Part II: The United States Launches Air Strike On Syria

The news media was swift in its laudatory comments for the President's decision to strike Syria over its alleged chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun, Syria.  One report said Trump became President that day, one said Trump's action was Presidential.  A long New York Times story praised Trump for his swift action and that his unpredictable actions was a new chapter in American foreign policy that would keep our adversaries guessing what a President Trump would do.  It was also reported the strike put North Korea and Iran on notice, and etc., etc., and etc.

If all that sounds familiar its because you heard and read it all before 14 years ago from the same news media when President George W. Bush launched his attack and occupation of Iraq over WMD that did not exist.  Elements of the news media announced that Bush and Cheney planned to take out 5 countries in the region starting with Iraq but the so called "cake walk" in Iraq pushed all that aside.  "Fake news" was alive 14 years ago courtesy of the Bush administration and the news media.  And the most silly part of the "fake news" was that Iraq was a threat to the national security of the United States which Bush and Cheney said over and over again.

As of this writing there is no official report of the intelligence community that has positively identified Assad and or Syria as the entity who carried out the chemical attack.  The anti Syrian rebels, ISIS and Al Queda have all operated in the area of the chemical attack according to reports and all three have the capabilities of putting together chemical weapons and using them.  All three also would like to see Assad removed from power.  That would be a powerful motive to try and suck the U.S. into removing Assad by blaming him for the chemical attack.

A legitimate question to ask would be did the President order the strike against Syria because of his low poll ratings and other problems he and his administration are having.  After all, Trump tweeted this in 2012 concerning President Obama, Lybia and Iran:  NOW THAT OBAMA'S POLL NUMBERS ARE IN A TAILSPIN - WATCH FOR HIM TO LAUNCH A STRIKE IN LYBIA OR IRAN.  HE IS DESPERATE.  So that kind of thinking was on Donald Trumps mind.  Was he himself a desperate President when he made the decision to launch?  Another question to be asked:  Did President Trump try to act tough by striking Syria, an ally of Russia to derail the FBI and congressional investigations of the possible collusion of Trump and his campaign with Russia?

The news media failed its obligation to search for the truth in the run up to war with Iraq 14 years ago.  And today their early reports on the Syria attack are repeating the mistakes of the past.  Trump said our decisions will be guided by our values.  That statement contradicts every thing Trump said during the campaign and his tweets which have been a major part of his "fake news."  What he does value is placing blame on every one but himself.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Moscow has failed to live up to its obligations under a 2013 agreement to strip Syria of its chemical weapons and if you fail to live up to commitments, if you become a threat to others, at some point a response is likely to be undertaken.  Will the Trump administration live up to those words and take action against Russia?  Don't hold your breath for a military response.

Stay tuned for Part III


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Part I: The United States Launches Air Strike on Syria

President Trump announced the air strike against the Syrian military air field on Thursday night April 6 in response to the alleged chemical attack by Syria that reportedly killed 70 plus people, including children.  This commentary will be a three part series to explore with its readers the possibility of understanding what really took place here, what was said by the President and others in his administration, members of congress and the news media.  Facts have to be separated from fiction and similar events of the past will be explored that should help the reader to stay focused on how this operation turns out.

The attack was said to have destroyed elements of Syria's air field, the runway, Syrian Jets and other war making capabilities of the Syrian military.  One would think that is what 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles are capable of doing so there is no surprise there.  The administration and our military said the attack was a success.  The real questions that needs to be answered are ones that only time can confirm.  That is, will the military strike change what is going on in Syria to any degree.  Will it bring about the exit of Syria's brutal President Assad?  Will it have any bearing on the civil war that has been going on in Syria?  Will it bring about a real settlement?  If nothing changes and the U.S. has to increase its involvement, will the attack still be looked upon as a success story?

