High Gear November 14 2016

Posted by Rosalie McCloud on Nov 14, 2016
 

Pledge of Allegiance & Invocation

Fog gently floated over the golf course and many cars delivered enthusiastic golfers.  What’s a little fog?  Parking was still plentiful on our side of the building, so an enthusiastic number of Rotarians arrived and parked with ease.  We were greeted by bright natural light and a fabulous buffet.  All was perfect, except that our President is in Canada.  Oh, just on vacation.  We carried on with immediate past President Barry Parker presiding. 
   
Our esteemed accounting professional Marianne Kristofferson delivered the invocation, to wit:  Bless this bunch, About to munch, Upon their lunch. Well said and to the point. 
 

Guests and Visiting Rotarians

We finally got to meet the lovely Sophie Mahnche, our exchange student enjoying her visit in the home of Barry and Dawn Parker.  Welcome, Sophie!  Guest and today’s speaker was John Rothmann of KGO Radio, introduced by Julius Aires and Karen Malekos-Smith.  Additional guests introduced by Karen Malekos-Smith were Carole Middleton, looking us over, and Allison Miller of RotaryClub of Foster City.
 
Visiting from the San Mateo Club was Rosemary Azem.  Pete Wanger introduced Dr. Tom Addison who is a member of Pete Wanger’s Barbershop Quartet.    Pierre Bouquet introduced John Manning from San Francisco Rotary #2.  Nice to see Jordana Peil with us today. Welcome home!
Emily Matthews introduced morphing guest Wendi Upchurch.  Wendi becomes a Rotarian later in the meeting and received her round badge! 
 
Congratulations! Barry Parker presented a square badge to Stacey Longwich.  

Program

Julius Aires and Karen Malekos-Smith introduced our speaker, John Rothman, a regular, substitute  talk-show host on KGO in the later evening. John is returning to Rotary to update us about this amazing election. John is a frequent lecturer on American politics and the Presidency, and has spoken at over 150 campuses throughout the United States, Canada, and Israel. He has been involved in many campaigns including Richard Nixon’s in 1968. 
Rothmann is co-author of the book Icon of Evil, released in 2008.  John has been a KGO host intermittently since 1996.  Check out his podcast site www.fightforthewhitehouse.us.
He was on duty election night and predicted that the new President would be called by 6:00 California time.  The networks were reluctant to call the election, so it was a long night. Truth is the Rust Belt flipped: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Ohio did not follow the script. John says Hillary will have won the popular vote at the end of the counting, all due to California. Without California,  President-elect Trump wins the popular vote as well as the electoral count.
It’s over on December 19.  The Electoral College certifies the election. What will President Trump do about his campaign promises:  There won’t be a brick and mortar wall.  Instead there will be greatly increased border security via drones, guards, and electronics.  Immediate plans are to deport over two million criminal types; other presidents have deported many times that number.
President Trump wants to retain two aspects of the Affordable Healthcare Act; coverage of children to age 26 and continuing coverage for the chronically ill.   Paul Ryan is looking to address changes to Medicare and Social Security, mostly as related to entitlements.
President Nixon related that 70% of a President’s time is spent on foreign relations.  A president can initiate a nuclear attack unilaterally.  President-elect Trump has no international relations experience and minimal knowledge; he will need to enlist the assistance of his cabinet.  The world is nervous because they don’t know him.  The NATO Allies are uneasy because of the apparent influence of Putin.  The President-elect has pledged to move the Israeli Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. President-elect Trump must answer to his campaign rhetoric.  Running for president is different than being president.  He will need to surround himself with people the world will trust; the world looks to the President of the United States for leadership. He has pledged to move the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.  Reince Priebus has been an effective Republican Party Leader; he will now serve as Chief of Staff.  For Secretary of State,  Newt Gingrich or John Bolton may be considered. The Democrats are in disarray.  There is no titular head at present.  Howard Dean has been mentioned. A Rotarian mentioned there are 90 or so lawsuits pending, the most dramatic being against Trump University.  What happens if our president loses the lawsuit?  Nothing; not a criminal charge. Talks of a third political party?  The last time a third political party  was tried, the candidate was Abe Lincoln.  Russia is the big story, going forward.  This president and the next must keep dialogue open with Mr. Putin.  There can’t be a nuclear war, so threats are useless.  Putin will probably will control Crimea. The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees citizenship of a child born in the United States, regardless of the immigration status of the parents.  It’s the law. There are limits on presidential power.  The president is not the king.  Yes, the United States is $50 billion in debit, but we are still the richest country in the world with oil and gas, land, a constantly-expanding economy.  Yes, there is some worry about an economic bubble.  If an economic reversal occurs, the party in power will be blamed. Wow!  Barry enthusiastically thanked John and  invited him to return in a few to let us know what happens!
 
DATES TO REMEMBER
November 16  - 4:30    Board Meeting at City Hall
November 17  -  6:00  Kick off the Holiday Season with Fun Fairies  
November 21 - Hilton San Francisco Airport Bayfront “Three Amigos”
Happy Birthday: 15th Suzanne Juptner and Dave Mandell, 16th Mark Lucchesi 22nd  Lage Andersen