Do Colin Powell and the WSJ Truly Expect Us to Buy Their Bullshit?

By Colin Powell... the general who thought that leaving Saddam Hussein and his sons in power after Gulf War One ended was a bright idea... the Secretary of State whose top aid (Richard Armitage) betrayed all ethical and moral standards... and finally... the "Republican" private citizen who supported and voted for Barack Obama.

*  *  *

Many years ago, after I had become a four-star general and then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Times of London wrote an article observing that if my parents had sailed to England rather than New York, “the most they could have dreamed of for their son in the military was to become a sergeant in one of the lesser British regiments.”

* IF ONLY POWELL'S PARENTS HAD SAILED TO ENGLAND! IF ONLY...!!!

Only in America could the son of two poor Jamaican immigrants become the first African-American, the youngest person and the first ROTC graduate from a public university to hold those positions, among many other firsts. My parents arrived — one at the Port of Philadelphia, the other at Ellis Island — in search of economic opportunity, but their goal was to become American citizens, because they knew what that made possible.

* THEIR GOAL... THEIRS...

Immigration is a vital part of our national being because people come here not only to build a better life for themselves and their children, but to become Americans.

* SOME DO. MANY DON'T. SURELY YOU'RE AWARE OF THIS, MR. SECRETARY, WHY NOT JUST... BE HONEST...???

With access to education...

* HEY... FOLKS... ABOUT THAT "ACCESS"... DID YOU KNOW THAT IT COSTS MONEY TO PROVIDE SCHOOLING (NOT TO MENTION ALL THE OTHER BENEFITS OF LIVING HERE IN AMERICA) TO IMMIGRANTS?

(*SNORT*)

* FUNNY... I DOUBT POWELL WILL FOLLOW UP HIS REMARKS WITH AN ACCOUNTING OF WHAT LEGAL IMMIGRATION - LET ALONE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION - COSTS US.

(*SHRUG*)

...and a clear path to citizenship, they routinely become some of the best, most-patriotic Americans you’ll ever know.

* AGAIN. SOME DO. MANY DON'T.

That’s why I am a strong supporter of immigration-law reform: America stands to benefit from it as much as, if not more than, the immigrants themselves.

* HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!

(*ROFLMAO*)

Contrary to some common misconceptions, neighborhoods with greater concentrations of immigrants have lower rates of crime and violence than comparable non-immigrant neighborhoods, according to a 2015 report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

* FOLKS... JUST READ THE SUMMARY AND TELL ME IF IT SOUNDS "FAIR AND BALANCED" TO YOU... OR IF IT COMES ACROSS AS SOME SORT OF MARKETING OUTREACH.

(*SHRUG*)

* IN ANY CASE... TO CONTINUE WITH POWELL'S OP-ED...

Foreign-born men age 18-39 are jailed at one-quarter the rate of native-born American men of the same age.

* SO... EXACTLY HOW MANY FOREIGN-BORN MEN ARE WE TALKING...???

(*SMIRK*)

* AND... WHY "MEN?" WHY ONLY "MEN?"

* AND... WHY USE "JAILED?" WHY NOT USE "ARRESTED?" HMM? WHAT ARE THE NUMBERS IF WE'RE TALKING "ARRESTED?"

* FOLKS... THESE ARE THE TYPES OF QUESTIONS THAT ANYONE VERSED IN STATISTICAL ANALYSIS - AS I AM - WILL ASK. (BUT OF COURSE THESE AREN'T THE QUESTIONS LIBERAL JOURNALISTS WILL ASK...)

Today’s immigrants are learning English at the same rate or faster than earlier waves of newcomers...

* UH-HUH. SO... WE CAN DO AWAY WITH BI-LINGUAL EDUCATION? WE CAN DO AWAY WITH BI-LINGUAL... EVERYTHING?

(*CHUCKLE*)

* SOMEHOW I DOUBT POWELL IS GIVING US THE UNVARNISHED TRUTH... THE TRUE STORY.

...and first-generation arrivals...

* WHAT ARE "FIRST-GENERATION ARRIVALS?" LEGAL IMMIGRANTS? ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS? BOTH...???

(*SMIRK*)

...are less likely to die from cardiovascular disease or cancer than native-born people.

* FREE MEDICAL CARE COURTESY OF THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER?

* SERIOUSLY... WHAT'S YOUR POINT, MR. SECRETARY?