Trump blamed President Obama for last weeks chemical attack but the fact of the matter tells us the attack happened on President Trump's watch.  And like other false stories the administration is trying to spin President Obama did seek congressional authority to use force after Syria's chemical attack in 2013 and congress failed to act.  In fact this is what Trump tweeted on August 29, 2013.  WHAT WILL WE GET FOR BOMBING SYRIA BESIDES MORE DEBT AND A POSSIBLE LONG TERM CONFLICT/  OBAMA NEEDS CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL. (End of tweet)

Civilian Trump, candidate Trump and President Trump has been all over the place with his pronouncements on Syria and changed again just this week after Syria's use of chemical weapons.  As a civilian, Trump said President Obama needed congressional approval to strike Syria.  As President,Trump said he did not need congress approval to strike Syria.  Maybe it was Trump's many different positions on Syria that prompted Syria to do what it did.  Syria never used chemical weapons again onPresident Obama's watch after the attack in 2013.  It should be noted that 1400 people were killed in the chemical attack in 2013 including children.  That is 20 times as many that were killed last week in Syria, but that did not change Trump's opinion of Syria and Assad in 2013.

A very note worthy story unfolded several hours before Trump made the announcement that the U.S. launched an attack against Syria.  Hillary Clinton speaking at the "Women In The World Summit" in New York told her audience the U.S. should attack Syria's military airfield in answer to Syria's chemical attack.  She also said a no fly zone should be established in Syria to keep Syrian aircraft on the ground.  That was her position in the debates and during the campaign.  I wonder if Trumped obtained a copy of Hillary's speech or tapped into her phone before he ordered the attack hours later.  A Clinton Presidency may have made a difference because she had a plan and knew what she wanted to do concerning Syria.

Stay tuned for part II.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

President Donald Trump and Bill O'Reilly Deserve Each Other

Well, Bill O'Reilly of the Fox news network is in the headlines again and for the same reason, sexual harassment.  In a report this week it was reported that Fox news or O'Reilly settled several sexual harassment lawsuits against O'Reilly out of court.  The article also stated that because of the suit Fox's show the O'Reilly Factor lost 10 advertising sponsors.  The settlement was reported to be in the millions of dollars.

President Trump came to O'Reilly's defense and said he was a good person and believed that O'Reilly was innocent and that he, Trump would not have settled out of court.  Trump also said he would not settle out of court the fraud law suit brought against him and Trump University and did just the opposite and settled the fraud law suit out of court for $25 million.  Trump and O'Reilly  are good buddies who try and spin their lies and are right there with the conservative ditto heads.  A sexual harassment suit has been filed against President Trump who is claiming immunity because he is President.  We shall see what happens.

Trump and O'Reilly have a history of being accused of sexual harassment.  They feel they can do any thing they want to do and not be held accountable for their actions.  Trump bragged about that in the tape that was made public during the campaign.  Trump also said those that seek immunity have something to hide.  That is possibly what motivated Trump and O'Reilly to settle out of court.

The bottom line is why would a President Donald Trump even want to comment on O'Reilly's problem?  I guess he feels he owes something to Fox news and O'Reilly for those glowing reports during the campaign.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

President Trump Continues To Play The Blame Game

The alleged chemical attack by Syria that reportedly killed more than 100 people, including children, once again brought out the worst in President Trump.  He immediately blamed former President Obama at a press conference and also once again told everyone that Obama left him a mess in every category you can think of.

Both statements are self serving and describes a man who is President and unwilling to stop the busk at his desk because he is such a small person who lacks character and has no respect for anyone.  He then went on to say the chemical attack changed his attitude on Syria and its leader Assad.  A person would have to be incompetent if it took a chemical attack to recognize just how ruthless Assad rules.

Trump's statements are a shell game to distract from his own failure to govern.  In fact both Trump and his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's policy toward Syria and Russia was conciliatory and did not support the notion that Assad had to go.  Nikki Haley, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. faulted Russia for objecting to a resolution condemning the attack.  And only recently Tillerson visited Russia and its leaders.  Apparently he did not talk about Russia's relationship with Syria and what they are doing there.

Weak leaders with loud voices who brag play the blame game.  The Bush administration tried to do so concerning the attack on 9/11 and blamed President Clinton.  Republicans like to play the blame game when they get caught in their own lies and misinformation.  Trump has taken it to the next level and continues to taint every thing he touches.

After 76 days in office, it is still Trump, the business man and his corrupt agenda.  President Trump is no where to be found and the Presidency, the country and its people will be paying a heavy price for a long time.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The Sad Case Of Editorial Writer Tim Morris

Conservative Times Picayune editorial writer Tim Morris in Sunday's reflection section dated 4/2 continues to make a fool of himself and exposes his jealously towards former President Obama and the democratic party.  His editorial concerning a study by two Princeton university economist looking at why middle aged white Americans are dying disproportionately from what the researchers call "deaths of despair - suicides, drug overdoses and alcohol related diseases."  The researchers Anne Case and Angus Denton concluded that the tragedy is driven by the loss of steady middle income jobs for those with only a high school diploma or less.  Denton said the labor market very much turned against them.

