in New York. To induce the nursing
homes to comply, Cuomo surreptitiously enabled legislation that protected the
owners from legal liability in exchange for a $1 million campaign contribution. What was
the motive of these governors, hospitals and nursing homes? Might it be to swell the death count for
political and economic purposes? Hey, they
were going to die soon anyway.
-
Johns
Hopkins University epidemiologist, Jennifer Nuzzo, Democrat Michigan Governor
Gretchen Whitmer and others crusaded for social-distancing only to support an exception
for Black Lives Matter protesters. Astonishingly, Nuzzo said the dangers of
systemic racism exceed the virus. So
much for science.
-
Scientists,
governors and media have engaged in a concerted effort to dismiss cheap hydroxachloraquine
as a COVID-19 therapeutic, despite promising trials. Has the pharmaceutical industry orchestrated
this cabal to permit the emergence of a new and much more lucrative substitute? What’s more, the media dismiss the drug
simply because President Trump supports it.
How’s that for journalism?
-
Dr.
Fauci and others support delaying school openings under the ruse of protecting
children from infection and avoiding the spread to family members, despite
evidence children are virtually immune to the virus. The political goal is to keep one parent out
of work to care for a child and thus hamper the economic recovery.
-
Reticence
in the COVID-19 community about certain realities is suspect. Issues include: 1) The self-attenuation of
the virus according to its genetic life cycle that one researcher says is about
eight to ten weeks. 2) A considerable
majority of cases are asymptomatic or involve only mild illness. 3) Asymptomatic cases do not transmit the
disease. 4) Silence about indefinitely deferring a return to school, even
though evidence shows the coronavirus does not affect children. 5) Studies show the ineffectiveness of
lockdowns and masks. 6) The coronavirus
does not spread efficiently in open air, especially in warm weather. 7) There's little mention of declining infection and
death rates as aggressive testing programs identify undetected cases. This
revelation would make the coronavirus seem too much like the seasonal flu.
-
The
contradictions about the effectiveness of masks. Both Dr. Fauci and Surgeon General Jerome
Adams initially dismissed the need for masks only to revert to wearing them in
public in response to the political winds.
-
The
left savors the prospect of a “new normal” founded on fear mongering and
resultant acquiescence to government mandates, as well as on a new reliance on
government assistance. This experience sets
the stage for invoking COVID-19 again as a pretext for future malicious government
interference.
-
A
unified force currently promotes an oncoming COVID-19 second wave to create alarm
in the hope of blunting the reopening phase.
In fact, certain researchers project hospitalizations and deaths that
are orders of magnitude beyond both actual experience in the first wave and
cases identified during a reopening. At
one point, Dr. Fauci said definitively that a second wave is inevitable. He recanted later partly based on new testing
results. The left misleads by reporting new cases identified from more
extensive testing are actually second wave cases. In fact, they may be first wave cases that
were not detected before the new testing regimen.
Mistruths and omissions
about the nature of the Wuhan coronavirus, its scope, its severity, projections,
mitigation protocols and therapeutics, abetted by economic and political
interests, contributed to a grossly misjudged cost-benefit calculus. This has resulted in unnecessarily cratering
the economy and spending several trillion dollars on stimulus. And the left continues the artifice in an
effort to stall the recovery by delaying the reopening and propagating fear
about a second wave to hurt President Trump in the November election. Indeed, like climate-change, and AIDS in the
1980s, much COVID-19 reporting skirts science in favor of self-interest. 6/18/20
- RACIAL INEQUALITY: A
VIEW FROM THE FAR-RIGHT. The George Floyd
killing initially generated a clarion call for rectifying police brutality and alleged
systemic racism in law enforcement. Then
it transformed into a societal self-flagellation over racial inequality. Here’s my contrarian view.
Five years
ago, I wrote an article in The Comprehensive Conservative entitled, “Black
Scholar Tells It Like It Is About the Race Problem”. See bit.ly/3cVFJ
It was a
response to a public speaking engagement of Jason Riley about his then new
book, “Please Stop Helping Us: How
Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed”.
In my article, I discuss certain inherent limitations to black equality,
and the necessity for blacks as a class to change their behavior radically to have
any hope of significantly closing the social and economic gap. 6/15/20
- BEWARE THE HYPE ABOUT A COVID-19 SECOND WAVE. Democrats and
leftist media have exploited the Wuhan coronavirus to destroy the economy. Now they try to sabotage the reopening phase
by hyping a second wave on the basis of reported upticks in infections. The left hopes to extend the malaise closer
to the November election to hurt Trump.
Increased infection mainly reflects
greatly expanded testing that exposes pre-existing cases not previously identified. Many originate in high-risk nursing homes and
Native American reservations. And, that testing
reveals a radical drop in the infection rate to under 7% as the virus
self-attenuates. In any case, infections are not a primary metric because the vast
majority of victims have been non-contagious asymptomatic or only mildly ill. Greater hospitalizations are more concerning,
but now ample capacity and plenty of ventilators ensure a better capability to
handle a spike. Most importantly, the
falling death rate, now at .4%, is de minimis.
We now know a serious second wave can be
contained by isolating the elderly and others with underlying immuno-deficiencies.
Therefore, lockdowns are unnecessary. The left promotes a second wave to stifle
the economy further by scaring people into staying home and by restoring lockdowns
to sabotage Trump's reelection. 6/12/20
- ARE REPARATIONS NEXT? First
demands called for police reform. Then
liberals howled for defunded police departments, new social programs and expanded
affirmative action, largely administered by hopelessly corrupt inner city
poverty operatives. This, all in the
name of one black thug, George Floyd, killed at the hands of a sadistic white cop.
Government, media and corporations now prostrate themselves to accommodate the
black community in a national guilt trip about racial inequality.
As the left pulls at America’s
heart strings capitalizing on newfound empathy for black equity, it is just a
matter of time before it plays its ace. Current
virtue-signaling by politicians and a commiserative citizenry could conceivably
lead to reparations legislation that might be amenable to a newly sympathetic
Congress. And, in the circumstance, President
Trump may feel considerable pressure to sign it, under threat of the race card,
to protect his reelection chances.
Look
for an effort to place (hide) reparations in a future COVID-19 stimulus bill. An
extra trillion relative to the multiple trillions spent on blunting the impact
of the coronavirus might not meet the resistance it used to amid all the mea
culpas over George Floyd. Taxpayers, watch
your wallet. 6/11/20
- DEREK CHAUVIN IS A BUM. AND
SO WAS GEORGE FLOYD.
The left capitalizes on the
racial implications of George Floyd’s horrific death. But race was not
necessarily a factor in the killing. The
disreputable victim is a grievance proxy by which to trigger unrelated accommodations
to blacks. Those concessions extend well beyond police reform to constitute massive capitulation and virtue-signaling by government and business. No doubt the left will lever this incident to
garner more support for reparations.
Black Lives Matter is a front
for directing government funds, most of which will be stolen and squandered by
notoriously corrupt ACORN-type groups and black churches. The funds will also finance Antifa and other
violent groups aimed at destroying the social order and sabotaging Trump’s
reelection in November, with the full support of Democrats. Sadly, many cowardly Republicans and gullible
citizens assent. 6/10/20
-
A GREAT CONSERVATIVE
GOES DOWN FOR THE COUNT
Nine-term Congressman Steven King (R-IA) recently lost
a primary challenge in a bid for reelection. Because of his
"nativist" positions, particularly on immigration, the left branded him
a racist, and even his own shunned him.
Steve King stood up for long-standing American values.
His so-called "white nationalist" statements were expressions of
support for the nation's sovereignty through secure borders,. They're made in
opposition to leftist forces that work to suppress the white population by
changing the demographics of the country, ultimately to diminish it through
consequent social divisiveness and economic decline. His comments about the
serious threat of drug smuggling at the southern border, including the use of
children as "mules", is an obvious truth. Everyone knows it.
The problem for too many Republicans, and even
conservatives, is that political correctness trumps truth. If they don't cave
they become pariahs even among themselves. More concerning is how much the
electorate has been intimidated and brainwashed by left-wing operatives and
their media allies. Unfortunately, the politicians capitulate to get elected.
Steve King was the kind of fighter we need in this radicalized environment.
He'll be sorely missed. 6/9/20
- THE COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATIVE: Do it the right way – the right-wing way.
Link to website.
- THE INMATES ARE RUNNING THE ASYLUM. A singular act of universally condemned police
brutality by a white police officer on a black offender precipitated nationwide
protests of systemic racism in law enforcement. Now that grievance has grown to
calls for broad racial reform. The
catalyst is a combination of peaceful protests along with violence perpetrated
by organized Antifa thugs, Black Lives Matter enthusiasts, and released prison
inmates, all in the name of the original police victim, George Floyd.
Mayors and governors have told
police to stand down out of fear of uncontrollable escalation, vilification by
leftist media, and charges of racism. Even
some police themselves pathetically kneel in solidarity with protestors. Many demonstrators justify looting and
destruction simply because property is “replaceable”. Antifa operatives funded
by George Soros and some Hollywood celebrities threaten to invade residential
areas, and now even train to gouge eyes out of their victims.