They experience fewer chronic health conditions, have lower infant-mortality and obesity rates, and have a longer life expectancy.

* WOW! THEY'RE SUPER-HUMANS!

* I WONDER... DOES THIS PRESENTATION MATCH WHAT YOUR AVERAGE COP, EMT, NURSE, DOCTOR, OR FIREMAN WOULD TELL YOU?

* FOLKS... I'D HAVE TO GO OVER THE ACTUAL RESEARCH. ALL I'LL TELL YOU IS THAT... MY GUESS IS THAT POWELL IS SKEWING HIS PRESENTATION VIA RELYING UPON SKEWED - AND THUS MISLEADING - STATS.

(*SHRUG*)

My parents met and married here and worked in the garment industry, bringing home $50 to $60 a week. They had two children: my sister Marilyn, who became a teacher, and me. I didn’t do as well as the family hoped; I caused a bit of a crisis when I decided to stay in the Army. “Couldn’t he get a job? Why is he still in the Army?”

We were a tight-knit family with cousins and aunts and uncles all over the place. But that family network didn’t guarantee success. What did? The New York City public education system.

* SERIOUSLY... HE'S GONNA COMPARE HIS NYC SCHOOL SYSTEM - BACK THEN - TO TODAY'S...??? REALLY...??? WOW... I WONDER WHY THERE ARE SO MANY PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN NYC...

(*SMIRK*)

I’m a public-education kid, from kindergarten through to Morris High School in the South Bronx and, finally, City College of New York. New York University made me an offer, but tuition there was $750 a year. Such a huge sum in 1954!

* YES, MR. SECRETARY... 1954.

(*SMIRK*)

* FOLKS... THIS GUY IS FULL OF SHIT AND HE KNOWS HE'S FULL OF SHIT. THAT'S WHAT'S SO DISGUSTING.

I would never impose that on my parents, so it was CCNY, where back then tuition was free.

* NO, MR. SECRETARY, TUITION WAS NEVER "FREE." THE COST WAS FINANCED ON THE BACKS OF THE TAXPAYERS.

I got a B.S. in geology and a commission as an Army second lieutenant, and that was that. And it all cost my parents nothing. Zero.

* DID YOUR PARENTS PAY TAXES? (DO YOU UNDERSTAND BASIC ECONOMIC REALITY, MR. SECRETARY?)

After CCNY, I was lucky to be among the first group of officers commissioned just after the Army was desegregated.

* FOLKS... GOOGLE "WILSON + MILITARY SEGREGATION".

(*SMIRK*)

* FOLKS... NEXT GOOGLE "FDR + MILITARY SEGREGATION".

(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)

I competed against West Pointers, against grads from Harvard and VMI and the Citadel and other top schools. And to my surprise, I discovered I had gotten a pretty good education in the New York City public schools. Not only in geology and the military, but also in wider culture. I had learned a little about music, about Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” and theater and things like that. I got a complete education, all through public schools, and it shapes me to this day.

* I ATTENDED PUBLIC SCHOOL K-12 - TAXPAYER FINANCED. I THEN ATTENDED NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY... PARTIALLY FINANCED BY MY FATHER... LARGELY FINANCED BY... ME.

(*SPITTING ON THE GROUND*)

This amazing gift goes back to 1847 when the Free Academy of the City of New York was created with a simple mandate: “Give every child the opportunity for an education.” And who would pay for it? The citizens and taxpayers of New York City and State. They did it and kept at it when the Academy became CCNY in 1866, because they knew that poor immigrants were their children. They were the future.

* AND TODAY... 50 YEARS OF MODERN "LIBERALISM" HAVE BASICALLY DESTROYED THAT ONCE GREAT SYSTEM.

(*SHRUG*)

* IT'S TRUE. WE ALL KNOW IT'S TRUE. BUT... COLIN POWELL DOESN'T CARE. SAD. PATHETIC.

They still are. Today some 41 million immigrants and 37.1 million U.S.-born children of immigrants live in the U.S. Taken together, the first and second generations are one-quarter of the population.

* AND THIS AIN'T GOOD!

While some countries, like Japan and Russia, worry that population decline threatens their economies, America’s economic future vibrates with promise from immigrants’ energy, creativity and ambition.

(*HEADACHE*)

* UH-HUH. OUR "VIBRATING" ECONOMY. OUR "VIBRATING" DEFICITS! OUR "VIBRATING" DEBT!

