Good morning,
WEATHER REPORT
It seems unbelievable but Los Angeles received a tropical storm beating in August, typically the driest month of the year. I hope everyone has battened down the hatches and stayed safe.
THE TRUMP DOCKET
I am not one to believe the adage that “where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” After all, what appears to be is not necessarily what is, notwithstanding supporting circumstantial evidence. But my goodness, the smoke generated from the phenomenon that is Donald Trump is a veritable conflagration of epic proportions. The evidence we have seen so far in the news and in reading the indictments is compelling. And even if you are one of the stalwarts who believes that he’s just boisterous and hyperbolic (to the extent to which thinking people can still turn a blind eye to his criminality), certainly the litany of statements and behaviors indicate this is a person too dangerous to hold public office.
Donald Trump continues to be in the news and continues to lead the Republican field for the nomination for president. Still, few Republican leaders have moved on from Mr. Trump. I will save for a later Musing the “flak in the water” of focusing on Hunter Biden, whose behaviors are none-too-admirable, but hardly on the scale of subverting democracy, attempting a coup, and furthering public distrust in institutions that are doing their job. But we didn’t vote for Hunter Biden and, best as I can tell, he’s not a candidate for the highest office in the land. And until the five year inquiry into Mr. Biden comes up with new evidence, no connection has been drawn to his father, notwithstanding the made-for-TV headline parroted by Trump nation about the “Biden crime family.”
Just to review, Republicans seem unable to break from Mr. Trump, despite the following brief legal scorecard (and this is hardly an exhaustive review of Mr. Trump’s singularly sinister behaviors):
He settled with the New York State Attorney General for malfeasance with respect to his foundation
A jury of his peers found in favor of the woman who claimed Mr. Trump behaved as a sexual predator
He paid off a porn star and others signed non-disclosure agreements regarding alleged sexual improprieties. He has been indicted in New York for hush money payments being made in furtherance of his political campaign. There is no dispute of the facts; merely that it may not rise to the level of violations of campaign law. We will see how the case evolves
He has been indicted for the theft of classified documents and engaging in a scheme to keep these and defy subpoenas to return them. Some of this is on tape.
He has been indicted in Georgia for attempting to circumvent election results through an elaborate scheme. The facts are not in dispute—merely that his attempts to “find votes” weren’t really to encourage fraud and that, somehow, having fake electors gather in secret to certify their legitimacy and claim to vote for Trump was valid. Many co-conspirators were indicted and other Trump loyalists will be testifying that Trump and his acolytes knew that the claims of election fraud were, themselves, fraudulent. Their actions were nothing short of a coup. Reading the indictment is a study in just how much went on in an attempt to deny the results of the election and the sheer audacity and illegality of these behaviors.
He was indicted in connection with incitement to riot regarding January 6th (although cleverly, the indictment was centered on fraudulent acts, rather than the incitement per se). He tried to subvert our democratic processes by attempting to overturn a valid election, tried to prevent Congress from performing its duty, and lied repeatedly to support his repeated lies, unsupported by evidence. He rallied his troops with incendiary language and they responded as dutiful foot soldiers. His defense likely will be that, even though he knew the supporters to be violent, vitriolic, and well-armed, his admonitions to show up and “be wild” and his reluctance to stop them shouldn’t be read as support for their actions to interfere with Congress’s duty to certify the election results, nor as an attempt to subvert the law. Mr. Trump’s attempt to convince Mr. Pence not to fulfill his constitutional duties is a tough fact to refute.
And yet he remains the frontrunner for this once great political party. How does this end well?
WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE BUT NOT A DROP TO DRINK
The other day I was watching some talking heads debating population decline. One person noted that there is not a problem with population growth in our lifetimes. Another maintained that there is a limit to society’s ability to handle population expansion and that we are approaching that limit. Certainly, the predictions of Thomas Malthus have not been realized yet, notwithstanding the growth of the human population of the Earth. But at some point, Malthus has to be right. Eventually, human beings must reach the “carrying capacity” of the Earth, due to the limitations of arable land, food production, and water supply. With more people, climate change, and further depletion of aquifers, water will become an even more precious resource later this century. That problem needs to get solved.
As to water, one of the commentators noted that, while we can expand food production (although I believe there are limits to that), “we can’t grow water.” But is this really true? In California, we sit alongside the largest body of water in the world—the Pacific Ocean. Israel, also predominantly a semi-arid region, has similar issues with water supply. It has seen the wisdom of desalinization. In California, deep in a drought, notwithstanding the recent flurry of rains, we seem to have no effective water plan.
Have a great day,
Glenn
The sad thing is both parties have seriously flawed candidates that may be making the run. I don’t share your utter hate of Trump but know he cannot win and possibly should not win. Anyone else would be a better choice. You continue to be intentionally blind relative to Mr. Biden. It is impossible for me to believe that he was in the dark about his son’s activities which seems to be true with the leaks floating from the Congressional inquiry. He insulted us by saying he never talked business with his son. He would be a rare father that did not. Cognitively Biden is the wrong man for our time as is Trump. He has been as dishonest with us as Trump. You would have to disbelieve that a huge number of shell corporations were in place for others than hiding something that should not have been happening. You are too good a businessman to think the whole thing was stinky. I think everyone agrees that Hunter and possibly his uncle were influence peddling. If Biden was in the dark about it that clearly disqualifies him from having his finger on any trigger.