Senator Ron Johnson appears with a very excited Maria Bartiromo to discuss the possibility of Kash Patel taking the lead role in the FBI.

As Senator Johnson notes in the interview, bringing the truth forward to the American public is the greatest challenge. “The truth is a powerful weapon,” Johnson said. However, Johnson also notes “I’m not an optimist in this Maria, quite honestly, I wish I could say I was.”

Well said, Senator Johnson, well said. WATCH:

~ Also Related, READ THIS ~

More soon…

(more…)

Senate Select Committee on Intelligence member Mike Rounds doesn’t sound too enthusiastic about Kash Patel in the role of FBI director.  In an interview this morning on ABC, the Republican senator from South Dakota said President Trump has the right to nominate Mr Patel, and the Senate will consider the “consent” from there.  WATCH:

Several people are wondering if current FBI Director Chris Wray will resign.  It’s a very unusual dynamic and the internal pressure will likely be on Director Wray to force President Trump to fire him, especially if the House and Senate are in session and there’s no possibility at the time for President Trump to appoint an “acting” replacement.

A lot can happen with President Trump announcing Kash Patel “will serve as” FBI Director, while a current FBI Director is still in place.  Without the ability to appoint an “acting” replacement, the Deputy FBI director would take Wray’s place even if Wray was fired.  Mike Rounds expresses full confidence in Chris Wray during this interview.

(more…)

To understand the outcome of the next four years (and beyond), it is important to begin with the same information.  One key not discussed anywhere else is outlined below.

Consider this a baseline for future context in the world of the USA and President Trump politics.

♦ Summarized it looks like this: In late summer 2023 not only myself, but several insightful analysts in the world of high finance, had come to the conclusion that Musk’s financial effort with the purchase of Twitter was unsustainable, unless something changed.

Something did change.

In early August of 2023, understanding the dynamic at stake, and also having a strategy for his own interests, Oracle’s Larry Ellison said, ‘he would not let Elon Musk fail with Twitter’.

Billionaire Larry Ellison, a Tesla Board member, already had invested money in place, but that wasn’t the motive on this move. In hindsight, Ellison was brilliant and intensely strategic.  It is important to understand what exactly ‘board members’ are recruited for, and the stability/security reasons for why they are recruited.

(more…)

President Trump has announced the nomination of Jamieson Greer to be the United States Trade Representative (USTR).  Jamieson Greer was the Chief of Staff to former USTR Robert Lighthizer.

In a previous nomination of Howard Lutnick as Commerce Secretary, President Trump noted Lutnick would have responsibility overseeing the office of the USTR.   Apparently Lutnick and Greer will be working closely together.   Great news.

[Source]

Greer is likely to be facing China first and most directly, as President Trump economically faces the EU and NATO over the Ukraine issues.

The second announcement on the economic team does not need confirmation.  President Trump announces the return of ¹happy warrior Kevin Hassett as Director of the White House National Economic Council (NEC).  This is awesome news, and Hassett is a great communicator.

(more…)

Dan Scavino Jr is as close a confidant as you can get to President Trump, without being a member of the family.  According to a recent Tweet sent by Scavino, President Trump has never considered former HPSCI Chairman Mike Rogers for the position of FBI Director.

[Source]

Dan Scavino would never send this Tweet, without the explicit direction of President Trump telling him to do so.  Essentially, this is the soft way for President Trump to tell Mike Rogers and his supporters he is not in the planning.

As stated before, current FBI Director Chris Wray has not resigned, and he has two years left on his term.  President Trump cannot fire Chris Wray until he takes office after the inauguration.  Therefore, all of the discussion about a new FBI director is essentially moot.

We likely will not know anything about the retention or removal of Christopher Wray, until after President Trump takes office.

(more…)

A very energetic Donald Trump Jr., outlines with Tucker Carlson how he was able to expend “10,000 percent of his political capital” to get JD Vance selected as Vice-President. WATCH:

🚨Watch @DonaldJTrumpJr recount to @TuckerCarlson how he used all of his political capital to help @JDVance get chosen as President Trump’s Vice President. This was one of the most important moments of the 2024 campaign and will ensure the America First movement has an amazing… pic.twitter.com/Ys8B056csb

— Steve Cortes (@CortesSteve) November 21, 2024

.