Every one of these people deserves the same educational opportunities I had.

* DESERVES...???

* FIRST OF ALL... THEY'RE NOT GONNA GET IT BECAUSE THE LEFT HAS DESTROYED THE SCHOOLS; SECOND... ARE WE (YOU) TALKING LEGAL OR ILLEGAL ALIENS? HMM?

It wasn’t, and isn’t, charity to immigrants or to the poor.

* UM. YES. YES IT IS!

Those early New Yorkers were investing in their own future by making education and citizenship accessible to “every child.” They knew it — and what a future it became!

* AGAIN. MR. SECRETARY. IT'S NOT 1954!

(*HEADACHE*)

We still have that model. But today too many politicians seem to think that short-changing education...

* HA! HA! HA! YEAH... SURELY IF ONE LOOKS AT WHAT AMERICA SPENDS UPON EDUCATION ONE WILL SEE LITTLE "SHORT-CHANGING."

* SERIOUSLY, FOLKS... POWELL IS A FAKE, PHONY FRAUD. PERIOD.

...will somehow help society. It does not. It hurts society.

We need people who know that government has no more important function than securing the terrain...

* I WISH! (SOMEHOW I DOUBT SECRETARY POWELL IS REFERRING TO SECURING OUR BORDERS...)

(*SMIRK*)

...which means opening the pathways to the future for everyone, educating them to be consumers, workers, leaders — and citizens.

* EVERYONE...???

We are all immigrants...

* NOT ME, DUDE. (INDEED, NOT YOU!)

* HE'S JUST... SO... FULL OF SHIT!

...wave after wave over several hundred years. And every wave makes us richer: in cultures, in language and food, in music and dance, in intellectual capacity.

* NOT THIS WAVE. CLEARLY NOT THIS WAVE. WHO DOES THIS CLOWN THINK HE'S FOOLING? SERIOUSLY...?!?!

We should treasure this immigrant tradition, and we should reform our laws to guarantee it.

In this political season, let us remember the most important task of our government: making Americans.

* "FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGED" AMERICANS, MR. SECRETARY?

Immigrants — future Americans — make America better every single day.

* EXCEPT THE ONES WHO... DON'T.

* WOULDN'T JUST A BIT OF HONESTY BE REFRESHING...? ALAS... TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR. SAD. SO VERY SAD.

Peggy Noonan's Take on Trump's Speech Last Night

Peggy Noonan writing in the WSJ

*  *  *

Two headlines on the week, and some speeches.

Donald Trump effectively won the Republican primary in the first week of May, meaning the GOP has had 2½ months to do what it has always done, even under duress, such as in 1964 and 1976: come together.

They have not.

From day one of the convention it was clear the GOP is a bitterly divided party and not even bothering to hide it.

* WHICH IS WHY I HAVE ADVISED THAT TRUMP SPEND MORE TIME BASHING THE RINOs. FRANKLY... I SEE NO DOWN SIDE - INSTEAD I SEE A HUGE UPSIDE!

* TRUMP DID REACH OUT TO BERNIE VOTERS. AND THAT WAS SMART. AND... IT WAS "RIGHT" NOT SIMPLY IN A PRAGMATIC SENSE, BUT IN AN ETHICAL SENSE. YEAH... MANY OF THOSE FOLKS ARE VERY... CONFUSED... ABOUT HOW TO FIX AMERICA'S PROBLEMS - BUT MANY OF 'EM CORRECTLY IDENTIFY MANY OF THE PROBLEMS! I CAN "WORK" WITH PEOPLE LIKE THAT!

It failed to unite not because it had poor leadership or the nominee didn’t know how to do it, though both are true.

* TYPICAL NOONAN PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE BULLSHIT.

(*SPITTING ON THE GROUND*)

More killingly it failed to unite because it didn’t want to. Everyone’s in his corner. Donald Trump failed to change his style in a way that would have given cover to those who would have, with considerable relief, joined him.

* "STYLE, STYLE, STYLE"...

(*ROLLING MY EYES*)

* FORGIVE ME IF I'M FOCUSED ON SUBSTANCE.

(*AGAIN SPITTING ON THE GROUND*)

On the other hand, anti-Trump forces continued to look down on Mr. Trump’s supporters and grant them nothing in terms of motivation, sincerity, insight.

Most important, though no one in Cleveland was keen to talk about it, there is the split between the base and the top on such huge and fundamental issues as immigration, trade and entitlements.

