As I have feared, there has become so much activity coming out of Washington, it is both difficult to keep up with and equally hard to write about.  I mean, after so many weeks writing about the lies coming from the president, am I  just "preaching to the choir" now?  So just to change things up, I have gone back to my original "Plan B" - by highlighting some of the comments found in local "Letters to the Editor" that should have us all shaking our heads. Does that sound like a nice diversion from the heated rhetoric coming out of the Nation's Capital? 
       Take the first letter to the editor I read yesterday in the Sarasota Herald Tribune.  It asserted that "Climate Change is nothing but a crude attempt to silence critics and delegitimize debate." Huh? You read that right.  The letter writer claims that climate change is still debatable. Why? Because they write that "last year we saw the fewest tornados in a quarter-century."  Oh, well that must settle it!  Less tornados must mean our climate is getting better rather than worse - except wild swings in weather patterns - INCLUDING swings in tornados are indicative of climate change. What's worse?  The effective implementation of Anti-Climate Change talking points and narratives designed to find any possible opening for deniers to assert such ignorant claims.
        We have major shifts in weather from droughts to excessive rain events to having Chicago snowless in January and February for the the first time in 146 years! (See: www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-no-snow-january-february-met-0301-20170228-story.html). Despite this rare occurrence, there are some "climate experts" claiming it is not part of climate change.  Except if we see events so out of the ordinary, what could they be caused by? I mean, Columbus, Ohio is known for being a place where "If you don't like the weather, wait a few hours and it will change!"  Except the change occurring is real.  One day it may be in the high 50's and sunny and the next days see lows in the teens.  What ever happened to winters when it just got cold, it snowed and everyone pined for Spring. Now the weather has become so unpredictable is there a real winter anymore (and how soon before summer weather starts to change so radically)?  
        Although our new Secretary of the EPA publicly claims carbon in atmosphere has no ill effects on air and global temperatures (a middle school science student knows that isn't true), we must begin to address the real problems we will face if we cannot control the negative contributions mankind is having on our changing climate. (See: www.nytimes.com/2017/03/09/us/politics/epa-scott-pruitt-global-warming.html?_r=0). As I have mentioned before, I don't think environmental problems are political problems.  Instead, it is a problem we all must deal with, regardless of political party affiliation.   If all of the climate scientists are wrong and humans have no connection with the changes, then at least we may all benefit from the development of higher efficiency renewable sources of energy.  I mean, what do we all have to lose if we can produce cheaper energy that will preserve our planet?  Seriously, why would anyone be opposed to going this route?  There is only one reason for ignoring climate change - and that is based upon the pure greed of the folks that continue to stand to benefit from the use of fossil fuels and its dirty refinement and burning.  Profits over sense will only last so long anymore.  Our collective needs will soon come to haunt these purveyors of "profits first" over the collective safety of our one Earth.  
         The other letter to the editor that caught my attention was in today's Sarasota Herald Tribune.  This one letter writer seems to warn citizens of the rise of "Leftist Activists that are demanding politicians become more leftist or face primary challenges!"   If it wasn't so laughable that the letter writer has a form of amnesia when it relates to the rise and impact of the far-right Tea Party, it is worse when you go on to read their claim that "Liberals have no desire, no plan, and no intention of cooperating or compromising with Republicans.  These Democrats have turned obstruction and personal character assassination into an art."  This warning may strike home if one had been living under a rock for the past nine years.  But not having one's head buried in the sand would surely recognize the lack of memory the letter writer possesses by ignoring the patterns of obstructionist policies honed to perfection by the Far-Right Tea Party and their GOP darlings.   Shutting down the government once and attempting to do so once more, obstructing virtually anything agreed to by Obama and of course, tossing out "Establishment Republicans" through the Primary elections systems (giving a definition to the words "To be Primaried") as well as refusing to even give a hearing on a Supreme Court nominee is acceptable as normal but we should fear "Leftists" unwilling to compromise?  The only thing compromised in this letter is its writer's judgment.
          So as the ties between Russia and the Trump folks continues to brew and as more and more policies are rolled out from the Administration that also have Republicans in Congress shaking their heads,  we can expect a lot more misinformation ("lies"), spin and manipulation so that more Americans can write letters revealing their own personal ignorance.  As President Abraham Lincoln once wrote: "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."  Perhaps this should apply equally to letter writers  and our current Administration (and 3AM twitter addicts).  We are watching.  We are waiting.  And we expect sound judgment from our leaders!  
*  NOTE -  I will be missing the next few weeks of blogs as I head to Hawaii to speak for four days aboard P&O's Aurora cruise ship.  I look forward to posting about this experience.  Until then, have a great couple of weeks!