The destruction is reminiscent
of urban civil rights riots in the 1960s.
Like now, violence and looting nearly leveled particular major cities,
some of which never fully recovered. Such
is also the case in Ferguson, MO and Baltimore, still devastated from unrest in
2014 and 2015 following fatal altercations between white police and black
perpetrators. Also in the 1960s, anti-Vietnam
War and free speech protests wreaked havoc on college campuses and elsewhere,
but interestingly stopped when the military abolished the draft in 1973. Unlike today, elected officials in the 1960s
generally supported the police in using appropriate force against the rioters. But
like some mayors amid current protests, cowardly college presidents cravenly caved
to student demands.
After nearly
two weeks of continuous disorder including massive property damage, it appears police
finally have freer reign to contain the violence, although in the face of
popular and official opposition. National
Guard troops have intervened in some cities, but Washington DC Mayor Muriel
Bowser summarily ejected them. In addition, President Trump offered military
troops followed by the public disagreement of his defense secretary and some generals.
Meanwhile, George Floyd,
deplored in life, is celebrated in death.
Encomiums abound for this drug addict who spent many years in and out of
prison. And corporations are once again intimidated into reassessing their
policies regarding racial representation on boards and in the executive suite.
The call for yet more affirmative action will create in-house tension, but
large companies seem eager to placate the threatening left. And, of course, governments promise to open
check books for more social programs.
In fact, the
left is conducting an increasingly popular campaign to defund or abolish police
departments by transferring their budgets to new boondoggles that inevitably
will spawn corruption like the former Acorn groups under President Obama that
Congress defunded. The resultant law
enforcement void could plunge cities into anarchy and set the stage for a new
Marxist state coveted by the new Democrats. An attempted coup is underway.
Strong
resistance in the streets is essential to ending the mayhem, ruffled political feathers
notwithstanding. This includes military
troops as needed. Senator Tom Cotton
(R-ARK) said it best in a controversial op ed in the New York Times in which he
called for military intervention:
“One thing above all else will restore order to our streets:
an overwhelming show of
force.” 6/8/20
-
REASSESSING THE GEORGE FLOYD CASE. There is universal outrage over the way Floyd
died, and officer Derek Chauvin and his ilk must be held accountable. But
mitigating factors now paint a different picture.
Besides a record of multiple
prison sentences including one for assaulting a pregnant woman, an autopsy
report reveals that Floyd was high on fentanyl and had recently consumed
amphetamines when apprehended. This
brings to mind the 1992 LA police encounter with Rodney King who was similarly
intoxicated while resisting arrest. The
famous mass media video showing the police beating King did not show King’s preceding
violence on arresting officers. That
part was enough to exonerate the cops in court.
Déjà vu?
The obvious
question from the Floyd video is why Chauvin didn’t put him in the police
car. Many presumed the cop instead engaged
in wanton torture motivated by racial hatred.
But did Floyd, like King, pose a danger to cops? While this would warrant extra manhandling, it
does not justify unrelenting pressure on Floyd’s neck, which Chauvin should have
known (but probably did not) was potentially lethal.
In this
context, Floyd’s death is reprehensible and demands accountability, but may no
longer qualify as murder. See Candace Owens’s video at https://www.bizpacreview.com/2020/06/04/candace-owens-lights-social-media-ablaze-with-hard-hitting-confession-on-george-floyd-tragedy-929748 6/5/20
- WHAT IF GEORGE FLOYD WERE WHITE? Protests against George Floyd’s alleged killing by white
police officer Derek Chauvin are premised on the cop’s presumed racial animus. But the real issue is undisputed police
brutality. If George Floyd were white, would
there be any protests? Probably not as this
is just another chance to claim systemic racism in law enforcement.
This, despite that adjudication
exonerated the police in comparable incidents, including those involving Rodney
King, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Eric Gardner, Freddy Gray, etc. Similarly,
recall the black cheers for OJ Simpson on his baseless murder acquittal, predicated
on a racially biased jury. For the protesters, were these cases about racial injustice,
or defending black perpetrators no matter what?
Blacks engage in crime at a
highly disproportionate rate relative to their numbers (13% of the population). As such, black resistance to police action
resulting in death is inevitably disproportional. Hence, the misguided perception
of racial injustice.
So, protestations about George
Floyd’s death should concern police brutality, not race. Protesters presume racial hostility motivated
Chauvin. But he might have treated a white offender the same. The lesson is
to weed out bad cops. Race is
irrelevant. 6/3/20
- THE COVID-19 RESPONSE:
THE GREATEST BLUNDER IN HUMAN HISTORY.
Relying on
an extremely erroneous UK statistical model that projected 2.2 million U.S.
deaths from the Wuhan novel coronavirus, scientists and governments committed an
unprecedented blunder. Concomitantly, nefarious Democrats and liberal
media seek to level the economy to remake it in their socialist image, and
sabotage President Trump’s reelection as a catalyst. Accordingly, the left
promotes damaging lockdowns and other unproven restrictions costing trillions
of lost revenue, tens of millions of jobs, and untold damaged lives.
The left stokes
public fear to foster acquiescence to state mandates, even apropos of riskless
children. Leftists also capitalize on multitrillion-dollar
Treasury stimulus to advance an unrelated redistributionist agenda, and to bail
out profligate debt-ridden blue states.
ALARMISTS
WRONGLY FOCUS ON INFECTIONS INSTEAD OF DEATHS. CONTRACTING THE VIRUS IS LARGELY
INNOCUOUS, EXCEPT FOR THE ELDERLY WITH UNDERLYING IMMUNO-DEFICIENCIES. ALL OTHERS ARE ASYMPTOMATIC OR RECOVER. MEANWHILE, THE MORTALITY RATE IS A FRACTION
OF 1%, AS THE VIRUS ATTENUATES ON ITS OWN.
AS SUCH, GOVERNMENT SHOULD ABOLISH ALL RESTRICTIONS NOW, WHILE ENCOURAGING
THE VOLUNTARY QUARANTINE OF THE ELDERLY.
5/27/20
- I WANT MY DINER BACK. Everyone
yearns to return to a favorite activity when COVID-19 passes. For me, it’s Saturday morning breakfast at my
local diner. I pine for the bacon and
eggs with assorted accessories as I sit for four hours at the end of the
counter in a packed room. With Fox News
on the television before me in closed captions (at my insistence), I pour
through several publications - I’m sure to the wonderment of thousands of
patrons who have seen me there over the years.
But now, still longing to get
out of the house, I have to eat take-out in my car with the steering wheel in my
lap. Instead of television news, I
listen to successive radio broadcasts of NY Governor Cuomo and NJ Governor
Murphy giving coronavirus updates. Dropping food, spilling coffee, and clumsily
maneuvering newspapers, it’s not the same experience.
When I get home, I spend another four hours at
the grand piano, relishing the thought that, unlike breakfast, the government
can’t take this away. But I had a scare.
Last week while playing, the doorbell rang. Answering it, my wife said, “There’s a
federal official here.” For what?, I asked worriedly. “It’s the census taker.” Whew! 5/26/20
-
PERMANENT COVID-19 SOCIAL-DISTANCING AND MASKING: A LEFTIST RUSE. As the nation transitions from lockdown to reopening the economy,
one has to question the need and effectiveness of continued social-distancing
and masking to contain the spread of the Wuhan virus. Given the miniscule statistical risk of
serious illness or death in the non-vulnerable population, the economic and
social costs of these practices far exceed the health risks. As such, governments may reasonably eliminate
these mitigation mandates while protecting the vulnerable elderly population,
especially those in nursing homes. What’s more, the novel coronavirus is likely
approaching the end of its natural lifecycle, perhaps irrespective of
mitigation, as some studies indicate, especially amid warmer weather.
-
The cost-benefit calculus
Like sheltering-in-place,
the effectiveness of masking has been challenged. See
https://www-theblaze-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.theblaze.com/news/2020/05/15/former-neurosurgeon-masks-ineffective/amp In fact,
the CDC, the Surgeon General and Dr. Anthony Fauci himself had declared face
masks ineffective before reversing themselves later when the politics
intensified.
Unlike lockdowns and masking, scientific
evidence supports the effectiveness of social-distancing. But the practice does not stand up to a
cost-benefit analysis because the risk to the non-vulnerable population is so
low. The relatively few deaths and
serious illnesses that occur without social-distancing do not justify the mandated
economic and social sacrifices of reduced capacity in all businesses and public
venues.
Ongoing post-lockdown restrictions
imposed on the non-vulnerable population will continue to throttle economic
activity and suppress the quality of life unnecessarily. Also, government mandated social-distancing
and masking foster public fear that inhibits a return to normalcy by creating
the perception of a disease that is more serious than it is. The healthy should have the option to resume
normal lives with no restrictions. This would contribute to a herd immunity
that eventually can ward off future infection without the severe costs of
mitigation measures.
The government ruse
Outdoor mitigation protocols
and the closing of schools, whose young occupants are at virtually no risk, lack
scientific validation. But that fact flies
in the face of the left’s strategy to create the impression that everyone is at
serious risk forevermore. That pretext justifies continued government mandates
aimed at suppressing the economy in the hope of harming Trump’s reelection
chances. In addition, exaggerating the
danger facilitates long-term efforts to expand authoritarian control by which
to advance the left’s socialist model.