Morris lets his conservative ideology show and uses the study to suggest that is what propelled Donald Trump to victory.  Then he makes the usual self serving statement that many of those voters believed they had been abandoned by the democratic party and largely forgotten in the eight years of President Obama.  Morris just loves fake news and that is what his editorial is all about concerning democrats and President Obama.  It was actually the administration of George W. Bush and the republicans great recession of 2008 that left the voters largely forgotten as Bush left office with the worst job creation record since the great depression.

The loss of steady middle class income jobs has been taking place for decades in America due to a number of reasons including the transfer of wealth from the middle class to the wealthy that resulted from the Reagan and Bush 43 tax cuts.  Automation, technology, Union job losses are also some of the causes.  What Morris failed to point out was most of the loss in middle income jobs happened on the watch of President Bush 43.  In fact Presidents Obama and Clinton created more jobs in the 16 years they served than Reagan, Bush 41 and Bush 43 created in the 20 years they served.  (see previous commentary on the matter)

President Obama was elected twice for good reasons and was the better candidate.  And when it comes to creating jobs for America, the democratic party performs best by a wide margin.  Morris, the republican party and other conservatives will continue to talk about Obama and the democrats because Trump and the republican party have no record of accomplishments to talk about.  Their commitment is still division.  Morris tried to get political with a study that was non political.  He has been writing a regular editorial now for several months which turns out to be a waste of time, paper and ink.  What a shame.


This commentary was written by Joe Lorio

The Electorate and The Donald Trump Factor

Part of the electorate who voted for Trump are becoming ditto heads just like the republican party in general.  First it was Trump that aped the party by casting blame on everyone else.  During the campaign part of the electorate who backed Trump let their feelings be known on facebook, twitter and other social networks available and tried so hard to predict that Trump would make a great President.

After the election Trump backers were almost silent on the social scene until just recently when it became clear for all to see Trump's failure to run the country and do the things he said he would do.  But in the last week or so they are back on the social networks blaming everyone but Trump for his own failures on health care, immigration, his campaign's collusion with Russia and the FBI investigation  on the matter, his children's involvement and conflict of interest with being a Presidential adviser while still running Trump's business, the President's lies that President Obama wiretapped his phones at Trump tower which has set off a full scale demand for an independent investigation into what Trump really knew.

Part of Trump's voting electorate have now blamed the news media, democrats, some republicans and even "fake news" for Trump's failures. And of course we all know Trump is the author of "fake news."  They can not cope with the fact they helped elect a man who was a tainted candidate in the first place and as President continues to taint every thing he touches.  And that really says it all.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The Wisdom Of Hillary Clinton

The former first lady, U.S. Senator and Secretary of State displayed her wisdom and knowledge as a Presidential candidate and during the campaign tried to warn America what would happen in a Trump administration if elected.  Four issues that she warned about are playing out at the present time and all four issues are regressive and a backward step for the country and its people.

First, Trump's attempt to repeal and replace the ACA because of ideology was defeated.  Clinton warned about that foolish idea early on and had a plan to not only improve on the ACA but make it better.  She articulated just what Trump and republicans would do to cripple health care if they had their way.  The Congressional Budget Office report confirmed just what Clinton knew would happen.

Second, Clinton in a campaign speech before the election warned about Trump and his campaign ties to Russia and Putin and said that Trump should release his tax returns and disclose his relationship with Russia.  She also said the people of America have a right to know the extent of those contacts and how that relates to what Russia is doing.  Clinton also touched on the issue during the debates.  And as of this writing the Trump - Russia affair is under investigation by the FBI and the intelligence community and every day some thing new is revealed.  It is a very serious matter and Hillary Clinton understood how a possible collusion could undermine American policy.  The news media was too busy at the time to explore Clinton's comments because their air time was devoted to Trump.

Third, Trump's reversing of President Obama's policies on protecting the environment was another subject of Clinton's campaign and exposed just what Trump and his party would do to roll back the gains that were made in bringing environmental matters into the equation for progress.  The same thing goes for business rules and regulations that are being rolled back for no good reason other than ideology.

