Polemic on Sunday Morning. Warren Zevon is still relevant.

https://www.lawfareblog.com/lawfare-podcast-bonus-edition-jim-baker-russia-investigation


I was never a big Warren Zevon fan, which is not saying I disliked the guy, but two lines of his, irregardless of context, struck me and stayed with me.  One is "I'll sleep when I die" and the other, "Excitable Boy."

For a rare moment of directly personal revelation, and despite the copious amount of Trump related links I share, I do not suffer from lack of sleep, so to sleep when I die reads inspirational, I say thanks but no thanks,  I like to sleep.

Being an excitable boy though,  now that sounds novel and fun!

Because I can, I enjoy a variety of podcasts throughout my work day, and I've also digested a lot of audio books, which have imbibed me with a variety of topics, many of which have really inspired me, and whose seemingly isolated topics come with wisdom that bleed onto other real life issue.

Is every single action by the President of interest to me?  They are,  but elections have consequences and I am fully aware of the agenda items Trump's Administration is carrying through on.  I just have no interest in promoting an electable official who is as dishonest as he is.   I will not up lift him, until his honestly becomes as remarkable as his dishonesty.

So if that's taken as I'll never like Trump,  that would probably be more of a reflection of another's judgment on Trump's true character than on any negative or positive out look that I guardedly possess --  if you don't believe he'll ever be honest, then by all means assume I'll never like Trump.

What is of interest to me is the never ending performance of Trump and his cronies to excite people of disparate and desperate positions that all is conspiracy, except their own unveiling of it all to the naive, of course.

What am I to believe?  That a man who has not been an honest broker of any sort for his entire life is now the ultimate defender of a fact driven universe?

That somehow all the dishonesty has been a integral part of inoculating Trump from any of the insidious affects of dishonesty.   His trail by fire is our salvation from a world of conspiracy, conspiracy that is culminating after years of germination and whose ultimate goal is to destroy all the good that Trump has ever been for, and by extension what we all have ever been for?

Give me a break.

I've spent a good deal of this morning's exercise laying out the context that ultimately surrounds the play acting in Trump world, and that drama continues to unfold through the latest twist in the Russia 'thing' with the promotion of the idea that Trump was unfairly targeted by the FBI, the CIA, the Clinton's, Obama's, Steele's et. al.

There is always a kernel of truth to any conspiracy, but ultimately its the excitable boy in us all that needs to breathe a minute, take a look at the four walls of reality surrounding us, and not let too much of that kooky bloody wisdom stain ourselves.

At some point the mind needs sleep to process and recalibrate reality.   It would also help to not get so excited about conspiracies all the time --  take a break from it.   There was no conspiracy against Trump, there is an on going Russia threat though,  and we all need to get into the hands of the professionals, if you love this country, any and all efforts by them to influence us.   Presidential candidates too.

Especially Presidential candidates.

I am thankful for the vigilance our security agencies have shown during this era,  and it is not their error, but their challenge to be on top of anything Russia related.

Listen to the podcast I've shared, and determine for yourself --  do you want to lend your strength to honest actors, or not.

Honest actors welcome the light of scrutiny -- they have nothing to hide.   Quite a contrast to the conspiracy promoting Trump world where defiance, obfuscation,  and obstruction reign. 

Nixon's In the End Summary

In the Arena
1990

Richard Nixon,  Republican President

Chapter 39, "Peace" page 352

"We must not become complacent.  As Paul Johnson has written,  'One of the lessons of history...is that no civilization can be taken for granted.  Its permanency can never be assumed;  there is always a dark age waiting for you around the corner,  if you play your cards badly and you make sufficient mistakes.'

Our goal must be not only to avoid war but also to create a peace that leads men and nations to express their higher qualities and the better aspects of their nature....

...we should harness the competitive and innovative aspects of our nature to address the problems of poverty and hunger, to protect the natural environment, to advance health and education, and to explore the frontier of space...The key is the quest, the striving to create a better world, to advance mankind's material, cultural, philosophical, and spiritual progress."

Nixon Shared Insight About Business Men

In the Arena
1990

Richard Nixon,  Republican President

Chapter 39, "Peace" page 348

"Today, scores of businessmen have been clamoring for an easing of restrictions on trade with Moscow.  But policymakers should be cautious in heeding their counsel.  As Whittaker Chambers wrote, "Almost without exception, the great businessmen are charmed and impressed by the great Communists whenever history (or trade) has brought them together -- face to face.  They find they speak the same language,  i.e., the language of power and action stripped of intellectual baggage.  But fate is glimpsed grimly in this fact:  though the great Communists fool and baffle the great businessmen, the great businessmen are no puzzle to the great Communists who see straight through and beyond them."

Nixon Gets It Right

In the Arena
1990

Richard Nixon,  Republican President

Chapter 38, "War" page 344

"The principle threat we face involves aggressors who go under, not over, the border.  Our adversaries in the Kremlin have mastered the techniques of subverting our friends and allies by supporting revolutionary forces."


Bonus :

Nixon quoting De Gaulle

Page 344

"War stirs men's hearts the mud of their worst instincts.  It puts a premium on violence, nourishes hatred, and gives free rein to cupidity.  It crushes the weak, exalts the unworthy, bolsters tyranny...[but] had not innumerable soldiers shed their blood there would have been no Hellenism, no Roman civilization, no Christianity, no Rights of Man....War is the worst of plagues but has made the world as we know it."