Category Archives: Barry Kelly

by Barry Kelly | October 13, 2015 · 7:19 am

INSIGHTS 236 — PRESIDENTIAL WEAKNESS OR IDEOLOGICAL CONVICTION?

The Advisor put down the receiver after Chris, his Secret Service contact, told him the President wouldn’t be down today or for the rest of the week.

He had mixed feelings. The President was the only person he saw face to face. Over the years in his underground office, the Advisor had become dependent on the President’s visits. The isolation and loneliness were really affecting him. He really doubted he could function through the year remaining in the President’s term. He found himself losing track of some of his thoughts when he was writing in his journal. No question, he was really slowing down. Each day was a bit harder. His exercise schedule was a thing of the past. Without an appetite, he seldom did any meal preparation. He wasn’t sure whether it was his mental state or if age was catching up. To force himself to function, he decided to prepare a journal entry of the problems he had with the President’s actions and policies.

The Advisor thought, Even if the President is my only face-to-face contact, when he leaves I feel like I have been in the presence of a very dangerous man and I can’t do anything about it. In fact, my mission is to support him even though I know he is intent on destroying the America I fought for and loved. He is true to his ideology and background. Our President is a dedicated socialist and like so many guilt-ridden liberals, blames America for the world’s current and past problems. He is determined to be known in history as the president who weakened capitalism, imperialism, and the emphasis upon freedom of the individual. By weakening American economical and military power, he will force America to take a very diminished role in world affairs. The nation will be dependent on international organizations to define and protect the rights and privileges of all people. America will no longer be a unique nation and the hope of people everywhere.

There is no other way to understand his actions or his announced policies. He knows the withdrawal of America from the world will result in totalitarian forces like Russia, China, Iran, and the Muslim Caliphate filling the vacuum left by the retreat of the United States. To him that is a good thing. An accomplishment he is proud of. His primary foreign affairs goal is to transform not only America, but the world order as well. If anyone had described the President in these terms when he was first elected, I would have rejected them as the ravings of mad men.

When Vladimir Putin looks at the President, he sees a weak man who hasn’t the will or strength to stop him from annexing as much of the Ukraine as wants or to contest his power move into the Middle East which while very soon put Russia military into the Mediterranean with naval power and missile batteries installed in Syria. Putin doesn’t care one bit about Assad. His goal is to expand Russian power into the oil-producing regions of the Middle East and establish warm water ports for the Russian fleet. Neither Putin, the America progressive party, or Congressional Republicans understand the President is not acting out of weakness, though I believe he lacks physical courage, but he acts out of conviction. How else can anyone explain his foreign actions or job killing regulations by his administration?

The Advisor printed his journal entry and began to enter it into his journal with his slightly unsteady hand. The next time the President comes down, the Advisor thought, I just might tell him what his actions look like to America and its enemies. I’d like to discuss gun control with him. I know it isn’t the loss of life that is his point in his anti-gun crusade. If it was, he would be focused on places like Chicago and help the police and city government to enforce existing gun laws. And it isn’t just using the issue to attack the opposition party. The President knows no socialist/communist government has ever taken control of an armed population. Slave holders always have guns. Slaves never do. Doesn’t that tell us everything we need to know?

This is an account written by a fictional advisor who doesn’t exist but should.

Check out the latest Jack Brandon mystery suspense novel at your local bookstore. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.

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Filed under Barry Kelly, Conservative views, foreign policy, General, Intelligence & Politics, Iran, ISIS, Obama, oil, Putin, Russia

Tagged as current-events, ISIS, Middle East, military, Progressive, Republicans, Russia, socialism, transformation

by Barry Kelly | October 1, 2015 · 7:43 am

INSIGHTS 234 — RUSSIAN EMPIRE MOVES INTO THE MEDITERRANEAN

“Mr. President, I want to read something you said last week when I asked, ‘Are you using the leading from behind strategy in the Middle East and primarily in Syria?’ And you answered, ‘Of course. My objective is to change or transform the world order. How could I do that if I was openly leading the action? I’m leading from behind. Iran, ISIS, and Russia are doing exactly what I want. If Russia ends up being a power in the Middle East with warm water ports for their warships and control of oil from the region won’t that end the strife and lead to a world society where the people will be much better off and the world’s wealth and resources will be more equitably distributed?