Elon Musk confirmed immediately.

(more…)

It’s a little funny, in an ironic way.  Much was made of homosexual Pete Buttigieg, together with his husband, using a gender-binary surrogate to become parents. President Trump nominates Sean Duffy to be Buttigieg’s replacement; Duffy has nine kids.

President Trump has announced the nomination of former Wisconsin Congressman, Sean Duffy, to be Secretary of the Department of Transportation.

[Source]

(more…)

I have outlined my general opinion about labor unions [HERE].  Now we are going to focus on the realities, politics and economic outcomes from an International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) strike.

I mostly support the strike. I even mostly support ILA President Harold Daggett, a man of notoriously intemperate and sketchy disposition.  Daggett grew up in Queens, New York, directly at the same time and place as another wildly attacked industrialist turned titan of politics.  It is safe to say, they know each other; but I’ll get to that later.

Let’s turn to the issues that matter.  The dockworker strike has the potential to have major ramifications against the U.S. economy.  If the docks don’t work, the imports and exports don’t happen.  This could be a big mess, a really big mess if it goes on for a long time.

“People never gave a sh!t about us until now, when they finally realize that the chain is being broke now. Cars won’t come in, food won’t come in, clothing won’t come in.”

This union leader makes $900,000 per year. Maybe not the best spokesperson.

pic.twitter.com/b6sOXVsxJh

— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) October 1, 2024

U.S. MEDIA – The US port workers launched the strike due to a labor dispute with employers’ group United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), after their six-year contract expired.

For their new contract, ILA wants USMX to increase wages by 77 percent over six years and bar any automation, which they believe threatens workers’ jobs.

(more…)

On one side you have the International Longshoreman’s Association (ILA), which represents 50,000 East and Gulf Coast dockworkers.  On the other side you have the U.S. Maritime Alliance, or USMX, an organization bargaining on behalf of the port owners, container owners and corporations.  In a few hours the ILA is scheduled to strike against USMX.

A late breaking development:

[SOURCE] – [pdf Specifics]

I am not sure how this is going to eventually end but suffice to say at least a one-week strike is built into the current dynamic.  I doubt any last-minute negotiations will stop that from happening, but you never know.

Below is a video reflecting the firm position expressed by ILA President Harold J. Daggett, who represents the interests of the workers.  There are many who may not like the tone or expressed strike intent of Mr Daggett; however, given the nature of modern corporatism as it stands, what workers have been doing hasn’t been working to change the dynamic.

(more…)

First, my perspective for new readers.  I generally support private sector labor unions. I did not always support them.  I do not support public sector unions, nor the leadership of most labor unions in general who politicize their activity.  In our modern era, the baseline for organized labor to support the interests of their blue-collar workforce is valid.

Against the backdrop of the larger geopolitical dynamic, I would make the case that, similar to the solidarity movement of the mid 1980’s, organizing the general workforce is going to be the last-resort backstop measure to block ideological western government and corporate intentions.

Populism, nationalism and MAGA specifically, needs a unity alliance with organized private sector labor.

I also believe President Trump sees the looming importance of this relationship as made visible by his support for the Teamsters union during the RNC convention.

Consider what we witnessed and endured with the forced worker vaccination programs of 2021.  I do not like the idea of politicized labor but contemplate how organized labor could have been used to pushback against the diminishment of liberty. There is a potential for value; thus, I evaluate organized apolitical labor as a potential pragmatic ally.

That said, let us discuss the looming strike by The International Longshoreman’s Association, which represents 50,000 East and Gulf Coast dockworkers.

There are a lot of economic impacts that can be created by a dockworker strike; they range from inconvenient to severe depending on the industry and sector therein.  With the U.S. manufacturing base diminished, imported goods now represent the system to deliver essential products into our nation.

(more…)