No Shortage of Things to Think About, Is There?
The Roll Up of Senior Military Leaders
This mysterious call up of all senior military commanders and their senior enlisted members, all for a mysterious meeting with the Secretary – and now including Trump – is a bad thing in about 9 different directions.
Of course, no one has a clue as to what this is all about. We will, likely, by the time many of you read this posting. Could be to announce firings, to demand loyalty, to call for the reapplication of a bunch of 1950s standards – no one knows except the perpetrator. If it is a loyalty pledge demand, one hopes a number of those present would stand up and refuse, but I bet Trump and company would make it just fuzzy enough to encourage people not to stand up. If that is the goal, I hope they fail miserably.
The other elements that are so wrong with all this leads with the security risks of stripping every single senior military command of their leaders at the same time. What an invitation to mischief from adversaries. Add to that, having all those senior leaders travelling at the same time and convening in one place at the same time. No one does that for the obvious reason. And now that Trump has joined the party, the Secret Service, with only a few days’ notice, now has oversight responsibility for overall security. Good luck everyone.
And add to all that the huge costs this will incur. Could have done this for free on government secured software. Of course, they also could do it for free on Zoom, or one of those other social apps the Secretary is so fond of using inappropriately.
Finally, it is entirely possible the government will shut down while all these leaders are here. Think how that might affect getting everyone back to where they belong and in communication the whole time.
This administration looks more like one of those little cars full of clowns every day. Only these clowns create danger and waste.
Comey Indictment – Karma, Precedent, Prospects
Three thoughts come to mind immediately about the indictment of former FBI Director Comey.
One, there is a bit of karma to all this. One of the major reasons we are stuck with Trump was Comey’s seriously incorrect decision – in violation of long established policy – of announcing an investigation of Secretary Clinton’s email use, just days before the election. In time, the investigation found no crimes, but the damage was done. Comey owns that.
Two, in spite of the item noted above, this is a terrible act that should never have happened. It looks from all perspectives so far nothing more than a political revenge move. Al the professionals in DOJ who looked at this said there is no case. Even the Trump appointee who had oversight said there was no case. So they hired yet another Trump personal attorney to be the prosecutor – even though she has zero relevant experience.
The “indictment” was only a page and a half (double spaced), was signed only by this new appointee (that is rare, at the lease) and presented in person by her at the grand jury – apparently no one else would touch it. They got an indictment by only a two vote majority in a 23 member grand jury – as low a vote as anyone can recall, ever.
Three, it is not impossible that the judge will throw out the indictment right from the initial hearing. He seems to be a no-nonsense judge and there seems plenty of grounds to kill this on Day One. That seems fitting, but surely a call for the judge to make.
AI in Medicine – and Romance
Two interesting notes on Artificial Intelligence. The current edition of the New Yorker has a great article about the continuing development of AI applications in medicine, particularly in diagnosis. Like all AI, the applications are prone to some errors and making stuff up, but even with that give impressive results. AI will not replace doctors but has great potential to be a terrific tool to assist in diagnosis.
And on another front, I just read a poll that indicates 19% (almost 1 in 5!) adult Americans have engage an “AI friend” for companionship and/or romance. The mind boggles. What the heck does that mean and where is it going? Truly an evolving reality is ongoing.
Remember Helene?
The area where I live marked the one year anniversary of the unimaginable destruction in the mountains by Tropical Storm Helené. Lots of healing still going on and no small amount of rebuilding to be accomplished but the bright side has been the remarkable sense of community that seemed to leap up everywhere in the region – people helped each other in countless ways.
And that sense of community was matched by an amazing outpouring of support from all over the country. Some days one could be forgiven in thinking that this country is hopelessly divided. Major disasters like that storm remind us that hope is not lost. In the final analysis, we all really are neighbors; we just need to remember that little fact.
Referring A Friend’s Blog
A good friend of mine, Jeanne Finan, writes a really good blog that should be on everyone’s reading list. Her most current posting on her blog Cold Coffee is a great short reflection on what it is like to have a wonderful cabinet officer. Her reflections on FDR’s Secretary of Labor Francis Perkins (one of my heroes, too) is a great read. Enjoy!
Find it at https://substack.com/home/post/p-174688591
See you next week.
Bill Clontz
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Thanks for the very nice mention of my blog! Much appreciated. Some very interesting points in your post today— how indeed will all those military leaders get back to their posts with a government shutdown? And what on earth is this meeting about?! 😵💫