The Impeachment
By Josh Resnek
First there was the Super Bowl, which nearly all of us watched and paid attention to.
Then came the final impeachment speeches in the Senate which many of us didn’t watch or pay much attention to.
It was easier to get a rush out of watching a Mahome’s pass falling into the arms of a speedy receiver than it was listening to Democrats and Republicans going on and on about whether or not the president should be removed from his office.
These folks all talk about the Founding Fathers, most of whom were slave holders, like they were geniuses and saints.
All these senators talk endlessly about honoring their sacred oath to protect the Constitution and American democracy.
That sounds like a very big deal when you think about it – and perhaps it is. Senators all speaking as though their oaths are more important to them than being re-elected, or their families and their fortunes, are all lying to us in one way or another.
The entire impeachment effort is about political hypocrisy and immorality.
It is more about our divided politics than it is about anything else. The Democrats believed they got the president.
The Republicans didn’t agree.
The Democrats all believed they proved their case splendidly and the president would be removed.
They claimed the Republicans were denying the truth, claiming as well they didn’t care about truth or their oaths or about American democracy and the ideals of this great republic.
The Republicans didn’t vote against the president because they didn’t believe in the honesty or the righteousness of the case the Democrats brought against him.
The case was flawed in their eyes – so why listen to anything more than already listened to?
If you are acting as judge and jury, as the senate is acting, then you are allowed to vote for or against.
In the end, this is what impeachment is all about.
It is about senators voting for it or against it.
This is what the Founders understood about a political trial.
I am awakening now in this post impeachment period feeling that the nation will not fall, has not fallen, is in no danger of failing to respond to the real challenge – which is our survival.
If you want justice, look for it in a court of law – not to the US Senate in a political trial.
The Iowa Caucuses
Then came the Iowa Caucus Monday evening.
If you watch CNN as I tend to do, then you noticed Wolf Blitzer and his many colleagues treating the caucus a bit more like a horse race than a political caucus.
There was a countdown on an electronic clock before caucusing began. Then the race was on.
CNN had polling of every kind – polling going in, polling coming out, polling from years past compared with stats from the year present, experts commenting, political discussion ad nauseum and the collective promise…the results will be in soon.
But the results never came in.
The end result for CNN and for all of us who watched?
We all went to sleep.
Awakening Tuesday morning, and checking out our cell phones or our computers for the morning news, we were shocked to learn that the results of the election were flubbed.
Could it have been the Russians fooling with the Iowa Caucus?
The Democrats all moaned privately to one another – what a way to start off the election cycle.
They are right about that.
The election season is off to a very bad start for the democrats.
The 1000 bed hospital Built in ten days in China
The Chinese built a 1000 room hospital to house those suffering from the fast spreading Coronavirus in the city of Wuhan – where the virus is at the epicenter of worldwide worries.
First, the 1000 room hospital built in a week is one of those headlines we read, and then dismiss after saying to ourselves: “Wow, that’s something isn’t it.”
Here in America, it would take three to five years to permit such a facility.
In Wuhan, without so much as a single debate, the 1000 room hospital went up in ten days.
There were no permits. No plans. No planning. No debates. No zoning issues or issues about the environment or OSHA safety requirements. One wonders where all the rubbish from the building job was trucked?
How sturdy and lasting will this new hospital prove to be? Where does its drainage end up?
How is it heated and electrified and air conditioned?
How as it wired?
What kind of medical equipment was placed inside it?
Where are there enough doctors to be found to serve in the facility? And on and on and on.
The building of such a hospital in ten days by the Chinese is more a travesty than a miracle, more about mediocrity and lack of thought than planning and fine finish.
Would any us trade a bed inside that Chinese facility for one in Boston?
Not in a thousand years.
The virus could have a bad effect
The worldwide spread of the Coronavirus could have a very bad effect on the local economy if it continues its worldwide rampage unabated. Right now, efforts to close off China to visitors from outside and to stop Chinese from coming here or anywhere else in the world, makes good sense, although no amount of safety can stop the spread of the virus, which is appearing to be a bit out of control.
There are no cases yet reported in Everett but there is a business down the street that will be very negatively affected by the spread of the virus – and that’s our casino and hotel.
Why is this true?
Because Wynn Corporation relies on its financial well-being from income it receives from its Macau casino and hotel entertainment complex.
Wynn receives more than 70% of its total revenues from Macau. Macau is less than 50 miles from China.
Business has gone into a downward spiral.
Revenues are plunging.
Financial reports are going to be adverse to sound finances.
Bottom line, Wynn Corporation is going to be hustling to meet its obligations, and in a much more serious way than ever before.
This means the Wynn Resorts revenue stream to the city might temporarily be put to a test.
Wynn Corporation isn’t going broke anytime soon.
It is actually too large a company to fail.
But it’s income is going to be severely decreased because of the worldwide travel restrictions being put into place.
With 70% of its income coming from its Chinese marketplace, the short term income flow is looking pretty thin for the gambling giant. Add to this that Encore isn’t yet taking care of its itself and, well, a snowstorm becomes a blizzard, if you know what I mean.
The city must plan accordingly.
Cash is always king.
The city needs to storehouse its cash until this disaster is over.