John T. Reed’s news blog

Forget the boy who cried wolf. The new metaphor is the Democrat who cried “this is really the last last straw”—daily since the Access Hollywood tape was released. Mountains from every molehill I have defined a politician in part as a person who endlessly tries to make mountains out of their opponents molehills. The molehills in question must be negative, or at least able to be spun as negative, which means just about anything. About the best treatment Trump gets from an undeniable positive accomplishment or news is they ignore it. It they could spin the crime bill as negative,...

Today’s WSJ (12/22/2018) has an article about zero-energy-ready buildings. Those are buildings that use much less energy than traditional buildings—and if equipped with solar panels, they actually use zero energy.I do not give a damn about renewable energy or fossil-fuel hatred. Like a guy in the article, I am just about maximizing income and minimizing outgo.For capital expenditures like energy conservation measures, I want at least a five-year payback. That is, if I pay $5,000 for a heat pump, I want to save at least $1,000 per year from lower energy costs for heating and air-conditioning.Over time in recent years,...

I am watching Levin interviewing Walter E. Williams. I love Walter. He is on my list or treasures whom we do not appreciate enough.https://www.johntreed.com/…/65671619-the-living-treasures-w…However, I would have been a little bit better guest than him on this subject. Levin sort of said what I say. The Constitution is fatally flawed. It places politicians in charge of the government—calling them “representatives.” But in what way is a politician representative of us? Congress typically has an approval rating of 6% to 11% or thereabouts. National binding referendums and a grand jury congress I say we need national binding referendums and a grand...

I suspect he may not have been able to immediately resign. Career officers are constantly going to various schools and I think each creates a new commitment. I do not know the deal in the Civil War but the WW II brass could not resign in a snitt as far as I know. And I don’t think you can resign during a deployment. . We won the Battle of Gettysburg without Hooker or the additional men he said he needed. . Hackworth was correct. The draftees were a cross section of society. Famous draftees include Elvis, Teddy Kennedy, Ralph Nader....

I just heard that the Green Beret now being pursued for murder—Matthew Golsteyn—is a West Point grad. Sorry to hear that. (I am a West Point grad and Vietnam vet.)All of his supporters, and he seems to only have supporters, essentially say that he is a great guy and the Taliban he killed was a murderous bomb maker, therefore, he did nothing wrong.That is not relevant to the legal case as far as I can tell. His wife and father seem to be saying the Army can’t do this because it was investigated before and seemingly ended. Also, irrelevant. Double...