Now the left wants to protract
mitigation until a vaccine exists. But
that will be no panacea. Like flu
vaccines, half the population won’t get inoculated, and it likely will be
ineffective for a substantial portion of those who do. When the vaccine is
available the left will doubtless point out this limitation as an excuse to
continue mitigation until a cure is discovered, as long as it is not the very
promising Trump-endorsed hydroxychloroquine.
The return to normalcy
Restoring the pre-coronavirus economy
requires removing all restrictions while protecting the elderly, in conjunction
with their personal responsibility. Universal mitigation is unwarranted given
that singular risk group. Continued
mitigation mandates will prolong recovery indefinitely to the long-term
detriment of the economy and the quality of life, and to the benefit of the
left’s destructive agenda.
Mass refusal to comply with social-distancing
and masking orders, considerably more than seen in reaction to lockdown
directives, could be the solution. Ultimately,
political pressure would force government to relent, as it did to ubiquitous civil
disobedience during Prohibition. 5/21/20
- THE LEFT’S DREAM:
COVID-19 IN PERPETUITY. Democrats and their media allies pursue their
dream of a permanent COVID-19 pandemic to justify ongoing control, government
stimulus and other unrelated spending. Officials
repeatedly extend mitigation protocols to condition a fearful public to a false
enduring coronavirus threat. Governments mandate continued lockdown, social
distancing and mask-wearing despite no scientific basis for their efficacy. And
nothing is ever mentioned of the natural dissipation of the disease, already in
progress, that renders mitigation and testing superfluous. Indeed, any possible near-term fix is
anathema, such as herd immunity and hydroxychloroquine.
The gradual reopening of the
economy is underway with continued mask and social distancing mandates that
preclude normalcy. In fact, authorities tout a “new normal” that will institutionalize
those practices. Accordingly, businesses operating at fractional capacity could
mean long lines to get in and a stopwatch atmosphere to prevent lingering
inside. And, of course, smaller profits threaten their viability.
But failed commerce is part of
the left’s game plan, which is to hurt Trump’s reelection bid, and continually
shift societal reliance from the private sector to government. 5/18/20
-
IS A COVID-19 SOCIAL REVOLUTION BREWING? Growing disaffection with COVID-19 lockdown
mandates has bred animosity toward elected officials that yield increasing incidents
of civil disobedience. Tyrannical governance
could set the stage for massive backlash, as austerity breaks the orderly
interaction between employee and employer, consumer and business, citizen and
government. Political strife intensifies
as nefarious leftist forces sow distrust for government as it uses the economic
shutdown and authoritarian tactics to forge a new socialist order, and derail
President Trump’s reelection.
The citizenry has become
increasingly suspicious of scientific pronouncements based on bad models and
manipulated death statistics. In
particular, doubts grow about the assertions, contradictions and possible political
motives of one Dr. Fauci. Is he in bed
with the leftist enemy?
Could mass social angst
flowing from lost freedoms and ruined livelihoods spur a revolution akin to the
Vietnam War protests of the 1960s? Today’s authoritarian
COVID-19 intervention seriously undermines the individual's enterprising legacy
that undergirds the nation's prosperity. The response evidenced in protestations
and acts of defiance can escalate quickly amid resistance. Is that on the horizon?
5/14/20
- RIP - BARRY FARBER CONSERVATIVE TALK SHOW HOST. Barry
Farber, longtime conservative radio talk show host, died last week at 90. His amiable manner provided a certain ballast to the fire-and-brimstone style of most
right-wing broadcasters. He embellished his Southern gentleman persona with
colorful language that invoked vivid, but sometimes inscrutable, similes such as “…like
the June bug on the jalousie glass.”, spoken in an endearing North Carolina
accent.
Dedicated to
truth, he took some positions other conservatives dare not broach. For example, notwithstanding some injustices of
the McCarthy era, he pointed out that the Wisconsin senator did a service in
exposing existential communist infiltration in the U.S. government and culture. Farber also reminded his audience of the
atrocities perpetrated by Nelson Mandela against his political opponents. To wit, he ordered “necklacing” whereby a
tire was placed around an enemy’s neck and lit afire.
Such a charismatic
and volubly articulate figure was destined to run for public office. Indeed, he ran unsuccessfully for Congress in
1970. He also ran for New York City
Mayor in 1977 on the Conservative line. Unfortunately, he garnered only 4% of
the vote but almost beat the Republican candidate. 5/13/20
- FOX NEWS WIMPS OUT. Fox Business fired Trish Regan in March for
featuring a segment on how liberal media are capitalizing on the coronavirus
pandemic to damage President Trump. She
claimed the media exaggerate the seriousness of the virus and blame Trump for
its cause and effects, particularly the economic fallout.
On Sunday
night Steve Hilton presented a panel to comment on the coronavirus. Kimberly Strassel of The Wall Street Journal
addressed why liberal media constantly vilify the president. She said it was political, but offered no
specific suggestion about the goal.
Neither did Hilton or the other guests broach the particular anti-Trump
motive.
Obviously,
leftist media use pandemic coverage to undermine Trump’s chance of reelection
in November. But Fox does not permit that storyline. Is this the kinder, gentler Fox hatched by
the Murdoch kid? The restraint seems
right out of the political correctness rulebook that proscribes questioning
one’s motive, or judging another. Or,
perhaps Fox is loath to entertain conspiracy theories, as if there could never
be a legitimate one.
Fox’s core
audience wants kick-ass right-wing content.
The network’s refusal to expose the truly sinister motives of its leftist
counterparts is an affront to that constituency. 5/12/20
- AMERICA, START YOUR ENGINES. END COVID-19 LOCKDOWNS NOW.
Liberal delay tactics
The left is trying to prolong COVID-19
lockdowns as much as possible to hurt President Trump in the November
election. Leftist celebrities en masse
promote staying indoors. Democrats and the liberal media ignore studies that
challenge the efficacy of lockdowns.
They also vigorously oppose the very promising prospects of hydroxychloroquine
that might inconveniently end the pathogen quickly. Mysteriously, even Dr. Fauci is a naysayer,
despite his past praises for the drug as a treatment for corona viruses. Governors move the goalposts for reopening the
economy from bending the curve, to fourteen days of consecutive declines in
deaths, to maximum testing for infection, to completion of contact tracing, to
waiting for a supposedly imminent vaccine. Lockdown advocates emphasize the
danger of a second outbreak which inhibits austerity relaxation. With no
scientific basis liberals even speak of a “new normal” to condition the
citizenry to a permanent pall over social and economic life that lends itself
to ongoing government control. This
socialist mindset underlies the Democrat craving for evermore government
stimulus to further the left’s agenda, virus related or not.
Liberals carp about President
Trump’s mismanagement of the pandemic, particularly the testing programs. In fact, impracticable universal testing and
associated contact tracing as a condition for restarting the economy conveniently
deter a return to normality. The media
promote fear mongering about the danger of prematurely reopening the economy,
even saying Trump will kill people by taking that risk. Anything to delay economic recovery before
the election and otherwise tarnish Trump to influence the vote. Fortunately,
continued lockdowns are producing a growing backlash to the detriment of
Democrat governors.
Inflated death counts
Death tolls are inflated by
expanded definitional criteria, including co-morbidity factors, which
exaggerate the impact of the disease. Media
mislead the public by reporting a mortality rate of about 7% of infections,
ignoring valid extrapolations to account for the untested that suggest a real
rate of just a fraction of 1%, comparable to seasonal flu. Media rarely report about inflated deaths
caused by deliberate misclassifications by hospitals induced by extra Medicare
payments that slow the flattening the curve and reopening the economy. Hospitals get $13,000 for each COVID-19
related death and an additional $39,000 for use of a ventilator, which sports
an 80% fatality rate.
The cure is worse than the disease
The economic
and social costs of lockdown far exceed the dubious benefit of risk mitigation,
especially considering exaggerated death rates.
At this point the virus is waning on its own and probably becoming less
potent. What’s more, it may have been
resistant to mitigation all along. Nonetheless,
the most vulnerable population must be protected, i.e., the elderly, especially those in nursing homes. In addition, certain precautions are still
warranted in the New York metropolitan epicenter. Officials can closely monitor signs of a
second wave of infections and act upon it immediately given appropriate
preparations.
With that
caveat, largely politically motivated restrictions should be lifted now and
everyone should be allowed to act according to his risk appetite. People will
continue to die, albeit at a declining rate, as the virus is powerful to be
sure. But now we know the price of the
disease is consistent with past scourges and that expectations of Armageddon
are unfounded. America, start your
engines. 5/11/20
-
NO MORE #METOO SHAKEDOWNS? #MeToo is dead. Behold the hypocritical silence of its advocates
in the face of Tara Reade’s sexual assault accusation against Joe Biden. Where are the grandstanding Democrats and the
corrupt media that hounded Brett Kavanaugh and so many others? Where is the despicable Gloria Allred?
