The Political Page, T+278 -- October 26, 2017

Updates

Later, 3:11 p.m. Central Time: see comments -- a reader didn't necessarily disagree with me nor was he an apologist for Germany with regard to their energy problems but .... And then a reader sent a link to this article: BNP Paribas ends funding of oil and natural gas companies. The bank says it will stop working with oil and gas firms involved in shale or oil sands as it looks to finance green energy startups. This validates my world view that the EU continues to commit energy suicide. But it's a conscious decision.

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Original Post

Hardly any fanfare ... so far: JFK assassination tapes to be released today. We should start seeing stories over the weekend and into next week.

Another one bites the dust: a regular over at "Talking Joe" won't be talking with Joe for awhile -- at least not on air. Five women accuse highly-acclaimed journalist Mark Halpern of sexual harassment; he confesses; "steps back" from day-to-day work. He says he "now understands" -- yes, I bet he does.

The list grows. No links. Stories everywhere.

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Germany

One could devote a whole blog to Germany's energy problems. A reader has sent me a number of links to various articles showing how bad things really are (and getting worse) in Germany. I read a fair amount of material on Germany's energy challenges late last night. But this data point jumped out at me, buried in a very technical journal touting the success Germany is having with its renewable energy program (wink, wink):

About 90% of hard coal was imported, in comparison with 98% import dependence for oil and 90% for natural gas.

Imagine if Hillary had been elected, and then served two full terms, and banned fracking as she promised during her campaign, and put a lot of miners out of work, as she also promised -- what would the US look like if US energy needs were those of Germany? What would the US look like if the US imported 98% of its oil, 90% of its natural gas, 90% of its hard coal? Wow. Not a pretty picture. But I digress. The bigger story is what is Germany going to look like five years from now? Or 15 years from now. This is how the German coal sector answer that question (see if you can spot the insanity in the following graph -- hint: there is more than one answer):

It was a bit difficult wading through all the data but it appears that not only will Germany require more coal than expected, but that Germany will have to rely on "dirtier" coal: lignite.

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Another Snowflake

Jeff Flake's "resignation" speech was pathetic. This had nothing to do with "integrity." He knew he was going to lose in the primary. Losing in a primary -- at this point in life -- unless he was a "phoenix-like Richard Nixon" -- would have been the end of his political career.

Born in Snowflake, Arizona, he is living up to his namesake and his birthplace, something I've not seen before. But I digress.

His entire life, except for fulfilling a two-year Mormon missionary mandate has been in politics. Losing a primary race now would have pretty much ended his political career. By retreating now, to fight again another day, allows him to re-build, and then run for president in 2020. Perhaps a Corker-Flake ticket. I can see the slogan now: "Put a cork in it. Be a flake. Vote Corker-Flake." He won't come close to winning but if Trump is knocked out, Flake positions himself for some high government position, perhaps Secretary of Defense. Or HUD.

Which reminds me of a joke our oldest granddaughter told me last night. Two brothers took divergent paths: one went to sea; the other became vice president of the US. Neither was ever heard of again.

Something tells me Flake won't disappear. My hunch is he writes a book, "Profiles in Courage for the 21st Century."

You can say a lot of things about Trump, but he's not a quitter. That's how Flake's resignation speech sounded to me. A quitter.