by Dick Pilling | Mar 3, 2024 | 250 Words
Some of us may remember the movie “The Sixth Sense” which recounted the story of a boy, played by child star Haley Joel Osment, who is haunted by ghosts and claimed he could see and talk to dead people.
Now, not to be out done, our own President Biden has claimed a similar ability.
In a New York fundraiser, Biden related how he discussed the January 2021 Capitol riot with German Chancellor Helmet Kohl.
Of course, this alleged conversation took place four years after Kohl’s death.
And, in a recent G7 gathering, he claimed to have recently chatted with former French President Francois Mitterrand but many will remember that Mitterrand passed away in 1996.
In truth, the often confused and ever-forgetful Biden was referring to Germany’s Angela Merkel and not the deceased Helmet Kohl and to French President Emmanuel Macron instead of the long-dead Mitterrand.
Obviously, President Biden misremembered, a term first seen in the circa 1500 writings of Thomas More, and which he does frequently.
Like when he misremembered, or just plain forgot, the years that he served as vice president or the date that his son died.
But it’s too bad that President Biden cannot actually talk with dead people because it would really help him with his misremembering thing.
Because if he could, he should cease chatting with less-than-effective European politicians but, rather, seek advice from a successful leader.
Perhaps he could arrange a chat with former President Ronald Reagan.
And he should take copious notes.
Dick Pilling
Port Angeles
by Dick Pilling | Oct 18, 2023 | Letters to the Editor
You know, I’m really getting tired of our elected representatives’ inability to function as… well… our elected representatives. And all members of congress, irrespective of party, are equally responsible.
Quite frankly, their continual blame-gaming, scape-goating, and attention-seeking posturing looks like an attempt to avoid making the hard decisions required of a mature governing body and, truly, this is nothing less than a dereliction of duty and a disservice to the electorate.
The most important of these “hard decisions” include those required to fund those government functions that ensure that the administration performs to the benefit of the citizenry and, sadly, this is not happening. In fact, if they don’t get off their collective butts, the government may shut down.
After some thought, I formulated a plan that would compel them to focus on the nation’s problems and develop logical solutions in a reasonable time instead of simply preening and posturing before their supporters.
Firstly, temporarily relocate all 535 members of congress to a large field, house them in military pup tents, provide them with a large communal tent in which to conduct the nation’s business, and allocate them 3 sandwiches and a gallon of water per day.
And, also, grant them access to 50 porta-potties.
After a week of congressional non-action, half of the porta-potties will be removed and, shortly after that, I suspect that the budget will pass.
But, if it takes longer than that, we’ll know what our politicians are full of … both figuratively and literally …
by Dick Pilling | Jun 26, 2023 | Letters to the Editor
Sometimes I am just in awe of the smart people that are employed by the current administration. I only wish that, occasionally, they would share some of their wisdom with me.
Like, upon what rationale do the smart people base their self-assured assessments that we, as a country, per executive order, can eliminate our reliance on the internal combustion engine (ICE) in favor of zero emission vehicles by 2035 at which time “all new privately-owned light duty vehicles sold being 100 percent zero emissions.”
And, further, that “all privately-owned light-duty vehicles with ICE engines will be phased-out and will be replaced with 100 percent electric vehicles by 2050.”
These smart people must know that, currently, there are approximately 278 million vehicles in the U.S. (as of 2021, forbes.com) and we would need to generate up to 50 percent more power if they were all converted to electric and, of course, this number will increase in the future as vehicle production is now trending up (usafacts.org).
Of course, these smart people must know that more than a million new public charging stations will be required to keep the projected quantities of EVs on the road (here.com/learn/blog/us-ev-charging-stations).
Moreover, these smart people must know that, even without the added burden of these additional charging stations, America’s power grid is ever more unreliable and struggles to provide the energy currently required and operators are warning of imminent “rolling blackouts” (Wall Street Journal, fee.org).
Looks to me that our transportation infrastructure — and our electrical grid — is increasingly at risk.
But I am not one of these smart people
by Dick Pilling | Feb 26, 2022 | 250 Words, Letters to the Editor
For the past 35 years, nearly every U.S. president has given a State of the Union speech attesting to the fact that the state of our union is strong.
And then provided examples of how strong it is and, unsurprisingly, tried to take some personal credit for this state of strength.
I suspect that President Joe Biden will, in the spirit of past such addresses, make similar assertions, but I am not sure what examples of strength he will be able to cite and seek recognition for.
Maybe he could speak to our booming economy, but he can’t, because it ain’t — unless you favor inflation, now at a 40-year high, and skyrocketing prices.
And it would be great if he could cite how crime has decreased, but he can’t, because it ain’t.
In fact, statistics reflect that crime, particularly violent crime, is spiking in cities across the country.
Perhaps he could point to the U.S. being energy independent, but he can’t, because it ain’t.
Of course, it was for a while until we managed to wreck our fossil fuel industry and become dependent on others.
He could brag about our powerful military, but he can’t, because it ain’t.
Not when an out-gunned, under-manned, ill-equipped army ran us out of Afghanistan.
As a patriotic citizen, I would like to believe that, during Biden’s administration, our country has improved economically, strengthened militarily, and continues to be respected by our friends and feared by our enemies.
But I can’t, because it ain’t.
by Dick Pilling
by Dick Pilling | Nov 20, 2021 | 250 Words
November 2021
Sometimes, when reviewing Joe Biden’s actions since becoming president, I wonder whether he has the best interests of America at heart.
For instance, his cancellation of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, as well the potential of similar action to pipelines three and five, would seem to undermine our goal of energy independence thereby causing a continuation of our reliance on oil-producing countries that may not be the best of allies.
Biden’s apparent aversion to an energy-independent America reflects in his nomination of Soviet-born Saule Omarova for Treasury Department’s Comptroller of Currency who wants traditional fuel companies to go bankrupt and refers to our banking system as a “quintessential a****** industry” while advocating “the complete migration of demand deposit accounts to the Federal Reserve”.
Not limiting his antithetical attentions to the energy industry, he also weakened border security by appointing Alejandro Mayorkas as Homeland Security Secretary and who repeatedly claims that “our borders are not open” even though, under his administration, illegal border crossings are at record highs.
Not forgetting his other questionable appointees like Secretary of State Blinkin who dismissed the idea of Taliban takeover or Treasury Secretary Yellen who would abolish the Federal Debt Limit or Attorney-General Garland who would have the FBI investigate protesting PTA parents to name a few.
Remembering a political thriller – The Manchurian Candidate – wherein a sleeper agent, bent upon the destruction of America, nearly became President causes me to wonder if President Biden is a sleeper agent. Or merely asleep…
Dick Pilling
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