           With every week that passes, I become more and more aware of how comedians feel.  I mean, whenever they may think they are about to run out of material, something happens in real life that enlightens them to think of new jokes.  Although far from funny, to political scientists following events in Washington, I am beginning to believe the same thing applies - if you can't think of anything else to write about, just wait - Washington will produce the absurdity needed to inspire more thoughts.  And this week did not disappoint.
             Now that the calls for investigations into Trump ties to Russia actually began to heat up, Trump himself tweets what could be viewed as something more aptly found on a middle school playground. Kind of a "Oh yeah, well look what you did!"  Case in point - Attorney Jeff Sessions reluctantly admitted to meeting with the Russian Ambassador (twice) during the campaign after having denied such meetings during his sworn confirmation hearings.  Then Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer indicated a desire to have the Senate investigate the meeting and perhaps scrutinize Sessions for "omitting" this fact when asked at the hearing.  What does the president do? He posts a picture of Schumer with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2003 on his Twitter feed, writing; "We should start an immediate investigation into @SenSchumer and his ties to Russia and Putin. A Total hypocrite!" Now that's a logical response to a real self-inflicted problem - not!  So when there is mounting evidence indicating a member of Trump's inner circle may have lied or at least misled the Senate Judiciary Committee on his contacts with Russian officials during the campaign, what does the President do?  He tweets a response one would expect from a sixth grader in an electronic playground spat.  Schumer, sensing the president is suspect to "click bait" tweeted his response back; “Happily talk re: my contact w Mr. Putin & his associates, took place in ’03 in full view of press & public under oath. Would you & your team?” (See: www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/03/03/schumer-and-putin-shared-doughnuts-14-years-ago-now-trump-wants-an-investigation/?utm_term=.9b9dc6611332).  All of this might be   be funny if it wasn't so sad.  We have a president engaging in immature twitter battles with his political opponents.  Did Schumer strike a nerve with the president?  (Side note, relations with Russia were better 14 years ago, as Putin met with President Bush at Camp David that year as well).  Apples to oranges?  You bet.  
         Then we had the bombshell from Trump (tweeting while AGAIN at his Florida country club), claiming Obama ordered secret wiretapping of Trump and his campaign offices at Trump Tower. "Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my 'wires tapped' in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!"  He went on to tweet - "Is it legal for a sitting President to be "wire tapping" a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW!" And then again tweeted "How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy! (See: www.cnn.com/2017/03/04/politics/trump-obama-wiretap-tweet/).
           So when the president feels threatened by virtually anything, we can expect he will lash out with what he deems an appropriate attack - except it would seem appropriate only to him and his most loyal sycophants. Typically it is usually unwise to attack former presidents, it is more unwise to attack Obama for something he could not have ordered. A wiretap requires a warrant issued by a Judge, in this case a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judge (created under the Patriot Act).  Presidents alone do not have the power to order such covert actions.  So where did the president get his information that supports such a claim?  You guessed it.   Infowars and Breitbart (that's the best you can do Mr. Bannon?).  Instead of relying upon the vast network of intelligence agencies, Trump instead relies on conspiracy based fake news outlets.  What makes it worse?  Trump earlier in the week demanded that all leaks the media should cease using "unnamed sources" for their stories against the Administration - except now Trump does the exact same thing - citing unnamed sources outside of his "spin machine."  Imagine if Trump alleges something about a foreign enemy and uses it to justify a military attack?  
           And for the first time, I feel compelled to inquire into Trump's mental state.  Why?  Because he alleges Obama is a "bad (or sick) guy!"  IF  Trump opens the door to a president being "Bad or Sick" then it's fair game to begin to question his motives  seemingly based more on uncontrollable emotions.  Just today, Schumer (yes that guy) indicated "Trump is in trouble."  Schumer on Meet The Press stated; "If he falsely spread this kind of misinformation, that is so wrong. It's beneath the dignity of the presidency ... it shows this president doesn't know how to conduct himself." "If it's true, it's even worse for the president, because that means that a federal judge...has found probable cause that the president, or people on his staff ... have probable cause to have broken the law or to have interacted with a foreign agent." (See: www.politico.com/story/2017/03/schumer-trump-tapping-235696).   So what gives?  I guess we will have to wait and see.  One thing is for sure.  The GOP Congressional Leadership has to be considering how far they will let this president go promoting unfounded personal attacks (and lies) while he becomes an embarrassment not to just the party but to the presidency itself!  I'm not holding my breath, but like comedy, you just can't make this stuff up!
            As President Andrew Jackson once wrote; "Any man worth his salt will stick up for what he believes right, but it takes a slightly better man to acknowledge instantly and without reservation that he is in error." We should expect and demand more from our presidents.   Have a great week!