Is North Korea Reading "PolitiDose"

North  Korea's President Kim Jong Un in a statement released this week said North and South Korea should meet and discuss the unification of the country without interference from the outside.  He made it clear that the fate of the Korean Peninsula would be decided by the Koreans themselves.  And if that sounds familiar its because you read it here first in PolitiDose in several commentaries in the last few years.

Both North and South Korea have already met and agreed to cooperate in several areas during the up coming winter games scheduled to take place in South Korea.  So a dialog has already started and is taking place.  When South Korea elected its new President Moon Jae-in he made it clear he would seek to have a dialog with the North and the conversation has moved along.  Can North and South really achieve unification on their own?  If their talks are really serious what will be the reaction by China, Russia and the United States.  All three have self serving motives why they support the North and South separation and why no progress has been made in changing the status quo.

This writer still believes the best long term solution is a united Korea with one government, one people and one country under one united flag.  Only those who remain blind to human nature never see the big picture that sits right in front of them.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Sean Payton's Top Priority For The 2018 Football Season

Payton should put down the cheat sheet, turn the play calling over to his offense coordinator, modify his behavior with the officials and just let his arrogance die a natural death.  The head coach needs to spend more time observing what goes on during the game which he can not do now with his mind and head looking at a cheat sheet.

Forget about all the hype and praise bestowed on you by the New Orleans sports writers.  It has not worked and has resulted in too few championships.  I think it is fair to say that with your head and mind on that cheat sheet you fail to see on the field what the fans see.  You made several bad calls this season at critical times and failed.  Your mind has to be open in order to see the big picture but that cheat sheet gives you tunnel vision.

Its time to let go of your ego and be a full time head coach.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Bill Belichick and Tom Brady Take Their Team To Another Superbowl.

The New England Patriots defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 24-20 to win the American conference championship and advanced to the Super Bowl for the 10th time and the third time in the last 4 years.  And once again Tom Brady took his team farther than Dred Brees took his team despite all of Brees passing records.  The Patriots under coach Belichick has been the most consistent team for over a decade and won more world championships since the Super Bowl era than any other team.

Brady, a quiet talking quarterback like Bart Starr, who also like Brady does not hold as many personal passing records as Brees, Manning or Farve,  knows how to win as a team.  The same trait that Starr had.  And like Brady, won more world championships than Brees, Manning and Farve.  Both Brady and Starr were consistent team winners.

Bill Belichick is the best football coach in the Super Bowl era and the most consistent.  He has won 5 world championships with New England, more than any other coach.  He and Vince Lombardi share many things in common.  Both are teaching coaches, something that many coaches lack.  Teaching is a large reason why both had such great success. They teach the team concept and both taught how important it is to know the fundamentals of the game.  Belichick is the dominate coach in the NFL and no other even comes close.

The sad part for the NFL is that so many coaches that have come and gone with out learning anything from Belichick's success.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Louisiana's Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy: The Ditto Head Republicans Stick It To Louisiana Again

U.S. Senators Cassidy and Kennedy did it to Louisiana again Friday when they voted with their republican colleges to kick the can down the road by voting for the CR that failed and shut down the government.  The first CR (continuing resolution) they voted for ended Friday and was supposed to give them enough time to come up with a long term spending bill but it failed under the republican leadership.  Friday's vote was to continue the CR for another 3 weeks so they could accomplish what they failed to accomplish during the first CR.

The democratic party and five republicans voted against the CR because the solution to the budget spending bill is long term and they wanted a bill that would run through the end of the government's fiscal year which ends September 30, 2018.  That way all federal agencies would have certainty for the rest of the fiscal year.  Government should not be run with CR's that last short periods of time and don't solve the problem and then create government shutdowns.  This is the third time the republicans in congress have shut down the government since 1995 because of their extreme agenda which began with the Newt Gingrich era.  GOP administrations and GOP led congress are terrible at governing and makes it easy to understand why no republican administration has balanced the federal budget since President Eisenhower.  Since then its been all deficit spending under republican administrations.