Fourth, Trump's tax reform that he is now pushing with massive tax cuts to business and the wealthy that Clinton warned about that would explode the federal deficit and in all probability bring on another republican recession.  Clinton's tax plan was favored over Trumps by a wide margin and would be better for the economy, job creation, balancing the budget and etc and was favored by most tax experts concerning economic matters.  Clinton warned about falling for trickle down economics for the third time.

When one thinks about Clinton and her campaign pronouncements, her wisdom and knowledge are unfolding before America's eyes as Trump and his administration continue to reverse the good plans and policies that make America great.  Clinton's warnings are now beginning to be understood.  The 48% who voted for her did understand.  Trump has been in office over two months now and Clinton is still a better woman than Trump is a man. And that really says it all.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Trump and The Republican's Failed Health Care Scheme Has Times Picayune Conservative Editorial Writer Tim Morris In A Crazy Lather.

Morris' editorial comment of 3/29 in the Times Picayune titled, "Sometimes The Swamp Drains You ... But Trump Isn't Done Yet" unknowingly makes the case that Trump is not a very good leader nor does the President have the ability to handle the "swamp" he himself created.  Like most conservative writers who will try to find any excuse to bail out Trump, Morris says Paul Ryan talked Trump out of proposing Tax Reform first in favor of the health care issue.  Clinton was right during the campaign when she questioned Trump's ability to lead.

What Morris forgot was that Trump said repealing and replacing the ACA would be his number one priority and that with a republican President and republican controlled congress he would get the job done quickly.  Trump and the republican party have no credibility on health care and neither do conservative journalists who never challenged the lies.  They just went with the flow.  Trumps lack of leadership and knowledge on health care is a brutal reminder how schemes and ploys are a major part of conservative ideology and the reason they can not point to any meaningful accomplishments for the country and its people.  If Trump was a real leader who would have loved to put tax reform first like the editorial states, why did he not?  After all, he is the President.

Yes, the editorial by Morris is the usual hype and cliches and when some one like Trump enlarge the "swamp" with wall street banks like he has done, the people can expect more excuses every time Trump fails.  Just wait until Trump brings his tax reform agenda to congress with those massive tax cuts to business and the wealthy.  America will hear the same failed story of how those cuts will create jobs, balance the budget and all good things.  It will be the same story sung by the George W. Bush administration.  Does any one remember?  Understanding the failures of the past is still the key to a better future.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Steve Scalise: Louisiana's Little Boy WHIP In The U.S. House

Louisiana's representative in congress, Steve Scalise is the third ranking republican in the U.S. House of Representatives and is their WHIP.  That title tells of his responsibility which is to see that the House has enough votes to pass the republican's agenda.  In other words, use the WHIP to have his fellow republicans fall in line with the Speaker of the House.  Well the WHIP failed last Friday when the republican's plan to repeal and replace the ACA failed to even vote on their own Plan and the issue died for the time being.

Scalise is part of the republican controlled congress for the past two years and has the  distinction of being one of the most unproductive congress in the past 50 years.  They not only failed to earn their salary, they continue to be a "do nothing" congress.  Scalise used smoke and mirrors in his often pronouncements to repeal and replace the ACA and his scheme and ploy failed.

The only way Scalise and his party can save face on health care is to talk to the democratic party.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

 

The Democratic Party and The Affordable Care Act

The democrats in congress should start their own process to make improvements to the ACA and reconcile any needed changes that should be made.  They know what needs to be done to make the ACT better because it now has a track record that can be relied on.  It would be the thing to do since the republicans scheme on health care has been exposed and left to die for the time being.

The place to start would be Hillary Clinton's proposed changes to the ACA that she articulated during the campaign.  Next to President Obama, she probably knows more about health care than any one else.  The democrats should be talking to the American people while they are working on the issue to keep them informed and seek advise.  It should truly be a grass roots movement to make the proper adjustments needed.

The republican notion that the ACA has to be repealed and replaced can not be backed up by facts.  As a result, the democrats should come up with the changes on their own and then introduce the legislation to the republican controlled congress.  That would be an important step even if Trump and the republicans reject their proposal because they would still have a blue print to introduce at a later date.

As of the moment Trump and his party have no credibility on the issue of health care.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio