SO LONG, SUCKERS!
Taizhou
It’s Party Congress time in China, so time to look at President Hu Jintao and the roots of his raising. Return with us once more to Taizhou!
Al Jazeera found not a lot, although so far the town has avoided building a museumized version of his house.
Less so with Deng Xiaoping 
and Mao Zedong.
It all ended well at the Party Congress:
“ Hu Jintao mentions “democracy” more than 60 times in landmark report“
The Republican field continues to try on Ronald Reagan’s clothes, and carry his pen, while denouncing usurpers who are not worthy of the mantel.
But do they want the entire Reagan package? How ’bout the space aliens part?
“Perhaps we need some outside, universal threat to make us recognize this common bond. I occasionally think how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world. And yet, I ask you, is not an alien force already among us? What could be more alien to the universal aspirations of our peoples than war and the threat of war?”
9/21/87 United Nations*
Some remember. 
*Extra Bonus fun in this speech: Eight years after Iraq invaded Iran, Reagan gives the aggressor [that Saddam guy] a rhetorical pass and calls on Iran to accept the UN’s terms for a cease fire or face “enforcement measures.” Why They Hate Us: The Middle Years
The Washington Post has a look at presidential history making in the making in Russia, where Vladimar Putin’s camp followers have taken to analogising the post-Soviet strongman with Franklin Roosevelt.
“FDR, according to a consistent story line here, tamed power-hungry tycoons to save his country from the Great Depression. He restored his people’s spirits while leading the United States for 12 years and spearheaded the struggle against “outside enemies,” as the mass-circulation tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda put it.
Translation: Putin rescued an enfeebled Russia from the chaos of the 1990s, banished or imprisoned dangerous billionaires [unclear if he “welcomes their hatred.”]and regained respect for his newly enriched country on the world stage.
And Roosevelt ran for a third and fourth term because his country needed him. Translation: Putin, too, should stay. ”
If Putin is Roosevelt does that make Bush Stalin? 
Let’s look at the stats:
Underestimated by colleagues?
Penchant for secrecy?
Likes to dress up in uniform? 
The Clinton of Public Service in Little Rock continues it’s very broadminded approach to inviting speakers.
In the wake of an appearance by former White House Counsel Harriet Miers, skipping lightly ahead of Congressional process servers, The Clinton is to host Federal Appeals Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
Kavanaugh is a loyal Republican soldier. He was a deputy to Clinton Special Prosecutor Ken Starr and worked in the Bush White House. 
His truthfulness about participating in Bush Administration torture and secret detention policies are being questioned.
Perhaps the invitation is a tip of the hat to a Ken Starr deputy who the Washington Post reported wanted to keep the especially dirty parts out of Starr’s report.
Coming up at the Nixon Library, the Sixth annual Fall Wine Classic!
Perhaps not the most sensitive use of the venue given his history:
and Mao Zedong.
