Just when you think a presidential candidate would be trying to say something intelligent about the terrorist attacks in Brussels, Donald Trump is sending out nasty, insinuating tweets about a rival candidate’s wife. And this interview with Washington Post editors? Lord almighty:
RYAN: You [MUFFLED] mentioned a few minutes earlier here that you would knock ISIS. You’ve mentioned it many times. You’ve also mentioned the risk of putting American troop in a danger area. If you could substantially reduce the risk of harm to ground troops, would you use a battlefield nuclear weapon to take out ISIS?
TRUMP: I don’t want to use, I don’t want to start the process of nuclear. Remember the one thing that everybody has said, I’m a counterpuncher. Rubio hit me. Bush hit me. When I said low energy, he’s a low-energy individual, he hit me first. I spent, by the way he spent 18 million dollars’ worth of negative ads on me. That’s putting [MUFFLED]…
RYAN: This is about ISIS. You would not use a tactical nuclear weapon against ISIS?
[CROSSTALK]
TRUMP: I’ll tell you one thing, this is a very good looking group of people here. Could I just go around so I know who the hell I’m talking to?
A child in a man’s body: Tom Hanks in Big—the Reaver version. Ted Cruz is a Christian dominionist zealot; John Kasich ditto. Good thing Hillary already has the election sewn up. She does, doesn’t she? She’d better.*
Yesterday, on Facebook, I shared a link to a satirical petition to allow the open carry of firearms at the Republican convention. The way things are shaping up, the tree of liberty would definitely be well-watered in Cleveland, no? Today I clicked on that link, and it’s not satire! I should have known. Now I’m going to go sign the petition!
*No, I didn’t mention Bernie Sanders. Nor did I mention the other Democrats and Republicans who have dropped out. I think he’s done and will get around to admitting it soon.
Belgium? Seems like everyone knew an attack was coming, including the intelligence and law enforcement agencies that could have stopped it. Now that we’re beginning to see how large this particular terrorist cell was (and may still be), the government’s failure to infiltrate and stop it is shocking.
I don’t think any government can do much about lone wolf terrorists, but this was an organized ring, and its leaders and bomb makers had carried out a major attack in Paris just a few months before. The French (and other nations) had been working closely with the Belgians to root them out. That they failed so utterly is deeply disturbing. I will not be surprised if the current government of Belgium falls over this.
I hope ISIS isn’t working under the impression that Europeans are soft and lazy. Europe is the home of bloody wars and purges, and if it turns against Muslim immigrants over this and other recent terrorist attacks, it won’t be pretty.
Knock on wood, since the big terrorist attacks in the USA, the UK, and Spain, those nations seem to have been doing a good job staying on top of and preventing organized groups from carrying out other attacks (lone wolves no, but no one wants to live in the kind of police state that would be required to stop them). I think that years from now, when such things are no longer classified, we’ll learn just how effective our current administration has been in tracking and stopping organized terrorism. You hear that, Obama? Keep it up—one Belgian-style slip-up and you’ll be handing the White House keys over to a certain short-fingered vulgarian.
Okay, got that off my chest. Our friend Dick Herman flew out this week to visit and take in the Pima Air & Space Museum. We had a great time catching up with each other, and I loved showing him around the museum. Couple of selfies, one at the museum, one outside our neighborhood coffee shop:
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Donna and I became fast friends with Dick and his wife Sheila (who passed away last year) when we were stationed together in the Netherlands, where Dick and I flew together. He’s beginning to come out from under the shock of his loss, and he’s writing again.
Our daughter Polly’s on the second day of her new job as a cashier at the neighborhood Ace Hardware store. We’re crossing our fingers and toes once again, hoping this job will take. Ace is a good outfit to work for, by Tucson standards, and she’ll have a future with the company if she wants it. So far, she’s excited and motivated. We’re just plain excited.
Cooking club snuck up on us again. It’s tomorrow, Saturday, and this time it’s a grilling cook-off. We’re hosting, and I’m going to fire up the gas and charcoal grills for the other members. For our part, Donna’s getting a brisket and two racks of spareribs today. I’ll rub the meat this afternoon and smoke it tomorrow with charcoal and mesquite (of which there’s plenty … we still have most of the tree we chopped down four years ago, nicely aged now). Setting up and cooking with my Fortress of Smoke™ is one of my favorite things—I don’t get to play Smoke Soldier nearly enough!
As you may have noticed in one of the selfies I posted above, I’m still keeping my forehead covered. Yes, another week of cleaning and dressing it daily; another week sans motorcycle. On the other two-wheeled front, the insurance company tells me it has everything it needs on my stolen bicycle claim and I should expect something shortly.
That, for now, is all the news and opinion fit to print. More soon, including an Air-Minded photoblog on my recent morning touring the restoration department at the air museum.