“‘Russia will have what they have always wanted. They have no desire to occupy Europe. The balance of world power will be forever changed for the better. The need for vast military expenditures will be gone. Colonialism, capitalism, and imperialism will be history. Those are the real evil “isms” of our world. Progressivism is the natural ideology for a world of equals.’”

“Given the very aggressive move by Putin into Syria in the last two weeks with his demand that U.S. aircraft no longer fly over Syria, will you need to change your approach?”

“Putin is following a long developed strategy followed by all the czars. He is the first to succeed in actually establishing a growing military presence in the Middle East. The Russian fleet will now have an all-weather sea port for their warships. He will be popular at home for a short time. Then the people will find out what it costs them to sponsor another client state. Control of Iraqi oil fields may provide some funds for Putin’s military build up and support for a bankrupt Syria but that will not be enough.

“He will soon have another Afghanistan on his hands. Remember how they moved into Afghanistan unopposed in President’s Carter’s one term? He was surprised. I am not. This a perfect response from Putin who is unknowingly assisting me in changing the current world order. Whether he stays for a decade or more in Syria, the Middle East will never be the same. The Christian, imperialistic, capitalistic western power will be balanced by the growing power of the Islamic nations who actually live in the Middle East. Those people will be governing themselves and using their wealth and intellectual resources for the good of a previously oppressed people.

“My concern is keeping the right wing ideologues from convincing my successor to oppose the Russian push into Syria. No matter what Putin does, I will not respond with American power. In a few more years American power both military and economically will be gone for good.”

“What about all the death and misery being inflicted on the people of Syria and Iraq?”

“It will pass in less than a decade. People always suffer when the tide of historical power shifts against existing rulers. Spreading Muslim people throughout the Christian world through chaotic refugee flows is not a bad thing. The shift in population demographics will actually act as a catalyst for a more rapid transformation in the Western world. I couldn’t be happier. Progress never takes place without chaos. The more chaos, the more rapid the pace of transformation can be.”

“Does anyone in your administration share your view of the world?”

“Really only one and she is constantly encouraging me to move more quickly. A few others think they know but they don’t. Their thinking is still mired down in the Western approach of looking at governing as the constant solving of issues. As long as they stay out of the way, they do no harm in playing with transient problems that have no solution without transformation.”

“Mr. President, I think I’m safe in saying no other president has ever shared your view of America and the world.”

“I agree. See you next week. You are the only person I can truthfully talk to besides my co-partner in transformation. Good night.”

This is an account written by a fictional advisor who doesn’t exist but should.

Check out the latest Jack Brandon mystery suspense novel at your local bookstore. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.

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Filed under Afghanistan, Barry Kelly, Capitalism, Conservative views, Eight Decades of Insights, foreign policy, Intelligence & Politics, Middle East, Obama, oil, political solutions, Politics, Progressives, Putin, Russia

Tagged as current-events, Immigration, iraq, Islam, Middle East, military, Syria, transformation

by Barry Kelly | September 28, 2015 · 9:26 am

INSIGHTS 233 — WHO SHUTS DOWN THE GOVERNMENT?

The President went down to talk with the Advisor the day after the Speaker of the House announced his resignation. The Advisor asked, “Mr. President, do you believe the next speaker will be willing to shut the government down over the ‘Planned Parenthood’ issue?”

“That’s my decision, not the speaker’s. The Constitution gives the House the sole right to appropriate funds for the government. Early in my administration, the House forgot it had that power and did not use it. Power not used is power lost.

“For example, no one should blame the president for the current budget deficit. I can’t spend anything unless the bill originates in the House, is passed by the House and Senate, and sent to my desk. If the Republicans believe the budget should be balanced and the deficit reduced, why don’t they do it? The answer is simple, they just don’t have the political courage to make the hard choices. In the vacuum they created, I stepped in and am now governing as if I could appropriate funds.

“My base doesn’t want them to defund ‘Planned Parenthood’ so I said I would veto any bill that defunds ‘Planned Parenthood.’ Since they were planning to send the defunding issue up to me in the major budgeting bill, my veto of the bill would shut the government down. They are too dumb to change the messaging. It is not their fault I vetoed the budget bill. I vetoed the bill because it contained something neither I nor my base wanted. Ever since Speaker Newt Gingrich’s battle with President Clinton over spending issues resulted in a presidential veto and the shutdown of the government, all professional Republican politicians are in mortal fear of a presidential veto that results in a political shutdown of the government in the most painful way possible. I guarantee the pain part.