Louisiana's republican representatives in congress are the worst this writer has ever seen.  They are Trump ditto heads who are with him no matter what.  They all voted for Trump's health care scam bill, his tax bill scheme passed off as tax reform and supported his regressive executive orders and his divisive rhetoric.  Their immigration talk is a mirror image of their health care talk.  Louisiana and its people deserve better representation.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

President Trump's First Year In Office: Chaos, Inability To Lead,Incompetent, Divisive and A Corrupt Business Attitude To American Government

The trumpet man's first year in Office ended Friday at midnight with a government shutdown because he and the GOP's extreme agenda was partisan and as a result void of democratic input.  The President and GOP wanted to kick the can down the road again with a short term CR (continuing resolution) which if passed would have been the second one.  The democrats wanted a long term spending plan so there would be certainty for operating the federal government.

Trump himself set up the prospect of a government shutdown weeks ago when he proclaimed the federal government may need a good shutdown.  The GOP controlled congress picked up on that suggestion.  Their process that led up to the shutdown was nothing but chaos and demonstrated Trump and the GOP's inability to lead and govern the country and its people.  It happened before during their health care fraud plan earlier in the year and immigration reform.  Friday's shutdown was the first ever by a republican President with a republican controlled congress.  And just this week, republican senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said he did not know what Trump's policy was on immigration.  And republican senator Jeff Flake compared Trump's fake news comment concerning the news media with former Russian dictator Josef Stalin.

Trump's first year in office has been a disaster for every good that America stands for.  A divisive President and Commander in Chief who has corrupted the highest office in the land with his corrupted business attitude.  And we now read in a Wall Street Journal report that Trump's lawyer paid hush money to the tune of $130,000 to a porn star so she would not comment on the sexual encounter in public that took place during the 2016 Presidential election.

America and its people should not have to be exposed to such a President and impeachment must happen sooner rather than later.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Reflections and Thoughts On The Saints 2017 Season

The Saints winning season in 2017  was only their second in the last six seasons and this writer does not think a guide in guessing what the future will bring.  New Orleans sports writers are beginning to express their views for next year but so far just a repeat of what they did in the past.  In a Times Picayune article of January 15 Larry Holder reported Brees said, "I really feel like we're really building something .  A window of time here, a window where we can really  make a run at it."  Brees has made similar statements during the past six years and it never happened.

This writer's thoughts are different than the sports world talk.  The Saints were an improved team but lacked a consistent defensive effort, especially against the good teams.  Their defense was AWOL in the first half against the Vikings and of course the last 25 seconds in that game was fatal.  New Orleans sports writers overrated the defense.  The Saints are much improved at running back but still lack balance in their play calling and Payton's arrogance is not helpful.  And although they had a winning season, they failed to finish strong again losing 4 of their last 8 games.

The Saints defensive co-ordinator's ability to get the job done is still unsettled in this writers mind and I do not believe time is on his side.  Drew Brees is on his way out and his personal records do not help the team win as a team.  His poor performance against the Vikings in the first half will be repeated in the future.  As of this writing, my judgement on the Saints for next season will be little progress from where they finished this year.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Erick Erickson: Immigration and DACA

Erickson's opinion column in the Times Picayune of January 14 titled, "Congress should take immigration off the table represents the same old conservative ditto head fake news of President Trump and the GOP.  He says congress should let those immigrants under DACA (dreamers) stay, take the issue off the table for now and take it up later  His total remarks in the article are silly and full of holes  Actually, Trump can settle the "dreamers" issue himself by telling congress he will not deport them.  He himself created the problem by cancelling DACA but Erickson 's article is silent on the issue.

Erickson says neither the republicans or democrats want to finalize the issue and points to the fact that President George W. Bush wanted to take up the immigration matter in 2005 but the GOP had no consensus on what to do.  Then he makes the silly and fake news statement that the democrats controlled everything in 2009 and did nothing because they wasted time passing the ACA.  Actually, the democrats did a lot when they controlled the Presidency and congress in 2009.  They passed President Obama's economic pan, the stimulus, bank regulations and other needed policies that moved the country out of the great republican recession of 2008,

The real news Erickson was silent on was the fact that the democratic controlled U.S. Senate did pass immigration reform that died in the republican controlled U.S. House by not allowing the measure to be introduced in the House.  Erickson also fails to point out the republican party controlled both houses of congress for four years during the George W. Bush administration and did nothing concerning immigration.  Trump and the GOP can find a quick solution to the DACA issue they created by following the democratic lead on the matter.  Instead, Trump has changed his mind on the issue over and over and again just last week.  Ditto head opinion columns like Erickson are void of any true value to an issue that is not going away.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The Minnesota Vikings Defeat The New Orleans Saints 29 - 24

The Saints finished the play off season like they started the very first game of the regular season with a loss and to the same Vikings.  Only this time the loss was fatal and will sting a long time as the team now goes home.  The Saints ended the regular season with a winning record, only the second winning record in the last six years.