My 2018 anti-#MeToo manifesto
at LINK posits that sexual misconduct less than rape or genuine assault is a
nothingberger. In fact, only 5% of
claims meet legal standards in court. Bogus #MeToo lawsuits brought by
grifters, misandrists, corporate vestal virgins, and their sleazy lawyers have
destroyed lives. Indeed, many accused suffered serious career, marital and
financial losses amid politically motivated media and cowardly employers. The Biden case should end this injustice in a return
to normalcy.
Nonetheless, Ms. Reid’s sexual
assault claim is a legitimate grievance.
Although not initially credible, subsequent corroboration makes her
testimony more compelling, especially her mother’s contemporaneous call to
Larry King (if authentic). But if Ms. Reade’s
allegation merely claimed #MeToo-style sexual harassment, such as an innocuous “grope”,
she does not deserve support. What’s
good for the goose is good for the gander.
5/5/20
-
#MeToo IS DEAD. HOW
SWEET IT IS!
The left’s mute
reaction to Tara Reid’s sexual assault allegation against Joe Biden has rung a death
knell for the #MeToo movement as it exposes its shear hypocrisy. All credibility is gone. The Democrat and media quietness following
the claim, true or not, lies in stark contrast to the baseless witch hunt the
left waged against Brett Kavanaugh. Indeed,
the silence corroborates the true agenda behind the plethora of false or
frivolous #MeToo accusations against so many men in recent years. Now the left protects Biden as one of their
own, a liberal Democrat, who happens to be his party’s presumptive presidential
nominee.
The demise
of #MeToo affirms my 2018 manifesto denouncing the movement. See LINK.
This feminist cabal is dedicated to empowering women by disempowering
men. It relies largely on gold-diggers, man-hating
lesbians, scorned women, and their venal lawyers who embellish or fabricate
accusations to coerce lucrative out-of-court settlements.
Because of
this corruption, #MeToo’s mantra, “Always believe the woman.”, has become “Never
believe the woman.” No longer can anyone
credibly invoke this fraudulent crusade that perpetrates gross injustices
against the falsely accused for political and economic gain. 5/4/20
-
·LEFTIST BASTIONS SEEK COVID-19 STIMULUS MONEY. It is so satisfying to see ultra-rich Marxist
universities and well-off publicly-traded companies shamed into returning coronavirus
stimulus funds. Waiting for the next
round of handouts are media companies, and state and local governments.
The media industry seeks aid
to compensate for ad revenues decimated by COVID-19. It laughably justifies the help by their (selective)
stewardship of the First Amendment. Ninety-percent of journalists are avowed
liberals. All local papers today are owned by large leftist media organizations
that mime the politics of the New York Times. That gold standard has become a
vapid hodgepodge of climate-change, diversity, inequality, #Metoo , and LGBT.
The only honest content in local papers are the obituaries. Taxpayers must not
fund these propagandists.
Spendthrift Democratic state
and local governments also arrive at the federal trough. They too need to cover tax revenue shortfalls
resulting from coronavirus-related unemployment and business shutdowns. If successful, they don’t have to cut bloated
payrolls and outsize unfunded pension liabilities, or worry about raising taxes
on a shrinking tax base.
Republicans in Congress must
not cave to these pillars of the left. Let
them eat cake! 4/24/20
- NEW STUDY:
COVID-19 LOCKDOWNS ARE NOT EFFECTIVE. See
-
THE LEFT WANTS TO DESTROY THE ECONOMY. The left wants to prolong the Chinese
coronavirus lockdowns to maximize economic damage they hope will kill the
president’s reelection bid. Indeed, mass
media are in lockstep in opposition to re-opening the economy.
Leftists work to inflate death rates by ignoring comorbidity
factors, thus justifying continued mitigation. The left also is united in
opposing the promising hydroxochloroquine which possibly could end the pandemic
almost overnight. In addition, the left is
monolithically critical of Trump’s every move, while trying to drive a wedge
between the president and his health advisers. The current mantra claims Trump did not act
soon enough, even though mass media dismissed the threat early on. Democrats try to exploit the crisis by forcing
into aid packages liberal policies that failed in past legislation.
Leftists dream of continuing austerity right up to
the election, preventing Trump’s effective rallies in the process. But there are indications the virus is
abating. In fact, a new Israeli report claims
it has only a six to eight week life span regardless of mitigation measures. This
means all restrictions could be lifted soon allowing for significant economic
recovery before the election, and for plenty of Trump rallies. 4/16/20
- COVID-19 FINANCE: A REVIEW AND ASSESSMENT. See April 13, 2020 COVID-19 Finance: A Review and Assessment
-
GOOD PROSPECTS FOR ECONOMIC RECOVERY. Once the COVID-19 threat is over, the stage
may be set for a robust economic recovery that could restore pre-crisis prosperity
fairly shortly, albeit not without fits and starts. Unlike past recessions, the current malaise
occurred on the heels of good economic fundamentals in respect of employment,
consumption, production, housing and inflation. And unprecedented government assistance
will sustain workers and small businesses through the storm.
Some expect massive pent up demand to fuel a full recovery. However, there is some uncertainty about the timing
of demand and supply coming into balance.
This will depend on coordinated re-hiring, spending, and business
investment amid renewed consumer and business confidence.
The price is unexpected trillions
added to the national debt and tens of billions of unrelated wasteful spending,
some of which will be baked into the budget baseline for years. What’s more, already
overleveraged companies will be further indebted from government credit
facilities. In addition, a possible doubling of the Fed’s inflated balance
sheet from new crisis lending and additional quantitative easing will further
complicate a normalization of ultra-low interest rates still distorted from the
Great Financial Crisis. 4/8/20
By William J. Dodwell
- ·GOOD BYE FOX, HELLO NEWSMAX.
I have been calling for a genuinely conservative alternative to Fox News
for a long time. Finally, there is a
promising prospect in NewsMax. Its growing
presence on cable tv, consisting of more than 10 million viewers, is testament
to a large demographic hungry for honest, unadulterated right-wing content and
opinion.
Fox caved to the #MeToo crowd in firing
Bill O’Reilly, Roger Ailes and others, and radically feminized the enterprise,
all in reaction to lawsuits over “sexual misconduct”. This change marked the beginning of the network’s
drift to the left, led by a liberal son of founder Rupert Murdoch and a woman
CEO. In March, Fox fired Trish Regan for
the obvious assertion that mainstream media exaggerate the corona virus
pandemic to hurt President Trump’s reelection. In June, the network fired stalwart
Ed Henry because a former employee accused him of sexual misconduct.
The silver lining is that the Fox
transformation encourages a growing share of its audience to move to Newsmax. That network features solid right-wing hosts
including Greg Kelly, Grant Stichfield, Steve Bannon and Michele Malkin who are
not dupes for such politically correct shibboleths as climate-change, #MeToo,
LGBTQ, and “systemic racism”. The news void
is closing. 9/25/20
- HOW FAR LEFT WILL FOX NEWS DRIFT?
A really eye-popping segment appeared on Harris Faulkner’s show last
week with Melissa Francis and Marie Harf.
They interviewed Newt Gingrich. Gingrich who spoke most indignantly
about George Soros funding radical leftists, including those behind the riots
and looting, as well as many candidates for Attorney General. Francis and Harf
interjected to object to bringing up Soros in the conversation. Gingrich was not happy.
Purportedly, they did this so not
to stoke anti-Semitic sentiment. What? Soros has expressly stated his dedication to
destroying America deploying many billions of dollars to do so. And we’re not supposed to talk about it
because he’s Jewish? Give me a f***in’
break!! It’s like those who say any
criticism of Obama is racist.
It is not clear whether this
cowardice reflects Fox policy or is just Francis and Harf editorializing. A couple of days later, not mentioning
Faulkner’s show, Tucker Carlson extensively denounced Soros for exactly what
Gingrich decried. But as the host of the
leading program in all of cable news with historically high ratings, is Fox just
giving him a pass? Is Soros fair game
for other commentators? If not, this is
good reason to say, Hello Newsmax.
9/24/20
- DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD.
As endless media tributes honor Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life, hard-core
conservatives celebrate the liberal jurist’s death and the Supreme Court seat
it opens. But we wish her well in her
celestial endeavors. Her demise presents
a prime opportunity to thwart ongoing attacks on constitutional principles,
including individual and religious freedom, self-defense, and sovereignty for
decades. Appropriately, President Trump wastes no time starting the replacement
process.
The president is legally entitled to
fill vacancies until the end of his term, even if he loses reelection in
November. While Trump is dependent on Senate
Republican votes to launch confirmation hearings, he refuses to capitulate to calls
to defer the process to the next administration. Current Republican control of both the presidency
and the Senate justifies rejecting demands to wait for “the people’s choice” in
November.
Senate Republicans in tight reelection
races in November face a dilemma in appealing to swing voters in respect of
both the timing of the nomination and the vote on Trump’s conservative nominee.
The president and conservatives have to
convince them of the primacy of upholding the now vulnerable Constitution
through another strict constructionist on the Court. 9/21/20
- A WELCOME SETBACK FOR ESG. The U.S. Department of Labor just proposed proxy voting restrictions on investment fiduciaries that would thwart the left’s effort to establish ESG factors in corporate operations. Consider this a welcome blow against politically motivated touchy-feely ESG investing that compromises economic benefit.
