Trump

Day 681 Sunday November 18, 2018    910 Days to Go

The Twentieth Century will be remembered for many things: two world wars, incredible inventions, and huge improvements in people’s lives. In that century the car and the airplane came into their own, as did electricity and radio, TV, and computers. Lives were transformed by the discovery of penicillin and sulfa-based drugs and antibiotics. We learned that we were a small tiny part of a much larger universe than we had ever imagined. We saw the advent of weapons so terrible that hopefully they will never be used again.

But also, and largely forgotten was the advent of manipulation by companies and the increase of preventable diseases. In WWI the troops were given cigarettes as part of their rations. Thus a generation, and generations after, were hooked on something that slowly killed them. We saw food go from healthy to empty. Sugar and bad fats were introduced into western diets. Diabetes and overweight people became a norm. 

We’ve seen over and over again that companies can’t be trusted to be honest. The latest case is Facebook. Many thought the fresh young faces and tech savvy young would make the world better. It didn’t. They didn’t.

We now have the very institutions that made us as Americans different and great under constant attack. One party is now controlled by kooks and the petrochemical lobby. Talk about a rock and a hard spot! Either you go with a nutty idea based on religion, no knowledge, or something cooked up by a group of individuals or their companies designed to enrich them. So what if the Earth burns up? We’ll be rich! And God will come down and lift us all up to heaven (not you, you didn’t believe! Sorry.)

There is hope but we have to fight for it. We have to speak to everyone, not just those that agree with us. 

I keep coming back to some simple sayings. One was when I was an intern on my first real job. I was working in a factory. We had a problem. I criticized the fellow in charge of part of it. It was an ad hominem comment. I don’t remember what I said but I remember what I was asked by the person who operationally had to carry out what ever was decided. 

He said, “What would you do?”

He looked at me for what seemed an eternity (8? 10 seconds?). I had nothing. I was speechless. He closed his eyes and turned away.

I also remember soccer moms yelling at their kids, “Don’t bunch up!” 

Okay great, what should the kids do?

The Republicans have been in charge for two years and what have they done?

They’ve packed the courts with hard right conservative hand picked by big corporation lawyers. In other words, men out of touch with the mainstream of political thought in this country.

They have passed a massive tax cut for the rich and paid for some of it by taking away the middle class deductions that most folks use (state tax deduction and mortgage interest deduction).

They have put people in cabinet posts who either have little knowledge of the job or are dead set on destroying the agency and its mission.

They have done everything they can to destroy the Affordable Care Act and have not come up with anything better.

They’ve even screwed over the rural areas where farmers are struggling by starting trade wars over agricultural products.

They’ve screwed over manufacturers by starting trade wars over steel and other metals and minerals.

Trade wars end up costing the consumer in this country more. 

It’s interesting that the folks worst hit by these things are living in the reddest states. If a conversation can be had that points out these simple facts and that there is another path, a better way, then maybe we can turn this country around.

In the Democratic Party there are those that say Nancy Pelosi shouldn’t be the next Speaker of the House. Then the question becomes, “Who else?” One name has been floated, but what has this person done to deserve the job, other than being not Nancy Pelosi? I haven’t heard.

It’s funny how Dave Brat ran against “the liberal policies of Nancy Pelosi” and lost. What exactly were the policies that Dave didn’t like? I don’t know, he never said, as far as I know. But now folks are saying, “You know it was Nancy Pelosi that got the Affordable Care Act through Congress.” She’s responsible for pre-existing conditions being covered. In fact, she has been the most effective Speaker of the House in modern times. (John Boehner and Paul Ryan take note.)

I do hope that she works to groom new younger people within the party to take on more responsibility.

We’ll have to wait and see on that.

Meanwhile, it seems that Mueller is getting ready to unleash a bunch of subpoenas or indictments and I suspect that the circle around the president will get smaller and tighter. When rats are caged without food they eat each other, I wonder what will happen when Don Jr. is indicted, or the Donald himself? Who will throw whom under the bus? Or will they go down together? What about Jared and Ivanka? It will be loud, bloody, and outrageous followed by a whimper. 

