Who is Roger Stone?

People have been talking about the actions taken against Roger Stone by the FBI recently. So who the heck is this guy? I googled him. Found out there is a Netflix documentary about him. He seems to be a complex guy with a long history.

Let's start with some facts. He has a tattoo of Richard Nixon on his back. He was 19 years old during Watergate. Stone is best known as a political consultant / lobbyist. He created the DC consulting firm Black, Manaford, and Stone. Most says he intimately knows the convention process.

Stone says that everyone in Washington is for sale. He charges money for access to elected officials. He created a PAC to get around the $5k campaign donation limits for candidates. He thinks morals are a weakness. He also says that Julian Assange (of WikiLeaks) is a hero.

Stone has had successes and failures during his long tenure. He was a regional director for Ronald Reagan in 3 states. But he also was an advisor for Dole/Kemp. Recently he is in the limelight for his dealing with the Trump campaign. He recommend that Trump run for president way back in 1987. He served as Trump's chief political advisor in 2015. Based on who you talk to, he was either fired or quit from Trump's camp.

What does Stone say for himself? Well he has a list of rules that he calls Stone's Rules. Here is a notable quote from him: "You have to be outrageous to get noticed."

The Rise of Donald Trump

With the recent charges filed against Roger Stone, I am reminded about how Donald Trump came to be president. You hear a lot of people talking about him wanting to "Make America great again." However on the campaign trail, he also wanted to make America safe again. He wanted to make America strong again.

Donald also stated that the American dream is dead. However he said he would bring it back. He promised a new way. He said he was going to go to DC to drain the swamp. Strong words. Is there going to be follow through on that promise?

At the end of one campaign speech, Donald said to the crowd, "God bless you. I love you." He talked about going back to some basics to get elected. He said, "We are going back to the old way. You vote; you win."

Mitt Romney Past and Present

I was not excited that Romney won the 2012 Republican nomination for presidential candidate. To tell the truth, I did not know much about the guy. His PR must not have been too good to start. Then I heard a disturbing story about Romney's high school antics.

Romney allegedly got a gang of high school students together to terrorize some poor schmuck. They held the guy down as Romney shaved off his long hair. It was your basic bullying/harrasment/hazing. That was a long time ago. The other perpetrators showed remorse for their actions. Romney just said he could not recall the incident.

I guess Romney is doomed either way in this scenario. He showed that he could respond with a typical slimey politician response. However I wish he would have come clean, accepted responsibility, and shown some spine. It may have alienated some voters. But it would have solidified my own.

It takes a big man to openly admit some mistakes. An apology would have been the response of a brave man. Romney only could provide a politcal and cowardly response. I am a die hard Republican. But this candidate has me thinking I will probably vote for Obama in 2012. That's how you know we have backed the wrong nominee.

Sonya Sotomayor

It looks like Sonya Sotomayor will be sworn in as a supreme court justice. This was a good move by Obama. It also uplifts the Latino community. I don't think this decision was made lightly.

Here is the bottom line. Sotomayor has a lot of experience on both sides of the bench. I had never heard of her before her nomination. But I have no qualms with it.

Now some other decisions by Obama might be questionable. But just not this one. Good luck Sonya. George Lopez gots your back.

Swing Vote

I just watched the movie Swing Vote. It had an interesting scenario. A presidential election came down to a tie in electoral votes. One election district became the one which would decide who got the rest of the electoral votes to win the election. Furthermore the the district count was equal with one vote making the decision.

This is an interesting scenario. I am not sure how accurate it is regarding the electoral votes. However I do know that there comes a time when a certain vote is the one that counts. You can't know for sure beforehand which vote that will be. Therefore it makes sense to make sure you vote in the election.

In the past I used to think my vote did not count for much. I registered to vote. But I have skipped a presidential election before because I was busy. These days I truly believe every vote counts.

I take a little time off on election day to make sure I get to the polls and cast my vote. This is not always easy to do given a hectic work schedule. However I make it my priority. You should too. And while you are at it, consider watching Swing Vote. Kevin Costner does pretty good a "Bud", the man who casts the deciding vote.

Former President Bush

Former president George Bush is leading a quiet life down in Texas. I had thought he would retire to his ranch. He and his wife Laura do spend time on his ranch. However they bought a new house down in Texas. That is where they currently live.

Bush is planning write a book that should be available in stores in a year or so. The book will cover the eight years he was in office. The goal of the book is to provide insight for analysts in years to come when the judge his presidency.

George Bush does not comment much on sitting president Barrack Obama, except to say that Obama has his silent support. Bush occasionally does speeches to raise money for a future project which I may blog about later.

Cybersecurity Act of 2009

There is a new bill being discussed on Capitol Hill. It is the known as the Cybersecurity Act of 2009. People are worried because they say it gives the president the authority to shut down the Internet if there is a cybersecurity emergency. I was concerned about this myself. So I read through the entire draft of the bill.

The overall goal is to protect the economy from cybersecurity threats. This is a bill covering many areas. Here are some highlights that I found interesting. It would establish a national certification program for security professionals. It would also require professionals to be licensed in a couple years before doing business in the cybersecurity field.

This bill also discusses creation of a new secure domain name addressing system (DNS). I assume this would protect against people spoofing domain names they do not legally have. There is also to be a federal cyber scholarship to be established by the National Science Foundation (NSF). There is also to be cybersecurity competitions administered by the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST).

It will be most interesting to see whether this bill passes as written. For more information on cybersecurity in general, consult the Black of Hat blog.