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Black History Month is a convenient backdrop for Jesse Jackson’s “Rainbow PUSH Wall Street Project”.  This extortion enterprise occurs every February as it shakes down banks for         large donations and affirmative action hiring mainly for the black community. Doubtless under pressure from government, financial institutions readily oblige or face regulatory reprisals and public vilification by PUSH.  2/6/19

• • ENOUGH ALREADY WITH THE WIND-CHILL READINGS.  Amid record-breaking cold around the country weather reports more than ever cite wind-chill factors in lieu of regular temperatures.  Make no mistake, this practice is aimed at getting the public to buy into the climate change hoax by making them believe weather might be more severe than it really is (notwithstanding actual dangers). Indeed, the media implicitly sell the current cold as a sea change attributable to the growing man-made carbon footprint.  Reporters try to mislead people into thinking the wind-chill readings are actually the traditional temperature levels.  "What’s that, Marge, the television says it’s 40 degrees below zero?  That’s unprecedented.  Maybe there is something to that climate change talk."  In reality, the regular temperature is a quite common 5 degrees above zero. 

The left has played a similar mind game for years in trying to substitute Celsius temperatures, as well as the metric system, for English measurements to promote a Marxist globalist, one-world mindset.  The public is bombarded with constant leftist propaganda from all quarters.  Can we not trust even the weather man anymore?  1/31/19

• • THE GILLETTE AD SHOULD SEND A MESSAGE TO CORPORATE #MeToo ADVOCATES.  The tremendous backlash to the #MeToo inspired Gillette ad is a great opportunity to register a major blow to this corrupt movement.  Men should permanently boycott the company’s products to reduce sales dramatically.  This would send a message to other companies and their leftist ad agencies never to play the #MeToo card.  In fact, it might give pause to companies and their agents that have promoted societal emasculation through their television commercials for some time. 

Relatedly, sexual harassment claimants who are found to have lied, either by admission or in the course of a trial, must be prosecuted.  That has yet to happen.  More sexual misconduct cases should go to trial rather than settle in order to ferret out the many liars.  Very few cases are legitimate by legal standards.  Obliterate the “we believe” mantra. 

The #MeToo movement motivated Gillette and inspires many accusers into thinking they can profit from making false or frivolous charges with impunity.  But a growing resistance is forming as the unsavory truth emerges.  The leftist agenda to empower women by disempowering men must be defeated.  Boycotts and prosecutions can be quite effective.  1/22/19

• • A WORD ABOUT ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ.  AOC looks like she needs a good lay. Why doesn’t anyone mention this? It probably explains her frenetic behavior. The chick is a tri-fecta for the Democrats: minority, woman and a millenial, who also is an avowed socialist. Bingo. That profile automatically makes her a media star. 

Her joining the House Financial Services Committee chaired by Maxine Waters is quite worrisome. They will fleece the banks by forcing them to liberalize lending standards. Sound familiar? They will push new social engineering programs. Corrupt organizations like the former ACORN will spring up to distribute the largesse (largely for themselves). Recall the billions of dollars of financial crisis bank settlements diverted to the ‘hood.

In addition, the Committee will coerce banks to flood the zone with minority hires. Minorities have dominated bank teller and floor positions for years. Now the newly empowered Committee will aim for the executive ranks. Bank profits will suffer from giveaways, mismanagement and corruption. The Committee will browbeat financial executives to extract concessions. Imagine Jamie Dimon taking guff from AOC.

Maybe AOC’s new status will earn her a much needed roll in the hay. 1/18/19

• • LIBERAL PROPAGANDA IN REALITY TELEVISION SHOWS.  The public has been exposed to leftist mind control in news, entertainment, sports and advertising for some time.  But now I notice propaganda penetrates even so-called reality television shows.  Generally, the only such programs I see are when I briefly leave Fox News/Business to other channels during commercials.  But over time, even that short interval is enough collectively to see the brainwashing.  Since I am not a regular viewer, my conclusions could be wrong.  But consider the following impressions.

The Profit – It seems protagonist, Marcus Lemonis, is never critical of rank and file employees when clearly at times they would be at fault for business failure or certain problems.  Rather, the criticism always falls on the ownership or management.  Is this a socialist dog whistle to put down the haves and protect the have nots, notwithstanding the capitalist theme of the show?  And now amid the #MeToo movement, a recent episode featured a requisite case of workplace sexual harassment.  I have not seen how that issue played out, but I would bet the accuser prevails.

The Undercover Boss – Just as The Profit conveys its liberal message by exempting underlings from criticism, The Undercover Boss sends a similar signal by lionizing and lavishly rewarding certain under-appreciated low level workers.  Every show culminates in a selected employee, almost always female, tearfully reacting to the boss’ life-changing monetary gift.  The message:  Celebrate the proletariat and denigrate the bourgeois.  The show seems also to promote gender equality by portraying indispensable women mainly who never get the recognition they deserve.  The program is reminiscent of the 1950s television program, The Millionaire, in which each episode a particular philanthropist anonymously gives away one million dollars to a down-on-his luck beneficiary.  Come to think of it, Was that program promoting a wealth redistribution theme?  It aired in the aftermath of the Senator McCarthy hearings that investigated communist infiltration in the U.S., to include Hollywood productions. 

 Shark Tank – It seems Mark Cuban has a soft touch for black participants, as he makes deals with them he might not do with others.  In fact, people of color seem to fare better on this show.

Deal Or No Deal – Although a game show rather than a reality show, my point applies.  In the early airings of this revived program, host Howie Mandel, went out of his way to insinuate that the banker is now a woman, unnaturally emphasizing the pronoun “she” when referring to her.  And, her shapely silhouette appears above the set throughout the show just so no one forgets. 

 Whenever animals are featured they are portrayed as sympathetic figures.  The camera does not show a close up of a killing.  And the act is prefaced by the killer’s expressed reluctance to end a life, as when the animal is deathly ill, or even when hunted for food.  In one case a character protested an order to kill an elephant that broke loose threatening dozens of lives.  The narrative always lectures about disposing of animals humanely.  God forbid that one kill an animal.  

The public should be aware of this effort to inure viewers to the liberal agenda.  The next step is to object proactively to this politicization in daily  interactions with others, and with the remote control.  The producers will get the message when they know so many viewers see through the  manipulation, especially when ratings drop.  1/14/19

• • MY (IMAGINED) EVENING WITH STORMY DANIELS.  As the recipient of The Comprehensive Conservative’s 2018 Man of the Year award (see https://sites.google.com/site/thecomprehensiveconservative/special-notice/special-notice-3/special-notice-4/special-notice-5/special-notice-6 ), I had the opportunity to dine with my counterpart, Stormy Daniels, (see https://sites.google.com/site/thecomprehensiveconservative/special-notice-8/special-notice-9/special-notice-10/special-notice-11 ) in a shared celebration.  I began talking about trade, but she showed no interest.  So I changed the topic to interest rates.  Still nothing.  Immigration bored her.  I thought about discussing the rationale for her award as a foil for #MeToo but I decided that was too abstruse.   

At this point, she seemed impatient tapping her fingers on the table as if to say, “When are we going to get down to business?”  But she seemed to look at me as a revenue source rather than an object of affection.  I know she’s swinging from poles in the wee hours of the morning to pay President Trump’s legal fees he incurred defending against her failed lawsuit.  So, I thought perhaps she’s looking for a job at The Comprehensive Conservative.  Then she turned aggressive and lascivious.  I sweated profusely saturating three napkins.  At last I got a hold of myself and asked her what would #MeToo say about this?  Frustrated, she got up and yelled, “Who gives a !@#$^%&(z you wimp?”  1/10/19

• • THE LADY IS A TRAMP.  Here’s some fodder for the #MeToo movement.  Recall the hoopla about the 1940s song, “Baby It’s Cold Outside”.  Feminists call for its ban as they absurdly claim the song’s theme is predatory and suggestive of rape because a man amorously pursues a woman in his apartment after a date.  Well, what does the left say about a much more well-known song, “The Lady Is A Tramp”? 

This Rodgers and Hart song of the 1930s features a woman who rejects the customs of the high class set in favor of a simple life, an independence that renders her a “tramp”.  Actually, the lyric could be viewed as a comment on Marxist class differentiation.  But the term tramp in today’s parlance is pejorative connoting a loose woman, a trollup, or a baglady.  I would think #MeToo would object to celebrating such a characterization of women.  I await the battle cry.

The song has been a popular classic among men and women performers.  See Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald in a duet at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xafBWOxqssg  

Buddy Greco gave it his own sexist treatment at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HeQVMMrVKg   (Take that, #MeToo!)

Irrespective of the politics, the song is a great jazz standard.  Here’s my piano arrangement at https://youtu.be/eGA7mwZN8Rk       1/7/19

• • HAPPY NEW YEAR FELLOW RIGHT-WING ZEALOTS.  Please join me to further badger and humiliate liberals into retreat.  In particular, let’s hope the corrupt #MeToo movement crashes and burns in 2019.  It’s already wounded.  I will continue to expose and denounce the crusade towards that end. 

The runup to the 2020 elections will require serious battle as the Democrats lurch to the hard left. We must name ‘em, shame ‘em and lame ‘em to check the advance of the Marxist juggernaut on a gullible electorate.  On the social front, we must break every PC rule in the book in a massive shift from capitulation to hardball defiance and opposition against identity politics. 

Trump’s tax cut and deregulation will likely continue to support economic prosperity in an over-ripe 10-year recovery.  This, despite the vicissitudes of the stock market, which is largely driven by anomalous algorithmic trading formulae that seemingly override positive economic fundamentals to some degree.  However, economic slowdown in Europe and Asia will challenge U.S. exports and curtail foreign investment here.  But Trump’s persistence in trade policy may finally pay off as China relents in the face of its faltering economy.  1/2/19     

April - June 2019  Miscellaneous Thoughts Posted to Linked In

By William J. Dodwell

• • MY RENDITION OF “AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL” IN HONOR OF MEMORIAL DAY.  Hear it at https://youtu.be/-lbheXR5Vfg  5/27/19

  • A TRIBUTE TO DORIS DAY.  Singer/actress Doris Day died Monday at 97.  Perhaps the last original exponent of traditional popular music, her songs topped the charts in the ‘40s and '50s.  In the true spirit of conservatism, I am dedicated to at least the memory, if not return, of this great genre of music.  In particular, I remember getting dressed for school in the mornings while listening on the radio to what would become her signature song, “Que Sera, Sera”.  Here’s a clip of that performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZbKHDPPrrc .  For perspective, it played at the same time that newcomer Elvis Presley was shouting “Hound Dog”.  5/14/19

  • WASHINGTON HEEDS MY WARNING ABOUT STUDENT LOAN EXPOSURE?  The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration hired McKinsey & Co. to investigate the accounting methods adopted for reporting the profitability of the federal student loan program.  In particular, McKinsey is charged with estimating the potential loan loss exposure in the student loan portfolio in connection with a possible sale. 

As it happens, in 2015 I published a white paper entitled, “The Developing Federal Student Loan Debacle and the Real Cost to Taxpayers” detailing the anomalous accounting methods of the CBO and Department of Education that grossly understate loan defaults reported to the public.  See my report at http://ssrn.com/abstract=2653119.  I sent this paper to John Crudele of the New York Post, who dedicated a portion of his column to my thesis without attribution.  I also sent it to still Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., and then Chairman of the House Budget Committee, Congressman Tom Price, R-Ga.  In addition, I sent the report to The Wall Street Journal Editorial Page Editor, Paul Gigot, along with a request to write an op ed piece on the topic.  Not surprisingly, I never heard from any of those recipients, but a couple of subsequent WSJ editorials some time later seemed to have drawn from my paper.

Interestingly, I was prompted to write the piece when I heard presidential candidate Donald J. Trump suggest that the sizable reported profits of the student loan program be applied to defraying costs for student borrowers.  Knowing that the portfolio really posed a potential multitrillion-dollar cost to taxpayers, I began writing.  In view of the McKinsey contract, now Trump apparently knows the truth about misleading accounting at the CBO and Education Department.  Might I be presumptuous about my possible influence here? 

Well informed citizens can make noise in Washington from scoops appropriately documented and suitably disseminated to have an impact beyond the ballot box.  This intervention should be encouraged.  5/6/19

• MEDIA LIBERALS DERAIL TWO FEDERAL RESERVE NOMINEES.  The left torpedoed two successive conservative nominees of President Trump for open seats on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.  Former Kansas City Fed Governor and 2012 presidential candidate, Herman Cain, had to withdraw because of bipartisan objections about allegedly having hit on a few broads many years ago.  Likewise, supply-side economist Stephen Moore had to pull out partly on account of long-past statements about his disinterest in women’s basketball. 

This absurd #MeToo influence on our politics, most prominently displayed in last year’s Bret Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, is a corrosive force that must be challenged en masse.  Ongoing vociferous grass-roots opposition would show elected officials that they should not fear this leftist cabal because it does not have substantive public support.  Rather, media propaganda sustains it and, as such, the Fourth Estate demonstrates it is indeed the enemy of the people.  Rise up America!  5/3/19   

• • #MeToo REARS ITS UGLY HEAD AGAIN IN THE BIDEN FLAP.  After a period of seeming hibernation following the embarrassment of the Bret Kavanagh debacle, the #MeToo movement re-emerges to capitalize on Joe Biden’s physical proclivities toward women.  During the retreat many women finally have awoken to speak out about the excesses of the movement.  Interestingly, this attitudinal change coincides with the publication of my anti-#MeToo manifesto last September  at https://sites.google.com/site/thecomprehensiveconservative/culture/current-commentary

I like to think that treatise was influential in driving the movement underground for a while, and inspiring an epiphany among many women.  You’re welcome.

Was Biden’s now infamous behavior weird?  Absolutely.  Is it disqualifying for his possible presidential run?  Absolutely not.  As expressions of affection, his tactile impulses are anomalous as a matter of decorum, but heretofore considered harmless.  Now #MeToo gets involved to construe his physicality as predatory behavior against women, calling for the vilification of any man who would similarly engage.  On that front Biden and his fellow grabbers must be defended.  Of course, sudden concern about Biden’s behavior is partially borne out of an effort by Democratic presidential candidates to keep him from joining the race.  But #MeToo is bent on exploiting the issue to advance its radical feminist agenda.

Men have harbored sexual thoughts about women since the Garden of Eden.  It is quintessentially natural.  In fact, most women want that attention.  But #MeToo and the political left proscribe the so-called objectification of women in order to empower women and disempower men through the hyper-politicization of frivolous offenses.  Women who cannot navigate or tolerate common, albeit inappropriate, libidinous forces in their midst should get thee to a nunnery or join the LGBTQ brigade.  They should not expect equality in the workplace because in a #MeToo atmosphere they pose a serious threat to men’s careers.  As such, those women deserve circumspection, avoidance and even expulsion. 

How bad is it?  Amazon recently cancelled a four picture deal with Woody Allen because of his comments characterizing #MeToo cases as potential “witch hunts”.  Amazon claims that heresy diminished the benefit the films could be expected to deliver.  Such is the perverse power of the movement.  Fair-minded people must stand up to this rein of terror by ensuring #MeToo gets no further traction through such opportunistic incidents as Joe Biden’s unorthodox touching practices.  4/8/19

July - September 2019  Miscellaneous Thoughts Posted to Linked In 

By William J. Dodwell

• • DIVERSITY RUN AMUCK.  Diversity is the Holy Grail in corporate America today as companies increasingly succumb to the political left.  As such, it is fitting that CEOs rethink hiring policies for maximum PC effect.  Here’s a program that combines the pre-1970 model with the new order.

Fill all positions from middle management upward with white males.  All remaining jobs will go to women of color from around the globe with a mandate to serve their bosses with elan.  (Use your imagination.) That leaves men of color and white women who will be assigned to a breeding pool.  This is in keeping with the left’s effort to transform demographics through mass interracial propagation, as promoted by Hollywood and Madison Avenue in today’s television, film and commercials. Those employees will be paid in direct proportion to the offspring they produce.

In time, the societal results will be celebrated in a Hollywood re-make of the 1967 classic motion picture, “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” starring Sidney Poitier about an interracial marriage. Imagine when the mother is introduced to her white daughter’s porcelain-faced beaux, she turns tearfully to the father and says, “Where did we go wrong?”

Like it?  Consult your Chief Diversity Officer.  9/26/19

September 5, 2019  THE LEFT’S PLAN TO DESTROY AMERICA

            By William J. Dodwell    September 5, 2019

(Reader warning:  The following expresses some unspeakable truths banned from polite discourse.)

The leftists are coming! The leftists are coming!  Just as Paul Revere alarmed the colonists of the oncoming British Army bent on their destruction, so do Americans today need an acute warning about the nefarious ideological revolution brewing on the political left.

Make no mistake, the goal of the left today, implicit in its evermore audacious policy proposals, is to destroy America and preside over the spoils in the creation of a new globalist Marxist order.  It accomplishes this with full complicity of mass media, academia and a growing number of representatives in government, as well as through the worrisome politicization of the courts.  The evidence is clear. 

Immigration and demographics

Consider the sudden call for open borders and sanctuary cities, support for orchestrated caravans of invaders from Central America, as well as systematic voter fraud.  The ultimate goal is to create virtually permanent electoral Democratic control of government by capitalizing on a large socialist predisposition that results from chain migration and eventual blanket amnesty with citizenship.  This outcome would sustain an ongoing Marxist agenda that would dismiss American sovereignty and culture.  Impoverished immigrants from south of the border and elsewhere, having no interest in assimilation, flood communities around the country to strain resources, perpetrate horrific crime, and diminish the quality of life while contributing relatively little as a whole.  A society riven by such malaise is destined to collapse.  Indeed, the left’s obsession with diversity is a ruse to balkanize America toward that end.

The left hopes to transform American demographics on a grand scale through unrestricted immigration and a naive spirit of egalitarian tolerance.  For example, Madison Avenue, a major ally of the left, assists that conversion by subtly promoting mass interracial propagation among citizens in most advertisements today.  Of course, that prospect has grave implications for the country’s DNA as to affect global competiveness, economic progress and national security.  Countless individual exceptions notwithstanding, the scientific reality of the strategy overall dilutes the fountain of intelligence, industriousness and ingenuity that built America.  At the same time, creeping Muslim infiltration aimed at imposing Sharia law overtakes communities and penetrates institutions, even Congress now. The debilitating genetic and social polyglot that results from the left’s transformation plan sets the stage for a docile population that readily submits to the lure of largesse from an unchallenged tyrannical government.

Education

Consider the abysmal quality of public schools as leftist teachers unions deliberately dumb down America through diluted curricula, lowered performance standards and relaxed discipline.  In the process, they re-write or eradicate American history to degrade the country’s heritage in the minds of malleable youth, undermining their allegiance to the country.  The liberal education establishment vigorously opposes efforts to rectify failed education through decidedly more effective charter schools in order to preserve the power of the teachers unions, a self-interest that far supersedes student well-being. (But, of course, it wants them to be ignorant anyway.)  In the colleges, intellectual diversity and impolitic speech have become verboten in the face of relentless left-wing indoctrination aimed at advancing the “destroy America” agenda.

Media and technology

Mass media are already corrupt. The networks and liberal cable outlets distort or suppress news that does not conform to the left’s agenda, such as black crime.  Consider that 90% of news about President Trump is negative according to media studies.  What is more, 90% of journalists identify as liberal.  Media promote outright lies, such as the “Hands up, don’t shoot” narrative that leftist news outlets continue to report as a murder despite rigorous investigations, including by Eric Holder’s Justice Department, that determined a police officer fired in self-defense.  CNN and MSNBC present gross hyperbole as legitimate commentary.  Publishers and bookstores suspiciously restrict the distribution and availability of conservative works.  And most reprehensibly, monopolistic technology companies Facebook, Google and Twitter increasingly quash conservative content on the internet to the benefit of a global socialist order, and the detriment of free speech.

Societal emasculation

The left promotes societal emasculation through pervasive female favoritism in the grade schools, a hiring bias toward women in the workplace, a rejection of the traditional male role in the family, a mockery of men in advertising campaigns, and of course, the weaponization of natural male behavior toward women through the #MeToo movement.  Unchecked, all this makes for a castrated, marginally employed American male that is a very prescription for destroying the nation.

The rule of law

The left is trying to abolish the rule of law, a principal underpinning of civilization, to foster the collapse of the republic.  Its operatives ignore immigration statutes and allow criminals to re-offend repeatedly with impunity.  They hamstring police from enforcing the law for minor offenses resulting in miscreants blatantly avoiding mass transit fares and illegally smoking pot in public places. They permit homeless encampments on public property that threaten the safety, health and viability of surrounding households and businesses.  Lawlessness has resulted in stand down mayoral orders that protect marauding Antifa thugs, citizens dousing police with water, open marijuana smoking in inner city schools, and a general decline in the quality of life that continually slides down the slippery slope. 

Worst of all, the courts become politicized.  Consider the 2018 decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to disallow President Trump’s temporary travel ban applied to several Muslim countries for security reasons.  The Court struck it down despite explicit statutes to the contrary.  The Supreme Court overruled it, but only in a 5-4 decision.  And, of course, many consider John Roberts’ deciding vote to uphold Obamacare in 2010 a gross politically motivated legal contortion.  What’s more, the Supreme Court too readily defers regulatory cases to unelected bureaucrats in the agencies because of their technical complexities.  As such, regulators often render partisan applications of law in the rulemaking process that result in confiscation and tyranny.  This is particularly true in environmental and discrimination cases.

Identity politics

A principal cudgel by which the left undermines American society is through identity politics that promotes an egalitarian utopia that seeks to eradicate traditional and historical boundaries that delineate black/white, male/female, gay/ straight, and rich/poor.  By highlighting grievance between races, genders, sexualities, and economic classes, leftists try to create societal conflicts that result in a divide-and-conquer approach to their Marxist goal.  The left celebrates diversity as a holy grail branded by the LGBTQ moniker and associated rainbow color scheme.  Immigration and class warfare play to race and economic status.  #MeToo plays to gender.  Gay and transgender rights play to sexuality.  A multiplicity of grievance groups results in a hypersensitive society that becomes paralyzed by a fear of offending.  A panoply of politically correct dictates codifies the sensitivity as to render the general population acquiescent to the encroachments of the left in a growing tyranny.

The Democrat Party

The Democrat Party has long embraced big government.  But now in its lurch to the far left it espouses maximum government control to redistribute wealth in pure Marxist fashion.  The left hopes to expand government by nationalizing as many economic sectors as possible, such as health care, education, housing and energy.  It does this, not only by means of legislation, but also through executive regulation involving the fatuous expansive enforcement of that law.  The Green New Deal, Medicare for all, and free college for everyone are the latest voter gambits among some of the Democratic presidential candidates.  

The left also wants to nationalize the energy industry through a chimerical environmentalist agenda that eliminates fossil and nuclear fuels in favor of extremely limited alternatives, including solar and wind. The prohibitive cost of the whole agenda at tens of trillions of dollars would bankrupt the nation.  This imperial move is about power and the economic residuals that ensue for those in control from taxation, extreme indebtedness, fees, penalties and confiscation.

In the final analysis, a few elites will rule from the top over a massive underclass robbed of freedoms and possibly consigned to squalor. Just look at Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea to name just a few examples.  It is up to an informed and motivated electorate to avoid this Armageddon.  A tall order indeed.  9/5/19

©2019 William J. Dodwell

• • “THE BIGGEST ACCOUNTING FRAUD IN HISTORY”.  The Wall Street Journal published an editorial 8/21/19 headlined “The Great Student-Loan Scam”.  Briefly, it claimed income-based repayment plans, as well as loan deferment and forbearance allowances, adopted during the Obama administration conceal the real cost to taxpayers.  Thus, the reported results of operations are grossly overstated.  In fact, The WSJ says, “This may be the biggest accounting fraud in history.” 

Separately, the editorial reports a mere 10% outright default rate in addition to the two repayment categories mentioned.  But in my 2015 white paper entitled “The Developing Federal Student Loan Debacle and the Real Cost to Taxpayers” at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2653119 , I detail how the CBO methodology for default accounting severely understates defaults, and thus further conceals the huge taxpayer cost of the student loan program. (I sent a copy of my report to the WSJ Editor of the Editorial Page upon publication.)  In other words, nonpayment is even worse than what the WSJ says.  Until recently, the government reported the student loan program as profitable since inception in 2010.  Now, finally recognizing the drag from the repayment concessions cited by the WSJ, the CBO reports a projected loss over the next 10 years.  But it has not fully recognized economic reality by changing its misleading default accounting method I disclosed in my paper.

Citing statistics of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the WSJ reports that 30% of the $1.5 trillion loan portfolio is subject to income-based capped repayment plans, and 20% is in deferment or forbearance.  Adding the reported 10% default rate, this means that 60% of loans is non-performing or heavily discounted. However, my 2015 study shows that according to CBO accounting, defaults are effectively amortized over the remaining term of a loan (up to 20 years or more), rather than entirely charged off in the period incurred, as a bank would do according to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).  On this basis, the default rate would be much higher than 10%.

The Trump administration recently hired McKinsey & Co. to analyze the accounting for the student loan portfolio, particularly with respect to a possible sale. Given a 60% effective non-performance rate, the $1.5 trillion face value would decline to only a $600 billion valuation.  This would result in an immediate $900 billion write-off added to the already projected $1 trillion FY 2019 budget deficit.  But considering the greatly underestimated 10% default rate, that charge would be significantly larger. 

This massive portfolio devaluation renders the loan forgiveness political argument almost moot.  Heck, the government has forgiven most of the loans already in the form of foregone repayments.  But the public would not know this from CBO reporting.  8/26/19

• • THE LEFT PUSHES THE 3 Rs: RACISM, RECESSION, REPARATIONS.  Democrats are hellbent on pushing Racism, Recession and Reparations to defeat Trump in 2020.  Mass media constantly portray the president as a racist based on his immigration policy and a gross mischaracterization of his comments about last year’s riot in Charlottsville, Va.  “White supremacism” has become a faux topic de jour. 

At the same time, the left tries to convince the public that the economy is on the brink of a recession despite data to the contrary.  Liberals hope to trigger a huge sell-off in the stock market that will cause consumers and businesses to retreat, making recession a self-fulling prophesy. 

And there is reparations.  It’s a topic much infused in the Democrat presidential campaigns.  Look for a show of hands for reparations during one of the upcoming televised debates.  What’s more, The New York Times has just launched “Project 1690” invoking the arrival of the first slaves in America 400 hundred years ago.  As if on cue, other publications are increasingly featuring articles about slavery to promote national guilt about its history. 

The left is beating the drums with this triplet, and it gets louder as the election approaches.  Don’t be duped.  8/20/19

• • MY LATEST ARTICLE IN “AMERICAN THINKER”  Here is my latest article in “American Thinker” entitled “Beware of Rate-cut Fever” at https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/08/beware_of_ratecut_fever.html

Much has been written about the need for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, even beyond the July cut, the first one in eleven years.  Indeed, the latest escalation of trade tensions with China and its concomitant currency depreciation might make further cuts more compelling. Or not.  The principal purpose of a rate cut is to provide liquidity to foster greater consumption and business investment that stimulate economic growth in the face of sustained opposition forces.  But rate cuts without sufficient justification, such as those based on transitory developments, reaction to presidential jawboning, miming other central banks, or inadequate consideration of market fundamentals can thwart economic progress.  8/19/19

• • A STARK REMINDER:  Leading up to the 2008 financial crisis we know the government prevailed on banks to relax their mortgage underwriting standards, and pressured the GSAs to ease their credit criteria for their securitizations, all under the guise of the Community Reinvestment Act.  The aim was to increase home ownership among the near-poor. 

NEVER ASKED: DID THE GOVERNMENT ALSO PROD THE MAJOR RATING AGENCIES TO DO THE SAME TO FURTHER ACCOMMODATE LOW-INCOME BORROWERS THROUGH PRIVATE-LABEL SECURITIZATIONS, WHICH AT THEIR PEAK EXCEEDED THOSE OF FANNIE AND FREDDIE? DID GOVERNMENT CORRUPT THOSE AGENCIES FOR POLITICAL GAIN?  THEY NEVER HAVE BEEN HELD FULLY ACCOUNTABLE, BEFORE THE CRISIS AND SINCE.

What’s more, over $100 billion of bank settlements compensated (nationalized) Fannie and Freddie, the FHA, public pensions and previously compensated low-income homeowners for losses. But Obama's DOJ left non-public pension private MBS investors high and dry, including 401(k) plans. Even the MBS Trustees charged with protecting them against underwriting fraud sided with the bank issuers who paid their fees and hired them for new business. 

The politically motivated lending and much of the disposition of bank settlements were a massive wealth redistribution scheme under the affordable housing agenda.   8/18/19

• • HAPPY BIRTHDAY TONY BENNETT (FEI post).  Set aside those assets and liabilities for a bit and see singer Tony Bennett perform near FEI Headquarters in Morristown, NJ at The Community Theater on August 13th.  Here’s my piano arrangement of his signature song, “I Left My Heart In San Francisco” in celebration of his 93rd birthday this week, and in honor of his guardianship of The Great American Songbook, that body of traditional popular music from the 1920s, 30s and 40s.  7/29/19

  • HAPPY BIRTHDAY TONY BENNETT. Tony Bennett, singer and guardian of The Great American Songbook, that body of traditional popular music from the 1920s, 30s and 40s, turns 93 this week.  In celebration, here’s my piano arrangement of his famous signature song, “I Left My Heart In San Francisco”.  7/29/19

  • MUELLER:  A SYMPATHETIC FIGURE.  Recall Admiral James Scottsdale. He was Ross Perot’s running mate in the 1992 presidential election who shocked the nation with his bumbling performance on the national debate stage with Al Gore and Dan Quayle.  Robert Mueller’s impaired conduct before Congress this week elicited a similar reaction. Some attributed Scottsdale’s behavior to torture experienced in Vietnam, but was still unanticipated.  As for Mueller, at 74, he apparently faltered from two years of intense political pressure generated by speculation about his work amid extreme media scrutiny. 

The mental health of certain elderly political figures deteriorates before the public eye. Many say 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden seems visibly dissipated. Some questioned Rudy Giulliani’s mental state when he made some boneheaded statements in defense of President Trump. Speaker Nancy Pelosi appears to stammer and sputter frequently. And, of course, many suspected cognitive impairment in President Reagan, possibly affirmed by an Alzheimer’s diagnosis in retirement.

Mental illness looms large among the elderly. Politics aside, Mueller and the other high profile figures cited remind us of a universal vulnerability for which compassion is warranted.  7/26/19

• • WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO #MeToo?  It seems that ever since I published my anti-#MeToo manifesto last September at  https://sites.google.com/site/thecomprehensiveconservative/culture/current-commentary  the movement has been fading fast.  Coincidence?  As a self-proclaimed leader of the #MeToo resistance, I stood alone in the beginning publicly lambasting gross injustices, as the masses on the left and right flocked like lemmings in knee-jerk defense of the generic accuser. 

But in less than two years the tide has turned.  Recently, even a Hollywood actress and seven Democrat senators have moderated their blind support for #MeToo.  Meryl Streep criticized the feminist campaign against “toxic masculinity”, and the liberal senators expressed their regret for their support to remove Al Franken from the Senate in response to sexual harassment accusations without any due process, thanks to coercion from a cowardly Chuck Schumer.  And daily news reports of sexual misconduct stories have dwindled to a trickle.  

In a major strike for justice, the Trump administration ordered colleges to enforce due process rights in campus sexual misconduct cases.  This overrode an Obama directive that encouraged outrageously unfair prosecutions by threatening to withhold federal money from insufficiently aggressive college administrators. This injustice potentially destroyed the  professional lives of student defendants.  Now many accused fight back winning exoneration and large settlements from academia.

Public opinion about #MeToo has shifted significantly, as sympathy has emerged for men who lose their livelihoods and suffer major financial loss at the hands of this vile movement.  Indeed, for many converts, false and frivolous claims, often fabricated by corrupt plaintiff lawyers, have caught their own friends and family members in the net.  What’s         more, the new weaponized feminism undermines legitimate calls for better opportunities for women. (What man would hire or even associate with women prone to filing sexual harassment complaints?) Societal castration in the course of empowering women by disempowering men no longer holds the day, except among man-hating lesbians likely behind many lawsuits.  The new consensus is, enough is enough.  People now realize the importance of due process under the law, such that “Always believe the woman” is an unjust standard.  The backlash is well underway.

We await the results of the Harvey Weinstein rape and assault trial that begins in September.  A separate $44 million settlement was reached in connection with civil lawsuits brought by dozens of women.  The verdict in the criminal case will be a landmark test for due process and standards of proof in sexual harassment litigation.  What a blow to #MeToo if Weinstein walks.  And it is hoped that corporate pests who bring dubious sexual harassment lawsuits, some many years after the fact, will be brought to heel by legal rebuke and the absence of public support.

        #MeToo is somewhat diminished.  But let’s not relent until we witness its complete demise.  7/24/19

• • MORE CLIMATE CHANGE PROPAGANDA.  The weekend heat wave in the northeast prompts leftists to seize yet another opportunity to dupe the public.  The latest tactic is the “heat index”.  My wife said she heard on the local television station that it was 112 degrees outside.  I thought that can’t be right because it has never been near that hot here.  Then I discovered that the meteorologists cite the new (to me) heat index, which is a composite of the temperature and the humidity to arrive at the Fahrenheit reading it “feels” like.  The real temperature was 98 degrees. 

Of course, this deception is designed to make people think that man-made climate change is creating unprecedented adverse conditions.  Indeed, many, like my wife, think they’re hearing or seeing the actual temperature reported.  Last winter I commented on the same ploy as it relates to the “wind-chill” factor, which has been around for some time.  Now we have to be on guard against the weather nazis all year round.  7/22/19

• • THE SQUAD AND THE RACE CARD.  President Trump’s comments denouncing anti-American criticisms and lies expressed by four freshman Congresswomen of color (the Squad) became a predictable lightening rod for mass media to invoke the race card, especially as the 2020 election approaches.  Even many Republicans joined the chorus.  Of course, race has nothing to do with Trump’s admonishment. He simply pointed out the irony of two Squad members enjoying American freedom and prosperity in stark contrast to the crime, pestilence and despotism of their countries of origin.  Albeit impolitic, Trump spoke of ideological differences, not race. 

But the fear of being called a racist prevents the proper response to the four renegades.  (See my 12/10/18 post “Go Ahead. Call Me A Racist” at http://www.williamjdodwell.com/special-notice-8 .)  This is why these anti-American Members are not challenged by the Democratic leadership.  The Squad even called ultra liberal Speaker Pelosi racist.  Imagine four white freshmen getting away with what these ladies are doing.  The race card also intimidates cowardly Republicans into verbally joining the media outrage over Trump’s comments.  It is what gave Obama a pass on so many issues.  But Trump displays the audacity, candor and political incorrectness to challenge the race-baiting for which he should be roundly supported.  This is how to defeat the race card.

Let’s be clear.  The Squad hates America and disdains the Constitution on which it is founded, despite claims to the contrary.  The two Muslims among them likely would hope to set the stage for Sharia law.  Meantime, they join the other two in an effort to plunge the country into socialist chaos as a prelude to that primary goal.  This development raises a serious question: How does the U.S. defend itself from foreign infiltration into the political system?  We see Muslims creating enclaves that grow to the point of legitimately electing themselves to local office and eventually to Congress in allegiance to Islam, not America.  How does the country protect itself from the nefarious intentions of this largely alien force that has no desire to assimilate, and transforms their communities to pig sties?  We see a similar threat in the invasion of Central American emigrants storming the border waving the flags of their homelands, who, if Democrats rule, would have voting rights.

The solution, of course, is to keep truly inimical peoples from entering the country through sound constitutional immigration policy.  But such a program flies in the face of leftist legislative support and judicial empathy for sanctuary cities and ending border enforcement.  Democrats embrace open borders to admit new voters who eventually would ensure their permanent control of government.  They ignore the horrific cultural effects that divide and potentially doom the nation. Look no further than Europe.  

 Ultimate control over immigration policy lies with Congress.  The growing open borders crowd in Washington opposes the changes to immigration legislation that would quickly  defuse the current border crisis.  And for many others, the fear of the race card undermines the effort to uphold constitutional protections against these threats to our security and sovereignty.  Imagine if enough politicians would emulate President Trump’s courage to defend the nation from destruction through alien ideology and foreign influences.  7/17/19

• • MASS MEDIA PROACTIVELY MOLD PUBLIC OPINION.  Liberal media promote Kamala Harris’ candidacy as they relish the prospect of a black woman president.  At the same time, they try to eliminate front running, old white male, Joe Biden, the antithesis of the Democratic diversity model they cherish.  Accordingly, the media speak as a chorus in decrying Biden’s debate performance. 

But in fact, Biden performed reasonably well.  His response to Harris’ challenge concerning his position on school busing in the 1970s and his conciliation with “segregationist” senators was eminently reasonable for the time.  In fact, the public overwhelmingly opposed busing, thus dooming it as a policy.  And Biden looked decidedly better than he did in the weeks before the debate.

Meanwhile, the media celebrate Harris for her prosecution reflective of her role as California AG.  But all she did was raise the busing issue, with faux personal drama, to play the race card.  The contretemps with Biden was a nothingberger, but media insist it was a game-changer. 

Mass media try to mold public opinion through a constant drumbeat for Harris and against Biden.  Since the public is gullible and malleable, Harris’ poll numbers have risen significantly.  How much more can the electorate be duped? 

In the final analysis, a few elites will rule from the top over a massive underclass robbed of freedoms and possibly consigned to squalor. Just look at Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea to name just a few examples.  It is up to an informed and motivated electorate to avoid this Armageddon.  A tall order indeed.  7/8/19

©2019 William J. Dodwell

"THE BIGGEST ACCOUNTING FRAUD IN HISTORY"

By William J. Dodwell August 26, 2019

The Wall Street Journal published an editorial 8/21/19 headlined “The Great Student-Loan Scam”. Briefly, it claimed income-based repayment plans, as well as loan deferment and forbearance allowances, adopted during the Obama administration conceal the real cost to taxpayers. Thus, the reported results of operations are grossly overstated. In fact, The WSJ says, “This may be the biggest accounting fraud in history.”

Separately, the editorial reports a mere 10% outright default rate in addition to the two repayment categories mentioned. But in my 2015 white paper entitled “The Developing Federal Student Loan Debacle and the Real Cost to Taxpayers” at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2653119 , I detail how the CBO methodology for default accounting severely understates defaults, and thus further conceals the huge taxpayer cost of the student loan program. (I sent a copy of my report to the WSJ Editor of the Editorial Page upon publication.)

In other words, nonpayment is even worse than what the WSJ says. Until recently, the government reported the student loan program as profitable since inception in 2010. Now, finally recognizing the drag from the repayment concessions cited by the WSJ, the CBO reports a loss over the next 10 years. But it has not fully recognized economic reality by changing its misleading default accounting method I disclosed in my paper.

Citing statistics of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the WSJ reports that 30% of the $1.5 trillion loan portfolio is subject to income-based capped repayment plans, and 20% is in deferment or forbearance. Adding the reported 10% default rate, this means that 60% of loans is non-performing or heavily discounted. However, my 2015 study shows that according to CBO accounting, defaults are effectively amortized over the remaining term of a loan (up to 20 years or more), rather than entirely charged off in the period incurred, as a bank would do according to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). On this basis, the default rate would be much higher than 10%.

The Trump administration recently hired McKinsey & Co. to analyze the accounting for the student loan portfolio, particularly with respect to a possible sale. Given a 60% effective non-performance rate, the $1.5 trillion face value would decline to only a $600 billion valuation. This would result in an immediate $900 billion write-off added to the already $1 trillion projected FY 2019 budget deficit. But considering the greatly underestimated 10% default rate, that charge would be significantly larger.

This massive portfolio devaluation renders the loan forgiveness political argument almost moot. Heck, the government has forgiven most of the loans already in the form of foregone repayments. But the public would not know this from CBO reporting.

©2019 William J. Dodwell

October - December 2019  Miscellaneous Thoughts Posted to Linked In

By William J. Dodwell

• HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE FAR RIGHT.  May all right-wing zealots be prepared to lead the battle to get President Donald J. Trump re-elected next November.  They must also persuade the electorate to record Republican victories that win back the House, increase the majority in the Senate, and take over the State houses.  Let’s paint the town red!  What’s more, we look forward to the Durham report, along with the ensuing convictions and imprisonment of Democrat crooks.  2020 could be a watershed year that restores the founding principles that ensure a meritocratic and judicious nation.

        May America do it the right way - the right-wing way.  12/31/19

• MY YEAREND MISSIVE:  HIGHLIGHT THE SCOURGES OF THE LEFT FOR VICTORY IN NOVEMBER.  As we face a new year fraught with political turmoil running up to the 2020 election, conservatives must establish how they will engage the enemy that is the newly emerged far-left as it systematically tries to destroy the nation.  This is not exaggeration.  At stake is the presidency of the United States and gains or losses in Congress and statehouses that will determine the success or failure of the radical liberal agenda.  Conservatives must strive to win maximum hearts and minds by next November to defuse the threat to the republic.  This requires intense focus, not only on President Trump’s many triumphs, but also on specific new pathologies of the left foisted on the citizenry.  How has liberalism wreaked havoc?  Let us count the ways.

At the federal level, leading Democratic presidential candidates attempt to legitimize outlandish proposals for tens of trillions of dollars of new spending that would suffocate the economy and thereby drastically lower the standard of living for most Americans.  Plans include such chimera as Medicare-for-all, free college tuition, student loan forgiveness, and  a Green New Deal that would abolish fossil fuels and retrofit all buildings and infrastructure.  What’s more, the left wants to relinquish America’s sovereignty in a new globalist orientation and vitiate the education system by lowering academic standards and politicizing curricula and practices that includes eradicating American history.  Ultimately, this is to produce docile uninformed Democratic voters.  And now, post-birth abortion is acceptable to many liberal officeholders, and the effort to nullify the Second Amendment gains currency among them.   

In recent years, liberal politicians have relaxed the rule of law.  This comes in the form of support for open borders and sanctuary cities and states that accommodate violent crime, drug smuggling, sex trafficking, opioid abuse, as well as create overcrowding and a burden on the public fisc. Corrupted prison release programs put dangerous criminals on the streets despite promises to the contrary.  Law enforcement curtailment gives rise to widespread homelessness that poses threats to community safety and health, and the viability of proximate businesses.  Mayoral stand-down orders to police forbid them to engage Antifa thugs in acts of violence, and apprehend shoplifters and fare-beaters at great expense to local businesses and the public transit budget.  A look-the-other-way policy regarding water thrown on police officers diminishes respect for them, seriously lowers their morale, and invites escalation.  To undermine the rule of law, the linchpin of any civilization, leftist George Soros is funding ultra-liberal candidates for Attorney General throughout the country.

Government is not the only culprit.  The left also operates through a now corrupt media, including Hollywood and Madison Avenue, as well as a radicalized academe that promotes societal division and demographic transformation that subvert the nation’s heritage, identity, and ultimate survival.  Increasingly intrusive identity politics founded on a proliferation of contrived grievance groups fosters this destruction.

To be sure, the goal of the left is to destroy this nation through insolvency from government largesse, chaos in the absence of the rule of law, social strife from forced heterogeneity, and through an ongoing effort to disarm Americans.  Conservatives have to promote acute focus on this reality and constantly highlight its manifestations in drumbeat fashion to help achieve electoral success in November that will render the nefarious Democrat Party a smoldering pile of rubble.  12/30/19

• MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATIVE.  Here are a couple of piano                             selections from my Christmas CD to help make the spirit bright.

       The Christmas Song   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GivJtMPobwU&list=PLqHqmHiumqK-vT0oislpcr_UouVo6DDcq&index=79&t=0s

       Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlN8YX_uUhs&list=PLqHqmHiumqK-vT0oislpcr_UouVo6DDcq&index=77   12/23/19

•  MY EVENING WITH THE 2019 WOMAN OF THE YEAR.  As the Comprehensive Conservative’s 2019                         Man of the Year, I had the (fictional) honor of meeting my counterpart, Woman of the Year Heather Mac                             Donald.  We compared notes over a piece of cherry pie at a cozy café amid a roaring fireplace, copious                                 Christmas decorations and seasonal cheer.  (Tight budget + tight host = Cheap date)  In preparation, I sent out                 my thinking cap for repair and maintenance in order to fully engage this brainy lady.  Apparently, she just had                  a cosmetic makeover – new hairdo, skin treatment, sporty glasses.  Looking good!

  We are both secular conservatives but my views derive mainly from reading, observation and anecdotal evidence     while hers rest on research and scientific method.  Thus, it is gratifying that her more conclusive empirical                         analysis often corroborates my intuitive opinion.  What’s more, we share the courage to be most impolitic                         about incendiary issues. Her many media appearances make her an important exponent of conservative                             thought.

• Ee is the Thomas W. Smith Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and contributing editor at City Journal. She has written several books on controversial social issues including “The Diversity Delusion”, “The War On Cops”, “The Immigration Solution” and “Are Cops Racist?” 

A most articulate spokesperson for the conservative viewpoint, she addresses the issues, not with fire and brimstone, but with sober facts, rigorous reason, and empirical analysis.  Accordingly, Ms. Mac Donald exposes truth as she cuts through the political correctness attendant to such lightning rods as black crime, the historical racial gap in academic achievement, #MeToo fraud, LGBT victimhood, and the leftist propaganda consuming college campuses at the expense of academic rigor and intellectual freedom. 

Of particular concern to Ms. Mac Donald is the abandonment of traditional academic standards to accommodate underperforming black students, even in medical schools.  Colleges jettison such staples of civilization as language, meritocracy, objectivity and discipline for practices that artificially level the playing field.  They include significantly lowering college admission criteria, adjusting curricula, and relative grading and assessment in place of what the left considers white appropriation imposed on blacks.  Indeed, Ms. Mac Donald believes today’s academe rests on a theme of ersatz racial oppression and a rejection of the cultural past as part of the solution.

Quite visible in the media, Ms. Mac Donald does a service disseminating truth suppressed by the left and engulfed by propaganda and political correctness.  Her perspective on social realities is a welcome antidote to liberal excuses for race-based anti-social behavior and failure, and a response to contrived grievances of political identities.  Her research and advocacy are testament to conservative principles as a prescription for individual success and national comity.  12/17/19

• 2019 MAN OF THE YEAR.  The Comprehensive Conservative announces its 2019 Man of the Year.  Drum roll please …  https://sites.google.com/site/thecomprehensiveconservative/special-notice-16/special-notice-20/special-notice-21/special-notice-22

For the second year in a row The Comprehensive Conservative names William J. Dodwell, its founder and sole content provider, Man of the Year.  Once again he is honored for his ongoing assault on political correctness wherever it rears its ugly head.  Last year he exposed the #MeToo movement with his shot-heard-round-the-world manifesto.  See   https://lnkd.in/d_xvnvJ  This year he targeted the Diversity and Inclusion racket aimed at destroying America through political, cultural, and economic division, as well as by demographic transformation.  His parody, “The Problems of a Diverse Workforce” warns of diversity chaos in the extreme. See  https://lnkd.in/eeC5SJn

Always the iconoclast, Mr. Dodwell stands at the vanguard of the anti-PC resistance producing in-your-face writings and rants that uniquely raise awareness of the left’s efforts to create a balkanized multicultural national polyglot ripe for the kill.  He excoriates the left for imposing identity politics that undermines national sovereignty and culture, and for promoting a pluralism that dilutes the very DNA that built the nation.  In the effort to tear down the old to make way for a new global socialist order, leftists seek to divide America through racial, gender and sexuality conflicts embodied in the nefarious LGBT movement.  He denounces their destructive tactics that include open borders, sanctuary cities and states, massive government largess, pervasive affirmative action, large-scale interracial propagation, politicized education, and a break-down of the rule of law. 

Mr. Dodwell constantly exposes the evil of the left as it facilitates illegal immigration, dumbs down education, and indoctrinates students at all levels.  Hollywood, Madison Avenue and mass media promote widespread miscegenation in movies, commercials and television way beyond natural selection in a pluralist society. Unchallenged, the diversity cabal ultimately feminizes the patriarchy, reduces the national IQ, bankrupts the nation, and ensures a permanent Democratic voting class by maximizing government dependency amid a docile and ill-informed populace.  Mr. Dodwell condemns the leftist-inspired corporate obsession with a diverse workforce and decries the inequities of resultant reverse discrimination.  And he warns of the ultimate goal of gratuitous diversity that is to reduce America to a third-world nation subsumed into a global amalgam.

Cowed Americans fearful of lame charges of racism, sexism, misogyny, and homophobia readily submit to evermore nonsensical dictates imposed by the left.  It takes a staunch proactive conservative like William J. Dodwell to foster a backlash against indiscriminate diversity in a mass awakening from acquiescence.  In so doing, he voices the unspeakable truths that put the lie to the leftist egalitarian model that undermines the meritocratic law-abiding standard that has sustained this nation.  

Mr. Dodwell cautions against diluting that ideal in blind devotion to gratuitous diversity that creates incongruous forces that weaken the social and genetic fabric. Recognizing a benign heterogeneity that has evolved since the nation’s founding, certain diversity is accommodated out of societal comity. But it should be elective within the discrimination laws, not mandated by PC warriors in contravention to other values, or constantly propagandized by media images.  However, even willful diversity is dangerous if naively predicated on leftist influences bent on eroding sovereignty, meritocracy, family, assimilation and the rule of law.  Especially reprehensible, is the left’s dedication to disempower white America.  To be sure, conservative communication and education are paramount to counteracting the relentless onslaught of the left.

Mr. Dodwell does a public service as a crusader for truth in the face of severe opposition.  May his influence grow toward achieving that critical mass that will turn the tide in the restoration of diminished principles that, one might say, will make America great again. 

In deference to that past and its prospective renewal here’s Mr. Dodwell’s piano rendition of “America The Beautiful”. See https://lnkd.in/e_RdrNv   12/16/19

• • PAUL VOLCKER RIP.  Former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker died Sunday at 92.  He displayed unprecedented courage steadily raising rates to record highs to wring out hyper-inflation in the early 1980s.  The brief but severe recession that policy engendered turned out to be a reasonable price for the 25 years of prosperity that followed (notwithstanding the many small business failures).  In my writings of recent years I invoked Volcker's courage as a model for finally normalizing rates after ten years of near-zero levels through faster rate hikes.  That would return capital from inflated financial assets back to the real economy of goods and service, as well as to old fashioned bank CDs of savers.  Rate normalization (by historical standards) is still elusive partially because of politics, especially President Trump's Fed bashing.  The good economy with low inflation amid continued slow global growth has diminished the urgency for raising rates aggressively, but the anomaly remains.  It doesn't look like rates will rise to normal levels until after the next recession, absent an unlikely spike in inflation. Have structural changes yielded a new normal?  12/10/19

  • BRING BACK ANN COULTER I haven’t seen Ann Coulter in ages, not even on Fox. Is she banned again? In September 2015 during a GOP presidential debate she tweeted some innocuous comments that some construed to be anti-Semitic. As a consequence, she disappeared from virtually all media for about 18 months missing the entire election extravaganza. Here’s what she said: https://lnkd.in/eVFWvaS . . I thought she had done her penance but it appears Coulter faces yet another blackout in the 2020 campaign, presumably in further retribution for her 2015 “indiscretion”. I said four years ago that this censorship was OUTRAGEOUS and I say it again. Why is cowardly Fox News, not to mention all other media outlets, afraid to air this woman who had been a staple of the network for years. Maybe it’s because she had a falling out with Trump. If not, certain powers that be have a bit too much clout that should be challenged in the name of free speech. Call your local news outlets and say, "I want my Ann Coulter." 12/2/19

  • EXPLAINING MY POST ABOUT TALLER WOMEN.  I refer to my earlier post about “The Towering Girlfriend”.  I recognize that taller-woman relationships may be genuine between loving partners in the general population. But I raised this anomaly apropos of celebrity men for whom it is suspiciously common and seemingly mimicry.  The pervasiveness of height mismatches among them suggests something other than natural selection. Perhaps this is because celebrity men commonly seek gorgeous models for prestige.  Since female models must be a minimum of 5’9”, I think, and many are much taller, male celebrities disproportionately bear an anomalous height difference in their relationships.  But while one may say that love, or prestige, transcend appearance, that doesn’t change the possible absurdity of the image by conventional standards.  

And there is the political angle. Might liberal celebrity men who accompany much taller women do so to perversely promote women’s equality, perhaps to make the oddity standard?  One cannot trust pernicious leftists. Just as they try to eradicate traditional values, including gender and sexuality boundaries, maybe they want to negate this height convention on the way down the slippery slope.  If so, what’s next, dating cows?  11/26/19

• • ALERT!  ALERT!  ALERT!  The Comprehensive Conservative is accepting nominations for its 2019 Woman of the Year Award. (Man of the Year is already decided.) This year candidates must have been demonstrably politically incorrect.  The winner earns a coveted date with The Comprehensive Conservative to discuss current events over a piece of cherry pie at a Manhattan café, amid soft Frank Sinatra music in the background.  I may even add some of my piano recordings.

I look forward to your cards and letters.  11/26/19

• • GUYS:  WHAT’S WITH THE TOWERING GIRLFRIEND?  Why do so many celebrity men squire taller women, sometimes 6 inches or more?  They look ridiculous.  Is this emasculation some kind of status symbol?  The practice is not new. Recall Henry Kissinger and his wife Nancy in the 1970s.  And Sylvester Stallone, 5’7” in elevated shoes, paired with 6’1” Brigitte Nielson.  A most grotesque example was the rotund Roger Ailes escorting a slim woman seemingly a foot taller and 50 years younger.                                         

If you’re Peter Dinklage, I get it. But men 6 feet are doing this.  How good can it be when a guy needs a ladder to kiss his girl?  Who do these guys think they’re impressing? What does a woman see in the little guy?  His wallet, of course. And prestige.

Another eyesore is the couple sporting a half-century age difference.  The dissipated old man with the young nymph is off-putting and one would think embarrassing for both. Given today’s cosmetics women in their 50s and 60s can be quite attractive to an older man.  Consider Jean Pirro of Fox News.  She’s pushing 70 but still looks like she could make the bed bounce 9 inches off the floor.  11/25/19

• • ALAN DERSHOWITZ EXPOSES #MeToo.  Last week I attended a speaking engagement featuring liberal Democrat lawyer Alan Dershowitz. Of particular interest were his comments about the corruption of the #MeToo movement regarding false allegations about his involvement in Jeffrey Epstein’s notorious activities.  Dershowitz vehemently claims he was extorted by enterprising women at the behest of their lawyers. Nonetheless, now he is banned from an organization with which he affiliated for decades because of pressure from #MeToo, despite his acknowledged innocence. 

Corroborating the venality of #MeToo, Dershowitz spoke of a multi-billionaire CEO who also was accused falsely in the Epstein affair.  That man was told by the claimants’ high profile lawyer that everything would go away with a payment of $1 billion.  The billionaire made the payment and his name has not emerged since.

#MeToo fallout is so bad that I’m hearing men are leaving their companies to avoid the risk of working for litigious women.  Others now insist they not remain alone with a woman in a room. It will be interesting to see how the growing number of displaced men will retaliate en masse. See suggestions in my 2018 anti-#MeToo manifesto under Counterattack at   https://sites.google.com/site/thecomprehensiveconservative/culture/current-commentary  It’s time for hardball. 11/22/19

• • A POLITICALLY INCORRECT WALK DOWN CORPORATE MEMORY LANE.  In view of how the workplace has deteriorated because of #MeToo and political correctness, it is refreshing to consider how corporate life used to be in the days of yore. 

Back in the day the few women employees were mostly secretaries who populated the typing and dictaphone pools.  Indeed, the male/female dynamic in the office was quite different. 

Men assigned ratings to women.  Not performance ratings, but attractiveness scores.  In particular, men would rate a woman’s rack and derriere on a scale of 0 – 10.  Even the women tacitly went along.  The ratings weren’t disclosed to the women but clearly they were concerned about their scores. 

Men would be sure to defer to a woman exiting a conference room, not just out of chivalry, but to enable a good view for scoring her ass.  There was no interference from Personnel (now HR).  In fact, the guys from that department participated in the scoring.  In one instance, a woman discovered her breast score.  Apparently, a guy inadvertently enclosed his score sheet in a sheaf of papers he presented to her for filing.  Insulted by her rating, she appeared at the next meeting with a plunging neckline as if to say, Score this!

As Archie Bunker used to say, “Those were the days.”  11/21/19

• • CELEBRATING SEVEN YEARS OF DEBUNKING LIBERAL BUNK.  The Comprehensive Conservative marks its seventh anniversary challenging leftist propaganda in all its forms including:

                - Diversity bunk

                - Climate change bunk

                - #MeToo bunk

                - LGBTQ bunk

                - Green bunk

Identity politics and its offspring political correctness, as well as the ideological poison from which they derive, face unmitigated defiance in the expressions of my blog.  Join the war against the left.  See http://www.williamjdodwell.com/   11/21/19

• • A CONSERVATIVE FIREBRAND LETS HIS HAIR DOWN.  The Comprehensive Conservative steps out of his characteristically austere political and financial modes for a little levity.  Consider this a holiday prelude, but also a celebration of the lofty equity markets fostered by the policies of our great beleaguered president.