According to Reuters, the DOL warns that fiduciaries and proxy advisers “may be acting in ways that unwittingly allow plan assets to be used to support or pursue proxy proposals for environmental, social or public policy agendas that have no connection to increasing the value of investments.”
Adding to government, media and academe, Marxist operatives try to carve out yet another beachhead in the investment community. The DOL proposal would be an important check against shareholder activists and capitulating corporate managements. Too many cowardly CEOs have caved to liberal social justice warriors. Consider their craven consumption of snake oil concerning climate change, #MeToo, diversity, racial inequality and renewable energy. Now they embrace the patently Marxist Black Lives Matter movement contributing well over $500 million dollars, $100 million from Apple alone. Some of it finances the violence now occurring in many Democrat cities. 9/2/20
- AMERICAN DECADENCE: THE DEMISE OF THE NECKTIE. In 1968, conservative presidential candidate Alabama Governor George Wallace encountered a shaggy male hippie on the campaign trail screaming at him. In response, he yelled back in his deep southern drawl, “What you need is a haircut!” My sentiment exactly as I witness one man after another in media appearances today sans cravat. I bark at the screen, “What you need is a necktie!”
It is difficult not to suspect the retiring of this badge of gentility as yet another reflection of the left’s influence in the erosion of tradition, along with suppressing history, the flag and references to God. Globalists must relish the passing of this Western sartorial emblem. To be fair, comfort doubtless has something to do with the tie’s demise. But today, feel trumps appearance to an extreme.
One might say the open neck is simply a new fashion. But serial aesthetic changes like this can lead collectively to a larger degenerative transformation on a slippery slope that ultimately undermines discipline and self-respect to the detriment of societal wellbeing. No tie today. No shirt tomorrow. Wearing pajama bottoms in public has become acceptable. And consider how tattoos displays have gone from a small image in a hidden spot to increasingly common facial disfigurement. What’s next, a tusk through the nose?
By no means a fashion plate, I just call for traditional, tasteful, form-fitting, color-coordinated attire. By this austere standard there is no place for: baggy hip hop pants falling off the rump, jeans with holes, untucked shirts, jeans with an expensive suit jacket, or news anchors wearing expensive shirts/blouses accompanied by jeans not so well concealed under the desk. Ok, I’m not exactly mainstream. Hey, if I had my druthers, casual Friday at the office would be formal Friday in celebration of a culminating head of steam achieved through the inertia of a week of daily incremental diligence. Tux, tails and a top hat would be the dress code. Working from home? No matter. Rules are rules.
And then there is tie choice, about which I am generally quite flexible, but there are certain conventions. President Trump is an inveterate tie-wearer who chooses appropriate, but limited, color schemes. However, he wears his tie too long, as the tip should meet the center of the belt buckle. Tucker Carlson frequently dons a particular green, yellow and red stripe combination against a plaid shirt. Ughhhh! He seems to make a mere token gesture to the neckwear custom. Or, maybe he’s rebelling against it. Recall his early years when he always wore a bow tie. Now he denounces it as displaying the equivalent of a raised middle finger on the throat.
I’m not alone in my support for the tie. At a speaking engagement about monetary policy I attended, Steve Forbes opined similarly after playing a brief video produced by the Federal Reserve. A leftist institution obsessed with diversity, the Fed featured comments of dozens of employees of various ethnicities in all manner of dress. Afterwards, Forbes aptly pointed out that every form of diversity was represented, except a guy with a tie. 8/31/20
-
IS TRUMP PLAYING LEGITIMATE HARDBALL THROUGH THE POST OFFICE? The Democrats want to maximize mail-in voting because reportedly 46% of their voters plan to vote by mail out of concern about COVID-19, versus only 11% of Republicans. What’s more, turnout among Democrats is expected to be low out of a lack of enthusiasm for the ticket. To compensate, Democrats capitalize on “universal voting” where election officials mail unsolicited ballots to all registered voters.
Republicans support controllable absentee voting. But they decry the obvious potential for fraud in universal voting as millions of undeliverable ballots become available for fabrication. Is Trump using his control over the Post Office to combat this inevitable Democratic scam? Newly appointed Postmaster General DeJoy immediately adopted new practices which have created serious delays in mail delivery. Before Congress, he denied accusations of interfering with the November election and said he will discontinue the changes until after the vote.
Is President Trump orchestrating Post Office delays to limit the count of mostly Democrat mail-in ballots within the legal timetable? Is this tactic ethical in view of the obvious fraud the Democrats are trying to create? Call it fighting fire with fire. 8/26/20
THE COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATIVE. One-stop viewing for all your right-wing needs concerning politics, culture and the economy. http://www.williamjdodwell.com 8/26/20
- WHY DID I SUDDENLY LOSE 30 CONNECTIONS? I just lost 30 connections overnight without apparent provocation. This has not happened before. Is Linked In playing political games as the election approaches? http://www.williamjdodwell.com/ 8/19/20
- THE COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATIVE. He thinks the federal government should be reduced in size to operate in a Motel 6 with the porch light on to welcome the corruption monitors.
If there was any doubt that Dr. Fauci is complicit with the left in the effort to defeat President Trump in November, it is now clear in view of his appearance before Congress last week. His wholly hypocritical refusal to acknowledge the spread of COVID-19 amid the ongoing mass protests of anarchists while warning of the risks of all other congregant activity certifies his rank dishonesty. His new status as darling of the left affirms his anti-Trump bona fides and compels his immediate termination. Dr. Birx should go as well. Has she disagreed with Fauci on anything?
The president seems wary of the media backlash from this action because of their firm alliance with the left now. At the very least, he should hire reopening advocates from the medical community, give them immense visibility, and let Fauci and Birx resign on their own. The new spokespersons will shift focus from unimportant new cases in the general population to infection prevention and treatment among the vulnerable immuno-deficient, the majority of whom are elderly, especially those in nursing homes. 8/3/20
RIP HERMAN CAIN. 2012 GOP presidential candidate, Herman Cain, died last week at 74 from COVID-19. He was a paragon of conservatism, a highly successful businessman, and a stellar role model for Black America. Might hydroxychloroquine have saved him? 8/3/20
- THE COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATIVE
He’s so conservative his idea
of splurging is to order a bowl of soup instead of a cup at the diner.
http://www.williamjdodwell.com/ 7/29/20
-
THE COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATIVE
He’s so conservative he
waters the lawn while it rains, just to be sure a spot isn’t missed. 7/22/20
http://www.williamjdodwell.com/
- IS WORKING AT HOME MORE PRODUCTIVE?
I just saw a post citing a study that finds those working at home these days put in up to 20% longer days. Really?
Recently,
I drove past a public basketball court and saw it filled with
middle-age white guys playing at 10 am. I turned to my wife pointing to the scene and said, that's called working from home. On the trip back an hour later the court was filled with adult black guys. I guess they
take turns.
Racial injustice? No. Personal choice and First Amendment freedom of association. More productive workers? Hell no! 7/20/20
- COVID-19 HITS HOME. The manager of my local diner told me the
business is “on the brink of collapse” because of ongoing COVID-19
restrictions. Closure would end seventy
years of family ownership. The diner was going to start limited indoor service
two weeks ago but Democrat New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy rescinded the Phase
II reopening indefinitely because of an uptick in new cases in the SUNBELT.
Of course, the increase in coronavirus cases is
primarily due to greatly expanded testing.
And COVID-19 infections are serious only for those with immuno-deficient
conditions, mostly affecting the elderly, especially in nursing homes. Virtually
everyone else is either asymptomatic, only mildly ill, or in the case of
children, immune. Deaths, the critical metric, are now down to flu rates and
heavily concentrated among the aged. But governments and media continue to
ignore this science and instead obsess about new cases. Democrat states do it to defeat Trump in
November. Republicans fear the reaction of constituents whom fear-mongering
media have duped about the significance of new cases.
My diner’s fate is a microcosm of what is about to
permeate the country as small businesses face unsustainable revenue shortfalls.
This does not have to happen. Damn the politicians and the media. 7/13/20
-
TIME FOR A MUSIC BREAK. In these times of angst over civil unrest, it
is comforting to contemplate historical parallels that remind us “This too will
pass.” Today’s protests coupled with
riots and looting and calls for anarchy bring to mind a 1968 analogue. That year the country endured the
assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, race riots, anti-war
violence, along with the havoc at the Democrat National Convention. For perspective, it is fitting to compare the
respective turmoil.
One song in particular that triggers
the tumultuous memory of 1968 is Jimmy Webb’s “MacArthur Park”. While having no thematic connection with the events
of the time, the song invokes that year like the scent of a certain perfume
might summon thoughts of a beloved grade school teacher. Recall actor Richard Harris’ hit recording,
and his memorable performance of the song on the Johnny Carson Show, an
experience he said terrified him.
