BloggeRhythms

The last day of 2016 comes just 20 days before the last day of Obama’s presidency. And it appears he’ll go out unchanged from the way he’s presided from the start. Too little accomplished far too late with very little positive impact, regardless of the issues involved.  

In that regard, Jennifer G. Hickey reported yesterday @foxnews.com that Obama expelled 35 Russian intelligence officials and imposed sanctions as part of a “necessary and appropriate response” to Russia’s alleged interference in November’s elections. "But experts question whether it is strong enough to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin.” 

Former UN ambassador John Bolton on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” yesterday said: "I don't think they will have much impact at all.” 

In the same vein, Liz Peek, also on Fox wrote about the POTUS’s recent actions being “a good old-fashioned foot-stomping world class temper tantrum. He is just beside himself that the stupid American voter elected Donald Trump.” 

Ms Peek went on to explain that Obama finds it incomprehensible that one so eruditely loved and admired by “nearly every news organization in the nation” had his personal plea to elect Clinton rejected by voters. It was a personal insult and “beyond comprehension.” 

What the POTUS is far more used to is flattery from close advisors like Valerie Jarrett, who says things like he’s “just too talented to do what ordinary people do.” And moreso: “I think Barack knew that he had God-given talents that were extraordinary. He knows exactly how smart he is. …” He is so smart, said Jarrett, that “he’s been bored to death his whole life.”

What's more, he’s been told this over and over, “even by the Nobel Committee that awarded him their coveted Peace Prize on spec– that he is extraordinary. So when a man like The Donald bests him, a man Obama clearly considers a joke, he is undone.” 

Nonetheless, Obama’s convinced he knows better than the people do about what’s good for them, which is why he’s presently putting “America’s valuable natural resources permanently off limits, because only Obama can see the future. Taking over vast swatches of the west is in the best interests of the reluctant residents there, because only Obama will protect our environment. That publicly confronting Russia for cyber misbehavior after years of looking the other way is called for, even if it complicates diplomacy in a number of theaters. Because Obama knows best.”

The same holds true for Israel, where upending long-standing tradition, he’s allowed “our only true ally – and the only democracy -- in the Middle East to be further isolated and compromised, in the interests, we are told, of seeking a meaningful peace. The reality is that Obama fully expected that by dint of his winning personality, superior insight and sympathy for the Muslim people, to conquer the divides in that region.” 

As far as Putin’s concerned, Ms Peek considers him a “dangerous adversary [who] should never have been allowed out of the penalty box inflicted by drooping oil prices.” Yet, Obama gave him “running room” by putting him in charge of the Syrian debacle and making him a key figure in the Iran nuke deal. Those quests were so important to Obama, he “chose to ignore Moscow’s serial aggressions and misbehavior.” Afterward, calling Putin to thank him for his help.

Ms Peek concludes by opining that once again Putin has outfoxed Obama. Because while 35 Russian diplomats were evicted and other grave-sounding but ultimately unimportant retaliatory measures were threatened, Putin invited the children of U.S. diplomats to the Kremlin for a holiday party. 

Leading Ms Peek to ask in summation: “Who looks like the adult in the room?”

What’s most interesting is that while all this last minute scrambling by Obama to make Trump’s transition and term in office as miserable as possible goes on, the American public doesn't seem to care very much about it at all.  

Fox’s Dana Blanton reports that for majority of voters, a Fox News poll shows that it was a good year and they’re “feeling optimistic about next year too.”

While some 53 percent say 2016 was a good year for them, the “poll finds 70 percent of Donald Trump voters are optimistic about how things are going. Just 39 percent of those who supported Hillary Clinton feel the same.” 

Indicating that if Trump can deliver as promised, Obama and what’s left of the Democrats are going to have a very hard, perhaps impossible task in gaining favor for their typical negativity and anti-progress stances.    

Bringing us to another favorite subject, which may finally wind up where it belongs, out of the headlines altogether.

RealClearInvestigations James Varney writes @realclearinvestigations.com that researchers who see global warming as something less than a planet-ending calamity expect a a more inclusive approach under Trump.

Georgia Tech scientist Judith Curry wrote this month at her popular Climate Etc. blog: “Here’s to hoping the Age of Trump will herald the demise of climate change dogma, and acceptance of a broader range of perspectives in climate science and our policy options,” 

William Happer, professor emeritus of physics at Princeton University and a member of the National Academy of Sciences, is similarly optimistic. “I think we’re making progress,” Happer said. “I see reassuring signs.” 

However, it was Richard Lindzen, the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Meteorology at MIT and a member of the National Academy of Sciences, who delivered the most analytically correct explanation of the current status of the subject.  

Although he’s long questioned climate change "orthodoxy," he’s also skeptical that a “sunnier outlook” is upon us. Because: “The field is cluttered with entrenched figures who must toe the established line, pointing to a recent congressional report that found the Obama administration got a top Department of Energy scientist fired and generally intimidated the staff to conform with its politicized position on climate change. 

“Remember this was a tiny field, a backwater, and then suddenly you increased the funding to billions and everyone got into it,” Lindzen said. “Even in 1990 no one at MIT called themselves a ‘climate scientist,’ and then all of a sudden everyone was. They only entered it because of the bucks; they realized it was a gravy train. You have to get it back to the people who only care about the science.” 

And there you have it. To explain the warming phenomenon and cries of panic, simply follow the money. It works every time you try it.  

Nonetheless, after reading about real hope that the enormous waste of taxpayer funding on the warming farce will abate, a sophisticated reader's comments set me back considerably. That's because, lacking accredited expert's credentials subjects me to correction from those possessing them. And what this one wrote had me thinking that perhaps I’ve been wrong all along. 

In order to get the full magnitude, one must read John (magnum) Malcom’s comment through to the end, as follows:  

“The Arctic Ocean is warming up, icebergs are growing scarcer and in some places the seals are finding the water too hot, according to a report to the Commerce Department yesterday from Consulate at Bergen Norway 

“Reports from fishermen, seal hunters and explorers all point to a radical change in climate conditions and hitherto unheard-of temperatures in the Arctic zone. 

“Exploration expeditions report that scarcely any ice has been met as far north as 81 degrees 29 minutes. 

“Soundings to a depth of 3,100 meters showed the gulf stream still very warm. 

“Great masses of ice have been replaced by moraines of earth and stones,the report continued, while at many points well known glaciers have entirely disappeared. 

“Very few seals and no white fish are found in the eastern Arctic, while vast shoals of herring and smelts which have never before ventured so far north, are being encountered in the old seal fishing grounds. 

“Within a few years it is predicted that due to the ice melt the sea will rise and make most coast cities uninhabitable.” 

* * *
* * * * * *
“I must apologize. 

“I neglected to mention that this report was from November 2, 1922, as reported by the AP and published in The Washington Post - 93 years ago. 

“This must have been caused by the Model T Ford's emissions or possibly from horse and cattle flatulence?” 

Reader Benof67 responded: “Excellent post, you had me going. Then you posted the date and then I had to laugh, at the ridiculousness of Global Warming.”

Feeling much better now, it's time to say: That's it for today folks. 

Happy New Year to all

Adios