Talking to a Colorado TV reporter Trump was asked about the 47% of the Far West owned by the federal government. He said, “… a lot of people are wanting to really have a policy on that.” And he went on, “… (he) really won’t talk about it right now.” Translation: he figured out the appeal of this issue, is aware of its power, and will be rolling out his endorsement of the Transfer of Public Lands (TPL) at an event in Utah or Nevada or Colorado. This would all make perfect sense to me.
The good people at the American Lands Council supposedly had a bill ready to roll out for introduction during the peak of the Western fire season. I suspect they’re waiting, ghoulishly, for a real federal screw up, where a fire goes wild, and federal mismanagement can clearly be blamed. Or they may be waiting to time their announcement of this legislation in conjunction with Trump’s endorsement of it. I pray the latter, and if it’s true I’ll swallow my pride and support him. I’ll never be a fan, but I was no fan of Nixon in’72, and volunteered on his campaign. This isn’t personal, it’s business. For Alaska, this is huge.
The ALC folks stress the aspects of transferring federal ownership that appeals to suburban swing voters, especially women. Appeals for economic development, which would occur under TPL, fall flat with these people. The fact is, under state or local management, the land itself benefits. Fires are better controlled, and fish and wildlife are better protected. On the other hand there are trillions of dollars of wealth on these lands, mainly hydrocarbons, and they can be responsibly developed under the watchful eye of the States and their citizens where they’re located. Harold Hamm can explain this all to Trump.
Gary Johnson is not running much of a campaign, and he’s not acting like a constitutional conservative. He allowed William Weld, in a joint interview, to praise the selection of a new Supreme Court Justice in the mold of Stephen Breyer. Johnson stood mute, and I now must question if he has any idea of what he’s doing. He seems to be content to be the non-Clinton, anti-Trump candidate, and wants to somehow straddle between the two. He looks incoherent at the moment, and may lack real fire in his belly. He was always a Hail Mary, and looks weak right now. Advantage, Trump. If people like me don’t have a candidate in Johnson, we’re left with Trump or Clinton, and most of us will go with Trump. Sen. Sessions is the man I’m counting on to guide Trump’s judicial selections, and if he does we’ll see someone in the mold of Clarence Thomas.
Trump says, categorically, that Putin is not going to move on the Ukraine, to any greater extent than he already has. Bank on it, he says. How does he know? Because if Putin did such a thing, it would hurt Trump, so he won’t do it. He won’t do anything to hurt Trump. Not only did Hillary, as Secretary of State, stick her big nose into Russian politics four or five years ago, trying to undermine Putin, her husband was the one responsible for expanding NATO right up to Russia’s borders. Back in 1962,when the Soviets wanted to “expand the Warsaw Pact” to include Cuba, we nearly went to war with them over it. So you need to look at things from the Russian viewpoint. They’re a great power, armed to the teeth with nuclear weapons, and it’s just not prudent to beard the lion.
In a normal election having Putin and the KGB against you might not be that big a deal. But the Clintons are criminals, Putin can prove it, and he will. It’s not just what’s in the emails. There are other sources of evidence available to the Russians, which they can get through a variety of methods, not all of them nice. Putin doesn’t believe in nice.
The Obama administration meddled in Russian politics, and let the pro-Western protesters in Tehran twist in the wind. The judgement of fools. What ye sow, ye shall reap.
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