Rick Kinnaird

Wednesday December 2, 2020 (23 days til Christmas)

Election Day -29

50 Days until the Inauguration on January 20, 2021

This is a weird time for sure.

But let me tell you what I know.

I know that the stock market is kind of crazy right now and that’s good and bad. If you’ve been investing for awhile you’ll probably recognize the symptoms. If you bought something and it went up you feel like a genius. Five minutes later, or the next day, it’s down and you feel like an idiot and you question yourself and wish you hadn’t done whatever it was. This is normal. The hard part about investing is that you are all alone. No one tells you exactly when to buy or sell. In hindsight it’s easy to see what you should have done, but in the moment is totally different. 

I encourage folks to take control of their investments and do something. Try things. Find your comfort level. Realize only a few things will really really work out, and realize – that’s okay.

I could go on but eh. (Write me privately if you want more.)

Moving on. The legal stuff in Washington. Okay, there are two things to concern ourselves with here. One is that Satan has shown that there are weaknesses in our democracy. He is a stress tester of our system for sure. The question becomes, “Are we going to shore up those things or not?” If we don’t someone will take advantage of them in the future. Donald led the way, others will try and follow.

The second part of this is what is going on legally with Satan and his gang? 

Some rats are trying to jump off the ship or at least scuttle along the deck to be poised by the handrail. Others are moving into the wheelhouse looking for a pardon. 

But what ho! Seems there is an on-going investigation into a – get this – “bribery for pardon” scheme. A court filing has been made public, most of it is redacted, but those words “bribery for pardon scheme” are clear as day, and the filing talks about a raid or maybe two in which hard drives, iPhones, laptops and the like were seized. The question before the judge, “Was this attorney client privilege stuff or not?” She ruled it was not, and therefore prosecutors can get there hands on this evidence and go after the wrong-doers, if they choose. Will they? Will the current prosecutors in the Barr Justice Department go after whomever it is? Will the Biden folks? 

Let’s wait and see. I think the spit of justice may turn slowly here.

Also, speaking of pardons. Out of the blue there is talk that Satan may pardon himself, his kids, and his son-in-law. The discussion currently is “Pardon them for what crime?” or can he make it blanket? Answer “Oh yes”, and Rudy too. Let’s not forget the brown streaked one. Questions arise, “Can he do this?” Answer: Yes. “Is it legal?” Answer: No.

Next. 

What you want an explanation? Okay. You can’t pardon yourself. Sorry Donnie. If you pardon someone there has to have been a crime. What’s the crime? None is inferred, therefore you can’t be pardoned.

Question: “Will he do it anyway?” Answer: Of course!

The question then becomes do we go after the bastards, hunt them down like dogs, and make them pay regardless? 

I think we should start posting pictures of Mussolini’s last day. Or maybe Putin’s favorite movie? The one of Quadaffi’s end? Then we could tell those worried about having to pay for their crimes how much better off they will be then that.

Billy Barr is trying to act, a little bit, like an Attorney General. Is he trying to slip the noose? Yeah, first he repeated that he saw no evidence of voter fraud in the election. WTF Bill? You don’t need no stinking’ evidence. What is wrong with you? He also has done something with that supposed investigation into Russia in 2016 to make it harder for the Biden team to get rid of it. I say, “Great! Let’s put someone in there who will really investigate.” 

Meanwhile Fox is saying the pres should pardon himself. I guess he’ll have no choice now. “A lot of people are saying…”

Stay tuned.

Oh hey, there’s a Senate Covid relief bill being talked about. Wow. And guess what? McConnell is moving the goal posts once again. 

If this guy is majority leader in the next term the American people can expect nothing. Zero. Zilch. Nadda. Because you are not his constituency. Period.

PS Santa is down! I repeat, Santa is down. He must have gotten a hard block. That’s a foul! Two shots. 

Tuesday December 1, 2020 (24 days til Christmas)

Election Day -28

51* Days until the Inauguration on January 20, 2021

* An error of 2 days crept in and this date has been reset as of today.

Okay, how will it all end? You ask. Fortunately, I know.

Well, I know it will end one of two ways and I know that will only be the midpoint of a much longer chess game. We must therefore remain vigilant and engaged even after we think the game is done. 

First. Let’s look at the two endings. Either, Satan will be brought to trial or we will let him go. I favor the former and argue “No man is above the law.” Or “If you did the crime; you do the time.”

