July 13th, 2020

            I normally keep my political commentary pretty close to heart. But today I'm making an exception on two things…
THING ONE:
            I'm not a voter in the U.S. A., so I have no dog in the November election fight. Obviously, then, I'm not a Republican nor a Democrat. But I have arrived at the opinion that the U.S. electors need to send Donald Trump packing. He simply is doing the country too much harm to remain in place.
            Now, I'm not a black & white thinker and I've always tried to leave room for the other guy in discussions. So I will acknowledge that President Trump seems to have done some good things for the American economy (that is, before the pandemic hit). But the fact remains he has messed up too many other elements of life there to be able to boast a successful run. And now we have the reports from the New York Times and the Washington Post revealing Trump knew about Vladimir Putin paying bounties to Taliban killers to slay U.S. soldiers. Sure, the President can claim "hoax" and "fake news", but that just doesn't wash anymore in light of serious reporting and authentic journalism.
            What does Putin have on Trump? I figure it dates back to the Trump business empire being virtually bankrupt in the 1990s (as his taxes will show, if they are ever revealed) and it was Russian oligarchs, mobsters and other delightful friends of Putin who kept Trump afloat. They've since gained in power. And the President is losing control. Trump has even acknowledged publicly that Joe Biden might, in fact, become President in the November election.
            Facing a humiliating loss and fearing he could end up in jail for his alleged  illegal actions, and not wanting his taxes to reveal his liabilities and lack of charitable donations, Trump could choose to resign, Nixon-style, demanding a full pardon and turning things over to Mike Pence. (Pretty easy to see Pence losing in November.)
THING TWO:
            Here is what I advised film producer Michael Moore recently (I'm a regular listener to his podcast):
            "Mike, I recognize you have a problem in the U.S. You have two political parties whose members seem to hate the guts of the others. Even though Republicans are losing faith in Donald Trump, getting them to vote for a Democratic candidate this November will be a non-starter. That is, unless Joe Biden, or Nancy Pelosi, or Bernie Sanders, or some other worthy Dem, can reach out to Mitch McConnell et al and suggest a coalition government. As you may know, this is a form of rule in which political parties cooperate for the greater good, reducing the dominance of any one party's agenda within that "coalition".
            The coalition government would involve a formal agreement between Republicans and Democrats to cooperate for a four year term, with a view to putting aside petty arguments and focusing on re-building and achieving gains for the overall country, while ridding the U.S. of the destructive force that is Donald Trump.
            Yes, Republicans would have to accept that it will be a Democratic President during this time, but properly formulated, that would largely be in appearance only. (And they do have to accept the tea leaves suggesting it will be the Dems who win on Nov. 3 anyway.)
            The U.S. population is fed up with politicians of each stripe who are more interested in their own skins than they are for the country as a whole.
            Mike, if your sphere of influence is strong enough, please use it to encourage launching this strategy.
            It's your only chance."
           
            So, those are the two things reflecting my commentary on U.S. politics.
            We'll now return you to your regular channel.

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