For some levity in these momentous days,
I present my piano rendition of “MacArthur Park” I recorded in 2014. Hang on for the duration. A long song with
several movements that is tedious in the first three minutes, it gets more
interesting later. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avq7nNsYiSg
7/9/20
- THE COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATIVE. His idea of a diverse workforce is one with a
bevy of scantily-clad women from around the world serving coffee. 7/7/20
- GET THAT MASK OFF YOUR FACE! It’s time to fight back. The COVID-19 mask is just a badge of compliance
with the left’s program to defeat President Trump in the November
election. It is a Democrat propaganda tool
to create fear and solidarity over what is a minimal health threat, but for a
small sliver of the population. The mask
is neither effective nor necessary, and even harmful. It is wholly unsupported by science.
Starting immediately, challenge the government
mandate by going maskless. Force places
of business that require a mask for entry to command you to wear one. Carry a mask in your pocket in case this
happens. In time, more and more people
will be seen without a mask until critical mass is reached and victory is won. Another
tactic is to wear the mask hanging from one ear as hapless Joe Biden does. Make the enforcer call a technical foul.
COVID-19 is not about infection cases. It is about severity as measured by genuine
hospitalizations and deaths after correcting for fraudulent statistical
manipulation. The relatively few immuno-deficient,
mostly among the elderly, should self-quarantine according to their risk
tolerance. The rest of us must rebel against mask tyranny
now and demand our lives back. Don't be a sucker! 7/6/20
-
DR. FAUCI IS A COVID-19 FRAUD. Why does President Trump not replace Dr. Fauci
with another prominent spokesperson from the scientific community who would
rebut the COVID-19 propaganda aimed at sabotaging the economic reopening and undermining
his reelection? Mysteriously, Dr. Fauci,
who is corroborative or reticent about the misinformation, has been the only
superstar speaking on behalf of the Administration. A few dissenting rank and file scientists
have appeared sporadically in the media, but Trump needs the regular presence
of a stellar naysayer of Fauci’s stature before he was corrupted.
An esteemed expert under the
auspices of the president must expose the truth and repudiate the fallacies
spread by the media to allay the fear that deters an economic recovery.
-
The oft-cited number of infection cases is not
important. As such, the emphasis on testing and contact tracing that multiplies
the count is misguided, except for computing an accurate fatality rate. But the
left promotes a current surge as a pretext to roll back economic reopenings. The virus cannot be contained substantially by
its nature and even intensifies indoors such as during lockdowns. Most Americans probably have been exposed
without consequence. The vast majority
of confirmed cases are asymptomatic or only mildly ill. Children are virtually immune and do not
spread the disease. The elderly as the principal risk group by far should be
the focus. (80% of deaths have been over 65.)
-
Only rates of hospitalization and deaths are significant
indices of COVID-19 severity. Heretofore,
fatalities are commensurate with the seasonal flu.
-
COVID-19 deaths are inflated by co-morbidities
and an expanded definition that now encompasses not only confirmed cases, but
also those having only coronavirus symptoms, or contact with one who has tested
positive. For example, one report cites a sample of seventeen cases of which
only one tested positive. In addition, some have suggested that Democrat
governors are incented to occasion deaths to save on Medicaid costs.
-
Hospitalizations are inflated by government financial
incentives to use ventilators and classify deaths as COVID-19 related. In
addition, hospitals are admitting many mildly sick patients and extending their
stays unnecessarily. This is to shore up
profits by maximizing capacity utilization.
The current faux surge in hospitalizations contributes to public hysteria
the left tries to promote.
Dr. Fauci has lost credibility because of inconsistent
statements and his failure to acknowledge the factors above of which he must be
aware. As a liberal Democrat government
bureaucrat, he is inimical to the president, regardless of his expressed objectivity. During the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s Fauci
waffled over time on the question of whether heterosexuals were seriously at
risk. The propaganda then preached that
the general population was vulnerable when, in fact, AIDS always has been a gay
disease that also afflicts intravenous drug abusers. Current CDC Director, Robert Redfield, was
firmly in the propagandist camp at that time.
President Trump must appoint a prestigious truth teller to combat today’s
propaganda and justify a complete return to economic and social normalcy that
could save his presidency. 7/3/20
- THE COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATIVE
He’s a table-pounding, fire-breathing, bomb-throwing,
frothing-at-the-mouth right-wing zealot who scares liberals into silence (and
some conservatives too).
CULTURE
By William J. Dodwell October 2, 2019
Note: In keeping with my ongoing visceral dedication to defy political correctness in all quarters, I present the following revelations regarding corporate America’s obsession with diversity.
I just returned from a Diversity Summit in Timbuktu. It was a confab of mostly Chief Diversity Officers seeking to improve their methods for achieving a truly diverse workforce. Most interesting were the comments of one particular corporate manager, Whitey. He told me about his struggles dealing with the diversity policies of his CDO, one Ms. Zgbowgoeiw Poebtyoblbaoetn, aka Ms. Z, who hails from a hut in an Amazon rain forest.
The Chief Diversity Officer
Ms. Z herself is the very image of diversity. This androgynous creature stands 6’9” with one black arm and one white, the result of some body modification. She has a buzzcut on the right side, multi-colored tresses on the left, a chrome dome on top and a pony tail in the back. She flaunts one 51” DDD breast, a tattoo on her neck, and wears combat boots. And God knows what’s under that dress. Even her speech is diverse as she alternates from black dialect to the King’s English throughout the day. She worships at the LGBTQ altar, even painting her office in the emblematic rainbow colors.
All hiring decisions go through Ms. Z to ensure the company maintains an optimal diversity profile, while Whitey functions as her chief operating officer. In fact, Ms. Z strives to register the highest government diversity score in her industry, a feat she hopes would put her on the cover of Diversity Magazine and earn her an EEOC award. She insists that all job candidates submit to skin-tone classification measured scientifically in lumens from 1 to 50 where 1 is the darkest, 50 is the lightest. In addition, everyone must gender-identify on a wide spectrum of genitalia variations. Accordingly, she commissioned the building premises manager to make rest room modifications to accommodate all manner of anatomical anomalies. Says Ms. Z, “We cover every color, shape, form and subspecies in the human genome. Hell, we even got an Irishman on board.”
She also commands month-long classes for all employees in the use of appropriate pronouns, the veritable equivalent of learning another language. Ms. Z especially favors profile characteristics that are heavily weighted in the government diversity score, such as dark skin-tones in high positions. As such, she tries to minimize straight white males because they produce negative points in government reporting. (We get no respect anymore.)
Ms. Z draws from a major source of diversity enhancement that is the pool of illegal aliens who storm the southern border. They not only jack up a diversity score, but some America-hating state and local jurisdictions provide tax incentives for hiring them. The current invasion of caravans from Central America has been like manna from heaven for CDOs.
Problems
Here are some of the problems Whitey experienced enforcing Ms. Z’s diversity program.
-
Risk Management told Whitey that the company has to reduce its female population because of excessive #MeToo risk. Women are suing left and right. Whitey asked Ms. Z what to do. She said, “I’m not going to upset my gender ratio. Tell Risk Management we’ll comply with the cut if we can persuade an equal number of gender ambiguous employees that they are female. Somehow I think those “converted women” would be less troublesome. You do the interviews.”
-
Whitey approached Ms. Z about a problem with an employee who couldn’t get along with anybody. Figuring his behavior might have something to do with his diversity classification, she asked Whitey how the worker self-identifies. Whitey said the employee doesn’t know because he has three di--s and two vaginas. Ms. Z told Whitey to “throw him in with the transgenders”. Whitey said he suggested that but he took offense saying, “What do you think I am, some kind of freak?”
-
A well-known philanderer complained to Whitey that there are too few females in his immediate vicinity for him to pursue. Rather, he’s surrounded by man-hating lesbians who, not only restrict his prospects, but also put him at risk of bogus #MeToo lawsuits. Ms. Z told Whitey, “Gender ratios are applied uniformly over all units, so transferring him would upset that balance. I could move him to a more hospitable environment in exchange for a gay male, but the lesbians might complain about one less target for a phony sexual harassment claim."
-
After conducting a diversity audit following a spate of departures, Whitey panicked over the results. He ran to Ms. Z to tell her, “We have a crisis. We’re low on hermaphrodites.!” Even Ms. Z started sweating because this classification gets a very high weighting in the government diversity score. She immediately told Whitey to dispatch three employees to the waterfront at 3 AM to recruit replacements from appropriately endowed hookers serving transient truckers. That was a tough sell for Whitey. Relations with his staff have not been the same.
-
A gay guy complained to Whitely about a dearth of homosexuals in the firm. In fact, he suspects discrimination. Whitey brought the case to Ms. Z who said, “The entire LGBTQ spectrum is represented in this firm. Tell him to focus on some Bs, Ts and Qs instead of a pure play. Hell, he might become one of them. I could use the filip in the diversity score.”
-
Ms. Z prevailed on Whitey to take advantage of the many new openings to improve the firm’s skin-tone rating. She told him that through her connections she could get eight people from Ghana in the building by the end of the week. Ms. Z said, “These guys will really lift our score. I’m talking tones under 10 lumens!” Whitey had no choice but to hire them on his staff. Some time later Ms. Z asked him how the Ghanans were doing. Whitey said, “They can’t read, they can’t write, and they don’t speak English.” Ms. Z replied, “So what? We picked up 112 points in our score. Ah, I can see it now. Diversity Magazine today, The New York Times front page tomorrow.”