Here’s my rollicking piano rendition of “Ease On Down The Road” from the 1970s Broadway production and film, “The Wiz”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nTGXdbgpGU .  Largely a ‘30s and ‘40s guy musically, I made a concession to modernity in this selection for wider appeal.  11/18/19

• • WHERE’S ANN COULTER?  Repeat 10/9/19 post.  (11/14/19)

  • DIVERSITY MADNESS.  How bad can it get?  See my article at https://sites.google.com/site/thecomprehensiveconservative/special-notice-16/special-notice-20/special-notice-21  11/7/19

  • WHY IS ANN COULTER SILENCED AGAIN?  Repeat 10/9/19post. (10/22/19)

  • SOMETHING NEW AFOOT IN LEFTIST ACADEME.  Certain colleges are going all out to super-diversify their student bodies.  They grant free tuition to poor non-white applicants largely funded by donations from politically naive alumni who think it’s just a noble cause.  Then the schools tout such distinctions as “the most diverse private college in America”. 

This program endows new masses of minority graduates with nominal degrees, thus enlarging the pool of minority candidates from which corporations may hire for the better positions that require a degree, heretofore unavailable to many minorities.  Apparently, the thinking is that more minorities with “degrees” diminish a pretext for legally discriminating against them in the workplace.  In fact, their larger presence forces companies to hire more of them to avoid liability.  As a result, corporations become more diverse.

Why is this bad?  Because it’s a leftist ruse to super-charge the diversity agenda with its goal of balkanizing the country in order to undermine our culture and traditional meritocratic values.  All this aims to advance a socialist globalist mindset toward the demise of the republic.  And, let’s be clear – it’s about disempowering white America 10/21/19

• • KEEPING FOX NEWS HONEST.  Conservatives rely on Fox News to get to the truth, as it is the only major media outlet to do so.  But when it strays, it must be called to account.

Fox has portrayed Hunter Biden as a wastrel.  In particular, Greg Jarret said his background suggests he is good for nothing but flipping burgers.  I am no apologist for  Hunter, but on checking his biography, I was surprised to learn that he is a lawyer out of Yale law school and worked in several substantive capacities. Despite his father’s likely influence, the public would be interested in knowing this background and speculate for itself as to its significance.  The guy may be a bum, but let's have all the facts.

I have been laudatory of Lou Dobbs.  However, his recent interview with trade maven, Peter Navarro, disappointed me.  Coming on the heels of highly chronicled declines in the manufacturing and service sectors, I eagerly anticipated a question about how that related to Trump’s trade policy. Dobbs never brought it up!  He is purely a shill for the president.  And I say that as a supporter of the Trump/Navarro trade policy, regardless of the economic impact heretofore.

        We must insist on honest reporting, even from supposed allies. 10/10/19

• • WHERE’S ANN COULTER?  BANNED AGAIN BY ALL MEDIA?

I haven’t seen Ann Coulter in ages, not even on Fox.  Is she banned again?  In September 2015 during a GOP presidential debate she tweeted some innocuous comments that some construed to be anti-Semitic.  As a consequence, she disappeared from virtually all media for about 18 months missing the entire election extravaganza.  Here’s what she said:   https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/09/17/ann-coulter-comment-jews-gop-debate-israel-relations/32543837/ . 

I thought she had done her penance but it appears Coulter faces yet another blackout in the 2020 campaign, presumably in further retribution for her 2015 “indiscretion”.

I said four years ago that this censorship was OUTRAGEOUS and I say it again.  Why is cowardly Fox News, not to mention all other media outlets, afraid to air this woman who had been a staple of the network for years.  Maybe it’s because she had a falling out with Trump.  If not, certain powers that be have a bit too much clout that should be challenged in the name of free speech.  10/9/19

• • THE PROBLEMS OF A DIVERSE WORKFORCE. 

Note:  In keeping with my ongoing visceral dedication to defy political correctness in all quarters, I present the following revelations regarding corporate America’s obsession with diversity.

I just returned from a Diversity Summit in Timbuktu.  It was a confab of mostly Chief Diversity Officers seeking to improve their methods for achieving a truly diverse workforce.  Most interesting were the comments of one particular corporate manager, Whitey.  He told me about his struggles dealing with the diversity policies of his CDO, one Ms. Zgbowgoeiw Poebtyoblbaoetn, aka Ms. Z, who hails from a hut in an Amazon rain forest.

The Chief Diversity Officer

Ms. Z herself is the very image of diversity.  This androgynous creature stands 6’9” with one black arm and one white, the result of some body modification.  She has a buzzcut on the right side, multi-colored tresses on the left, a chrome dome on top and a pony tail in the back.  She flaunts one 51” DDD breast, a tattoo on her neck, and wears combat boots.  And God knows what’s under that dress.  Even her speech is diverse as she alternates from black dialect to the King’s English throughout the day.  She worships at the LGBTQ altar, even painting her office in the emblematic rainbow colors.

All hiring decisions go through Ms. Z to ensure the company maintains an optimal diversity profile, while Whitey functions as her chief operating officer.  In fact, Ms. Z strives to register the highest government diversity score in her industry, a feat she hopes would put her on the cover of Diversity Magazine and earn her an EEOC award.  She insists that all job candidates submit to skin-tone classification measured scientifically in lumens from 1 to 50 where 1 is the darkest, 50 is the lightest.  In addition, everyone must gender-identify on a wide spectrum of genitalia variations.  Accordingly, she commissioned the building premises manager to make rest room modifications to accommodate all manner of anatomical anomalies.  Says Ms. Z, “We cover every color, shape, form and subspecies in the human genome.  Hell, we even got an Irishman on board.”

She also commands month-long classes for all employees in the use of appropriate pronouns, the veritable equivalent of learning another language.  Ms. Z especially favors profile characteristics that are heavily weighted in the government diversity score, such as dark skin-tones in high positions.  As such, she tries to minimize straight white males because they produce negative points in government reporting. (We get no respect anymore.)

Ms. Z draws from a major source of diversity enhancement that is the pool of illegal aliens who storm the southern border.  They not only jack up a diversity score, but some America-hating state and local jurisdictions provide tax incentives for hiring them.  The current invasion of caravans from Central America has been like manna from heaven for CDOs.

            Problems

Here are some of the problems Whitey experienced enforcing Ms. Z’s diversity program.

• • Risk Management told Whitey that the company has to reduce its female population because of excessive #MeToo risk.  Women are suing left and right.  Whitey asked Ms. Z what to do.  She said, “I’m not going to upset my gender ratio.  Tell Risk Management we’ll comply with the cut if we can persuade an equal number of gender ambiguous employees that they are female.  Somehow I think those “converted women” would be less problematic.  You do the interviews.”

• • Whitey approached Ms. Z about a problem with an employee who couldn’t get along with anybody.  Figuring his behavior might have something to do with his diversity classification, she asked Whitey how the worker self-identifies.  Whitey said the employee doesn’t know because he has three di--s and two vaginas.  Ms. Z told Whitey to “throw him in with the transgenders”. Whitey said he suggested that but he took offense saying, “What do you think I am, some kind of freak?”

• • Whitey sought help from Ms. Z about a man who wouldn’t cooperate with his project plans.  Once again Ms. Z asked how the worker self-identifies.  Whitey told her he thinks he’s a bird.  Ms. Z asked Whitey if he talked to him about the problem.  Whitey told her that he couldn’t because he always has worms in his mouth. 

• • A well-known philanderer complained to Whitey that there are too few females in his immediate vicinity for him to pursue.  Rather, he’s surrounded by man-hating lesbians who, not only restrict his prospects, but also put him at risk of bogus #MeToo lawsuits.  Ms. Z told Whitey, “Gender ratios are applied uniformly over all units, so transferring him would upset that balance.  I could move him to a more hospitable environment in exchange for a gay male, but the lesbians might complain about one less target for a phony sexual harassment claim."

• • After conducting a diversity audit following a spate of departures, Whitey panicked over the results.  He ran to Ms. Z to tell her, “We have a crisis.  We’re low on hermaphrodites.!”  Even Ms. Z started sweating because this classification gets a very high weighting in the government diversity score.  She immediately told Whitey to dispatch three employees to the waterfront at 3 AM to recruit replacements from appropriately endowed hookers serving transient truckers.  That was a tough sell for Whitey.  Relations with his staff have not been the same.

• • A gay guy complained to Whitely about a dearth of homosexuals in the firm.  In fact, he suspects discrimination.  Whitey brought the case to Ms. Z who said, “The entire LGBTQ spectrum is represented in this firm.  Tell him to focus on some Bs, Ts and Qs instead of a pure play.  Hell, he might become one of them. I could use the filip in the diversity score.”

• • Ms. Z prevailed on Whitey to take advantage of the many new openings to improve the firm’s skin-tone rating.  She told him that through her connections she could get eight people from Ghana in the building by the end of the week.  Ms. Z said, “These guys will really lift our score.  I’m talking tones under 10 lumens!”  Whitey had no choice but to hire them on his staff.  Some time later Ms. Z asked him how the Ghanans were doing.  Whitey said, “They can’t read, they can’t write, and they don’t speak English.”  Ms. Z replied, “So what?  We picked up 112 points in our score.  Ah, I can see it now.  Diversity Magazine today, The New York Times front page tomorrow.”

Whitey’s heart-to-heart talk with Ms. Z

Exasperated, Whitey arranged a heartfelt talk with Ms. Z about his difficulty reconciling diversity compliance with executive demands for suitable people.  He explained that the firm needs dedicated competent employees who can interact well with customers and one another.  Instead, everyone hates each other and nothing gets done. The only unity centers on a collective hatred for the lily white CEO.  Whitey told her that since implementing her diversity program the company has been constantly in the red and the stock has plummeted 70%.  Ms. Z replied, “If people meet my diversity criteria they’re qualified.  The rest is for the CEO to worry about.  It’s PC over profits for me.  Between you and me, let’s hope those losses continue.  The CEO would get fired creating a bonanza opportunity to replace the honky with a sub-20 lumens black or Hispanic.  The diversity score would skyrocket!”

Whitey seeks refuge

Overcome by the displeasure of his job, Whitey went home to decompress with his family.  He summoned his three young sons to resume a recent discussion about career aspirations.  One had said he wants to be a fireman.  Another had said he wants to be an astronaut.  Whitey turned to his previously undecided precocious fair-headed boy, Niles, and asked if he had made up his mind yet.  Niles said, “Yeah, Dad.  I want to be a Chief Diversity Officer.” 10/2/19

January - March 2020  Miscellaneous Thoughts Posted to Linked In

By William J. Dodwell

• NEW STUDY:  COVID-19 LOCKDOWNS ARE NOT EFFECTIVE.  See

http://www.williamjdodwell.com/special-notice-16/special-notice-20/special-notice-21/special-notice-22/special-notice-23/special-notice-24/special-notice-25/special-notice-26/special-notice-27/special-notice-28/special-notice-29/special-notice-30/special-notice-31

• • UPDATE 2 to my article at LINK.  President Trump in his press conference 3/29/20 indicated what seems to be a return to his original reliance on Neil Ferguson’s 2.2 million projected U.S. deaths if no action were taken. That projection strongly influenced Trump’s decision to declare a 15 day social distancing period in mid-March.  But on 3/22, Trump seemed to lose faith in the number because of Ferguson’s model revision, and consequently decided to consider gradually lifting restrictions starting April 12th.   

Now Trump invokes the 2.2 million figure again (interestingly without reference to Ferguson anymore) as reason for an extended lockdown, also claiming it justifies his restrictions to date that have kept U.S. deaths to only about 2,000. Perhaps this means Ferguson’s model adjustment only applied to the UK death projection of 500,000, which he lowered to a maximum of 20,000, while leaving the U.S. projection unchanged. 

If so, the question becomes, How can estimated U.S. deaths of 2.2 million be more than 100 times UK deaths at 20,000, considering the U.S. has only 5 times the population of the UK?  Are the respective population dynamics that disparate? My skepticism of the 2.2 million projection continues, and as such, my original question as to whether the COVID-19 scientific community can be trusted. 3/30/20

• • UPDATE ON MY IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON CORONAVIRUS POST YESTERDAY.  Yesterday I posted an article   LINK  about my skepticism concerning 2.2 million U.S. coronavirus deaths projected by epidemiologist Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London.  Several hours after my posting, I saw reports that on the same day he radically revised his calculation because of a model error. 

His changed U.S. death estimate does not appear to be reported.  But he lowered his UK death projection from 500,000 to 20,000, and possibly much lower, he said. This 96% reduction would translate proportionately to 88,000 U.S. deaths, instead of 2.2 million.  The current U.S. death toll is about 1,400. I don’t know if a strictly linear adjustment to the U.S. figure is valid, but clearly the revised projection is a small fraction of the original estimate, that I viewed as way out of line.

My article whimsically challenged the original 2.2 million projection in the context of a possibly politicized prognostication aimed at harming Trump’s reelection prospects.  But I stand by my warning of the potential danger of a compromised scientific community as evidenced in the AIDS crisis and by the climate-change hoax as I detailed. 3/27/20

• • CAN WE TRUST THE COVID-19 SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY?  The Wall Street Journal and others reported that the main impetus for President Trump’s social-distancing and lockdown strategy was a report published by Imperial College London. Shockingly, it projected 2.2 million coronavirus deaths in the U.S. absent a rigorous containment and mitigation policy.  To date about 1,000 have died.  Does this study pass the smell test?  Apparently not for Trump anymore as he anticipates ending his lockdown by Easter. 

Scientists and business people fundamentally differ in how they perceive problems.  Scientists tend to seek clinical near-certainty according to rigid protocols to validate conclusions. Oftentimes risk-taking is tempered by a fear of failure because human life hangs in the balance.  Business people rely on a less empirical risk-reward calculus that may entail uncertain tradeoffs of human, economic and political variables.  Hence, the apparent divide between commercial-minded Trump and his COVID-19 health advisers regarding the resumption of normal business activity amid the still extant coronavirus.

Of course, politics by its nature inevitably pervades all aspects of life inasmuch as selfish motives always loom.  COVID-19 medical experts may honestly recommend action according to their clinical findings that ignore massive economic consequences.  But in view of the dubious outcome projected by the Imperial College London study, one might suspect an anti-Trump political agenda, even outside the U.S.  Prescribing a strategy that would destroy the U.S. economy and unseat Trump in November could be just what the (dishonest) doctor ordered.  Or not. Has the scientific community politicized the coronavirus against Trump?  

This speculation about using the coronavirus as a tool to influence the 2020 presidential election has become as politically sensitive as questioning Obama’s birthplace.  In fact, even conservative Fox News suspended (fired?) host Trish Regan for passionately opining on it.  Indeed, the left has intimidated the right into shunning conspiracy theories regardless of merit.

A COVID-19 cabal would not be the first special interest to compromise the scientific community.  Recall bogus statistical extrapolations in the 1980s that projected AIDS would wipe out much of the American population. Propagandists democratized the disease by scaring the public into believing the general population was at risk, including children.  This was to hide the fact that, with scant exception, only gays and drug addicts contracted the disease, then and now.  What’s more, some health officials expanded the definition of AIDS to inflate reported infections to inspire more donations for research. 

And consider the climate-change Cassandras in media.  They pressure compliant scientists who fear losing their research money and jobs if they stray from green orthodoxy.  Predictions of widespread temperature extremes, receding Arctic ice and underwater cities never materialized.  Researchers manipulated data to skew results for political benefit as exposed in the University of East Anglia’s bombshell revelations in 2011.  How many scientists support the canard that we have only 12 years to save the planet?

I’m not ready to impugn the integrity of the COVID-19 scientists. But history shows that when the political stakes are sufficiently high , there are few saints, even in the laboratory. Is the intense, even worldwide, hatred for President Trump enough for science and media to join forces once again?  3/26/20

• FREE THE CORONAVIRUS.  It is time to consider the economic side of the COVID-19 equation.  After a 15 day commitment to a health policy of social distancing involving lockdown restrictions, President Trump is ready to end the austerity and permit all business activity.  This is particularly fitting in view of the Democrat attempt to hold the economy hostage in order to extort Republicans into caving to unrelated concessions in the coronavirus economic stimulus bill. They include such accommodations as more union representation on corporate boards, and higher airline emission standards. 

        The new approach should let the coronavirus spread naturally and then taper off and die like all other diseases.                      Meantime, the elderly and others with autoimmune deficiencies may be voluntarily sequestered and fully                             accommodated for needed amenities. Experience shows that the vast majority of non-elderly likely will manifest    little or no symptoms. Hospitalizations should be reevaluated for a home care alternative. On this basis all economic       activity should be restored while monitoring the tradeoff against the death rate.

If successful, this plan would restore prosperity and save taxpayers several trillion dollars as it renders the economic stimulus bill largely unnecessary, much to the Democrats’ dismay.  3/24/20

• • ARE COVID-19 SCIENTISTS SELFISHLY AVOIDING A BETTER WAY?  Can health policy arrest the coronavirus without requiring economically devastating mitigation measures? Since the vast majority of non-elderly carriers suffer little or no symptoms, why the disruptive restrictions?  Officially, it is to suppress ALL infection so it does not spread to the immunity-compromised elderly (and non-elderly). Alternatively, why not consensually sequester that group for the duration of the outbreak and lift restrictions on everyone else?  This would relieve the current economic and social upheaval.

Officials assert that since COVID-19 is more contagious and deadly than predecessor viruses, illness and morbidity among the vulnerable elderly would increase exponentially without lockdowns. Is this necessarily true?  Permitting the unfettered spread of the coronavirus (while quarantining the vulnerable) could result in a blanket natural immunity that could radically reduce infection. The policy would render lockdowns unnecessary.  This is under consideration in the UK. Why not here?

Resistance might stem from fear of a greater outbreak and attendant reputational damage for participating medical officials, absent an ameliorative vaccine. But don’t the mammoth economic and social costs of mass lockdown warrant that risk?  3/23/20

• • THE MEDIA COVER UP THE INNOCUOUSNESS OF THE CORONAVIRUS.  The media seem to avoid reporting about the severity of the Chinese coronavirus.  There’s copious coverage about containing it, and about hospitals operating at overcapacity.  But how sick are the infected?  In most cases, probably not much. But the media act like the COVID-19 were equivalent to the universally fatal Ebola virus.

The coronavirus is relatively innocuous for victims not having underlying respiratory and autoimmune problems. And rarely mentioned is the fact that victims who die are on average 80 years old who might have passed from other ailments, or natural causes.  One wonders if most victims could nurse themselves at home with OTC medications as with the flu. How many are hospitalized, not for suffering, but as a containment measure to perpetuate the obsession with contagion?

A cost-benefit analysis that weighs the economic and social consequences of containment against the benefit of avoiding or recovering from what amounts to the common flu highlights the gross overreaction of government-mandated lockdowns. 

Why are the media concealing the relative innocuousness of the coronavirus?  Because that revelation would nullify the justification for the lockdowns that tank the economy and threaten Trump’s reelection. 3/20/20

• • CORONAVIRUS AND AIDS.  The hysteria over the COVID-19 virus is reminiscent of the AIDS scare spread throughout the 1980s when mass media terrorized the public into believing the general population was at risk.  But in fact, only two risk groups have ever existed: male homosexuals and intravenous drug users. Some alarmists extrapolated current infection rates ad infinitum as to project the eradication of half the U.S. population. “Safe sex” was the analogue of today’s lockdowns. Propagandists also expanded the definition of AIDS to elevate the infection rate.

The aim of the sensationalism was to dispel the opprobrium that befell the gay community as a source of the disease, and to create mass fear to attract research money.  Well into the 1990s people finally got wise to the lies, and even some AIDS activists had to confess their fraud.

Politics suffuses the coronavirus coverage as well. Anything that projects government power appeals to the left. Government lockdown mandates and bloated government stimulus programs make liberals smile.  The left exaggerates the severity of the coronavirus to maximize hysteria.  They hope that will destroy the economy and derail Trump’s reelection.  For the same reason, the left continually discredits Trump’s handling of the pandemic.  3/20/20

• • STOP THE MADNESS!  Government mandated lockdowns in reaction to the COVID-19 virus unnecessarily destroy a great economy and a record stock market. 95% of the population sacrifices for the benefit of the 5%, that being the sickly elderly. As I previously suggested, resources ought to be concentrated on protecting the vulnerable elderly to include their quarantine, and let the rest of the country get on with their lives. 

Contracting the Chinese novel coronavirus among the non-elderly is no big deal. For the vast majority, it’s less serious than the seasonal flu, notwithstanding the coronavirus’ higher contagion rate. Some medical people have said half the population will get the virus anyway. What’s more, the reported low death rate for the coronavirus is actually even lower because of the inability to establish the true number infected.  It is distorted because of the absence of sufficient testing kits, and a current selection bias toward the infected who are sick and thus more likely to die. The unknown is the number of infected who have not been tested, and those infected without symptoms who will likely never be tested.

At some point the austerity will create a backlash if the coronavirus continues.  The overkill will become apparent and cries of protest will ensue.  3/19/20

• • END THE CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWN.  The economic cost of arresting the COVID-19 virus through blanket closures that devastate the quality of life is too disruptive.  The focus should center on isolating the elderly having underlying immune-compromising conditions.  After all, the average age of death from the virus is 80. No need to shutter schools and businesses.  

The perennial flu afflicts and kills far more than the coronavirus without massive economic dislocation.  Like the flu, the coronavirus should be allowed to spread organically and run its course while concentrating resources on the sickly elderly.  It is reported 85% of those infected experience little or no symptoms. 

Indeed, the coronavirus spreads much faster than the flu and kills at a considerably higher rate.  As such, mass containment aims to minimize the number of infected and thus limit the spread to the defenseless elderly. Can’t a program insulate the elderly while the rest of the population functions normally, except for the temporary debilitation of some of those infected? How about quarantine of the vulnerable elderly?

The severe economic and social impact of massive lockdown, as well as the cost of remediation, are too much for a  policy that may not be necessary or even effective.  3/18/20

• • BLOOMBERG WAS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT ABOUT BLACK CRIME.  Presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg was absolutely right in his 2015 audio about black crime relative to the stop, question and frisk policy when he was NYC Mayor.  Ironically, law and order conservatives now denounce his view for political advantage in the 2020 campaign, and even Bloomberg himself recants it to shore up his black vote. 

Bloomberg, in response to a study commissioned by his Police Commissioner, Ray Kelly, reported that virtually all crime in major cities was committed by minorities, mostly black, between 16 and 26.  Therefore, Bloomberg said, police could justifiably frisk blacks disproportionately, and in the process take illegal guns out of circulation.  Since racial blacks commit all the crime they should be subject to all the frisks.  The corollary is that virtually no whites should be frisked. Accordingly, Bloomberg rightfully pointed out that whites probably were frisked too much.

Of course, this is racial profiling, but so what!  It’s reality.  Anecdotal evidence supports this too.  Miscreants seen breaking the law and violent criminals pictured in the newspapers are almost always black.  But in politics this truth is verboten as media grossly under-report black crime. Let's be real!  2/13/20

• • SPEECH NAZIS RUN AMUCK.  PETA, the leftist animal rights group, now says the word “pet” is derogatory and could lead to animal abuse.  Therefore, it suggests more inclusive terms like “animal companion”.  At the same time, a New York City law was enacted that carries a fine of up to $250,000 for uttering the term “illegal alien”. 

The left strives to maximize conforming language and group-think to augment its influence in social settings and then codify its authority through legislation. As a byproduct, the lawyers get rich on new litigation opportunities.   

Unfortunately, the public acquiesces to this oppression out of fear of adverse social consequences.  For example, I encountered a man at a diner who talked about the revived XFL spring football league.  He lowered his voice to a whisper to say that it would have limited appeal, like women’s basketball. He then quickly apologized for insinuating a denigration of women. 

This is why the left has progressed so far!  People are so easily intimidated into caving to political correctness, and they vote accordingly.  But I did my part.  I said loudly, “Yeah, who the hell wants to watch women’s basketball?”  The wimp was not amused.  2/12/20

• • WE BROKE THE WOKE! 2020 OSCARS POSTS RECORD LOW RATINGS.  Sunday’s Academy Awards show posted its lowest viewership in history.  It attracted 11% fewer viewers than the previous record low set in 2018, and 20% fewer than last year’s program.  This is great progress for America.  Thank you for once again heeding my call for ignoring the Oscars in the quest to vanquish leftist Hollywood.  2/11/20

  • OBAMA HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ECONOMIC RECOVERY. Democrats keep attributing the Trump economic recovery to Obama.  Rather, it was the Federal Reserve that fostered the small growth of his administration, not Obama. The Fed’s liquidity infusions through near-zero short-term interest rates and quantitative easing broke the logjam in the financial markets.  That stimulated a modicum of consumer spending and some business investment, while turbo-charging the stock market producing a wealth-effect that added further impetus. 

Meanwhile, Obama raised taxes, increased regulation and restricted energy development – the antithesis of stimulus.  President Trump did the direct opposite and beneficially transformed trade policy to own the recovery. Give credit to Obama’s Treasury Secretaries for recapitalizing the financial system during the crisis.

Democrats praise Obama for a greater decline in unemployment from 10% to 5%, while Trump brought the rate down only from 5% to 3.5%.  But Obama proceeded from a much higher base making more change easier.  Similarly, liberals point to some 175% stock price appreciation in the Dow Jones Industrials under Obama, versus only about 60% under Trump.  However, the Obama increase rose from a 6,500 starting point versus Trump’s 18,000 baseline.  2/10/20

• IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN.  TIME TO IGNORE THE OSCARS.  I reprise my annual appeal to ignore the upcoming Oscar Awards.  Leftist, anti-Christian Hollywood is a major enemy of conservatives.  It promotes Marxist dreck in its films and throughout media capitalizing on the public’s ignorance and mindless infatuation with its celebrities, the so-called American equivalent of royalty. No doubt the newly chastened (not) hedonists again will invoke #MeToo and Time’s Up nonsense for political absolution, and celebrate every other stripe of wokeness.  Let’s hope eventually we see more Hollywood defectors like the great James Woods.  Ban the box office!  And, make this ceremony the lowest rated in its history yet again!  2/6/20

• BLACK HISTORY:  THE GLASS HALF-EMPTY. In keeping with this perennial February commemoration, The Comprehensive Conservative highlights select chapters in black history:

-        The demise of the black family 1970 – present

-        Black crime 1970 – present

-        Black incarceration 1970 - present

-        Black homelessness  1970 - present

-        Urban blight 1965 - present

-        Drive-by shootings 1965 - present

-        Poor academic performance 1900 – present

-        Black illegitimacy and illiteracy 1965 - present

-        Black drug dealing 1920 - present

-        Government dependence 1965 – present

-        Affirmative action 1970 – present

-        No-bail liberation 2020

-        Rampant corruption among black public officials 1965 - present

-        Rampant corruption in black non-profits 1965 - present

-        Rampant corruption in black churches  1965 – present

-        Degrading rap and hip hop music 1985 – present

-        Black takeover of the NFL and NBA 1980 - present

-        Beautiful jazz and traditional music 1900 - present

Black pathologies, fostered by longstanding Democratic policies, derive largely from personal irresponsibility and moral deficits.  I spotlight them here to invite their denunciation in the black community as to encourage a new chapter in black history founded on conservative values.  That transformation is essential to black progress.  2/5/20

• • KAMALA HARRIS’ FALL FROM GRACE.  Talk about not ready for prime time! Kamala Harris’ abominable presidential bid has reduced her to a bit player on the political stage.  Did you see Senator Schumer push her aside dismissively with a scowl at the podium last week after the witness vote in the Senate impeachment trial?  It looks like she may have to go back to servicing Willie Brown to get attention.  However, she’ll have to adjust her technique because Brown, at 86, probably needs a splint by now.  2/4/20

  • OH NO!  IT’S BLACK HISTORY MONTH AGAIN.  Why?  Will it ever end?  This has been going on since 1926.  Hell, the white man couldn’t fill that much time touting his accomplishments.  OK, the idea is to promote ongoing social harmony with blacks through an understanding of their experience.  But why aren’t they assimilated by now, especially considering all the institutional support from government, media and the body politic?  No other group is so accommodated and commemorated. 

Huge swaths of the employment market have been reserved for blacks through affirmative action – retail, security guards, food service, loading docks, etc.  What’s more, the NFL and NBA are theirs.  And, they get free taxpayer-funded Smart-phones and usage accounts for life.  What are they complaining about?  The white man has bent over backwards to help blacks.  What are they doing to help themselves? 

Until blacks modify their behavior to eradicate their many pathologies, all the Black History Months over the decades will not move the needle toward full integration.  To cite an apt metaphor - The ball is in their court.  2/3/20

• WHY NOT DIVERSITY IN THE NFL AND NBA?  Recall the days when the likes of Johnny Unitas, Frank Gifford, and Paul Hornung graced the gridiron.  Also remember Bob Cousy, Jerry West, and Harry Gallatin on the hardwood.  Back then, nearly all white players populated the NFL and NBA.  But today they're a rare bird.  What happened?

 Well, a true meritocratic standard took over. Perhaps the comedy “White Men Can’t Jump” suggests why.  That is, team owners recognize the reality of certain race-based physical prowess.  Accordingly, they hire blacks in highly   disproportionate numbers based on corresponding superior performance.  But as a byproduct, these players changed  the NFL culture to one often characterized by clown acts on the field, mayhem in the locker room, and criminal violence in the street. Bye, bye Miss American Pie. 

  If “white men can’t jump”, could it be that the paucity of blacks in the executive suite is because “black men can’t     read”, so to speak? A meritocratic model as that properly adopted in professional sports would support unfettered  white dominance in commerce.  But instead, government and politics impose diversity requirements.  Why the double  standard?

        For consistency, either the NFL and NBA practice affirmative action, or business discontinue it.  1/31/20 

• THE COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATIVE:  A TRUTH MACHINE.  In these days of nefarious hyper-opposition from the left, The Comprehensive Conservative remains laser-focused on reality in the face of political correctness, public emotion, lies, propaganda, and faux Kobe hysteria.  He calls a spade a spade with respect to often stealth radical left-wing forces dedicated to destroying this nation through demographic transformation, diluted education, certain discontinued law enforcement, and intrusive spendthrift government.  

        The corrupted Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, the grossly politicized impeachment process, and the socialist                  platforms of major Democratic presidential candidates demonstrate how truly serious the leftist threat is to the                  republic.  The Comprehensive Conservative is a self-anointed truth machine that will not relent in exposing                         dishonesty, fraud and subversion that none dares to broach.  In view of a corrupt media, Congress and                                       administrative state, vigilance is paramount.  Acquiescence is fatal.

Because of his comments on the Kobe tragedy, and due to his many right-wing rants, The Comprehensive Conservative is said to have no heart.  Let it be known that his cardiologist just gave him a clean bill of health.

http://www.williamjdodwell.com/    1/28/20

• ENOUGH ALREADY WITH THE KOBE BRYANT TRIBUTES.  It’s only been 24 hours and I’m already vomiting over the incessant unctuous encomiums.  And God knows what’s yet to come. Yes, Kobe was a great basketball player and a supposedly all-round good guy.  His fate is most tragic, especially considering his 13-year old daughter perished with him.  Nonetheless, the media react to his death as if he were Frank Sinatra, or Oscar Peterson, the great jazz pianist.

I wrote a piece in 2014 lamenting the media hype about the impending retirements of Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter.  Ihttps://lnkd.in/dB59GUR

In that article I posed the question whether the intense media fawning would have occurred if they were white.  I raise the same question about Kobe.  The leftist media capitalize on the triumphs and misfortunes of black celebrities to garner mass empathy for that demographic writ large, and thus the liberal agenda built around it.  The more the media can get people to grieve over Kobe, the more people will tend to support the government social programs, diversity initiatives, affirmative action, and crime absolution directed to black society.  To that end, to what extent do the media create sympathy for Kobe beyond what really exists?  1/27/20  

• THE NFL (THE NATIONAL FELON LEAGUE).  As Superbowl Sunday approaches it is fitting to reflect on a certain history of The National Football League, referred to as The National Felon League in private circles.  Specifically, consider how players’ off field behavior has transformed from the days of nearly all-white teams to today’s nearly all-black teams.  In recent decades, countless players have been charged publicly with assault, robbery and even murder, in addition to many more such transgressions concealed by the NFL.  By contrast, probably none of the white players of the 1950s ever engaged in any violent criminal activity. Indeed, this contrast is instructive as a social microcosm. When extrapolated to society at large, the NFL’s behavioral transformation has grave implications amid the political left’s effort to promote diversity through mass interracial propagation.

In yet another example of the left’s lurch to extremism, its powers-that-be have gone beyond just advocating interracial comity, to promoting genetic integration.  This is obvious in Hollywood content, Madison Avenue commercials and general media.  In addition, bank ATMs, that have featured interracial couples on the opening screen for some time, have kicked it up a notch. Now, lest the viewer think that the couple are just friends, the woman is visibly pregnant.  Message delivered. Yes, even the diversity-obsessed Federal Reserve Bank is in on it.

The left is bent on eroding the nation's gene pool in order to destroy America and build a new Marxist globalist social order in its place. The history of behavioral change in the NFL demonstrates what mass miscegenation would do to the social fabric. Through interracial breeding, coupled with open borders, the left aims to transform national demographics.  The new DNA inevitably will reduce the nation to third-world status. 

As the late great conservative radio talk show host, Bob Grant, used to say, “Someone’s got to say these things.  It might as well be me.”   1/23/20

• BELOW-MARKET INTEREST RATES DISRUPT THE REPO MARKET.  See my latest article, "Below-Market Interest Rates Disrupt the Repo Market". Here's an excerpt.

Of late, a paucity of capital in the repo market has caused short-term rates to rise creating upward pressure on the Federal Reserve Bank’s federal funds overnight rate which is supposed to be the designated benchmark for all other short-term rates. In order to keep this rate at the Fed’s desired economically optimal level, the Fed has been infusing liquidity into the financial system through repo loans of its own to borrowing banks needing cash. This reduces the repo rate to slightly above or below the fed funds rate.

The result of liquidity infusions by the Fed is to produce artificially low short-term rates which further discourage banks from lending to each other in the repo market. Once the Fed repo stimulus wears off, market forces raise the rate again to natural and more profitable levels based on the supply and demand for money.

CONTINUED AT https://lnkd.in/eP_BPRd    1/14/20

• COMBAT ON THE 2020 CAMPAIGN TRAIL.  2020 is here and the gloves are on in the battle for a Trump victory on November 3rd.  The Comprehensive Conservative is reporting for duty and ready for combat.  It is not enough to win the arguments.  The right has to win the fist fights too.  Given the intensity of Trump haters, including Antifa thugs, conservative men should expect physical encounters.  As such, Trumpians must combine intellectual prowess with pugilistic skills.

When a male Trumpian engages in a fight with a male leftist out of self-defense, here’s the drill. (Initiating                 violence is not approved.)

       In a rapid-fire succession of punches the Trumpian executes the following:

-        A left jab to the face.

-        A right upper cut to the chin.

-        A left blow to the solar plexus.

-        A right round-house to the head.

-        A left cross to the face to put him away.

When a crazed female leftist shouts profanities in his face, the Trumpian responds as follows.

Woman protestor:  “F—k you!!!!”

Man Trumpian:  “Do you want to?  I’ll pay for the room.” 

 After the deed the Trumpian tries to convert her in the ensuing pillow talk.  If he’ good, he might even extract a Trump campaign donation.

 Let’s rumble.  1/6/20

• • ·LOCK AND LOAD.  It’s 2020 and time to get busy.  There are only ten months left to orchestrate a disastrous defeat for Democrats at the ballot box.  Avenge the Democratic injustices of the Kavanaugh and Impeachment hearings, as well as the social decay left in the wake of liberal Democratic policies. Let’s get Trump re-elected big time on November 3rd.  1/1/20

April - June 2020 Miscellaneous Thoughts Posted to Linked In

• • ESG: THE LEFT AT WORK.  The growing movement on the left to promote environmental, social and governance considerations in company management is aimed at co-opting the business sector in government’s ongoing pursuit of a new socialist order. Having institutionalized political correctness toward that end, and having indoctrinated youth in leftist politics through public education, government and mass media extend the Marxist model to business in the name of corporate social responsibility.

At bottom is the newfound “stakeholders” model dedicated to constituents besides traditional shareholders, to include customers, employees, and the community. Indeed, this mindset has companies doing government’s bidding with respect to diversity, income redistribution, racial inequality, green projects, and immigration, under the guise of better operations.  Of course, this comes at the expense of profit in favor of supposedly nobler social benefits.  But those ultimately redound to more controlling government.  To ensure compliance with the new egalitarian corporate ethos, regulators impose increasing ESG reporting requirements.

Some good notwithstanding, the seemingly benign ESG mandate undermines the capitalist archetype and incrementally empowers the state in typical Marxist fashion. 6/30/20                                 

• • THE MASK HAS BECOME THE COVID-19 FLAG.  Suddenly mask mandates proliferate everywhere.  Pelosi and her lackeys grandstand with one around their necks all the time now.  Dr. Fauci, who mocked the effectiveness of masks initially, now wears one.  And Biden now says that as president he would order everyone to wear a mask in public.

The impetus behind the drumbeat is to promote the mask as a symbol of the leftist COVID-19 movement to derail Trump in November through renewed mass hysteria and continued economic sclerosis.  The mask has become the rallying flag.  It is also a meme by which to condition the public to ongoing obeisance to imperious government, a signature of the new Democrat Party.

In any case, the mask is unhealthy as it traps harmful carbon dioxide and bacteria that has caused pleurisy.  The mask is also ineffective as it contains pores that are hundreds of times larger than the virus that escapes through them.  Once a sign of virtue signaling for good heath, the mask is now a political statement.  What’s needed is a standard stenciled image.  How about a government jackboot on the people’s neck?  6/29/20

• • THE COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATIVE.  He’s so conservative he works from a 1958 calendar with a pinup photo of Brigitte Bardot. http://www.williamjdodwell.com/  6/23/20

  • CORRUPTION IN THE COVID-19 COMMUNITY.  In March I wrote an article entitled “Can We Trust the COVID-19 Scientific Community?” bit.ly/2N8yOxU

Although skeptical, I was not ready to impugn that group’s integrity.  But less than three months later, I conclude that, like climate-change and the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, the COVID-19 community is seriously compromised.  This charge applies to certain scientists, hospitals, researchers, elected Democrat officials, medical literature, pharmaceutical firms, and health experts who have politicized or otherwise exploited COVID-19.  How so?  Let us count the ways. 

-  The World Health Organization (WHO) consorted with China to conceal the initial impact of the Wuhan coronavirus. Properly, President Trump withdrew U.S. membership costing the organization some $440 million annually.

-  Many American epidemiologists openly support China’s prohibition against investigations into the Wuhan origin of the COVID-19 virus out of solidarity with the profession.  This pandering to China undermines the search for a vaccine and adds to the death count.  Could payoffs be at play here?

-  The U.S. inaugurated nationwide lockdowns based on a now discredited 2.2 million U.S. coronavirus deaths projected by researcher Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London.  But oddly, that was 100 times his projection for the UK, even though the U.S. has only five times the UK population. That error, on which President Trump relied with concurrence of Dr. Fauci, led to national alarm and grossly overestimated hospital capacity, equipment and supply requirements.

-  Leading COVID-19 expert, Dr. Fauci, and Democrat governors kept moving the goal posts for a return to normalcy.  Starting with just “bending the curve”, mass mitigation continued according to various timetables, including a wait for a vaccine in some quarters.  The apparent attempt to delay economic recovery until November to hurt Trump’s reelection became increasingly transparent.

-   Two prestigious medical journals, The Lancet and The New England Journal of Medicine, published articles about COVID-19 based on fraudulent data that bypassed the standard peer review process.  Following objections raised by the medical community, the authors withdrew their works when they could not get the cooperation they needed from their data provider to respond to critics.

-  Inflated death rates make the disease seem more serious than it is.  They encourage longer and more draconian mitigation practices that suppress the economy to the detriment of President Trump’s reelection.  Health officials redefined death to include comorbidities coincident with COVID-19.  Some doctors said hospital authorities forced them to classify deaths as COVID-19 against their will.  A particular motivation for hospitals is a government payment of $13,000 for each COVID-19 classified death, and $39,000 for each patient on a ventilator.  In addition, some hospitals harboring COVID-19 patients proactively admitted and comingled non-COVID patients.  What’s more, New York Governor Cuomo and other Democrat governors ordered nursing homes with non-COVID residents to accept COVID patients rather than send them to newly erected near-empty facilities.  More than 5,000 deaths occurred thereafter in New York. To induce the nursing homes to comply, Cuomo surreptitiously enabled legislation that protected the owners from legal liability in exchange for a $1 million campaign contribution.  What was the motive of these governors, hospitals and nursing homes?  Might it be to swell the death count for political and economic purposes?  Hey, they were going to die soon anyway.

- Johns Hopkins University epidemiologist, Jennifer Nuzzo, Democrat Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and others crusaded for social-distancing only to support an exception for Black Lives Matter protesters. Astonishingly, Nuzzo said the dangers of systemic racism exceed the virus.  So much for science.

-  Scientists, governors and media have engaged in a concerted effort to dismiss cheap hydroxachloraquine as a COVID-19 therapeutic, despite promising trials.  Has the pharmaceutical industry orchestrated this cabal to permit the emergence of a new and much more lucrative substitute?  What’s more, the media dismiss the drug simply because President Trump supports it.  How’s that for journalism?

-  Dr. Fauci and others support delaying school openings under the ruse of protecting children from infection and avoiding the spread to family members, despite evidence children are virtually immune to the virus.  The political goal is to keep one parent out of work to care for a child and thus hamper the economic recovery.

-  Reticence in the COVID-19 community about certain realities is suspect.  Issues include: 1) The self-attenuation of the virus according to its genetic life cycle that one researcher says is about eight to ten weeks.  2) A considerable majority of cases are asymptomatic or involve only mild illness.  3) Asymptomatic cases do not transmit the disease. 4) Silence about indefinitely deferring a return to school, even though evidence shows the coronavirus does not affect children.  5) Studies show the ineffectiveness of lockdowns and masks.  6) The coronavirus does not spread efficiently in open air, especially in warm weather.  7) There's little mention of declining infection and death rates as aggressive testing programs identify undetected cases. This revelation would make the coronavirus seem too much like the seasonal flu.

-  The contradictions about the effectiveness of masks.  Both Dr. Fauci and Surgeon General Jerome Adams initially dismissed the need for masks only to revert to wearing them in public in response to the political winds.

-  The left savors the prospect of a “new normal” founded on fear mongering and resultant acquiescence to government mandates, as well as on a new reliance on government assistance.  This experience sets the stage for invoking COVID-19 again as a pretext for future malicious government interference.

-  A unified force currently promotes an oncoming COVID-19 second wave to create alarm in the hope of blunting the reopening phase.  In fact, certain researchers project hospitalizations and deaths that are orders of magnitude beyond both actual experience in the first wave and cases identified during a reopening.  At one point, Dr. Fauci said definitively that a second wave is inevitable.  He recanted later partly based on new testing results. The left misleads by reporting new cases identified from more extensive testing are actually second wave cases.  In fact, they may be first wave cases that were not detected before the new testing regimen.

Mistruths and omissions about the nature of the Wuhan coronavirus, its scope, its severity, projections, mitigation protocols and therapeutics, abetted by economic and political interests, contributed to a grossly misjudged cost-benefit calculus.  This has resulted in unnecessarily cratering the economy and spending several trillion dollars on stimulus.  And the left continues the artifice in an effort to stall the recovery by delaying the reopening and propagating fear about a second wave to hurt President Trump in the November election.  Indeed, like climate-change, and AIDS in the 1980s, much COVID-19 reporting skirts science in favor of self-interest.  6/18/20

• THE COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATIVE.  I lean so far to the right, I keep falling over.  http://www.williamjdodwell.com/

• RACIAL INEQUALITY:  A VIEW FROM THE FAR-RIGHT.  The George Floyd killing initially generated a clarion call for rectifying police brutality and alleged systemic racism in law enforcement.  Then it transformed into a societal self-flagellation over racial inequality.  Here’s my contrarian view. 

Five years ago, I wrote an article in The Comprehensive Conservative entitled, “Black Scholar Tells It Like It Is About the Race Problem”. See  bit.ly/3cVFJ

It was a response to a public speaking engagement of Jason Riley about his then new book, “Please Stop Helping Us:  How Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed”.  In my article, I discuss certain inherent limitations to black equality, and the necessity for blacks as a class to change their behavior radically to have any hope of significantly closing the social and economic gap. 6/15/20

• BEWARE THE HYPE ABOUT A COVID-19 SECOND WAVE. Democrats and leftist media have exploited the Wuhan coronavirus to destroy the economy.  Now they try to sabotage the reopening phase by hyping a second wave on the basis of reported upticks in infections.  The left hopes to extend the malaise closer to the November election to hurt Trump. 

Increased infection mainly reflects greatly expanded testing that exposes pre-existing cases not previously identified.  Many originate in high-risk nursing homes and Native American reservations.  And, that testing reveals a radical drop in the infection rate to under 7% as the virus self-attenuates. In any case, infections are not a primary metric because the vast majority of victims have been non-contagious asymptomatic or only mildly ill.  Greater hospitalizations are more concerning, but now ample capacity and plenty of ventilators ensure a better capability to handle a spike.  Most importantly, the falling death rate, now at .4%, is de minimis.

We now know a serious second wave can be contained by isolating the elderly and others with underlying immuno-deficiencies. Therefore, lockdowns are unnecessary. The left promotes a second wave to stifle the economy further by scaring people into staying home and by restoring lockdowns to sabotage Trump's reelection. 6/12/20

• ARE REPARATIONS NEXT?  First demands called for police reform.  Then liberals howled for defunded police departments, new social programs and expanded affirmative action, largely administered by hopelessly corrupt inner city poverty operatives.  This, all in the name of one black thug, George Floyd, killed at the hands of a sadistic white cop. Government, media and corporations now prostrate themselves to accommodate the black community in a national guilt trip about racial inequality.

As the left pulls at America’s heart strings capitalizing on newfound empathy for black equity, it is just a matter of time before it plays its ace.  Current virtue-signaling by politicians and a commiserative citizenry could conceivably lead to reparations legislation that might be amenable to a newly sympathetic Congress.  And, in the circumstance, President Trump may feel considerable pressure to sign it, under threat of the race card, to protect his reelection chances. 

Look for an effort to place (hide) reparations in a future COVID-19 stimulus bill. An extra trillion relative to the multiple trillions spent on blunting the impact of the coronavirus might not meet the resistance it used to amid all the mea culpas over George Floyd.  Taxpayers, watch your wallet. 6/11/20

• DEREK CHAUVIN IS A BUM. AND SO WAS GEORGE FLOYD. 

The left capitalizes on the racial implications of George Floyd’s horrific death. But race was not necessarily a factor in the killing.  The disreputable victim is a grievance proxy by which to trigger unrelated accommodations to blacks.  Those concessions extend well beyond police reform to constitute massive capitulation and virtue-signaling by government and business.  No doubt the left will lever this incident to garner more support for reparations.

Black Lives Matter is a front for directing government funds, most of which will be stolen and squandered by notoriously corrupt ACORN-type groups and black churches.  The funds will also finance Antifa and other violent groups aimed at destroying the social order and sabotaging Trump’s reelection in November, with the full support of Democrats.  Sadly, many cowardly Republicans and gullible citizens assent. 

Once again see Candace Owens’ video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtPfoEvNJ74#video_1 6/10/20

• • A GREAT CONSERVATIVE GOES DOWN FOR THE COUNT

Nine-term Congressman Steven King (R-IA) recently lost a primary challenge in a bid for reelection. Because of his "nativist" positions, particularly on immigration, the left branded him a racist, and even his own shunned him.

Steve King stood up for long-standing American values. His so-called "white nationalist" statements were expressions of support for the nation's sovereignty through secure borders,. They're made in opposition to leftist forces that work to suppress the white population by changing the demographics of the country, ultimately to diminish it through consequent social divisiveness and economic decline. His comments about the serious threat of drug smuggling at the southern border, including the use of children as "mules", is an obvious truth. Everyone knows it.

The problem for too many Republicans, and even conservatives, is that political correctness trumps truth. If they don't cave they become pariahs even among themselves. More concerning is how much the electorate has been intimidated and brainwashed by left-wing operatives and their media allies. Unfortunately, the politicians capitulate to get elected. Steve King was the kind of fighter we need in this radicalized environment. He'll be sorely missed.  6/9/20

• THE COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATIVE:  Do it the right way – the right-wing way. Link to website.

  • THE INMATES ARE RUNNING THE ASYLUM.  A singular act of universally condemned police brutality by a white police officer on a black offender precipitated nationwide protests of systemic racism in law enforcement. Now that grievance has grown to calls for broad racial reform.  The catalyst is a combination of peaceful protests along with violence perpetrated by organized Antifa thugs, Black Lives Matter enthusiasts, and released prison inmates, all in the name of the original police victim, George Floyd.

Mayors and governors have told police to stand down out of fear of uncontrollable escalation, vilification by leftist media, and charges of racism.  Even some police themselves pathetically kneel in solidarity with protestors.  Many demonstrators justify looting and destruction simply because property is “replaceable”. Antifa operatives funded by George Soros and some Hollywood celebrities threaten to invade residential areas, and now even train to gouge eyes out of their victims.

The destruction is reminiscent of urban civil rights riots in the 1960s.  Like now, violence and looting nearly leveled particular major cities, some of which never fully recovered.  Such is also the case in Ferguson, MO and Baltimore, still devastated from unrest in 2014 and 2015 following fatal altercations between white police and black perpetrators.  Also in the 1960s, anti-Vietnam War and free speech protests wreaked havoc on college campuses and elsewhere, but interestingly stopped when the military abolished the draft in 1973.  Unlike today, elected officials in the 1960s generally supported the police in using appropriate force against the rioters. But like some mayors amid current protests, cowardly college presidents cravenly caved to student demands.

After nearly two weeks of continuous disorder including massive property damage, it appears police finally have freer reign to contain the violence, although in the face of popular and official opposition.  National Guard troops have intervened in some cities, but Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser summarily ejected them. In addition, President Trump offered military troops followed by the public disagreement of his defense secretary and some generals.

Meanwhile, George Floyd, deplored in life, is celebrated in death.  Encomiums abound for this drug addict who spent many years in and out of prison. And corporations are once again intimidated into reassessing their policies regarding racial representation on boards and in the executive suite. The call for yet more affirmative action will create in-house tension, but large companies seem eager to placate the threatening left.  And, of course, governments promise to open check books for more social programs.

In fact, the left is conducting an increasingly popular campaign to defund or abolish police departments by transferring their budgets to new boondoggles that inevitably will spawn corruption like the former Acorn groups under President Obama that Congress defunded.  The resultant law enforcement void could plunge cities into anarchy and set the stage for a new Marxist state coveted by the new Democrats.  An attempted coup is underway.

Strong resistance in the streets is essential to ending the mayhem, ruffled political feathers notwithstanding.  This includes military troops as needed.  Senator Tom Cotton (R-ARK) said it best in a controversial op ed in the New York Times in which he called for military intervention:

“One thing above all else will restore order to our streets: an overwhelming show of force.”    6/8/20

• • REASSESSING THE GEORGE FLOYD CASE.  There is universal outrage over the way Floyd died, and officer Derek Chauvin and his ilk must be held accountable. But mitigating factors now paint a different picture.

Besides a record of multiple prison sentences including one for assaulting a pregnant woman, an autopsy report reveals that Floyd was high on fentanyl and had recently consumed amphetamines when apprehended.  This brings to mind the 1992 LA police encounter with Rodney King who was similarly intoxicated while resisting arrest.  The famous mass media video showing the police beating King did not show King’s preceding violence on arresting officers.  That part was enough to exonerate the cops in court.  Déjà vu?

The obvious question from the Floyd video is why Chauvin didn’t put him in the police car.  Many presumed the cop instead engaged in wanton torture motivated by racial hatred.  But did Floyd, like King, pose a danger to cops?  While this would warrant extra manhandling, it does not justify unrelenting pressure on Floyd’s neck, which Chauvin should have known (but probably did not) was potentially lethal.

In this context, Floyd’s death is reprehensible and demands accountability, but may no longer qualify as murder. See Candace Owens’s video at https://www.bizpacreview.com/2020/06/04/candace-owens-lights-social-media-ablaze-with-hard-hitting-confession-on-george-floyd-tragedy-929748   6/5/20

• WHAT IF GEORGE FLOYD WERE WHITE?  Protests against George Floyd’s alleged killing by white police officer Derek Chauvin are premised on the cop’s presumed racial animus.  But the real issue is undisputed police brutality.  If George Floyd were white, would there be any protests?  Probably not as this is just another chance to claim systemic racism in law enforcement.

This, despite that adjudication exonerated the police in comparable incidents, including those involving Rodney King, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Eric Gardner, Freddy Gray, etc. Similarly, recall the black cheers for OJ Simpson on his baseless murder acquittal, predicated on a racially biased jury. For the protesters, were these cases about racial injustice, or defending black perpetrators no matter what? 

Blacks engage in crime at a highly disproportionate rate relative to their numbers (13% of the population).  As such, black resistance to police action resulting in death is inevitably disproportional. Hence, the misguided perception of racial injustice.

So, protestations about George Floyd’s death should concern police brutality, not race.  Protesters presume racial hostility motivated Chauvin. But he might have treated a white offender the same. The lesson is to weed out bad cops.  Race is irrelevant. 6/3/20

• • THE COVID-19 RESPONSE:  THE GREATEST BLUNDER IN HUMAN HISTORY.

Relying on an extremely erroneous UK statistical model that projected 2.2 million U.S. deaths from the Wuhan novel coronavirus, scientists and governments committed an unprecedented blunder. Concomitantly, nefarious Democrats and liberal media seek to level the economy to remake it in their socialist image, and sabotage President Trump’s reelection as a catalyst. Accordingly, the left promotes damaging lockdowns and other unproven restrictions costing trillions of lost revenue, tens of millions of jobs, and untold damaged lives.  

The left stokes public fear to foster acquiescence to state mandates, even apropos of riskless children.  Leftists also capitalize on multitrillion-dollar Treasury stimulus to advance an unrelated redistributionist agenda, and to bail out profligate debt-ridden blue states.

ALARMISTS WRONGLY FOCUS ON INFECTIONS INSTEAD OF DEATHS. CONTRACTING THE VIRUS IS LARGELY INNOCUOUS, EXCEPT FOR THE ELDERLY WITH UNDERLYING IMMUNO-DEFICIENCIES.  ALL OTHERS ARE ASYMPTOMATIC OR RECOVER.  MEANWHILE, THE MORTALITY RATE IS A FRACTION OF 1%, AS THE VIRUS ATTENUATES ON ITS OWN.  AS SUCH, GOVERNMENT SHOULD ABOLISH ALL RESTRICTIONS NOW, WHILE ENCOURAGING THE VOLUNTARY QUARANTINE OF THE ELDERLY.  5/27/20

• • I WANT MY DINER BACK.  Everyone yearns to return to a favorite activity when COVID-19 passes.  For me, it’s Saturday morning breakfast at my local diner.  I pine for the bacon and eggs with assorted accessories as I sit for four hours at the end of the counter in a packed room.  With Fox News on the television before me in closed captions (at my insistence), I pour through several publications - I’m sure to the wonderment of thousands of patrons who have seen me there over the years.                                                          

But now, still longing to get out of the house, I have to eat take-out in my car with the steering wheel in my lap.  Instead of television news, I listen to successive radio broadcasts of NY Governor Cuomo and NJ Governor Murphy giving coronavirus updates. Dropping food, spilling coffee, and clumsily maneuvering newspapers, it’s not the same experience. 

When I get home, I spend another four hours at the grand piano, relishing the thought that, unlike breakfast, the government can’t take this away.  But I had a scare. Last week while playing, the doorbell rang.  Answering it, my wife said, “There’s a federal official here.” For what?, I asked worriedly.  “It’s the census taker.”  Whew!  5/26/20

• • PERMANENT COVID-19 SOCIAL-DISTANCING AND MASKING:  A LEFTIST RUSE.  As the nation transitions from lockdown to reopening the economy, one has to question the need and effectiveness of continued social-distancing and masking to contain the spread of the Wuhan virus.  Given the miniscule statistical risk of serious illness or death in the non-vulnerable population, the economic and social costs of these practices far exceed the health risks.  As such, governments may reasonably eliminate these mitigation mandates while protecting the vulnerable elderly population, especially those in nursing homes. What’s more, the novel coronavirus is likely approaching the end of its natural lifecycle, perhaps irrespective of mitigation, as some studies indicate, especially amid warmer weather.                                                    

The cost-benefit calculus

Like sheltering-in-place, the effectiveness of masking has been challenged.  See

https://www-theblaze-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.theblaze.com/news/2020/05/15/former-neurosurgeon-masks-ineffective/amp  In fact, the CDC, the Surgeon General and Dr. Anthony Fauci himself had declared face masks ineffective before reversing themselves later when the politics intensified.

