Democrats and comedians are having a field day with jokes and accusations over a bungled phone call among Trump’s top officials.
President Trump said it was a mistake to use Signal, which allowed a reporter, Jeffrey Goldberg, to get added to the call. It’s easy to criticize Goldberg for not alerting the top officials, “Hey guys, you’re using I-phones to discuss attacking Houthis. Maybe you need a more secure communication system.”
Some of us are old enough to remember “party line” phones. Maybe ten families on the same line. Each had their own number, such as 3 short rings and 2 longs, but conversations were open to all. If you picked up the phone and two people were talking, you would usually hang up. But, if a young guy was chatting about intimate plans with his girlfriend, would you hang up or keep listening?
This controversy is about the call, not about the attack on the Iran-backed terrorist Houthis in Yemen. It was successful. Probably more attacks will be needed to knock out the Houthis. I doubt the planning will be on Signal.
Closer to home, what do you know about Greenland? Other than it is not green. Did any President before Trump ever mention Greenland? Greenland is three times bigger than Texas and reaches almost to the North Pole. If you have a World Globe, look down on it. You’ll see the Russian Border on the Arctic Ocean is also close and stretches across 9 of the 24 time zones. Unlike the South Pole, the North Pole has no land. There’s no Santa land with grass for reindeer, only ice and snow. Submarines can zip below the surface, moving along the coasts of Russia, Finland, Greenland, Canada and Alaska.
China has eyed the Arctic Ocean for years, mainly for the wealth of minerals under it. They plan to use Greenland as their Arctic base. We need to get there first.
Here’s my plan to win over the 55,000 Greenlanders. Offer them a reward if they declare their independence from Denmark and vote to become a Territory of the US. That would make them similar to Guam and the Virgin Islands.
So, what’s their reward? Every voter would receive $500,000. Plus, divided evenly among them, they would receive 5% of all revenue from minerals we extract in the next 30 years.
Yesterday, Elon Musk haters across the country protested against Tesla. A few protested by trading their Tesla for a Chevy or Ford. Other protesters set Teslas on fire, but never their own. Ironically, most of the young protesters or their families own a piece of Tesla. They claim to hate gasoline and diesel fueled vehicles, but protest an EV built entirely in the US by American workers.
I guess with 330 million people, we’re always stuck with our share of nuts. Protests are against reducing fraud and waste in government programs. Several want illegal immigrants to be declared legal. Even a federal judge wants El Salvador to return the notorious MS-13 and Venezuelan gang members to walk in freedom on our streets. Students at elite universities protest against other students and demand the administrators divest stocks that help pay their scholarships and fees. Are these universities offering degrees in professional protesting?
Elon Musk and his DOGE crew have been rough on NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations). Many NGOs have been thriving on our tax dollars. Regardless of the value of the services, no organization claiming to be “non-government” should receive any government funds. If they want to live off the generosity of Congress and bureaucrats in DC, they should be called an FFO (Federally Funded Organization).
Historic quote by Will Rogers:
“We say our government is nutty… that it’s throwing away money. But anytime any is thrown our way, why we’ve never dodged it.” Radio, Apr. 7, 1935