Whitey’s heart-to-heart talk with Ms. Z
Exasperated, Whitey arranged a heartfelt talk with Ms. Z about his difficulty reconciling diversity compliance with executive demands for suitable people. He explained that the firm needs dedicated competent employees who can interact well with customers and one another. Instead, everyone hates each other and nothing gets done. The only unity centers on a collective hatred for the lily white CEO. Whitey told her that since implementing her diversity program the company has been constantly in the red and the stock has plummeted 70%. Ms. Z replied, “If people meet my diversity criteria they’re qualified. The rest is for the CEO to worry about. It’s PC over profits for me. Between you and me, let’s hope those losses continue. The CEO would get fired creating a bonanza opportunity to replace the honky with a sub-20 lumens black or Hispanic. The diversity score would skyrocket!”
Whitey seeks refuge
Overcome by the displeasure of his job, Whitey went home to decompress with his family. He summoned his three young sons to resume a recent discussion about career aspirations. One had said he wants to be a fireman. Another had said he wants to be an astronaut. Whitey turned to his previously undecided precocious fair-headed boy, Niles, and asked if he had made up his mind yet. Niles said, “Yeah, Dad. I want to be a Chief Diversity Officer.”
©2019 William J.Dodwell
|
By William J. Dodwell
August 31, 2020
In 1968, conservative presidential candidate Alabama Governor George Wallace encountered a shaggy male hippie on the campaign trail screaming at him. In response, he yelled back in his deep southern drawl, “What you need is a haircut!” My sentiment exactly as I witness one man after another in media appearances today sans cravat. I bark at the screen, “What you need is a necktie!”
It is difficult not to suspect the retiring of this badge of gentility as yet another reflection of the left’s influence in the erosion of tradition, along with suppressing history, the flag and references to God. Globalists must relish the passing of this Western sartorial emblem. To be fair, comfort doubtless has something to do with the tie’s demise. But today, feel trumps appearance to an extreme.
One might say the open neck is simply a new fashion. But serial aesthetic changes like this can lead collectively to a larger degenerative transformation on a slippery slope that ultimately undermines discipline and self-respect to the detriment of societal wellbeing. No tie today. No shirt tomorrow. Wearing pajama bottoms in public has become acceptable. And consider how tattoo displays have gone from a small image in a hidden spot to increasingly common facial disfigurement. What’s next, a tusk through the nose?
By no means a fashion plate, I just call for traditional, tasteful, form-fitting, color-coordinated attire. By this austere standard there is no place for: baggy hip hop pants falling off the rump, jeans with holes, untucked shirts, jeans with an expensive suit jacket, or news anchors wearing expensive shirts/blouses accompanied by jeans not so well concealed under the desk. Ok, I’m not exactly mainstream. Hey, if I had my druthers, casual Friday at the office would be formal Friday in celebration of a culminating head of steam achieved through the inertia of daily incremental diligence. Tux, tails and a top hat would be the dress code. Working from home? No matter. Rules are rules.
And then there is tie choice, about which I am generally quite flexible, but there are certain conventions. President Trump is an inveterate tie-wearer who chooses appropriate, but limited, color schemes. However, he wears his tie too long, as the tip should meet the center of the belt buckle. Tucker Carlson frequently dons a particular green, yellow and red stripe combination against a plaid shirt. Ughhhh! He seems to make a mere token gesture to the neckwear custom. Or, maybe he’s rebelling against it. Recall his early years when he always wore a bow tie. Now he denounces it as displaying the equivalent of a raised middle finger on the throat.
I’m not alone in my support for the tie. At a speaking engagement about monetary policy I attended, Steve Forbes opined similarly after playing a brief video produced by the Federal Reserve. A leftist institution obsessed with diversity, the Fed featured comments of dozens of employees of various ethnicities in all manner of dress. Afterwards, Forbes aptly pointed out that every form of diversity was represented, except a guy with a tie.
©2020 William J. Dodwell
|
FINANCE & THE ECONOMY
BELOW-MARKET
INTEREST RATES DISRUPT THE REPO MARKET
By William J. Dodwell January
14, 2020
Much has been written about
anomalies in the repo market since a sharp spike in the rate last
September. Repos (repurchase agreements)
are instruments by which financial institutions lend or borrow cash (up to 180
days) to/from one another in exchange for Treasury securities collateral. Indeed, repos are a $5 trillion market that
is crucial for funding bank trading and investment activities.
Inter-bank cash
shortages and Fed intervention
But banks also rely on this
facility to shore up brief cash shortfalls created by a raft of withdrawals
from the financial system. They include
large scale collective payments, such as corporate taxes and Treasury auction
settlements that transfer cash out of banks to the Treasury. Banks use repos to borrow cash to satisfy more
stringent post-crisis regulatory net capital and liquidity requirements. These thresholds are particularly sensitive
at year-end because they may determine whether banks have to raise additional
capital to qualify for Fed approval to pay dividends or buy back shares.
Of late, a paucity of capital
in the repo market has caused short-term rates to rise creating upward pressure
on the Federal Reserve Bank’s federal funds overnight rate which is supposed to
be the designated benchmark for all other short-term rates. In order to keep this rate at the Fed’s
desired economically optimal level, the Fed has been infusing liquidity into
the financial system through repo loans of its own to borrowing banks needing
cash. This reduces the repo rate to
slightly above or below the fed funds rate.
Various forces have created
tightness in the repo market causing rate increases and volatility that prompt
Fed intervention. Since repo activity
worldwide is highly concentrated in just four U.S. banks, inter-bank repo
lending diminishes when they hoard cash to meet regulatory requirements, or when
they opt to invest in Treasuries instead of repo loans. Similarly, many small dealers have stopped
repo lending because post-crisis regulation has made cash generally scarcer and
thus more costly and onerous to acquire.
And, when cash shortfalls in banks arise causing them to scramble for
liquidity, the resulting volatility further increases the cost to borrow by
repo. In addition, strong demand for
cash from hedge funds and money market funds has made it less available for
banks, sometimes straining operations.
Artificial rates and
moral hazard
The result of liquidity infusions by the Fed is to produce
artificially low short-term rates which further discourage banks from lending
to each other in the repo market. Once
the Fed repo stimulus wears off, market forces raise the rate again to natural
and more profitable levels based on the supply and demand for money. This invites the Fed to intervene yet again
and again in a tug of war fashion with the market to lower the rate to maintain
its desired fed funds level. The Fed set
the current fed funds rate at the 1.5% - 1.75% target range which in real terms
(after inflation) is slightly negative.
This, while the economy is relatively robust with unemployment at record
low levels. Why is the Fed keeping rates so low when the market seems to call
for higher rates? Is the Fed skittish
about disturbing stock and bond markets?
Is it intimidated by President Trump’s jawboning for minimal rates?
Superficially low rates created by the Fed’s accelerated repo
operations induce banks to retain cash in their riskless interest-bearing
excess reserves held at the Fed.
Ordinarily, the banks would lend to other banks via higher-yielding repo
which carries a modicum of counterparty risk.
This partial bank withdrawal from repo lending causes rate volatility
that raises funding costs which crimp bank net interest margins.
Fed intervention in the repo market is analogous to its much
larger quantitative easing program aimed at suppressing long-term mortgage
rates in the aftermath of the Great Financial Crisis. The resulting low long-term rates have encouraged
investors to seek higher returns in riskier assets such as stocks, high-yield
foreign bonds and private-equity. This
practice has misallocated capital to inflated financial assets at the expense
of higher-interest bank deposits and business investment that support the real
economy of goods and services.
Suppressed long-term rates also have encouraged dangerous debt
accumulation by government, businesses and consumers.
Artificially low short-term
rates cause a dearth of inter-bank lending, the lifeblood of the financial
system. Consequently, uneven cash flows
among banks are insufficiently corrected causing the Fed to lend repeatedly in
the place of other banks in order to maintain operating stability. The repo assets on the Fed’s balance sheet
and the income that flows from them ordinarily reside with the banks to the
benefit of their shareholders and the economy.
That income should not accrue to the Treasury via the Fed. Likewise, the Treasury and mortgage
securities the Fed owns as a result of quantitative easing could belong to the
banks.
Thus, the larger the Fed’s balance sheet, the more distorted
the financial markets become to the general economy’s ultimate detriment. Right before the financial crisis the Fed’s balance
sheet was $900 billion. It subsequently
rose to $4.5 trillion through post-crisis quantitative easing. Then the Fed reduced it to $3.8 trillion as
it stopped QE in 2017 and allowed the portfolio to run off as securities
matured, a process that helps to normalize long-term interest rates. However, in a later stimulus the Fed
discontinued the unwinding in 2019 causing its securities portfolio to rise to
$4.2 trillion today, including about $250 billion of repo loans (reverse
repurchase agreements) to financial institutions to correct their cash
shortfalls.
