We Stand by It      
       
   We wrote yesterday's opinion a couple days ago, played with it as we always do, then published the last draft for you Thursday morning. 

   How does a retiree with no insider knowledge develop strong conclusions? Maybe...watching and reading for 30 years painted a picture. Never mind which politicians are in the news in any given period. 

   Okay. President Threat, i.e., Trump, is the exception.  

   Now this: On Wednesday evening - Thursday's Views already written - we began Peter Schweizer's new book, Profiles in Corruption. After only 35 pages we already felt confirmed and then some.

   Schweizer has written before about people in both parties. Here, his team over seven months investigated selected politicians who want(ed) us to give them even more power (and wealth) than they already have. 

   You've been watching most of them on TV this election year. 

   A couple thoughts: Unfortunately, voters can't truly, fully evaluate any presidential candidates by listening to their speeches or watching their debates. We only know what they allow us to know. Columnists and commentators may be biased in either direction. Hold at arms length. 

   Including Fox News, all news media, by covering only the "horse race," doesn't reveal what's going on in the stables. News people on daily beats don't have time or resources to investigate. Books they may publish are mostly written by professional writers.  

   Investigators like Schweizer expose the "swamp." It is not isolated. Tributaries begin in cities and states, each "river" winding its way to sea level where the most money and power lies. There is no continental divide. But not all rivers are the same. 

      Jimmy