The other ending could be some whiny “We’ve never put a president in jail.” Or “It will tear the country apart” BS. To which I say, “There’s a first time for everything.” And , “Have you looked at the country recently? It’s already torn apart.”

It’s torn along, not idealogical lines, but along lines separating reality from fantasy. It’s torn along economic lines, and racial lines, along lines of people who want to fix it and people who don’t. It’s torn baby, and whether Satan goes to jail or not ain’t really going to make much difference.

Oh wait, you think they’ll be a big problem if he goes to jail? Yeah. Let me remind you that the people who back him are cowards, pussies, and spineless Republicans. Oh yeah, they like to walk around with their guns strapped to their chests, but where are they when the shooting starts? I’ll tell you where they aren’t. They aren’t where the bullets are flying. A few may become unhinged enough to do something, maybe. But won’t they be shot by “the good guys with a gun”? Maybe not. If there is cause to arrest someone, I say, arrest them. If there is evidence that they committed a crime and are found guilty, I say, they do the time. And, oh yeah, “Let the chips fall where they may.”

Will that happen? I think so. In the meantime I suggest that reposting pictures of Satan and his family in orange jump suits and what he’ll look like with his head shaved and gang tats on it is something worth reposting – over and over. I also wonder if we can get sound trucks to circle the White House playing, “He’s a loser, and he’s not what he appears to be…” (Yes, it’s the Beatles.) I also like the idea of showing a doctored video of him doing the perp walk with clanking of chains as a sound track.

I remember hearing that The Donald’s favorite story was the one about the snake that implored the man to pick him up. When the man picked him up the snake bit the man. As the man lay dying because it was a poisoness snake, the man asked the snake why he bit him. (Well, it’s what snakes do.) The snake responded, “You knew who I was and what I was before you picked me up.”

And isn’t that the story with Satan? I mean is anyone going to claim they didn’t know what this snake was before he got picked up? Just to make sure he told you by word and deed who and what he was. 

Let’s review:

Before he ran for office he had a reputation as a great business man. However, there were stories that he didn’t pay his bills, stiffed people, lied, and even called in to radio programs with a phony name. 

When he announced his candidacy he did so with racist and anti-immigrant statements.

He ran a campaign with white nationalist not so subtle messaging and with wacky conspiracy theory stuff mixed in.

When he became president he robbed from the poor, the governments – ours and others, refused to show his taxes, hid his grades, and ran the country into the ground. He attacked our allies, strengthen our enemies and adversaries and did nothing to stop a pandemic. A pandemic, let me remind everyone, that could have been avoided.

He also has multiple, many multiple, accusers of rape, and sexual assault. Those charges go along with his affairs, two of which he tried to cover up illegally by paying off the women with campaign funds.

He is a draft dodger and has called people that have served our country “suckers” and “losers.”

He has demonstrated a lack of curiosity and knowledge. He has also shown a willing ruthlessness to stay in power and if he can’t stay in power to wreck our institutions and our democracy as much as possible.

This was pretty much all known about him and it is playing out in the end game of his presidency. The wolves are circling; the rats are beginning to bail and yet he hangs on in a King Lear, or is it George III moment?

Now we are hearing that the bureaucrats are beginning to openly stand up to their political masters. A congressman has made the plea to those people to preserve the records. No doubt the ones they are being told to destroy.

Everything hangs on Georgia and its two Senatorial races. The Republicans have several problems. Stacy Abrams registered 850,000 voters who turned out and flipped Georgia in the presidential election and forced the senatorial runoffs when no candidate won 50% of the vote. Since that time it has been revealed that both of the current Senators have benefitted from insider information and used it to trade in stocks. 

Also, here’s where fantasy gets in the way of reality, the current president has railed against the election in Georgia saying the machines were crap and that votes were flipped. The Republican party has to convince voters to turn out and the party officials are being asked why, if their votes are being flipped? The fix is in right?

I say, “Yes, if you come and vote Republican your vote will be flipped and you will actually be voting for Barack Obama. Do you want to do that?”

Okay, moving on. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris continue to announce appointments. The communications team is all women and – get this – really super competent (amazing right? I know.) Reporters seem very excited that the White House briefings will again, actually give them facts.

The economic team announced is full of experienced people who know what they are doing. Paul Krugman knows them all and is friends with them. He says anyone of them could be the head. Wow.