* UM... PEGGY...??? WE TALK ABOUT IT ALL THE TIME. (AND AGAIN... TRUMP SHOULD ATTACK THE RINOs WITH THE SAME FERVOR HE ATTACKS THE DEMOCRAT LEFT!)

The base came to this convention, which was middle-class and dressed down.

* UPPER MIDDLE CLASS, PEGGY. I KNOW THE SORT OF FOLKS WHO ATTEND THESE CONVENTIONS. UPPER MIDDLE CLASS TO WEALTHY.

The wealthy and connected largely stayed away.

* APPARENTLY PEGGY DIDN'T SEE THE PAYPAL GUY'S SPEECH...

(*LOL*)

(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)

* PEGGY NOONAN IS SUCH A TRANSPARENT DUNCE.

You didn’t see them swanning from reception to party to caucus. It spoke volumes. Now and then you remember that snobbery is an actual force in life.

If each side hates the other and believes in different things, how do they come together again?

* IT'S CALLED LOVE OF COUNTRY, PEG. IT'S CALLED GIVING A DAMN ABOUT THE WORLD WE LEAVE OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN.

Connected to that, the second headline, which has to do with the unknowability of the moment we’re in.

* SOMETIMES I WONDER IF PEGGY NOONAN IS... SLIGHTLY RETARDED.

The shrewdest old political pro, the brightest young delegate, the owlish political journalist — they didn’t know exactly what they were witnessing. Was it the formal start of an epic political disaster? The birth of a new GOP more identified with the struggles of its base? Is 2016 a particular and contained event, or does it mark the beginning of some long-term realignment? As for Mr. Trump, is he a lightning storm that lit things up, caused some damage, will play itself out and pass? Or is he an earthquake that changed the actual shape of things, the literal lay of the land?

Nobody involved here, nobody watching, knew. I’ve never quite seen such intellectual modesty among people who are usually quick in their eagerness to explain it all to you.

* I'D HATE PEGGY'S CROWD. I'D LITERALLY DESPISE THEM. (COULD YOU IMAGINE ME AT ONE OF HER DINNER PARTIES...?!?!)

(*RUEFUL CHUCKLE*)

There were a number of good speeches. Donald Trump Jr. was strong and persuasive on Tuesday night. The next morning, at a Wall Street Journal event, he made a better case for his father than his father has.

* AGAIN WITH THE PATENTED PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE SHTICK...

(*ROLLING MY EYES*)

He talked about the forgotten middle American and referred to himself, humorously, as “a Fifth Avenue redneck.”

(*STANDING OVATION*)

When pressed on how a man as divisive as his father could unify the nation, he answered that one way to unify the country is to see that its people have jobs: “When people are doing well it’s amazing how much unity you’ll get from that.”

Mike Pence’s speech was modest, simple and strong. He is going to be a powerful and effective figure in the coming campaign. A longtime staffer told me he was surprised how relaxed the governor was as he prepared. He’d seen him over the years be nervous about smaller, less important speeches. Mr. Pence, the staffer said, told him the reason was that he was completely at peace with his decision to run with Mr. Trump.

(*THUMBS UP*)

Ted Cruz did himself damage.

* YEP...

By the end of his tireless campaign for the nomination he was semi-endearing.

* Er... OK...

(*SCRATCHING MY HEAD AT THAT ONE*)

Wednesday night he resurrected Snaky Ted.

* YEP!

He spoke highly of freedom and went after President Obama. Sometimes he half-laughed after speaking a line, as if to say You know this is showbiz, right? It showed an unbecoming detachment. He told the audience not to stay home in November but vote for the right person, then forgot to say who that person might be.

* "DOUCHE BAG TED!"

(*GRIN*)

(*WINK*)

If you can’t endorse, good for you and stay home. That isn’t politics, it’s basic human comportment.

* GOOD FOR YOU, PEGGY!

If someone you’re certain is awful invites you to a party, you politely decline. You don’t go, walk into the room, and punch your host in the head. Mr. Cruz miscalculated, thinking if he snubbed Trump half the delegates would cheer. Instead almost all booed.

Ted Cruz thought the media would laud his courage and integrity. They saw him as wounded and treated him as prey.

* YEP...

When his campaign ended in June, I attended a small dinner in his honor. Mr. Cruz was charming, modest and funny. When we said goodnight I told him I felt, in retrospect, that I hadn’t always been just to him and was glad I’d have a chance to be more generous in the future. Apparently I will need still more time. What a jerk.

