I haven’t heard anything about tribunals, but I haven’t seen certain well-known people out and about, either. I watch 2 news companies: digital New York Times and Fox News on TV. Neither has said anything about disappearing dignitaries. But I did read that Barack Obama was appointed to be the World Bank CEO. Also Generals Mattis and Kelly are joined by ex-DIA boss Mike Flynn and ex-NSA boss Mike Rogers at GITMO. On to the blog. Out of Normal anger or Militant Normals came the Tea Party. The Republican Speaker of the House, John Boehner, could do nothing with them. They were at the extreme right of the conservative wing. Boehner was a moderate, and didn’t appreciate these rebels stirring things up. Conservative, Inc. loved Boehner; he was the adult in the room, and he knew how the game was played. The Tea Party didn’t even know there was a game; it wouldn’t compromise on anything. I remember Eric Cantor giving Boehner a hard time, and I wanted to reach through the TV and slap him–and I’m a Democrat! But that wasn’t the Normals’ priority. Jobs were disappearing, welfare rolls were growing, illegal aliens were a problem and the system seemed rigged against them. “Do you hear us now?” the Normals asked when they sent Eric Cantor packing (Schlichter). Then came 2016 and Donald Trump, who had no awe for his presumed betters. In fact, he had nothing but contempt for them. New Yorkers like Hillary, Kirsten and Chuck had come to Trump Tower begging for money. They weren’t his superiors; they were his supplicants (Schlichter). So Trump fought the Elite and the Normals loved it. By 2016 the Normals had put up with disrespect and neglect by people who did nothing but complain about them. And worse, they did not live up to the contract of taking care of the institutions, which were in a state of neglect. Trump turned the tables on the Elite; now he was complaining, crudely and loudly. Trump had come into a situation in which illegal aliens were now undocumented immigrants, a whole state could announce itself to be a place of refuge. Illegals were arrested and deported multiple times, the federal government was soft on the criminal behavior of illegal aliens, DACA was in effect, families were on welfare, using emergency rooms for routine care, illegal children were attending school and the districts were prevented from sending them home. Americans were vulnerable to rape, murder and gang violence like M13. So the President’s reaction came from the gut, not the head. He said he would build a wall–a 14th C solution. He could have worked with Congress to put in a variety of strategies, including a complete overhaul of the immigration system. He could start with legalizing all immigrants who are here and WORKING. For those on welfare, if there are two adults in the family, one must be WORKING. DACA people should receive citizenship upon completion of a task or test. A single adult can’t be on welfare; if that person is handicapped, it would be medicaid. But I digress. Based on 2012 data, 61.9% of illegal alien families received some sort of welfare; for actual Americans the number was 28.1% (Schlichter). The primary season came down to Trump and Ted Cruz. Ted was no match for Trump, “who had the unshakable confidence one needed to truly, deeply, not give a flying fig. Not caring was his Kevlar. Trump didn’t need the Elite. Why should he respect people who sniffed around him like stray mongrels hoping for scraps from his table?”(Schlichter). And knowing this, the Elite hated him. Schlichter raises the question of whether Trump is a Normal. He has a superficial reverence for the values of Normals. He admires hard-hats who work in mining or construction, and he definitely admires the military, especially the special forces. He was saved from the military by bone spurs. Was that a relief to him? Who knows? Trump wasn’t really a Republican. He hi-jacked the GOP and many Republicans were angry about it. And when he became president, his behavior was quite shameful to the stuffed-shirt sector of the party. He was really a third-party candidate infiltrating a major party; and he was not welcome. The way Mitch McConnell defends him sickens me because Mitch does not have to do that. He could pull together a group of senators to push back on Trump. He doesn’t have to win every battle. Join the conservative wing of Never Trump. The Elites are snobs who never travel too far from the coasts. I think Mitch is an Elite who won’t get his hands dirty fighting with Trump. The Elites gather in think tanks in DC or Manhattan writing unread white papers. They were the guys who got the proverbial Georgetown cocktail party invitations (Schlichter). “They lived around, attended their kids’ soccer games and partied with other Elites. And Trump laughed at them all” (Schlichter). But Trump went off the reservation when he discovered that widjets were now made in “Peking” and brought back to the US to be sold. And, to his credit, he didn’t see why we were bombing every foreigner who got uppity. And NATO. “Was that even still a thing?” Postwar consensus, you know. WWII was 70 years ago. The Cold War was 25 years ago. But the Elite, including the Conservative Elite, had not bothered to update its consensus. Trump decided not to recognize the EU as a diplomatic entity. And he told the nations of NATO to pay up if they wanted to continue to be a member of NATO. The Normals nodded their heads to all this. They got it. And why was it OK for American kids to die in meaningless wars but not OK for French kids or German kids? When jobs were lost due to free trade, the Normals started complaining. But no one listened, least of all Conservative, Inc. “As Normal Americans, the base of the Republican Party, were watching their wages stagnate, their jobs depart, their small businesses crushed by big corporations, and their kids slaughtered in wars the leaders refused to win, the Elite and the conservatives did nothing. Nothing.” (Schlichter).********** Hillary Clinton lost the election because she had no humility, and the Normals saw it (Schlichter). Hillary’s behavior with classified documents was illegal and outrageous and Comey’s announcement in late October exonerating her just reminded people of her baggage. Although I voted for her, I can see why some might be put off by her history. My daughter and her husband didn’t vote at all because neither candidate was a good choice, and I’m sure others felt the same way. Another reason we got Trump is because illegal aliens were allowed to enter the country en mass and were taking Americans’ jobs. We also got Trump because jobs had moved to Mexico and Asia. The Elite forgot they were supposed to be taking care of America’s institutions, instead ruling without a mandate, just because they could. This gradually pissed off the Normals and they were aching for a change. Schlichter says that “Trump was a giant walking, talking middle finger to the Elite.” And Hillary Clinton made it necessary for the Normals to vote for Trump. “Sure, the Normals can vote, says Schlichter, Policy debates, such as they are, are properly conducted between factions of the Elite community. Normals? Butt out, hayseeds. But the Normals did not get the message. The Normals are Militant…due to a track record of Elite failure, and an Elite that has grown progressively worse at hiding its members’ manifest active hatred for Normal Americans.” And the Normals hate the Elite. It is dangerous for a nation when its two main sectors hate each other. It is a hatred that can cause real trouble. I am very concerned about the hatred that Pelosi and Schumer have for President Trump. I don’t think his feelings for them are quite as personal. But their feelings for him are scary. I hope Pelosi doesn’t waste time trying to impeach Trump and further divide the country. I hope she gets the House back to the business of passing legislation.