Horist: A few topics to ponder

Have you heard the one about …?

You will love this one.  I can already hear all those good folks in fly-over America convulsing in laughter.  It is making the rounds of the bubble encapsulated New York City/DC cable news channels.  You ready for this?  He goes.  President Trump’s attack on the press is the reason for the low ratings and the public’s distrust of the media.  LMAO.  The only thing funnier than that is the fact that they may actually believe it.  The left-wing pro-Democrat bias of the elitist media has been established by objective studies and the subject of criticism for decades.  Ready for another whopper?  They also say that the fight between Trump and the press was started by Trump. (I will pause until you stop laughing).  It seems to me that throughout the campaign and especially after the election, the media folks jumped on Trump, Republicans, conservatives and every American who voted for Trump like a bunch of jackals at a meat market.  The only difference between the pre and post-Trump press is the viciousness of the bias.

The politics of sexual seduction

Why Hollywood is now in a frenzy over sexual misbehavior is a bit of a mystery.  After all, the bedroom and boardroom shenanigans of Tinsel Town have been widely known for as long as I can remember.  Sure, every now and then a personal scandal would pop up like a pimple on the nose of a leading lady, but with little impact on the culture.  Suddenly, however, the normally licentious left has their Tommy Hilfiger’s in a bunch over l’affaire Weinstein.  But instead of a “pimple,” Weinstein has set off an entire case of cultural acne with a seemingly never-ending exposure of sexual seduction and abuse.  The casting couch which once launched careers is suddenly ending them.  Given what is happening in Hollywood, I suspect there are quite a few very nervous people in Washington, D.C. – and in no few state capitals where away-from-home legislatures, lobbyists and ambitious wannabes gather.  Like Hollywood, the sexual indiscretions of the ruling class have been an open secret.  Seeing the withered nonagenarian Henry Kissinger of today, one might find it difficult to even imagine the roué of his younger years.  He explained the sexually overcharged atmosphere of the nation’s capital in a simple adage, “Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.”

The press and prosecutor

Once again the east coast media cabal is acting like prosecutors in the court of public opinion.  In this case, it involves the investments of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.  Unlike in a real court, the press has no responsibility to tell the truth or to provide exculpatory evidence – evidence that would suggest the target is innocent.  The narrative pushed on CNN and MSNBC is that Ross concealed certain holdings during his confirmation hearing, in which he promised to terminate all his investments.  The problem is that he never said he would give up ALL his holdings and he disclosed those he would retain.  The press then proffers the notion that his investments establish ties to Russia and a conflict of interest.  In fact, Ross is a minority passive investor in companies in which there are also Russian investors.  They ominously say Ross’ investments are made through separate companies to conceal the business arrangement.   In fact, they are subject to public records and not concealed at all.  To understand the media spin, one only needs to understand that if you invest in a mutual fund, you are indirectly investing in other companies – much like Ross.  In the bigger picture, one needs to understand that since the fall of the Soviet Union, we have developed a love/hate relationship with Russia.  In the pre-Putin era, thousands of western businesses developed relationships in Russia.  Under Obama, we have them invest in more than 20 percent of our uranium reserves.  That is a big business deal absolute with ties to Kremlin.  We gave up a portion of our independent space program when we cut a deal to have Russia fly our astronauts to the manned space station.  The idea that having relationships with Russia or having meetings with Russian officials is prima fascia criminal is just wrong.

The hypocrisy of Senator Blumenthal

I find it ironic that the media and the Democrats keep using Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal as their ethics watchdog.  Whenever he pontificates about the ethical standards of others, we should never forget that in order to gain favor with voters he outright lied about serving in Vietnam.  He later confessed to being mistaken.  However, one does not mistake serving in Vietnam like one might forget what day they last ate pizza.  It is actually a crime called theft of valor.  It may not be up there with first-degree murder, but what kind of hypocritical low life would do that?  Oh!  I know.  Richard Blumenthal.

In defense of a Never Trumper

Juli Briskman, a government contract worker, was summarily fired from her job after she admitted that she was the cyclist flipping the finger as President Trump’s caravan passed her on the road.  One of my basic beliefs that we not only have a right to talk truth to power, we have a right to be downright disrespectful.  I felt the same way when a couple was arrested (but not charged) for yelling obscenities at President Clinton.  You do not have to agree with what a person says (or gestures) to defend to the death their right to say (or do) such things.  If that last statement has an echo of history, you can thank Voltaire, who penned the original version almost 300 years ago.  A more important issue is … where was the Secret Service when Briskman was riding so close to the presidential limousine?

The Virginia gubernatorial election

As you read this, the voters in Virginia will be filtering through the polling places to elect their next governor.  Their choice is between Democrat Lt. Governor Ralph Northam and Republican Ed Gillespie.  According to Democrat pundits, a Northam win will be a great victory – the first sign of the party’s re-emergence out of the shadows of political irrelevancy.  Actually, a close win by Northam would have no great meaning for the future.  Virginia – thanks to all those Washington bureaucrats living in the northern half of the state – has been pretty much of a blue state.  It was carried by Obama twice and even Clinton in 2016.  The outgoing governor is a Democrat.  Now if Gillespie wins the race that is a BIG blow to the Democrats – losing yet another state executive mansion to the GOP, which already controls two-thirds of the nation’s statehouses.

Larry Horist is a conservative activist with an extensive background in public policy and political issues. Clients of his consulting firm have included such conservative icons as Steve Forbes and Milton Friedman, and he has served as a consultant to the White House under Presidents Nixon and Reagan. He has testified as an expert witness before numerous legislative bodies, including the U. S. Congress and lectured at Harvard University, Northwestern University, Florida Atlantic University, Knox College and Hope College. An award winning debater, his insightful and sometimes controversial commentaries appear frequently on the editorial pages of newspapers across the nation. He can be reached at lph@thomasandjoyce.com.