Meanwhile, over at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Scott Atlas has resigned. Not sure why, but the reaction in the real world is “Thank God. At least Satan won’t have that guy putting wacky unscientific bad public health ideas into his head.” Some think maybe Atlas resigned because the godfather of herd immunity in Sweden got fired just days before. There are charts floating around the internet showing Scandinavia pointing to the number of Covid cases and deaths in each of those countries. They have. Sweden with its herd immunity idea leading the pack – by a lot. I guess the Swedes got tired of it.

The president is taking all this very seriously by playing golf. Meanwhile his lawyers continue to file ridiculous lawsuits the gist of their argument seems to be “screw the election; appoint Trump electoral folks.” There is now speculation as to whether some of these lawyers will be disbarred.

One in particular who called for the killing of Cris Krebs, with drawing and quartering too, is being given the careful scrutiny by other lawyers. Apparently, such stuff may be criminal or at least enough to say such a person shock not be a member of the court.

In health care, remember when the White House took away the counting of Covid cases and hospitalization rates away from the CDC this summer? Hey, guess what? They screwed it up. Now no one really knows how bad it is, as far as the pandemic goes. Is that important? Apparently. If you are in charge of getting supplies to the places that need it, then it helps to know who needs it. Am I right? Hey, maybe not. It’s so bad right now, no matter where you ship stuff it’s bound to help.

Oh and the unemployment figures? Turns out it might be worse than reported because agencies in states are so overwhelmed they haven’t been able to keep up. So a bad thing is actually worse.

But there is hope. Some think McConnell may get off his ass and actually let a little money trickle through and thus down to folks desperate for food and soon shelter as the stay against evictions is running out. 

Remember the snake? Don’t count on McConnell to do anything. Except push unqualified judges through. With those judges in place the ruling elite can gum up the works for years – until they can get back in power.

Remember I said we must remain vigilant? Yeah. Well, that’s why. We are in the middle of a pandemic and economic crisis. It will pass and those who created both will want a shot at being in charge again and stealing more money from us (and oh yeah keeping us down, You know, by not giving a sh*t about us and letting us die, slip into poverty,…)  Don’t let it happen.

PS Biden has a popularity rating over 50%. Something Donnie has never achieved. Please show to your Trump supporting friends and ask them why they think that is. And try to act curious. (“It’s a conspiracy I tell you!”) Yeah, right.

Monday November 30, 2020

Election Day -27

50 Days until the Inauguration on January 20, 2021

I keep remembering this fact. I’m walking around, doing something unrelated and then it comes up in my mind again. I can’t shake it.

Inauguration is January 20^th; Donald Trump was told on January 28^th 2020 how deadly the virus was. 

In other words eight days short of a year since we know for a fact that Satan knew about the deadliness of the virus. 

A Whole Year.

A whole year and what have we as a nation done to fight this virus? 

Where is the leadership?

How hard would it have been to …

That’s the sad thing.

It would have taken next to no effort to …

Face reality?

How sad is that?

I know. More excuses.

And I suspect that the new administration will be blocked and fought all the way.

I hope I’m wrong, but there is no evidence to suggest that the Republicans in power are interested in solving problems this country is facing. 

They seem to all be living in that alternate universe.

It’s sad. It’s pathetic. And, it’s dangerous.

Dangerous to us in the real world.

Okay onto the real world:

Elise Jordan asked, “When is it going to end?” (I’ll address that a bit lower down in this screed, but it is safe to say we are near the end of the election and in the middle of the fascist plan to rule this country. More below.)

Satan spent $3M to have votes recounted in Democratic counties in Wisconsin, because well there obviously had to be fraud. Donnie picked up 45 votes in one county and Biden got that plus 87 more in another county. So Biden netted 87 more votes. That works out to $375,000 per vote that Satan paid to give Joe those extra votes. Now the pres is saying it wasn’t about the vote count, but the illegal votes cast. Herein lies a real danger.

With the three judge panel rejecting Trump’s case, his attorneys could ask for the whole court in the Federal court in PA to hear the case. After that gets rejected he could take it to the Supreme Court where he can hope to have them overturn the election. It is in the realm of possibilities. Stay tuned. Stay strong.

Pennsylvania had another case filed by a Republican, which also got thrown out. This was filed by Representation Mike Kelly who thought that the Mail-In Ballots were unconstitutional because of the no-excuse clause. The case lacked “due diligence” according to the rejection, and the no-excuse clause had been on the books for some time, Like over a year. Therefore, it seemed odd that all of a sudden he was interested.

Then we get to the interesting problem Republicans find themselves in. They are caught between their rhetoric and reality. There are at least three different cases here:

One – is Satan’s claiming the election was rigged and unfair.

