Archives for September 2019

Day 998 Imagine If You Will
– In The Land of Shattered Dreams
Monday September 30, 2019
401 Days until the 2020 election and 483 days until the Inauguration

Imagine you are the newly elected President of the Ukraine and you get a phone call from Donald Trump.

You are new to politics. You know who Donald Trump is – obviously. You probably have some ideas what the Untied States of America is like. You’ve probably got some notion that America is different. That people there are freer. That they seem to be more prosperous. You know that the country is powerful and has sworn to protect your country. You’ve probably heard that a lot of money for weapons is due to come to your country from the United States, and here is their president calling to congratulate you.
It must have felt thrilling and quite an honor.
Then after a brief congratulations Mr. Trump is asking you for a favor.
“What is this?” you must be asking yourself. “Is this not like in my country in the old days? In the days before I was elected? Was I not elected to get rid of such corruption? And here is the president of The United States asking that I do a little something for him?”
He knows he must be careful because without the U.S. help Russia could crush his country.
You try and understand what the favor is that Mr. Trump is asking for. It’s easy to know he is asking for a favor because he keeps repeatedly making the request.
Stunned you try and guide the conversation back to your needs, that is your countries’ needs. You know you need more anti-tank weapons. But Mr. Trump seems uninterested in your needs. Now he is talking about a server in the Ukraine called Crowd Strike. What is that? You’ve never heard about Crowd Strike. Maybe, you tell him you will look into it. You say you are ready to buy more Dragon anti-tank missiles. He ignores the comment and is now talking about someone named Biden. He wants you to manufacture or find Kompromat on this person Biden. His name is Joe. He has a son named Hunter. The son worked for the Ukraine gas company. Ah yes, you know the company. It was involved in a big Russian scheme to skim money. Maybe, this Hunter was involved? Mr. Trump wants you to connect this son to this man Joe Biden. Why would Mr. Trump want that?
Then you think about all this and you realize that Mr. Joe Biden is running to become President of the United States, a rival of Mr. Trump. Ah, now you understand. This is like the old days. You thought America was different, but it is no different than the corrupt regimes in your country that came before you.
You have to be careful. You need the American money. You need their weapon systems.
Now Mr. Trump is saying he hopes you can work something out with Mr. Putin. Does he not realize that Mr. Putin has invaded his country? Stolen lands? Killed his people? What can you tell Mr. Trump? You try to be noncommittal. You tell him you will see. You will look into it.
Mr. Trump mentions that he and America have been very good to him and his country and that he, Mr. Trump, wants a little favor in return. How many times is he going to say this? Can’t we talk about anything else? You tell Mr. Trump

you will see what you can do. He tells you that your military aid is dependent on it. He mentions this Crowd Strike server again. You have heard of it, of course, in the Russian propaganda, but no where else. You assure Mr. Trump you will look into it and do what you can. You remind him of the Dragon missiles. He reminds you that he and America have been very good to him and his country. He thanks you.
The phone goes dead. There is a buzz of dial tone.
You stare at the receiver. Stunned.

401 Days until the 2020 election and 483 days until the Inauguration

PS Me with my new friend. Can we put some Dragon missiles under his wings?

Day 996 What Is Left to Say?
Saturday September 28, 2019
403 Days until the 2020 election and 485 days until the Inauguration

You know that point in the romance movie where the couple is breaking up. All the bitterness and acrimony is gone. They are left with a sense of emptiness. There is nothing left. Nothing left to say. She says, “Good bye,” and he says, “Okay.” Yeah, that’s kind of where we are at here.

The president has committed an impeachable offense, He has committed a crime. It turns out he has committed multiple crimes and multiple impeachable offenses, and he has done this since his very first days in office. Some people are saying or hinting or suggesting that they didn’t know to which I say verily unto thee BULL SHIT. You knew. You didn’t want to BELIEVE. You wanted to think that he was going to make America great again. He didn’t. He made it worse, much worse. Worse for you, worse for me, worse for others, worse for the economy, worse for the nation, worse for the world.
Now we will see the charges stack up, and if there is any justice he will spend the rest of his life in jail.