In a free market the cost of funds should be determined by
private-sector lenders based on their risk-return calculus. The Fed’s job is to ensure short-term
interest-rate stability through temporary intervention as needed. Even the salutary long-term intercession
during and after the financial crisis should end eventually. Ongoing repo loans from the Fed to banks are
a crutch for a systemic problem that suggests that short-term interest rates
set by the Fed are too low. The central
bank should not become a permanent substitute for financial market participants
because this distorts interest rates and asset price discovery. In case of the repo market, the Fed has
become the lender of last resort. Ongoing market desperation is not healthy.
Correctives
There are proposals to revamp the repo architecture to
improve the availability of cash to cover bank shortfalls. One is to establish a facility that triggers
an automatic release of funds from a bank’s own excess reserves at the Fed when
needed. However, such reliance probably would invite a stigma akin to borrowing
from the Fed discount window. Another idea is to require banks to transact
repos through clearing houses like Dodd-Frank mandates for swaps. However, the added cost is likely unwarranted
given that repos are fully secured and mainly about liquidity risk. By contrast, minimally secured swaps involve
more dangerous market risk associated with hedging and speculation.
Nevertheless, the current problem in the repo market
suggests that post-crisis short-term interest-rate normalization has to
resume. The Fed’s fear of roiling the
stock and bond markets from rate hikes must not impede that necessity. Those asset prices are currently susceptible
to some correction because they are inflated by below-market general interest
rates. Stock prices hit record highs
throughout 2019 despite negative earnings growth all year. And a near-flat, and
sometimes inverted, yield curve does not seem consistent with a reasonably
growing U.S. economy, notwithstanding the influences of slow global
growth.
Below-market interest rates have created inflated financial
assets for some time. Now they
contribute to dislocations in the repo market which cause repetitive operating cash
shortfalls at some banks. The Fed needs
the fortitude to resist political pressures and normalize rates. Recall the courage of former Fed Chairman
Paul Volcker in the early 1980s in raising rates to record levels to extinguish
hyper-inflation.
©2020 William J. Dodwell
William
J. Dodwell is a retired corporate executive, management consultant and
financial writer in the finance industry with particular expertise in the
capital markets. Mr. Dodwell has written in professional journals, the
trade press and corporate publications. He is a Certified Public Accountant
(Inactive) licensed in the State of New York.
By William J. Dodwell April 13, 2020
The 2008 financial crisis centered principally
on the housing and financial sectors that spawned the subprime loan debacle in
all its ramifications. By contrast, the
novel coronavirus crisis cuts across all economic sectors that produce and
consume goods and services. What’s more,
the economic impact is more extensively global than the Great Financial Crisis. Hence, the historical scale and scope of the
fiscal and monetary stimulus implemented by the U.S. Treasury and the Federal
Reserve Bank.
The genesis
Government-mandated lockdowns to contain the spread
of the COVID-19 virus have frozen the national economy. As a consequence, businesses, as well as
states and municipalities, have to frantically raise cash to cover operating
losses and debt service in the face of dramatic revenue shortfalls. And in the
process, tens of millions of furloughed workers lose their income. What’s more, investors, besides liquidating
stocks, initially generated a massive sell-off of Treasuries that led to
serious illiquidity throughout the credit markets shutting off desperate
borrowers.
Then the Federal Reserve rode to the rescue with a
mammoth liquidity infusion that has stabilized the credit markets, and might
have started a growing investor rotation from bonds back to stocks. In addition, ultra-low interest rates
attendant to the new liquidity prompt extensive business borrowing to raise
cash.
The Fed
stimulus
The Fed, with the help of a $30
billion equity investment from the Treasury’s Exchange Stabilization Fund, has
provided a $2.3 trillion package of loans in response to the economic ravages
of the coronavirus crisis. All loans are
issued by banks which can sell them to the Fed while retaining a required 5%
interest. Fed accommodations include the
following:
-
A 1% cut in the benchmark interest rate to near
zero.
-
Additional lending to the financial sector
through more reverse repurchase agreements.
-
Expanded securities purchases (quantitative
easing) beyond traditional Treasuries and agency mortgage-backed securities, now
to include municipal bonds, as well as below-investment grade corporate bonds
and ETFs.
-
Loans to businesses with up to 10,000 employees
and less than $2.5 billion of 2019 revenue, along with a one-year deferral of
principal and interest payments.
-
Purchases of corporate commercial paper to
backstop inadequate market participation.
-
Loans to finance investor purchases of AAA rated
asset-backed securities through the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility
(TALF). This program, revived from the 2008 crisis, supports the securitization
of auto loans, credit card receivables, trade receivables, leases and student
loans affecting a cross-section of economic activity. The facility also finances the purchase of AAA
commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) and collateralized loan
obligations (CLOs).
-
Temporary relaxation of a regulatory capital
requirement; banks may omit Treasuries and central bank deposits from the
leverage ratio (core capital/assets).
The Treasury
stimulus
At the same time, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid
Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES), a $2.2 trillion initial spending and
loan package for individuals, municipalities, and businesses of all sizes to
reignite consumption and production. It includes the following:
-
A one-time cash payment of up to $1,200 to workers
and retirees.
-
Bank loans to small businesses to finance
payroll that are forgiven if employees are retained..
-
Bank loans guaranteed by the SBA to shore up
operations.
-
Payroll assistance and loans to the hard-hit airline
industry, partially in consideration of disputed stock warrants.
-
Loans to states and local governments serving
populations over 500,000.
-
Expanded unemployment benefits, some of which match
or exceed lost salaries.
And more is coming, subject to
Democratic extortion to add sundry unrelated special-interest spending. President Trump has proposed an additional
$250 billion for small business. Also under discussion is a proposal for
guaranteed private company paychecks. The
Treasury, that is taxpayers, will absorb defaults of its loan, as well as those
of the Fed. But even with government aid,
companies face a liquidity squeeze from radical revenue declines. CFOs are issuing bonds, extending credit
lines and cutting costs to get by.
How is so much government debt
affordable? Financial markets presume
that the historical good faith and credit of the U.S. government always will
attract global investment in Treasuries and thus enable federal borrowing on
demand at reasonable cost. In addition, the
Fed has always been able to create money by fiat to ensure currency with which
to buy the debt while usually avoiding serious inflation through robust
economic growth. Witness the dramatic
rise in federal debt to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the recovery
from the 2008 financial crisis. While
the COVID-19 emergency may justify the current government extravagance, and the
inherent power of the economy permits certain excess, there is a limit to a
nation’s means and the ability to live beyond it.
Inflation
At some point the new liquidity
could unleash dangerous inflation. Surprisingly, it did not materialize from
the monetary stimulus following the 2008 financial crisis. That is because that money redounded to the
financial sector creating inflated financial assets instead of overpriced goods
and services in the real economy as investors sought to escape near-zero
interest rates. (Also tempering
inflation have been global competition and productivity from technological
advances and deregulation.) But in the long-term that capital will migrate from
the financial sector to the real economy, perhaps to create inflationary
pressures.
But the multi-trillion dollar
coronavirus monetary and fiscal stimulus is more targeted to industry and impacts
all sectors of the real economy making eventual goods inflation seemingly
compelling. In the extreme, this would
engender growth-stifling taxes and interest rate hikes that could lead to government
and corporate ratings downgrades and more burdensome debt service. Highly indebted companies that cannot roll over
coronavirus debt could precipitate widespread defaults and bankruptcies that
further suppress the economy. On the other hand, some additional inflation
would be salutary in that it eventually forces up interest rates to normal
levels. That outcome has eluded the Fed
for over a decade.
Recovery
The coronavirus bailout and GDP
decline will likely raise the federal debt to GDP ratio to approximately 120%, up
from about 40% before the Great Financial Crisis. At the same time, demands on Social Security
and Medicare escalate sharply as legions of baby-boomers retire. One has to wonder how much all this fiscal
drag will affect future growth. And conservatives
worry about the increasing interventions of the Fed and Treasury in the private
sector that foster growing dependence on government, and perhaps a societal
appetite for socialist policy.
Pre-crisis prosperity and the government
backstop against coronavirus losses during the downturn suggest the economy’s
ability to rebound fairly quickly in the short-term in a V-shaped or U-shaped
recovery. But, while pent up demand will
create an initial spark, some consumers may hold back until they make up lost
income. Likewise, some employers may not
rehire all employees as a cost-saving measure. In addition, depleted investment
portfolios may have a reverse wealth-effect that deters normal spending. If these factors combine with a recurrent
coronavirus outbreak, a longer term W-shaped recovery is more likely.
More importantly, the long-term outlook could be
plagued by growth-sapping deficits and debt, taxes, suppressed corporate
earnings and muted stock valuations that preclude a return to normalcy that was
the Trump economy. The solution is a
strong pro-growth agenda that supports investment and innovation, principally
through tax incentives and regulatory relief.
But that prospect is doomed if President Trump is not reelected in
November. In any case, government spending has to be reigned in significantly
to generate the growth that can enable meaningful debt reduction. No president has been inclined to do that for
some time
©2020 William J. Dodwell
William
J. Dodwell is a retired corporate executive, management consultant and
financial writer in the finance industry with particular expertise in the
capital markets. Mr. Dodwell has written in professional journals, the
trade press and corporate publications. He is a Certified Public Accountant
(Inactive) licensed in the State of New York.
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