Unlike lockdowns and masking, scientific evidence supports the effectiveness of social-distancing.  But the practice does not stand up to a cost-benefit analysis because the risk to the non-vulnerable population is so low.  The relatively few deaths and serious illnesses that occur without social-distancing do not justify the mandated economic and social sacrifices of reduced capacity in all businesses and public venues.

Ongoing post-lockdown restrictions imposed on the non-vulnerable population will continue to throttle economic activity and suppress the quality of life unnecessarily.  Also, government mandated social-distancing and masking foster public fear that inhibits a return to normalcy by creating the perception of a disease that is more serious than it is.  The healthy should have the option to resume normal lives with no restrictions. This would contribute to a herd immunity that eventually can ward off future infection without the severe costs of mitigation measures.

The government ruse

Outdoor mitigation protocols and the closing of schools, whose young occupants are at virtually no risk, lack scientific validation.  But that fact flies in the face of the left’s strategy to create the impression that everyone is at serious risk forevermore. That pretext justifies continued government mandates aimed at suppressing the economy in the hope of harming Trump’s reelection chances.  In addition, exaggerating the danger facilitates long-term efforts to expand authoritarian control by which to advance the left’s socialist model. 

Now the left wants to protract mitigation until a vaccine exists.  But that will be no panacea.  Like flu vaccines, half the population won’t get inoculated, and it likely will be ineffective for a substantial portion of those who do. When the vaccine is available the left will doubtless point out this limitation as an excuse to continue mitigation until a cure is discovered, as long as it is not the very promising Trump-endorsed hydroxychloroquine.   

The return to normalcy

Restoring the pre-coronavirus economy requires removing all restrictions while protecting the elderly, in conjunction with their personal responsibility. Universal mitigation is unwarranted given that singular risk group.  Continued mitigation mandates will prolong recovery indefinitely to the long-term detriment of the economy and the quality of life, and to the benefit of the left’s destructive agenda. 

Mass refusal to comply with social-distancing and masking orders, considerably more than seen in reaction to lockdown directives, could be the solution.  Ultimately, political pressure would force government to relent, as it did to ubiquitous civil disobedience during Prohibition. 5/21/20

• THE LEFT’S DREAM:  COVID-19 IN PERPETUITY. Democrats and their media allies pursue their dream of a permanent COVID-19 pandemic to justify ongoing control, government stimulus and other unrelated spending.  Officials repeatedly extend mitigation protocols to condition a fearful public to a false enduring coronavirus threat. Governments mandate continued lockdown, social distancing and mask-wearing despite no scientific basis for their efficacy. And nothing is ever mentioned of the natural dissipation of the disease, already in progress, that renders mitigation and testing superfluous.  Indeed, any possible near-term fix is anathema, such as herd immunity and hydroxychloroquine.

The gradual reopening of the economy is underway with continued mask and social distancing mandates that preclude normalcy. In fact, authorities tout a “new normal” that will institutionalize those practices. Accordingly, businesses operating at fractional capacity could mean long lines to get in and a stopwatch atmosphere to prevent lingering inside. And, of course, smaller profits threaten their viability.

But failed commerce is part of the left’s game plan, which is to hurt Trump’s reelection bid, and continually shift societal reliance from the private sector to government. 5/18/20     

• • IS A COVID-19 SOCIAL REVOLUTION BREWING?  Growing disaffection with COVID-19 lockdown mandates has bred animosity toward elected officials that yield increasing incidents of civil disobedience.  Tyrannical governance could set the stage for massive backlash, as austerity breaks the orderly interaction between employee and employer, consumer and business, citizen and government.  Political strife intensifies as nefarious leftist forces sow distrust for government as it uses the economic shutdown and authoritarian tactics to forge a new socialist order, and derail President Trump’s reelection.

The citizenry has become increasingly suspicious of scientific pronouncements based on bad models and manipulated death statistics.  In particular, doubts grow about the assertions, contradictions and possible political motives of one Dr. Fauci.  Is he in bed with the leftist enemy?

Could mass social angst flowing from lost freedoms and ruined livelihoods spur a revolution akin to the Vietnam War protests of the 1960s?  Today’s authoritarian COVID-19 intervention seriously undermines the individual's enterprising legacy that undergirds the nation's prosperity. The response evidenced in protestations and acts of defiance can escalate quickly amid resistance. Is that on the horizon? 5/14/20

• • RIP - BARRY FARBER CONSERVATIVE TALK SHOW HOST.  Barry Farber, longtime conservative radio talk show host, died last week at 90. His amiable manner provided a certain ballast to the fire-and-brimstone style of most right-wing broadcasters. He embellished his Southern gentleman persona with colorful language that invoked vivid, but sometimes inscrutable, similes such as “…like the June bug on the jalousie glass.”, spoken in an endearing North Carolina accent.

Dedicated to truth, he took some positions other conservatives dare not broach.  For example, notwithstanding some injustices of the McCarthy era, he pointed out that the Wisconsin senator did a service in exposing existential communist infiltration in the U.S. government and culture.  Farber also reminded his audience of the atrocities perpetrated by Nelson Mandela against his political opponents.  To wit, he ordered “necklacing” whereby a tire was placed around an enemy’s neck and lit afire.

Such a charismatic and volubly articulate figure was destined to run for public office.  Indeed, he ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1970.  He also ran for New York City Mayor in 1977 on the Conservative line. Unfortunately, he garnered only 4% of the vote but almost beat the Republican candidate. 5/13/20

• • FOX NEWS WIMPS OUT. Fox Business fired Trish Regan in March for featuring a segment on how liberal media are capitalizing on the coronavirus pandemic to damage President Trump.  She claimed the media exaggerate the seriousness of the virus and blame Trump for its cause and effects, particularly the economic fallout.

On Sunday night Steve Hilton presented a panel to comment on the coronavirus.  Kimberly Strassel of The Wall Street Journal addressed why liberal media constantly vilify the president.  She said it was political, but offered no specific suggestion about the goal.  Neither did Hilton or the other guests broach the particular anti-Trump motive.

Obviously, leftist media use pandemic coverage to undermine Trump’s chance of reelection in November. But Fox does not permit that storyline.  Is this the kinder, gentler Fox hatched by the Murdoch kid?  The restraint seems right out of the political correctness rulebook that proscribes questioning one’s motive, or judging another.  Or, perhaps Fox is loath to entertain conspiracy theories, as if there could never be a legitimate one.

Fox’s core audience wants kick-ass right-wing content.  The network’s refusal to expose the truly sinister motives of its leftist counterparts is an affront to that constituency.  5/12/20

• AMERICA, START YOUR ENGINES.  END COVID-19 LOCKDOWNS NOW. 

Liberal delay tactics

The left is trying to prolong COVID-19 lockdowns as much as possible to hurt President Trump in the November election.  Leftist celebrities en masse promote staying indoors. Democrats and the liberal media ignore studies that challenge the efficacy of lockdowns.  They also vigorously oppose the very promising prospects of hydroxychloroquine that might inconveniently end the pathogen quickly.  Mysteriously, even Dr. Fauci is a naysayer, despite his past praises for the drug as a treatment for corona viruses.  Governors move the goalposts for reopening the economy from bending the curve, to fourteen days of consecutive declines in deaths, to maximum testing for infection, to completion of contact tracing, to waiting for a supposedly imminent vaccine. Lockdown advocates emphasize the danger of a second outbreak which inhibits austerity relaxation. With no scientific basis liberals even speak of a “new normal” to condition the citizenry to a permanent pall over social and economic life that lends itself to ongoing government control.  This socialist mindset underlies the Democrat craving for evermore government stimulus to further the left’s agenda, virus related or not.

Liberals carp about President Trump’s mismanagement of the pandemic, particularly the testing programs.  In fact, impracticable universal testing and associated contact tracing as a condition for restarting the economy conveniently deter a return to normality.  The media promote fear mongering about the danger of prematurely reopening the economy, even saying Trump will kill people by taking that risk.  Anything to delay economic recovery before the election and otherwise tarnish Trump to influence the vote. Fortunately, continued lockdowns are producing a growing backlash to the detriment of Democrat governors.

Inflated death counts

Death tolls are inflated by expanded definitional criteria, including co-morbidity factors, which exaggerate the impact of the disease.  Media mislead the public by reporting a mortality rate of about 7% of infections, ignoring valid extrapolations to account for the untested that suggest a real rate of just a fraction of 1%, comparable to seasonal flu.  Media rarely report about inflated deaths caused by deliberate misclassifications by hospitals induced by extra Medicare payments that slow the flattening the curve and reopening the economy.  Hospitals get $13,000 for each COVID-19 related death and an additional $39,000 for use of a ventilator, which sports an 80% fatality rate.

The cure is worse than the disease

The economic and social costs of lockdown far exceed the dubious benefit of risk mitigation, especially considering exaggerated death rates.  At this point the virus is waning on its own and probably becoming less potent.  What’s more, it may have been resistant to mitigation all along.  Nonetheless, the most vulnerable population must be protected, i.e.,  the elderly, especially those in nursing homes.  In addition, certain precautions are still warranted in the New York metropolitan epicenter.  Officials can closely monitor signs of a second wave of infections and act upon it immediately given appropriate preparations.

With that caveat, largely politically motivated restrictions should be lifted now and everyone should be allowed to act according to his risk appetite. People will continue to die, albeit at a declining rate, as the virus is powerful to be sure.  But now we know the price of the disease is consistent with past scourges and that expectations of Armageddon are unfounded.  America, start your engines.  5/11/20  

• • NO MORE #METOO SHAKEDOWNS?  #MeToo is dead.  Behold the hypocritical silence of its advocates in the face of Tara Reade’s sexual assault accusation against Joe Biden.  Where are the grandstanding Democrats and the corrupt media that hounded Brett Kavanaugh and so many others?  Where is the despicable Gloria Allred?

My 2018 anti-#MeToo manifesto at LINK posits that sexual misconduct less than rape or genuine assault is a nothingberger.  In fact, only 5% of claims meet legal standards in court. Bogus #MeToo lawsuits brought by grifters, misandrists, corporate vestal virgins, and their sleazy lawyers have destroyed lives. Indeed, many accused suffered serious career, marital and financial losses amid politically motivated media and cowardly employers.  The Biden case should end this injustice in a return to normalcy.

Nonetheless, Ms. Reid’s sexual assault claim is a legitimate grievance.  Although not initially credible, subsequent corroboration makes her testimony more compelling, especially her mother’s contemporaneous call to Larry King (if authentic).  But if Ms. Reade’s allegation merely claimed #MeToo-style sexual harassment, such as an innocuous “grope”, she does not deserve support.  What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.  5/5/20     

• • #MeToo IS DEAD.  HOW SWEET IT IS!

The left’s mute reaction to Tara Reid’s sexual assault allegation against Joe Biden has rung a death knell for the #MeToo movement as it exposes its shear hypocrisy.  All credibility is gone.  The Democrat and media quietness following the claim, true or not, lies in stark contrast to the baseless witch hunt the left waged against Brett Kavanaugh.  Indeed, the silence corroborates the true agenda behind the plethora of false or frivolous #MeToo accusations against so many men in recent years.  Now the left protects Biden as one of their own, a liberal Democrat, who happens to be his party’s presumptive presidential nominee.

The demise of #MeToo affirms my 2018 manifesto denouncing the movement.  See LINK.  This feminist cabal is dedicated to empowering women by disempowering men.  It relies largely on gold-diggers, man-hating lesbians, scorned women, and their venal lawyers who embellish or fabricate accusations to coerce lucrative out-of-court settlements.

Because of this corruption, #MeToo’s mantra, “Always believe the woman.”, has become “Never believe the woman.”  No longer can anyone credibly invoke this fraudulent crusade that perpetrates gross injustices against the falsely accused for political and economic gain. 5/4/20

• COVID-19 ABATES ON ITS OWN, SO HOW IMPORTANT IS MITIGATION?  4/28/20 http://www.williamjdodwell.com/special-notice-16/special-notice-20/special-notice-21/special-notice-22/special-notice-23/special-notice-24/special-notice-25/special-notice-26/special-notice-27/special-notice-28/special-notice-29/special-notice-30/special-notice-31/special-notice-32

• ·LEFTIST BASTIONS SEEK COVID-19 STIMULUS MONEY.  It is so satisfying to see ultra-rich Marxist universities and well-off publicly-traded companies shamed into returning coronavirus stimulus funds.  Waiting for the next round of handouts are media companies, and state and local governments.

The media industry seeks aid to compensate for ad revenues decimated by COVID-19.  It laughably justifies the help by their (selective) stewardship of the First Amendment. Ninety-percent of journalists are avowed liberals. All local papers today are owned by large leftist media organizations that mime the politics of the New York Times. That gold standard has become a vapid hodgepodge of climate-change, diversity, inequality, #Metoo , and LGBT. The only honest content in local papers are the obituaries. Taxpayers must not fund these propagandists.

Spendthrift Democratic state and local governments also arrive at the federal trough.  They too need to cover tax revenue shortfalls resulting from coronavirus-related unemployment and business shutdowns.  If successful, they don’t have to cut bloated payrolls and outsize unfunded pension liabilities, or worry about raising taxes on a shrinking tax base.   

Republicans in Congress must not cave to these pillars of the left.  Let them eat cake!  4/24/20

• NEW STUDY:  COVID-19 LOCKDOWNS ARE NOT EFFECTIVE.  See http://www.williamjdodwell.com/special-notice-16/special-notice-20/special-notice-21/special-notice-22/special-notice-23/special-notice-24/special-notice-25/special-notice-26/special-notice-27/special-notice-28/special-notice-29/special-notice-30/special-notice-31    4/20/20

• THE LEFT WANTS TO DESTROY THE ECONOMY.  The left wants to prolong the Chinese coronavirus lockdowns to maximize economic damage they hope will kill the president’s reelection bid.  Indeed, mass media are in lockstep in opposition to re-opening the economy.

Leftists work to inflate death rates by ignoring comorbidity factors, thus justifying continued mitigation. The left also is united in opposing the promising hydroxochloroquine which possibly could end the pandemic almost overnight.  In addition, the left is monolithically critical of Trump’s every move, while trying to drive a wedge between the president and his health advisers.  The current mantra claims Trump did not act soon enough, even though mass media dismissed the threat early on.  Democrats try to exploit the crisis by forcing into aid packages liberal policies that failed in past legislation.

Leftists dream of continuing austerity right up to the election, preventing Trump’s effective rallies in the process.  But there are indications the virus is abating.  In fact, a new Israeli report claims it has only a six to eight week life span regardless of mitigation measures. This means all restrictions could be lifted soon allowing for significant economic recovery before the election, and for plenty of Trump rallies.  4/16/20

• COVID-19 FINANCE:  A REVIEW AND ASSESSMENT.  See  April 13, 2020        COVID-19 Finance:  A Review and Assessment   4/13/20

• GOOD PROSPECTS FOR ECONOMIC RECOVERY.  Once the COVID-19 threat is over, the stage may be set for a robust economic recovery that could restore pre-crisis prosperity fairly shortly, albeit not without fits and starts.  Unlike past recessions, the current malaise occurred on the heels of good economic fundamentals in respect of employment, consumption, production, housing and inflation. And unprecedented government assistance will sustain workers and small businesses through the storm.

• Some expect massive pent up demand to fuel a full recovery.  However, there is some uncertainty about the timing of demand and supply coming into balance.  This will depend on coordinated re-hiring, spending, and business investment amid renewed consumer and business confidence.

• The price is unexpected trillions added to the national debt and tens of billions of unrelated wasteful spending, some of which will be baked into the budget baseline for years. What’s more, already overleveraged companies will be further indebted from government credit facilities. In addition, a possible doubling of the Fed’s inflated balance sheet from new crisis lending and additional quantitative easing will further complicate a normalization of ultra-low interest rates still distorted from the Great Financial Crisis. 4/8/20

THE INMATES ARE RUNNING THE ASYLUM

By William J. Dodwell June 8, 2020

A singular act of universally condemned police brutality by a white police officer on a black offender precipitated nationwide protests of systemic racism in law enforcement. Now that grievance has grown to calls for broad racial reform. The catalyst is a combination of peaceful protests along with violence perpetrated by organized Antifa thugs, Black Lives Matter enthusiasts, and released prison inmates, all in the name of the original police victim, George Floyd.

Mayors and governors have told police to stand down out of fear of uncontrollable escalation, vilification by leftist media, and charges of racism. Even some police themselves pathetically kneel in solidarity with protestors. Many demonstrators justify looting and destruction simply because property is “replaceable”. Antifa operatives funded by George Soros and some Hollywood celebrities threaten to invade residential areas, and now even train to gouge eyes out of their victims.

The destruction is reminiscent of urban civil rights riots in the 1960s. Like now, violence and looting nearly leveled particular major cities, some of which never fully recovered. Such is also the case in Ferguson, MO and Baltimore, still devastated from unrest in 2014 and 2015 following fatal altercations between white police and black perpetrators. Also in the 1960s, anti-Vietnam War and free speech protests wreaked havoc on college campuses and elsewhere, but interestingly stopped when the military abolished the draft in 1973. Unlike today, elected officials in the 1960s generally supported the police in using appropriate force against the rioters. But like some mayors amid current protests, cowardly college presidents cravenly caved to student demands.

After nearly two weeks of continuous disorder including massive property damage, it appears police finally have freer reign to contain the violence, although in the face of popular and official opposition. National Guard troops have intervened in some cities, but Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser summarily ejected them. In addition, President Trump offered military troops followed by the public disagreement of his defense secretary and some generals.

Meanwhile, George Floyd, deplored in life, is celebrated in death. Encomiums abound for this drug addict who spent many years in and out of prison. And corporations are once again intimidated into reassessing their policies regarding racial representation on boards and in the executive suite. The call for yet more affirmative action will create in-house tension, but large companies seem eager to placate the threatening left. And, of course, governments promise to open check books for more social programs.

In fact, the left is conducting an increasingly popular campaign to defund or abolish police departments by transferring their budgets to new boondoggles that inevitably will spawn corruption like the former Acorn groups under President Obama that Congress defunded. The resultant law enforcement void could plunge cities into anarchy and set the stage for a new Marxist state coveted by the new Democrats. An attempted coup is underway.

Strong resistance in the streets is essential to ending the mayhem, ruffled political feathers notwithstanding. This includes military troops as needed. Senator Tom Cotton (R-ARK) said it best in a controversial op ed in the New York Times in which he called for military intervention:

“One thing above all else will restore order to our streets: an overwhelming show of force.”

©2020 William J. Dodwell

July - September 2020 Miscellaneous Thoughts Posted to Linked In

By William J. Dodwell

• WILL THE LEFT GIVE JUDGE BARRETT THE SARAH PALIN TREATMENT?  I wrote an article in The Comprehensive Conservative dated December 18, 2012 entitled, “The Real Reason Liberals Hate Sarah Palin”. (See it at http://www.williamjdodwell.com/archives )  I asserted that, besides her general conservatism, the left despised Palin because she had the temerity to bring to term a baby with down syndrome.  Indeed, that verboten choice flies boldly in the face of the left’s sacrosanct pro-abortion stance. Specifically, liberals fear that such high profile courage could catch on and inspire support for overturning Roe v. Wade. 

Might liberals see Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett an analogue to Sarah Palin in respect of the former’s “special needs” child, as well as for her large family and conservative worldview that are antithetical to the left’s feminist regime?  What’s more, a Justice Barrett would be a much more formidable threat to Roe v. Wade than Palin as a candidate for vice president.  As such, will the leftist mass media target Barrett and her family for intense vilification as to force her eventual resignation?  Today there are no bounds to what the nefarious Democrat Party would do to get its way, especially regarding abortion.  Does Barrett have the mettle to prevail?  9/28/20

• ·GOOD BYE FOX, HELLO NEWSMAX.  I have been calling for a genuinely conservative alternative to Fox News for a long time.  Finally, there is a promising prospect in NewsMax.  Its growing presence on cable tv, consisting of more than 10 million viewers, is testament to a large demographic hungry for honest, unadulterated right-wing content and opinion. 

Fox caved to the #MeToo crowd in firing Bill O’Reilly, Roger Ailes and others, and radically feminized the enterprise, all in reaction to lawsuits over “sexual misconduct”.  This change marked the beginning of the network’s drift to the left, led by a liberal son of founder Rupert Murdoch and a woman CEO.  In March, Fox fired Trish Regan for the obvious assertion that mainstream media exaggerate the corona virus pandemic to hurt President Trump’s reelection. In June, the network fired stalwart Ed Henry because a former employee accused him of sexual misconduct.

The silver lining is that the Fox transformation encourages a growing share of its audience to move to Newsmax.  That network features solid right-wing hosts including Greg Kelly, Grant Stinchfield, Steve Bannon and Michelle Malkin who are not dupes for such politically correct shibboleths as climate-change, #MeToo, LGBTQ, and “systemic racism”.  The news void is closing.  9/25/20

• HOW FAR LEFT WILL FOX NEWS DRIFT?  A really eye-popping segment appeared on Harris Faulkner’s show last week with Melissa Francis and Marie Harf.  They interviewed Newt Gingrich. Gingrich who spoke most indignantly about George Soros funding radical leftists, including those behind the riots and looting, as well as many candidates for Attorney General. Francis and Harf interjected to object to bringing up Soros in the conversation.  Gingrich was not happy.  

Purportedly, they did this so not to stoke anti-Semitic sentiment.  What?  Soros has expressly stated his dedication to destroying America deploying many billions of dollars to do so.  And we’re not supposed to talk about it because he’s Jewish?  Give me a f***in’ break!!  It’s like those who say any criticism of Obama is racist.   

It is not clear whether this cowardice reflects Fox policy or is just Francis and Harf editorializing.  A couple of days later, not mentioning Faulkner’s show, Tucker Carlson extensively denounced Soros for exactly what Gingrich decried.  But as the host of the leading program in all of cable news with historically high ratings, is Fox just giving him a pass?  Is Soros fair game for other commentators?  If not, this is good reason to say, Hello Newsmax.  9/24/20

• DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD.  As endless media tributes honor Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life, hard-core conservatives celebrate the liberal jurist’s death and the Supreme Court seat it opens.  But we wish her well in her celestial endeavors.  Her demise presents a prime opportunity to thwart ongoing attacks on constitutional principles, including individual and religious freedom, self-defense, and sovereignty for decades. Appropriately, President Trump wastes no time starting the replacement process.

The president is legally entitled to fill vacancies until the end of his term, even if he loses reelection in November.  While Trump is dependent on Senate Republican votes to launch confirmation hearings, he refuses to capitulate to calls to defer the process to the next administration.  Current Republican control of both the presidency and the Senate justifies rejecting demands to wait for “the people’s choice” in November.  

Senate Republicans in tight reelection races in November face a dilemma in appealing to swing voters in respect of both the timing of the nomination and the vote on Trump’s conservative nominee.  The president and conservatives have to convince them of the primacy of upholding the now vulnerable Constitution through another strict constructionist on the Court.   9/21/20

• A WELCOME SETBACK FOR ESG.  The U.S. Department of Labor just proposed proxy voting restrictions on investment fiduciaries that would thwart the left’s effort to establish ESG factors in corporate operations. Consider this a welcome blow against politically motivated touchy-feely ESG investing that compromises economic benefit.

According to Reuters, the DOL warns that fiduciaries and proxy advisers “may be acting in ways that unwittingly allow plan assets to be used to support or pursue proxy proposals for environmental, social or public policy agendas that have no connection to increasing the value of investments.”

Adding to government, media and academe, Marxist operatives try to carve out yet another beachhead in the investment community.  The DOL proposal would be an important check against shareholder activists and capitulating corporate managements.  Too many cowardly CEOs have caved to liberal social justice warriors.  Consider their craven consumption of snake oil concerning climate change, #MeToo, diversity, racial inequality and renewable energy.  Now they embrace the patently Marxist Black Lives Matter movement contributing well over $500 million dollars, $100 million from Apple alone. Some of it finances the violence now occurring in many Democrat cities.   9/2/20

•  AMERICAN DECADENCE:  THE DEMISE OF THE NECKTIE.  In 1968, conservative presidential candidate Alabama Governor George Wallace encountered a shaggy male hippie on the campaign trail screaming at him.  In response, he yelled back in his deep southern drawl, “What you need is a haircut!”  My sentiment exactly as I witness one man after another in media appearances today sans cravat.  I bark at the screen, “What you need is a necktie!” 

It is difficult not to suspect the retiring of this badge of gentility as yet another reflection of the left’s influence in the erosion of tradition, along with suppressing history, the flag and references to God.  Globalists must relish the passing of this Western sartorial emblem.  To be fair, comfort doubtless has something to do with the tie’s demise.  But today, feel trumps appearance to an extreme.

One might say the open neck is simply a new fashion.  But serial aesthetic changes like this can lead collectively to a larger degenerative transformation on a slippery slope that ultimately undermines discipline and self-respect to the detriment of societal wellbeing. No tie today.  No shirt tomorrow.  Wearing pajama bottoms in public has become acceptable.  And consider how tattoos displays have gone from a small image in a hidden spot to increasingly common facial disfigurement.  What’s next, a tusk through the nose?

By no means a fashion plate, I just call for traditional, tasteful, form-fitting, color-coordinated attire.  By this austere standard there is no place for: baggy hip hop pants falling off the rump, jeans with holes, untucked shirts, jeans with an expensive suit jacket, or news anchors wearing expensive shirts/blouses accompanied by jeans not so well concealed under the desk.  Ok, I’m not exactly mainstream.  Hey, if I had my druthers, casual Friday at the office would be formal Friday in celebration of a culminating head of steam achieved through the inertia of a week of daily incremental diligence.  Tux, tails and a top hat would be the dress code.  Working from home?  No matter.  Rules are rules.

And then there is tie choice, about which I am generally quite flexible, but there are certain conventions.  President Trump is an inveterate tie-wearer who chooses appropriate, but limited, color schemes.  However, he wears his tie too long, as the tip should meet the center of the belt buckle.  Tucker Carlson frequently dons a particular green, yellow and red stripe combination against a plaid shirt.  Ughhhh!  He seems to make a mere token gesture to the neckwear custom.  Or, maybe he’s rebelling against it.  Recall his early years when he always wore a bow tie. Now he denounces it as displaying the equivalent of a raised middle finger on the throat. 

I’m not alone in my support for the tie.  At a speaking engagement about monetary policy I attended, Steve Forbes opined similarly after playing a brief video produced by the Federal Reserve.  A leftist institution obsessed with diversity, the Fed featured comments of dozens of employees of various ethnicities in all manner of dress.  Afterwards, Forbes aptly pointed out that every form of diversity was represented, except a guy with a tie.  8/31/20

• IS TRUMP PLAYING LEGITIMATE HARDBALL THROUGH THE POST OFFICE?  The Democrats want to maximize mail-in voting because reportedly 46% of their voters plan to vote by mail out of concern about COVID-19, versus only 11% of Republicans.  What’s more, turnout among Democrats is expected to be low out of a lack of enthusiasm for the ticket.  To compensate, Democrats capitalize on “universal voting” where election officials mail unsolicited ballots to all registered voters.  

Republicans support controllable absentee voting.  But they decry the obvious potential for fraud in universal voting as millions of undeliverable ballots become available for fabrication. Is Trump using his control over the Post Office to combat this inevitable Democratic scam?  Newly appointed Postmaster General DeJoy immediately adopted new practices which have created serious delays in mail delivery.  Before Congress, he denied accusations of interfering with the November election and said he will discontinue the changes until after the vote.  

Is President Trump orchestrating Post Office delays to limit the count of mostly Democrat mail-in ballots within the legal timetable?  Is this tactic ethical in view of the obvious fraud the Democrats are trying to create?  Call it fighting fire with fire. 8/26/20

• THE COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATIVE.  One-stop viewing for all your right-wing needs concerning politics, culture and the economy.  http://www.williamjdodwell.com  8/26/20

• THE COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATIVE.  He is the most politically incorrect gadfly on the web.  http://www.williamjdodwell.com/  8/20/20

• WHY DID I SUDDENLY LOSE 30 CONNECTIONS?  I just lost 30 connections overnight without apparent provocation.  This has not happened before.  Is Linked In playing political games as the election approaches?  http://www.williamjdodwell.com/  8/19/20 

• THE COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATIVE.  He’s an eclectic right-wing zealot with no apologies.  Check out his writing portfolio at http://www.williamjdodwell.com/archives  8/12/20

• THE COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATIVE.  He thinks the federal government should be reduced in size to operate in a Motel 6 with the porch light on to welcome the corruption monitors.

http://www.williamjdodwell.com/  8/6/20

• TRUMP MUST FIRE FAUCI NOW.  I refer to my July 3rd commentary headlined, “Dr. Fauci Is A COVID-19 Fraud” at http://www.williamjdodwell.com/special-notice-16/special-notice-20/special-notice-21/special-notice-22/special-notice-23/special-notice-24/special-notice-25/special-notice-26/special-notice-27/special-notice-28/special-notice-29/special-notice-30/special-notice-31/special-notice-32/special-notice-33/special-notice-34/special-notice-35/special-notice-36-1/special-notice-38 

If there was any doubt that Dr. Fauci is complicit with the left in the effort to defeat President Trump in November, it is now clear in view of his appearance before Congress last week.  His wholly hypocritical refusal to acknowledge the spread of COVID-19 amid the ongoing mass protests of anarchists while warning of the risks of all other congregant activity certifies his rank dishonesty.  His new status as darling of the left affirms his anti-Trump bona fides and compels his immediate termination. Dr. Birx should go as well.  Has she disagreed with Fauci on anything?

The president seems wary of the media backlash from this action because of their firm alliance with the left now.  At the very least, he should hire reopening advocates from the medical community, give them immense visibility, and let Fauci and Birx resign on their own.  The new spokespersons will shift focus from unimportant new cases in the general population to infection prevention and treatment among the vulnerable immuno-deficient, the majority of whom are elderly, especially those in nursing homes. 8/3/20

• • RIP HERMAN CAIN.  2012 GOP presidential candidate, Herman Cain, died last week at 74 from COVID-19.  He was a paragon of conservatism, a highly successful businessman, and a stellar role model for Black America. Might hydroxychloroquine have saved him?  8/3/20

  • THE COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATIVE

He’s so conservative his idea of splurging is to order a bowl of soup instead of a cup at the diner.

http://www.williamjdodwell.com/   7/29/20

• • THE COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATIVE

He’s so conservative he waters the lawn while it rains, just to be sure a spot isn’t missed.  7/22/20

http://www.williamjdodwell.com/

• IS WORKING AT HOME MORE PRODUCTIVE?

I just saw a post citing a study that finds those working at home these days put in up to 20% longer days. Really?

Recently, I drove past a public basketball court and saw it filled with middle-age white guys playing at 10 am. I turned to my wife pointing to the scene and said, that's called working from home. On the trip back an hour later the court was filled with adult black guys. I guess they take turns.

Racial injustice? No. Personal choice and First Amendment freedom of association. More productive workers? Hell no! 7/20/20

• SOMEONE LEFT THE CAKE OUT IN THE RAIN.  Recalling summers past, remember this cryptic line in Jimmy Webb’s 1968 hit “MacArthur Park”?  Here’s my unabridged piano rendition I recorded in 2014.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avq7nNsYiSg  7/16/20

• THE COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATIVE.  He fights for limited government, individual freedom, meritocracy, national sovereignty, secure borders and military strength.  As such, he wants to be your favorite right-wing extremist. http://www.williamjdodwell.com/    7/15/20

• COVID-19 HITS HOME.  The manager of my local diner told me the business is “on the brink of collapse” because of ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.  Closure would end seventy years of family ownership. The diner was going to start limited indoor service two weeks ago but Democrat New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy rescinded the Phase II reopening indefinitely because of an uptick in new cases in the SUNBELT.

Of course, the increase in coronavirus cases is primarily due to greatly expanded testing.  And COVID-19 infections are serious only for those with immuno-deficient conditions, mostly affecting the elderly, especially in nursing homes. Virtually everyone else is either asymptomatic, only mildly ill, or in the case of children, immune. Deaths, the critical metric, are now down to flu rates and heavily concentrated among the aged. But governments and media continue to ignore this science and instead obsess about new cases.  Democrat states do it to defeat Trump in November. Republicans fear the reaction of constituents whom fear-mongering media have duped about the significance of new cases.

My diner’s fate is a microcosm of what is about to permeate the country as small businesses face unsustainable revenue shortfalls. This does not have to happen. Damn the politicians and the media. 7/13/20

• • TIME FOR A MUSIC BREAK.  In these times of angst over civil unrest, it is comforting to contemplate historical parallels that remind us “This too will pass.”  Today’s protests coupled with riots and looting and calls for anarchy bring to mind a 1968 analogue.  That year the country endured the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, race riots, anti-war violence, along with the havoc at the Democrat National Convention.  For perspective, it is fitting to compare the respective turmoil.                                   

One song in particular that triggers the tumultuous memory of 1968 is Jimmy Webb’s “MacArthur Park”.  While having no thematic connection with the events of the time, the song invokes that year like the scent of a certain perfume might summon thoughts of a beloved grade school teacher.  Recall actor Richard Harris’ hit recording, and his memorable performance of the song on the Johnny Carson Show, an experience he said terrified him.

For some levity in these momentous days, I present my piano rendition of “MacArthur Park” I recorded in 2014.  Hang on for the duration. A long song with several movements that is tedious in the first three minutes, it gets more interesting later. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avq7nNsYiSg  7/9/20

• THE COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATIVE.  His idea of a diverse workforce is one with a bevy of scantily-clad women from around the world serving coffee. 7/7/20

• GET THAT MASK OFF YOUR FACE!  It’s time to fight back.  The COVID-19 mask is just a badge of compliance with the left’s program to defeat President Trump in the November election.  It is a Democrat propaganda tool to create fear and solidarity over what is a minimal health threat, but for a small sliver of the population.  The mask is neither effective nor necessary, and even harmful.  It is wholly unsupported by science.

Starting immediately, challenge the government mandate by going maskless.  Force places of business that require a mask for entry to command you to wear one.  Carry a mask in your pocket in case this happens.  In time, more and more people will be seen without a mask until critical mass is reached and victory is won. Another tactic is to wear the mask hanging from one ear as hapless Joe Biden does.  Make the enforcer call a technical foul.   

COVID-19 is not about infection cases.  It is about severity as measured by genuine hospitalizations and deaths after correcting for fraudulent statistical manipulation.  The relatively few immuno-deficient, mostly among the elderly, should self-quarantine according to their risk tolerance.   The rest of us must rebel against mask tyranny now and demand our lives back. Don't be a sucker!  7/6/20

• DR. FAUCI IS A COVID-19 FRAUD.  Why does President Trump not replace Dr. Fauci with another prominent spokesperson from the scientific community who would rebut the COVID-19 propaganda aimed at sabotaging the economic reopening and undermining his reelection?  Mysteriously, Dr. Fauci, who is corroborative or reticent about the misinformation, has been the only superstar speaking on behalf of the Administration.  A few dissenting rank and file scientists have appeared sporadically in the media, but Trump needs the regular presence of a stellar naysayer of Fauci’s stature before he was corrupted. 

An esteemed expert under the auspices of the president must expose the truth and repudiate the fallacies spread by the media to allay the fear that deters an economic recovery.

-        The oft-cited number of infection cases is not important. As such, the emphasis on testing and contact tracing that multiplies the count is misguided, except for computing an accurate fatality rate. But the left promotes a current surge as a pretext to roll back economic reopenings.  The virus cannot be contained substantially by its nature and even intensifies indoors such as during lockdowns.  Most Americans probably have been exposed without consequence.  The vast majority of confirmed cases are asymptomatic or only mildly ill.  Children are virtually immune and do not spread the disease. The elderly as the principal risk group by far should be the focus. (80% of deaths have been over 65.)

-        Only rates of hospitalization and deaths are significant indices of COVID-19 severity.  Heretofore, fatalities are commensurate with the seasonal flu.

-        COVID-19 deaths are inflated by co-morbidities and an expanded definition that now encompasses not only confirmed cases, but also those having only coronavirus symptoms, or contact with one who has tested positive. For example, one report cites a sample of seventeen cases of which only one tested positive. In addition, some have suggested that Democrat governors are incented to occasion deaths to save on Medicaid costs.

-        Hospitalizations are inflated by government financial incentives to use ventilators and classify deaths as COVID-19 related. In addition, hospitals are admitting many mildly sick patients and extending their stays unnecessarily.  This is to shore up profits by maximizing capacity utilization.  The current faux surge in hospitalizations contributes to public hysteria the left tries to promote.

Dr. Fauci has lost credibility because of inconsistent statements and his failure to acknowledge the factors above of which he must be aware.  As a liberal Democrat government bureaucrat, he is inimical to the president, regardless of his expressed objectivity.  During the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s Fauci waffled over time on the question of whether heterosexuals were seriously at risk.  The propaganda then preached that the general population was vulnerable when, in fact, AIDS always has been a gay disease that also afflicts intravenous drug abusers.  Current CDC Director, Robert Redfield, was firmly in the propagandist camp at that time. 

President Trump must appoint a prestigious truth teller to combat today’s propaganda and justify a complete return to economic and social normalcy that could save his presidency.  7/3/20

• THE COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATIVE

He’s a table-pounding, fire-breathing, bomb-throwing, frothing-at-the-mouth right-wing zealot who scares liberals into silence (and some conservatives too). 

 http://www.williamjdodwell.com/   7/1/20

October - December 2020 Miscellaneous Thoughts Posted to Linked In

By William J. Dodwell

• • THE COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATIVE ANNOUNCES ITS 2020 WOMAN OF THE YEAR.  Drumroll please …

http://www.williamjdodwell.com/special-notice-16/special-notice-20/special-notice-21/special-notice-22/special-notice-23/special-notice-24/special-notice-25/special-notice-26/special-notice-27/special-notice-28/special-notice-29/special-notice-30/special-notice-31/special-notice-32/special-notice-33/special-notice-34/special-notice-35/special-notice-36-1/special-notice-38/special-notice-39/special-notice-40/special-notice-41/special-notice-42/special-notice-43

SIDNEY POWELL

2020 Woman of the Year

Sidney Powell is a conservative lawyer who distinguished herself in 2020 on two fronts:  1) The effort to free former National Security Advisor Lt. General Michael Flynn; and 2) President Trump’s challenge to overturn the fraudulent November election.  In 2014, she published “License To Lie” about prosecutorial abuse which exposed grave improprieties in the Enron and Arthur Andersen prosecutions that led to their dissolution.  Because of her willingness to express the verboten concerning the “deep state” and international cabals, many, even conservatives, discredit her claims as “conspiracy theories”.  But she goes where angels fear to tread in the pursuit of justice.  For that, she is a heroin.

This year Ms. Powell replaced fired white shoe law firm, Covington & Burling, as defense counsel for General Flynn.  The FBI had coercively extracted an admission of lying that resulted in his imprisonment.  Ms. Powell fought to allow General Flynn to withdraw his guilty plea.  She succeeded in convincing new Attorney General William Barr to investigate partisan behavior by the FBI, a review that ended in his dropping charges, pending a routine procedural assent by federal Judge Emmet Sullivan. But this partisan jurist most inappropriately called for an investigation questioning Barr’s decision.  Ultimately, President Trump pardoned Flynn rendering the case moot.  Nonetheless, Ms. Powell demonstrated mettle and legal skill that surpassed that of the conflicted and less than dedicated former elite counsel. 

As a member of President Trump’s legal team, Ms. Powell alleged voting fraud by Dominion Voting Systems involving the changing of votes through software operated from Europe.  Although she claimed to have compelling evidence, Trump removed her from the team, seemingly begrudgingly, at the behest of certain advisers who believed she undermined the credibility of others on the legal team because of the supposed outlandishness of her allegations.  Nonetheless, she continues to pursue her case independently, but unlike the other election anomalies, her verification likely will take many months.  Ms. Powell believes the fraud involves overseas communist operatives, as well as, George Soros and the Clinton Foundation.  Conspiracy theory?  It sounds like she struck a raw nerve.

Too many dismiss ideas as conspiracy theories out of fear of inviting public ridicule, especially those who know their adversary is on to something.  The fact is, nefarious factions flourish because of that cowardice.  Truth demands those of courage to lead the charge in the face of these detractors.  Sidney Powell is one of them.

Past winners:

2019 – Heather Mac Donald  http://www.williamjdodwell.com/special-notice-16/special-notice-20/special-notice-21/special-notice-22/special-notice-23

2018 – Stormy Daniels  http://www.williamjdodwell.com/special-notice-8/special-notice-9/special-notice-10/special-notice-11   12/29/20

• • THE COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATIVE ANNOUNCES ITS 2020 MAN OF THE YEAR.  Drum roll please …

http://www.williamjdodwell.com/special-notice-16/special-notice-20/special-notice-21/special-notice-22/special-notice-23/special-notice-24/special-notice-25/special-notice-26/special-notice-27/special-notice-28/special-notice-29/special-notice-30/special-notice-31/special-notice-32/special-notice-33/special-notice-34/special-notice-35/special-notice-36-1/special-notice-38/special-notice-39/special-notice-40/special-notice-41/special-notice-42

WILLIAM J. DODWELL

2020 Man of the Year

For the third year in a row, The Comprehensive Conservative founder, William J. Dodwell, has captured its coveted Man of the Year award as he continues to defy and mock all things politically correct.  Moreover, he relentlessly condemns such leftist scourges as Marxist media, identity politics, socialist wealth redistribution, lax law enforcement and an increasingly subversive Democrat Party.  Of particular note this year, Mr. Dodwell has exposed the left-wing inspired politics of the Chinese coronavirus pandemic and the government-abetted fraud of the presidential election.  In addition, he has highlighted the institutional deterioration evident in the officially sanctioned summer violence and race pandering arising from the George Floyd incident.

In some thirty articles about COVID-19, Mr. Dodwell decried politicization and corruption in media coverage, supported by many in the scientific community out of pressure or self-interest.  To wit, those sources manipulated statistics, dismissed the potentially life-saving hydroxychloroquine, propagandized mitigation protocols, and suspended stringent editorial standards in major scientific journals to mislead the public. Indeed, nefarious media and government have created mass hysteria and unnecessary economic devastaton. Early in the pandemic, Mr. Dodwell emphasized the need to protect the vulnerable, who are mainly the immune-deficient elderly, and free others from restrictions to permit robust economic recovery.  Citing scientists, he expressed the folly of obsessing over largely inconsequential infection cases, testing and tracking, as well as unnecessary and ineffective lockdowns, social distancing and masks.

Rather, Mr. Dodwell advocates spontaneous scientifically supported herd immunity through what is mostly asymptomatic exposure, while monitoring the miniscule death rate as the key metric. But the media suppressed medical doctors endorsing this approach. At the same time, they promoted Democrat Governors exploiting the virus to hurt Trump’s reelection prospects, to prolong control over the people, and to extend and exaggerate the pandemic as pretext for demanding ever more funds from Washington. In July, Mr. Dodwell called for the president to fire Dr. Fauci, the wrong-headed darling of the left doing its bidding.

Mr. Dodwell continues to support President Trump’s challenge to the grossly fraudulent November election perpetrated by left-leaning government, media, Big Tech, timorous courts, and even the Post Office.  He urges Trump to pursue every option toward achieving victory.  If unsuccessful, that gallant effort at least will firmly establish a copiously evidentiary record of permanent protest and, as such, the illegitimacy of a Biden presidency.  The fight also exposes the unlawful operatives and tactics involved in the fraud that can spur prosecution and election reform.

Throughout the year Mr. Dodwell again regaled his audience through occasional musical performances as momentary palliatives from the ongoing pain inflicted by the left.  Modesty prevents him from blowing his horn, so, alternatively, here he is playing the piano. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrgNxZBhgoNNZ6nmb7SAKxA  (Click on “Videos”.)

The crusade continues.

Past winners:

2019 – William J. Dodwell  http://www.williamjdodwell.com/special-notice-16/special-notice-20/special-notice-21/special-notice-22

2018 – William J. Dodwell https://sites.google.com/site/thecomprehensiveconservative/special-notice/special-notice-3/special-notice-4/special-notice-5/special-notice-6   12/28/20

• • MY ANNUAL MUSICAL CHRISTMAS OFFERING.  The Comprehensive Conservative gets down and dirty this year.  Rather than draw from the traditional Christmas catalogue, I select a more uplifting performance to ease the COVID doldrums, as well as post-election depression. 

Here’s my piano rendition, warts and all, of Duke Ellington’s signature song, “Take The ‘A’ Train”, recorded on video recently. Billy Strayhorn is the underrated composer.  In the ‘30s and ‘40s the general public in New York City dressed to the nines and rode the “A” train subway up to Harlem to visit the elegant black jazz clubs. (Yes, times have changed.)  This song is a tribute to that experience.

Merry Christmas! 12/18/20

• • THE “DR.” JILL BIDEN CONTROVERSY. Joseph Epstein’s Op Ed in The Wall Street Journal of December 11, 2020 properly rejected the propriety of Jill Biden using the Doctor appellation denoting her earned Ph.D. degree in education, especially outside an academic setting.  He indicated today’s commonly lower doctoral standards do not warrant the distinction universally.  Time was when a doctorate always required original research and a substantive dissertation, subject to rigorous examination by the conferring university.   Today, even honorary doctorates are diluted as universities confer them on almost anyone.  Epstein also laments that many mistake the academic designation for a medical doctor’s title.  

 Of course, many in the media consider Epstein’s article sexist.  That’s how the paranoiac knee-jerk identity politics zealots think or feign.  In fact, Epstein would have made the same case as it relates to Joe Biden, who is even less scholarly than Jill. 

Corroborating Epstein’s point, Tucker Carlson exposed the low quality of Jill Biden’s thesis on his television program.  He showed examples of how her paper, about diversity-themed low retention rates at community colleges, is fraught with misspellings, illogic, innumeracy, illiteracy and general shallowness. 12/17/20

• • AMERICA, WE’VE GOT A PROBLEM: The Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the Texas lawsuit challenging the massively fraudulent 2020 presidential election results in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia culminates a developing disregard for the rule of law. It reflects yet another increment of the corruption, or at least weakening, of our institutions evident in recent years at the federal, state and local levels in all three branches of government fostered by the nefarious forces of identity politics, political correctness, and cowardice.

Government irresponsibility combines with the pervasive venality of mass media, Big Tech, and the Democrat Party to undermine the Constitutional norms meant to sustain the integrity of our democratic republic. Dishonest Democrat officials allowed a sham impeachment, an attempted coup by a corrupt Justice Department and FBI to remove a sitting president, and outlandish influence peddling by a vice president and a secretary of state – all with impunity. The Chinese Communist Party infiltrates government, big business and academe through the complicity of high-level American operatives.  Lawless mayors and Attorneys General accommodate Antifa and BLM terrorists, and decriminalize behaviors that seriously threaten public safety and the quality of life. Imperious Democrat governors ignore science in mandating senseless pandemic restrictions just to galvanize their power and grandstand to the far left.  State officials adopted unprecedented uncontrollable mail-in voting despite the inevitability of mass fraud.  Now even a conservative Supreme Court joins the infamy.

The High Court ruled that the Texas lawsuit, supported by 17 other Republican state attorneys general, did not have standing to justify a hearing.  That is because the Justices do not believe the plaintiff suffered injury from the claimed election procedural irregularities of other named states, even though fraudulent and maliciously implemented under the guise of a pandemic.  Texas maintains disenfranchisement by possibly millions of illegal Biden votes cast nationally that effectively nullified Trump votes in Texas by virtue of his illegitimate national loss. At bottom, massive fraud, provable by an abundance of evidence, but ignored by SCOTUS and the lower courts, denied the rightful will of the people of Texas and Republicans across America.  Texas represents in microcosm and in common cause the impact of the Trump loss on the entire nation.  Proponents believe this role constitutes valid legal standing.  In any case, the sheer scale and national importance of the case distinguishes it, thus demanding trial and remedy.

It appears that possibly seven Justices, as well as the lower courts, did not have the appetite to be party to the mammoth disruption of a successful challenge.  Rather, they seemed to cop out on the grounds of legal sophistry.  Such diffidence, and in some instances lack of integrity among judges in the lower courts, electors, governors and secretaries of state, was on display.  Not a single state court agreed to hear Trump’s case, despite overwhelming evidence that compelled prosecution. What’s more, certain state executives refused to convene their legislatures to revoke invalid voting procedural amendments enacted by the executive or judicial branches that only the legislature may legally effect. This is malfeasance.

The best laws and governmental infrastructure cannot sustain a nation if elected officials and their agents do not enforce them.  As founding father Ben Franklin said, a democratic republic is the best form of government “if you can keep it”.  The Supreme Court decision virtually precludes further recourse for redressing a blatantly stolen presidential election.  So many failed to do their jobs.  And there is no accountability.

Has corruption and timidity amid the body politic validated Franklin’s warning? Increasingly lax law enforcement, that sometimes flouts the Constitution, as well as an apathetic and uninformed electorate, may have paved the way toward the republic’s demise. Blame the clueless voter in part on systemically degraded education and cultural decline. The Supreme Court, and the judiciary in general, may no longer be expected to reliably backstop wayward government, which in this case looked the other way from election fraud. The cowardly decision in the Texas case, and those of lower courts, will encourage more voting rackets, undermining public trust and possibly causing irreparable damage to democracy in America.

More appalling is the growing acceptance among the electorate of far-left policy and corrupt tactics.  Putting aside illegal ballots, Biden probably garnered at least 70 million legitimate votes, versus Trump’s 74 million, despite his and his party’s corruption, his manifest cognitive deterioration, and a campaign of hibernation.  Hillary Clinton’s popular vote majority of 66 million in 2016 under similar circumstances was a harbinger of a dangerous sea change in U.S. politics. 

America, we’ve got a problem. 12/14/20

• • HOW ARE REPUBLICANS SECURING THE GEORGIA RUNOFFS?  GOP supporters are beating the drums really hard to alert the public about the absolute necessity of at least one Georgia U.S. Senate victory on January 5th.  In fact, President Trump plans two rallies there. But what are Republicans doing to prevent the fraud and irregularities that plagued the November 3rd presidential election?  Are they adequately thwarting Stacy Abrams and her band of crooks from orchestrating a defeat?  If her appearance is any indication of her toughness, Republicans need an army of operatives on the ground.  She looks like a defensive lineman for the Atlanta Falcons who could score three sacks a game.

Republican Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, is investigating Abrams’ groups trying to register ineligible out-of-state voters, including dead people. Can this GOP renegade be trusted?  Raffensperger has not cooperated with the Trump team’s investigation of Georgia fraud in the November election. In any case, what about controls over signatures, dates, monitors, deadlines, tabulations, missing ballots, and machine vulnerability?  Supposedly, lots of lawyers are poised for action after the fact.  But what preventive measures are in place?   

Is January 5th going to be déjà vu?  There is no excuse for it. 12/3/20

• • RIP WALTER WILLIAMS.  Black conservative economist, Walter Williams, died yesterday at 84. A staunch advocate for free markets, limited government and self-reliance who raised himself from poverty, he was a stellar model for the black community. He rejected the standard liberal nostrums of government dependency, minimum wage, rent control, and union dominance as obstacles to social and economic mobility. He preached diligence, civility, and education, including self-learning, as true instruments of progress, even in the face of discrimination.  I saw him interviewed for an hour on Mark Levin’s Sunday night program not long ago.  I’m glad I caught him one last time.  12/3/20

• DIVERSITY REARS ITS UGLY HEAD.  Nasdaq seeks approval from the SEC to impose diversity requirements on its listed companies.  Specifically, the mandate calls for minimum representation on Boards for women, minorities, and the full spectrum of LGBTQ grievers.  This governance play is a manifestation of the top-down impetus actually driving the ESG movement that pretends it is grounded in grass-roots enlightenment.  In fact, ESG emanates from the body politic, i.e., government and politicians, and trickles down to some prominent companies in symbiotic fashion. But, despite the propaganda, there is little business or even shareholder interest in ESG, except to avoid regulatory reprisal and other forms of extortion.

This development shows that Marxist socialist forces that promote identity politics are gaining traction.  But traditional corporate values remain.  Recently Wells Fargo CEO, Charles Scharf, lamented “a very limited pool of black talent to recruit from”.  At the Board level, companies certainly will have to dilute standards to comply with the Nasdaq edict.  Token hires will create resentment. 

But the Nasdaq decree will be a boon to recruiters who get to track down myriad identity groups in all kinds of habitats. How about the annual trans festival? Where do you find a Q?  12/2/20 

• NO POLITICALLY CORRECT GRAMMAR HERE.  The press recently adopted a new literary convention in which a capital “B” is used in referring to a black person, while the traditional small “w” continues for whites.  This change arose as a sympathetic gesture to blacks in the aftermath of the George Floyd incident in May.  Consider it a way of saying black lives matter.  Nonetheless, The Comprehensive Conservative at LINK will not adopt this convention unless the capital “w” is used as well.

Mass pandering to blacks followed Floyd’s death by an overdose of fentanyl in the course of resisting arrest.  The court of public opinion decided his fate was racially motivated by a murderous policeman.  But in fact, his infamous knee maneuver appears in training videos, and probably would have been applied to a white perpetrator in the circumstance.

Since Floyd’s death, the country has wallowed in mindless self-flagellation and guilt trips fostered by liberal media that prompted the grammatical change.  This repentance also lends new support for the left’s Marxist redistributionist agenda.  What’s more, it has moved craven CEOs to donate billions to BLA and Antifa terrorists, much of which they redirected to the 2020 Democratic presidential campaign.

Next stop:  Reparations?  12/1/20

• • MAYOR DAVID DINKINS BITES THE DUST.  Former New York City Mayor (1990 – 1993), David Dinkins, died recently at 93. The city's only black mayor, he was a decent man but a hopelessly incompetent leftist who helped to destroy New York. He presided over its nadir to set the stage for a renaissance under Rudy Giulliani that lasted until the current mayoral abomination in Bill De Blasio.

The late great conservative talk show host, Bob Grant, used to call Dinkins “the men’s room attendant” because he looked the part to a T.  All he needed was a towel in one hand and a brush in the other amid an array of colognes. He would have been great working at the 21 Club. 

In my book, liberals should pay for their damage beyond the grave by means of criticism upon death. This mitigates any influence they might wield posthumously through their acolytes.  But I wish Dave well in his celestial endeavors.  11/27/20

• THE COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATIVE celebrates eight years of right-wing pontification and in-your-face political incorrectness. http://www.williamjdodwell.com/  11/27/20

• TRUMP MUST NOT GET WOBBLY IN HIS ELECTION CHALLENGE.  President Trump’s credo throughout his career has been, “Never give up.”  As such, possibly apocryphal reports of wavering in his bid to overturn the election are uncharacteristic.  He does not have to concede until the Supreme Court rebukes him. Lower court rulings and state certifications do not preclude that eventuality.  Moreover, the case is truly about preserving the integrity of the electoral process, indeed the republic.  So, claims of undermining democracy by delaying the Biden transition are nonsense.

Increasingly, Republicans advise the president to throw in the towel.  But that is to protect their relationships with a Biden administration in typical RINO fashion and to avoid political retribution. Others who contemplate becoming lobbyists have to curry favor with former colleagues across the aisle.  Senator Pat Toomey comes to mind.  Chris Christy, a strident advocate of concession, likely has designs for a 2024 presidential bid and therefore wants to avoid an obstructionist label.          

The basis for Trump’s supposedly waning chances are media reports on the left and right that he has no evidence.  But his legal team has presented it in abundance, notably in Giulliani’s press conference last week.  Yes, the lawyers have to prove it, but they need opportunities to do so in court.  They cannot tip their hand and present details in the court of public opinion as the press expects.  That Pennsylvania Judge Brann, a conservative no less, denied a hearing without even considering compelling evidence seriously calls his motives into question.  Extortion and bribery are in the air.  Georgia Republican Governor Kemp is already suspect in some quarters.

However, a Nevada judge has agreed to hear evidence.  And there is some comfort in that PA, MI and AZ state legislatures plan public hearings in advance of the Electoral College meeting on December 14th.  Traditional recounts underway offer no solace if they aim simply to reaffirm a total vote without removing illegal ballots and adding missed legal ones. A correct count requires an audit.

Trump’s lawyers have to prove that abnormalities are material enough to turn the election outcome.  This should be a no-brainer given enough time.  A main issue concerns Secretaries of State waiving standard controls over signatures and postmarks through illegally amending mail-in voting procedures under the guise of COVID-19 considerations.  According to the U.S. Constitution, only the state legislature may do this.  The changes resulted in legitimizing ballots received long after election day and countless bogus voters.  

Another concern is Constitutional equal protection with respect to officials denying Republican voters the right to cure flawed ballots, and depriving Republican inspectors reasonable access to processors.  Also compelling are gross statistical anomalies in vote compilations, as well as discrepancies between the number of registrants or ballots requested versus ballots cast.  In addition, hundreds of sworn affidavits were filed. But most alarming are allegations of fraud involving the role of Dominion servers placed in Germany and Barcelona that flipped hundreds of thousands or more votes in realtime. Sidney Powell is now pursuing this on her own off the legal team. It is hoped she can adjudicate this within the prescribed electoral timetable.

No evidence?  Yet Democrats pursued a known hoax contrived to convict the president with Russian collusion respecting the 2016 election, about which four investigations uncovered no evidence whatsoever.  The polarization of today’s politics is wholly justified because it is about defending the rule of law against utterly corrupt government and media.  Overturning the 2020 election would be a major corrective.