Apparently, Republican Senators can’t read or are so busy grubbing for money that they don’t have time to read. I think they have all said that they haven’t read the whistle blower complaint. Hey, there’s an audio of it. You can listen to it while you work out in that gym we pay for. You know the one. It’s next to the Michelle Bachman abortion clinic. I mean your gold plated health care facility. What? Are you too busy trying to deny the rest of us health care and jacking up prescription drug prices that you don’t have time?

It will be interesting to see how long the jackals stay in the pen. At some point the dam will break and the hounds will come baying out. I like the Ivanka inspired ankle fashion bracelets, but I’m thinking maybe the kind Mussolini last wore would be better. Too harsh? Oh sorry.

Meanwhile, I’m trying to get a rock climbing event going. CLIMB THE WALL!
Our president said rock climber weren’t able to climb his wall. Okay, he lies. He has no idea is my guess. But a bunch of Mexican folk climbed it. A bunch of women climbed it. I think it’s time to get a big old rock climbing event going. The current record to climb the wall is 12.87 seconds. About the amount of time it takes to unload a large capacity gun clip, reload and start firing again.
Can we beat that time?
I think so. It’s that can-do spirit that we need back in American life.
We need politicians who are willing to solve problems that we have and not be bought out by special interests. We need our country back. Back from the abyss.
Don’t get me wrong, I think we should put a brick on the gas pedal of the clown car stuffed with all these clueless heinous mean spirited grifters and racists and send them over the edge Thelma and Louise style.

403 Days until the 2020 election and 485 days until the Inauguration

PS Trump Tower Chicago – This may be the site of the next Bryce Holliwell live report!

Day 991   Rubicon? Ruby Slippers. 

Monday September 23, 2019

408 Days until the 2020 election and 490 days until the Inauguration

&

Day 993

Wednesday September 25, 2019

406 Days until the 2020 election and 488 days until the Inauguration

It is coming so fast and furious I don’t have time to get one screed out before other facts get in the way.

I liken it to ice piling up on the shore of a lake. Pushed by wind, these massive sheets and blocks stack up one against one another, inexorably leaning in one direction.

For some reason people are calling for Trump’s impeachment. Why? Well, he, Trump, lied. (Wow, who knew?) He threatened extortion on a foreign leader. He sent Rudy, and Mike Pompeo and Mike Pence to Ukraine all to ask the new leader to look into Joe Biden. and his son Hunter. He held up money going to Ukraine the day after Mueller testified. He figured he was in the clear.

Now we’ve got a whistle blower who is reputed to be John Bolton.

Oh boy, can you imagine if it is John?

I don’t subscribe to anything Bolton thinks is a good idea, but people who know him (like Howard Dean) say Bolton is smart.

What match is Trump against Bolton?

The White House has released notes on the call with the Ukrainian leader. It’s called a transcript, but it’s not a transcript in the usual sense of the word. It’s not a word for word transcription of what was said. It is notes of the key points of the conversation – supposedly. This is, however, what the government typically does on these calls, so if what Trump releases is the notes, we’ll know in general what was said, but that is it.

And the White House released what it calls the transcript. Some were suspecting that the White House was going to “clean it up.”  I, for one, am sure they did. If this is the cleaned up version – boy oh boy – are they in trouble.

Okay, the transcript implicates the president, the Vice President, the Attorney General, and Rudy.

I still think the quote of the week, maybe the month, is Elise Jordan. When asked about Giuliani she said, “It’s time to put drunk grandpa back in hospice.” (might not be exactly right, but that’s the substance.)

Trump says he did nothing wrong. That he asked the newly elected head of Ukraine to look into Joe Biden and his son Hunter – that’s all. He offered to send Barr and Giuliani and Pompeo over to help out. That’s all. No big deal. He wants to make sure Ukraine looks into corruption, that’s all.

I don’t know about you, but I’m for it. I stand behind the president. Yes sir.  