I wish I knew what Agnew’s supporters thought when he pleaded in court. He was lucky. they let him plead no contest. I hope the goods are so damning that they won’t let Trump and his band of crooks to get away with that.

 910 Days to Go

PS The kid at Coba. A huge site, which you can get driven around on bike rickshaws. I got there late in the day and didn’t have time to make this climb, only enough time for a victory picture.

Day 679 Friday November 16, 2018    912 Days to Go

Is the excrement close to the fan?

I think so, but it’s hard to say. I’ve been hoping every election cycle that we throw the rascals out and, at least, get a new group of them in. This past election did that somewhat, yet a nazi sympathizer hung in there as did two indicted Congressmen, and any number of “god fearing” folk. Let me be clear, by god-fearing I mean they use their interpretation of the Bible to justify all kinds of mean crappy decisions that they are all for until they themselves are caught in such transgressions. 

But now we have some interesting news. Turns out the DC Circuit Court is hearing some pleading (is that the right word? I don’t know.) behind closed doors. On one side is the Mueller team, on the other is we-don’t-know, but whomever it is, it’s high level because these things go right to the front of the line of cases. This is – btw – the court just below the Supreme Court. There is one judge on this court appointed by Trump and this guy worked in the White House. He wouldn’t tell the Senators exactly what he had done in terms of giving legal advice to the president as it pertained to Russia and the Russia investigation (it wasn’t about the Comey firing, or Manafort) but he did say that if any of those matters that he advised the president on came before the court he would recuse himself. Guess what? He recused himself on whatever this matter is before the court. 

So what could this matter be?

How about Trump, or Trump family members, and others or maybe all three of the buckets of deplorables* I’ve mentioned are going to be indicted in some manner related to Russia meddling in our election and their colluding with them.

*(I list Trump, the family members active in the administration: Don Jr., Ivanka, Eric, and Jared), and anyone who is a lackey and/or sycophant** for them as deplorable.) **(too many to list.) 

And, I contend, that the Trump team of lawyers who may or may not get paid by Trump or anybody, are fighting like hell to prevent this from happening.

And, I further contend, that this is one of the main reasons Donnie is grumpy. That and the steady drip of Democratic candidates that keep winning elections that were too close too call on election night.

Let’s look at two of those races:

One is in Maine where the Democratic candidate won out over the Republican. He didn’t get more votes than the Republican, but he won. How did this happen? Maine has an interesting law. Voters are asked whom their second and third choice for an office is. If no one gets over 50% of the vote then the second choice votes are added in to each total of the front runners, and the third choice, etc. until someone gets over 50%. The idea is to drop out third party candidates and or two moderate candidates that split the majority vote and let a wild card with a lower percentage (think Paul Lapage) from ascending to office with a minority of the votes. 

It worked in Maine. Once the third party guy was dropped out of the vote totals and the second choice of voters was counted, the Dem won.

And a Dem won in California too.

And there’s a third race to talk about, it hasn’t been called yet, but it’s an interesting story to me. It’s Emily Randall. She’s running for state senate in Washington state. She’s a college buddy of my daughter. I gave money to her campaign because my daughter called me and asked me to because, “Emily is awesome.”  I put somewhere on the form that I was Katie’s dad. When Katie talked to Emily the first thing she said to my daughter was, “Your dad gave me money.” That’s the closest thing I’ve ever gotten from a person running for office as a personal thank-you. 

Then the election came. It was too close to call. Mandatory recount. She was 134 votes behind, then 146 (.22%) then 74 behind. As of yesterday she’s 88 votes ahead.