Advice to Trump:  Hold the line. 11/25/20

• • DR. ROGER HODKINSON:  THE COVID-19 RESPONSE IS A HOAX.  An impeccably credentialed expert, Dr. Roger Hodkinson, gratifyingly corroborates my many commentaries about COVID-19 propaganda at  https://www.bitchute.com/video/hWPjDdXOWkOo/?utm_source=BenchmarkEmail&utm_campaign=Top_Pathologist_Claims_COVID-19_Is_%22The_Greatest_Hoax_Ever_Perpetrated_On_An_Unsuspecting_Public%22&utm_medium=email

He laments with open exasperation the unfounded hysteria whipped up by politicians and media.  He says nothing can control the virus.  All mitigation practices are futile, including lockdowns, social distancing and masks. Testing is ineffective, misleading and useless.  The real COVID-19 death rate for those under 70 is one in three hundred thousand. Victims should treat the virus on their own like the flu, while the relatively few vulnerable exercise caution.  Government should lift all restrictions permanently.   

In my opinion, the pharmaceutical industry is lobbying government to create an environment that demands a vaccine that will enrich drug firms and cooperating politicians. Hysteria and public gullibility ensure that demand. The media assist as an ally of big government and its leftist politics. Consistent with this scenario is the outright rejection of cheap time-proven Hydroxychloroquine, despite its demonstrated effectiveness when used early. Another manifestation of the fraud is the mass suppression of naysayers like Dr. Hodkinson. 11/23/20

• SOPHIA LOREN IS BACK.  At 86 actress Sophia Loren is back in the news on the release of a new film after a long absence. In fact, now the media feature her return as much as Alex Trebek eulogies. While many fondly recall her films, men of a certain age invoke her alter ego as a sex siren in the 1950s. I recall her as one of my favorite pin-up girls who induced raging hormones in a barely pubescent admirer. Her poster graced my wall, along with those of Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot, Gina Lolobrigida, Jayne Mansfield, et al.

But as buxom as she was, Sophia couldn’t compete with Jayne Mansfield’s legendary rack. In fact, as a kid I traded a Stan Musial baseball card for a Jayne Mansfield nudie-pic. Best decision I ever made. Of course, he went on to record nearly 4,000 hits, but with her picture … so did I.

Got a problem with this, #MeToo? 11/13/20

• ENOUGH ALREADY WITH THE ALEX TREBEK TRIBUTES.  Everywhere I turn all media lionize 46-year Jeopardy game show host Alex Trebek.  How does he rate such adulation?  Johnny Carson and Merv Griffin were television staples for thirty years who, like Trebek, died of cancer at 80. And don’t forget Steve Allen. Their send-offs were - crickets. They were much greater contributors to the culture than Trebek.  Incidentally, Griffin’s wife created the Jeopardy game at his behest. 

Apparently, all Trebek did was read questions from a card with charm.  To be fair, I never watched his program. This is not out of dislike for quiz shows, however.  As a youth I was a quiz-kid who loved “The $64,000 Question” with Dr. Joyce Brothers, “Twenty One” with the sound proof booths, and “Tic Tac Dough”.  I even had the board game versions of those shows I played with friends.  Then the infamous quiz show scandal ended the genre for many years.  I switched my attention to pole vaulting.   

Standards of excellence have really declined.  Today, one just has to be “a nice person”, a criterion borne of the culture in which everyone gets a trophy, one can't keep score at Little League baseball games, and leftist egalitarian zeal rules.  Who’s the next icon, Barney the dinosaur? 11/12/20

• REPUBLICANS JUMPING SHIP.  There seems to be a growing trend among Republicans, and even some conservatives, to concede the election to Biden, despite obvious and abundant fraud. I suspect some fear promised Democrat retaliation to be visited upon Trump supporters that could affect not only employment prospects, but business relationships.

Republican-leaning media, such as Fox and The Wall Street Journal, appear to be strangely distancing themselves from the Trump election challenge in a sort of pragmatic, go along to get along fashion. Could it be that some think support for Trump in the current circumstance implies a more overt desire to deny Kamala Harris her inevitable presidency? The possibility is no longer abstract. Even a hint of racism, however absurd, sends people running scared. Cowards all. 11/11/20

• DEMOCRAT SABOTEURS AIM AT GEORGIA SENATE ELECTIONS. The stakes are high in the special runoff elections January 5th for two Georgia Senate seats.  The results could determine the majority party in that chamber with stark consequences for national policy.  As such, one can bet that Democrat crooks are looking to extend to those contests the frauds they perpetrated in the presidential election. 

An interesting question is whether a runoff would be cancelled if a candidate satisfies the 50% threshold after applying ballot count adjustments that arise from the investigations of the presidential election. Down-ballot candidates are affected by discarded or destroyed ballots the same as the presidential candidates.  Incumbent Republican David Perdue had achieved a 50% majority by a fraction only to miss it by a fraction after suspicious subsequent tallies that triggered the runoff. He beat his January opponent, Jon Ossoff, by 1.7% in November.  But the Republican for the other seat, Kelly Loeffler, lost to her January opponent, Raphael Warnock, by 7%.  Republicans must win one of the contests to claim a Senate majority.

This is HUGE!  What precautions are Republicans taking now to prevent more fraud? Legal rules and airtight controls must be enforced in the January election.  11/11/20

• MY MUSICAL BATTLE CRY FOR OVERTURNING THE ELECTION.  The backlash to the fraudulent 2020 election is gaining steam.  In support of the fight, I present my piano rendition of “The Impossible Dream” I recorded earlier this year.  The song evokes the inspiration and indomitable spirit behind many big victories in the face of daunting odds.  We must prevail in overturning this electoral travesty.  11/10/20

• TIME TO NULLIFY BIDEN’S FAUX WIN.  President Trump’s legal team is filing lawsuits for authorization to investigate election fraud in key locations.  Particular focus centers on Philadelphia, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Detroit and all of Arizona.  The team has to marshal the many anecdotal and documentary accounts of rampant voter fraud already identified into sufficient evidence to convince judges that examination is warranted.  Additionally, certain recounts prescribed by state law will occur.

State laws govern voting protocol, but disputes will rest on court decisions.  Given the predominance of Democratic judges, governors and mayors, legal compliance and administrative cooperation are dubious.  Law enforcement was absent during the voting.  But Justice Alito has ordered Pennsylvania officials to separate late ballots as originally required. Will judges have the integrity and courage to rule for a Trump benefit where warranted?  In the Supreme Court, a new 6-3 Republican majority could neutralize an unreliable John Roberts.

The ultimate question is whether fraudulent voting is material enough to overturn the election.  In any case, fraudsters must go to prison. And state legislatures, as well as Congress, have to pass punitive election reform to ensure true democracy in America.  11/9/20

• PUBLIC HYSTERIA FROM COVID-19 PROPAGANDA MUST END.  The continued widespread fear of COVID-19 is a greater deterrent to normalcy than government restrictions. Despite the lifting of mandates, office buildings are nearly empty as employees still work from home.  Restaurants face similar public avoidance.  Schools are closed to virtually immune children. And severely limited in-person voting threatens democracy.  Indeed, people wear masks outdoors, practice social distancing, and engage in all manner of sanitization - all probably futile.

Almost never reported is the significantly diminished severity of the Chinese virus.  This natural viral attenuation has reduced an already miniscule mortality rate to that of the seasonal flu.  In addition, new infections now skew to more resistant or resilient younger people, making an even larger majority of cases asymptomatic or less than serious. 

But because of anti-Trump inspired media propaganda, public hysteria continues.  The left obsesses over new infections, engendered by massive needless testing, that are inconsequential except for potentially the relatively few immuno-deficient elderly.  The public must embrace the real science and stop fearing infection, as it is not a death sentence, and likely not even an inconvenience. 10/30/20

• NEW SEC HUMAN CAPITAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS: BAD NEWS

New SEC Human Capital Reporting Requirements are a ruse to enable government to intrude further in corporate affairs. Companies know what is in their best interest when hiring, or suffer the consequences. Employees should proactively make the best of their employment or move on. Employers need not coddle them. It's not as if sweat shops still exist.

The requirements are ultimately a pretext for forcing more politically motivated diversity on employers. However, one benefit is that the proposed controls would flag nepotism that undermines productivity.  10/13/20

• IS POST-COVID INFLATION COMING?  Businesses are raising prices significantly to compensate for lost revenue and PPE expenses related to the China coronavirus.  By my observation, 25% is common.  This pattern likely will affect goods and services across the board.  At last, the inflation the Fed has sought for more than ten years may be upon us. And, it probably will exceed by some margin the elusive 2% long targeted in monetary policy, unless consumers balk or continue to fear COVID.

The Fed’s monetary stimulus following the 2008 recession unexpectedly engendered massive inflation in financial assets as investors escaped near-zero money-market interest rates for higher returns in riskier sectors, notably stocks. That anomaly helped to discourage business investment and prolong unemployment in the real economy, suppressing demand for goods and services, along with inflation.  

If current price increases sufficiently translate to higher wages, more hiring, and wider profit margins, greater consumer spending and business investment will follow.  Then the Fed will have to raise interest rates substantially and thus normalize long-distorted capital flows.  This means a resumption of the Trump recovery in the real economy.  But now, healthy inflation may provide an added boost.  10/13/20

• THE ESG BANDWAGON IN MONEY MANAGEMENT.  Relatively lackluster returns of actively managed money management firms have created pressure to cut fees to dissuade clients from fleeing.  Alas, redemptions lower assets under management (AUM) which in turn reduce fee income to the firm.  To combat defections, as well as near-zero interest rates that may not cover money fund expenses, the asset-management industry is undergoing significant consolidation to achieve economies of scale and greater fee income from aggregated AUM. 

But another corrective strategy is to join the growing chorus promoting ESG funds, that is, those dedicated to environmental, social and governance improvement in investee companies.  Today, firms seemingly look to ESG as a promising niche by which to shore up insufficient AUM.  They figure, hey, this fad can bring in a lot of new money because many clients are dupes for the underlying corporate Marxism.  In other words, the current ESG bandwagon among firms is not necessarily out of allegiance to the sustainability craze.  

To lure skeptical investors, money managers now tout as ESG funds those invested in established well-performing companies that happened to be minimally ESG compliant.  What was that about putting lipstick on a pig? 10/12/20

• FOX NEWS VS. RED-MEAT CONSERVATIVES. An ideological leftward list at Fox disturbs core conservative viewers, many of whom are switching to right-wing NewsMax. Fox is likely sacrificing red-meat conservatives for liberal moderates disaffected by ultra-left CNN and MSNBC in the hope of achieving a significant net gain in market share.

Who are the red-meat conservatives?  They are largely table-pounding opinionated men on the far right who defy the political correctness canon in the name of traditional values and the U.S. Constitution.  Mostly borne of macho mien, this demographic requires a level of testosterone in news presentation.  Too many women commentators undermine that requisite, despite their eminent competence. Likewise, these men do not want to hear football commentary from distaff analysts, as knowledgeable as they may be.  Similarly, female sensibilities predominate on the left that underlie the beguiling maternal altruism of socialist policies.  This gender dichotomy can be as determinative as ideology in attracting or alienating red-meat viewers, notwithstanding their penchant for attractive women.  Belief systems trump libido.

Fox jettisons the red-meat principle on ideological and gender grounds.  By contrast, NewsMax gets it right.  10/5/20  

LINKS TO NOVEMBER 2020 ELECTION FRAUD EVIDENCE

Giulliani press conference about 2020 election fraud 11/18/20

https://www.c-span.org/video/?478246-1/trump-campaign-alleges-voter-fraud-states-plans-lawsuits

The Navarro Report – “The Immaculate Deception” - 2020 Voter Fraud  12/15/20

https://bannonswarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/The-Immaculate-Deception-12.15.20-1.pdf?utm_source=BenchmarkEmail&utm_campaign=Peter_Navarro_releases_36-page_report_alleging_election_fraud_%27more_than_sufficient%27_to_swing_victor&utm_medium=email  

7 Hour video about election integrity including proof of voter fraud in the November 2020 presidential election - Peter Navarro Report starts at 3:06:24

https://www.regent.edu/misc/analyzing-american-election-integrity/

Documentaries not yet available online:

“Two Thousand Mules” by Dinesh D’Souza

“Rigged” by Citizens United

AMERICA, WE’VE GOT A PROBLEM

By William J. Dodwell    December 14, 2020

The Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the Texas lawsuit challenging the massively fraudulent 2020 presidential election results in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia culminates a developing disregard for the rule of law. It further exposes the corruption, or at least weakening, of our institutions evident in recent years at the federal, state and local levels in all three branches of government fostered by the nefarious forces of identity politics, political correctness, and cowardice.

Government irresponsibility combines with the pervasive venality of mass media, Big Tech, and the Democrat Party to undermine the Constitutional norms meant to sustain the integrity of our democratic republic. Dishonest Democrat officials allowed a sham impeachment, an attempted coup by a corrupt Justice Department and FBI to remove a sitting president, and outlandish influence peddling by a vice president and a secretary of state – all with impunity. The Chinese Communist Party infiltrates government, big business and academe through the complicity of high-level American operatives.  Lawless mayors and Attorneys General accommodate Antifa and BLM terrorists, and decriminalize behaviors that seriously threaten public safety and the quality of life. Imperious Democrat governors ignore science in mandating senseless pandemic restrictions just to galvanize their power and grandstand to the far left.  State officials adopted unprecedented uncontrollable mail-in voting despite the inevitability of mass fraud.  Now even a conservative Supreme Court joins the infamy.

The High Court ruled that the Texas lawsuit, supported by 17 other Republican state attorneys general, did not have standing to justify a hearing.  That is because the Justices do not believe the plaintiff suffered injury from the claimed election procedural irregularities of other named states, even though fraudulent and maliciously implemented under the guise of a pandemic.  Texas maintains disenfranchisement by possibly millions of illegal Biden votes cast nationally that effectively nullified Trump votes in Texas by virtue of his illegitimate national loss. At bottom, massive fraud, provable by an abundance of evidence, but ignored by SCOTUS and the lower courts, denied the rightful will of the people of Texas and Republicans across America.  Texas represents in microcosm and in common cause the impact of the Trump loss on the entire nation.  Proponents believe this role constitutes valid legal standing.  In any case, the sheer scale and national importance of the case distinguishes it, thus demanding trial and remedy.

It appears that possibly seven Justices, as well as the lower courts, did not have the appetite to be party to the mammoth disruption of a successful challenge.  Rather, they seemed to cop out on the grounds of legal sophistry.  Such diffidence, and in some instances lack of integrity among judges in the lower courts, electors, governors and secretaries of state, was on display.  Not a single state court agreed to hear Trump’s case, despite overwhelming evidence that compelled prosecution. What’s more, certain state executives refused to convene their legislatures to revoke invalid voting procedural amendments enacted by the executive or judicial branches that only the legislature may legally effect. This is malfeasance.

The best laws and governmental infrastructure cannot sustain a nation if elected officials and their agents do not enforce them.  As founding father Ben Franklin said, a democratic republic is the best form of government “if you can keep it”.  The Supreme Court decision virtually precludes further recourse for redressing a blatantly stolen presidential election.  So many failed to do their jobs.  And there is no accountability.

Has corruption and timidity amid the body politic validated Franklin’s warning? Increasingly lax law enforcement, that sometimes flouts the Constitution, as well as an apathetic and uninformed electorate, may have paved the way toward the republic’s demise. Blame the clueless voter in part on systemically degraded education and cultural decline. The Supreme Court, and the judiciary in general, may no longer be expected to reliably backstop wayward government, which in this case looked the other way from election fraud. The cowardly decision in the Texas case, and those of lower courts, will encourage more voting rackets, undermining public trust and possibly causing irreparable damage to democracy in America.

More appalling is the growing acceptance among the electorate of far-left policy and corrupt tactics.  Putting aside illegal ballots, Biden probably garnered at least 70 million legitimate votes, versus Trump’s 74 million, despite his and his party’s corruption, his manifest cognitive deterioration, and a campaign of hibernation.  Hillary Clinton’s popular vote majority of 66 million in 2016 under similar circumstances was a harbinger of a dangerous sea change in U.S. politics. 

America, we’ve got a problem.

©2020 William J. Dodwell

January - March 2021 Miscellaneous Thoughts Posted to Linked In

By William J. Dodwell

• THE LIZ CHENEY REBUKE:  AN OPENING SALVO FOR 2024.  The vote to remove Liz Cheney as House Republican Conference Chair sends a clear message about the new GOP:  Anti-Trumpers and 2020 election fraud deniers are not welcome.  The next step is to name a suitable primary opponent and flip her seat in November 2022.  Meantime, let us hope the new Conference Chair, Elise Stefanik, will express full-throated support for the Trump credo in her public GOP communications.  This is questionable.  5/12/21

• CUOMO’S SEXUAL HARASSMENT VS. YESTERDAY’S OFFICE FROLICS. The brouhaha over nonsensical sexual harassment accusations against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo brings to mind better days in the office.  Time was men pursued women furtively in the cloak room.  They secretly booked reservations there like conference rooms today.  I remember one guy who banged every chick in the typing pool except one.  Insulted, she filed a discrimination complaint.  But Personnel gave him an under-the-table award for his contribution to morale.  He doubled female productivity.

Problem was there were too many accidents.  People were slipping on condoms retrieving their coats at the end of the day. So, sybarites moved to the supply closet – less traffic. Cuomo’s indiscreet MO was his downfall.  He should have sought private quarters away from cameras and witnesses.

Alas, the office culture has changed dramatically.  Today, it is all about infantile complaints about the age-old activities of office horndogs, as sleezy lawyers help clients concoct stories for big settlements.  All this amid the horrific feminist politics of the #MeToo movement.  Back in the day, men and woman in the office coexisted happily.  Now women get rich, men lose their jobs, and no one gets laid. 3/31/21   

• WHY DOES DISLOYAL GOP GEORGIA GOVERNOR KEMP GET A PASS? Last November amid a questionable Biden win in Georgia because of alleged fraud, Republican Governor Brian Kemp refused to intervene on behalf of Trump.  Trump supporters looked to him to call a special session of the legislature to vote on a separate slate of presidential electors. Kemp claimed he could not constitutionally oblige.

Purportedly, Kemp struck a secret deal with far-left Democrat Stacy Abrams, his 2018 gubernatorial opponent. She would withdraw her lawsuit against Kemp for allegedly hacking voter registration records as Secretary of State in exchange for his not convening the legislature as Trump urged. 

Now Kemp is a Republican hero for just signing a new law curtailing mail-in voting protocols.  Apparently, the party has forgiven his November disloyalty inasmuch as now any mention of election fraud is verboten in all media, including conservative outlets.  Following Kemp’s decision against Trump, his polling in Georgia plummeted to the low twenties with no electoral prospects in the state. Now it looks like the GOP is resurrecting him. Republican cowardice is a major problem.  It is why we need Trump.  3/30/21

• THE COVID-19 AGENDA:  FOLLOW THE MONEY.  Why does the coronavirus shindig continue?  Consider the monetary incentives.

Democrat politicians:  They suppress the economy through austere mandates and then promote massive unrelated federal spending as relief. The payouts ingratiate individuals to the party at the ballot box and foster government dependence.  The largess also garners campaign donations from lobbying corporations and institutions, especially the teachers’ unions. Lockdowns empower Democrat leaders to prolong the malaise to justify more monetary remediation.

PPE manufacturers:  Protracted restrictions enrich the manufacturers of masks, gloves, plexiglass, etc.  While the pandemic is well on the wane, ads for masks abound. 

Vaccine manufacturers:  A powerful cabal torpedoed cheap therapeutics, including hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin, to benefit pharmaceuticals through the production of lucrative new vaccines.  The current move to maximize inoculation, including naturally immune children, ensures optimal dollar sales and campaign donations.

Teachers’ unions:   They shamefully leveraged school openings for some $200 billion of COVID-19 “relief” to the serious detriment of children.  They earmark some of the cash for campaigns of far-left Democrats well into the future.  3/29/21

• YOU WANT PROOF?  HERE IT IS.   

https://www.regent.edu/misc/analyzing-american-election-integrity/

In case you missed Mike Gemmell’s LI post, I promote it here as well.  This is a seven-hour video presentation of evidence establishing voter fraud and irregularities last November.  Particularly noteworthy is Peter Navarro’s report that starts at 3:06 (three hours, six minutes).  If only the courts had the integrity and courage to hear this slam-dunk case.

Most significantly, Navarro’s analysis shows that a 300,000 vote margin of victory for Biden in six battleground states is challenged by 3 million invalid ballots.  As such, the shenanigans unquestionably turned the election. 3/25/21

• THE HOAX EVOLVES IN THE FORM OF “LONG COVID”.  For a year, governments have reported fabricated rates of COVID-19 infection, hospitalization and death.  The left also has deceived the public about the efficacy of mitigation protocols, and the duration of the acute viral threat.  Now a new phase emerges called “long COVID” which refers to the supposed long-term effects of the disease.  According to The Wall Street Journal, this scope creep creates more opportunities to cash in.  Medical and patient activist groups attribute all manner of ailments to COVID a year or more after its onset, in the quest for yet more federal monies for research and treatment.

Reports of long COVID are initially alarming as patients claim maladies including chronic brain fog, severe fatigue, and even paralysis.  But on closer analysis, health authorities have found that many illnesses derive from psychogenic comorbidities unrelated to COVID-19 (like the exaggerated death tolls).  In fact, some researchers attribute long COVID to subjects who never had symptoms and to those who tested negative. So much for science.   

 The pseudoscience is working inasmuch as the National Institute of Health (NIH) announced a $1.15 billion commitment to long COVID research.  Will the COVID charade ever end? 3/24/21

• THE COVID RUSE.  The corrupt Democrat Party and its media allies have achieved their COVID-19 goal: to establish a pretext to expand the welfare state and consolidate federal control toward creating a socialist country.  The left, with a PR assist from its dishonest pawn, Dr. Fauci, has protracted the malaise for a year and continues to exaggerate concern even after vaccinations are available.  Indeed, through manipulated COVID statistics and false alarm they have deceived and scared the public. Accordingly, the left contrived justification for $6 trillion of government “relief” spending, a small fraction of which is COVID related.  The latest installment of $1.9 trillion was only 9% relevant. 

In the process, the national debt has mushroomed to $28 trillion, while the Federal Reserve has amassed a $7.5 trillion balance sheet from the purchase of Treasury bonds that fund the spending.  Meanwhile, inflationary fears brew.

Most significant are hundreds of billions to bail out profligate Democrat state and local governments, and to enrich the nefarious teachers’ unions under the guise of school aid, much of which will be siphoned to Democrat campaigns for years.  Additional monies will target leftist social programs that benefit illegal aliens and support sanctuary cities.   3/15/21  

• WHY DO NURSING HOME OWNERS GET A PASS IN THE CUOMO DEBACLE?  The media are not forthcoming with the whole story about New York Governor Cuomo’s strange order to relieve overburdened hospitals by moving infected COVID-19 patients to nursing homes, killing thousands of healthy inhabitants.  Remaining unanswered is the question as to why Cuomo did not move the sick to some 4,000 beds available in the near-unoccupied Javits Convention Center and the Mercy ship, both provided earlier by President Trump at Cuomo’s request.  It seems the reason is a barely reported self-serving quid pro quo between Cuomo and the nursing home owners.   

Nursing home lobbyists prevailed on Cuomo to move upscale coronavirus patients in hospitals to nursing homes at regular rates to compensate for their largely lower paying Medicaid population.  As protection from lawsuits stemming from the higher death toll that would result, the nursing homes sought legal immunity.  Cuomo surreptitiously arranged such legislation in exchange for over $1 million of healthcare industry donations to his 2018 re-election campaign.  He also reported thousands of nursing home deaths as hospital fatalities to minimize scrutiny.

We know about Cuomo’s role.  But who are the nursing home owners and why are they protected?  3/9/21

• CUOMO’S INFANTILE ACCUSERS.  Conservatives talk about affording New York Governor Cuomo due process regarding charges of sexual harassment.  But the allegations do not warrant investigation as the issue is a nothing-burger, and the right should say so.  The seemingly male-averse complainants act like children.  Charlotte Bennett in her CBS interview looked like 25 going on 11.  Time was when a firm “no” or, if necessary, a slap settled the issue.  And it was kept private. No word from the left about Tara Reid’s much more serious claims against Biden.

The accusers should have a good talk with their mothers (or grandmothers).  They would tell them that the grown up world is full of horndogs like Cuomo and they should learn to respond like adults.  Besides, many women would welcome the attention the governor gave them, however socially inappropriate.  The mass denunciation of Cuomo-like behavior could deny them that experience.

Naysayers should consider the glass half-full.  Men have come a long way from the cave man who clubbed his woman on the head and dragged her by the hair to his lair.  And they have changed significantly since the days of “Me Tarzan, you Jane.”  Be grateful for the progress.  3/8/21

• KUDOS TO TRUMP FOR ADDRESSING ELECTION FRAUD AT CPAC.  I wondered whether Trump would address last November’s election fraud in his recent CPAC speech.  The topic has become verboten, even among conservatives, much like the Obama birther issue some years ago. Happily, Trump defiantly obliged, albeit an hour into his delivery, for fifteen minutes, and more later. 

Republicans are doomed if they do not prevent repetition of last fall’s electoral abomination.  Trump cited specific process remedies that used to be standard practice.  The right strangely insists on denying voter fraud, claiming there is “no evidence”.  Trump not only again referenced obvious signs of fraud, but also faulted the cowardly courts, including SCOTUS, for refusing to hear the fraud case, or opine on the unconstitutional override of state legislatures. The judiciary abrogated its duty in fear of political backlash to successful prosecution.  A disgrace!

A voting machine company has sued Rudy Giulliani and Mike Lindell, CEO of MyPillow, in separate billion-dollar suits for defamation arising from their public fraud allegations. Both defendants expressed elation at the opportunity to present proof in court through discovery. The plaintiff will likely withdraw when they see how compelling the evidence is. 3/3/21

• HANG CUOMO FOR NURSING HOME DEBACLE, NOT SEXUAL HARASSMENT.

I relish the widespread scorn for New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.  His outrageous nursing home order, along with his leftist policies, his crooked politics and his thuggish demeanor, scream for his demise.  But the brouhaha over his sexual harassment is a leftist ruse. Don't fall for it, conservatives. 

Now that Cuomo is a dead duck for his nursing home cover up, the left freely throws him to the wolves for sexual harassment as a ploy to revive the discredited “MeToo” movement. The left’s silence amid Tara Read’s accusations of sexual misconduct against Joe Biden exposed its utter hypocrisy and sent the movement underground.  Now liberals capitalize on broad anti-Cuomo sentiment to reactivate #MeToo and apply it to Cuomo’s conduct to restore it as a feminist weapon and tool for enrichment.

The sexual harassment racket unjustly destroyed men who fell victim to man-hating women, their greedy lawyers, and cowardly corporations.  (See my 2018 manifesto excoriating the #MeToo movement https://sites.google.com/site/thecomprehensiveconservative/culture/current-commentary ) All Cuomo did was hit on a couple of chicks in the office.  Time was, men did that in the cloak room away from cameras and witnesses.  The Cuomo expose` must not resuscitate support for #MeToo.  3/2/21

• RUSH LIMBAUGH RIP.  Conservative icon Rush Limbaugh died Wednesday of lung cancer at 70.  His radio show aired nationally for 32 years.   

I met Rush as a member of his television studio audience in 1992.  The show taped at 6 pm in New York City and aired at 2 am.  There was a distinct atmosphere of security hypersensitivity in the studio as several plainclothes security personnel monitored the room intensely.  At the time, his first book, “The Way Things Ought To Be”, had been released.  I wrote a glowing but frank review of it and his TV show, and presented it to Rush when he did a book signing before going on the air.  See my letter at http://www.williamjdodwell.com/archives (Click View.) 

Mindful of security concerns, I gingerly removed the letter from my jacket pocket so not to alarm the vigilant security guys, who I feared might perceive such a sudden move as drawing a gun.  In fact, I saw one official flinch at my action.  

My point is that even then, the left hated Limbaugh as a universal symbol of conservatism.  So much so, it seemed security feared assassination attempts. Today it is worse as the left targets all conservatives, even private citizens. 2/18/21

• • JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR:  LEGAL, BUT ILLIGITIMATE PRESIDENT

Massive election fraud nullified President Trump’s victory. States changed election rules without the approval of legislatures as required by the U.S. Constitution. Government and media ignored abundant evidence of invalid election-turning votes that Trump’s legal team presented to battleground state legislatures.  This nullification encouraged cowardly courts to deny hearings through which to prove fraud in discovery.  Judges and others looked the other way because they feared accusations of racist voter suppression.

Democrats and media ignored decades of Biden bribes and influence peddling with China, Ukraine and others definitively documented in son Hunter’s confiscated laptop computer.  Joe Biden’s compromised relations with China make him a national security risk.  Democrats, the DOJ, media, and Big Tech concealed or denied criminal details.  Polls suggest this suppression turned the election for Biden. Fair prosecution would have imprisoned him.

Biden’s ostensible dementia raises 25th Amendment considerations that make him captive to deep state unelected Marxist puppet masters.  Many expect Democrat operatives will invoke this provision to install ultra-left Vice President Kamala Harris. 1/20/21

• CONSERVATIVE STALWART BRIT HUME SURPRISES ON ELECTION FRAUD.  The other night on the Tucker Carlson program the always insightful Brit Hume, the Dean of real journalism, rejected the claim of systematic election fraud last November.  In fact, he was quite emphatic, angrily calling the notion “balderdash”.  This demonstrates how verboten the issue has become in view of the quiet presumption everywhere that correcting the vote, mostly in black cities, would trigger dreaded accusations of voter suppression.

Given Hume’s historical perspicacity, he does not likely believe the election was legitimate.  Doubtless, he is following orders from Fox brass.  So averse is Fox to the issue that frequent guest Rudy Giuliani, who leads the charge for proving the fraud, can no longer get appearances on the network.

LBJ famously said regarding coverage of the Viet Nam War, that when he lost the support of news icon Walter Cronkite, he lost the nation.  Similarly, conservatives might be inclined to think that not having Brit Hume on board is to their serious detriment.  Yes, but the fight will continue because half the nation believes the fraud is a grave threat to the republic. 1/15/21

• LEFTISTS INCITED HAVOC IN THE CAPITOL, NOT TRUMPERS.  Ten thousand National Guard troops stand ready to pounce on Inauguration Day if necessary.  Could it be that the Capitol police were unprepared for the trespassers on January 6th because they did not expect any threat from a REPUBLICAN rally?  Consider the unfettered celebration of Democrats for Biden’s victory in Times Square New York City where store windows, previously boarded up during recent BLM and Antifa riots, were on display.  After all, who would expect Trump supporters to interfere?

Might the history of non-violence at Trump and Tea Party rallies have lulled capitol law enforcement into complacency?  The DC police should have considered the possibility of disguised leftist infiltrators intent on making trouble. Did a BLM/Altifa Trojan Horse do them in?  Will the Democrats even allow troops to engage violent Soros-backed anarchists at the inaugural?

Reports now reveal that the Capitol siege was in the making for some time beforehand involving leftist activists.  And the attack started before Trump’s rally ended.  Surprise, surprise.  Yet a negligent Congress summarily impeached President Trump again for inciting insurrection with no hearings, investigation or defense.  A travesty! 1/15/21

• 2020 ELECTION FRAUD HAS BECOME A THIRD-RAIL ISSUE.  Questioning Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory in respect of alleged fraud has become verboten in all quarters subject to banishment from polite society, and even retribution.  Virtually no opinion about fraud is tolerated anymore on the left or the right.

Despite abundant evidence presented by Rudy Giulliani and Sydney Powell to several state legislatures, including hundreds of sworn affidavits, some 60 courts irresponsibly dismissed it without scrutiny, precluding the opportunity to prove the fraud in discovery.  Even testament to the allegations in the request of certain state legislatures to rescind their slate of electors in the recent Electoral College certification process was not enough.  Congress denied the request without review, compounding the apparent judicial nullification.

The media also ignore a separate two-volume report of election irregularities and fraud by Peter Navarro.  While the individuals mentioned are partisans of the president, their voluminous and detailed findings, including outcome determinative statistical anomalies, certainly warrant independent investigation that can spur judicial relief.  Instead, the response everywhere is an incessant mantra of “no evidence”.  Didn’t Goebbles do this?  Don’t the Holocaust deniers do this?

Of course, the media-coerced “consensus” rejecting election fraud makes that position more suspect as we learned from precedents concerning Obama’s birthplace, the AIDS hoax of the 1980s, and climate-change.

Obama’s birthplace:  Compelling questions abounded about Obama’s birthplace as it related to his Constitutional eligibility for the presidency.  But they were dismissed out of hand by all media without any investigation, despite copious evidence indicating his foreign birth.  Media vilified those who challenged his legitimacy as racist.  Few dared to broach the topic, notably one courageous Donald J. Trump. His persistent call for an authentic birth certificate (which has yet to be proffered) reflected a fighter for truth. That quality hit a responsive chord for much of the electorate in 2016 who refused to be duped. Today most Americans do not believe Obama was born in the U.S.

The AIDS crisis:  In the 1980s virtually all media closed ranks to promote the lie that the general population was at risk to AIDS.  In fact, the disease has always been a gay illness that also afflicts intravenous drug abusers.  The left in particular tried to democratize the scourge to dispel the stigma that fell to the gay community, and to maximize public empathy to attract more donation for research.  After about ten years, people finally got wise to the fraud forcing some activists to admit their dishonesty.

Climate-change:  For many years the media have promoted the notion that climate-change is “settled science” that should not be questioned.  But the propagandists took a big hit to their credibility in 2011 when emails from East Anglia University revealed serious data suppression and manipulation, as well as systematic banishment of dissenting scientists. Happily, in recent years naysayers have emerged in growing numbers amid an increasingly skeptical public. These heros have exposed innumerable examples of misinformation and fraud in the scientific community.

In each case truth gradually emerged, if not completely, as the propaganda flies in the face of reality when skepticism reaches critical mass. Will the increasingly strident prohibition against 2020 election fraud talk meet the same fate?  1/14/21

• WHO CAN REPLACE TRUMP?  Who can succeed one of the greatest presidents in U.S. history to lead the political right in the fight against the tyrannical left?  President Trump’s unparalleled courage, energy, and force of personality were determinative to his enormous success.  Unfortunately, a clone does not appear on the political scene today. 

Until the recent riot in the Capitol, pundits deemed Trump the undisputed leader of the GOP and a shoo-in for the 2024 nomination. His candidacy would have tremendous impetus from the determination to avenge the fraudulent 2020 election.  But now, the conventional wisdom says he is through as former allies jump ship in droves. What’s more, the Democrat Party, Big Tech, media, and even corporate America, have formed a powerful gestalt that intimidates the populace into rejecting Trump, his principles, and his supporters.  That force stifles free speech, and threatens job security, business relationships, reelection prospects, and even the safety, of those who dare to resist.  

Another Donald Trump can best turn this tyranny around. Perhaps there is such a person watching in obscurity ready to rise to the occasion.  But he would have to reinvigorate despairing conservatives and overcome a gullible electorate.

Where is Trump 2.0?  1/13/21

• THE DIRTY LITTLE SECRET BEHIND ELECTION FRAUD DENIAL. Wonder why so many Republicans and conservatives have capitulated to the lie that there is no evidence of fraud in the November presidential election? The reason is that if the illegitimate ballots were invalidated, the impact would not only turn the election, but greatly reduce the black vote, inasmuch as the major fraud mostly occurred in black population centers.  

The political right is DEATHLY afraid of the inevitable backlash that would cry racist voter suppression, especially in view of the George Floyd incident.  This fear applies to Republicans and conservatives across the board, including those in government, media and the courts, even SCOTUS.

This racial deference is consistent with official acquiescence to the BLM summer riots.  We saw mayoral orders for police to stand down, no arrests or no-bail release of arrestees, and the release of prisoners because of potential COVID infection, irrespective of public safety. What’s more, many recoil at billions of dollars of corporate donations to BLM, some of which funded its violence.

The Marxist left capitalizes on the racial hypersensitivity it has created through the scourge of identity politics.  Everyone is running scared amid institutionalized cowardice. 1/12/21

• TRUMP DID NOT INCITE THE CAPITOL RIOTS  The events at the Capitol building caused by a few overzealous Trump supporters resulting in five deaths was reprehensible.  However, the Democrats and the media exploit the incident as a pretext to remove President Trump from office and eradicate the MAGA movement altogether. Many craven Republicans, including conservatives, have joined the groupthink. 

President Trump led a colossal legitimate rally predicated on the immensely fraudulent 2020 presidential election. Afterwards, Trump called for a march to the Capitol to demonstrate peaceably.  HE DID NOT ADVOCATE VIOLENCE.  Rather, he passionately urged VP Pence to support certain state legislators inside who requested to rescind their slates of electors.  Trump also voiced support for a ten-day election audit. 

Sadly, a relative handful of unarmed rogues stormed the capitol offices.  But it appears a number of Antifa thugs were involved, some of whom were seen at the rally. Men scaling the wall appear to be professional rock climbers. In addition, some capitol police reportedly opened the doors inviting entrance.  Eventual corroboration by arrestees may establish left-wing infiltration.  In any case, the incident should not be an indictment of the president and his law-abiding supporters. 1/11/21

2020 ELECTION FRAUD HAS BECOME A THIRD-RAIL ISSUE

By William J. Dodwell    January 14, 2021

Questioning Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory relative to alleged fraud has become verboten in all quarters subject to banishment from polite society, and even retribution.  Virtually no opinion about fraud is tolerated anymore on the left or the right.

Despite abundant evidence presented by Rudy Giulliani and Sydney Powell to several state legislatures, including hundreds of sworn affidavits, some 60 courts irresponsibly dismissed it without scrutiny, precluding the opportunity to prove the fraud in discovery.  Even testament to the allegations in the request of certain state legislatures to rescind their slate of electors in the recent Electoral College certification process was not enough.  Congress denied the request without review, compounding the apparent judicial nullification.

 The media also ignore a separate two-volume report of election irregularities and fraud by Peter Navarro.  While the individuals mentioned are partisans of the president, their voluminous and detailed findings, including outcome determinative statistical anomalies, certainly warrant independent investigation that can spur judicial relief.  Instead, the response everywhere is an incessant mantra of “no evidence”.  Didn’t Goebbles do this?  Don’t the Holocaust deniers do this?

Of course, the media-coerced “consensus” rejecting election fraud makes that position more suspect as we learned from precedents concerning Obama’s birthplace, the AIDS hoax of the 1980s, and climate-change.

Obama’s birthplace:  Compelling questions abounded about Obama’s birthplace as it related to his Constitutional eligibility for the presidency.  But they were dismissed out of hand by all media without any investigation, despite copious evidence indicating his foreign birth.  Media vilified those who challenged his legitimacy as racist.  Few dared to broach the topic, notably one courageous Donald J. Trump. His persistent call for an authentic birth certificate (which has yet to be proffered) reflected a fighter for truth. That quality hit a responsive chord for much of the electorate in 2016 who refused to be duped. Today most Americans do not believe Obama was born in the U.S.

 The AIDS crisis:  In the 1980s virtually all media closed ranks to promote the lie that the general population was at risk to AIDS.  In fact, the disease has always been a gay illness that also afflicts intravenous drug abusers.  The left in particular tried to democratize the scourge to dispel the stigma that fell to the gay community, and to maximize public empathy to attract more donation for research.  After about ten years, people finally got wise to the fraud forcing some activists to admit their dishonesty.

Climate-change:  For many years the media have promoted the notion that climate-change is “settled science” that should not be questioned.  But the propagandists took a big hit to their credibility in 2011 when emails from East Anglia University revealed serious data suppression and manipulation, as well as systematic banishment of dissenting scientists. Happily, in recent years naysayers have emerged in growing numbers amid an increasingly skeptical public. These heros have exposed innumerable examples of misinformation and fraud in the scientific community.

In each case truth gradually emerged, if not completely, as the propaganda flies in the face of reality when skepticism reaches critical mass. Will the increasingly strident prohibition against 2020 election fraud talk meet the same fate?

©2021 William J. Dodwell

April - June 2021 Miscellaneous Thoughts Posted to Linked In

By William J. Dodwell

• COURT SILENCES GIULIANI - POLITBURO STYLE.  With no evidence, the NY State Supreme Court suspended Rudy Giuliani’s NY law license for posing a “threat” to the public through his “lies” about the November 2020 presidential election. The court said his claims weaken a nation supposedly riven over the legitimacy of the president, as evidenced by the “insurrection” on January 6th.  WHAT NONSENSE! The court denied Giuliani’s freedom of speech to cite abundant evidence of gross election irregularities corroborated by witnesses.  In fact, all the courts refused to hear his case for fear of a successful prosecution.

Instead, Giuliani had to present evidence to state legislatures. Some legislators recanted and tried to challenge election certification on January 6th. Others, in light of ongoing audits in Arizona and Georgia, are calling for their own audits. Evidence? See Peter Navarro's three-volume study on the November 2020 debacle. A summary appears at https://lnkd.in/d2TUG87 (start at 3:06:21)

The most horrifying revelation of the November 2020 experience is the cowardice and corruption of the courts, including SCOTUS. We have come to expect venality in Congress, the Administration and media. But until now the judiciary has been the last line of defense against it. Its abdication is a severe threat to the Republic, not Giuliani. 6/28/21

• WHAT THE HELL IS JUNETEENTH?  We all know that June 19th is now a national holiday commemorating the end of slavery in 1865.  But as a matter of linguistic curiosity, why is it called Juneteenth? 

Nowhere in media is this obvious question raised.  All references to the term revert to stock verbiage about the holiday’s founding but never explain the idiom.  It is like the recent Saturday Night Live skit featuring Elon Musk in which he avoids the definition of Dogecoin.  When asked several times what it is, Musk just repeated marketing blather without defining it, only to concede it is a con.  Whether that is the case with Juneteenth is a question for another day.

A Google search discloses only that Juneteenth is a blend of June and nineteenth.  But the same term could apply to June thirteenth through eighteenth. The holiday started as Freedom Day, then became Jubilee Day, and finally Juneteenth in the 1890s. Does the universal silence about the term’s etymology suggest something politically incorrect that warrants suppression? At the very least, the omission is yet another example of journalists not doing their job. 6/21/21

• ESG:  SOCIALIST TOOL. Left-wing zealots aim to re-direct capital according to ESG criteria in the effort to force diversity, climate-change and stakeholder interests in corporate policies. Many cravenly woke CEOs oblige.

Leftist asset-management firm BlackRock is in the vanguard of ESG investing.  With $9 trillion under management it has unparalleled control over investor proxy votes it casts in support of progressive issues.  So do liberal proxy advisory firms that recommend votes to fund managements on behalf of investors.  Money managers also push ESG investments for the higher fees, lower returns notwithstanding.   

An expensive proxy fight forced ExxonMobil to place three environmental activists on its Board. They hope to switch the firm’s production away from fossil fuels, which will result in oil shortages and higher prices. 

Private-equity firms consider linking compensation to the ESG profile of investee companies. In particular, new carbon emission risk raises bond yields and the cost of capital for all issuers.

Even the Federal Reserve contemplates augmenting its historical dual economic mandate to incorporate climate-change. Noncompliance would result in restrictions on bank lending and other capital deployment to the detriment of profitability and investor returns. 

The left has designated corporate America a role in creeping socialism.  A growing ESG footprint is one of the measures.  6/16/21

• THE MASK FREAKS PERSIST.  Leftist NJ Governor Murphy lifted all Covid restrictions May 19th. (He is up for reelection in November.)  But many continue to wear masks even though statistics suggest the pandemic is virtually over.  What is wrong with these people?  Some do it out of sheer ignorance about the real danger of the China virus.  Others wear a mask because of irrational fear rooted in emotional instability. Perhaps the unvaccinated are just extra cautious. The vaccinated ones are real idiots.

These weaklings personify the apathy that feeds the socialism now visible in government, media, academe, corporations, Big Tech and even the military. Unmandated mask-wearing is emblematic of leftist brainwashing that encourages yet more intransigence.  This mindlessness is a big reason why a demented blathering fool (nominally) won the Whitehouse last November.  The mask brigade plays right into the hands of the propagandists.

It is time to shame the mask freaks who embolden the government tyrants.  Visibly frown and snicker at them.  Ask them why they still don the cloth.  Make them feel like fools. Maybe this treatment will make some of them realize their stupidity and motivate them to think rationally when they cast their ballots.  6/3/21

• BILLY JOEL’S “JUST THE WAY YOU ARE”.  Taking a break from my political warfare, I present my piano rendition of Billy Joel’s “Just The Way You Are” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-oxGqAHBoo  5/18/21

• ·ARE INFLATION WORRIES OVERBLOWN?  Unexpected y/y inflation of 4.2% in April has raised broad concern.  But that price rise derives from a COVID depressed baseline that reflects 4.1% deflation in April 2020.  Subsequent y/y inflation will incorporate recovering 2020 prices. 

Natural inflation from pent-up demand amid receding COVID concerns is to be expected.  Ideally, balanced supply and demand will stabilize prices, but certain temporary disruptions loom. 

Considerable inflation arises from widespread price increases to compensate for COVID losses.  Labor shortages will diminish as unemployment benefits expire.  Energy disturbance at the Colonial Pipeline will end soon.  However, a protracted chip scarcity restricts manufacturing.  And the Keystone pipeline stoppage ensures higher oil prices. 

More problematic is $6 trillion of government stimulus that the Fed finances by creating money.  The Fed also encourages excessive spending everywhere through extremely low interest rates.  A key control is the Fed’s timing of interest rate hikes which it will defer until inflation reaches a sustained 2%. 

While expected robust growth and the end of temporary disruptions will contain inflation, prolonged capacity constraints and unchecked fiscal and monetary stimulus will entrench it.  5/17/21

• • THE LIZ CHENEY REBUKE:  AN OPENING SALVO FOR 2024.  The vote to remove Liz Cheney as House Republican Conference Chair sends a clear message about the new GOP:  Anti-Trumpers and 2020 election fraud deniers are not welcome.  The next step is to name a suitable primary opponent and flip her seat in November 2022.  Meantime, let us hope the new Conference Chair, Elise Stefanik, will express full-throated support for the Trump credo in her public GOP communications.  This is questionable.  5/12/21

  • WHAT I’M HEARING AT THE DINER.  Scuttlebutt at the local diner can be a bellwether for national thought.  Here is what I am hearing.

The diner cannot hire enough staff because prospects choose to stay home collecting enhanced unemployment benefits.  As a result, the angry manager and the assistant manager have to wait tables, and employees have to work up to eleven-hour shifts. 

People think Biden is doing a good job.  They are blinded by the stimulus checks and their lofty 401(k) balances. They have no understanding of the long-term effects of all the profligate spending on inflation and the national debt.  One customer said, “Just take the money.”  As Rush Limbaugh used to say, “It’s tough competing with Santa Clause.” 

A waitress expressed her chagrin about President Trump detaining migrant children in “cages” apparently unaware of worse conditions under Biden and Obama. She believes the lie that Trump created the chaos.  Never mind that Biden lured migrants by the hundreds of thousands after Trump stanched the flow and then shut down unneeded detainment facilities. 

A customer wore a mask until her order was ready and then dangled it from one ear while eating.  Talk about brainwashed! 

The effectiveness of liberal media propaganda is appalling. 5/11/21

• • FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN TAXPAYER LOSSES:  I TOLD YOU SO.  The Wall Street Journal published a front-page piece on 4/30/21 about a 2019 report produced by a retired Chase executive for Education Secretary Betsy De Vos.  That report detailed bad accounting that long distorted the reported profitability of the student loan program.  It confirms my 2015 white paper that also exposed the flawed government accounting methodologies that yielded annual reported profits that really were significant losses.  Upon completion, I sent my report to two congressional committees and the Editorial Board of the Journal.  See my paper at  https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2653119

At bottom, the 2019 report concluded that the current $1.6 trillion student loan portfolio is overvalued by about $500 billion.  This implied 33% default rate corroborates the radical inadequacy of the 13% rate reported by the government at the time of my report.  That default shortfall formed the basis of the hidden taxpayer losses that both reports highlight.

Since the Biden administration rejects the De Vos report as politically motivated, the chicanery on the people will continue.  But perhaps the issue is moot because Biden may eventually grant blanket loan forgiveness.  He currently proposes a $10,000 reduction of every loan.  5/6/21

• • GOVERNOR CUOMO SHOULD CLAIM HORNDOG RIGHTS.  Governor Cuomo’s tribulations regarding ongoing #MeToo sexual harassment allegations could be a lightning rod for horndog equity and the notion that men too deserve protection.  Specifically, under the U.S. Constitution they have the inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness, even through carnal indulgence.  In fact, it would behoove Cuomo to invoke horndog rights in his own defense.  At present, society views sexual harassment solely from the perspective of women as they often level nonsensical career-ending accusations against men, sometimes for profit and from decades prior.

It is time to fight back.  Cuomo could lead the charge on behalf of fellow horndogs vis a vis #MeToo, especially in the workplace. Their actions have been integral to human relations throughout history.  While men must temper their impulses, they must not be stifled as to deny receptive women their wont.  Indeed, horndogs do a service.  The issue would be a vote-getter on the hustings, and law firms could create a new practice in horndog rights.   

Cuomo’s nursing home debacle, his leftist politics, and his thuggish style are anathema.  But through his advocacy for horndog rights, he could restore balance in the battle of the sexes.  5/3/21

• HOW ABOUT ANOTHER #MeToo JOKE?  In support of NY Governor Cuomo as he faces continued media scorn for meaningless #MeToo sexual harassment accusations, and in commiseration with office horndogs everywhere, I present another of my #MeToo jokes.  (I posted this four years ago in the wake of Bill O’Reilly’s firing by Fox News.)

Sally works in the accounting department at Deep Pockets Corporation.  But she moonlights at a local strip club.  She swings from a pole until 3 am with dollar bills protruding from every orifice (customer tips).  Then she goes home and bangs four guys before breakfast. 

She manages to roll into the office at 10:30 whereupon her boss, Ed, overlooking her lateness, says with a smile, “You look nice today.”  Sally snaps indignantly, “How dare you reduce me to an object of your prurient interest.  I’m deeply hurt.”  

She proceeded to file a $7 million sexual harassment lawsuit ------ and WON!  Now she owns the strip joint. 4/29/21

• • THE OSCARS BOMB BIG TIME.  HOW SWEET IT IS!  The 2021 Oscars program registered historically low ratings as less than 10 million viewers watched. That is 58% less than last year’s nadir and more than 80% off its 1998 peak of 60 million pairs of eyeballs. This is a veritable orgasm for conservatives.

As a perennial online Oscars boycotter, I did not watch the program.  However, I did look at some newspaper accounts and television video clips.  What a farce!  Still reacting to past criticism about a lack of diversity, the producers went all out to highlight “people of color”.  It was a pandering fest that clearly invoked the Bard’s admonition, “Doth protest too much.” The sermons about mythical systemic racism and police brutality just galvanized racial division.

I believe we have witnessed a paradigm shift in which Hollywood is no longer interested in the traditional ceremony.  Rather, it has decided to use the program as a tool to promote far-left views, and the ratings be damned. I have not been in a movie theater since 1989 when I saw “The Dead Poets Society” starring Robin Williams.  I am long past the point of no return.  4/27/21  

• • A #MeToo PLOT GONE WRONG.  Harriet and Phyllis walked into a bar at 10 pm.  Their mission:  To entrap men into contrived sexual misconduct to establish a #MeToo lawsuit and cash settlement.  They were armed with concealed video and audio equipment, as well as copious guidance from their lawyers of the esteemed firm, Sleeze, Slime and Scumbag LLP.   

Harriet:  I’ll start at the left end of the bar while you begin your magic on the other side.  We’ll meet in the middle at 2 am. 

Phillis:  My lawyer says to lure them aggressively but quickly feign revulsion for the camera shot.

Harriet:  Yeah. My lawyer says it’s all about proving non-consensual contact. Place his hand in an erogenous zone and look horrified for the photo.

Fast forward to 2 am.

The gals were exhausted.  Hair was tousled and mascara dripped down their faces. 

Harriet:  We both rolled snake eyes.  I don’t get it.  Back in the day guys lined up for this action.

Phyllis:  Me too.  Even the bartender used to join in.

Harriet:  Phyllis, what’s that picture on the back wall? 

Phyllis:  Holy shi--t.  It's a life size mural of Johnny Mathis.

Harriet and Phyllis:  Yikes! This is a gay bar!

Poetic justice.  4/26/21

• • LESSONS LEARNED FROM CUOMO’S SEXUAL HARRASSMENT ORDEAL. Men should learn from NY Governor Cuomo’s amorous misadventures.  An office horndog must be a good one or risk Cuomo’s fate.  Here are some rules to follow.

1.     Select discreet venues for all assignations, such as the cloak room, the supply closet or the boiler room, and never blow your cover.  Avoid cameras and witnesses.

2.     Be persuasive enough in the initial overtures to ensure a consensual experience so not to invite sexual misconduct complaints.  This takes work.

3.     Perform well.  If a woman is satisfied, she is less likely to #MeToo you because she will want to return for more. As such, stay in shape.

4.     Be careful in the boiler room.  When the lady is in the throws of passion she must not bang on the pipes.  The noise travels throughout the building inevitably attracting several custodians. (See #1 about blowing one’s cover.)

5.    If the lady expects something more romantic than the boiler room, bring flowers.

What ever happened to “Get a room.”?, one might ask. The horndog cannot risk absence from the office for too long, especially if he has a reservation to use the cloak room with another subject.   

F**k you #MeToo!  4/23/21

• • IGNORE THE OSCARS ON SUNDAY.  It is time for my annual appeal to avoid the Oscar ceremony on television.  This act of defiance contributed to historically low ratings in two of the last three years. The industry is on the ropes this year because of Covid.  Let’s deliver another punch that sends it to the canvas. 

Super-woke Hollywood is an archenemy of American tradition.  To put this leftist, Marxist-Leninist, socialist, anti-Christian, anti-American, commie, pinko enterprise out of business would be hugely beneficial.  Imagine – Hollywood today, the teachers’unions tomorrow. The gloves are on.  4/22/21

• IMPENDING CHAUVIN VERDICT INVOKES MY PERSONAL RODNEY KING SCARE.  Awaiting the verdict in the Chauvin case, I recall a scary experience while the jury deliberated in the similar 1992 Rodney King trial in L.A. 

In NYC during lunch, I witnessed chanting in anticipation of the looming verdict.  The atmosphere was so tense that my employer sent employees home at 3 pm in taxis at company expense.  But I stayed in the office alone working because I usually treated myself to entertainment on Friday nights. 

Undeterred, I took the subway to a jazz club. While riding at about 9 pm I suddenly thought about the verdict possibly breaking at any minute. I became so preoccupied I missed my stop at 96th St.  The next one was 125th St. in the heart of Harlem.  There I was, a lone honky, in the black capital of the world at night when my colleagues ran home in cabs at 3 pm to escape possible race riots.

Surprisingly, the station was spacious with a cathedral-like ceiling that suggested God peering down saying, “I got your back, man.”  I went to the predominately white club and stayed till about midnight. I returned home to New Jersey by cab.  4/20/21

• • OUR INSTITUTIONS ARE FAILING US. BYE, BYE AMERICAN PIE.  Far-left politics and corruption permeate the nation’s institutions at the expense of freedom, meritocracy, security, the quality of life, trust and truth. Here are examples of the scourge in media, law enforcement, the judiciary, the scientific community, education, corporate America, the military, and the U.S. Postal Service. 

    • Media – Mass media have become grossly dishonest in the zeal to promote far-left politics.  Traditional objective investigative journalism is gone, replaced by hyper-partisanship fraught with agenda-driven lies, distortion and omission. The tyranny of social media with its exemption from lawsuits provides significant accommodation to leftist propaganda.  Regarding election fraud in the November 2020 election, even conservative media outrageously look the other way, dishonestly claiming no evidence.  All media say that to discuss the election fraud risks inciting insurrection.  Does truth mean anything anymore? The main ballast for conservatives continues to be talk radio, but without Rush Limbaugh now that medium has suffered a setback.    

    • Law enforcement – The corruption of the Department of Justice and the election of Marxist, Soros-backed attorneys general have seriously undermined the rule of law. This is manifest in open border policies, sanctuary cities and states, the castration of police departments, and mass prison release. DOJ corruption has enabled prosecutorial exemption for Secretary Hillary Clinton’s pay-to-play operations involving her Clinton Foundation, the FBI’s attempt to bring down a sitting president, President Biden’s influence peddling with China and Ukraine, and massive fraud in the 2020 presidential election.   In the wake of the George Floyd death and similar incidents, liberals have promoted a war on cops without any regard for the fact that almost invariably the perpetrator foolishly resisted arrest provoking a police reaction in self-defense. As a result of trumped up public opprobrium and the risk of frivolous prosecution, police have curtailed engagement to the peril of the community.

