The View from Right Field

Fidel Castro: “Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead”

When I heard that Fidel Castro had died, I thought of the song from “The Wizard of Oz”: “Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead.”  Unfortunately, unlike the Munchkins, I don’t think the death of Fidel Castro is going to set the Cuban people free soon.  Raul Castro is still alive, and it is hard to believe he has designated a successor that would change the system that much.

But what will happen next for U.S.-Cuba relations?  Will Donald Trump follow through on his campaign statement that he would reverse President Obama’s opening up of relations with Cuba? He has said he would, but does anybody really know?  Following up on what I have said before, I don’t think reversing President Obama’s moves would be a good idea.  (I would actually go further.)  The embargo, the restrictions on travel and investment, etc., haven’t worked.  Would they work if other countries imposed them, too?  I don’t know, but I know it’s not going to happen.

@NikkiHaley to the @UN. Another George H.W. Bush?

It would be fine with me.

European Missile Defense Shield Is Going Operational – At Last

On Thursday, the United States’ missile defense shield in Europe becomes operational (at long last).  According to Reuters:

“The shield relies on radars to detect a ballistic missile launch into space.  Tracking sensors then measure the rocket's trajectory and intercept and destroy it in space, before it re-enters the earth's atmosphere.  The interceptors can be fired from ships or ground sites.”

While the purpose of the shield is to protect our NATO allies in Europe from missiles from countries like North Korea and Iran¹, Russia claims it is aimed at them.  But then Russia claims that almost everything the U.S. and countries in Europe do to defend themselves is aimed at Russia. 

The Donald Trump Transition and Beyond – As Seen By a Republican Who Didn’t Vote for Him

I am of two minds as I watch the Donald Trump transition unfold, maybe more.  A few thoughts, in no particular order.

First, I didn’t vote for Mr. Trump so he’s not my candidate.  On the other hand, the person I voted for wasn’t really my candidate either.  I only voted for her because I thought her foreign policy views were better than Mr. Trump – and better than those of President Obama.

Second, while I didn’t vote Republican for president, I did for everything else.  I am very happy the Republicans kept control of the House and the Senate.  I really like and respect Paul Ryan.  I am very glad he will stay as Speaker of the House.  I am hopeful this will result in better domestic policies.

Donald Trump Nepotism. Democrats Wouldn’t Do That. Oops.

There is talk about Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, getting a position in the White House.  Clearly, no Democratic president would ever appoint a relative to a Cabinet position or have a spouse developing a major policy program for them.  Oops.  Never mind.

Lawless in Washington – Will There Be a Donald Trump Edition?

Since 2011, I have written a number of posts about what I saw as President Obama’s overreach of his presidential power.  The titles of the posts explain where I was coming from; here is a sample: “A Presidency Built on Executive Orders, Instead of Laws”; “Lawless in Washington”; and “Ignoring the Constitution is Getting to Be an Obama Administration Trend.”

President Obama’s frequent justification for what I considered his overreach of power was Republican obstructionism.  The Republicans in the House of Representatives and, after 2014, in the Senate too, were unreasonable, he said.  They wouldn’t cooperate to pass the programs America needed.  And the news media, at least the MSM, agreed. 

President Obama’s Legacy: Chemical Weapons

From an article by the Associated Press in Monday’s Washington Post:

“U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed alarm at ‘the weakening taboo’ against using chemical weapons in Syria where the international watchdog said it is studying several recent cases of alleged use of the banned agents, according to a letter circulated Monday.

President Obama’s Legacy: The Deficit

From an editorial in The Wall Street Journal on November 9, 2016 (written before the result in the presidential election was known):

“Congratulations to the President-elect, whoever you are, because you’re going to need it.  Our deadline arrived Tuesday before we knew the election outcome, but not before we can say with confidence that President Obama is leaving his successor a large and growing federal budget problem.

What We All Need to Do Now

What we all need to do now, those of us who voted for Donald Trump, those of us who voted for Hillary Clinton, and those who couldn’t bring themselves to vote for either one of them, is to give the other side a break and the benefit of the doubt.  While it is hard, what we have to do now is to put everything that was said before the election aside, and judge people on what they say and do now.  Everybody has to do it.  Democrats have to do it vis-à-vis Donald Trump.  Republicans have to do it vis-à-vis Democrats.  Everybody.

Those of you who are really old may remember Herbert Lawrence Block, a/k/a “Herblock,” an editorial cartoonist for The Washington Post from the 1940s to the 2000s.  To say he disliked Richard Nixon would be an understatement.  He always drew Richard Nixon with a heavy five o’clock shadow (back when that was not in style) and worse.  But when Richard Nixon won the presidency in 1968, Herblock drew this one:

#ElectionDay: So Much for the Secret Ballot

I voted today, and I guess they’ve decided the secret ballot isn’t important anymore.  You had two ways to vote in my precinct: computer or paper ballot (two big scantron sheets).  I picked paper.  They gave me the scantron sheets and pointed me to a big table in the center of the room where I could fill them out and where a lot of other people were doing the same thing.  Out in the open where everybody could see.  So much for the secret ballot.