There’s also a report that McConnell took money from the Russians, $3.5 million. So did Rubio and Graham. This isn’t an open and shut case, but it does seem troubling. The fellow, Leonard Blavatnik, gave money to Repiublicans, and in 2016 gave a lot more than he usually gives. He was a Russian citizen who came to the U.S. in 1978 to study. He now has US/UK citizenship and he’s worth $16.7 Billion. We owns the Warner Musical Group and has been trying to buy a major studio for years. He made his money starting in Russia as the country disposed of its state held assets. His buddy from his time in college is Viktor Vesksleberg whom the Mueller team boarded his private plane on a stopover in NYC. Blavatnik is also friends with Mikhail Fridman of AlfaGroup (and I suppose Alfa Bank, the bank that set up a server to talk to a server in Trump Tower). Together Blavatnik and Fridman formed AAR, which diversified into oil, chemicals and all that stuff.

Blavtnik has been lavish with his money earning him a knighthood in Britain. However, you gotta ask, “Is this all his money that he gave to the Republicans? Or was there something more?”

Maybe, we’ll learn someday.

912 Days to Go

PS Go Emily Go!

Day 678 Thursday November 15, 2018  913 Days to Go

Today is a grab bag of misdeeds and heinous things.

First off there was an official in the White House that attacked the press, calling them “the liberal media.” He said they were out to get him and it was a conspiracy by the Democrats and the ineptness and corruptness of the Department of Justice.

I am talking about the Vice President of the United States*, Spiro Agnew. *(former).

I mean what did he do that anyone could attack him for?

He only took envelopes of cash while he was County Executive in Maryland. In return he promised to steer contracts the way of the company that was paying him. He did it as Governor of Maryland. He did it as Vice President of the United States. While Vice President he took the money while in his office at the old Executive Building, at his home, and in the White House.

He demonized the press, the Justice Department and he enlisted the help of his supporters in the Republican party. He also asked President Nixon for his help. The two of them plotted to shutdown the investigation, to obstruct justice by getting the Chief of Staff, Bob Halderman to deliver messages to a U.S. Senator. When Halderman resigned they used the new Chief of Staff, Alexander Haig. When that didn’t work they found a new errand boy, George H. W. Bush. They all colluded to obstruct justice.

So this is an old play book for the Republicans.

Meanwhile, what else is happening? Melania has issued a statement saying someone in her husband’s staff doesn’t deserve “the honor” of working in the White House because there was a cat fight or something over who got to go on a flight to Africa.

Ben Carson’s HUD seems to have some problems. I know, crazy, huh? Yeah, seems HUD is paying slum landlords $1200 a month per 3 bedroom apartment for roach infested, leaking roof, rotting walls, mildew covered rat infested places. Seems HUD doesn’t have enough inspectors or enforcers. Ben got rid of most of them. Who needs them? Good job Ben. Ben! Ben! Wake up.

Then there’s the guy who is head of the EPA in the Southern area. He’s responsible for shipping tons of shit (yes shit) to the south and stacking it up there to stink. He started doing this before he got this job. Talk about failing up! For some reason, he’s under indictment. Like maybe the fact that he was getting paid by the company shipping the shit while he held jobs to over see this operation for the government. He’s got Spiro beat. No envelopes of cash for him, just wire it directly into his bank account.

Meanwhile the economy is going down the tubes. The president says it’s the Dems fault for winning the election. He saying a lot of crazy s h I t right now. Why? He lost in the election big time. Someone ought to tell lying  Mike Pence (You know he’s kind of a big deal, right?) He’s telling reporters that the midterm election was a huge victory for the administration because they managed to hold onto the Senate. Whoo-who.

Tucker Carlson is distraught because a mob showed up at his home. That means twenty people with signs. What? He doesn’t like the tactics used on him that were used on pro-abortion people? He didn’t have to leave his home or fear for his life like Dr. Ford. He wasn’t press attacked at his home like Bill O’Reilly used to do to people by sending out a producer to confront someone at their home.  Boy, these right wing pundits are bigger pussies than I thought. Remember, he is part of a group that used to hang out at another conservative buddy’s town house in Georgetown. The crowd included Ann Coulter and Brett Kavanaugh. They are all cut from the same cloth.

Meanwhile the recounts continue and the Dems keep winning.

913 Days to Go

PS Psychic Meditation