    • The judiciary – A most glaring injustice was the refusal of the courts, including SCOTUS, to hear cases claiming rampant election fraud in November 2020, despite abundant evidence publicly available.  They feared the consequences of a successful prosecution that would nullify the initial election result. Relief also would incite accusations of racism and voter disenfranchisement because the disqualified ballots would affect largely black precincts of battleground states. This is more disruption than most judges or jurors would want to create.  Nonetheless, this abrogation of duty cannot stand. On another front, many leftist judges release criminals to endanger communities out of sympathy for them and disregard for their victims.  Others, faithful to the rule of law, are bound by absurd no-bail laws.  Currently, the Supreme Court is in danger of degrade by Democrat calls to add four more justices in what would be dangerous added politicization of the body.

    • The scientific community (COVID-19) – The left has compromised some in the scientific community as evidenced by their support of COVIC-19 mitigation protocols challenged by science.  On the other hand, some officials dismiss inexpensive therapeutics, hydroxycloroquine and Ivermectin, despite their effectiveness established in studies and some cases.  One has to suspect collaboration between certain scientists and Big Pharma in the quest for a vaccine payday. The alliance between the left, Democrat governors and media in promoting the political aspects of the vaccine is more transparent.  Chief among the medical hacks is the notorious Dr. Anthony Fauci, darling of the left. Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins, declared outlandishly that BLM and Antifa protesters should be exempt from social distancing because of the greater import of their social justice message. Meanwhile, mass media and some in the medical community muzzle contrarian scientists, while other medical authorities willfully remain silent for fear of losing their funding or job.  

    • Education – Marxist socialist indoctrination infects our youth at all educational levels now.  In particular, officials emphasize a concept of ersatz racial injustice called “critical race theory”.  In addition, a seemingly deliberate degradation of academic standards and curricula, including a re-writing or elimination of American history, has taken hold.  The aim is to discourage critical thinking and patriotism that interfere with establishing a top-down socialist state sustained by maximum voter support of the Democrat Party.

    • Corporate America – CEOs do the bidding of the Democrat Party through craven submission to political correctness founded on the victimhood theme of identity politics rooted in the promotion of racial, gender and sexuality differences.  Increasingly, these industrial cowards embrace environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations in corporate policy to curry favor with leftist regulators and the cocktail circuit that might otherwise cause problems for them. The Federal Reserve Bank plans to expand its historical mandate of ensuring price stability and optimal employment to incorporate environmental and social justice issues in its monetary policy.

    • The military – Wokeness has infiltrated even the military as it sacrifices a degree of national security supporting the left’s agenda.  Political correctness has become de rigeur and compliance is indispensable for promotion through the ranks.  “Critical race theory” training is nauseating personnel.  Reportedly, Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin, is targeting conservatives for expulsion.

    • The U.S. Postal Service - Many do not trust the post office anymore.  Today there are reports of mail carriers stealing tax refunds and intercepting tax returns to get data to file bogus ones. They also work with identity thieves who pay them for newly issued credit cards.  And, last November internet videos showed mail clerks opening ballots to discard Trump votes.  In addition, crooks invade mail boxes to forge checks within envelopes.  John Crudele of the New York Post wrote an article February 20, 2020 citing testimony of postal workers about improprieties https://nypost.com/2020/02/19/messages-from-employees-prove-the-us-postal-service-is-in-disarray/.  One said that saving on labor costs is paramount.  As such, carriers and managers throw out mail and falsify tracking data to hide delivery problems in order to limit time worked.

As the nation’s Constitutional moorings and institutional integrity wane amid forces dedicated to socialist transformation, the seeds of division, resentment and mistrust sprout.  Unrestrained, the development paves the path to third-world status.  It is hoped the checks and balances built into the republic will survive to trigger corrective action before it is too late. 4/19/21

• • DEMOCRATS AND CORPORATE AMERICA FIGHT ELECTION INTEGRITY. The reaction to Georgia slightly tightening its election rules is quite telling.  The left, which now includes pathetically woke corporate CEOs, absurdly claims the changes suppress voting access for minorities, while completely ignoring consideration of voter fraud.

Delta, Coca Cola and MLB vociferously denounced the new Georgia law, and the threat of state boycotts abound. President Biden and others flatly lied about the changes.  And, some 300 CEOs and prominent individuals appear as signatories in a two-page ad in The Wall Street Journal and New York Times supporting fair access to voting, a suggestion that the Georgia law does not. 

The left is preparing to throw the 2022 and 2024 elections.  A fear of a Trump reemergence and a determination to implement its radical agenda by hook-or-by-crook are the motivations. Encouraged by the ability to commit massive fraud with impunity in 2020, all systems are go to do it again.  Republicans must promote more election amendments throughout the country, ensure strict enforcement, and fiercely stand up to the backlash.  It is the least they can do for having capitulated to the left in their cowardly refusal to challenge, or even mention, last November’s blatant injustice. 4/15/21

• • ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL (AGAIN):  THE ARCHEGOS AND GREENSILL DEBACLES. Credit Suisse lost $4.7 billion on investments in hedge fund Archegos, and likely another $1.5 billion from bonds Greensill issued.  The quest for higher returns amid rock-bottom interest rates motivated investment in riskier instruments.

The trigger for the Archegos loss was margin calls on CBS/Viacom Total Return Swaps that were leveraged 80%.  Falling swap valuations precipitated the call, forcing frantic selling. As a derivative, that captures only the earnings stream of the underlying company rather than its shares, the TRS is permitted greater leverage.  And, as off-balance sheet positions, they were less transparent in disclosures.

The trigger for the Greensill loss was the termination of credit insurance on its risky short-term supply-chain loans because of undue concentration in only two insurers. That forced Credit Suisse to freeze investment in Greensill’s asset-backed securities, significantly reducing funding for its underlying loans.

Was Credit Suisse not aware of Archegos’ excessive leverage, as well as Greensill’s precarious credit insurance and loan quality? Silos again? What about Greensill’s lending criteria, and due diligence by its bond Trustee and its Auditor?  Caveat emptor. 4/12/21

• MORE OFFICE SEX FROLICS OF YESTERYEAR (fourth in a series)

The purpose of my satire is to defy and mock the #MeToo ethic and the feigned media outrage over Governor Cuomo’s innocuous sexual overtures. Nonetheless, he’s a wimp compared to the office horndogs of yore. Here are more stories about how it used to be.

An accountant ensconced in the boiler room was locked into missionary position eye to eye with Miss McGillicuddy, the head of Personnel. Since she was about to sign off on his upcoming annual review, he was thinking, “I better be good.” Now that’s pressure.

An advantage of the supply room was the opportunity to prop up against boxes of copier paper for leverage. The ladies loved it.

At night the cleaning lady became available. She was fully aware of the antics during the day as she had to dispose of the rubbers left in the employee hideaways. That sight piqued her interest in the festivities. With her bulging cleavage and fluttering eyes, the curvaceous latina waved her feather duster and asked a guy in a heavy Spanish accent, “Can I be of service?” They bolted to the copier room.

Unfortunately, escapades like these are over. Thanks, #MeToo. For nothing. 4/9/21

• MORE OFFICE SEX FROLICS OF YESTERYEAR (third in a series).  Yet another harmless sexual harassment accusation against Governor Cuomo hits the headlines. 

In recent posts I discussed three principal spots for office assignations back in the day:  the cloak room, the supply room and the boiler room.  But there was more leeway working late.  Given the sparse population, the copier room was available for rendezvous in which the machine could be used as a prop for various positions.  One just had to be on the lookout for a security guard milling around. 

And there was the cleaning lady.  She knew what was going on.  After all, she swept up the condoms on the cloak room floor every night. Juanita took the hint and hiked her skirt a little further each day.  Inside a week her hemline was mid-ass.  One night she made a beeline to the copier room and worked the machine like a pole in a strip club.  Writhing about, she put the lid up, the lid down, the paper tray open, the paper tray closed, and then she spun the thing around and straddled it.  Whooo!   

 Could any of this happen today?  What a shame.  In the absurd #MeToo culture the party is over. 4/8/21  

• MORE ABOUT CUOMO’S SEXUAL HARASSMENT VS. YESTERDAY’S OFFICE FROLICS.  In a post last week I lamented Governor Cuomo’s absurd sexual harassment crucible and noted its stark contrast to the office hijinks of yesteryear.

I mentioned how the cloak room and the supply closet used to be common venues for trysts.  But another option was the basement boiler room. While the heat could be brutal, the noise suppressed the moans and squeals, a problem when using the cloak room. A bra hanging from an overhead pipe meant the area was occupied. 

 Sometimes the woman was the aggressor. One was Dirty Dotty, DD for short.  Smart and diligent, she got a well-deserved promotion. To celebrate, she invited the guys in Accounting to her lair in the boiler room.   At the entrance appeared a large banner with blinking lights that read, “DD’s Den.  Let The Games Begin.”  A good time was had by all.

 There was no sexual harassment claim or childish whining about a “grope”.  Discreet libidinous indulgence was acceptable in the office.  And it probably would be today but for “MeToo” inspired political correctness.  Unfortunately, litigious women and their crooked lawyers spoil the party when they smell cash settlement. LINK TO 2018 MANIFESTO. 4/6/21  

• INFLATION:  THE STORM AFTER THE CALM.  My armchair instincts tell me serious inflation might be in store after a long period of stability.  Something has to give what with the humongous fiscal and monetary stimulus underway and planned.

Many feared inflation in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis given protracted near-zero short-term interest rates and mammoth servings of quantitative easing by the Fed, coupled with $900 billion of “shovel ready” government spending.  But inflation in the real economy did not materialize amid tepid economic growth.  Rather, capital gravitated to financial assets for greater returns while inflation failed to reach a 2% target. 

 A similar pattern appears today but accompanied by economic growth borne out of post-pandemic pent-up demand.  And seemingly redundant monetary and fiscal stimulus, many multiples of the GFC injection, could overwhelm productive capacity sending prices spiraling upward.  The insurmountable national debt, higher interest rates, and dollar depreciation, abetted by Biden’s growth-stifling tax increases and re-regulation, could augur ill for a decade.  Inflation and growth forecasts are salutary over the next year.  But surging inflation eventually could trigger a spent force that yields perilous 1970s-style stagflation. 4/5/21

OUR INSTITUTIONS ARE FAILING US. BYE, BYE AMERICAN PIE

By William J. Dodwell    April 19, 2021

Far-left politics and corruption permeate the nation’s institutions at the expense of freedom, meritocracy, security, the quality of life, trust and truth. Here are examples of the scourge in media, law enforcement, the judiciary, the scientific community, education, corporate America, the military, and the U.S. Postal Service. 

Media – Mass media have become grossly dishonest in the zeal to promote far-left politics.  Traditional objective investigative journalism is gone, replaced by hyper-partisanship fraught with agenda-driven lies, distortion and omission. The tyranny of social media with its exemption from lawsuits provides significant accommodation to leftist propaganda.  Regarding election fraud in the November 2020 election, even conservative media outrageously look the other way, dishonestly claiming no evidence.  All media say that to discuss the election fraud risks inciting insurrection.  Does truth mean anything anymore? The main ballast for conservatives continues to be talk radio, but without Rush Limbaugh now that medium has suffered a setback.    

Law enforcement – The corruption of the Department of Justice and the election of Marxist, Soros-backed attorneys general have seriously undermined the rule of law. This is manifest in open border policies, sanctuary cities and states, the castration of police departments, and mass prison release. DOJ corruption has enabled prosecutorial exemption for Secretary Hillary Clinton’s pay-to-play operations involving her Clinton Foundation, the FBI’s attempt to bring down a sitting president, President Biden’s influence peddling with China and Ukraine, and massive fraud in the 2020 presidential election.   In the wake of the George Floyd death and similar incidents, liberals have promoted a war on cops without any regard for the fact that almost invariably the perpetrator foolishly resisted arrest provoking a police reaction in self-defense. As a result of trumped up public opprobrium and the risk of frivolous prosecution, police have curtailed engagement to the peril of the community.

The judiciary – A most glaring injustice was the refusal of the courts, including SCOTUS, to hear cases claiming rampant election fraud in November 2020, despite abundant evidence publicly available.  They feared the consequences of a successful prosecution that would nullify the initial election result. Relief also would incite accusations of racism and voter disenfranchisement because the disqualified ballots would affect largely black precincts of battleground states. This is more disruption than most judges or jurors would want to create.  Nonetheless, this abrogation of duty cannot stand. On another front, many leftist judges release criminals to endanger communities out of sympathy for them and disregard for their victims.  Others, faithful to the rule of law, are bound by absurd no-bail laws.  Currently, the Supreme Court is in danger of degrade by Democrat calls to add four more justices in what would be dangerous added politicization of the body.

The scientific community (COVID-19) – The left has compromised some in the scientific community as evidenced by their support of COVIC-19 mitigation protocols challenged by science.  On the other hand, some officials dismiss inexpensive therapeutics, hydroxycloroquine and Ivermectin, despite their effectiveness established in studies and some cases.  One has to suspect collaboration between certain scientists and Big Pharma in the quest for a vaccine payday. The alliance between the left, Democrat governors and media in promoting the political aspects of the vaccine is more transparent.  Chief among the medical hacks is the notorious Dr. Anthony Fauci, darling of the left. Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins, declared outlandishly that BLM and Antifa protesters should be exempt from social distancing because of the greater import of their social justice message. Meanwhile, mass media and some in the medical community muzzle contrarian scientists, while other medical authorities willfully remain silent for fear of losing their funding or job.  

Education – Marxist socialist indoctrination infects our youth at all educational levels now.  In particular, officials emphasize a concept of ersatz racial injustice called “critical race theory”.  In addition, a seemingly deliberate degradation of academic standards and curricula, including a re-writing or elimination of American history, has taken hold.  The aim is to discourage critical thinking and patriotism that interfere with establishing a top-down socialist state sustained by maximum voter support of the Democrat Party.

Corporate America – CEOs do the bidding of the Democrat Party through craven submission to political correctness founded on the victimhood theme of identity politics rooted in the promotion of racial, gender and sexuality differences.  Increasingly, these industrial cowards embrace environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations in corporate policy to curry favor with leftist regulators and the cocktail circuit that might otherwise cause problems for them. The Federal Reserve Bank plans to expand its historical mandate of ensuring price stability and optimal employment to incorporate environmental and social justice issues in its monetary policy

The military – Wokeness has infiltrated even the military as it sacrifices a degree of national security supporting the left’s agenda.  Political correctness has become de rigeur and compliance is indispensable for promotion through the ranks.  “Critical race theory” training is nauseating personnel.  Reportedly, Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin, is targeting conservatives for expulsion.

The U.S. Postal Service - Many do not trust the post office anymore.  Today there are reports of mail carriers stealing tax refunds and intercepting tax returns to get data to file bogus ones. They also work with identity thieves who pay them for newly issued credit cards.  And, last November internet videos showed mail clerks opening ballots to discard Trump votes.  In addition, crooks invade mail boxes to forge checks within envelopes.  John Crudele of the New York Post wrote an article February 20, 2020 citing testimony of postal workers about improprieties https://nypost.com/2020/02/19/messages-from-employees-prove-the-us-postal-service-is-in-disarray/.  One said that saving on labor costs is paramount.  As such, carriers and managers throw out mail and falsify tracking data to hide delivery problems in order to limit time worked.

*************

As the nation’s Constitutional moorings and institutional integrity wane amid forces dedicated to socialist transformation, the seeds of division, resentment and mistrust sprout.  Unrestrained, the development paves the path to third-world status.  It is hoped the checks and balances built into the republic will survive to trigger corrective action before it is too late.

©2021 William J. Dodwell

July - September 2021 Miscellaneous Thoughts Posted to Linked In

By William J. Dodwell

• • IS OBAMA BEHIND THE DISASTROUS AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL?  Everyone presumes that a puppet master controls President Biden’s every move.  Many speculate that person is his buddy Barack Obama and his old team acting out a de facto third term.  Only an “imbecile”, in Tony Blair’s words, would have opted for the precipitous withdrawal from Afghanistan that has shocked the world.  Or, might someone to whom America is inimical and who harbors an affinity for Islam be so inclined? After all, if Biden is controlled on every issue, why not the Afghanistan decision?  Consider facts from Obama’s background that are consistent with his allegiance to Islamic interests that might motivate a course of action that favors the Taliban. 

He was born Barack HUSSEIN Obama and studied in a madrassa for four years as a child in Indonesia.  He sports a perfect pronunciation of certain Arabic words. He foolishly released five leading Muslim terrorists from Gitmo in exchange for deserter Bowe Bergdahl, one of whom is now leading the Taliban in Afghanistan.  He imposed severely restrictive rules of engagement over the military that prolonged the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, costing untold additional American deaths and severe injury. When President Trump lifted those restrictions, which included a prohibition against night fire, the U.S. defeated ISIS in weeks. According to military insiders, while recklessly leaving Iraq, Obama gave the enemy the GPS locations of abandoned armaments and equipment.  This facilitated their immediate seizure and the creation of ISIS.  What’s more, Obama as president surrounded himself with Muslim advisors according to internal witnesses and White House visitor logs.

The question becomes whether an Obama decision triggered the withdrawal of the military from Afghanistan before removing civilians while relinquishing the strategically important Bagram airbase and leaving $80 billion of sophisticated equipment to the enemy endangering tens of thousands of Americans.  Was this an accommodation to his Muslim brotherhood like so many other things during his presidency?  Is the current U.S. obeisance to the Taliban in part out of sympathy for Islam? What pro-America operative would concede so much?  A mentally incompetent one would, but one assumes Biden is not calling any shots.  8/24/21 

• • CUOMO WAS RAILROADED:  MEN LOSE, THE LEFT WINS. 

(For context see my 2018 manifesto against #MeToo at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/war-metoo-real-story-sexual-harassment-william-j-dodwell/ )

Governor Cuomo deserves his banishment for his leftist policies, mismanagement, corruption and thuggish behavior.  But the media and public piling-on he received for frivolous sexual harassment accusations is a travesty.  His ousting on this basis recalls the worst days of “MeToo” which seemed to wane as people finally realized its injustices.  Then the movement lost all credibility over its silence about Tara Reade’s accusations of rape and assault by Joe Biden as a senator. Now it is back.

Here is a sampling of the allegations against Cuomo: 1) A female doctor filed a claim in reaction to Cuomo’s comment, “You make that (PPE) gown look good.”, as he publicly poised for a Covid swab test. 2) Another claimant complained that Cuomo ran his finger down her back. 3) A woman recoiled at Cuomo’s grasping her waste as they stood together for a photo. 4) The woman who claims Cuomo reached under her blouse, a charge he denies, displayed a beaming smile in a photo of the two just days after the alleged incident.  5) Other harmless kisses and touching occurred in festive settings and mostly with women acquaintances.

Yet all media, on the left and right, feigned indignation, notably the conservative New York Post, which dubbed Cuomo a “creep” in its front-page headline for days, solely for his sexual misconduct.  Yes, Cuomo is a creep for the nursing home scandal, his venality and his demeanor, but not for the two-bit sexual harassment charges.  Strangely, the public seems duped by the outrage.  Fans at a New York Mets game chanted repeatedly, “F—k you Cuomo.”  It is hoped they were reacting to the nursing home debacle and not the supposed sexual improprieties.  By my observation, Greg Kelly of Newsmax is the only news figure who calls the Cuomo sexual harassment nonsense for what it is – “a joke”.

The claimants and their conniving lawyers will be looking for cash settlements. But if Cuomo were to take them to court they would likely lose, as 95% of these cases fail legal scrutiny. None of the women would choose to endure the expense and public exposure of a trial. After all, their pique is phony.

The media reaction to Cuomo’s behavior has lowered the threshold for sexual misconduct to the delight of the Left bent on dividing by gender. Now men in the workplace will be even more vulnerable to sexual harassment accusations as fraudulent and frivolous claims abound.  More men stand to lose their jobs, savings and families because of a revitalized “MeToo” emasculation movement.  And small business owners hire women at their peril as they could so easily risk bankruptcy from sexual harassment claims founded on mere Cuomo-like offenses, real or contrived.  8/16/21 

• • ·ARE THE MEDIA COVERING UP THE CUOMO NURSING HOME DEBACLE? Why the media’s gross overreaction to the comparatively minor story of Governor Cuomo’s sexual harassment brouhaha?  One explanation might be media complicity in a concerted effort to cover up the much more significant nursing home catastrophe. 

Cuomo accepted a $1 million contribution to his 2018 reelection campaign from the health care industry ostensibly in exchange for his executive order to transfer COVID-infected patients from hospitals to nursing homes.  This freed up capacity to enable hospitals to replace the low margin Medicare patients moved to nursing homes with much higher paying privately insured patients.  In addition, the solidly Democratic New York legislature overwhelmingly passed Cuomo’s bill to exempt the nursing homes from liability for deaths caused by the inevitable spread of COVID.

What’s more, Cuomo could have moved hospital patients to new facilities provided by President Trump at the Javits Convention Center (3,000 beds) and the USS Comfort (1,000 beds). Instead, he transferred the patients to nursing homes causing some 15,000 COVID deaths there.  Why?  Purportedly because he feared Trump would get political credit for saving lives. Wow!

The cover up scenario is even more compelling considering other Democrat governors accepted payoffs to do the same, including the odious Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and the repulsive Phil Murphy of New Jersey.  And why did the Department of Justice recently decide not to investigate the nursing home scandal despite enormous public interest?  Numerous Democrat politicians in combination with nursing home owners and the health care industry constitute too hot a potato to pursue.

The nursing home scandal is an exclusively Democrat problem encompassing a Democrat NY Governor, a Democrat legislature, a Democrat presidency (DOJ), and other Democrat Governors.  It is easy to expect the media, the handmaiden to the Democrat Party, to come to the rescue.

Meanwhile, a duped public joins all media to take down Cuomo for chasing skirts.  Sexual harassment is a red herring to distract from the much larger issue of thousands of nursing home COVID deaths at the hand of Democrats and certain donors.  They hope that if Cuomo is removed, there will be no official impetus to investigate his nursing home Waterloo.  8/9/21

• • WHO LET THE HORNDOGS OUT?  As Governor Cuomo’s meaningless sexual harassment saga continues to dominate the news, it is fitting that we view the allegations against him in perspective.  Specifically, consider the historical precedent of risqué behavior by some former presidents and other political horndogs.  Sexual indulgence by those in high office, while not always condoned, is not uncommon. So, what’s the big deal?

John Tyler, our tenth president, hosted orgies in the Whitehouse along with his son.  John F. Kennedy serviced his conquests on the floor of the Senate on Sunday afternoons.  Lyndon Johnson, a voracious horndog, had a buzzer system that alerted him when his wife, Ladybird, was approaching so he had time to zip up.  And, of course, there was Bill Clinton whose track record is legendary.  Other hounds include drinking buddies, Senators Ted Kennedy and Chris Dodd, who reportedly held a waitress against a table and had their way.  And let us not forget Tara Reid’s graphic sexual assault allegations on television involving Joe Biden when he was senator, not to mention his frequent sniffing of women’s hair in public and attendant touching. 

Where was the outrage then? Indeed, the hypocritical publicly displayed faux indignation from liberals and conservatives today is sickening. Compared to the aforementioned horndogs, Cuomo is a piker.  A key distinction, of course, is whether their actions were consensual or predatory.  According to Attorney General Leticia James, we must automatically believe the eleven “girls” who testified against Cuomo, a patently inappropriate statement by an AG before a trial. In any case, the accusations against Cuomo are not really serious. 

Cuomo should be hung high for his nursing home debacle, his pay-for-play scheme involving the scandalous billion-dollar development project in Buffalo, and his abrupt cancelation of the Moreland Commission investigating corruption in his administration. The current sexual harassment grandstanding in all media is merely about a not unique horndog politician at play.  8/6/21   

• • MEMO TO FINANCIAL WRITERS AND COMMENTATORS.  File this under “picky”.  Nonetheless, something has to be said.  I refer to the pervasive misuse of the terms “repurchase agreement” and “reverse repurchase agreement” in financial media.  Too often financial writers and commentators get them backwards.  Even the Fed mistakenly references its repo liabilities as reverse repos on its website! 

For the uninitiated, a repurchase agreement, formally labeled “Securities sold under agreement to repurchase”, is a contract to borrow short-term money in exchange for Treasuries as collateral.  Upon maturity the transaction is unwound.  The borrower reports this position as a liability on the balance sheet.  

The counterparty lending the money to the borrower records a loan called a “reverse repurchase agreement”, formally known as “Securities bought under agreement to repurchase”, and receives the Treasuries as collateral.  The lender reports this position as an asset on the balance sheet.

Typically, participants think of these transactions as an exchange of securities, as the formal nomenclatures suggest.  But actually, they are primarily monetary liquidity events.  As such, it is the money side that is recorded in the balance sheet, not the securities which are off-balance sheet memoranda entries. 

The two terms are commonly confused.  In fact, some years ago I advised a client to correct the misclassification on their balance sheet which had been certified for three years by a major accounting firm.  It took a while to convince them, but I prevailed.  After all, who were they to believe, a Big Four firm or little ole me? 

The arcane repurchase agreement has come to the fore in recent weeks because the Federal Reserve has significantly increased this cash borrowing in order to withdraw liquidity from the banking system.  Its purpose is to mitigate the potential inflationary impact of its ongoing near-zero interest-rate policy and bond purchases program.  This stealth practice is alternative to an overt increase in the benchmark interest-rate or a reduction in bond purchases that likely would spook the financial markets. 

Thus, the significance of the repo as an instrument of monetary policy lies primarily in the Fed’s repo liability, and only secondarily in the counterparty bank’s reverse repo asset. Yet, the media frequently voice the term “reverse repurchase agreement” incorrectly with respect to the Fed’s liquidity mitigation tactic.  Wrong usage hampers the reading and analysis of monetary policy. 8/5/21 

• • IN DEFENSE OF GOVERNOR CUOMO.  Leftist New York Governor Cuomo’s policies are anathema.  In addition, he is a vindictive Mafioso-style thug who would steal your watch if he thought he could.  However, the just released ballyhooed report of State Attorney General Leticia James about sexual harassment accusations against him is a nothing-burger.

The narrative in part is to feign indignation in all quarters to revive the comatose #MeToo emasculation movement.  To that end, President Biden and leading Democrats finally call for Cuomo’s resignation. And the spineless Republicans, even conservatives, go along in fear of losing women’s support.  #MeToo met near-death over its hypocritical silence concerning the rape testimony of Tara Reid against Joe Biden during his campaign. In short order, she mysteriously disappeared. With the AG’s report, Democrats believe Cuomo is radioactive among women voters and feminized men.  In addition, Cuomo’s resignation or impeachment would clear the path for black woman Democrat AG James’ candidacy for the governorship in 2022.  

The problem with the current bandwagon support for the report is that the relatively innocuous charges against Cuomo will further bolster a frivolous standard for sexual misconduct accusations against ordinary men. They face losing their jobs, careers, wives, savings and reputations for such things as an alleged “grope” years ago.  Grifters, man-hating lesbians and corrupt lawyers go to town in extortion attempts.  We saw so much of this in the #MeToo heyday. This injustice must end.  (See my 2018 manifesto on this topic at  https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/war-metoo-real-story-sexual-harassment-william-j-dodwell/ )

Cuomo appears to be a natural horndog.  Good for him.  Without horndogs there would be a lot more lonely women.  But the #MeToo environment has created a lot more lonely men.  Horndogs have natural rights too.  The solution for inappropriate sexual conduct is simple:  Step1, an emphatic No. Step 2, the age-old slap in the face.  Step 3, a kick in the the b---s.  Only a psychopath would continue after that treatment. The infractions cited in the report were a touch here, a kiss there … So what?  I know of such actions on several women who the next day displayed plunging cleavage that said, “I want more.” This attitude among women is closer to normal than the Victorian infantile standard of radical feminists bent on disempowering men.

Cuomo should go to prison for his complicity in the deaths of some 15,000 nursing home residents who were infected by Medicare COVID patients he transferred from hospitals.  The health care industry paid him $1 million to free up the hospitals for much more lucrative privately insured patients. What’s more, Cuomo could have moved the patients to about 3,000 empty beds in the Javits Convention Center and 1,000 in the USS Comfort, both provided by Trump.  The scuttlebutt says that Cuomo did not do so because he thought Trump would get too much credit politically.  What a creep! 8/4/21

• • IN THE SACK WITH SIMONE BILES.  With so much attention on 24 year-old Olympic gymnast Simone Biles and her craft, a man cannot help but wonder how she naturally would transition her talents to the boudoir as sexual acrobatics.  I suspect nothing less than a tour de force.  Warning:  This piece is R-rated. 

Hey guys, can you imagine this chick in the sack?  Judging by her sinews, she could crush a man like a boa constrictor and grip his tool with the vulvar force of a hydraulic vice.  She would leap in the air, bound off the wall, tumble into a triple somersault, bounce her butt off the ceiling, and land on top with a leg-split in perfect position - fully penetrated.  

Then she would execute a labia contraction that would elicit a reaction ranging from “Ooooooh baaaaaaaaby” to “Ouuuuuch!”, depending on the guy’s tolerance.  When finished she would command lustfully, “Now let’s see what you can do.”  The response would call for either desperate performance or self-defense. 

A session with Simone Biles as sexlete is a tossup between euphoria and death.  But I’d take my chances (if I were forty years younger). How about you?  8/3/21

• • ABOUT SIMONE BILES.  Suddenly, star Olympic gymnast, Simone Biles, has a mental health issue causing her to withdraw from the Tokyo Olympics.  What’s more, it appears the feminist left is trying to exploit her fate by linking her exit to career-long sexual abuse at the hands of now imprisoned former Olympic doctor, Larry Nassar.  But she reported no such impairment on her way to the gold in 2016, or even up to the recent 2021 qualifying round when she suffered significant missteps. This is not to diminish Nassar’s behavior, which even I cited in my world-renown 2018 manifesto against the corrupt #MeToo crusade as an example of legitimate prosecutable sexual misconduct (along with the Cosby case). https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/war-metoo-real-story-sexual-harassment-william-j-dodwell/  I smell a rat here. The #MeToo crowd is trying to revive their flagging discredited movement by trotting out the sexual abuse hobby-horse again in a high-profile case.

I believe Biles experienced a perhaps first-time muscle-memory lapse that dashed her confidence. Baseball infielders have succumbed to this phenomenon, called the “yips”, especially throwing to first base.  Recall New York Yankee Golden Glove second baseman, Chuck Knoblauch, in the late 1990s losing his ability to hit the first baseman consistently.  He never overcame the problem.  The mental block also plagues football receivers and golfers

I can relate to this issue from my experience in the pole vault, a quasi-gymnastic event.  (As a senior in high school I finished 5th in the Eastern States Championships.)  A mental lapse sometimes affected my planting the pole in the vault box while running full speed, thus throwing off my position on the pole and the mechanics of my ascent.  Once I withdrew from a competition because of this.

The affliction is all psychological as it kills indispensable confidence.  Abruptly losing her bearings during aerial twists, Biles probably withdrew so not to suppress her team score. Fortunately, a team mate won the gold anyway.  But unlike baseball, football, and even pole vaulting, flawed timing in gymnastics could result in a broken neck.  This had to be on her mind.  8/2/21

• • BRING BACK THE PHONE BOOTH!  We need a social protocol for wireless phones.  People blab away with no regard for their own privacy, much less others’.  Here are a couple of experiences that prompt my protestation. 

While indulging my morning right-wing fix engrossed in The Wall Street Journal editorials sitting at a table at Dunkin Donuts, a customer on line next to me bellows over his Smart phone distracting me.  These WSJ pieces usually require intense concentration, not only because of their substance, but also because so often they are poorly written. (Do something, Paul Gigot!)  What right do these inconsiderate telephonic personal-space invaders have over others in their midst?

About ten years ago I was asleep on the commuter train on the way home at night.  I’m talkin’ serious REM.  Suddenly, the piercing voice of the guy in front of me on a cell phone woke me up. I was furious.  I told him to get off his damn cell phone or go to the vestibule.  In a fog, I was so incensed I slipped in a gay slur that really lit him up. He stood up and I followed.  Then this oaf, some thirty years my junior, knocked my glasses off to the floor and challenged me to a fist-fight at the next station stop.

Full disclosure:  I do not have a Smart phone; I only keep a prepaid flip phone in my car’s glove department for emergencies.  So, I have no heroine-like communication impulse, or any tolerance for the devices when they invade my sphere. I am not alone, am I?.  It is time for action.  Bring back the phone booth!  7/28/21

• THIS IS HUGE! IS BIG PHARMA PAYING OFF FAUCI? Reference: Carl Paladino email received Jul 9, 2021, 1:03 PM. Carl Paladino was the 2010 GOP nominee for Governor of New York. He wrote the following:

Deep State Dr. Fauci Mysteriously Earned $9,000,000 in 2020

Deep State Dr. Anthony Fauci had a lucrative 2020, netting $9,000,000 in “miscellaneous income,” according to an NIH insider who told RRN that Fauci bragged about his newfound wealth and said he had earned enough cash in 2020 to retire, buy a private plane and jet-set around the world.

Fauci is hardly a pauper; his annual salary at the NIH is $417,000. He was the highest-paid federal employee in 2019, with a salary greater than the president’s. Additionally, 2019 public records estimate his net worth at approximately $2,700,000, a hefty nest egg for a so-called public servant.

The question begs, how did his financial net worth triple in just one year?

He certainly earns a bit appearing on mainstream media and from speaking engagements but didn’t bloviate into a $9,000,000 windfall.

Our source, an underpaid NIH lab technician, said Fauci wouldn’t reveal specifics on how he—or anyone—could declare $9,000,000 in miscellaneous income, but proved he had by showing a certified copy of his 2020 tax returns.

“The Fauci you seen in public and the real Fauci are two different people. Fauci likes to get loaded, if you know what I mean. Weird for an old guy, but whatever. So, last month we’re at the Barking Dog, a bar in Bethesda, about eight of us and Fauci after work. He’s getting his drink on and pelting them back at a good clip. And, no, in case you’re wondering, none of us at the table were wearing masks, including Fauci. So, he’s had four, five or six and then starts bragging about all this money he’s making, and some of us call bullshit. And he pulls from his briefcase a copy of his tax records and a recent bank statement showing over ten million bucks in the account,” our source said. 

He said he asked Fauci whether the money came from Covid-19 vaccination sales.

“He wouldn’t say yes and he wouldn’t say no, smirking the whole time. He admitted, though, he was going to make 10 times as much money in 2021,” our source said.

RRN confirmed the source’s identity and job, and contacted John McManus, co-owner of the Barking Dog. Mr. McManus said, “Dr. Fauci is a regular patron who enjoys his drinks.” 7/12/21

• 4TH OF JULY AMBIVALENCE.  It is difficult for many Americans to invoke the greatness of our nation this July 4th in view of how far and quickly the Left has diminished it.  Open borders, massive election fraud, tyrannical censure, official lawlessness, manic government spending, and institutional wokeness betray an unprecedented Marxist transition.  America is becoming unrecognizable amid an increasingly gullible public.  Indeed, we have gone from Reagan’s “morning in America” to “mourning in America”.

But we can embrace the glass half-full with yesterday’s grandeur and hope a galvanized opposition and chastened electorate will soon stanch the erosion.  Then we can recapture the sovereign values and principles we used to celebrate on this occasion.  In that spirit, I present my piano arrangement of “America The Beautiful” in tribute to past glory and the historical resilience to recover it.   7/4/21

October - December 2021   Miscellaneous Thoughts Posted to Linked In

• SOME PERSONAL VENTING. Channeling the late Andy Rooney, I invoke my inner curmudgeon to let off some steam. Perhaps you share the frustrations I cite, in which case a collective vocal reaction might impel desired change. Herewith, some of my peeves.

My Pillow commercials

The My Pillow cable television commercial has jumped the shark. Since all retailers have banned the product because of founder Mike Lindell’s conservative politics, he is forced to multiply his ads for tv sales. And, additional offerings including bed sheets, towels, mattress toppers and slippers compound the annoyance. Kudos for his gallant efforts to expose the fraud in the November 2020 election, the reason for his banishment from stores and most media. But, jeez, even that service cannot compensate for the supreme exasperation his ubiquitous screen image engenders.

Monthly charity donations

At Christmas time, solicitations for charity donations culminate, but they have been proliferating all year in a new form. Now, instead of an open-ended appeal for a gift, charities ask for monthly offerings that can be levied against a credit card in perpetuity, invariably $11 or $19 a month. What’s more, they flood the airwaves with the ads a la Mike Lindell. Of course, many donors will forget about the recurring charge, dismiss it as too nominal to stop, or perhaps be too embarrassed to halt it. But others will in time want to discontinue the hit and no doubt will encounter difficulty ending it. So many dupes fall for this. I say this out of skepticism about where the donations really go and from contempt for media manipulation.

Pleasantries between television host and guest

Cable news anchors have to stop waiting interminably for reciprocity from their guests when the host offers a greeting and a thank you at the beginning and end of an interview. Satellite transmission delay in particular makes this practice especially unbearable. Of course, the host wants to be nice so the guest might return, and the guest panders to the host in the hope of more invitations. But this superfluous deference alienates the viewer. It seems most hosts wait for the guest’s response out of insecurity that demands an expression of gratitude, and even validation. By my observation, only Laura Ingraham dispenses with the nonsense and cuts to the chase. Bill O’Reilly used to also.

Obsequious television guests

Cable news guests have to stop fawning over their hosts. One particular gripe is the “that’s exactly right” affirmation directed to the host and sometimes a fellow guest. A simple “yes”, or equivalent comment will do. A guest should not butter up the host in order to get future invitations. The host should encourage this standard in the interest of their viewers, who sometimes seem an afterthought.

Artificial eyelashes on female news personalities

Networks must ditch the requisite phony eyelashes on female on-air personalities. They are simply awful. Bikinis would be more suitable. 12/28/21

• MY MUSICAL CHRISTMAS OFFERING. The Comprehensive Conservative wishes all a Merry Christmas (except leftists). In that spirit, I present my piano arrangement of “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo_hjPP5PGQ

For more of my songs of yore drop by Bill’s Music Lounge at https://www.williamjdodwell.com/my-piano-recordings-bills-music-lounge 12/22/21

• HOW ABOUT INSECTICIDE FOR THE GOLDBUGS? 

By William J. Dodwell  December 20, 2021

The physical gold hucksters are all over media now that persistent inflation has emerged. Not since the hyperinflation of the 1970s has there been as seemingly a cogent reason for these opportunists to push their wares. As always, they extrapolate current inflation alarm into a long-term doomsday scenario involving the collapse of the dollar predicated on astronomical spending and debt.

While that prospect is problematic, and perhaps closer than it ever has been, the dollar likely will remain the world’s reserve currency and a safe haven destination, thus preventing catastrophic devaluation, as no other nation would be better off. To buy gold to hedge against inflation and long-term structural economic decline at the expense of better capital appreciation from other asset classes is a fool’s errand.

Moreover, according to Morningstar, gold has not been a good hedge against inflation historically, except over several decades. In fact, on average, the correlation between gold appreciation and inflation loss is only 16% and that includes periods of even negative gold returns. Stocks and Treasury inflation-protected securities (TIPS) appreciate better, and throw off income in the form of dividends and interest.

The goldbugs warn of a new stagflation marked by chronic elevated inflation, slow growth, impending economic collapse, and dollar devaluation. But one trusts that in America responsible fiscal and monetary corrections borne of dynamic democracy would pre-empt such extremes eventually. That said, current far-left government policies intent on subverting the nation for political gain could in time invite the devastation the goldbugs advise against. But the economic and political pendulums probably would swing back to normalcy before Armageddon.

So, pass the bug spray.

©2021 William J. Dodwell

• REMEMBERING THE COPACABANA. More memories at Bill’s Music Lounge, a digital retrospective on the cocktail lounge lifestyle of the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s, featuring traditional songs with yours truly at the piano. See LINK.

The Copacabana was a world famous mob-run, Latin-themed New York night club whose heyday spanned the 1940s through the 1960s. It probably was most widely known for the brawl that occurred there in 1957 involving several New York Yankee players, including Mickey Mantle and Billy Martin. The melee was front-page news in all the local papers the next day, and probably across the country. Here’s Mantle’s account of that incident. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuGnaUIBQrA

I arrived at the iconic venue on the corner of 5th Avenue and 60th Street in 1977 during the club’s new incarnation under one John Juliano. Gone were the famous showgirls. The main room downstairs, that featured a sunken stage on which the likes of Sammy Davis, Jr., Frank Sinatra, and Tony Bennett had performed, was filled with disco ducks and well-dressed gals.

But upstairs time stood still. The circular bar remained, occupied mostly by high-end hookers. Few guys sat there because meeting a regular woman was unlikely. Also, the ladies of the night were expensive. But they knew that eventually some high rollers, or unsuspecting out-of-towners, would arrive for a nice payday. At their rates, one trick was enough to make the wait worthwhile.

So, the only option for me was dinner for two in the dining area. It was a great place to impress a lady. The Irving Fields trio provided traditional music and cheek-to-cheek dancing, along the lines of Bill’s Music Lounge today. In a deep broadcaster-like voice, Fields, the house pianist, panned the room and publicly acknowledged VIPs. I specifically remember him calling out, “Dan Farrell of the New York Daily News is with us tonight. Welcome.” It was a nice touch.

The following year Barry Manilow further institutionalized the establishment with his new hit song, “Copacabana”.

You can capture some semblance of this nugget of yesteryear at Bill’s Music Lounge.

Masks prohibited. 12/21/21

• BE WARY OF THOSE ANNOYING GOLD ADS. Historically, gold has been a popular dollar hedge against inflation and impending economic doomsday scenarios. But a physical gold ad that political pundit Dick Morris hawked on his Sunday radio show recently is particularly disingenuous.

As a selling point for using the precious metal as a hedge, he seemed to warn against both inflation in terms of lost purchasing power, and the declining dollar in terms of the exchange rate that exacerbates inflation. It is clear that, say, 10% annual inflation, reduces domestic purchasing power equally, but it does not necessarily equally affect the foreign-exchange rate. That is, $100 in the bank becomes worth only $90. But Morris seemed to frame the issue also in terms of a decline in the exchange rate of the dollar, as to say that the drop in the value of the dollar against major currencies is necessarily driven entirely by inflation and therefore another reason to hedge with gold.

But the link between inflation and the dollar exchange rate is not necessarily linear. While inflation exerts downward pressure on the dollar, it does not move the exchange rate equally, or necessarily downward. Other factors vis a vis other countries also influence the value of the dollar differently, namely interest-rate differentials, trade flows (goods and services), portfolio flows (securities), net foreign direct investment, and economic growth. In addition, safe-haven investing in the dollar is common.

A declining dollar exchange rate effectively imports inflation because import prices rise as the rate deteriorates. This gives domestic producers more leeway to raise prices in tandem with imports without compromising competitiveness. The result is inflation. But because of the aforementioned other factors impinging on the value of the dollar, it is inaccurate to equate the change in the dollar exchange rate to the inflation rate as Morris seems to suggest. So, while 10% inflation reduces the purchasing power of $100 to $90, the dollar exchange rate may decline, say, 2%, or even rise, versus other currencies and therefore not be a reason for a gold hedge.

To wit, current year-over-year inflation has been 6% while the dollar appreciated, not depreciated, 6% against six major currencies. Meanwhile, almighty gold declined, not appreciated, 3% in the period, for a total loss of 9%. So much for the ballyhooed gold inflation hedge. Perhaps Morris’ point is that gold effectively protects against economic Armageddon that decimates the dollar, and not just against chronic inflation. But does gold investing involving storage costs, no income stream, and an ineffective hedge justify sacrificing the long melt up in stocks? 12/6/21

• DEFY THE WOKE: PLAY “BABY IT’S COLD OUTSIDE”. More memories at Bill’s Music Lounge, a digital retrospective on the cocktail lounge lifestyle of the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s, featuring traditional songs with yours truly at the piano. See LINK.

The 1940s Burton Lane/Frank Loesser classic, “Baby It’s Cold Outside”, has been banned by programmers in recent years at the behest of the “MeToo” emasculation movement. Absurdly, the persistent suitor in the song is now considered predatory, even rapacious. Here is a 1949 clip featuring Ricardo Montalban and Esther Williams in the supposedly scandalous performance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzeFmfOglbA

Disseminate this video far and wide with instructions to play it daily throughout every winter in defiance of woke tyranny. Be sure to encourage redistribution.

F**k you #MeToo.

See music like this performed at Bill’s Music Lounge.

Masks prohibited. 12/3/21

• BOBBY COLE: A LOUNGE LIZARD’S FAVORITE. Memories abound at Bill’s Music Lounge, a digital retrospective on the cocktail lounge lifestyle of the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s, featuring traditional songs with yours truly at the piano. See LINK.

Today, I invoke an icon of the classic lounge act, Bobby Cole. Oddly, this singer/pianist was better known inside the music business than he was publicly. Sinatra called him his “favorite saloon singer”. And, he had a special relationship with Judy Garland. As house pianist at “Jilly’s” in New York, he caught Garland’s eye. She eventually became his cougar and that association elevated him to Musical Director for her television show after Mel Torme was fired. Here is a clip of his performance on that program in 1964. Folks, it doesn’t get better than this. In the third song, he accompanies Garland.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zvzIsT5DXA (he starts at 1:39)

I saw Cole play frequently in New York venues in the late 1970s. I had heard that sometimes Liza Minnelli dropped by to perform with him informally, a benefit that grew out of his friendship with her mother, Garland. But, only in his mid-forties, this ladies’ man was already past his prime. Purportedly, the ravages of drugs, alcohol and tobacco took their toll, not unlike his famous mentor. His clear-toned vocals had morphed into a raspy voice that made him a different performer, albeit still entertaining.

He met a tragic end in 1996. During a break while on a gig in New York, he took a walk along First Avenue. On the way back, he became very ill, grabbed a light post to steady himself and slumped to the ground of a heart attack. Eventually, a passer-by called 911. At first, a miscommunication of the events led many to believe he literally died in the gutter, destitute. In fact, he expired at home surrounded by his family.

Come on down to Bill’s Music Lounge for some great memories.

Masks prohibited. 12/1/21

• THE LEFT’S REAL MOTIVE BEHIND ITS OBSESSION WITH COVID VACCINATION. Many conservatives believe government Covid mandates help the Left amass incremental power to effect the ultimate destruction of America and the substitution of a new socialist order.

In my opinion, an additional ulterior motive of the Left likely underlies its obsession with mass vaccination: Pharmaceutical kickbacks to Democrats from vaccine sales in exchange for their hype in a symbiosis of government, Big Pharma, and media. A share of potentially hundreds of billions of dollars of pharmaceutical profits is at stake. More vaccinations beget more cash to fund liberal election campaigns and their Marxist agendas for years to come.

The recent emergence of the Covid variant, Omicron, may introduce yet another emergency ruse that further justifies both mitigation and vaccine mandates facilitated by new public hysteria.

The Fauci fraud

Throughout the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci has become rich as a faux scientific authority and corrupt propagandist. A research employee of his reported first-hand that Fauci, during drinks with staff at a Maryland bar called “The Barking Dog”, displayed his 2020 tax return to the group sporting a $9 million income. He also bragged he expects to double that in 2021. Those “earnings” likely reflect compensation from Big Pharma for lying about Covid to boost vaccine sales. What else could it be, given his $434,000 government salary, investments?

Science is ignored

The money grab by the Left explains why Democratic governments and liberal media exaggerate the Covid threat by continuing to fixate on mere Covid infections and mass testing, rather than set policy based on genuine hospitalizations and deaths. They ignore, indeed suppress, the science that has shown since inception that only the elderly and those with compromised immunity systems are at risk to serious illness or death from Covid.

In fact, to date, the vast majority of those infected have experienced no symptoms, or have suffered relatively mild sickness. The average Covid decedent is 77 and children are virtually unaffected. Yet, now government urges or requires those over five to get inoculated. Of course, Covid mandates and hype are irrational and the Left knows it. But what a boon for the vaccine makers and their kickback beneficiaries, as well as their shareholders.

The Left pushes universal vaccination, masks, lockdowns and school closings despite no scientific support for their necessity. It also ignores the effectiveness of superior natural immunity as a substitute for vaccination. In addition, the Left and its stooges have vigorously resisted proven cheap therapeutics, such as Hydroxychloroquine and Remdesivir. In fact, the scientific community curiously has demonstrated little interest in developing new therapeutics.

What’s more, the media suppress the relatively high rate of deaths and serious side-effects from the vaccine. The Left dismisses natural immunity, therapeutics, and vaccine side-effects because they undermine pharmaceutical vaccine sales and kickbacks to Democrats in my opinion. Furthermore, the authorities inflate the already infinitesimal Covid death rate by all manner of co-morbidities, that reportedly affect 94% of official deaths, to justify ongoing government intervention.

The gullible public

The disturbing gullibility and ignorance of the public accommodate the Left’s corrupt political and monetary ends, which involve compromised scientists. It is astonishing how many people still voluntarily wear useless masks, even outdoors, and despite vaccination. Sadly, the mask has become a badge of acquiescence to tyrannical government and its allies. Its appearance encourages more intransigence and inspires greater unfounded public alarm in a vicious cycle of mandate and compliance. Even many conservatives fall for the gambit about infection cases and testing. To modify James Carville’s caveat about the economy, it’s about those profiles vulnerable to serious illness and death, stupid. The other Covid subjects can bear infection with little or no consequence, just like the flu. The Left seeks to eradicate the virus. It knows this is impossible and unnecessary, but the goal assures perpetually empowering mitigation and enriching vaccine mandates.

The Omicron variant

With the arrival of the Omicron variant, Democrat governments and media are doubtless salivating at the opportunity to declare a new emergency and mindlessly reinstate feckless lockdowns and unnecessary testing under the guise of protecting the people. New York Governor Kathy Hochul already is doubling down on past failure without any knowledge of the virus’ severity or the ability of existing vaccines to thwart it. I can hear other liberal governors now, “Out of an abundance of caution, blah, blah, blah … “ What’s more, the pharmaceutical firms and their kickback payees fantasize over the possibility of having to produce new mandated vaccines. What a bonanza! But if Omicron is a bust, as I suspect, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth all over the Left. It would be about time.

The new Covid variant also presents Democrats with another opportunity to tank the economy and dispense unrelated fiscal stimulus to operatives of the Left. Consider the teachers’ unions, a huge Democrat bastion, received some $200 billion in federal fiscal Covid aid, obviously many, many multiples of what is required for general education purposes, much less just Covid protection. Rather, the largesse is ammunition for fighting the internal war on America as the leftist onslaught toward socialism advances. One has to wonder whether successive Covid variants are the latest deception for perpetuating the destruction. 11/29/21

• SHOCKING SURPRISE AT BILL’S MUSIC LOUNGE. A seismic jolt occurred at Bill’s Music Lounge, a digital retrospective on the cocktail lounge lifestyle of the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s, featuring traditional songs with yours truly at the piano. See LINK.

I eased into an intro to “The Way We Were” when Brenda, my head waitress, unexpectedly picked up the mic and cooed the song like a nightingale. Here’s my (elongated) piano recording https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sclYyFkpipo

Who knew? Songstress was not on her resume. Brenda worked the pole in strip joints across America for years. Now, a bit long in the tooth for that, but still carrying a marketable 46DDD rack, she presides over libation distribution at Bill’s. But given her new found singing ability, I’ll have to expand her role.

Hidden talents are often revealed quite surprisingly. Anita O’Day, the great jazz singer, spoke of one such experience. While performing in a club, she noticed a woman standing in the back who had come in from the rain. When O’Day took a break, the woman stepped onto the stage to blow everyone’s mind. She changed her name to June Christy and the rest is history.

Perhaps one night you’ll be shocked at Bill’s Music Lounge. Check it out.

Masks prohibited. 11/22/21

• HAREM AT BILL’S MUSIC LOUNGE. The saga continues at Bill’s Music Lounge, a digital retrospective on the cocktail lounge lifestyle of the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s, featuring traditional songs with yours truly at the piano. See LINK.

It was a hot night at Bill’s Music Lounge, and I’m not talking about the weather. I sat down to start my next set when a beautiful woman sprawled across the piano before me, her ample rack spilling over the keyboard. Then, I felt another woman behind me massage my scalp as she sexily whispered in my ear, “Play ‘Witchcraft’ ”. So, with cleavage in my face and lady-fingers in my hair, I obliged.

“Those fingers through my hair/

That sly come-hither stare/

That strips my conscience bare/

It’s Witchcraft.”

Here’s a clip of the song performed by its composer, Cy Coleman, under the watchful eye of host Hugh Hefner on his Playboy Penthouse television show circa 1959. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmDpSP5Y3HI

Guys, the gals are waiting. Check out Bill’s Music Lounge.

Masks prohibited. 11/19/21

• HAZEL SCOTT: A MUSIC GIANT OF YESTERYEAR. I present Bill’s Music Lounge, a digital retrospective on the cocktail lounges of the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s, featuring traditional songs with yours truly at the piano. See LINK.

As house pianist, I reflect on role models I have observed over the years in my nocturnal travels. One was Hazel Scott, a child piano prodigy and popular jazz singer-pianist of the 1930s and 1940s, particularly remembered for her stints at New York’s popular Café Society. This YouTube clip reveals a young attractive, vivacious musician. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySQ8cA4a-f8 (Skip the annoying ads.)

But that early image did not comport with the person I witnessed fairly regularly in the late 1970s in a Manhattan night club. While she performed very well, she seemed forlorn and detached, not engaging with the audience as she did originally. Her mood might have been soured by her blacklisting by industry heads for boldly expressing her opposition to racial discrimination and segregation, especially to the House Un-American Activities Committee 25 years earlier. Married to outspoken Harlem Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., politics was a part of her life. Tragically, her protestations diminished a promising career and consigned her to relative obscurity in the U.S. for many years.

I missed her for a while but caught up with her again in the early 1980s at the Milford Plaza Hotel near Times Square. I recall reading she was ecstatic about the gig because it was a long-term contract to play five nights a week right in her back yard. This meant steady work and no strenuous traveling around the country, in Europe and elsewhere. I dropped by to see her play and was struck by how elevated her performance was. She was cookin’ on that piano as I had not seen her previously.

Shortly later, she died of cancer at 61. In retrospect, it seemed she knew the end was imminent and was expressing her last hurrah through her instrument. That would explain her ramped up performance that knocked me out.

Music can be uplifting in many ways. Avail yourself of that potentiality at Bill’s Music Lounge.

Masks prohibited. 11/17/21

• MICK JAGGER INVADES BILL’S MUSIC LOUNGE. An interloper trespassed Bill’s Music Lounge, a digital retrospective on the cocktail lounges of the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s, featuring traditional songs with yours truly at the piano. See LINK.

I was finishing a set at the piano when I heard a commotion at the door. Properly, my gatekeepers were trying to prevent an animated Mick Jagger from entering. Pointing to a sign on the wall, I told him my policy is quite clear. “No rock stars allowed.” The following exchange ensued:

Jagger: I understand, Bill, but …

Bill: Hold it! Who do you think you are, Frank Sinatra? It’s Mr. Dodwell for you.

Jagger: Yes, sir. I heard so much about Bill’s Music Lounge I had to check it out.

Bill: I don’t like you rock and roll guys. You and your ilk supplanted a beautiful music culture. Ok, sing a Cole Porter song. If you’re decent, I’ll let you perform it on stage to my accompaniment.

Jagger cleared his throat, took a deep breath, and forged into “Begin The Beguine”, right there in the foyer. Shockingly, he wasn’t half bad.

Returning to the piano with Jagger in tow, I opened with a Latin rhythm intro for his song. Then out of nowhere two guys with electric guitars appeared. Jagger grabbed the mic and proceeded to scream, “I - can’t – get – no - sa-tis-fac-tion …”. I was horrified. He tried to hijack my club. I let him finish. But I got the last laugh. When done, he faced stone-cold-silence. My patrons don’t want to hear that crap. They come to enjoy adult music; real music. Jagger left with his head down and his tail between his legs.

Afterwards, a diehard customer asked me if I was selling out. I said that Jagger told me he was going to sing “Begin The Beguine”. He said, “S-u-r-e he did”. It took weeks to restore my credibility.

Let’s be clear. Bill’s Music Lounge is dedicated to traditional music and only traditional music.

Masks prohibited. 11/15/21

• PROCEED WITH CAUTION AT BILL’S MUSIC LOUNGE. A word of caution about amorous dalliances at Bill’s Music Lounge, my digital retrospective on the cocktail lounges of the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s, featuring traditional songs with yours truly at the piano. See LINK.

In 1970 when Johnny Carson hosted The Tonight Show from New York City, he used to frequent a watering hole called “Jilly’s” owned by Jilly Rizzo, a good friend of Frank Sinatra who also visited the establishment regularly. Sinatra even had his own reserved roped-off table. One night Carson, after too many drinks, aggressively hit on a woman at the bar. As it happened, she was the girlfriend of a mobster who saw his every move. The Mafia don summoned a couple of thugs who threw Carson down the stairway. Carson missed his show for three days afterwards hiding in his apartment out of fear of further retaliation. True story. https://nypost.com/2013/10/09/mob-wanted-johnny-carson-dead-after-drunken-flirtation/ (Scroll down.)