Because I think what the Ukrainian leader will find is that Paul Manafort, Mike Flynn, Rick Gates, and a host of lesser lights are up to their necks in murky corruption. So bring it on!

406 Days until the 2020 election and 488 days until the Inauguration

Day 990 A Sunday Wrap up and Bitchin’

Sunday September 22, 2019

409 Days until the 2020 election and 491 days until the Inauguration

Well, what a week, huh? I mean it’s not often that you get to see a president openly commit crimes, but this week we came close.

He said he did nothing wrong and besides and I quote, his “crimes can’t be investigated while he’s president.” 

Well, do I even have to run it through the Trump-o-meter? He already said he committed crimes.

Oh what the heck, let’s do it:

In regards to Ukraine “I did nothing wrong” -> Trump-o-meter says -> “Holy snikeys I did everything wrong.”

He claimed he didn’t collude (shall we go round about ‘collusion is not a crime? No? Okay.’)

According to commentators*

* (if Trump did what the whistleblower alleges)

then he committed three crimes.

According to prosecutors who have tried these kind of cases this is not correct.

If *(see above) then Trump committed four crimes.

These include: extortion, and not colluding but offering to collude, and two violations of campaign finance laws.

This sort of behavior is likened to a crime boss. They, the crime boss or Trump, never say explicitly what to do. They just suggest what you might want to do, and everyone understands. Hitler never said exactly what to do either; he just suggested. Actually, I think he did tell someone to implement the final solution, which was understood.

Apparently, the Founding Fathers never thought they’d have a Manchurian candidate in the White House. This is worse, because it’s not someone who has been brainwashed…Wait, I take that back. How about “so naive and stupid…” Yeah, let’s go with that. I mean it’s been their defense many times. “Oh we couldn’t have colluded with the Russians because we weren’t that smart …” etc.

Now in a fascinating twist of the law various legal scholars such as William Barr, the president’s personal lawyer and sometimes AG, and Sean Hannity have developed a unique legal interpretation and strategy that is – because the whistleblower statute is not subject to legal review if the IG says the complaint isn’t a true whistle blower complaint then the whistle blower is not covered by the law. Sean goes further to suggest that this person has committed a crime. This should go a long way in silencing anymore pesky whistleblowers. The reasoning behind the “this is not a whistleblower complaint” is that the person blew the whistle on the president. And the thinking goes the president can’t be indicted or even investigated while in office ipso facto it’s not a complaint, and the whistle blower isn’t one and therefore we can go after him and hang him or whatever.

This kind of reasoning is so outside the norm that it’s hard to know where to begin.

Nancy Pelosi is talking about adding some laws to make it very clear that the president can be investigated and indicted while in office, among other things.

Then I get to the right wing nutty headlines I have pushed back on this week.

One was a graph that showed how many people were killed every day by cars, drug overdoses, etc. Rifles were at one a day. I replied that guns kill over 105 a day. Boy, oh boy, what an idiot I am. The graph said “RIFLES.” Can’t I read? Typical, left wing not understanding blah blah blah. I said the graph was disingenuous. They said “Just because you didn’t understand doesn’t make it disingenuous. blah blah blah.” Okay, so they missed my point entirely. I mean if I said “walk the dog would I have to explain I didn’t mean I moved the dogs legs?” If you are going to put up a graph with lots of general categories like car deaths, overdose deaths and then throw in a specific ie rifles then it’s disingenuous. We aren’t really comparing the same sorts of things. imho.

Then there was the headline that “The Dems said males could compete in women’s games” Not really, It was a resolution saying people should compete in a competition with the sex they identified with. This is a murky area to be sure, but not for my right wing friends! They are all over it. There are people of mixed genitalia and people who appear to be women but have higher levels of testosterone than most women and are banned from competing as women. It’s a murky area. Saying you should go where you feel comfortable is a step in some recognition that it’s murky and an attempt to accommodate. Hey, I’ve got it. Let’s hunt them down and crucify them. Who? Anyone who’s not like me! Who gets to decide? Ask the guy at Auschwitz who separated folks between workers and the gas chamber. 