Two – is they’re saying they are for not spending money and the shrinking the debt when they have spent more than any administration in history and put us further and further in debt.

Three –  they are already bitching about Biden’s picks for cabinet positions and what are they going to say after the gems they approved for Satan?

Let’s start with the election. After 2016 the president was so concerned about the rigged election he appointed a guy to head up CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency). The result was that no threat came, or they were all thwarted. One way they did this was to have paper ballots. This may come as a shock to some people, but if you have paper ballots you can go back and count them again, and compare that to what the machines counted. (That is provided you don’t have punch out hanging chad ballots like they did in Florida, which gave the election to W.)

It turned out the counts agreed. Gee. Where’s the fraud?

CISA increased the use of paper ballots from somewhere in the 80 percent range to 95%. This prevented states like Georgia from using only the machine count and then wiping the machines so they couldn’t be audited in the 2018 governor’s race. In fact, Georgia became a model for a fair untampered election this year. The Secretary of State, a life long Republican, was rewarded by attack tweets from Satan and death threats from others. Chris Krebs the man heading CISA was fired for doing his job. 

So Republicans now need to choose, “Do they want free and fair elections or do they want them rigged so they can win?” 

The debt is another problem for the Republicans. They rail against the debt when they are not in power and spend like drunken sailors when they are. They have no room to talk.

Point Three – They are already gearing up to not block some of Biden’s picks for cabinet positions. The one they really want to target is Neera Tanden who is CEO of The Center for American Progress. We’ve been part of an event on diabetes with that organization. No wonder Republicans don’t like her; she does stuff! Stuff that helps people (oh the gall.) She’s worked with the Clintons and Obama and she considered a liberal. But worst of all, she speaks her mind. Apparently, she has out-tweeted Satan (87,000 to 51,000) and – this is stunning – Republicans can find something they don’t like about her in those tweets! Progressives too! (Remember she worked for the Clintons? OMG!) 

This is a strong woman who stands up for herself and others. The spineless Republicans (that is repetitious because as far as I can tell they are all spineless) don’t like her. OMG. I am shocked. Shocked I tell you. 

Meanwhile the Republicans continue to deny the election results, refuse to wear masks, and have the largest outbreaks of Covid. Weird huh? 

Ice T’s father-in-law is Steve “Stone Cold” Austin. He was a big time no-masker. That apparently changed when he got Covid and was laid up in the hospital for a month struggling to breath. Lying in one place for a month, at night he could hear people crying out in pain. Some did not make it. He did, but he’s on oxygen now. His body felt like it was being stabbed with needles all over. He lost 30 pounds. His lungs are permanently scarred. He’s a believer now.

Republicans and you have a choice – listen and learn. Or not.

Be like Steve? Or learn from his experience.

Your choice, your life.

But for the sake of the rest of us. Wear a mask. Not for you, but for the rest of us. Did I say that already? Oh. Good.

Hey, it could be your good deed for the day, every day! Just sayin’ 

PS Dead Santa, Hung Santa, Santa is open! Pass him the ball! Santa’s driveway B-ball court.

“A Darling Misfit CHRISTMAS”

A review.

If you want a new holiday album, this is it.

Kat Robishaud’s “A Darling Misfit CHRISTMAS” has tunes on it that could become classics – for sure. 

The first three songs: “Cheer Up, It’s Christmas,” “Quiet Christmas Night,” and “Merry Christmas, My Love” are bouncy sing-a-long classics with an uptempo slightly rock feel to them.

Then we get to what makes Kat – well Kat. “The Gremlin Song” I’m listening and getting breakfast ready and I say to myself, “Did she just say the F word?” Likewise, with Christmas Miracle it’s like one of those upbeat downer songs. He ( she has Brendan Getzell sing the lead here ) sings about his Christmas and how he’s upbeat while everything in his life goes wrong.

But … but the coup d’etat (or is it piece d’resistance?) is her “The Star Wars Holiday Special.” Kat has a Broadway voice and it comes out her in full bloom. I could see this becoming the center of a Christmas Special. She and Mr. Getzell team up in a delightful musical vocal back and forth wherein Kat describes a lost Star Wars Christmas Special Show. I won’t tell you much about it except Chewbacca has a family and they miss him very much because he’s busy smuggling across the galaxy. And and why haven’t we heard about this show? George Lucas hates it. “He does? Why?” asks Getzell. “He knows what he did,” responds Kat. (Or words akin to that.)

