As in life, the death of Fidel Castro invokes controversy.  Many in Miami are celebrating his death while some others mourn it.   There are condemnation of him from leaders.  But there was also admiration such as that expressed by Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada.  Trudeau called Castro a great leader for his people who improved literacy and healthcare in Cuba.  While it is true that for a third world country, Cuba did accomplished a lot under Castro in terms of education and healthcare, it is wrong to simply admired him for these accomplishments.  If you are going to mention the good, you must mention the bad.  Castro was a brutal dictator who killed many of his enemies.  Like many dictators, he also ran the country's economy to the ground.  So I have a lot of trouble with Trudeau's eulogy of Castro.

On the other hand, Marco Rubio and other conservatives not only criticized Trudeau but also criticized Obama for not mentioning the crimes that Castro committed.  The difference is that Obama did not call Castro a great or even good leader for his country.  He did not list Castro's accomplishments like Trudeau did nor expressed any admiration.  He simply mentioned that this is a passing of an era and that the American people look forward to work with the Cuban people to improve relationships.  It is similar to the statement made by president Ford upon the death of Mao Zedong.  There is no point to rehashing the negative on a day that someone died.  It would not help China-U.S. relations by calling out the failures and crimes of Mao.  Nor does it help Cuba-U.S. relations going forward by mentioning the failures and crimes of Castro.  I think both Ford and Obama did the right thing.

I understand that there are many people who are happy to see Trump get elected.  I can understand the people who hated Clinton and voted for what they think is the less of two evils.  But there are people who are gleeful that Trump won.  Among them are David Duke and the white nationalists movement.  On the international front there are also supporters of Trump.  Among them are Putin, Kim Jong-Un  and Robert Mugabe.  I am not saying that Trump is like any of these people but you have to wonder why they are so happy that he is elected.

Romney met with Trump to supposedly discuss about Romney becoming secretary of state.  I had said in the past that I would be ok with McCain or Romney becoming president because they are honorable men.  If Romney takes a cabinet position in Trump's administration, my opinion of Romney will take a big dive.  After all he called Trump a fraud and that Trump will lead to trickle down racism.  This is a person he is willing to work for?  After Trump called him a disaster candidate and that Romney would have knelt down if Trump had asked him to?  Come on Mitt, have a little backbone.

Saw Trump on 60 Minutes tonight.  He was less bombastic than he ever was.  Perhaps the realization that winning the election is the easy part and that he now has to govern.  He had spent 90 minutes at the White House with Obama.  A meeting that was supposed to last 15 minutes.  He called Obama a good and intelligent man.  Maybe that is just political talk but I suspect that deep inside he knows that Obama is intelligent and that he has done a good job in his 8 years.  Maybe Obama even lectured him on some issues.  Trump probably realizes now that being bombastic and bullying will not get the job done.

There are some issues that Trump already is showing signs of backing down before he even takes office.  There is no chance that he will appoint a special prosecutor to try to put Clinton in jail as he said he would during the campaign.  He will not try to take away gay rights that have been won in the courts despite his promise of appointing conservative justices to the Supreme Court.  Even with Obamacare he is softening.  He says he will not take away the right of coverage for people with  preexisting conditions.  Of course how are you going to cover these people if then you don't have a mandate for everyone to buy in?  The two highlights of Obamacare go hand in hand.  If you keep one and not the other the costs will skyrocket.  And by keeping some of Obamacare, you are not really repealing it altogether are you?

Some of the positions that he has not back tracked are also will not be doable.  He will not be able to build a wall and have Mexico pay for it.  With control of both houses of Congress, he certainly can enact tax cuts as he promised.  But if he has cuts such as 35% for the middle class and decrease of business tax from 35 to 15% then he will be in such deficit that he will not be able to rebuild the infrastructure and increase military spending.  Mitch McConeel already said that rebuilding the infrastructure is not a priority.  Of course it will not be:  there will be no money for it.

I am sure more promises made to the conservative, blue collar workers in the rust belt will not be kept.  There is no reason for the liberals to be out protesting.  Trump's supporters will have buyers' remorse soon enough.

As promised I am writing a blog on election night.  I am too angry to write much but I am keeping my promise because I am sure our next president will not.

It looks like America has elected a snake oil salesman.  I guess the majority buys the rhetoric that Trump will build a wall and Mexico will pay for it.  The majority is also naive to believe that he will bring manufacturing jobs from abroad when his own company outsources to China and other places.  So if you believe all this nonsense, I have ocean view property in Cleveland I want to sell you.


I do know the sun will rise tomorrow.   As an immigrant, like all those who came before me, I will survive this crazy man's "leadership".  Unlike Trump, I believe the strength of this country is people like me who came from elsewhere and prosper in this country, not people like him who blame immigrants for the troubles of this country.  Just wake me up in four years and we can vote him out of office.