* HA! HA! HA! HA!

(*VIRTUAL HUG*)

Donald Trump’s speech was important. He is a vivid figure and for a year has elicited strong reactions. By now he’s exhausting. We have Trump Fatigue.

* MAYBE YOU DO, PEG; NOT ME.

(*SHRUG*)

* IF ANYTHING... I HAVE CRUZ FATIGUE. IF ANYTHING... I HAVE "PEOPLE" FATIGUE. EACH DAY I DEAL WITH SO MANY STUPID PEOPLE...

(*SHRUG*)

* FRANKLY... IT'S EXHAUSTING.

Also, who doesn’t know how he feels about him? His acceptance speech was an opportunity to break through in a new way and flesh out his purpose. I think he succeeded, though with a certain grimness. He’d probably reply that the times are grim.

* UM... THEY ARE, PEG; HE LAID IT OUT; I LAY IT OUT EVERY DAY ON FB AND ON MY BLOG. (SERIOUSLY... DO YOU NOT "GET" THAT AMERICA IS IN STEEP DECLINE AND THAT THE WHOLE POINT OF "FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE" IS TO DRIVE US OVER THE CLIFF?)

We have to assess the true facts of our nation, he said: “We cannot afford to be so politically correct anymore.”

* AND... HE'S RIGHT!

He spoke of “the plain facts that have been edited out of your nightly news,” including the costs of illegal immigration and the victims of economic decline.

* AGAIN... BROWSE THROUGH MY FB POSTINGS... MY BLOG POSTINGS; GO BACK AS FAR AS YOU CAN; TRUMP WASN'T LYING! WHAT HE SAYS IS ABSOLUTELY TRUE!

Mr. Trump argued that the past eight years of U.S. foreign policy have been disastrous to peace and stability. “But Hillary Clinton’s legacy does not have to be America’s legacy.”

(*STANDING OVATION*)

Does he want a ban on Muslims? No. “We must immediately suspend immigration from any nation that has been compromised by terrorism until such time as proven vetting mechanisms have been put in place.” This stand has always driven his enemies crazy, and Mr. Trump usually spoke of it sloppily, either deliberately or not. But to most Americans it will sound like simple common sense.

* BUT... NOT TO YOU, PEGGY? (NOTICE... SHE TAKES NO STAND.)

(*SMIRK*)

He was frankly populist: “I have joined the political arena so that the powerful can no longer beat up on people who cannot defend themselves. . . . My greatest compassion will be for our own struggling citizens.”

* AND... WHAT'S WRONG WITH THAT...???

He stands, he asserted, for “the forgotten” — not as their tribune or their leader, but “their voice.”

* AND ON MANY ISSUES HE CLEARLY IS - THUS... HIS BEING THE REPUBLICAN NOMINEE FOR PRESIDENT.

* SERIOUSLY, FOLKS... IS SHE RETARDED... A BIT...???

Cleverly: “My opponent asks her supporters to recite a three-word loyalty pledge. It reads, ‘I’m with her.’ I choose to recite a different pledge: ‘I’m with you, the American people.’”

* GOD... BLESS... DONALD... TRUMP!

It was not an eloquent speech, not lofty, very plain and blunt. It covered a lot of territory and went too long.

* BUT HAD IT BEEN SHORTER YOU'D BE WRITING THAT IT LACKED DETAIL. (YOU'RE SO FULL OF SHIT, NOONAN!)

It had no leavening humor.

* NOT MUCH TO LAUGH ABOUT. THE LEFT HAS BEEN DESTROYING OUR COUNTRY.

It is strange to see a New Yorker so uninterested in wit.

* SERIOUSLY, FOLKS... THIS STUPID WOMAN THINKS SHE COMES OFF AS INTELLIGENT. IT'S AMAZING WHAT LIVING IN A BUBBLE DOES TO SOME FOLKS.

It was at points too hyped and declarative, and it was sometimes grandiose.

(*ROLLING MY EYES*)

But it was powerful.

After reading a copy of the speech leaked in advance by a mischief maker, an anti-Trump conservative intellectual emailed me. “He’s going to win,” he said. The moment at least was not unknowable to him.

* LET US HOPE AND PRAY - AND WORK TOWARDS A TRUMP VICTORY... A VICTORY FOR AMERICA!