“Now I can control the legislature simply by threatening to shut the government down. In reality, taking $500 million out of a trillion-dollar budget would hardly be noticed. In this case they weren’t even cutting the funds, merely spreading the funds to other women’s health clinics. The government could go on as normal. The Republican Party members who fought so hard and successfully to win the House and Senate, now wonder what is the difference? The people we sent to Washington to represent us are not listening to us. In political fact, I now decide what to fund and the funding levels. I am Appropriator-in-Chief.”

“Will a new speaker be able to regain the Constitutional power to appropriate funds?”

“I doubt it. Maybe if the majority of the media supported the Republican Party, but I don’t think any of the contenders will have the courage to confront both me and the media. Rest assured, if I shut the government down over some funding bill I don’t like the media will blame it on the Republicans. Their own members and the conservative media will also automatically blame the Republican radicals for any shutdown. That is a strange but accurate view of the political scene in America. Senate and House leaders are playing the power game by traditionally cherished rules and procedures. I make my own rules and procedures. Therefore I win.”

Seeing the President check his watch, the Advisor said, “Mr. President, I fear you are needed back in the above-ground world. Thank you for the education. I don’t agree with your goals but you must be one of the most astute and aggressive presidents ever to play in the biggest of all power games.”

“I think that is a compliment. So thank you.”

This is an account written by a fictional advisor who doesn’t exist but should.

Check out the latest Jack Brandon mystery suspense novel at your local bookstore. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.

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Filed under Barry Kelly, Conservative views, Eight Decades of Insights, financial policies, Intelligence & Politics, management theory, Obama, political solutions, Progressives

Tagged as Barack Obama, Congress, Conservatives, current-events, government

by Barry Kelly | September 11, 2015 · 7:36 am

INSIGHTS 230 — THE ADVISOR, THE PRESIDENT, AND THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES

“Mr. President, I was hoping you would return soon so we could talk about the Republican candidates. I’m very interested in your take on the front runners and what their election might mean to your accomplishments.”

“I’m addicted to three things you offer, superb coffee, smoking a few cigarettes in peace, and discussing politics with someone who will never use or leak a single comment of mine to further their own agenda. So believe it, or not, I’m beginning to enjoy these meetings. I wish you had been here for my first term. Of course, I may have benefited from talking with your predecessor, but never went down to see him. Okay, where should I start?”

“You are the professional politician. Start anywhere you want.”

“I’ll start with the interaction between the candidates and the electorate. The Republican Party voting core knows, correctly, that this is their last chance. Another eight or even four years of Progressive Party government will end the two-party system. And that will be a good thing. When the losing party only exists to prevent the winning party from implementing the programs the majority of the people voted for, how can that be a good thing?

“The Republican leaders in Congress have failed to do what the people want. They are professional politicians whose only motivation is to maintain their jobs. They are the most socialistic elite people in America. Their pensions, healthcare, pay, vacations, expense accounts, do not in any way resemble the way their constituents live. It is shameless, every bit of legislation they pass always excludes members of Congress. People are tired of that. They are so above the people they have lost the ability to talk to or listen to those who elected them. They think talking at the people is the same as talking to them. If they have a positive message the people could identify with, they have kept it well guarded. They are so easy to outmaneuver it is not even a challenge to me. Over half of the Americans polled are against the Iranian nuclear weapons deal, yet the Republican leadership can’t even muster the support to override my guaranteed veto.

“Among the current candidates, is it any wonder that those in the lead are not professional politicians? The leader, Mr. Trump, is very good at talking to the people, not at them. Dr. Carson and Ms. Fiorina also have that gift. None of them are politically correct. They offer the people real choices and direct their anger at their own leadership as well as my party. Anyone of them could defeat any of the possible Progressive candidates. I knew by the time my two terms were up, the politically aware people who do not want my brand of socialism would be a formidable force. I can’t see the senators or maybe even the governors who are running, harnessing the growing awareness and anger of the people. In many respects, they are part of the problem and do not have a solution.

“Senator Cruz is the best debater. But I don’t think he can carry a high enough percentage of the independents and centrist voters. Probably is viewed as too conservative. He is very smart and probably would make a good president. But not electable. Senator Rubio is the best candidate on the issue of foreign affairs. The immigration issue will hurt him as well as his inability to carry Florida. Trump is right about Jeb Bush. Not enough fire in the belly and his last name is a killer. Americans won’t go for either a Bush or a Clinton dynasty.