This is a warning to guys given to pursuing the lovely ladies at my bar. I certainly do not invite mob figures, but in this business one may not know if such a character is present who could be inadvertently offended. So, before you make a move, be watchful for a guy with a 27 inch neck and a violin case. And if spotted, don’t sit with your back to the door. As the house pianist, I’m not exempt from danger. Irving Fields, an elegant, much sought after pianist back in the day, told the story of Frank Sinatra once shutting the piano cover on his hands.

Have fun, but proceed with caution at Bill’s Music Lounge.

Masks prohibited. 11/12/21

• EJECTING A LEFTIST FROM BILL’S MUSIC LOUNGE. More action at Bill’s Music Lounge, my digital retrospective on the cocktail lounges of the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s, featuring traditional songs with yours truly at the piano. See LINK.

I was finishing a set at the piano when Brenda, the head waitress, passed me a note. It said there was a leftist at the bar spreading propaganda. Concerned, I got up to take a look. He was loudly advocating climate change this, diversity that, open borders, Black Lives Matter, radicalization of the schools, and generally defending the new far-left Democrat Party. I briefly debated him but he had no defense.

Since my arguments humiliated him, he threw a punch. I responded with my stock five-point counterattack: A left jab to the head, a right upper cut, a left to the solar plexus, a right upper cut, and a left cross to put him away. I left him on the floor in a pool of blood. Frank, my operations manager, called EMS to cart him away.

Bill’s Music Lounge is the only bar I have ever known where the house pianist doubles as bouncer. I had to collect myself for my next set, especially for the ladies sitting around the piano. After playing the theme from “Rocky”, I settled into regular mode in a seamless transition from pugilistic to amorous with Hoagy Carmichael's "The Nearness Of You". LINK

Enjoy Bill’s Music Lounge, but don’t mess with Bill.

Masks prohibited. 11/10/21

• TEMPTING THE VICE SQUAD AT BILL’S MUSIC LOUNGE. More action at Bill’s Music Lounge, my digital retrospective on the cocktail lounges of the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s, featuring traditional songs with yours truly at the piano. See LINK.

The dance floor was jammed. But a mysterious gap in the crowd caught my eye from the piano. It turned out that one couple was dancing horizontally. Was it my song selection that inspired such passion? Perhaps. It was “Feelings”, a consistent crowd pleaser that gets everyone on their feet in ten seconds like it was 1975. The women love it. I do too, but suspected politics later mocked the hit song and made it disappear.

I’m usually laissez faire about most risqué behavior, but public fornication could get my joint raided. So, I dispatched the couple to a vacant room with a plush carpet and a jukebox so they could horizontally dance all they want.

Never a dull moment at Bill’s Music Lounge. Come on down!

No mask allowed. 11/8/21

• PREDATORY SEX AT BILL’S MUSIC LOUNGE. Happenings continue at Bill’s Music Lounge, my digital retrospective on the cocktail lounges of the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s, featuring traditional songs with yours truly at the piano. See LINK.

While noodling on the ivories, I panned the room. An aging, but attractive, cougar on the prowl appeared prancing along the back wall. She found her prey - a guy about 25. I looked away momentarily, and when I turned back they were gone. Geez! I wish it were that easy to score when I was his age. I'm sure he enjoyed his Mrs. Robinson moment.

I’m Wild Bill, inveterate night crawler, skirt chaser and music lover who has found a niche at Bill’s Music Lounge. As the proprietor, host and house pianist, I strive to create an enjoyable romantic atmosphere that centers on traditional music. On piano, I invoke the popular classics and jazz standards of yore institutionalized by such practitioners as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Nancy Wilson, Steve & Edie, Dean Martin, Doris Day, Vic Damone, et al. I also embrace similar latter day music of the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s. And, ladies and gentlemen, it’s a great place to score.

Come to Bill’s Music Lounge for old school entertainment and lascivious thrills. Jonathan Schwartz recently retired after purveying these beautiful songs for more than 50 years on the radio, but the music continues at Bill’s new den of iniquity.

Check it out.

No mask allowed. 11/5/21

• A TITILLATING SURPRISE AT BILL’S MUSIC LOUNGE. The joint was jumpin’ at Bill’s Music Lounge, my digital retrospective on the cocktail lounges of the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s, featuring traditional songs with yours truly at the piano. See LINK

While playing “Besame Mucho”, a curvaceous Latina suddenly climbed atop the piano and went into a strip tease to my music. She went all the way down to her birthday suit eliciting a roar from the titillated crowd. The only hitch was when she flung her G-string it landed on my head obstructing my view of the sheet music. Guys lined up for an autograph of this future star. An unexpected treat for all.

Come on down to Bill’s Music Lounge for a scintillating time.

F***k you, #MeToo!

No masks allowed. 11/3/21

• THE LATEST AT BILL’S MUSIC LOUNGE: Here’s the latest on activities at Bill’s Music Lounge, my digital retrospective on the cocktail lounges of the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s, featuring traditional songs with yours truly at the piano. LINK

The place was packed Friday night into the wee hours. Chicks were everywhere, all suitably wearing 1940s attire. One highlight (for me) was an elegant lady sitting at the end of the grand piano directly in my line of sight casting an amorous look. I segued to the Cole Porter song, “You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To”. Then her bedroom eyes became so intense I started flubbing my chord changes. The perils of the job.

Check out Bill’s Music Lounge. Guys, if you can’t get laid here, you should join a monastery. 11/1/21

• MY NEW VENUE: BILL’S MUSIC LOUNGE. I just opened Bill’s Music Lounge featuring traditional music with yours truly at the piano. See LINK .

It’s a digital retrospective on the cocktail lounges of the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s. No tacky high-top tables and “music” that sounds like jack hammers at a construction site. Rather, enjoy popular classics and jazz standards amid plush stuffed chairs, rich mahogany accoutrement, and dim lighting suitable for relaxation, discreet rendezvous or deep thought.

Well-endowed scantily-clad waitresses (minimum 46DDD) serve with a smile. They even provide first aid for those seeking succor returning from yet another fist-fight with a crazed liberal. Bill’s Music Lounge is a great place for romantic interludes, or perhaps just a quicky on the way home from work. We accommodate the prurient interest, and guard against “MeToo” entrapment.

So, grab a seat at the bar. Or, gather around the Steinway. I take requests.

No masks allowed. 10/29/21

• CHILLIN’ OUT. In these dark political times that foster so much angst, anger, and constant combativeness amid a veritable communist takeover from within, one must periodically chill out to preserve sanity. What could be more thematically apt than the Duke Ellington standard, “In a Mellow Tone”? Here’s my jazz piano arrangement, though not so mellow. LINK to video. 10/28/21

• CHINA SPACE MISSILE REMINISCENT OF SOVIET SPUTNIK SCARE. China’s new space missile is a big deal. It circles the global in space escaping U.S. defense systems and then strikes its target out of the blue. The national security implications are huge considering China’s bellicose plans for global hegemony. The scare is reminiscent of the 1957 launch of Sputnik by the Soviet Union which inaugurated the space race and intensified the Cold War.

As a kid in grade school I remember the grave concern among adults about this sudden threat. As with the China missile, the worry was that the Soviets were on a path to colonizing space to tremendous military advantage, especially with nuclear weapons. In response to Sputnik, backyard bomb shelters sprung up, also spurred by alarm about communist infiltration in Hollywood, government and academia that had culminated in Senator Joe McCarthy's congressional hearings just a few years earlier.

Later, President Kennedy declared a goal of putting a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s with aspirations of developing a space-based defense. The Soviet-executed Cuban missile crisis of 1962 was a catalyst to that commitment. But having achieved the moon landing in 1969, the fear disappeared with the thinking that the U.S. won the space race. The eventual end of the space program and the collapse of the Soviet Union marked a long era of complacency.

President Trump’s creation of the Space Force could not be more opportune. Unfortunately, it got off to an inauspicious start with the rebuke and resignation of commander Lt. Colonel Matthew Lohmeier in May for his public warnings about growing Marxist ideology in the military. Climate issues and social justice reform take increasing precedence over national defense in policy-making, legislation and budgeting amid a sea of debilitating wokeness. This does not bode well for our preparedness against Chinese aggression, nor terrestrial nuclear threats from Iran, Russia and North Korea. 10/20/21

• ON KAMALA HARRIS’ ABDICATION.  As officials convene for a U.S. – Mexico summit meeting about the border crisis, Vice President Kamala Harris, Biden’s designated “Border Czar”, opts out.  Instead, she visits a day care center and a bakery in New Jersey.  She does not want her fingerprint on the immigration debacle because it will taint her presidential hopes.  But Biden has already branded her with it through his assigned moniker.  

For a while Harris boldly stood behind Biden during his speeches as to say, “I’m next.” But now she’s hiding, purportedly having botched all her assignments.  Indeed, she has proven to be an empty pants suit. What a contrast to her predecessor, Mike Pence! It is a sorry state of affairs for America that both the president and the vice president are not functional.

The outcome is not surprising.  Harris is Biden’s openly affirmative action selection.  The leftist never garnered more than 3% in the polls during her presidential campaign and had to drop out before the Iowa caucuses.  She faced a staff mutiny that reportedly has happened again as vice president.  She is a phony unprincipled figure given to unbecoming cackling who has called for donations to bail out BLM and Antifa terrorists from jail. Given her politics, her inaction may be a blessing.

Perhaps Kamala “heels up” Harris should return to what she does best – servicing her mentor Willie Brown.  But she would have to alter her techniques because at 87 he probably requires a splint by now.  Years ago Frank Sinatra disparaged columnist Dorothy Kilgallen from the stage for something she wrote about him.  Insinuating a whoreish image, he invoked her name, held out some cash and said, “Here’s $2.” As to Kamala Harris, I’d pay her 20 bucks – Sinatra’s offer adjusted for inflation. In any case, her performance as vice president is worth no more than that.  10/11/21

THE LEFT’S REAL MOTIVE BEHIND ITS OBSESSION WITH COVID VACCINATION

By William J. Dodwell November 29, 2021

Many conservatives believe government Covid mandates help the Left amass incremental power to effect the ultimate destruction of America and the substitution of a new socialist order.

In my opinion, an additional ulterior motive of the Left likely underlies its obsession with mass vaccination: Pharmaceutical kickbacks to Democrats from vaccine sales in exchange for their hype in a symbiosis of government, Big Pharma, and media. A share of potentially hundreds of billions of dollars of pharmaceutical profits is at stake. More vaccinations beget more cash to fund liberal election campaigns and their Marxist agendas for years to come.

The recent emergence of the Covid variant, Omicron, may introduce yet another emergency ruse that further justifies both mitigation and vaccine mandates facilitated by new public hysteria.

The Fauci fraud

Throughout the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci has become rich as a faux scientific authority and corrupt propagandist. A research employee of his reported first-hand that Fauci, during drinks with staff at a Maryland bar called “The Barking Dog”, displayed his 2020 tax return to the group sporting a $9 million income. He also bragged he expects to double that in 2021. Those “earnings” likely reflect compensation from Big Pharma for lying about Covid to boost vaccine sales. What else could it be, given his $434,000 government salary, investments?

Science is ignored

The money grab by the Left explains why Democratic governments and liberal media exaggerate the Covid threat by continuing to fixate on mere Covid infections and mass testing, rather than set policy based on genuine hospitalizations and deaths. They ignore, indeed suppress, the science that has shown since inception that only the elderly and those with compromised immunity systems are at risk to serious illness or death from Covid.

In fact, to date, the vast majority of those infected have experienced no symptoms, or have suffered relatively mild sickness. The average Covid decedent is 77 and children are virtually unaffected. Yet, now government urges or requires those over five to get inoculated. Of course, Covid mandates and hype are irrational and the Left knows it. But what a boon for the vaccine makers and their kickback beneficiaries, as well as their shareholders.

The Left pushes universal vaccination, masks, lockdowns and school closings despite no scientific support for their necessity. It also ignores the effectiveness of superior natural immunity as a substitute for vaccination. In addition, the Left and its stooges have vigorously resisted proven cheap therapeutics, such as Hydroxychloroquine and Remdesivir. In fact, the scientific community curiously has demonstrated little interest in developing new therapeutics.

What’s more, the media suppress the relatively high rate of deaths and serious side-effects from the vaccine. The Left dismisses natural immunity, therapeutics, and vaccine side-effects because they undermine pharmaceutical vaccine sales and kickbacks to Democrats in my opinion. Furthermore, the authorities inflate the already infinitesimal Covid death rate by all manner of co-morbidities, that reportedly affect 94% of official deaths, to justify ongoing government intervention.

The gullible public

The disturbing gullibility and ignorance of the public accommodate the Left’s corrupt political and monetary ends, which involve compromised scientists. It is astonishing how many people still voluntarily wear useless masks, even outdoors, and despite vaccination. Sadly, the mask has become a badge of acquiescence to tyrannical government and its allies. Its appearance encourages more intransigence and inspires greater unfounded public alarm in a vicious cycle of mandate and compliance. Even many conservatives fall for the gambit about infection cases and testing. To modify James Carville’s caveat about the economy, it’s about those profiles vulnerable to serious illness and death, stupid. The other Covid subjects can bear infection with little or no consequence, just like the flu. The Left seeks to eradicate the virus. It knows this is impossible and unnecessary, but the goal assures empowering mitigation and enriching vaccine mandates in perpetuity.

The Omicron variant

With the arrival of the Omicron variant, Democrat governments and media are doubtless salivating at the opportunity to declare a new emergency and mindlessly reinstate feckless lockdowns and unnecessary testing under the guise of protecting the people. New York Governor Kathy Hochul already is doubling down on past failure without any knowledge of the virus’ severity or the ability of existing vaccines to thwart it. I can hear other liberal governors now, “Out of an abundance of caution, blah, blah, blah … “ What’s more, the pharmaceutical firms and their kickback payees fantasize over the possibility of having to produce new mandated vaccines. What a bonanza! But if Omicron is a bust, as I suspect, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth all over the Left. It would be about time.

The new Covid variant also presents Democrats with another opportunity to tank the economy and dispense unrelated fiscal stimulus to operatives of the Left. Consider the teachers’ unions, a huge Democrat bastion, received some $200 billion in federal fiscal Covid aid, obviously many, many multiples of what is required for general education purposes, much less just Covid protection. Rather, the largesse is ammunition for fighting the internal war on America as the leftist onslaught toward socialism advances. One has to wonder whether successive Covid variants are the latest deception for perpetuating the destruction.

©2021 William J. Dodwell

January - March 2022   Miscellaneous Thoughts Posted to Linked In

• SPARKS FLY AT THE DINER OVER COVID MASK. I have been critical of Covid mask-wearing since the beginning of the pandemic. In fact, early on I posted a commentary with the headline, “Get That Mask Off Your Face”. I have believed that people with masks symbolize a cowardly acquiescence to government tyranny and media anti-science propaganda that is antithetical to the very recalcitrance needed to counteract internal communist forces in our midst. Indeed, these lemmings are largely representative of the gullible simpletons who gave us Democratic control in Washington, in particular the demented fool in the White House. They must be shamed.

So, imagine how I feel when I see a mask today, two years into the Covid charade. Even after authorities have lifted restrictions, and acknowledge the ineffectiveness of the face rag, some people still wear it. But I discovered a new way to react to female fanatics of this sort.

While recently waiting on line at the diner to pay my bill, a masked waitress standing next to me sparked my ire. In order to discourage her mindless hygienic practice, I told her she looked like a brainwashed government dupe still falling for a hoax. Then I gave her an inducement. I told her that if she removes the mask I could give her a kiss.

Immediately, she tore the covering off, and I sprang into action. I planted a nice buss on her lips and gave her a deep dip, you know, like the iconic front-page photo of the sailor in Times Square amid a mass celebration of the end of World War II. I hope the prospect of future kisses will ensure she is always maskless.

But then the unexpected. When I finished, three other waitresses were waiting for the same treatment, and, they already had given up masks.

It’s tough being the Comprehensive Conservative LINK. 3/14/22

• TRUMP’S 2020 ELECTION FRAUD MANTRA MUST CONTINUE. Many conservatives bemoan Trump’s continual lamentation in public appearances about the rigging of the 2020 election. They say that in the interest of a 2024 reelection bid he should focus on future solutions rather than invoke the past and invite the perception of sour grapes. Conservative media including fraud deniers Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, National Review, Forbes and the New York Post are in this camp. And ardent pro-Trump pundits, including Bill O’Reilly, Michael Goodwin and Steve Moore, advise against harping on his “loss”.

They are wrong! Sixty percent of Republicans believe fraud turned the 2020 election. They want a full accounting. Yet, party leaders are silent. Trump can both cite fraud and opine about the future. The issues are not mutually exclusive. Besides, Republicans alienated by Trump’s fraud talk will vote for him anyway.

As a matter of principle, Trump should continue his rant, irrespective of its effect on his reelection, in order to expose the injustice and to encourage legislative, judicial and administrative action that will prevent it from happening again. The evidence is quite compelling and Trump says more is coming soon. Consider this sampling LINK.

Why do conservative media veer from the fraud issue in lockstep despite the evidence and constituent support for exposure? Some oppose breaking with the American tradition of accepting the results of elections. Hell, Hillary Clinton set a precedent still whining that the Republicans stole the 2016 election from her through Russian collusion despite no evidence. Others are afraid their objection to the election outcome will associate them with the January 6th “insurrection” and invite sham investigation, reputational damage and possible imprisonment.

Many Republican politicians and pundits dread the prospect of media outlets and their party shunning them. In addition, some conservatives fear lawsuits, particularly with respect to claims of voter machine irregularities, as has happened with Rudy Giuliani and Mike Lindell. And, there are those who anticipate reprisals by government, corporate and media henchmen for the Left. Among them are certain judges who refused to hear cases related to the 2020 election despite clear violations of law.

Trump will never stop crying foul, nor should he because almost all media suppress the truth about the 2020 election. The fix is in. Let’s hope his efforts will impel the critical mass necessary to expose and rectify this grave threat to our democracy. 2/28/22

• THE SUPERBOWL HALFTIME SHOW: BEYOND DEPRAVITY.

The recent Superbowl Halftime Show yet again celebrated sheer degeneracy showcasing beastial rap performers cavorting about, shouting not a single intelligible word. (Sammy Davis, Jr. must be rolling in his grave.) Indeed, the stage was a veritable animal farm and noise machine that included the vile Eminem, who took a “knee” in defiance of NFL instructions not to.

Since the vast majority of NFL players are black, the cravenly woke white Commissioner, Roger Goodell, apparently thought the show should put contemporary black culture on display. Never mind that most of the more than 100 million viewers no doubt would find the spectacle abhorrent. The continued guilt and self-flagellation over the death of George Floyd, a career criminal and lifelong bum, still looms on the left, which feels that such racial pandering is palliative. Perhaps, the black rap angle was in deference to Black History Month. Rather, the show was a blasphemy against that tradition.

In the spirit of racial harmony, the Superbowl show again foisted on America degrading modern black “music” that embraces thuggery, violence and nihilism. Ironically, the abomination promotes the pathologies that undergird the social plight of the black community.

But if a racial theme is requisite, why not a retrospective on the jazz age featuring such black notables as Billy Eckstine, Nat Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne, Art Tatum, Charlie Parker, Oscar Peterson and Miles Davis? Plenty of black artists could emulate their performances in various authentic settings on stage. I bet J Lo could fit into that scenario quite well. So could Queen Latifah.

Alternatively, next year the producers could live-stream a set from Bill’s Music Lounge LINK. I await an invitation. 2/21/22

• IN DEFENSE OF WHOOPI GOLDBERG. Whoopi Goldberg is a leftist buffoon and repulsive slob. However, the media reaction to her comment on “The View” about Jews and Nazis is reprehensible. Without malice, she simply displayed an ignorance of history in claiming the Holocaust was not about race, but rather man’s inhumanity to man. Yes, but it was also about Hitler’s belief in the superiority of the Aryan race and his need to eliminate what he considered an inferior race, the Jews.

Whoopi did not discern the race aspect because both the Nazis and the Jews were white. Why the opprobrium? Given common confusion about race, color and ethnicity, many probably think of the Nazi atrocities in terms of generic inhumanity rather than racial animus.

Why does Whoopi’s assertion offend Jews? Does it diminish Holocaust victimhood as a possible lever that elicits special deference and accommodation to Jews out of empathy borne of their horrific experience? Does she suppress the Jewish uniqueness of the Nazi Holocaust by which Jews monopolize the term, notwithstanding similar atrocities commissioned by Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot? Too much public acquiescence to the perceived offenses of aggrieved groups is the very essence of wokeness, and thus dangerous.

In 2018 Kanye West, a black entertainer, questioned whether slavery was as oppressive as claimed since he said it lasted four-hundred years (with little resistance by the slaves). He suggested slavery might have been “a choice”, perhaps because it provided subsistence (food, shelter, etc.). Of course, this view, if widely adopted, would diminish the gravity of slavery and its utility for political advantage today. As such, its expression is verboten, even by blacks.

Like the Holocaust, any diminution of slavery undermines a certain leverage for blacks to garner popular empathy. Support for reparations and the many social accommodations to blacks today would diminish in contemplation of a lesser notion of slavery. Thus, to suggest Kanye’s view would invite banishment. In fact, he bemoaned the lack of freedom to present his “new idea”.

Whoopi has a right to speak her mind. Recall the proposed Nazi march in the predominately-Jewish community of Skokie, IL in 1978. Local authorities forbade the demonstration but the State Supreme Court upheld the right of the marchers, invoking First Amendment freedom of speech. The First Amendment does not apply legally to the Goldberg case as government is not involved. But the corporatist cancel culture doing government’s bidding undercuts its once sacrosanct spirit.

In this world of woke, we must resist unreasonable sensitivities, paranoia and political motives that aggrieved groups impose on the public, be they Jews, transgenders, blacks, gays, or women. In defense of individual liberty, we must overcome the fear of offending, and challenge increasingly strident and often ersatz grievances, as well as tyrannical sanctions by corporate interests. 2/7/22

• BILL’S WHORE HOUSE NOW OPEN. I just opened a brothel right above the digital “Bill’s Music Lounge” LINK a la the saloons of the Old West. This is in response to the de facto legalization of the oldest profession by the new George Soros-installed District Attorney. According to his recent policy announcement, he will prosecute only major crimes. That sounds like a green light for the red light to me.

My appointed Madam, Stella, has recruited a stable of lovelies from around the world offering a wide range of flavors. In celebration of her new role managing the ladies of the evening, I feature the late jazz pianist Oscar Peterson with his trio performing the apt “Stella By Starlight”, the 1940s classic by Victor Young and Ned Washington. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au9DrtKLEpU (Skip the annoying ad.)

Check it out, guys. Reasonable rates apply.

Masks prohibited. 1/18/22

• SCOTUS DECISION ON VACCINE MANDATE IS NO PANACEA. While the Supreme Court blocked President Biden’s vaccine, testing and mask mandate for large companies, relief is quite limited. The Court exempted mandates of health care companies, as they are supported by legislative authority granted Medicare and Medicaid. It also allows state and local government mandates, as well as voluntary company mandates on employees. As such, the decision will not fully relieve labor shortages resulting from related firings and resignations, nor dispel misgivings about authoritarian governments and businesses who mandate on their own.

The Court’s decision centered only on whether OSHA has statutory authority to mandate private employer policy outside the agency’s intended purpose, workplace safety. Accordingly, it ruled that only Congress and the states may decide on that right. The Court did not address the freedom of individuals to opt out of the vaccine; nor did it much consider the true scientific basis of the viral threat, which should be the only justification for public restraints. Lower courts are adjudicating those merits brought by lawsuits against mandates of state and local governments, and businesses.

The Covid virus has been limited in that symptoms are absent or only mild in most cases, especially Omicron. Also, pre-diagnosed Omicron hospitalizations are not excessive, yielding only one reported death in the U.S. Reports of overtaxed hospitals mainly arise from staff shortages attributable to firings and resignations over vaccine mandates.

As such, a cost-benefit analysis does not support mass vaccine, testing and mask mandates with their economically and socially damaging mitigation protocols. Restricting the well for the benefit of the small vulnerable population of elderly and immuno-suppressed is not justified. Indeed, the severity of the virus does not warrant universal sacrifice. By contrast, for example, Ebola, having a 90% death rate, would justify draconian government intervention. The Court did not incorporate that distinction, which would protect against imperious health mandates in the future.

The Court did not contemplate one’s right to decline the experimental Covid vaccine based on: 1) Individual concern for unknown long-term effects, 2) The natural immunity of the infected, 3) Religious reservation. The minority opinion considers the opt-out question beyond the purview of the Court because it lacks the expertise inherent in OSHA regulation. The majority opinion highlights the need for Congress to ensure sufficient clarity in its laws to prevent overly expansive interpretation by regulators in their application, a longstanding problem. In particular, congressional precision protects against agency liberties invoked as pretexts under conditions of emergency, such as the Covid pandemic.

Some companies, such as Citibank, will mandate vaccination on their own to avoid possible legal liability to infected employees. 1/17/22

• BILL’S MUSIC LOUNGE - AND WHORE HOUSE. Memories abound at Bill’s Music Lounge, a digital retrospective on the cocktail lounge lifestyle of the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s, featuring traditional songs with yours truly at the piano. See LINK.

Wild Bill here with a big announcement. The new George Soros installed District Attorney in New York City has announced a radical law enforcement policy that reduces all but a few major crimes to misdemeanors or mere violations. While this is outrageous for the safety and quality of life of New Yorkers, there is a silver lining. It means I may add a brothel to my music lounge with impunity, and the ladies will not be prosecuted, or even arrested. I’ll run it as a separate profit center at a much higher margin than regular operations.

Consider the saloons in movie westerns. The first floor features a bar and a honkytonk piano. But there are also “the ladies upstairs” who provide added services. The old television program, “Gunsmoke”, starring James Arness as Matt Dillon that aired for twenty years captured this culture. Kitty, the saloon owner, who usually appeared mixing with the patrons downstairs, implicitly managed an operation above with an iron hand.

Of course, Bill’s Music Room and Whore House will be different. In the place of the honkytonk piano, I present a 7-foot Steinway grand amid elegant accoutrement. I will pipe my piano music into the newly designated upstairs rooms for consistent ambience, and perhaps even some stimulation. And, I trust I will get along just fine with my “Kitty”.

Hey guys, if you don’t score downstairs, try again upstairs where it’s a sure thing.

Masks prohibited. 1/14/22

• BILL’S MUSIC LOUNGE CONTINUES. Memories abound at Bill’s Music Lounge, a digital retrospective on the cocktail lounge lifestyle of the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s, featuring traditional songs with yours truly at the piano. See LINK.

It’s a new year, but yesteryear still reigns here. Another scintillating night in the books. I finished my last set at 3 a.m. and it was time to get ready to close. Last call was underway. The crew tallied the register, closed the piano top and vacuumed the floor to the sounds of Sinatra on the jukebox.

Surprisingly, Laura the coat-check girl, appeared. “I thought you left a while ago.”, I said. She replied furtively, “I’ve been waiting for you.” Ooooh! A guy’s got to have a lot of energy in this business.

Check out Bill’s Music Lounge. The action never stops.

Masks prohibited. 1/7/22

• OMICRON: DOUBLING DOWN ON STUPID. Why are people standing in long lines to test for Omicron? Even conservatives bemoan the shortage of home test kits. From the beginning, we have known that, except for the elderly and immuno-suppressed (the “vulnerable”), majority of infections are asymptomatic, and most others produce relatively mild illness that does not require hospitalization. What’s more, children are unscathed by the virus. Moreover, the Omicron variant is considerably less threatening than previous Covid incarnations, to date having caused no deaths in the U.S. These are facts.

This means the non-vulnerable infected need not be concerned about infection, nor worry about spreading it to others, notwithstanding its extreme transmissibility. In fact, the virus now is more akin to a cold than even the flu. As such, government and media obsession over case counts is political misdirection.

So, why get tested? If symptoms appear, one can treat them like a cold. If they persist, the sick may take the test and, if positive, seek Covid-specific therapeutics, which the authorities only now allow for general distribution. They include monoclonal antibodies, and shortly, a Pfizer antiviral pill. But many of those seeking tests today are without symptoms and motivated only by media-induced fear of infection.

Those testing positive unnecessarily subject themselves and their contacts to onerous quarantine and intrusive tracking protocols. Why do this, unless to qualify for Covid therapeutics, which may not be needed? Those not tested can avoid this imposition without consequence, except for the vulnerable who may self-quarantine for their safety. Since Covid positivity does not endanger the non-vulnerable, why get tested, except for misguided employer mandates?

But mere case counts are driving public hysteria and a stampede to testing centers. Just what the government and Pharma want in order to turbo-charge the sale of lucrative “vaccines” that do not prevent infection, but only mitigate its severity - for a while.

As some posited at the beginning of the pandemic, including this writer, doing nothing, allowing the virus to run its course, fosters superior natural herd immunity that does prevent further infection. This realization, in consideration of the weakness of Omicron and the now established ineffectiveness of lockdowns, social distancing and masks, should bring us full circle back to that age-old epidemiological reality. Yet many are still gullible to media fear mongering, as governments and businesses reinstate mask mandates in reaction to a current raft of relatively harmless infection cases.

Even Dr. Fauci now concedes the dire economic and social costs of his warnings, albeit probably out of political expediency. Until recently, Democrat-imposed Covid restrictions were abating, although some vaccine mandates remain. Increasingly, people are getting wise to the charade. But not most of those standing on line for testing. 1/5/22

• CAN YOU TRUST YOUR DOCTOR FOR TRUTHFUL COVID ADVICE? Advocates of personal choice regarding Covid vaccination say individuals should have the freedom to decide for themselves in consultation with their doctor. But many doctors and nurses seem ill informed or politically compromised concerning the pandemic.

Like all professions, medical practitioners operate within their specialties with little reading or concern about issues outside their expertise. Hence, they may be as uninformed as laymen about COVID. For example, I questioned an internist about certain realities of the virus vis a vis the surrounding propaganda. He replied dismissively, “Do you have a Ph.D. in epidemiology?”. I told him that I do not have to be so trained because I listen to dissidents who are. I added that the public does not hear their views because the mass media suppress them.

I also debated a nurse while she administered my booster shot. I told herthe authorities and the liberal media obsess over cases, which are not important because most infected are asymptomatic or only mildly ill. I said the focus should center only on the vulnerable, i.e., the elderly and those with immuno-suppressing conditions. Metrics should concentrate on (genuine) hospitalizations and deaths, not cases. She replied she had Covid and became very sick, but not hospitalized. What’s more, she was deathly afraid of infecting her grandson, not knowing that children are virtually immune to the virus. Then the shocker: The nurse said her only solace throughout her ordeal was Dr. Fauci’s comments!

And there is politics. Today most medical practices, and many hospitals, operate as corporations following their consolidation through acquisition. As such, formerly independent doctors follow orders from superiors who themselves are directed by the highly politicized American Medical Association (AMA). There is evidence the AMA and Big Pharma work in concert to spread propaganda and hysteria aimed at achieving maximal vaccine sales, with full support from the media. Only until recently, they ignored treatment possibilities that interfere with that end.

The AMA has even issued a letter to members on how to craft misleading language to encourage vaccination compliance, irrespective of science. Here is one opinion. https://www.citizensjournal.us/busted-scripted-covid-propaganda-reveals-how-nearly-all-american-doctors-are-just-puppets-of-the-corrupt-american-medical-association-and-the-vaccine-industrial-complex/ . Dissenting medical personnel commonly face vilification and firing.

Thus, do not expect the complete truth from your doctor. The medical community and Democrat operatives are complicit in the fraud as they do the bidding for the pharmaceutical firms, likely in exchange for payoffs from their Covid revenues.

At the same time, the Democrat Party and its media allies promote this exercise in public deception and submission as an analog to their effort to impose an authoritarian socialist state on a docile society. Also, they want to perpetuate Covid fear to justify mail-in voting in November as a means of rigging elections once again. 1/3/22

April - June 2022 Miscellaneous Thoughts Posted to Linked In 

• CREEPING REPARATIONS: BIDEN’S AFFORDABLE HOUSING POLICY. Traditional affirmative action aimed at providing equal opportunity for minorities against discrimination but within meritocratic principles is old hat. Results are not good enough for today’s egalitarian far-Left because too many blacks still fall below normal standards of living. Thus, progressives now demand a new affirmative action called “equity” through government-mandated accommodations that create equal social outcomes, irrespective of merit.

A glaring example of this “equity” is cited in a 6/14/22 Wall Street Journal editorial headlined, “Fannie Mae’s New Racial Bias”. The piece decries the Biden Administration’s plan to liberalize affordable housing concessions for BLACKS ONLY through the operations of government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. To make the black home ownership rate equal, the program relaxes standards that apply to the mortgages the GSEs purchase from lenders and package into mortgage-backed securities they market to investors.

New accommodations for black mortgage applicants include: 1) Reduced down payments; 2) Reduced penalties for lower credit scores; 3) Subsidized closing costs; 4) Foreclosure avoidance assistance for unexpected home expenses, repairs, and disruptions to income. Add to this boondoggle an inevitable further lowering of underwriting criteria later on in a potential reenactment of the subprime mortgage debacle.

Of course, taxpayers bear the cost of this largesse. Lower profit margins and added defaults will impair Fannie and Freddie capital adequacy and solvency, especially given guaranteed payments to their Agency MBS investors. Pressure for tax increases and additional federal borrowing at higher costs will result to right the shortfall.

To be sure, this program will expand over time like all others. Could it ultimately lead to yet another loan forgiveness program, like student loans, but as a form of stealth reparations? Is that the goal? This development is another indication that former Obama operatives are running the show as they exploit the president’s feebleness.

If mortgage forgiveness for blacks becomes a reality, consider the consequences of widely divergent social classes clashing in traditional bedroom communities on a large scale. Imagine the resentment of those who worked throughout their lives to qualify themselves personally, professionally and financially to own their homes in a safe environment for their families. Yes, many of the new subsidized entrants would assimilate well. But too many would not. Race relations will suffer.

Historically, this reverse-gentrification occurred in discrete neighborhoods and led to “white flight”. But the Biden program is systemic and authoritarian making relief elusive. The American tradition in home ownership has been to earn one’s keep. That standard ensures a certain economic and social harmony among inhabitants. “Equity” invites division. 6/16/22

• DOES DEPP vs. HEARD DIMINISH #MeTOO?  The court battle between Johnny Depp and ex-wife Amber Hurd captivated the media for six long weeks.  I cared for neither litigant, as I have no interest in modern Hollywood.  In fact, I have not been in a movie theater since 1989, and my perpetual abstinence from a smart phone precludes any chance of streaming Tinseltown products. 

I only know Depp as some weirdo wearing mascara who played a pirate in a movie.  I learned from newspaper accounts that he is a degenerate sleazeball who squandered his wealth on drugs, alcohol, gambling and lavish spending even beyond his means. Heard, like so many #MeToo malcontents, appears to be the somewhat typical man-hating lesbian capitalizing on the movement.  Her modus operandi was an article she placed in the Washington Post asserting domestic abuse, that Depp claimed was fallacious and defamatory. But the case might be fortuitous.

Does Depp’s court victory mark a setback for the #MeToo emasculation movement?  (See my 2018 anti-#MeToo manifesto at LINK.) For some time the feminist battle cry seems to have retreated somewhat.  News reports that cover alleged indiscretions now initially cite unspecified “inappropriate behavior”. Then many paragraphs later they mention “sexual misconduct”, seemingly downplaying it in recognition of a societal #MeToo and cancel culture fatigue.   

Yet, not long ago the media obsessed over nonsensical sexual harassment accusations against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo that drove him to resign. #MeToo was alive and well. He deserved his ouster for causing the deaths of thousands of Covid patients he moved from hospitals to nursing homes, as well as for his corruption and thuggish behavior. But his alleged sexual harassment was a nothingberger. Nonetheless, all media trumpeted #MeToo-style indignation that the gullible public readily emulated. 

So, did the Depp verdict diminish #MeToo? He was the sympathetic figure throughout the trial as many women rallied for him.  But was that adulation just out of star-struck delusion, or in support of his case in a rejection of yet another exaggerated #MeToo grievance?

The jury deemed Heard’s testimony not sufficiently credible.  Is this a turning point from the absurd, “Always believe the woman.” mantra to a more even-handed assessment of domestic abuse and general sexual misconduct cases? Reportedly, Heard’s prospects are doomed because Hollywood considers her a #MeToo liability risk, who cried wolf before. In addition, Depp’s lawyer has become a star because of the victory. Or, is that just because she is a woman of color?  Are the tables finally turning against #MeToo after destroying so many men and their families unjustifiably?

Consider me skeptical.  This case went to trial where 95% of #MeToo accusers fail.  Swindlers and their corrupt lawyers will continue to seek legal settlements out of court for concocted or inflated charges.  There is still too much money to be made.  6/8/22

• CUTTING THROUGH THE GUN CONTROL TALK.   Once again the media bombard us with one-sided left-wing caterwauling about gun control in the wake of the Uvalde, TX school shooting.  For perspective, I present an article I wrote in 2018 following the Parkland, FL high school massacre entitled, “Gun Control: A Nonpartisan Assessment”. In this 4,000 word piece, I tried to parse both sides of the issue in the hope of possibly chrystalizing some solutions.  We do not have to reinvent the wheel.

Click on https://www.williamjdodwell.com/archives/archives_1/archives_2/archives_3#h.jh1f08mbt6u7 .  5/26/22

• AN IMPORTANT PUBLIC SERVICE NOTICE. Those who still voluntarily wear masks are psychopaths. Engage them at your peril. Sneer at them. It is best to avoid them altogether. Shun the docile ignorant propaganda dupes who symbolically encourage more imperious government. They probably vote for it as mindlessly as they cower in fear of the virus. As such, they are a threat to freedom and democracy. 5/26/22

• CLIMATE-CHANGE TRUTH TELLER TELLS IT LIKE IT IS.  Buy this guy a drink.  HSBC executive Stuart Kirk did the unspeakable.  In a presentation to an investor conference he broke ranks with the lock-step monolithic climate-change crowd to air the truth.  He says bank regulators exaggerate the threat of climate risk as they impose growing restrictions to alleviate it. Of course, this admission irks those standing to make money from the reforms. (Read government subsidized alternative energy projects and investment firms touting expensive ESG products.)

According to the Wall Street Journal’s account of Kirk’s talk, “Climate change poses a negligible risk to the global economy and bank balance sheets.”  To quote Kirk: “Unsubstantiated, shrill, partisan, self-serving, apocalyptic warnings are ALWAYS wrong.”

Kirk advocates adapting to the impact of natural climate change rather than trying futilely to mitigate it. This would negate new costly bank reporting requirements, as well as punitive stress tests that reduce capital available to fossil fuel investment. 

For his bravery, CEO Noel Quinn has suspended Kirk pending investigation in a craven capitulation to the left-wing backlash.  This, despite the bank’s approval of his presentation beforehand. Look for Kirk’s firing in the coming weeks. 5/25/22

• VETERANS CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE FOR SUITABLE EMPLOYMENT AFTER ALL THESE YEARS. As Memorial Day rolls around it is fitting I re-publish an article I wrote in 2015 in The Comprehensive Conservative entitled, “The Plight of the Returning Veteran in the Employment Market”, as the issues still apply today. Indeed, far too many veterans remain unemployed or underemployed, and suicides continue apace. See https://www.williamjdodwell.com/archives/archives_1#h.fn43fmj5zres for my brutally honest assessment.

As a point of departure, I reference my experience entering the Army after college graduation amid the draft, serving in South Vietnam, and transitioning to the job market 50 years ago. In the article I point out that much of the longstanding alienation that returning veterans face seems to flow from a change in societal attitudes about the military borne of the switch from compulsory conscription to the all-volunteer service in 1973. This disconnect between military and civilian life has endured ever since, even though troops at war enjoyed popular support at home, unlike during the Vietnam era.

My paper principally discusses the adverse civilian perceptions that often plague the image of veterans and their prospects. That is a tough nut to crack given the remoteness of the military to most Americans now. 5/23/22

• FOOL OF THE YEAR. Venture capitalist, John Doerr, is donating $1 billion to Stanford University to establish a school for climate-change and sustainability. What a brainwashed fool! What a waste! Starving children in Africa could benefit immeasurably from this largesse, but he squanders riches on a political artifice. I never cease to be amazed by the fact that so many smart people are so stupid. To some extent it is all relative. The gift is only about 9% of Doerr’s net worth according to Forbes.

And there is the question of how the university actually uses the money, especially after the donor dies. We know government promotes funding for a particular purpose, such as Covid relief, but spends 90% of it on myriad left-wing interests. Likewise, college endowments receiving gargantuan gifts from philanthropists for a particular use sometimes wind up spending it surreptitiously on other things. In particular, this has happened to donors who insisted their offering be dedicated to conservative ends, such as relevant curricula and resources, only to have to sue the college later for non-compliance.

This donation will bolster the incomes of some professors and researchers, but mostly help to perpetuate the environmentalist propaganda machine with zero benefit to the public interest. 5/5/22

• RECESSION IS COMING. TIME TO TAKE CHIPS OFF THE TABLE. Fiscal and monetary excess has spurred artificial demand, while labor shortages, regulation, supply-chain logjams, Covid mandates, and Ukraine war disruptions have suppressed production. The inevitable result is an entrenched inflation that has changed the outlook for stocks.

Stock prices have been volatile for some time as investors successively panicked, recovered, and bought on the dips, while the Fed’s rock-bottom interest rates and quantitative easing kept money market and bond yields uncompetitive. But now an inflection point emerges in expectation of aggressive monetary tightening, protracted inflation, and the specter of recession.

Surprising 1.4% first-quarter annualized negative GDP growth is a daunting harbinger. However, temporary anomalous inventory investment and exports supposedly exaggerate it. Moreover, consumer and business spending still remain strong as households flush with savings bolster demand still pent-up from Covid-induced hibernation. In addition, unemployment is low, although labor participation is disappointing and real wages have declined. The dollar has been firm from higher interest and growth rates relative to other countries. Alas, supply-chain disruptions continue indefinitely, and microchip shortages persist because of inadequate manufacturing capacity.

While first-quarter earnings have been decent, profits will be under pressure as margins contract from persistent inflation, rising interest rates and an attendant decline in demand. In addition, Biden’s re-regulation and costly restrictions on energy development will discourage business investment. The federal budget deficit will widen further because of the more costly servicing of $30 trillion of debt as interest rates rise.

The ongoing Covid lockdown austerity in China has grave implications for the very many businesses dependent on its markets. What’s more, disorder caused by the war in Ukraine, particularly energy and food shortages, augur trouble. A stagflation scenario is not chimerical.

On balance, conditions do not bode well for equities, which already have corrected substantially this year. Tech stocks in particular have been vulnerable as valuations adjust for their more distant future earnings streams subject to greater discounting in a rising interest-rate environment. This has produced a bear market for the tech-dominated Nasdaq index. P/E multiples are falling across the board, probably to more reasonable levels.

Liquidity from profligate government spending and fiat money creation is probably too excessive for the Fed to execute a soft landing, and global production constraints seem more intractable than expected. A tug-of-war between inflation and monetary restraint suggest significant economic headwinds ahead, especially if reckless government spending continues. As such, stocks likely face continued resistance that behooves investors to move to cash. 5/3/22

• DHS HAS BEEN SURVEILLING MY POSTS. The nation is reeling from last week’s bombshell out of the Department of Homeland Security about its Disinformation Governance Board established to monitor and sanction “inappropriate” expression in social media. But this has been going on for a while. I know this because I am a conservative under surveillance by the DHS.

In February 2021, I posted a commentary to LinkedIn about the November 2020 election with the headline: “Joseph R. Biden, Jr.: Legal But Illegitimate President”. In reviewing the analytics available by clicking on the View count for that post, I saw some of the viewer sources. Unlike any other post among hundreds over the years, viewers included several people from the U. S. Department of Homeland Security, along with others from a few law firms, police departments and fire departments within a certain radius of my home.

Apparently, DHS contracts with these entities to monitor social media for “disinformation” in order to target opinionated conservatives and report back. Questioning the legitimacy of the November 2020 election is particularly verboten to the Left. So far, no FBI agent has knocked on my door.

Contrary to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ claim, the greatest threat to the homeland today is not white supremacy, systemic racism, or domestic terrorism via conservative bloggers. It is government tyranny. 5/2/22

• JUSTICE JACKSON: THE SILVER LINING. Well, it’s all over but the crying. The Senate confirmed leftist Ketanji Brown Jackson for the Supreme Court. Lo, she makes her predecessor, ultra-liberal Stephen Breyer, look like a keynote speaker at a CPAC conference. But let’s look at the bright side.

Jackson wears a dress and presents herself like a lady. She appears fit, albeit a little plump. As such, she has my vote for this year’s SCOTUS swimsuit competition. What’s more, she evidences good boudoir qualities. Her bulbous ruby lips look like they could suck chrome off a trailer hitch. And imagine the pillow talk about the penumbras and emanations of the Constitution. Oh b-a-b-y!

Given her non-response to Senator Marsha Blackburn’s question about the definition of a woman, it will be interesting to see which restroom she uses. Maybe she will request a separate facility for the non-committal next to the men, women, and trans varieties.

This is reminiscent of a story about the late Muriel Siebert becoming the first woman member of the New York Stock Exchange in 1968. She had to demand construction of a lady’s room, inasmuch as that hoary quintessential patriarchy only had a men’s room then and had no inclination to build an alternative for her. Maybe the NYSE wanted (the decidedly feminine) Siebert to self-identify as a man to save plumbing costs. Hey, they might have been woke before it was cool.

N.B.  Ms. Siebert went on to become a billionaire in the late 1990s amid the “irrational exuberance” of the dot.com boom.  4/11/22

• ANOTHER MUSICAL INTERLUDE. Here’s my jazz piano arrangement of the 1940s Jimmy Van Heusen popular standard, “It Could Happen To You.” https://youtu.be/vf1SjwLRxUE

If you want to hear more sounds like this, check out Bill’s Music Lounge at https://www.williamjdodwell.com/my-piano-recordings-bills-music-lounge 4/7/22

· CHINESE YUAN AS THE WORLD’S RESERVE CURRENCY? NOT A CHANCE. Growing Chinese hegemony raises the specter in some quarters of the yuan becoming the world’s reserve currency replacing the U.S. dollar. Recently, this concern arose from reports of China considering yuan payments for its huge oil imports from Saudi Arabia instead of dollars. Is this a prelude to other imports?

The dollar has earned tremendous advantage as a stable store of value, a preferred currency in global trading and investment, and as preponderant reserves of central banks. In fact, a great majority of world commodity purchases transact in dollars. As such, this worldwide demand for the dollar safeguards against serious devaluation that could spawn hyperinflation through radically more costly imports. Or, an otherwise weak dollar could significantly discourage foreign investment, particularly in U.S. treasuries causing much higher borrowing costs in world markets. That the yuan could achieve this stature is doubtful. Yet, many now fear it dethroning the dollar.

What has made the dollar the envy of the world? It is an underlying economic infrastructure borne of vibrant democracy, free markets, property rights and individual freedom. That foundation fosters business investment, employment, consumption, and economic growth. A sound dollar also depends on prudent fiscal and monetary policy with reasonable limits on taxation, debt and regulation. Does this sound like China?

In China the state permits a modicum of economic freedom but no political freedom as it imposes a command and control environment. Nonetheless, the country enjoys an $18 trillion GDP and consistent outsize annual growth for its 1.4 billion people. Yet, the yuan is minimally convertible internationally as it is subject to strict currency controls and pegged to the dollar. China has a limited ability to raise yuan-denominated capital in world markets, as the yuan trades in a very thin off-shore market, despite efforts to make the currency fully convertible. This is not the stuff of a world reserve currency that inspires global confidence in its sustained stability.

China poses a military threat that one should not mistake for its economic menace. The world fears the country today because of its expansionary ambitions as evidenced by heavy military investment and territorial encroachment. This is redolent of the former Soviet Union which also concentrated on developing armaments, only to go bankrupt and collapse in the process. That scenario is more likely for China than the elevation of the yuan to a world reserve currency.

But the yuan could be empowered in time if the underpinnings of the dollar’s preeminence continue to falter. Growing internal threats to democracy from ascendant socialism, marked by increasing censorship, wealth redistribution and authoritarian government, could erode the political and economic forces that constitute the American juggernaut and its coveted currency. 4/4/22

Oct - Dec 2022 Miscellaneious Thought Posted to LinkedIn

• ECONOMIC BACKLASH IN THE UK. Prime Minister Liz Truss’ tax cut proposal faced massive repudiation by investors, media, and even her Conservative Party. Intended to stimulate economic growth to mitigate inflation, everyone feared the unfunded measure would widen the deficit, weaken the pound, and thus exacerbate inflation. Consequently, bond prices tumbled, spiking interest rates that threaten the economy. Falling pension asset values and rising mortgage rates were of particular concern. In short order, the Bank Of England purchased bonds to counteract the impact. Finally, Truss capitulated and rescinded a cut in the top tax rate that benefits the wealthy.

In my last post, I proposed tax cuts and deregulation to help arrest inflation in the U.S. This is because they promote supply-side capital investment that counterbalances excess demand, curbed by aggressive interest-rate hikes and rising bond yields, to effect an equilibrium that decreases inflation.

But Truss’ tax cut is different. It accompanies a much more impactful government spending proposal, including universal healthcare and subsidies to cap energy costs, that works at cross purposes to the tax cut. In addition, there was no deregulation proposed that also would encourage productive investment.

What’s more, the UK operates in a more difficult geopolitical setting than the U.S. For example, inflation is higher inasmuch as the country is more directly affected by energy and food shortages stemming from the war in Ukraine and the predations of Vladimir Putin. Policies that raise interest rates to protect a falling pound and avoid import inflation spur a currency war throughout interconnected Europe and beyond.

This is because other countries are forced to raise interest rates too in order to compete for capital and prevent currency devaluation and further inflation. Rate hikes can be more damaging to some economies than others. Furthermore, socialism is more entrenched in the UK than in the U.S., constituting greater resistance to government spending restraint that is part of an anti-inflation formula.

he tax cut is an important supply-side fiscal tool for fighting inflation if combined with deregulation and government spending limits. Policymakers should not dismiss it because of its outright rejection in the UK. International policy dynamics coupled with seemingly more intense political and psychological forces on financial markets make this solution more difficult to employ in the UK. 10/5/22

Jul - Sept 2022 Miscellaneous Thoughts Posted to LinkedIn

• FIGHTING INFLATION REQUIRES MORE THAN JUST REDUCING DEMAND. Inflation is a function of both excess demand and supply shortage. But most commentary about fighting inflation focuses only on the demand side of the equation. Some of these advocates even call for tax hikes to slow demand in accompaniment with the Fed’s monetary tightening. To that end, even the steep fall in financial asset valuations is salutary, inasmuch as the reverse wealth-effect certainly prompts demand curtailment.

President Biden believes more government spending, especially through subsidies for energy and healthcare, will lower prices and thus inflation. This is too absurd to discuss. Trillions of dollars of wasteful federal spending under the guise of Covid relief was a principal cause of inflation. 

Inflated financial assets resulted from investors seeking higher returns for over a decade to escape the near-zero money market interest rates and low longer-term rates from quantitative easing (bond purchases) imposed by the Fed. Reversing that policy tends to redirect new capital away from the financial system back to the real economy for more productive use. As such, a correction in valuations is ultimately healthy, while losses lessen demand inflation.

But an anti-inflation campaign also requires supply-side stimulation in the form of pro-growth tax cuts and deregulation to foster production to meet the excess demand. A policy of combined demand curtailment and supply creation restores an equilibrium that resolves inflation. Just slamming the breaks on demand invites a hard landing recession. The balanced approach is less disruptive and more effective.

Of course, other factors, such as continued supply-chain logjams and labor shortages, hamper production. And continued government spending excess is counterproductive. But a policy of fiscal stimulation from tax cuts and deregulation in concert with aggressive interest-rate hikes is the best prescription for inflation abatement. 9/28/22

• BEWARE OF THE FINANCIAL SNAKEOIL SALESMAN.

Gold - Active investing - Annuities

Gold

As inflation rages, gold hucksters flood the airwaves with ads about hedging a loss in purchasing power with presumably appreciating positions in gold. The fact is that for some years now the price of gold has been depreciating, compounding investment losses. The goldbugs also peddle the notion that inflation will eventually devalue the dollar substantially in international markets, further fueling inflation from rising import prices as the exchange rate deteriorates. The fact is that the dollar is the strongest in years, despite high inflation, because other economies fare worse.

Supporting the dollar are higher interest rates than in other countries, and world reserve status by which most commodities are denominated in dollars, thus creating a constant demand for the currency. In addition, the dollar enjoys perpetual safe haven status as a destination currency around the globe in times of economic and geopolitical strife because of relative stability and growth prospects in the U.S. Current inflation will not last forever.

Active investing

Passive investing has outperformed active investing for years now. So why get complicated? In the three years 2019 through 2021, investing in an S&P 500 Index fund produced an average annual return of 24%. During the stock market downturn, a simple move to a money market fund preserves principal while offering a decent yield as interest rates rise.

Three-month Treasuries are currently yielding 3% and will definitely rise in the coming months as the Fed tightens. When stocks surge again as the economy recovers, the investor would move back to the index fund for a nice ride. The only imponderable, of course, is calling the top and bottom in stocks. A few percentage points off, up or down, would not spoil the party for the buy and hold investor. Results would likely outperform the comparative track record of active investors, especially considering the drag from the growing presence of politicized ESG portfolio selections.

Annuities

Why would one invest in an annuity? An annuity is a contract whereby the investor surrenders his original investment in exchange for a lifelong income stream. The income may be fixed or variable but the rate of return is always nominal, and may be orders of magnitude below market when stock prices or cash yields are ascendant. If the investor dies prematurely, the total return is practically nil and “income for life” amounts to little.

Alternatively, one could invest in other assets at potentially much better returns and keep the original investment. Market losses may occur, but that is better than relinquishing the corpus. Losses can be recovered, and the asset is available for special purposes if needed. And, it may be passed on to heirs, unlike an annuity. 9/19/22

• THE CRITICAL IMPORTANCE OF THE NOVEMBER ELECTION

It has never been this bad: Rampant crime fostered by lawless Democrat mayors and DAs. Destructive inflation from trillions of dollars of unneeded government spending. Deliberate border chaos to cultivate millions of future Democrat voters. Prohibitions against oil and gas development that have surrendered our energy independence. A weaponized FBI that targets Trump supporters and those who question the 2020 election.

ake no mistake, today’s radical Democrat Party, aided and abetted by mainstream media, is dedicated to destroying the nation in order to rebuild it as a new socialist state, nullifying our founding principles promulgated in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. This is evident in the deterioration of our institutions in recent years as they countenance the dismantling of law enforcement, open borders, and the “woke” agenda.

The Left, embodied by the Democrat Party, is hellbent on dividing and conquering, even by precipitating a civil war. As such, for starters, Americans must defeat Democrats in November at all levels in a stark repudiation of the scourge they have wrought under President Biden. Thereafter, patriots must also support ongoing primary challenges to RINO republicans to ensure effective resistance. President Trump is unique among former presidents in doing this.

Inflation

Several trillion dollars of profligate spending under Biden, mostly passed with only Democratic support, has unleashed entrenched inflation, the highest in forty years, that could lead to protracted recession. The effect is to substantially raise costs and erode income and savings for everyone. The spending was largely unnecessary, even for Covid relief, as much of that money is still unspent. Other aid continues despite the end of the pandemic, including Affordable Care Act premium subsidies, food stamps, child tax credits, as well as extra Medicare and Medicaid payments.

Most of the largesse goes to Democratic special interests, notably the climate change lobby and the teachers unions, all of which rebate handsome campaign contributions and provide lucrative post-government jobs. Democrats want even more spending, ludicrously claiming it combats inflation. The real reason is to expand government and make it an irresistible benefactor in exchange for blanket public obeisance under Democratic control.

Law enforcement

Democrat mayors, George Soros funded district attorneys, and woke judges ignore the rule of law. They defund and incapacitate the police, decriminalize serious behaviors, adopt no-bail and prisoner release programs, and render light sentences or outright release for offenders with long arrest records. As a result, crime has skyrocketed throughout the country terrorizing the citizenry. Marauding savages attack people in the streets and subways like never before. They highjack cars and loot businesses with impunity. Office workers and tourists stay away out of fear, at tremendous cost to local businesses. We face a public safety crisis.

Open borders

The Biden administration has pursued a de facto open borders policy flouting existing immigration laws while boldly lying to Congress and the people that the border is secure. The Democrats support this outrage because it sets the stage for millions of new Democratic voters who could assure permanent Democrat power through eventual amnesty.

Democrat leaders are not deterred by the megatons of drugs smuggled over the border, notably the highly lethal fentanyl. They killed over 100,000 lives from overdoses last year devastating families and entire communities. Nor do they care about undermining national security, or importing violent criminals and accommodating human traffickers who infect the interior. Biden even disperses illegal aliens throughout the country where they will strain resources and squelch the quality of life. Border agents report that Biden has turned over control of the border to the drug cartels! Remember, the Democrats want to destroy America.

The woke agenda

The new Democrat Party creates and capitalizes on racial and other political identities to divide and conquer America. Absurdly, Biden, VP Harris and AG Garland have proclaimed that white supremacist violence poses the greatest threat to America. (Of course, black crime is never mentioned.) Critical race theory and other woke indoctrination take precedence over traditional academics in the schools. Government characterizes parents protesting this at school board meetings as terrorists. “Equity” replaces meritocratic equal opportunity for blacks where government wealth redistribution, legislation and regulation assure desired quality of life outcomes. Reparations are brewing.