But then again, here are a few headlines for them to ponder:

“Christians support Rape and Incest,”

“Right Wing Support Right of Village Idiot to Own an AK-47,”

“Right to Lifers support Murder of Women.”

“Trump is the Second Coming”

Have a nice day.

409 Days until the 2020 election and 491 days until the Inauguration

Caption says ”Trump visited the US border this week & said rock climbers tested his wall & agreed it cannot be climbed. But Mexicans have turned Trump’s wall into a tourist attraction & are playing a game to see who can climb it the fastest, no ladders or ropes needed. The record is 45 seconds”

 

Well, Mexicans aren’t rock climbers I guess.

Friday September 20, 2019

411 Days until the 2020 election and 493 days until the Inauguration

Aren’t we still at war with terrorism? Or drugs? Don’t we have to be at war to declare someone to be treasonous? Isn’t the punishment for treason death? I’m just asking.

The crimes are coming so fast that I can’t even get out a screed before the next news bit is upon us. 

So the other day or so, there was a news item that said that there was a whistle blower that was in the intel community that filed a whistle-blower complaint. That it was deemed “urgent and credible” and therefore should be given immediately to the House Intel Committee. At that point there was speculation about who the person was that the whistle was being blown on and what they had done. We knew that a promise had been made to a foreign leader.

I immediately thought it was Trump telling Putin that he wasn’t going to give the $251M to Ukraine to defend itself against Russia. I was partially right.

It seems that it was Trump (with a Candlestick in the Ballroom – no wait) but with the leader of the Ukraine threatening to withhold the $251M unless said leader investigated Joe and Bo Biden.

Okay, this is a high crime. This is an impeachable offense. Maybe, not treason but I would say there’s a pattern of behavior here that is not in the best interest of the United States. Let’s not forget the money the president cancelled that was supposed to go to strengthening countries defenses against Russian aggression. Who is our president working for? Not the people.

In other news, Moscow Mitch has decided to attach his name to a bill that would give money to states trying to defend their elections against attack. 

The Trump administration has decided to release the money to Ukraine.

This is what it has come to. Our leaders have to be berated and shamed into doing the right and lawful thing.

But not all the time. When it comes to Trump’s misdeeds and screwups William Barr or Rudy Giuliani will do whatever it takes to defend or stonewall. 

Elise Jordan had the perfect comment on Rudy’s latest gaff (Can we say gaff when it’s not Joe Biden?)  Lat night heRudysaid he asked Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden. Seconds later he said he didn’t say that, then he said he did.

Elise Jordan said that, “Drunk Grandpa ought to be put in hospice.”

I think that about sums it up.

It also shows a generational divide.

Bill DeBlasio is ending his campaign for president. Good move. He realizes he’s not catching on, for whatever reason. Two things of interest. New York City is seeing the lowest crime rates since the 1950s. Why? DeBlasio thinks it has something to do with his Pre-K programs and other initiatives to help people. He was reminded of his comments on Joe Biden when he entered the race. He said that Biden was a moderate and that the party had become “more progressive.” 

I think he is correct. 

We’ve tried “Republican Lite” and moderation. It hasn’t worked. History tells us that big changes are created quickly and by bold action, not timidity.

People are struggling. They need help, lots of help, not little baby steps.

In other news, there was a piece about Guatemala. The reporters went way out in the boonies to interview children in a school. They go to school because the school provides them with a meal. The kids are hungry. Climate change has effected their environment and they are starving. When the children were asked did they know anyone who had gone to the United States. Every hand went up.

If people are starving walls and intimidation won’t matter.

PS The Sandy Hook Parents have made a video called Back-To-School Essentials

You have to see it.

It’s the reality in our country today.

Here’s a link. The YouTube link wouldn’t work:

https://www.sandyhookpromise.org/campaign

411 Days until the 2020 election and 493 days until the Inauguration

PS How to use a skateboard to bust out a window to escape and active shooter.