The View from Right Field

The Cubs Always Open On the Last Day of Winter

As I head to Wrigley Field today, it brings back memories of my first Cubs home opener - in 1975, also against the Pirates.  The game was delayed by two days because of snow, and there was still snow under the seats in the upper deck, where I was sitting (and where I am heading today, though I think I was on the first base line in '75).  Here is the great David Condon's article on that game.  Let's hope for a better result today.

Merle Hazard Has a New Song - "Dave's Song"

And it's a sad one.

“Trade wars are good, and easy to win”

At least, that is what Donald Trump tweeted back on March 2.  I don’t think it true, but as the U.S. and the Chinese counter to each other’s latest tariff increases, I hope President Trump keeps a couple of things in mind.

First, though, several initial comments.  One, China has been playing unfair.  Among other things, many U.S. companies, especially those in industries with proprietary technology, are only allowed to do business in China if they (i) sign a joint venture agreement with a Chinese company and (ii) license their intellectual property to the Chinese joint venture.  That needs to be changed.

Also, none of the tariffs that have been announced has taken effect yet, and they won’t for several months.  In effect, at this point, they are just threats.  Plus, apparently there are negotiations going on behind the scenes, so they may never come into effect (other than the effect they have on U.S. stock prices).

The Advantage of Not Voting for Donald Trump

As the world seems to going pretty much to he** in a handbasket, an argument can be made that Republicans who did not vote for Donald Trump are the lucky ones.

When Democrats come up with more of their ideas to solve the problems of the world with more and more government, we can be glad we’re not Democrats.  Because we understand that the fact the Berlin Wall has been gone for almost 30 years, doesn’t make those kinds of ideas any more sensible now than they were then.

When President Trump comes up with another of his “really unusual” ideas, fires somebody on Twitter, or yet again says something that just isn’t true, we can honestly say that we didn’t vote for him – and not feel like we have to defend him because we supported him. 

“We’ll Be Coming Out of Syria, Like, Very Soon.” Not a Good Idea.

Donald Trump probably wouldn’t like being told that any of his policies are like Barack Obama’s, and former President Obama probably wouldn’t like it either.  But last Thursday, President Trump said, in what was apparently an unscripted aside, during a speech/campaign event in Ohio, that “we’re knocking the hell out of ISIS” and that “we’ll be coming out of Syria, like, very soon.  Let the other people take care of it now.”  All of which sounds an awful like President Obama’s policy in Iraq (and, especially with respect to the last part, Syria). 

President Obama never wanted to be in Iraq.¹  And so, once he got into office, he used the agreement George W. Bush signed with Iraq in 2008, which required the United States to get all of its troops out of Iraq by the end of 2011, as the reason (aka excuse) for leaving.  President Obama could have tried to get the agreement changed.  In fact, the expectation probably was that the United States would do so – and that Iraq would agree.  But President Obama didn’t really try.  He wanted out.