Transgenderism, the latest extension of the LGBT juggernaut, has become the holy grail of protected classes to the point of denying fundamental distinctions between men and women, or any distinction at all. Government, big business, academia and even the military fascistically impose new rules regarding preferred pronouns and language, such as, “birthing person”. We must stop this tyranny.

Not your father’s Democrat Party

According to the new Democrat Party model, moderates need not apply. Indeed, they have no prospects in the party. Hence, many former moderates have abandoned principle and cut far left. Nowhere is this more evident than in President Biden who used to be a law and order, as well as border security, hawk. But might he now be beholden to the Left because it has the receipts regarding his decades-long family arrangements with China, Ukraine and elsewhere? A Republican controlled congress will investigate.

The ballot box is the most effective lever for defeating the nefarious Left. We must not squander the opportunity. Vote Democrats out in November and forever to vanquish the assault on the nation and restore individual freedom and continued prosperity. Spread the word. 9/15/22

• THE VACCINE HYPE RESUMES. The CDC just announced its approval of the updated Covid booster adjusted to combat the original virus and its variants. The vaccine was tested on only eight mice and no humans but some experts say pre-existing knowledge incorporated in the trials permits this limited study. Others are skeptical.

So get ready for the hype again, to include President Biden’s incessant mantra, “Get vaccinated.” Is another booster needed? Is it safe?

The majority of the population has contracted Covid by now and is therefore protected by natural immunity which is provably superior to the vaccine. The virus will always be with us like the flu. So what!

Covid variants have been successively less severe even to the equivalent of a cold. As such, mere infection is innocuous, except for possibly the elderly and immuno-suppressed.

The Covid vaccine is still experimental. Adverse long-term effects are unknown. However, there have been suppressed reports of tens of thousands of serious afflictions and deaths, orders of magnitude more than other vaccines, including that for the flu. God knows what the inoculated face in the years to come, especially children, all of whom honest scientists say are at no risk to the virus.

Why the hype? Politics and money. The Democrat push for the next booster will be about sales, like before. Follow the money: Democrat government subsidies to pharmaceutical firms, and mandates to maximize demand; revenue kickbacks to the Democrat National Committee (DNC), to scaremongers, and other operatives who facilitate the ruse. And the gravy train will continue indefinitely as the public acquiesces to ongoing booster updates broadly promoted by Democrat government and its allies but needed only by a limited vulnerable population.

Covid has never been the threat that government and media have portrayed, and we now know that mandated mitigation protocols are inherently ineffective. Furthermore, the one million recorded U.S. deaths are exaggerated by the fact that 94% of them involved four or more co-morbidities. In addition, many deaths have been fraudulently misclassified so that hospitals can collect a $5,000 government stipend for each. Doctors and nurses have reported immense pressure on them to categorize deaths falsely. Where are the mass media on this? It is called corruption.

It is incumbent on the truly vulnerable, i.e., the elderly and immune-suppressed, to self-quarantine as they deem necessary. The general population should not be encumbered.

Fortunately, people are finally getting wise to Covid reality as many balk at getting the latest vaccine. 9/2/22

• NAVIGATING TRUTH AMID LEFTIST PROPAGANDA.  The Covid pandemic is particularly instructive in demonstrating the power of leftist propaganda over truth. Political disputes derive from different subjective world-views and may be speculative. But Covid mistruths fly in the face of objective reality in hard science and thus can be conclusively disproved.  The Democrat Party and mainstream media have propagated those fallacies concerning the disease’s threat, transmissibility and prevention. At the same time, they suppress genuine science resulting in a misinformed and hysterical public.

One can establish Covid truth easily through a simple Google search that contrasts politically motivated mass media positions against pronouncements of eminent scientists, such as Scott Atlas, Martin Kulldorff, Jay Bhattacharya, and Robert Malone. Their empirical knowledge founded on scientific method belies media representations about the severity of the virus, the significance of mere infection, the populations at risk, and the effectiveness of contact tracing and mitigation protocols. Scientific evidence also proves the primacy of natural immunity, the effectiveness of certain treatments denied the public, and the limitations of vaccination, while narrowly circumscribing the elderly as most vulnerable.

Yet the propagandists prevail, helping governments control the citizenry through scare mongering and mandates. Crying wolf compels compliance and predisposes the public toward further acquiescence as needed. Denying science also leads to trillions of dollars of government spending under the guise of Covid relief, most of which is actually directed to left-wing special interests. The Left also enrich themselves in concert with pharmaceutical firms by pushing vaccine sales, even on children who are at zero risk. Indeed, only Democrat governors and operatives imposed severe Covid austerity to achieve those ends. Thus, they have every incentive to ignore science. Who says partisan politics is not involved?

Why is the public so duped about Covid? Mainly because mainstream media suppress contrarian scientists. Some are skeptical of lay criticism, suspecting intractable political bias with an unwillingness to consider independent sources of information. But a firm benchmark for Covid truth exists in objective science.  In addition, many are gullible and susceptible to the scare tactics. Consider the bozos still wearing masks even though the partisan CDC has relaxed restrictions.  

Furthermore, many medical professionals who only concentrate on their specialties also are misinformed about Covid, and convey that ignorance to their patients. Amid a dwindling number of private medical practices, some professionals who know better are forced to go along with their corporate superiors who are themselves under pressure to pedal Covid politics.      

Follow the science for Covid truth.  Google the aforementioned scientists.  8/15/22  

• A HOT NIGHT AND A REASSESSMENT OF THE GREAT FINANCIAL CRISIS. The heat wave is getting to me. Last night I dreamt I was in bed with television business anchor, Maria Bartiromo, discussing the economy. I woke up after she pushed me to the floor when I disagreed with her solution for inflation. Or, was it my performance? I very much want to resume that dream to make amends. I’ll change the topic to the return of our mutually preferred 2024 presidential candidate and create an atmosphere of coital bliss.

This experience with Ms. Bartiromo reminds me of her early days on Wall Street vis a vis the raucous culture there and how the two elements might have affected the Great Financial Crisis.

Ms. Bartiromo, dubbed the “money honey” in the 1990s, aroused Wall Street horndogs daily through her reports from the New York Stock Exchange. One might say she was instrumental in the beginnings of the subprime mortgage debacle. She distracted smitten analysts from ensuring the quality of mortgages they packaged into securities as they mentally undressed her while glued to the monitor watching her. Consequently, toxic waste got through undetected to explode in portfolios around the world. Hell, she has me dreaming about her 25 years later.

Later, at the peak of subprime mania, those analysts and executives were hung over from all-nighters at strip clubs and other libidinous activities fueled by tons of money made from the sheer volume of MBS transactions.

Did the SEC know about the role of debauchery and sobriety-challenged bankers in credit assessments that brought the economy to the brink? Sure. Those guys were slipping fifty-dollar bills in g-strings too. So were the rating analysts.

Congressional hearings anyone?

Ok, I said the heat is getting to me. 7/26/22

• INFLATION ANGST GROWS.  We have heard apologias from the “transitory” inflation camp including Powell, Yellen and Krugman. They did not believe the exorbitant monetary and fiscal stimulus aimed at mitigating the effects of the pandemic would produce the price instability that followed. They thought the supply-chain disruptions and labor shortages would normalize fairly quickly to counterbalance the post-lockdown surge in demand. Alas, they did not.

Modern Monetary Theory has become the new credo of the left. Between the 2008 financial crisis and the pandemic, inflation remained under 2% for more than a decade, despite massive monetary stimulus by the Fed. Therefore, liberals declared justification for the unlimited printing of money to finance several trillion dollars of pandemic-era government spending without inflationary concerns.

However, this time it is different. The post-GFC stimulus inflated only financial assets as investors sought higher returns to escape low yielding instruments. But the pandemic monetary and fiscal stimulus aimed directly at consumers and businesses drove prices up in the real economy (goods and services) as it spurred demand. 

With the higher interest rates attendant to inflation, stock prices have fallen as they become less competitive with bond yields. Equity valuations probably will fall further as earnings suffer in a recession environment.

Given June year-over-year inflation at 9.1%, the problem seems quite entrenched. The corresponding 11.5% producer price index suggests more inflation is coming. What’s more, the Fed’s current benchmark interest rate of 1.75% is negative in real terms, way below the inflation rate, but significantly higher than Europe and Japan. These higher U.S. interest rates therefore attract foreign investors, creating dollar strength that tempers import inflation.

The huge gap between interest rates and inflation calls for aggressive rate hikes like Fed Chair Paul Volcker’s in the early1980s that would likely trigger recession. Powell has expressed a willingness to throttle economic growth to arrest inflation. But how far would he go? Historically, the Fed has not demonstrated the courage to risk serious recessions. Immediately before Volcker, the Fed tolerated 9% inflation for eight years!  At this point, Powell should pull a Volcker but it is unlikely he has the stomach for it.

However, there are some signs of relief. Supply-chain logjams and labor shortages appear to be easing. Commodity futures are falling in anticipation of recession, causing a recent retreat in gasoline prices. Micro chip shortages are diminishing. As such, Biden’s proposed $250 billion of subsidies to semiconductor firms are unnecessary and ill advised. 

As more businesses anticipate recession, layoffs loom. Wall Street and the auto industry have already announced employment cuts, and unemployment claims have been rising. The sooner the Fed administers the distasteful medicine, the quicker the cure. 7/25/22 

THE CRITICAL IMPORTANCE OF THE NOVEMBER 2022 ELECTION

By William J. Dodwell September 15, 2022

It has never been this bad: Rampant crime fostered by lawless Democrat mayors and DAs. Destructive inflation from trillions of dollars of unneeded government spending. Deliberate border chaos to cultivate millions of future Democrat voters. Prohibitions against oil and gas development that have surrendered our energy independence. A weaponized FBI that targets Trump supporters and those who question the 2020 election.

Make no mistake, today’s radical Democrat Party, aided and abetted by mainstream media, is dedicated to destroying the nation in order to rebuild it as a new socialist state, nullifying our founding principles promulgated in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. This is evident in the deterioration of our institutions in recent years as they countenance the dismantling of law enforcement, open borders, and the “woke” agenda.

The Left, embodied by the Democrat Party, is hellbent on dividing and conquering, even by precipitating a civil war. As such, for starters, Americans must defeat Democrats in November at all levels in a stark repudiation of the scourge they have wrought under President Biden. Thereafter, patriots must also support ongoing primary challenges to RINO republicans to ensure effective resistance. President Trump is unique among former presidents in doing this.

Inflation

Several trillion dollars of profligate spending under Biden, mostly passed with only Democratic support, has unleashed entrenched inflation, the highest in forty years, that could lead to protracted recession. The effect is to substantially raise costs and erode income and savings for everyone. The spending was largely unnecessary, even for Covid relief, as much of that money is still unspent. Other aid continues despite the end of the pandemic, including Affordable Care Act premium subsidies, food stamps, child tax credits, as well as extra Medicare and Medicaid payments.

Most of the largesse goes to Democratic special interests, notably the climate change lobby and the teachers unions, all of which rebate handsome campaign contributions and provide lucrative post-government jobs. Democrats want even more spending, ludicrously claiming it combats inflation. The real reason is to expand government and make it an irresistible benefactor in exchange for blanket public obeisance under Democratic control.

Law enforcement

Democrat mayors, George Soros funded district attorneys, and woke judges ignore the rule of law. They defund and incapacitate the police, decriminalize serious behaviors, adopt no-bail and prisoner release programs, and render light sentences or outright release for offenders with long arrest records. As a result, crime has skyrocketed throughout the country terrorizing the citizenry. Marauding savages attack people in the streets and subways like never before. They highjack cars and loot businesses with impunity. Office workers and tourists stay away out of fear, at tremendous cost to local businesses. We face a public safety crisis.

Open borders

The Biden administration has pursued a de facto open borders policy flouting existing immigration laws while boldly lying to Congress and the people that the border is secure. The Democrats support this outrage because it sets the stage for millions of new Democratic voters who could assure permanent Democrat power through eventual amnesty.

Democrat leaders are not deterred by the megatons of drugs smuggled over the border, notably the highly lethal fentanyl. They killed over 100,000 lives from overdoses last year devastating families and entire communities. Nor do they care about undermining national security, or importing violent criminals and accommodating human traffickers who infect the interior. Biden even disperses illegal aliens throughout the country where they will strain resources and squelch the quality of life. Border agents report that Biden has turned over control of the border to the drug cartels! Remember, the Democrats want to destroy America.

The woke agenda

The new Democrat Party creates and capitalizes on racial and other political identities to divide and conquer America. Absurdly, Biden, VP Harris and AG Garland have proclaimed that white supremacist violence poses the greatest threat to America. (Of course, black crime is never mentioned.) Critical race theory and other woke indoctrination take precedence over traditional academics in the schools. Government characterizes parents protesting this at school board meetings as terrorists. “Equity” replaces meritocratic equal opportunity for blacks where government wealth redistribution, legislation and regulation assure desired quality of life outcomes. Reparations are brewing.

Transgenderism, the latest extension of the LGBT juggernaut, has become the holy grail of protected classes to the point of denying fundamental distinctions between men and women, or any distinction at all. Government, big business, academia and even the military fascistically impose new rules regarding preferred pronouns and language, such as, “birthing person”. We must stop this tyranny.

Not your father’s Democrat Party

According to the new Democrat Party model, moderates need not apply. Indeed, they have no prospects in the party. Hence, many former moderates have abandoned principle and cut far left. Nowhere is this more evident than in President Biden who used to be a law and order, as well as border security, hawk. But might he now be beholden to the Left because it has the receipts regarding his decades-long family arrangements with China, Ukraine and elsewhere? 

A Republican controlled congress will investigate.

The ballot box is the most effective lever for defeating the nefarious Left. We must not squander the opportunity. Vote Democrats out in November and forever to vanquish the assault on the nation and restore individual freedom and continued prosperity. Spread the word.

©2022 William J. Dodwell

Oct - Nov 7, 2022 Miscellaneous Thoughts Posted to LinkedIn

• IS DEMOCRAT ELECTION FRAUD IN THE OFFING TOMORROW? With so many major races well within the margin of error in the latest polls, corrupt Democrat operatives are undoubtedly ready to spring into action tomorrow. The fraudulent November 2020 presidential election set the template and a firm precedent for ongoing venality. Will the Democrat Party succeed again?

The following close races are of particular interest as they involve especially dangerous radical Democrats.

- Kathy Hochul (D) vs. Lee Zeldin (R) for NY Governor

- John Fetterman (D) vs. Mehmet Oz (R) for PA U.S. Senate

- Mark Kelly (D) vs. Blake Masters (R) for AZ U.S. Senate

- Rafael Warner (D) vs. Herschel Walker (R) for GA U.S. Senate

- Mandela Barnes (D) vs. Ron Johnson (R) for WI U.S. Senate

- Gretchen Whitmer (D) vs. Tudor Dixon (R) for MI Governor

Despite repeated media reports, including from conservative outlets, outcome-changing irregularities in the 2020 election were never seriously reviewed for adjudication, notwithstanding copious evidence that compels judicial intervention. No judge has had the courage to pursue it out of fear for his reputation, his safety and even his life. Very few naysayers speak out because they fear reprisals and media vilification that would destroy their careers. Questioning that election continues to be verboten in all quarters. Kari Lake, Republican candidate for Governor of Arizona, is a stark exception. I love that gal!

There were other suspicious election results since November 2020. Consider the two runoff Senate races in Georgia in January 2021. In both cases, the advantage suddenly dropped to within 1% after long sizable Republican leads. The result produced two leftist senators in Rafael Warnock and Jon Ossoff.

Last year Republican Jack Ciattarelli led New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy until the very end when probable ballot stuffing in heavily Democrat Newark in the dead of night protected the incumbent’s reelection.

Some state courts and legislatures have promulgated changes to preclude certain election violations. But will they be enforced? Plenty of latitude still exists with respect to the dating of ballots and signature verification. 

One jurisdiction in Pennsylvania announced that it will not comply with a recent court ruling about ballot dating. In 2020, existing laws sometimes were ignored. For example, in Pennsylvania and elsewhere the executive branch usurped the role of the legislature to change statutes. And who can forget the video of thugs blocking entrance to poll inspectors?

I offer this preemptive alert as a warning that, in the aftermath of November 2020, election integrity cannot necessarily be expected anymore. The determination of Democrats to cheat and the acquiescence of Republicans invite its demise. Where margins are razor thin, do not be surprised if strange things happen to the detriment of Republicans. This reality is a true threat to democracy. 11/7/22

• RIP JERRY LEE LEWIS. Rock-a-billy, rhythm and blues singer/pianist, Jerry Lee Lewis, aka “The Killer”, died last week at 87. In tribute, here’s my rendition of his signature song, “Great Balls Of Fire”. (Video embedded.)

The song topped the charts in 1958 but it is currently featured in the movie, “Top Gun: Maverick” starring Tom Cruise bringing it to new generations. 10/31/22

• GROUP THINK RE UK FINANCIAL JOLT HAS IT WRONG.

Wrongheadedness

Most reporting on the quasi financial panic in the UK cites former Prime Minister Liz Truss’s tax cut policy as the culprit. It was not, at least not primarily. Rather, it was a derivative hedge strategy of pension funds that went awry in reaction to rising interest rates. The development triggered collateral calls that forced a massive sale of government bonds which created capital losses in investment portfolios writ large. Sadly, this wrong-headedness about Truss’s tax cuts among investors, the public and even the Conservative Party has resulted in Ms. Truss’s resignation.

The wayward derivative strategy

Chronically low interest rates caused the present discounted value of future pension liabilities to increase on balance sheets. At the same time those low rates significantly restricted returns on pension assets, thus producing outsize funding deficits. This led to more required pension contributions to narrow the funding gap that seriously strained operations, even to the point of bankruptcy.

The derivative strategy was designed to overcome this problem and was predicated on the assumption that low rates would continue for a long time. (Modern Monetary Theory at work.) When rates rose precipitously to combat inflation, the protection dissolved prompting collateral calls involving huge sales of government bonds. The ensuing portfolio losses affected bonds, stocks and the pound. The Bank of England has intervened temporarily to purchase bonds to stabilize the markets.

Tax cuts are good

Ms. Truss announced her proposed tax cut to stimulate the economy. Unfortunately, everyone blamed the market havoc on it instead of the pension problem, of which few seemed to be aware. The group think says the tax cut would exacerbate the budget deficit, thus worsening inflation and devaluing the pound, while adding to the excessive debt. But the tax cut, coupled with deregulation, is eminently sound as a supply-side initiative to incentivize production. This capital investment also would contribute to growth which would curb inflation, now 10.1% year-over-year in the UK.

Sadly, Ms. Truss limited the benefit of her tax cut by also proposing government subsidized caps on energy prices and more spending. On this, the reaction of the masses is justified as that policy would worsen inflation and hamper growth. But, absent the pension derivative strategy, that concern would not have triggered the financial bedlam that occurred.

Deja' vu

This event is reminiscent of the U.S. derivatives debacle in 1994. The Fed raised interest rates in quick succession after years of near rock-bottom levels precipitating a mass failure of derivative strategies. Among the casualties were a PaineWebber money fund that “broke the buck” and the bankruptcy of Orange County, CA. This is not an indictment of derivatives, but they can be disastrous in the face of unexpected events. 10/20/22

• GET THAT ESG CRAP OUT OF MY PORTFOLIO

The backlash against ESG

Surprisingly, disaffection with the ESG craze is mounting fast. I expected the mass disillusionment to last much longer. I refer to the political left prevailing on asset managers and brainwashing individuals into investing trillions of dollars according to environmental, social and governance criteria. If only the climate change canard met such resistance early on, the country would not be facing the ludicrous Green New Deal movement that promises to wreck the economy. Somehow, people’s heads clear when politics intersects with their money.

Consider the following sampling of headlines concerning ESG protestations:

- ESG Can’t Square With Fiduciary Duty

- Arizona Defends Retirees Against ESG

- Climate Change Brings a Flood of Hyperbole

- Biden’s ESG Tax on Your Retirement Fun

- End the Fed’s Mission Creep

- Texas Blacklists Firms For Alleged Energy Bans

The hidden agenda

The ESG movement aims to incorporate climate change, diversity, equity, LGBTQ and a range of stakeholder interests into corporate policies and culture. It is a Marxist ruse to co-opt the business sector as the Left is doing in the military, and has done in academia, media, Big Tech, and entertainment. The ultimate goal is to tear down our institutions as a prelude to creating a new socialist order. Besides, the typically lower returns of ESG investments conflict with the fiduciary obligation of money managers to pursue maximum returns for clients. And investors are speaking out.

Of course, there is a profit motive too. Asset-management firms charge outsize fees for ESG designated funds that many starry-eyed investors or their surrogates seek. These investments have been under public and regulatory scrutiny as to whether they really represent what they claim. Furthermore, ESG measurement methodologies are inconsistent and dubious. The room for fraud is boundless.

Larry Fink and BlackRock

The poster-boy for this nefarious political hijacking is Larry Fink, founder and CEO of BlackRock, the largest asset-management firm in the world with some $9 trillion under management and advisory. He has pressured companies to go woke by suggesting that his firm would steer client funds away from their stocks if they do not cooperate. In particular, he strives to defund oil and gas companies in the effort to curtail the production and consumption of fossil fuels and eventually terminate that industry. In a panel discussion on video Fink said that voluntary compliance with ESG is not enough and that investors have to be “forced” to embrace the woke through his coercion.

Fink also uses BlackRock’s heavily weighted proxy share voting power to incorporate ESG in the corporate actions of thousands of investee companies. Fink even gets other money management firms to do likewise through interlocking boardships and equity stakes.

Pressure on corporations is also coming from the Fed and the SEC as they contemplate cumbersome ESG disclosure requirements beyond their historical mandates. In addition, the NASD requires the boards of member firms to meet prescribed diversity standards. Furthermore, some private-equity investors are linking portfolio managers’ compensation to the ESG compliance of investee companies. Credit rating agencies now incorporate ESG factors in their ratings in the form of a credit impact score.

The bogus climate change premise

Concerns about climate change constitute the greatest impetus of the ESG movement. The issue is commonly expressed through the apocalyptic and bastardized term, “sustainability”, supposedly referring to the sustenance of the planet whose advocates believe is under serious threat from carbon emissions.

Climate change naysayers, called “deniers” by the Left, do not believe man-made agents, such as CO2, cause climate change, at least not more than an inconsequential infinitesimal degree. Nor do they believe man can change climate, which has morphed naturally for ions, sometimes catastrophically. The best one can do is prepare for the natural effects of extreme weather and anticipated calamities, such as hurricanes and earthquakes.

Thus, the effort to minimize carbon emissions by eliminating fossil fuels is a fool’s errand, especially considering the enormous economic and social costs. Many climate scientists agree but mainstream media suppress them, or they remain silent for fear of losing their research funding or their jobs.

The constant faux media alarm is just so much propaganda. The environmental movement is ultimately about redistributing global wealth through taxation, fines and legal settlements in a massive one-world socialist transformation. In fact, the earth is not fragile. It has withstood natural shocks and disasters forever, certainly anything man could throw at it.

Now the Federal Reserve requires banks to disclose climate change threats to the financial system, such as systemic loan defaults resulting from potential regulatory sanctions, carbon transition risk, lawsuits and disabling physical damage incurred by borrowers.

ESG exposed

Of late, Fink of BlackRock has been in the hot seat as pension fund managers, corporate Treasurers and state AGs protest ESG tactics. In reaction, Fink recants, saying his fiduciary duty to clients is sacrosanct. But he got caught with his pants down and now he is backpedaling. Increasingly, clients are not buying his equivocations. Recently, a few institutional investors withdrew over $1 billion of holdings. Many more ought to follow suit.

ESG investors may indulge their climate change and social justice fantasies as desired but they should know whether money managers really direct their investments to those purposes. Even so, those investors should realize they are empowering authoritarian government and fostering the emergence of a new socialist order.

To be sure, ESG investing is still expanding more than contracting. But increasingly, the public is getting wise to the environmental charade, especially as it impacts their pocketbook. Resistance is becoming more acute in view of inflation arising in part from unnecessary government restrictions on fossil fuels and nuclear production while alternative energy sources still prove unreliable.

Social and governance initiatives undermine the meritocratic model that built the nation, and create division and resentment at the expense of productivity. Wokeness spawns tyranny that stifles growth and prosperity. ESG investing is part of the problem. 10/17/22

• BILL’S MUSIC LOUNGE: AN OASIS AMID NATIONAL TURMOIL. Escape the angst. Return to normal times through songs of yesteryear.

https://www.williamjdodwell.com/my-piano-recordings-bills-music-lounge 10/10/22

• ECONOMIC BACKLASH IN THE UK. Prime Minister Liz Truss’ tax cut proposal faced massive repudiation by investors, media, and even her Conservative Party. Intended to stimulate economic growth to mitigate inflation, everyone feared the unfunded measure would widen the deficit, weaken the pound, and thus exacerbate inflation. Consequently, bond prices tumbled, spiking interest rates that threaten the economy. Falling pension asset values and rising mortgage rates were of particular concern. In short order, the Bank Of England purchased bonds to counteract the impact. Finally, Truss capitulated and rescinded a cut in the top tax rate that benefits the wealthy.

In my last post, I proposed tax cuts and deregulation to help arrest inflation in the U.S. This is because they promote supply-side capital investment that counterbalances excess demand, curbed by aggressive interest-rate hikes and rising bond yields, to effect an equilibrium that decreases inflation.

But Truss’ tax cut is different. It accompanies a much more impactful government spending proposal, including universal healthcare and subsidies to cap energy costs, that works at cross purposes to the tax cut. In addition, there was no deregulation proposed that also would encourage productive investment.

What’s more, the UK operates in a more difficult geopolitical setting than the U.S. For example, inflation is higher inasmuch as the country is more directly affected by energy and food shortages stemming from the war in Ukraine and the predations of Vladimir Putin. Policies that raise interest rates to protect a falling pound and avoid import inflation spur a currency war throughout interconnected Europe and beyond.

This is because other countries are forced to raise interest rates too in order to compete for capital and prevent currency devaluation and further inflation. Rate hikes can be more damaging to some economies than others. Furthermore, socialism is more entrenched in the UK than in the U.S., constituting greater resistance to government spending restraint that is part of an anti-inflation formula.

he tax cut is an important supply-side fiscal tool for fighting inflation if combined with deregulation and government spending limits. Policymakers should not dismiss it because of its outright rejection in the UK. International policy dynamics coupled with seemingly more intense political and psychological forces on financial markets make this solution more difficult to employ in the UK. 10/5/22

GET THAT ESG CRAP OUT OF MY PORTFOLIO

By William J. Dodwell  October 17, 2022

The backlash against ESG

Surprisingly, disaffection with the ESG craze is mounting fast.  I expected the mass  disillusionment to last much longer.  I refer to the political left prevailing on asset managers and brainwashing individuals into investing trillions of dollars according to environmental, social and governance criteria. If only the climate change canard met such resistance early on, the country would not be facing the ludicrous Green New Deal movement that promises to wreck the economy. Somehow, people’s heads clear when politics intersects with their money.

Consider the following sampling of headlines concerning ESG protestations:

•  ESG Can’t Square With Fiduciary Duty

•  Arizona Defends Retirees Against ESG

•  Climate Change Brings a Flood of Hyperbole

•  Biden’s ESG Tax on Your Retirement Fund

•  End the Fed’s Mission Creep

•  Texas Blacklists Firms For Alleged Energy Bans

The hidden agenda

The ESG movement aims to incorporate climate change, diversity, equity, LGBTQ and a range of stakeholder interests into corporate policies and culture. It is a Marxist ruse to co-opt the business sector as the Left is doing in the military, and has done in academia, media, Big Tech, and entertainment. The ultimate goal is to tear down our institutions as a prelude to creating a new socialist order.  Besides, the typically lower returns of ESG investments conflict with the fiduciary obligation of money managers to pursue maximum returns for clients. And investors are speaking out.

Of course, there is a profit motive too.  Asset-management firms charge outsize fees for ESG designated funds that many starry-eyed investors or their surrogates seek. These investments have been under public and regulatory scrutiny as to whether they really represent what they claim. Furthermore, ESG measurement methodologies are inconsistent and dubious. The room for fraud is boundless.

Larry Fink and BlackRock

The poster-boy for this nefarious political hijacking is Larry Fink, founder and CEO of BlackRock, the largest asset-management firm in the world with some $9 trillion under management and advisory.  He has pressured companies to go woke by suggesting that his firm would steer client funds away from their stocks if they do not cooperate. In particular, he strives to defund oil and gas companies in the effort to curtail the production and consumption of fossil fuels and eventually terminate that industry. In a panel discussion on video Fink said that voluntary compliance with ESG is not enough and that investors have to be “forced” to embrace the woke through his coercion. 

Fink also uses BlackRock’s heavily weighted proxy share voting power to incorporate ESG in the corporate actions of thousands of investee companies. Fink even gets other money management firms to do likewise through interlocking boardships and equity stakes.   

Pressure on corporations is also coming from the Fed and the SEC as they contemplate cumbersome ESG disclosure requirements beyond their historical mandates.  In addition, the NASD requires the boards of member firms to meet prescribed diversity standards. Furthermore, some private-equity investors are linking portfolio managers’ compensation to the ESG compliance of investee companies. Credit rating agencies now incorporate ESG factors in their ratings in the form of a credit impact score.

The bogus climate change premise

Concerns about climate change constitute the greatest impetus of the ESG movement.  The issue is commonly expressed through the apocalyptic and bastardized term, “sustainability”, supposedly referring to the sustenance of the planet whose advocates believe is under serious threat from carbon emissions.

Climate change naysayers, called “deniers” by the Left, do not believe man-made agents, such as CO2, cause climate change, at least not more than an inconsequential infinitesimal degree.  Nor do they believe man can change climate, which has morphed naturally for ions, sometimes catastrophically.  The best one can do is prepare for the natural effects of extreme weather and anticipated calamities, such as hurricanes and earthquakes.

Thus, the effort to minimize carbon emissions by eliminating fossil fuels is a fool’s errand, especially considering the enormous economic and social costs.  Many climate scientists agree but mainstream media suppress them, or they remain silent for fear of losing their research funding or their jobs.

The constant faux media alarm is just so much propaganda. The environmental movement is ultimately about redistributing global wealth through taxation, fines and legal settlements in a massive one-world socialist transformation. In fact, the earth is not fragile.  It has withstood natural shocks and disasters forever, certainly anything man could throw at it.   

Now the Federal Reserve requires banks to disclose climate change threats to the financial system, such as systemic loan defaults resulting from potential regulatory sanctions, carbon transition risk, lawsuits and disabling physical damage incurred by borrowers.

ESG exposed

Of late, Fink of BlackRock has been in the hot seat as pension fund managers, corporate Treasurers and state AGs protest ESG tactics. In reaction, Fink recants, saying his fiduciary duty to clients is sacrosanct. But he got caught with his pants down and now he is backpedaling.  Increasingly, clients are not buying his equivocations. Recently, a few institutional investors withdrew over $1 billion of holdings. Many more ought to follow suit.

ESG investors may indulge their climate change and social justice fantasies as desired but they should know whether money managers really direct their investments to those purposes.  Even so, those investors should realize they are empowering authoritarian government and fostering the emergence of a new socialist order.  

To be sure, ESG investing is still expanding more than contracting. But increasingly, the public is getting wise to the environmental charade, especially as it impacts their pocketbook. Resistance is becoming more acute in view of inflation arising in part from unnecessary government restrictions on fossil fuels and nuclear production while alternative energy sources still prove unreliable.

Social and governance initiatives undermine the meritocratic model that built the nation, and create division and resentment at the expense of productivity. Wokeness spawns tyranny that stifles growth and prosperity. ESG investing is part of the problem. 

©2022 William J. Dodwell

CULTURE

AMERICA: DUMB AND DUMBER

By William J. Dodwell November 26, 2018

Despite victories giving Republicans the presidency and complete control of Congress in 2016, as well as retention of the Senate in 2018, the country is dangerously close to a newly radical Democratic Party permanently taking over. The checks and balances inherent in government provide some solace. But the declining reliability of an electorate that has largely succumbed to systemic political sabotage and cultural erosion is call for alarm. Closet socialist Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in the last presidential race, while open socialist Bernie Sanders garnered huge support in the Democratic primary. In 2018, Arizona radical leftist Kyrsten Sinema won a senate seat, and Florida gubernatorial candidate and avowed socialist, Andrew Gillum, lost by a whisker. Socialist “Beto” O’Rourke came close to winning a senate seat in formerly pure-red Texas. In addition, once solidly conservative Orange County, California has gone completely Democratic. What is going on with the American voters to produce this outcome?

To be sure, significant demographic changes have contributed to the leftward electoral drift. Witness the growing Latino influences in Arizona, Texas and Florida, all rich in electoral college representation. One wonders how much of this derives from illegal aliens in the voting booths. But liberals from the northeast also are moving in droves to those states, perhaps by some political design. It would seem that ethnic and ideological changes could create certain structural transformation that might interfere with the historical swing of the political pendulum.

Another problem concerns the longstanding collaboration of the media and the educational establishment to suppress serious thinking. This campaign aims to defuse challenges to liberal orthodoxy, in particular the call for the ever-growing size and power of government at the expense of individual freedom and thought. The mass media shroud truth while promoting identity politics to balkanize the country and thus blunt its potential resistance. The schools and colleges have cravenly promoted the liberal agenda, infecting young minds with propaganda and diluting academic standards to quash critical thinking. In particular, the academy has largely ended the study of civics and American history to suppress that which made America great and to extinguish the notion of sovereignty and patriotism. The result is a largely ignorant America that elects far too many radical Democrats.

The left diverts public attention from serious issues by celebrating sports and entertainment to render the populace uninformed and thus predisposed to liberal propaganda. As a consequence, we have a citizenry that wallows in frivolity, shuns reading, and mocks scholarship. Indeed, the culture rejects serious introspection and embraces the interests of the least common denominator in society, all with a new technological impetus. This is not a prescription for preserving American exceptionalism. But that destruction is exactly what the left wants – a borderless, globalist amalgam of insoluble cultures beholden to a few government elites presiding over the spoils that could be a massive underclass.

The country’s obsession with sports is symptomatic of a cultural malaise that undermines a seriousness essential to combating the nefarious incursions of the left. Wherever parents are heard talking about their kids’ school activities it seems conversation always centers on the teams they belong to, including those of the girls, and never their academics anymore. We must revert to the values of yore and forge radical cultural change. Imagine a country engaged in a cultural sea change in which empty sports stadiums and arenas dot the landscape, and sports bars convert to brain bars that feature televisions locked into Fox News, C-Span and InfoWars while Sinatra music streams over the sound system. On a massive scale, that is a recipe for a thoughtful cultivated electorate that will save the nation against the onslaught of the radical left. Election Day would be much different. (I can dream can’t I?)

Make America think again!

©2018 William J. Dodwell

THE PROBLEMS OF A DIVERSE WORKFORCE

By William J. Dodwell     October 2, 2019

Note:  In keeping with my ongoing visceral dedication to defy political correctness in all quarters, I present the following revelations regarding corporate America’s obsession with diversity.

I just returned from a Diversity Summit in Timbuktu.  It was a confab of mostly Chief Diversity Officers seeking to improve their methods for achieving a truly diverse workforce.  Most interesting were the comments of one particular corporate manager, Whitey.  He told me about his struggles dealing with the diversity policies of his CDO, one Ms. Zgbowgoeiw Poebtyoblbaoetn, aka Ms. Z, who hails from a hut in an Amazon rain forest.

The Chief Diversity Officer

Ms. Z herself is the very image of diversity.  This androgynous creature stands 6’9” with one black arm and one white, the result of some body modification.  She has a buzzcut on the right side, multi-colored tresses on the left, a chrome dome on top and a pony tail in the back.  She flaunts one 51” DDD breast, a tattoo on her neck, and wears combat boots.  And God knows what’s under that dress.  Even her speech is diverse as she alternates from black dialect to the King’s English throughout the day.  She worships at the LGBTQ altar, even painting her office in the emblematic rainbow colors.

All hiring decisions go through Ms. Z to ensure the company maintains an optimal diversity profile, while Whitey functions as her chief operating officer.  In fact, Ms. Z strives to register the highest government diversity score in her industry, a feat she hopes would put her on the cover of Diversity Magazine and earn her an EEOC award.  She insists that all job candidates submit to skin-tone classification measured scientifically in lumens from 1 to 50 where 1 is the darkest, 50 is the lightest.  In addition, everyone must gender-identify on a wide spectrum of genitalia variations.  Accordingly, she commissioned the building premises manager to make rest room modifications to accommodate all manner of anatomical anomalies.  Says Ms. Z, “We cover every color, shape, form and subspecies in the human genome. Hell, we even got an Irishman on board.”

She also commands month-long classes for all employees in the use of appropriate pronouns, the veritable equivalent of learning another language.  Ms. Z especially favors profile characteristics that are heavily weighted in the government diversity score, such as dark skin-tones in high positions.  As such, she tries to minimize straight white males because they produce negative points in government reporting. (We get no respect anymore.)

Ms. Z draws from a major source of diversity enhancement that is the pool of illegal aliens who storm the southern border.  They not only jack up a diversity score, but some America-hating state and local jurisdictions provide tax incentives for hiring them.  The current invasion of caravans from Central America has been like manna from heaven for CDOs.

Problems

Here are some of the problems Whitey experienced enforcing Ms. Z’s diversity program.

• • Risk Management told Whitey that the company has to reduce its female population because of excessive #MeToo risk.  Women are suing left and right.  Whitey asked Ms. Z what to do.  She said, “I’m not going to upset my gender ratio.  Tell Risk Management we’ll comply with the cut if we can persuade an equal number of gender ambiguous employees that they are female.  Somehow I think those “converted women” would be less troublesome.  You do the interviews.”

• • Whitey approached Ms. Z about a problem with an employee who couldn’t get along with anybody.  Figuring his behavior might have something to do with his diversity classification, she asked Whitey how the worker self-identifies.  Whitey said the employee doesn’t know because he has three di--s and two vaginas.  Ms. Z told Whitey to “throw him in with the transgenders”. Whitey said he suggested that but he took offense saying, “What do you think I am, some kind of freak?”

• • Whitey sought help from Ms. Z about a man who wouldn’t cooperate with his project plans.  Once again Ms. Z asked how the worker self-identifies.  Whitey told her he thinks he’s a bird.  Ms. Z asked Whitey if he talked to him about the problem.  Whitey told her that he couldn’t because he always has worms in his mouth. 

• • A well-known philanderer complained to Whitey that there are too few females in his immediate vicinity for him to pursue.  Rather, he’s surrounded by man-hating lesbians who, not only restrict his prospects, but also put him at risk of bogus #MeToo lawsuits.  Ms. Z told Whitey, “Gender ratios are applied uniformly over all units, so transferring him would upset that balance.  I could move him to a more hospitable environment in exchange for a gay male, but the lesbians might complain about one less target for a phony sexual harassment claim."

• • After conducting a diversity audit following a spate of departures, Whitey panicked over the results.  He ran to Ms. Z to tell her, “We have a crisis.  We’re low on hermaphrodites.!”  Even Ms. Z started sweating because this classification gets a very high weighting in the government diversity score.  She immediately told Whitey to dispatch three employees to the waterfront at 3 AM to recruit replacements from appropriately endowed hookers serving transient truckers.  That was a tough sell for Whitey.  Relations with his staff have not been the same.

• • A gay guy complained to Whitely about a dearth of homosexuals in the firm.  In fact, he suspects discrimination.  Whitey brought the case to Ms. Z who said, “The entire LGBTQ spectrum is represented in this firm.  Tell him to focus on some Bs, Ts and Qs instead of a pure play.  Hell, he might become one of them. I could use the filip in the diversity score.”

• • Ms. Z prevailed on Whitey to take advantage of the many new openings to improve the firm’s skin-tone rating.  She told him that through her connections she could get eight people from Ghana in the building by the end of the week.  Ms. Z said, “These guys will really lift our score.  I’m talking tones under 10 lumens!”  Whitey had no choice but to hire them on his staff.  Some time later Ms. Z asked him how the Ghanans were doing.  Whitey said, “They can’t read, they can’t write, and they don’t speak English.”  Ms. Z replied, “So what?  We picked up 112 points in our score.  Ah, I can see it now.  Diversity Magazine today, The New York Times front page tomorrow.”

Whitey’s heart-to-heart talk with Ms. Z

Exasperated, Whitey arranged a heartfelt talk with Ms. Z about his difficulty reconciling diversity compliance with executive demands for suitable people.  He explained that the firm needs dedicated competent employees who can interact well with customers and one another.  Instead, everyone hates each other and nothing gets done. The only unity centers on  a collective hatred for the lily white CEO.  Whitey told her that since implementing her diversity program the company has been constantly in the red and the stock has plummeted 70%.  Ms. Z replied, “If people meet my diversity criteria they’re qualified.  The rest is for the CEO to worry about.  It’s PC over profits for me.  Between you and me, let’s hope those losses continue.  The CEO would get fired creating a bonanza opportunity to replace the honky with a sub-20 lumens black or Hispanic.  The diversity score would skyrocket!”

Whitey seeks refuge

Overcome by the displeasure of his job, Whitey went home to decompress with his family.  He summoned his three young sons to resume a recent discussion about career aspirations.  One had said he wants to be a fireman.  Another had said he wants to be an astronaut.  Whitey turned to his previously undecided precocious fair-headed boy, Niles, and asked if he had made up his mind yet.  Niles said, “Yeah, Dad.  I want to be a Chief Diversity Officer.”                                                                        

©2019 William J.Dodwell       

AMERICAN DECADENCE:  THE DEMISE OF THE NECKTIE

By William J. Dodwell   August 31, 2020

In 1968, conservative presidential candidate Alabama Governor George Wallace encountered a shaggy male hippie on the campaign trail screaming at him.  In response, he yelled back in his deep southern drawl, “What you need is a haircut!”  My sentiment exactly as I witness one man after another in media appearances today sans cravat.  I bark at the screen, “What you need is a necktie!” 

It is difficult not to suspect the retiring of this badge of gentility as yet another reflection of the left’s influence in the erosion of tradition, along with suppressing history, the flag and references to God.  Globalists must relish the passing of this Western sartorial emblem.  To be fair, comfort doubtless has something to do with the tie’s demise.  But today, feel trumps appearance to an extreme.

One might say the open neck is simply a new fashion.  But serial aesthetic changes like this can lead collectively to a larger degenerative transformation on a slippery slope that ultimately undermines discipline and self-respect to the detriment of societal wellbeing.  No tie today.  No shirt tomorrow.  Wearing pajama bottoms in public has become acceptable.  And consider how tattoo displays have gone from a small image in a hidden spot to increasingly common facial disfigurement. What’s next, a tusk through the nose?

By no means a fashion plate, I just call for traditional, tasteful, form-fitting, color-coordinated attire. By this austere standard there is no place for: baggy hip hop pants falling off the rump, jeans with holes, untucked shirts, jeans with an expensive suit jacket, or news anchors wearing expensive shirts/blouses accompanied by jeans not so well concealed under the desk.  Ok, I’m not exactly mainstream.  Hey, if I had my druthers, casual Friday at the office would be formal Friday in celebration of a culminating head of steam achieved through the inertia of daily incremental diligence.  Tux, tails and a top hat would be the dress code.  Working from home?  No matter.  Rules are rules. 

And then there is tie choice, about which I am generally quite flexible, but there are certain conventions.  President Trump is an inveterate tie-wearer who chooses appropriate, but limited, color schemes.  However, he wears his tie too long, as the tip should meet the center of the belt buckle. Tucker Carlson frequently dons a particular green, yellow and red stripe combination against a plaid shirt.  Ughhhh!  He seems to make a mere token gesture to the neckwear custom.  Or, maybe he’s rebelling against it.  Recall his early years when he always wore a bow tie. Now he denounces it as displaying the equivalent of a raised middle finger on the throat. 

I’m not alone in my support for the tie.  At a speaking engagement about monetary policy I attended, Steve Forbes opined similarly after playing a brief video produced by the Federal Reserve.  A leftist institution obsessed with diversity, the Fed featured comments of dozens of employees of various ethnicities in all manner of dress.  Afterwards, Forbes aptly pointed out that every form of diversity was represented, except a guy with a tie.

©2020 William J. Dodwell

FINANCE & THE ECONOMY

BELOW-MARKET INTEREST RATES DISRUPT THE REPO MARKET

By William J. Dodwell  January 14, 2020

Much has been written about anomalies in the repo market since a sharp spike in the rate last September.  Repos (repurchase agreements) are instruments by which financial institutions lend or borrow cash (up to 180 days) to/from one another in exchange for Treasury securities collateral.  Indeed, repos are a $5 trillion market that is crucial for funding bank trading and investment activities. 

Inter-bank cash shortages and Fed intervention

But banks also rely on this facility to shore up brief cash shortfalls created by a raft of withdrawals from the financial system.  They include large scale collective payments, such as corporate taxes and Treasury auction settlements that transfer cash out of banks to the Treasury.  Banks use repos to borrow cash to satisfy more stringent post-crisis regulatory net capital and liquidity requirements.  These thresholds are particularly sensitive at year-end because they may determine whether banks have to raise additional capital to qualify for Fed approval to pay dividends or buy back shares.

Of late, a paucity of capital in the repo market has caused short-term rates to rise creating upward pressure on the Federal Reserve Bank’s federal funds overnight rate which is supposed to be the designated benchmark for all other short-term rates.  In order to keep this rate at the Fed’s desired economically optimal level, the Fed has been infusing liquidity into the financial system through repo loans of its own to borrowing banks needing cash.  This reduces the repo rate to slightly above or below the fed funds rate.

Various forces have created tightness in the repo market causing rate increases and volatility that prompt Fed intervention.  Since repo activity worldwide is highly concentrated in just four U.S. banks, inter-bank repo lending diminishes when they hoard cash to meet regulatory requirements, or when they opt to invest in Treasuries instead of repo loans.  Similarly, many small dealers have stopped repo lending because post-crisis regulation has made cash generally scarcer and thus more costly and onerous to acquire.  And, when cash shortfalls in banks arise causing them to scramble for liquidity, the resulting volatility further increases the cost to borrow by repo.  In addition, strong demand for cash from hedge funds and money market funds has made it less available for banks, sometimes straining operations.

Artificial rates and moral hazard

The result of liquidity infusions by the Fed is to produce artificially low short-term rates which further discourage banks from lending to each other in the repo market.  Once the Fed repo stimulus wears off, market forces raise the rate again to natural and more profitable levels based on the supply and demand for money.  This invites the Fed to intervene yet again and again in a tug of war fashion with the market to lower the rate to maintain its desired fed funds level.  The Fed set the current fed funds rate at the 1.5% - 1.75% target range which in real terms (after inflation) is slightly negative.  This, while the economy is relatively robust with unemployment at record low levels. Why is the Fed keeping rates so low when the market seems to call for higher rates?  Is the Fed skittish about disturbing stock and bond markets?  Is it intimidated by President Trump’s jawboning for minimal rates?

Superficially low rates created by the Fed’s accelerated repo operations induce banks to retain cash in their riskless interest-bearing excess reserves held at the Fed.  Ordinarily, the banks would lend to other banks via higher-yielding repo which carries a modicum of counterparty risk.  This partial bank withdrawal from repo lending causes rate volatility that raises funding costs which crimp bank net interest margins. 

Fed intervention in the repo market is analogous to its much larger quantitative easing program aimed at suppressing long-term mortgage rates in the aftermath of the Great Financial Crisis. The resulting low long-term rates have encouraged investors to seek higher returns in riskier assets such as stocks, high-yield foreign bonds and private-equity.  This practice has misallocated capital to inflated financial assets at the expense of higher-interest bank deposits and business investment that support the real economy of goods and services.  Suppressed long-term rates also have encouraged dangerous debt accumulation by government, businesses and consumers. 

Artificially low short-term rates cause a dearth of inter-bank lending, the lifeblood of the financial system.  Consequently, uneven cash flows among banks are insufficiently corrected causing the Fed to lend repeatedly in the place of other banks in order to maintain operating stability.  The repo assets on the Fed’s balance sheet and the income that flows from them ordinarily reside with the banks to the benefit of their shareholders and the economy.  That income should not accrue to the Treasury via the Fed.  Likewise, the Treasury and mortgage securities the Fed owns as a result of quantitative easing could belong to the banks.

Thus, the larger the Fed’s balance sheet, the more distorted the financial markets become to the general economy’s ultimate detriment.  Right before the financial crisis the Fed’s balance sheet was $900 billion.  It subsequently rose to $4.5 trillion through post-crisis quantitative easing.  Then the Fed reduced it to $3.8 trillion as it stopped QE in 2017 and allowed the portfolio to run off as securities matured, a process that helps to normalize long-term interest rates.  However, in a later stimulus the Fed discontinued the unwinding in 2019 causing its securities portfolio to rise to $4.2 trillion today, including about $250 billion of repo loans (reverse repurchase agreements) to financial institutions to correct their cash shortfalls.    

In a free market the cost of funds should be determined by private-sector lenders based on their risk-return calculus.  The Fed’s job is to ensure short-term interest-rate stability through temporary intervention as needed.  Even the salutary long-term intercession during and after the financial crisis should end eventually.  Ongoing repo loans from the Fed to banks are a crutch for a systemic problem that suggests that short-term interest rates set by the Fed are too low.  The central bank should not become a permanent substitute for financial market participants because this distorts interest rates and asset price discovery.  In case of the repo market, the Fed has become the lender of last resort. Ongoing market desperation is not healthy.

Correctives

There are proposals to revamp the repo architecture to improve the availability of cash to cover bank shortfalls.  One is to establish a facility that triggers an automatic release of funds from a bank’s own excess reserves at the Fed when needed. However, such reliance probably would invite a stigma akin to borrowing from the Fed discount window. Another idea is to require banks to transact repos through clearing houses like Dodd-Frank mandates for swaps.  However, the added cost is likely unwarranted given that repos are fully secured and mainly about liquidity risk.  By contrast, minimally secured swaps involve more dangerous market risk associated with hedging and speculation.

Nevertheless, the current problem in the repo market suggests that post-crisis short-term interest-rate normalization has to resume.  The Fed’s fear of roiling the stock and bond markets from rate hikes must not impede that necessity.  Those asset prices are currently susceptible to some correction because they are inflated by below-market general interest rates.  Stock prices hit record highs throughout 2019 despite negative earnings growth all year. And a near-flat, and sometimes inverted, yield curve does not seem consistent with a reasonably growing U.S. economy, notwithstanding the influences of slow global growth. 

Below-market interest rates have created inflated financial assets for some time.  Now they contribute to dislocations in the repo market which cause repetitive operating cash shortfalls at some banks.  The Fed needs the fortitude to resist political pressures and normalize rates.  Recall the courage of former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker in the early 1980s in raising rates to record levels to extinguish hyper-inflation.         

                                                                        ©2020 William J. Dodwell

            William J. Dodwell is a retired corporate executive, management consultant and financial writer in the finance industry with particular expertise in the capital markets.  Mr. Dodwell has                 written in professional journals, the trade press and corporate publications. He is a Certified Public Accountant (Inactive) licensed in the State of New York. 

COVID-19 FINANCE:  A REVIEW AND ASSESSMENT

By William J. Dodwell    April 13, 2020

The 2008 financial crisis centered principally on the housing and financial sectors that spawned the subprime loan debacle in all its ramifications.  By contrast, the novel coronavirus crisis cuts across all economic sectors that produce and consume goods and services.  What’s more, the economic impact is more extensively global than the Great Financial Crisis.  Hence, the historical scale and scope of the fiscal and monetary stimulus implemented by the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve Bank.

The genesis

Government-mandated lockdowns to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus have frozen the national economy.  As a consequence, businesses, as well as states and municipalities, have to frantically raise cash to cover operating losses and debt service in the face of dramatic revenue shortfalls. And in the process, tens of millions of furloughed workers lose their income.  What’s more, investors, besides liquidating stocks, initially generated a massive sell-off of Treasuries that led to serious illiquidity throughout the credit markets shutting off desperate borrowers. 

Then the Federal Reserve rode to the rescue with a mammoth liquidity infusion that has stabilized the credit markets, and might have started a growing investor rotation from bonds back to stocks.  In addition, ultra-low interest rates attendant to the new liquidity prompt extensive business borrowing to raise cash. 

The Fed stimulus      

The Fed, with the help of a $30 billion equity investment from the Treasury’s Exchange Stabilization Fund, has provided a $2.3 trillion package of loans in response to the economic ravages of the coronavirus crisis.  All loans are issued by banks which can sell them to the Fed while retaining a required 5% interest.  Fed accommodations include the following:

-        A 1% cut in the benchmark interest rate to near zero.

-        Additional lending to the financial sector through more reverse repurchase agreements.

-        Expanded securities purchases (quantitative easing) beyond traditional Treasuries and agency mortgage-backed securities, now to include municipal bonds, as well as below-investment grade corporate bonds and ETFs.

-        Loans to businesses with up to 10,000 employees and less than $2.5 billion of 2019 revenue, along with a one-year deferral of principal and interest payments.

-        Purchases of corporate commercial paper to backstop inadequate market participation.

-        Loans to finance investor purchases of AAA rated asset-backed securities through the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF). This program, revived from the 2008 crisis, supports the securitization of auto loans, credit card receivables, trade receivables, leases and student loans affecting a cross-section of economic activity.  The facility also finances the purchase of AAA commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) and collateralized loan obligations (CLOs).

-        Temporary relaxation of a regulatory capital requirement; banks may omit Treasuries and central bank deposits from the leverage ratio (core capital/assets).

The Treasury stimulus

        At the same time, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES), a $2.2 trillion initial spending and loan package for             individuals, municipalities, and businesses of all sizes to reignite consumption and production. It includes the following:

-        A one-time cash payment of up to $1,200 to workers and retirees.

-        Bank loans to small businesses to finance payroll that are forgiven if employees are retained..

-        Bank loans guaranteed by the SBA to shore up operations.

-        Payroll assistance and loans to the hard-hit airline industry, partially in consideration of disputed stock warrants.

-        Loans to states and local governments serving populations over 500,000.

-        Expanded unemployment benefits, some of which match or exceed lost salaries. 

And more is coming, subject to Democratic extortion to add sundry unrelated special-interest spending.  President Trump has proposed an additional $250 billion for small business. Also under discussion is a proposal for guaranteed private company paychecks.  The Treasury, that is taxpayers, will absorb defaults of its loan, as well as those of the Fed.  But even with government aid, companies face a liquidity squeeze from radical revenue declines.  CFOs are issuing bonds, extending credit lines and cutting costs to get by.

How is so much government debt affordable?  Financial markets presume that the historical good faith and credit of the U.S. government always will attract global investment in Treasuries and thus enable federal borrowing on demand at reasonable cost.  In addition, the Fed has always been able to create money by fiat to ensure currency with which to buy the debt while usually avoiding serious inflation through robust economic growth.  Witness the dramatic rise in federal debt to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the recovery from the 2008 financial crisis.  While the COVID-19 emergency may justify the current government extravagance, and the inherent power of the economy permits certain excess, there is a limit to a nation’s means and the ability to live beyond it. 

Inflation

At some point the new liquidity could unleash dangerous inflation. Surprisingly, it did not materialize from the monetary stimulus following the 2008 financial crisis.  That is because that money redounded to the financial sector creating inflated financial assets instead of overpriced goods and services in the real economy as investors sought to escape near-zero interest rates.  (Also tempering inflation have been global competition and productivity from technological advances and deregulation.) But in the long-term that capital will migrate from the financial sector to the real economy, perhaps to create inflationary pressures.    

But the multi-trillion dollar coronavirus monetary and fiscal stimulus is more targeted to industry and impacts all sectors of the real economy making eventual goods inflation seemingly compelling.  In the extreme, this would engender growth-stifling taxes and interest rate hikes that could lead to government and corporate ratings downgrades and more burdensome debt service.  Highly indebted companies that cannot roll over coronavirus debt could precipitate widespread defaults and bankruptcies that further suppress the economy. On the other hand, some additional inflation would be salutary in that it eventually forces up interest rates to normal levels.  That outcome has eluded the Fed for over a decade.

Recovery

The coronavirus bailout and GDP decline will likely raise the federal debt to GDP ratio to approximately 120%, up from about 40% before the Great Financial Crisis.  At the same time, demands on Social Security and Medicare escalate sharply as legions of baby-boomers retire.  One has to wonder how much all this fiscal drag will affect future growth.  And conservatives worry about the increasing interventions of the Fed and Treasury in the private sector that foster growing dependence on government, and perhaps a societal appetite for socialist policy.

Pre-crisis prosperity and the government backstop against coronavirus losses during the downturn suggest the economy’s ability to rebound fairly quickly in the short-term in a V-shaped or U-shaped recovery.  But, while pent up demand will create an initial spark, some consumers may hold back until they make up lost income.  Likewise, some employers may not rehire all employees as a cost-saving measure. In addition, depleted investment portfolios may have a reverse wealth-effect that deters normal spending.  If these factors combine with a recurrent coronavirus outbreak, a longer term W-shaped recovery is more likely.

