by Norman Halls, contributor
Have you ever encountered a child saying “Believe Me” after you see something on his or her hands or face that tell you otherwise? There is a good chance that when someone says “Believe Me” they don’t believe themselves what they just said. What to make of this often-used phrase? There are a number of other phrases that we show caution too: “trust me”; “fake news”; “well” ; “be wonderful”; “say that again”; “are you sure”; “in other words”; “that is to say”; “to that end”; ”I’ve been told”; “however”; “but” and “then again.” Then we have, I’m very intelligent, great and me, me, me attention.
“Sometimes we have a little voice in our head that starts to ring the alarms to tell us that someone is lying and that we shouldn’t trust them. And, unfortunately, sometimes we do fall for the lies and believe the person we suspect of lying. This is either because they are good liars, we choose to believe them because we don’t want to know the truth or because we want to believe what they are telling us is true”. Wrote Rowena Nagy, Business woman Media. “Oh! to be able to detect a lie. Maybe you’re looking to buy a house and you want a straight answer on when the roof was last replaced. Or you’re negotiating with a potential employer and she insists that her salary offer is at the top of the pay scale. Or you’re haggling over leather seats in a new SUV and the salesman swears that he’s losing money on the deal. Everyday life is filled with such moments: situations where success, or failure, at getting to the truth can have a real impact on your pocketbook. And all too often you’re left with the sinking suspicion that your interlocutor got the better of you”. Wrote Etelka Lehoczky Money magazine
When Donald J. Trump says it is going to be wonderful, start to question why he said it. You really have to understand the man and what he is really thinking. (Thinking maybe be questionable) So far there a number of Cabinet Secretaries and Directors that Trump has appointed that they have no idea what their duties entail. Some of the appointees are making changes that will cause harm to each of us. Some are taking the position to block legal action by not putting on their agenda or have an expert take charge. Look what Trump is trying to do with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. You may question if the Bureau is necessary. It has put the lid on a number of financial intuitions. Why is Tillerson, a businessman who knows nothing about diplomacy being Secretary of State? He is dismantling the State Department when we, the United States, need diplomats that can speak to countries around the world. The diplomats in the past were there to interpret peace. Which will facilitate our economy?
“If any of that is good, then it is more than offset by lots of bad. The United States is rudderless in world affairs. It stands alone in doing nothing to combat man-made climate change. It has withdrawn from or rebuffed trade agreements. It has a secretary of state who is hollowing out his department so that foreign diplomats, both at the United Nations and in Washington, wander the halls seeking someone with whom to do business. The remaining Cabinet officers are similarly weakened or, perversely, determined to undo their predecessor’s good work. It is a political autoimmune problem”. By Richard Cohen Washington Post
This past year has been very strange politically. “In March 2017, a Trump supporter told The New York Times, “I want to see Trump go up there and do damage to the Republican Party.” Another said, “We know who Donald Trump is, and we’re going to use Donald Trump to either take over the G.O.P. or blow it up.” That kind of anti-establishment nihilism deserves no respect or accommodation in American public life. Populism, individualism, and a skeptical attitude toward politics are all healthy up to a point, but America has passed that point. Political professionals and parties have many shortcomings to answer for—including, primarily on the Republican side, their self-mutilating embrace of anti-establishment rhetoric—but relentlessly bashing them is no solution. You haven’t heard anyone say this, but it’s time someone did: Our most pressing political problem”. By Phil Toledano The Atlantic.
“The information that President Trump sees has been a major subplot of the White House’s internal drama. Aides often privately describe the president as highly susceptible to acting upon the last piece of information he’s seen — no matter how dubious. And controlling that flow of information is a big part of new White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly’s effort to right the ship and keep the Oval Office on-task. But rarely do you see someone close to the president just come out and admit how unsophisticated he is as a consumer of information. But making that argument — that Trump was duped — also means arguing that he is capable of being duped, and apparently rather easily in this case. Inherent in Bannon’s argument is the idea that Trump either isn’t discerning enough to make that endorsement decision for himself, or at least that he doesn’t do enough homework. Bannon is basically confirming everything aides have said privately about how unsophisticated Trump is in consuming information. This is the president of the United States, and Bannon is talking about him as if he’s still a total political novice — a weather vane, even. That’s a pretty stunning admission coming from one of the people who has worked closest with Trump”. By Aaron Blake Washington Post.
We will get through this! Let’s hope we don’t have any big disruptions. As you know Trump likes to cause diversions.That our Legislators will abide by our Constitution and follow the governance framework “we” expect them to do. Legislators, Republicans, must understand that we’re fed up with their business in D.C. They should collaborate and work together productively. I strongly encourage you to write to Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan and tell them they work for the citizens of this country.