Listen if Broadway can make a musical about Jagged Little Pill certainly Kat can do her Star Wars Holliday Special.

Several of the songs are repeated on the album with the note in parens “(clean version)” and one has “(radio edit),” which is another way to say the same thing.

Kat has a delightful sense of the stage and it comes out in her cover tableau picture. It’s a perfect still painting like representation of a modern Christmas (circa mid Twentieth Century ?) There’s the Christmas tree, the plum pudding, wrapping paper and implements, a record player with record. Kat is seated on the floor holding a festive glass of punch (or is it pudding?) She has one leg sticking out showing off her red tights and plaid slippers. Her hair is pure white done up in two side buns. She is staring out directly at the camera – porcelain doll like. Wait, why is she wearing a bra outside the red top?

“It’s fashion, Rick.” She told me. 

And there’s a gold death skull at the base of the tree and a white alien head hanging, Is that a winged gremlin? 

Wait til you open the cover and see the pic inside.

https://www.katrobichaud.com/store

I recommend the album, which you can order from her on-line store.

I would also recommend her “Misfit Cabaret” album and her album “The Design,” which she made almost a decade ago. 

In her photo is that album the Harry Belafonte or Michael Jackson Christmas album on the floor? So much to unpack – still.

• Wait. Maybe that was their best? OMG. That’s pathetic.

Sunday November 29, 2020

Election Day -26

51 Days until the Inauguration on January 20, 2021

I ask this question because if the case that just got thrown out of a Pennsylvania court is an example of the president’s best case I have to say, “Well, Golly Gee.”

Here’s an excerpt:

“Free, fair elections are the lifeblood of our democracy. Charges of unfairness are serious. But calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here.”

The three judge panel noted that the allegations and grievances amounted to “nothing more” than allegations that poll watcher were restricted and that mail-in ballots were allowed to be fixed by the voter for technical defects. 

Surprisingly, the judges did not mention that the poll watchers bitched about a woman not wearing a name tag and therefore said all the ballots she was inspecting should be thrown out. Likewise, they didn’t mention how some poll watcher seemed bent on intimidating those counting the ballots. Nor did they mention the poll watcher who wanted all the folded ballots thrown out. You know, the ballot that had to be folded to fit in an envelope. Why? Because they were folded.

Here’s another excerpt:

“The Campaign tries to repackage these state-law claims as unconstitutional discrimination. Yet its allegations are vague and conclusory,”

Huh. I guess if you rant and flap about that isn’t enough?

Wait, there’s more:

“It never alleges that anyone treated the Trump campaign or Trump votes worse than it treated the Biden campaign or Biden votes.”

The court went on to say that the Campaign’s claims have no merit. No Merit. Wow. Is that like, I dunno, making stuff up? Yeah. I think so.

The court also pointed out that :

“The number of ballots it specifically challenges is far smaller than the roughly 81,000-vote margin of victory. And it never claims fraud or that any votes were cast by illegal voters,”

The lawyer for Satan tweeted:

“The activist judicial machinery in Pennsylvania continues to cover up the allegations of massive fraud,”

However, it should be pointed out that all the lawyers were appointed by Republican presidents: 2 by W, and one by Satan.

The judges went through each claim and rejected it. Point by point they rejected whatever was claimed. 

Apparently, the judges thought it necessary to point out some FACTS and TRUTHS to these lawyers, who seemed to not know some basics. The judges wrote:

“Voters, not lawyers, choose the President. Ballots, not briefs, decide elections,”

Huh? Who knew?

The judges went on:

“The ballots here are governed by Pennsylvania election law. No federal law requires poll watchers or specifies where they must live or how close they may stand when votes are counted. Nor does federal law govern whether to count ballots with minor state-law defects or let voters cure those defects.

“Those are all issues of state law, not ones that we can hear. And earlier lawsuits have rejected those claims. Seeking to turn those state-law claims into federal ones, the Campaign claims discrimination. But its alchemy cannot transmute lead into gold.”

Ouch.

PS In the recount in Wisconsin that Satan paid for it was discovered that Joe Biden picked up votes. Way to Go Joe! 

PPS https://www.djtrumplibrary.com

PPPS Amusé Bouche – That’s French for “Amuse the Mouth.” In other words, “make it one bite.” Here, master chef Shelby has taken plantains, cooked them then smashed them into mini-muffin cups and baked them. Once baked she adds fresh tomato, avocado, orange pepper, and onion. Drizzled with olive oil. Fabulous. She described them as “Enjoy it because I’m never making these GD things again.”