More importantly, the long-term outlook could be plagued by growth-sapping deficits and debt, taxes, suppressed corporate earnings and muted stock valuations that preclude a return to normalcy that was the Trump economy.  The solution is a strong pro-growth agenda that supports investment and innovation, principally through tax incentives and regulatory relief.  But that prospect is doomed if President Trump is not reelected in November. In any case, government spending has to be reigned in significantly to generate the growth that can enable meaningful debt reduction.  No president has been inclined to do that for some time

©2020 William J. Dodwell

            William J. Dodwell is a retired corporate executive, management consultant and financial writer in the finance industry with particular expertise in the capital markets.  Mr. Dodwell has                 written in professional journals, the trade press and corporate publications. He is a Certified Public Accountant (Inactive) licensed in the State of New York. 

·       GET THAT ESG CRAP OUT OF MY PORTFOLIO

By William J. Dodwell   October 17, 2022

The backlash against ESG

Surprisingly, disaffection with the ESG craze is mounting fast.  I expected the mass disillusionment to last much longer.  I refer to the political left prevailing on asset managers and brainwashing individuals into investing trillions of dollars according to environmental, social and governance criteria. If only the climate change canard met such resistance early on, the country would not be facing the ludicrous Green New Deal movement that promises to wreck the economy. Somehow, people’s heads clear when politics intersects with their money.

Consider the following sampling of headlines concerning ESG protestations:

-          ESG Can’t Square With Fiduciary Duty

-          Arizona Defends Retirees Against ESG

-          Climate Change Brings a Flood of Hyperbole

-          Biden’s ESG Tax on Your Retirement Fund

-          End the Fed’s Mission Creep

-          Texas Blacklists Firms For Alleged Energy Bans

The hidden agenda

The ESG movement aims to incorporate climate change, diversity, equity, LGBTQ and a range of stakeholder interests into corporate policies and culture. It is a Marxist ruse to co-opt the business sector as the Left is doing in the military, and has done in academia, media, Big Tech, and entertainment. The ultimate goal is to tear down our institutions as a prelude to creating a new socialist order.  Besides, the typically lower returns of ESG investments conflict with the fiduciary obligation of money managers to pursue maximum returns for clients. And investors are speaking out.

Of course, there is a profit motive too.  Asset-management firms charge outsize fees for ESG designated funds that many starry-eyed investors or their surrogates seek. These investments have been under public and regulatory scrutiny as to whether they really represent what they claim. Furthermore, ESG measurement methodologies are inconsistent and dubious. The room for fraud is boundless.

Larry Fink and BlackRock

The poster-boy for this nefarious political hijacking is Larry Fink, founder and CEO of BlackRock, the largest asset-management firm in the world with some $9 trillion under management and advisory.  He has pressured companies to go woke by suggesting that his firm would steer client funds away from their stocks if they do not cooperate. In particular, he strives to defund oil and gas companies in the effort to curtail the production and consumption of fossil fuels and eventually terminate that industry. In a panel discussion on video Fink said that voluntary compliance with ESG is not enough and that investors have to be “forced” to embrace the woke through his coercion.  

Fink also uses BlackRock’s heavily weighted proxy share voting power to incorporate ESG in the corporate actions of thousands of investee companies. Fink even gets other money management firms to do likewise through interlocking boardships and equity stakes.   

Pressure on corporations is also coming from the Fed and the SEC as they contemplate cumbersome ESG disclosure requirements beyond their historical mandates.  In addition, the NASD requires the boards of member firms to meet prescribed diversity standards. Furthermore, some private-equity investors are linking portfolio managers’ compensation to the ESG compliance of investee companies. Credit rating agencies now incorporate ESG factors in their ratings in the form of a credit impact score.

The bogus climate change premise

Concerns about climate change constitute the greatest impetus of the ESG movement.  The issue is commonly expressed through the apocalyptic and bastardized term, “sustainability”, supposedly referring to the sustenance of the planet whose advocates believe is under serious threat from carbon emissions.

Climate change naysayers, called “deniers” by the Left, do not believe man-made agents, such as CO2, cause climate change, at least not more than an inconsequential infinitesimal degree.  Nor do they believe man can change climate, which has morphed naturally for ions, sometimes catastrophically.  The best one can do is prepare for the natural effects of extreme weather and anticipated calamities, such as hurricanes and earthquakes.

Thus, the effort to minimize carbon emissions by eliminating fossil fuels is a fool’s errand, especially considering the enormous economic and social costs.  Many climate scientists agree but mainstream media suppress them, or they remain silent for fear of losing their research funding or their jobs.

The constant faux media alarm is just so much propaganda. The environmental movement is ultimately about redistributing global wealth through taxation, fines and legal settlements in a massive one-world socialist transformation. In fact, the earth is not fragile.  It has withstood natural shocks and disasters forever, certainly anything man could throw at it.   

Now the Federal Reserve requires banks to disclose climate change threats to the financial system, such as systemic loan defaults resulting from potential regulatory sanctions, carbon transition risk, lawsuits and disabling physical damage incurred by borrowers.

ESG exposed

Of late, Fink of BlackRock has been in the hot seat as pension fund managers, corporate Treasurers and state AGs protest ESG tactics. In reaction, Fink recants, saying his fiduciary duty to clients is sacrosanct. But he got caught with his pants down and now he is backpedaling.  Increasingly, clients are not buying his equivocations. Recently, a few institutional investors withdrew over $1 billion of holdings. Many more ought to follow suit.

ESG investors may indulge their climate change and social justice fantasies as desired but they should know whether money managers really direct their investments to those purposes.  Even so, those investors should realize they are empowering authoritarian government and fostering the emergence of a new socialist order. 

To be sure, ESG investing is still expanding more than contracting. But increasingly, the public is getting wise to the environmental charade, especially as it impacts their pocketbook. Resistance is becoming more acute in view of inflation arising in part from unnecessary government restrictions on fossil fuels and nuclear production while alternative energy sources still prove unreliable.

Social and governance initiatives undermine the meritocratic model that built the nation, and create division and resentment at the expense of productivity. Wokeness spawns tyranny that stifles growth and prosperity. ESG investing is part of the problem. 

©2022 William J. Dodwell

·       GROUP-THINK RE UK FINANCIAL JOLT HAS IT WRONG

By William J. Dodwell October 20, 2022 

Wrongheadedness

Most reporting on the quasi-financial panic in the UK cites former Prime Minister Liz Truss’s tax cut policy as the culprit.  It was not, at least not primarily.  Rather, it was a derivative hedge strategy of pension funds that went awry in reaction to rising interest rates. The development triggered collateral calls that forced a massive sale of government bonds which created capital losses in investment portfolios writ large. Sadly, this wrong-headedness about Truss’s tax cuts among investors, the public and even the Conservative Party has resulted in Ms. Truss’s resignation.   

The wayward derivative strategy

Chronically low interest rates caused the present discounted value of future pension liabilities to increase on balance sheets. At the same time those low rates significantly restricted returns on pension assets, thus producing outsize funding deficits. This led to more required pension contributions to narrow the funding gap that seriously strained operations, even to the point of bankruptcy.

The derivative strategy was designed to overcome this problem and was predicated on the assumption that low rates would continue for a long time. (Modern Monetary Theory at work.)  When rates rose precipitously to combat inflation, the protection dissolved prompting collateral calls involving huge sales of government bonds. The ensuing portfolio losses affected bonds, stocks and the pound. The Bank of England has intervened temporarily to purchase bonds to stabilize the markets.   

Tax cuts are good

Ms. Truss announced her proposed tax cut to stimulate the economy. Unfortunately, everyone blamed the market havoc on it instead of the pension problem, of which few seemed to be aware. The group think says the tax cut would exacerbate the budget deficit, thus worsening inflation and devaluing the pound, while adding to the excessive debt. But the tax cut, coupled with deregulation, is eminently sound as a supply-side initiative to incentivize production. This capital investment also would contribute to growth which would curb inflation, now 10.1% year-over-year in the UK.

Sadly, Ms. Truss limited the benefit of her tax cut by also proposing government subsidized caps on energy prices and more spending.  On this, the reaction of the masses is justified as that policy would worsen inflation and hamper growth.  But, absent the pension derivative strategy, that concern would not have triggered the financial bedlam that occurred.

Deja' vu

This event is reminiscent of the U.S. derivatives debacle in 1994. The Fed raised interest rates in quick succession after years of near rock-bottom levels precipitating a mass failure of derivative strategies. Among the casualties were a PaineWebber money fund that “broke the buck” and the bankruptcy of Orange County, CA. This is not an indictment of derivatives, but they can be disastrous in the face of unexpected events. 

©2022 William J. Dodwell

END OF ARCHIVES_4

COVID-19 COMMENTARIES 2020William J. DoTHE VACCINE HYPE RESUMES. The CDC just announced its approval of the updated Covid booster adjusted to combat the original virus and its variants. The vaccine was tested on only eight mice and no humans but some experts say pre-existing knowledge incorporated in the trials permits this limited study. Others are skeptical.

So get ready for the hype again, to include President Biden’s incessant mantra, “Get vaccinated.” Is another booster needed? Is it safe?

The majority of the population has contracted Covid by now and is therefore protected by natural immunity which is provably superior to the vaccine. The virus will always be with us like the flu. So what!

Covid variants have been successively less severe even to the equivalent of a cold. As such, mere infection is innocuous, except for possibly the elderly and immuno-suppressed.

The Covid vaccine is still experimental. Adverse long-term effects are unknown. However, there have been suppressed reports of tens of thousands of serious afflictions and deaths, orders of magnitude more than other vaccines, including that for the flu. God knows what the inoculated face in the years to come, especially children, all of whom honest scientists say are at no risk to the virus.

Why the hype? Politics and money. The Democrat push for the next booster will be about sales, like before. Follow the money: Democrat government subsidies to pharmaceutical firms, and mandates to maximize demand; revenue kickbacks to the Democrat National Committee (DNC), to scaremongers, and other operatives who facilitate the ruse. And the gravy train will continue indefinitely as the public acquiesces to ongoing booster updates broadly promoted by Democrat government and its allies but needed only by a limited vulnerable population.

Covid has never been the threat that government and media have portrayed, and we now know that mandated mitigation protocols are inherently ineffective. Furthermore, the one million recorded U.S. deaths are exaggerated by the fact that 94% of them involved four or more co-morbidities. In addition, many deaths have been fraudulently misclassified so that hospitals can collect a $5,000 government stipend for each. Doctors and nurses have reported immense pressure on them to categorize deaths falsely. Where are the mass media on this? It is called corruption.

It is incumbent on the truly vulnerable, i.e., the elderly and immune-suppressed, to self-quarantine as they deem necessary. The general population should not be encumbered.

Fortunately, people are finally getting wise to Covid reality as many balk at getting the latest vaccine. 9/2/22

NAVIGATING TRUTH AMID LEFTIST PROPAGANDA.  The Covid pandemic is particularly instructive in demonstrating the power of leftist propaganda over truth. Political disputes derive from different subjective world-views and may be speculative. But Covid mistruths fly in the face of objective reality in hard science and thus can be conclusively disproved.  The Democrat Party and mainstream media have propagated those fallacies concerning the disease’s threat, transmissibility and prevention. At the same time, they suppress genuine science resulting in a misinformed and hysterical public.

One can establish Covid truth easily through a simple Google search that contrasts politically motivated mass media positions against pronouncements of eminent scientists, such as Scott Atlas, Martin Kulldorff, Jay Bhattacharya, and Robert Malone. Their empirical knowledge founded on scientific method belies media representations about the severity of the virus, the significance of mere infection, the populations at risk, and the effectiveness of contact tracing and mitigation protocols. Scientific evidence also proves the primacy of natural immunity, the effectiveness of certain treatments denied the public, and the limitations of vaccination, while narrowly circumscribing the elderly as most vulnerable.

Yet the propagandists prevail, helping governments control the citizenry through scare mongering and mandates. Crying wolf compels compliance and predisposes the public toward further acquiescence as needed. Denying science also leads to trillions of dollars of government spending under the guise of Covid relief, most of which is actually directed to left-wing special interests. The Left also enrich themselves in concert with pharmaceutical firms by pushing vaccine sales, even on children who are at zero risk. Indeed, only Democrat governors and operatives imposed severe Covid austerity to achieve those ends. Thus, they have every incentive to ignore science. Who says partisan politics is not involved?

Why is the public so duped about Covid? Mainly because mainstream media suppress contrarian scientists. Some are skeptical of lay criticism, suspecting intractable political bias with an unwillingness to consider independent sources of information. But a firm benchmark for Covid truth exists in objective science.  In addition, many are gullible and susceptible to the scare tactics. Consider the bozos still wearing masks even though the partisan CDC has relaxed restrictions. 

Furthermore, many medical professionals who only concentrate on their specialties also are misinformed about Covid, and convey that ignorance to their patients. Amid a dwindling number of private medical practices, some professionals who know better are forced to go along with their corporate superiors who are themselves under pressure to pedal Covid politics. 

Follow the science for Covid truth.  Google the aforementioned scientists.  8/15/22 

SPARKS FLY AT THE DINER OVER COVID MASK.  I have been critical of Covid mask-wearing since the beginning of the pandemic.  In fact, early on I posted a commentary with the headline, “Get That Mask Off Your Face”.  I have believed that people with masks symbolize a cowardly acquiescence to government tyranny and media anti-science propaganda that is antithetical to the very recalcitrance needed to counteract internal communist forces in our midst.  Indeed, these lemmings are largely representative of the gullible simpletons who gave us Democratic control in Washington, in particular the demented fool in the White House. They must be shamed.

So, imagine how I feel when I see a mask today, two years into the Covid charade. Even after authorities have lifted restrictions, and acknowledge the ineffectiveness of the face rag, some people still wear it. But I discovered a new way to react to female fanatics of this sort.

While recently waiting on line at the diner to pay my bill, a masked waitress standing next to me sparked my ire. In order to discourage her mindless hygienic practice, I told her she looked like a brainwashed government dupe still falling for a hoax. Then I gave her an inducement. I told her that if she removes the mask I could give her a kiss. 

Immediately, she tore the covering off, and I sprang into action.  I planted a nice buss on her lips and gave her a deep dip, you know, like the iconic front-page photo of the sailor in Times Square amid a mass celebration of the end of World War II.  I hope the prospect of future kisses will ensure she is always maskless.

But then the unexpected. When I finished, three other waitresses were waiting for the same treatment, and they already had given up masks.

It’s tough being the Comprehensive Conservative LINK.  3/14/22

SCOTUS DECISION ON VACCINE MANDATE IS NO PANACEA.  While the Supreme Court blocked President Biden’s vaccine, testing and mask mandate for large companies, relief is quite limited. The Court exempted mandates of health care companies, as they are supported by legislative authority granted Medicare and Medicaid. It also allows state and local government mandates, as well as voluntary company mandates on employees.  As such, the decision will not fully relieve labor shortages resulting from related firings and resignations, nor dispel misgivings about authoritarian governments and businesses who mandate on their own.

The Court’s decision centered only on whether OSHA has statutory authority to mandate private employer policy outside the agency’s intended purpose, workplace safety. Accordingly, it ruled that only Congress and the states may decide on that right. The Court did not address the freedom of individuals to opt out of the vaccine; nor did it much consider the true scientific basis of the viral threat, which should be the only justification for public restraints. Lower courts are adjudicating those merits brought by lawsuits against mandates of state and local governments, and businesses.

The Covid virus has been limited in that symptoms are absent or only mild in most cases, especially Omicron. Also, pre-diagnosed Omicron hospitalizations are not excessive, yielding only one reported death in the U.S. Reports of overtaxed hospitals mainly arise from staff shortages attributable to firings and resignations over vaccine mandates.

As such, a cost-benefit analysis does not support mass vaccine, testing and mask mandates with their economically and socially damaging mitigation protocols.  Restricting the well for the benefit of the small vulnerable population of elderly and immuno-suppressed is not justified. Indeed, the severity of the virus does not warrant universal sacrifice.  By contrast, for example, Ebola, having a 90% death rate, would justify draconian government intervention. The Court did not incorporate that distinction, which would protect against imperious health mandates in the future.

The Court did not contemplate one’s right to decline the experimental Covid vaccine based on:  1) Individual concern for unknown long-term effects, 2) The natural immunity of the infected, 3) Religious reservation. The minority opinion considers the opt-out question beyond the purview of the Court because it lacks the expertise inherent in OSHA regulation. The majority opinion highlights the need for Congress to ensure sufficient clarity in its laws to prevent overly expansive interpretation by regulators in their application, a longstanding problem. In particular, congressional precision protects against agency liberties invoked as pretexts under conditions of emergency, such as the Covid pandemic.

Some companies, such as Citibank, will mandate vaccination on their own to avoid possible legal liability to infected employees.  1/17/22

OMICRON:  DOUBLING DOWN ON STUPID.  Why are people standing in long lines to test for Omicron? Even conservatives bemoan the shortage of home test kits.  From the beginning, we have known that, except for the elderly and immuno-suppressed (the “vulnerable”), majority of infections are asymptomatic, and most others produce relatively mild illness that does not require hospitalization. What’s more, children are unscathed by the virus.  Moreover, the Omicron variant is considerably less threatening than previous Covid incarnations, to date having caused no deaths in the U.S.  These are facts.

This means the non-vulnerable infected need not be concerned about infection, nor worry about spreading it to others, notwithstanding its extreme transmissibility.  In fact, the virus now is more akin to a cold than even the flu.  As such, government and media obsession over case counts is political misdirection. 

So, why get tested?  If symptoms appear, one can treat them like a cold. If they persist, the sick may take the test and, if positive, seek Covid-specific therapeutics, which the authorities only now allow for general distribution. They include monoclonal antibodies, and shortly, a Pfizer antiviral pill. But many of those seeking tests today are without symptoms and motivated only by media-induced fear of infection.

Those testing positive unnecessarily subject themselves and their contacts to onerous quarantine and intrusive tracking protocols. Why do this, unless to qualify for Covid therapeutics, which may not be needed?  Those not tested can avoid this imposition without consequence, except for the vulnerable who may self-quarantine for their safety. Since Covid positivity does not endanger the non-vulnerable, why get tested, except for misguided employer mandates?

But mere case counts are driving public hysteria and a stampede to testing centers.  Just what the government and Pharma want in order to turbo-charge the sale of lucrative “vaccines” that do not prevent infection, but only mitigate its severity - for a while.

As some posited at the beginning of the pandemic, including this writer, doing nothing, allowing the virus to run its course, fosters superior natural herd immunity that does prevent further infection. This realization, in consideration of the weakness of Omicron and the now established ineffectiveness of lockdowns, social distancing and masks, should bring us full circle back to that age-old epidemiological reality. Yet many are still gullible to media fear mongering, as governments and businesses reinstate mask mandates in reaction to a current raft of relatively harmless infection cases.

Even Dr. Fauci now concedes the dire economic and social costs of his warnings, albeit probably out of political expediency. Until recently, Democrat-imposed Covid restrictions were abating, although some vaccine mandates remain.  Increasingly, people are getting wise to the charade. But not most of those standing on line for testing.  1/5/22        

CAN YOU TRUST YOUR DOCTOR FOR TRUTHFUL COVID ADVICE?  Advocates of personal choice regarding Covid vaccination say individuals should have the freedom to decide for themselves in consultation with their doctor. But many doctors and nurses seem ill informed or politically compromised concerning the pandemic.

Like all professions, medical practitioners operate within their specialties with little reading or concern about issues outside their expertise. Hence, they may be as uninformed as laymen about COVID. For example, I questioned an internist about certain realities of the virus vis a vis the surrounding propaganda. He replied dismissively, “Do you have a Ph.D. in epidemiology?”.  I told him that I do not have to be so trained because I listen to dissidents who are. I added that the public does not hear their views because the mass media suppress them.

I also debated a nurse while she administered my booster shot.  I told herthe authorities and the liberal media obsess over cases, which are not important because most infected are asymptomatic or only mildly ill.  I said the focus should center only on the vulnerable, i.e., the elderly and those with immuno-suppressing conditions. Metrics should concentrate on (genuine) hospitalizations and deaths, not cases.  She replied she had Covid and became very sick, but not hospitalized.  What’s more, she was deathly afraid of infecting her grandson, not knowing that children are virtually immune to the virus.  Then the shocker:  The nurse said her only solace throughout her ordeal was Dr. Fauci’s comments!

And there is politics. Today most medical practices, and many hospitals, operate as corporations following their consolidation through acquisition.  As such, formerly independent doctors follow orders from superiors who themselves are directed by the highly politicized American Medical Association (AMA). There is evidence the AMA and Big Pharma work in concert to spread propaganda and hysteria aimed at achieving maximal vaccine sales, with full support from the media. Only until recently, they ignored treatment possibilities that interfere with that end.

The AMA has even issued a letter to members on how to craft misleading language to encourage vaccination compliance, irrespective of science. Here is one opinion. https://www.citizensjournal.us/busted-scripted-covid-propaganda-reveals-how-nearly-all-american-doctors-are-just-puppets-of-the-corrupt-american-medical-association-and-the-vaccine-industrial-complex/ . Dissenting medical personnel commonly face vilification and firing.

Thus, do not expect the complete truth from your doctor. The medical community and Democrat operatives are complicit in the fraud as they do the bidding for the pharmaceutical firms, likely in exchange for payoffs from their Covid revenues.

At the same time, the Democrat Party and its media allies promote this exercise in public deception and submission as an analog to their effort to impose an authoritarian socialist state on a docile society.  Also, they want to perpetuate Covid fear to justify mail-in voting in November as a means of rigging elections once again. 1/3/22

THE LEFT’S REAL MOTIVE BEHIND ITS OBSESSION WITH COVID VACCINATION.  Many conservatives believe government Covid mandates help the Left amass incremental power to effect the ultimate destruction of America and the substitution of a new socialist order. 

In my opinion, an additional ulterior motive of the Left likely underlies its obsession with mass vaccination:  Pharmaceutical kickbacks to Democrats from vaccine sales in exchange for their hype in a symbiosis of government, Big Pharma, and media. A share of potentially hundreds of billions of dollars of pharmaceutical profits is at stake.  More vaccinations beget more cash to fund liberal election campaigns and their Marxist agendas for years to come. 

The recent emergence of the Covid variant, Omicron, may introduce yet another emergency ruse that further justifies both mitigation and vaccine mandates facilitated by new public hysteria.  

The Fauci fraud

Throughout the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci has become rich as a faux scientific authority and corrupt propagandist.  A research employee of his reported first-hand that Fauci, during drinks with staff at a Maryland bar called “The Barking Dog”, displayed his 2020 tax return to the group sporting a $9 million income. He also bragged he expects to double that in 2021.  Those “earnings” likely reflect compensation from Big Pharma for lying about Covid to boost vaccine sales. What else could it be, given his $434,000 government salary, investments?

Science is ignored

The money grab by the Left explains why Democratic governments and liberal media exaggerate the Covid threat by continuing to fixate on mere Covid infections and mass testing, rather than set policy based on genuine hospitalizations and deaths. They ignore, indeed suppress, the science that has shown since inception that only the elderly and those with compromised immunity systems are at risk to serious illness or death from Covid. 

In fact, to date, the vast majority of those infected have experienced no symptoms, or have suffered relatively mild sickness. The average Covid decedent is 77 and children are virtually unaffected. Yet, now government urges or requires those over five to get inoculated.  Of course, Covid mandates and hype are irrational and the Left knows it.  But what a boon for the vaccine makers and their kickback beneficiaries, as well as their shareholders.

The Left pushes universal vaccination, masks, lockdowns and school closings despite no scientific support for their necessity. It also ignores the effectiveness of superior natural immunity as a substitute for vaccination. In addition, the Left and its stooges have vigorously resisted proven cheap therapeutics, such as Hydroxychloroquine and Remdesivir. In fact, the scientific community curiously has demonstrated little interest in developing new therapeutics.

What’s more, the media suppress the relatively high rate of deaths and serious side-effects from the vaccine. The Left dismisses natural immunity, therapeutics, and vaccine side-effects because they undermine pharmaceutical vaccine sales and kickbacks to Democrats in my opinion. Furthermore, the authorities inflate the already infinitesimal Covid death rate by all manner of co-morbidities, that reportedly affect 94% of official deaths, to justify ongoing government intervention.  

The gullible public

The disturbing gullibility and ignorance of the public accommodate the Left’s corrupt political and monetary ends, which involve compromised scientists.  It is astonishing how many people still voluntarily wear useless masks, even outdoors, and despite vaccination.  Sadly, the mask has become a badge of acquiescence to tyrannical government and its allies.  Its appearance encourages more intransigence and inspires greater unfounded public alarm in a vicious cycle of mandate and compliance.  Even many conservatives fall for the gambit about infection cases and testing. To modify James Carville’s caveat about the economy, it’s about those profiles vulnerable to serious illness and death, stupid. The other Covid subjects can bear infection with little or no consequence, just like the flu.  The Left seeks to eradicate the virus.  It knows this is impossible and unnecessary, but the goal assures empowering mitigation and enriching vaccine mandates in perpetuity. 

The Omicron variant

With the arrival of the Omicron variant, Democrat governments and media are doubtless salivating at the opportunity to declare a new emergency and mindlessly reinstate feckless lockdowns and unnecessary testing under the guise of protecting the people. New York Governor Kathy Hochul already is doubling down on past failure without any knowledge of the virus’ severity or the ability of existing vaccines to thwart it.  I can hear other liberal governors now, “Out of an abundance of caution, blah, blah, blah … “ What’s more, the pharmaceutical firms and their kickback payees fantasize over the possibility of having to produce new mandated vaccines.  What a bonanza!  But if Omicron is a bust, as I suspect, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth all over the Left. It would be about time.

The new Covid variant also presents Democrats with another opportunity to tank the economy and dispense unrelated fiscal stimulus to operatives of the Left.  Consider the teachers’ unions, a huge Democrat bastion, received some $200 billion in federal fiscal Covid aid, obviously many, many multiples of what is required for general education purposes, much less just Covid protection. Rather, the largesse is ammunition for fighting the internal war on America as the leftist onslaught toward socialism advances.  One has to wonder whether successive Covid variants are the latest deception for perpetuating the destruction. 11/29/21

THE MASK FREAKS PERSIST.  Leftist NJ Governor Murphy lifted all Covid restrictions May 19th. (He is up for reelection in November.)  But many continue to wear masks even though statistics suggest the pandemic is virtually over.  What is wrong with these people?  Some do it out of sheer ignorance about the real danger of the China virus.  Others wear a mask because of irrational fear rooted in emotional instability. Perhaps the unvaccinated are just extra cautious. The vaccinated ones are real idiots.

These weaklings personify the apathy that feeds the socialism now visible in government, media, academe, corporations, Big Tech and even the military. Unmandated mask-wearing is emblematic of leftist brainwashing that encourages yet more intransigence.  This mindlessness is a big reason why a demented blathering fool (nominally) won the Whitehouse last November.  The mask brigade plays right into the hands of the propagandists.

It is time to shame the mask freaks who embolden the government tyrants.  Visibly frown and snicker at them.  Ask them why they still don the cloth.  Make them feel like fools. Maybe this treatment will make some of them realize their stupidity and motivate them to think rationally when they cast their ballots.  6/3/21

THE COVID-19 AGENDA:  FOLLOW THE MONEY.  Why does the coronavirus shindig continue?  Consider the monetary incentives.

Democrat politicians:  They suppress the economy through austere mandates and then promote massive unrelated federal spending as relief. The payouts ingratiate individuals to the party at the ballot box and foster government dependence.  The largess also garners campaign donations from lobbying corporations and institutions, especially the teachers’ unions. Lockdowns empower Democrat leaders to prolong the malaise to justify more monetary remediation.

PPE manufacturers:  Protracted restrictions enrich the manufacturers of masks, gloves, plexiglass, etc.  While the pandemic is well on the wane, ads for masks abound. 

Vaccine manufacturers:  A powerful cabal torpedoed cheap therapeutics, including hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin, to benefit pharmaceuticals through the production of lucrative new vaccines.  The current move to maximize inoculation, including naturally immune children, ensures optimal dollar sales and campaign donations.

Teachers’ unions:   They shamefully leveraged school openings for some $200 billion of COVID-19 “relief” to the serious detriment of children.  They earmark some of the cash for campaigns of far-left Democrats well into the future.  3/29/21

THE HOAX EVOLVES IN THE FORM OF “LONG COVID”.  For a year, the media have reported fabricated rates of COVID-19 infection, hospitalization and death.  The left also has deceived the public about the efficacy of mitigation protocols, and the duration of the acute viral threat.  Now a new phase emerges called “long COVID” which refers to the supposed long-term effects of the disease.  According to The Wall Street Journal, this scope creep creates more opportunities to cash in.  Medical and patient activist groups attribute all manner of ailments to COVID a year or more after its onset, in the quest for yet more federal monies for research and treatment.

Reports of long COVID are initially alarming as patients claim maladies including chronic brain fog, severe fatigue, and even paralysis.  But on closer analysis, health authorities have found that many illnesses derive from psychogenic comorbidities unrelated to COVID-19 (like the exaggerated death rates).  In fact, some researchers attribute long COVID to subjects who never had the virus and to those who tested negative. So much for science.  

The pseudoscience is working inasmuch as the National Institute of Health (NIH) announced a $1.15 billion commitment to long COVID research.  Will the COVID charade ever end? 3/24/21

THE COVID RUSE.  The corrupt Democrat Party and its media allies have achieved their COVID-19 goal: to establish a pretext to expand the welfare state and consolidate federal control toward creating a socialist country.  The left, with a PR assist from its dishonest pawn, Dr. Fauci, has protracted the malaise for a year and continues to exaggerate concern even after vaccinations are available.  Indeed, through manipulated COVID statistics and false alarm they have deceived and scared the public. Accordingly, the left contrived justification for $6 trillion of government “relief” spending, a small fraction of which is COVID related.  The latest installment of $1.9 trillion was only 9% relevant. 

In the process, the national debt has mushroomed to $28 trillion, while the Federal Reserve has amassed a $7.5 trillion balance sheet from the purchase of Treasury bonds that fund the spending.  Meanwhile, inflationary fears brew.

Most significant are hundreds of billions to bail out profligate Democrat state and local governments, and to enrich the nefarious teachers’ unions under the guise of school aid, much of which will be siphoned to Democrat campaigns for years.  Additional monies will target leftist social programs that benefit illegal aliens and support sanctuary cities.   3/15/21  

DR. ROGER HODKINSON:  THE COVID-19 RESPONSE IS A HOAX.  An impeccably credentialed expert, Dr. Roger Hodkinson, gratifyingly corroborates my many commentaries about COVID-19 propaganda at  https://www.bitchute.com/video/hWPjDdXOWkOo/?utm_source=BenchmarkEmail&utm_campaign=Top_Pathologist_Claims_COVID-19_Is_%22The_Greatest_Hoax_Ever_Perpetrated_On_An_Unsuspecting_Public%22&utm_medium=email

He laments with open exasperation the unfounded hysteria whipped up by politicians and media.  He says nothing can control the virus.  All mitigation practices are futile, including lockdowns, social distancing and masks. Testing is ineffective, misleading and useless.  The real COVID-19 death rate for those under 70 is one in three hundred thousand. Victims should treat the virus on their own like the flu, while the relatively few vulnerable exercise caution.  Government should lift all restrictions permanently.  

In my opinion, the pharmaceutical industry is lobbying government to create an environment that demands a vaccine that will enrich drug firms and cooperating politicians. Hysteria and public gullibility ensure that demand. The media assist as an ally of big government and its leftist politics. Consistent with this scenario is the outright rejection of cheap time-proven Hydroxychloroquine, despite its demonstrated effectiveness when used early. Another manifestation of the fraud is the mass suppression of naysayers like Dr. Hodkinson. 11/23/20

PUBLIC HYSTERIA FROM COVID-19 PROPAGANDA MUST END.  The continued widespread fear of COVID-19 is a greater deterrent to normalcy than government restrictions. Despite the lifting of mandates, office buildings are nearly empty as employees still work from home.  Restaurants face similar public avoidance.  Schools are closed to virtually immune children. And severely limited in-person voting threatens democracy.  Indeed, people wear masks outdoors, practice social distancing, and engage in all manner of sanitization - all probably futile.

Almost never reported is the significantly diminished severity of the Chinese virus.  This natural viral attenuation has reduced an already miniscule mortality rate to that of the seasonal flu.  In addition, new infections now skew to more resistant or resilient younger people, making an even larger majority of cases asymptomatic or less than serious. 

But because of anti-Trump inspired media propaganda, public hysteria continues.  The left obsesses over new infections, engendered by massive needless testing, that are inconsequential except for potentially the relatively few immuno-deficient elderly.  The public must embrace the real science and stop fearing infection, as it is not a death sentence, and likely not even an inconvenience. 10/30/20

TRUMP MUST FIRE FAUCI NOW.  I refer to my July 3rd commentary headlined, “Dr. Fauci Is A COVID-19 Fraud” at http://www.williamjdodwell.com/special-notice-16/special-notice-20/special-notice-21/special-notice-22/special-notice-23/special-notice-24/special-notice-25/special-notice-26/special-notice-27/special-notice-28/special-notice-29/special-notice-30/special-notice-31/special-notice-32/special-notice-33/special-notice-34/special-notice-35/special-notice-36-1/special-notice-38 

If there was any doubt that Dr. Fauci is complicit with the left in the effort to defeat President Trump in November, it is now clear in view of his appearance before Congress last week.  His wholly hypocritical refusal to acknowledge the spread of COVID-19 amid the ongoing mass protests of anarchists while warning of the risks of all other congregant activity certifies his rank dishonesty.  His new status as darling of the left affirms his anti-Trump bona fides and compels his immediate termination. Dr. Birx should go as well.  Has she disagreed with Fauci on anything?

The president seems wary of the media backlash from this action because of their firm alliance with the left now.  At the very least, he should hire reopening advocates from the medical community, give them immense visibility, and let Fauci and Birx resign on their own.  The new spokespersons will shift focus from unimportant new cases in the general population to infection prevention and treatment among the vulnerable immuno-deficient, the majority of whom are elderly, especially those in nursing homes. 8/3/20

COVID-19 HITS HOME.  The manager of my local diner told me the business is “on the brink of collapse” because of ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.  Closure would end seventy years of family ownership. The diner was going to start limited indoor service two weeks ago but Democrat New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy rescinded the Phase II reopening indefinitely because of an uptick in new cases in the SUNBELT.

Of course, the increase in coronavirus cases is primarily due to greatly expanded testing.  And COVID-19 infections are serious only for those with immuno-deficient conditions, mostly affecting the elderly, especially in nursing homes. Virtually everyone else is either asymptomatic, only mildly ill, or in the case of children, immune. Deaths, the critical metric, are now down to flu rates and heavily concentrated among the aged. But governments and media continue to ignore this science and instead obsess about new cases.  Democrat states do it to defeat Trump in November. Republicans fear the reaction of constituents whom fear-mongering media have duped about the significance of new cases.

My diner’s fate is a microcosm of what is about to permeate the country as small businesses face unsustainable revenue shortfalls. This does not have to happen. Damn the politicians and the media. 7/13/20

GET THAT MASK OFF YOUR FACE!

It’s time to fight back. The COVID-19 mask is just a badge of compliance with the left’s program to defeat President Trump in the November election. It is a Democrat propaganda tool to create fear and solidarity over what is a minimal health threat, but for a small sliver of the population. The mask is neither effective nor necessary, and even harmful. It is wholly unsupported by science.

Starting immediately, challenge the government mandate by going maskless. Force places of business that require a mask for entry to command you to wear one. Carry a mask in your pocket in case this happens. In time, more and more people will be seen without a mask until critical mass is reached and victory is won. Another tactic is to wear the mask hanging from one ear as hapless Joe Biden does. Make the enforcer call a technical foul.

COVID-19 is not about infection cases. It is about severity as measured by genuine hospitalizations and deaths after correcting for fraudulent statistical manipulation. The relatively few immuno-deficient, mostly among the elderly, should self-quarantine according to their risk tolerance. The rest of us must rebel against mask tyranny now and demand our lives back. Don't be a sucker! 7/6/20

Dr. Fauci Is A Fraud

https://lnkd.in/dT3hUmh  

THE MASK HAS BECOME THE COVID-19 FLAG

Suddenly mask mandates proliferate everywhere. Pelosi and her lackeys grandstand with one around their necks all the time now. Dr. Fauci, who mocked the effectiveness of masks initially, now wears one. And Biden now says that as president he would order everyone to wear a mask in public.

The impetus behind the drumbeat is to promote the mask as a symbol of the leftist COVID-19 movement to derail Trump in November through renewed mass hysteria and continued economic sclerosis. The mask has become the rallying flag. It is also a meme by which to condition the public to ongoing obeisance to imperious government, a signature of the new Democrat Party.

In any case, the mask is unhealthy as it traps harmful carbon dioxide and bacteria that has caused pleurisy. The mask is also ineffective as it contains pores that are hundreds of times larger than the virus that escapes through them. Once a sign of virtue signaling for good heath, the mask is now a political statement. What’s needed is a standard stenciled image. How about a government jackboot on the people’s neck? 6/29/20

BEWARE THE HYPE ABOUT A COVID-19 SECOND WAVE

The left has exploited the Wuhan coronavirus to destroy the economy. Now it tries to sabotage the reopening phase by hyping a second wave on the basis of reported upticks in infections. The left hopes to extend the malaise closer to the November election to hurt Trump.

Increased infection mainly reflects greatly expanded testing that exposes pre-existing cases not previously identified. Many originate in high-risk nursing homes and Native American reservations. And, that testing reveals a radical drop in the infection rate to under 7% as the virus self-attenuates. In any case, infections are not a primary metric because the vast majority of victims have been non-contagious asymptomatic or only mildly ill. Greater hospitalizations are more concerning, but now ample capacity and plenty of ventilators ensure a better capability to handle a spike. Most importantly, the falling death rate, now at .4%, is de minimis.

We now know a serious second wave can be contained by isolating the elderly and others with underlying immuno-deficiencies. Therefore, lockdowns are unnecessary.

The left promotes a second wave to stifle the economy further by scaring people into staying home and by restoring lockdowns to sabotage Trump's reelection.

CORRUPTION IN THE COVID-19 COMMUNITY

https://lnkd.in/dJ4QYdf

THE COVID-19 RESPONSE: THE GREATEST BLUNDER IN HUMAN HISTORY

Relying on an extremely erroneous UK statistical model that projected 2.2 million U.S. deaths from the Wuhan novel coronavirus, scientists and governments committed an unprecedented blunder. Concomitantly, nefarious Democrats and liberal media seek to level the economy to remake it in their socialist image, and sabotage President Trump’s reelection as a catalyst. Accordingly, the left promotes damaging lockdowns and other unproven restrictions costing trillions of lost revenue, tens of millions of jobs, and untold damaged lives.

The left stokes public fear to foster acquiescence to state mandates, even apropos of riskless children. Leftists also capitalize on multitrillion-dollar Treasury stimulus to advance an unrelated redistributionist agenda, and to bail out profligate debt-ridden blue states.

ALARMISTS WRONGLY FOCUS ON INFECTIONS INSTEAD OF DEATHS. CONTRACTING THE VIRUS IS LARGELY INNOCUOUS, EXCEPT FOR THE ELDERLY WITH UNDERLYING IMMUNO-DEFICIENCIES. ALL OTHERS ARE ASYMPTOMATIC OR RECOVER. MEANWHILE, THE MORTALITY RATE IS A FRACTION OF 1%, AS THE VIRUS ATTENUATES ON ITS OWN. AS SUCH, GOVERNMENT SHOULD ABOLISH ALL RESTRICTIONS NOW, WHILE ENCOURAGING THE VOLUNTARY QUARANTINE OF THE ELDERLY. 5/27/20

I WANT MY DINER BACK

Everyone yearns to return to a favorite activity when COVID-19 passes. For me, it’s Saturday morning breakfast at my local diner. I pine for the bacon and eggs with assorted accessories as I sit for four hours at the end of the counter in a packed room. With Fox News on the television before me in closed captions (at my insistence), I pour through several publications - I’m sure to the wonderment of thousands of patrons who have seen me there over the years.

But now, still longing to get out of the house, I have to eat take-out in my car with the steering wheel in my lap. Instead of television news, I listen to successive radio broadcasts of NY Governor Cuomo and NJ Governor Murphy giving coronavirus updates. Dropping food, spilling coffee, and clumsily maneuvering newspapers, it’s not the same experience.

When I get home, I spend another four hours at the grand piano, relishing the thought that, unlike breakfast, the government can’t take this away. But I had a scare. Last week while playing, the doorbell rang. Answering it, my wife said, “There’s a federal official here.” For what?, I asked worriedly. “It’s the census taker.” Whew! 5/26/20

PERMANENT COVID-19 SOCIAL-DISTANCING AND MASKING: A LEFTIST RUSE.

https://lnkd.in/eJZVD-5 

THE LEFT’S DREAM: COVID-19 IN PERPETUITY

Democrats and their media allies pursue their dream of a permanent COVID-19 pandemic to justify ongoing control, government stimulus and other unrelated spending. Officials repeatedly extend mitigation protocols to condition a fearful public to a false enduring coronavirus threat. Governments mandate continued lockdown, social distancing and mask-wearing despite no scientific basis for their efficacy. And nothing is ever mentioned of the natural dissipation of the disease, already in progress, that renders mitigation and testing superfluous. Indeed, any possible near-term fix is anathema, such as herd immunity and hydroxychloroquine.

The gradual reopening of the economy is underway with continued mask and social distancing mandates that preclude normalcy. In fact, authorities tout a "new normal" that will institutionalize those practices. Accordingly, businesses operating at fractional capacity could mean long lines to get in and a stopwatch atmosphere to prevent lingering inside. And, of course, smaller profits threaten their viability.

But failed commerce is part of the left’s game plan, which is to hurt Trump’s reelection bid, and continually shift societal reliance from the private sector to government. 5/18/20

IS A COVID-19 SOCIAL REVOLUTION BREWING?

Growing disaffection with COVID-19 lockdown mandates has bred animosity toward elected officials that yield increasing incidents of civil disobedience. Tyrannical governance could set the stage for massive backlash, as austerity breaks the orderly interaction between employee and employer, consumer and business, citizen and government. Political strife intensifies as nefarious leftist forces sow distrust for government as it uses the economic shutdown and authoritarian tactics to forge a new socialist order, and derail President Trump’s reelection.

The citizenry has become increasingly suspicious of scientific pronouncements based on bad models and manipulated death statistics. In particular, doubts grow about the assertions, contradictions and possible political motives of one Dr. Fauci. Is he in bed with the leftist enemy?

Could mass social angst flowing from lost freedoms and ruined livelihoods spur a revolution akin to the Vietnam War protests of the 1960s? Today’s authoritarian COVID-19 intervention seriously undermines the individual's enterprising legacy that undergirds the nation's prosperity. The response evidenced in protestations and acts of defiance can escalate quickly amid resistance. Is that on the horizon? 5/14/20

AMERICA, START YOUR ENGINES. END COVID-19 LOCKDOWNS NOW

https://lnkd.in/eEsfT3m

COVID-19 ABATES ON ITS OWN, SO HOW IMPORTANT IS MITIGATION?

https://lnkd.in/e5cC_bn

LEFTIST BASTIONS SEEK COVID-19 STIMULUS MONEY

It is so satisfying to see ultra-rich Marxist universities and well-off publicly-traded companies shamed into returning coronavirus stimulus funds. Waiting for the next round of handouts are media companies, and state and local governments.

The media industry seeks aid to compensate for ad revenues decimated by COVID-19. It laughably justifies the help by their (selective) stewardship of the First Amendment. Ninety-percent of journalists are avowed liberals. All local papers today are owned by large leftist media organizations that mime the politics of the New York Times. That gold standard has become a vapid hodgepodge of climate-change, diversity, inequality, #Metoo , and LGBT. The only honest content in local papers are the obituaries. Taxpayers must not fund these propagandists.

Spendthrift Democratic state and local governments also arrive at the federal trough. They too need to cover tax revenue shortfalls resulting from coronavirus-related unemployment and business shutdowns. If successful, they don’t have to cut bloated payrolls and outsize unfunded pension liabilities, or worry about raising taxes on a shrinking tax base.

Republicans in Congress must not cave to these pillars of the left. Let them eat cake! 4/24/20

NEW STUDY: COVID-19 LOCKDOWNS ARE NOT EFFECTIVE

https://lnkd.in/geDmhWj  

THE LEFT WANTS TO DESTROY THE ECONOMY

The left wants to prolong the Chinese coronavirus lockdowns to maximize economic damage they hope will kill the president’s reelection bid. Indeed, mass media are in lockstep in opposition to re-opening the economy.

Leftists work to inflate death rates by ignoring comorbidity factors, thus justifying continued mitigation. The left also is united in opposing the promising hydroxochloroquine which possibly could end the pandemic almost overnight. In addition, the left is monolithically critical of Trump's every move, while trying to drive a wedge between the president and his health advisers. The current mantra claims Trump did not act soon enough, even though mass media dismissed the threat early on. Democrats try to exploit the crisis by forcing into aid packages liberal policies that failed in past legislation.

Leftists dream of continuing austerity right up to the election, preventing Trump’s effective rallies in the process. But there are indications the virus is abating. In fact, a new Israeli report claims it has only a six to eight week life span regardless of mitigation measures. This means all restrictions could be lifted soon allowing for significant economic recovery before the election, and for plenty of Trump rallies.

COVID-19 FINANCE: A REVIEW AND ASSESSMENT

https://lnkd.in/eC3ZndT 

GOOD PROSPECTS FOR ECONOMIC RECOVERY

Once the COVID-19 threat is over, the stage may be set for a robust economic recovery that could restore pre-crisis prosperity fairly shortly, albeit not without fits and starts. Unlike past recessions, the current malaise occurred on the heels of good economic fundamentals in respect of employment, consumption, production, housing and inflation. And unprecedented government assistance will sustain workers and small businesses through the storm.

Some expect massive pent up demand to fuel a full recovery. However, there is some uncertainty about the timing of demand and supply coming into balance. This will depend on coordinated re-hiring, spending, and business investment amid renewed consumer and business confidence.

The price is unexpected trillions added to the national debt and tens of billions of unrelated wasteful spending, some of which will be baked into the budget baseline for years. What’s more, already overleveraged companies will be further indebted from government credit facilities. In addition, a possible doubling of the Fed’s inflated balance sheet from new crisis lending and additional quantitative easing will further complicate a normalization of ultra-low interest rates still distorted from the Great Financial Crisis.

CAN WE TRUST THE COVID-19 SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY?

https://lnkd.in/eTfzabK  

FREE THE CORONAVIRUS

It's time to consider the economic side of the COVID-19 equation. After a 15 day commitment to a health policy of social distancing involving lockdown restrictions, President Trump is ready to end the austerity and permit all business activity. This is particularly fitting in view of the Democrat attempt to hold the economy hostage in order to extort Republicans into caving to unrelated concessions in the coronavirus economic stimulus bill. They include such sops as more union representation on corporate boards and higher airlines emission standards.

The new approach should let the coronavirus spread naturally and then taper off like all other diseases. Meantime, the elderly and others with autoimmune deficiencies may be voluntarily sequestered and fully accommodated for needed amenities. Experience shows that the vast majority of non-elderly likely will manifest little or no symptoms. Hospitalizations should be reevaluated for a home care alternative. On this basis all economic activity would be restored while monitoring the tradeoff against the death rate.

If successful, this plan would restore prosperity and save taxpayers trillions of dollars as it renders the economic stimulus bill largely unnecessary, much to the Democrats’ dismay. 3/24/20

ARE COVID-19 SCIENTISTS SELFISHLY AVOIDING A BETTER WAY?

Can health policy arrest the coronavirus without requiring economically devastating mitigation measures? Since the vast majority of non-elderly carriers suffer little or no symptoms, why the disruptive restrictions? Officially, they are to suppress ALL infection so it does not spread to the immunity-compromised elderly (and non-elderly). Alternatively, why not consensually sequester that group for the duration of the outbreak and lift restrictions on everyone else? This would relieve the current economic and social upheaval.

Officials assert that since COVID-19 is more contagious and deadly than predecessor viruses, illness and morbidity among the vulnerable elderly would increase exponentially without lockdowns. Is this necessarily true? Permitting the unfettered spread of the coronavirus (while quarantining the vulnerable) could result in a blanket natural immunity that could radically reduce infection. The policy would render lockdowns unnecessary. This is under consideration in the UK. Why not here?

Resistance might stem from fear of a greater outbreak and attendant reputational damage, absent an ameliorative vaccine. But don’t the mammoth economic and social costs of mass lockdown warrant that risk? 3/23/20

THE MEDIA COVER UP THE INNOCUOUSNESS OF THE CORONAVIRUS

The media seem to avoid reporting about the severity of the Chinese coronavirus. There’s copious coverage about containing it, and about hospitals operating at overcapacity. But how sick are the infected? In most cases, probably not much. But the media act like the COVID-19 were equivalent to the universally fatal Ebola virus.

The coronavirus is relatively innocuous for victims not having underlying respiratory and autoimmune problems. And rarely mentioned is the fact that victims who die are on average 80 years old who might have passed from other ailments, or natural causes. One wonders if most victims could nurse themselves at home with OTC medications as with the flu. How many are hospitalized, not for suffering, but as a containment measure to perpetuate the obsession with contagion?

A cost-benefit analysis that weighs the economic and social consequences of containment against the benefit of avoiding or recovering from the common flu highlights the gross overreaction of government-mandated lockdowns.

Why are the media concealing the relative innocuousness of the coronavirus? Because that revelation would nullify the justification for the lockdowns that tank the economy and threaten Trump’s reelection. 3/20

revelation would nullify the justification for the lockdowns that tank the economy and threaten Trump’s reelection. 3/20

CORONAVIRUS AND AIDS

The hysteria over the COVID-19 virus is reminiscent of the AIDS scare spread throughout the 1980s when mass media terrorized the public into believing the general population was at risk. But in fact, only two risk groups have ever existed: male homosexuals and intravenous drug users. Some alarmists extrapolated current infection rates ad infinitum as to project the eradication of half the U.S. population. “Safe sex” was the analogue of today’s lockdowns. Propagandists also expanded the definition of AIDS to elevate the infection rate.

The aim of the sensationalism was to dispel the opprobrium that befell the gay community as a source of the disease, and to create mass fear to attract research money. Well into the 1990s people finally got wise to the lies, and even some AIDS activists had to confess their fraud.

Politics suffuses the coronavirus coverage as well. Anything that projects government power appeals to the left. Government lockdown mandates and bloated government stimulus programs make liberals smile. The left exaggerates the severity of the coronavirus to maximize hysteria. They hope that will destroy the economy and derail Trump’s reelection. For the same reason, the left continually discredits Trump’

STOP THE MADNESS!

Government mandated lockdowns in reaction to the COVID-19 virus unnecessarily destroy a beautiful economy and a record stock market. 95% of the population sacrifices for the benefit of the 5%, that being the sickly elderly. As I previously suggested, resources ought to be concentrated on protecting the vulnerable elderly to include their quarantine, and let the rest of the country get on with their lives.

Contracting the Chinese novel coronavirus among the non-elderly is no big deal. For the vast majority, it’s less serious than the seasonal flu, notwithstanding the coronavirus’ higher contagion rate. Some medical people have said half the population will get the virus anyway. What’s more, the reported low death rate for the coronavirus is actually even lower because of the inability to establish the true number infected. It is distorted because of the absence of sufficient testing kits, and a current selection bias toward the infected who are sick and thus more likely to die. The unknown is the number of infected who have not been tested, and those infected without symptoms who will likely never be tested.

At some point the austerity will create a backlash if the coronavirus continues. The overkill will become apparent and cries of protest will ensue.

END THE CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWN

The economic cost of arresting the COVID-19 virus through blanket closures that devastate the quality of life is too disruptive. The focus should center on isolating the elderly having underlying immune-compromising conditions. After all, the average age of death from the virus is 80. No need to shutter schools and businesses.

The perennial flu afflicts and kills far more than the coronavirus without massive economic dislocation. Like the flu, the coronavirus should be allowed to spread organically and run its course while concentrating resources on the sickly elderly. It is reported 85% of those infected experience little or no symptoms.

Indeed, the coronavirus spreads much faster than the flu and kills at a considerably higher rate. As such, mass containment aims to minimize the number of infected and thus limit the spread to the defenseless elderly. Can’t a program insulate the elderly while the rest of the population functions normally, except for the temporary debilitation of some of those infected? How about quarantine of the vulnerable elderly?

The severe economic and social impact of massive lockdown, as well as the cost of remediation, are too much for a policy that may not be necessary or even effective.

©2020 - 2022 William J. Dodwell

 FINANCIAL PRESS DOES THE BIDDING OF INVESTMENT FIRMS AT INVESTOR EXPENSE

By William J. Dodwell June 28, 2023

A cozy symbiosis between the financial press and the investment industry can mislead investors.  This is particularly evident in the way the writers seem to downplay simple money market funds and stock index funds while spilling copious ink about more  complex investment strategies that make investment firms more money, often at the expense of the investor. Considering how financial journalists and their publications depend on the firms for interviews, quotes and sponsored media events, it is not surprising that reporters play a surrogate role.  They know which side their bread is buttered.

ESG excepted

To be fair, this allegiance does not apply to ESG investing about which the press, to its credit, has been increasingly critical. This exception exists because ESG is so antithetical to the most fundamental fiduciary obligation to maximize returns for investors within expressed risk tolerance. To compromise this principle through political consideration is a bridge too far. Besides, ESG is a tougher sell to investors than more credible investment strategies. There are limits to writers forsaking their readers.

Money market and stock index funds get short shrift

Today, government money market funds yield about 5%, and will offer more as the Fed continues to raise interest rates to combat inflation. What is more, these funds carry no credit, interest-rate, or volatility risk as principal remains fixed. Yet, financial writers dwell on risk-laden asset allocation strategies and exotic instruments that may not be nearly as advantageous as the combined return, safety, liquidity and stability of a money fund portfolio of short-term U.S. treasuries and agency issues, despite no FDIC deposit protection.  Of course, this mundane investment commands a pittance in fees and commissions for money managers and brokers; hence the cold shoulder.    

Naturally, investors of a certain risk tolerance may choose to position themselves for potential outsize returns. Perhaps they prefer promising AI companies or other individual stocks, maybe along with attendant option strategies that dwarf money market income., or not.  But many risk-averse buy-and-hold investors may not be fully informed of the better suitability and possible superior returns of money funds. This is because of a seeming bias in the financial press to curry favor with the industry by skewing attention to more lucrative investment products.  This prejudice also applies to passive investing through low-fee stock index funds.

For example, a cogent strategy that investment firms no doubt deplore is to simply alternate between a money fund and a stock index fund as the market changes. In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, stocks generally plummeted more than 40% while interest rates declined to near-zero and held for a decade.  The only refuge for a conservative investor might have been a no-yield FDIC insured bank account.

But an investment in a stock index fund at the market bottom in March 2009 more than quintupled to its apex in January 2021. When stocks began to retreat significantly thereafter as the Fed aggressively raised interest rates to thwart inflation, a switch to a money market fund became as good an investment as any. Of course, this strategy depends on optimally calling the top and bottom of the stock market index, but even being relatively close makes for a sound investment that beats most others.  You do not see this simple but effective strategy touted in the press.  

Yes, some investors have specific time horizons that may call for optimally capturing every turn in the market, but this can be a fool’s errand.  Others succumb to greed in recognition of tremendous upside potential hawked by the investment firms and their proxies in the press. If one wants to shoot the moon, he should go to Las Vegas - no fees or commissions, and free drinks. But alternating between stock index funds and money market funds most likely promises better performance in today’s environment.

Consider the track record of staid stock index funds that money managers, brokers and their surrogates in the press largely ignore.  Historically, index investing has outperformed its active alternative by a wide margin.  And it has beaten hedge funds soundly for years.

Gold hype

Another dubious favorite of capital management firms seemingly protected in the press is physical gold.  But a greater caveat concerns the ubiquitous media ads featuring celebrities who simply follow a script and probably do not know what they are talking about. Likely, they do it for the paycheck and the exposure. Sadly, most of hucksters are prominent non-financial conservatives including Dick Morris, Bill O’Reilly, Newt Gingrich and Andrew Napolitano. Whenever serious inflation emerges, goldbugs come out of the woodwork to promote their wares, forewarning doomsday. Even though overall inflation has declined from 9.1% to 4.0%, advocates still promote gold as a hedge against inflation and an attendant calamitous dollar collapse.

But historically, gold has not been a good hedge against inflation. (See my article, “How About Insecticide for the Goldbugs?”  https://sites.google.com/site/thecomprehensiveconservative/archives/archives_1/archives_2/archives_3/archives_4#h.kjd5fmmeerlb )  And the likelihood of a ruinous currency devaluation as predicted is very unlikely, short of several nuclear missiles exploding on U.S. soil. The growing $32 trillion national debt, as deplorable as it is, is not enough to produce apocalypse. Financial writers do not seem to say much about this reality.  Maybe they fear offending their benefactors.  

©2023 William J. Dodwell