“The governors of Ohio and Wisconsin have good local state records, but haven’t been able to excite the people. Governor Kaisch could probably deliver Ohio, but the conservative core doesn’t trust him. Governor Walker is the poster-boy for the anti-labor movement. That’s a lot of negative baggage. The other candidates don’t matter. Okay, that’s my run down. I have to go. I see by your body language that you agree with me. Right?”

“I agree with your overall analysis. You are a good political analyst. Maybe you can have my job someday.”

“No way. I haven’t seen a single golf course down here.”

This is an account written by a fictional advisor who doesn’t exist but should.

Check out the latest Jack Brandon mystery suspense novel at your local bookstore. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80

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Filed under Barry Kelly, Conservative views, Eight Decades of Insights, Intelligence & Politics, political solutions, Politics, Presidential Debate, Progressives

by Barry Kelly | September 3, 2015 · 7:02 am

INSIGHTS 228 — GETTING READY TO TALK ABOUT THE ECONOMY

The Advisor was lost in thought, in between talks from his only visitor, the President.

The President has been so candid recently. I have to get ready to ask him some more challenging questions. I think he enjoys the challenge. He’s got to be immersed in the current economic crisis so I’ll start getting my background material ready. Many Americans do not see the economy, the process of making and selling things, as being different from the stock market. But they are two very different areas. While one affects the other to some degree, it is very difficult for experts to agree on the exact cause and effect of changes in the stock market. Economists talk knowingly about the state of the economy and what is needed to improve its performance. But in reality they should be called political economists because their analysis depends on whether they are supply-side economists or Keynesian economists.

The President’s progressive wing of the Democratic Party is nearly exclusively Keynesian. Those people believe the level and management of government spending is the key to growing the economy. The opposing side of free market/supply side economists believe growth can only come through the capitalist process of making and selling products outside the governing process. The fewer the regulations and the lower the taxes, the more the economy is free to grow. In their minds, a growth rate of between 4 percent and 8 percent is ideal with a tax rate on corporations around 15 percent.

The Keynesian monetary policies have never worked anywhere, though they were tried extensively during the Roosevelt era. Since government spending on sectors such as infrastructure can only be financed from taxes from people and corporations, Keynesian management of the economy inhibits the growth that is necessary to finance needed infrastructure, human services, and the military. Most everyone is in favor of these items but only the progressives with their Keynesian finance managers believe spending on social welfare and infrastructure stimulate the economy to grow. The first place they look for money for social services and infrastructure is the military budget. Few progressives believe in maintaining a strong military. I must remember to ask the President about his views on Keynesian economics.

Regardless of the financial philosophy, effectiveness of the process must be based on a real reporting and understanding of the facts. When the administration and talking heads go on about the well-being of the economy, they are mostly talking about the stock market that has done very well. Indeed it should with the Federal Reserve printing $86,000,000,000 per month for a program called Qualitative Easing. This level of printing money went on for many months. If you could afford to invest, you did well. The President’s program, instead of distributing wealth to narrow the gap in income between economic classes, actually widened the gap. Turning from the stock market to the business of making and selling things, the real economy, you see a much different picture. Real unemployment is closer to 12 percent than the 5 percent the progressives claim. Employment participation rates are lower than at any time since the 1970s. There are more people on food stamps and welfare now than ever before and that is not just due to the growth in population. Health care costs are growing. Wages are stagnant. Graduating college students cannot find jobs. Student debt is way up. People have given up looking for non-existent jobs. The economy is way below the growth rate needed to sustain services and our national debt. The only measureable that is up is the number of people on welfare. I wonder what the President will say about his commitment to the redistribution of wealth.

The last area to ask him about will be the energy sector. I wonder what he’ll say about the Saudi’s program of pumping oil at a level that is continuing to increase the glut of crude on the market today. Doesn’t he realize the Saudis dumping oil on the energy market is motivated by their need to remain the predominated supplier of the worlds oil and to weaken Iran, Iraq, ISIS, Russia, and the United States? Their strategy is working. Many oil drillers in the United States are gone. They and others like them around the world cannot profitably sell oil much below $60 or $70. Unless the Saudis change their strategy, the current glut of oil may be with us for a few more years.

The Advisor stopped his pacing and his thought process.

I think that is enough for more than one session with the President, he thought, feeling more prepared.

This is an account written by a fictional advisor who doesn’t exist but should.

Check out the latest Jack Brandon mystery suspense novel at your local bookstore. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.