This writer found the hype and clichés in the news paper by sports writers were mind boggling.  And TV sports basically picked up the same chain of thought.  There were multiple stories about Brees personal records, accomplishments and experience that was simply hype.  And in the end the team who had the least experienced quarter back won the game and now advances to the conference championship game next week and the more experience quarter back with all the personal records now goes home with his team.

All the sports talk about Peyton Manning, Bret Farve and Drew Brees holding all the passing records only fills up time and space and has no relationship to winning and producing for your team.  Bart Starr, Terry Bradshaw and Tom Brady have done more for their teams and won more world championships for their teams by far.  And now Brady takes his team to another conference championship game next week.  The constant repetition of Brees personal records by New Orleans sports writers constitute apple polishing at a time when a team effort is more important than any personal records.

The Saint's players and Payton were celebrating on the sidelines after the Saints took the lead 24-23 on a field goal with less than one minute to play in the game.  They forgot Yogi Berra's famous statement:  IT AIN'T OVER TILL ITS OVER.  The sports hype all week long became larger than the game itself.  What a Shame.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Mexico's President Has More Credibility On The WALL Than President Trump

The trumpet man met his match long ago when he campaigned on a platform of building a border WALL along the Mexico border and making Mexico pay for it.  Mexico's President's early response was they would not pay for any WALL.  But Trump kept saying they would and Mexico kept  responding no.  The bully was trying to act tough because of his base and in the end betrayed them and all America.

Now as of just last week Trump wants congress to appropriate $18 billion of tax payers money to build the WALL or immigration reform will not happen.  The bully just could not tell the people the truth and Mexico did tell the people the truth.  Oh, and remember, Trump said he was good at building WALLs.  The corrupt world of Donald Trump is a self serving one and Mexico's leaders exposed it big time.

The democrats in congress should remind the trumpet man what he pledged to do and explain why he reneged.  The public deserves a statement from the President why he reneged.  The democrats should also suggest Trump ask corporate America to pay for the WALL with their 14% reduction in corporate income tax given them by Trump and the GOP.  The much larger problem is Trump and the GOP are really not interested in real immigration reform at all.  It is no different than their lies concerning the health care plan.  Does every one still remember that?


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The Leaders Of North and South Korea Are Talking

And if the reports are true that is good news.  Reports are coming in that both countries representatives have met in South Korea and that North Korea has agreed to enter the winter Olympics and participate and even send several delegations to the games that will begin in early February.  So South Korean President was able to convince President Trump to postpone their joint military operation with South Korea that takes place each year to avoid any tensions while the winter games are going on.

North Korea said there will be more meetings with South Korea to explore other avenues of cooperation between the two countries  Those talks would not include America or other countries.  The line being followed is North and South Korea can come to agreements without outside interference.  This writer in past PolitiDose commentary expressed the opinion that a divided Korea would always be a problem and that the ultimate answer is the reunification of both Koreas into one country, with one government and one people and that both countries should lead the way and determine their own fate.

A unified Korea can bring stability to that land and its people if independent of the U.S, China and Russian influence.  South Korea already has a stable economy for a one Korea to build on and both have enough military to protect the interest of a united Korea.  Hopefully, the talks between the two will continue and produce positive results toward a future united Korea  One step at a time will work if compromise and sincerity is the motivation to talk.

Those voices who support the status quo of a divided Korea are on the wrong side of history at a time of great danger and of course there are always those who promote war to solve problems when war is not the answer.  Leadership from both Korean leaders could be the first step to a real solution that begins the unification of the country.  The United States should view that as a positive step.



This commentary written by Joe Lorio