Saturday, January 30, 2021

A Dull and Exciting Week

It’s hard to put into words exactly what this past week has been like, but I’ll try. 

I slept well.

I read a novel.  This means I read less in the newspapers.

Along with the better half, I started planning “Garden 2021” – this included ordering a shitload of seeds, buying some new garden beds (for expansion), and making other plans.  We did all that even as snowflakes dotted the front lawn (it didn’t stick).

We watched some old movies (streaming).  This meant I watched less TV news.

I read tweets and FB posts about friends with medical issues, and showed my sympathy and empathy.  The good news is all but one is doing well (the other, sadly succumbed to COVID).  There was far less arguing about the election; who won, who was lying, stuff like that.

I read other tweets and posts about a variety of issues; good stuff, mostly.  Jokes about men and women, stories about snow and summer vacations, new hobbies like watercolors and playing the guitar, and more Bernie memes than you can shake a stick at with mittens on.

In short, it was almost a normal week.

We haven’t had one of those for a long, long time.

Of course, we’re certainly nowhere near “back to normal.”  We learned we won’t come up for the COVID vaccine here in Oregon until late March…or later, depending on supplies (several counties are already out of all vaccines).  We commiserated with neighbors (at a distance, of course), on how long we’ve had to go without being able to sit in a restaurant and have a bit to eat.  We groused as to how our book supply is getting low again, unable to frequent the many library book sales we used to go to throughout the year (OK, only one of us is grousing, and it’s me).

But things are different.  There’s a light at the end of the tunnel, or so it feels like.

Sure, there’s still some carryover from 2020 and the Trump era.  The GOP is the GOP, so of course they’ll do what they always have done lately.  The folks who bitched in October that Biden hadn’t done anything in 47 years are now complaining that he’s doing too much.  Debt and deficit are real things again, and everything must be examined with a “how will we pay for it?” whine of despair.  There are some new BSC folks who actually got elected in heavily Republican districts and they’re making their BSC-selves heard loud and clear.  Of course, the idea that the GOP looks down or even askew on these “fine people” is ridiculous.  Republicans don’t resign over little things like insurrection, racist comments, or death threats.   The last two GOP Senators that I can recall resigning over scandal were John Ensign and Bob Packwood – sex, and sex.  Nothing coming close to traitorous activity.  

Speaking of which, there’s impeachment.  Again.  Like Lucy and the football, we all know how this will turn out, despite what McConnell might have once said, despite the mounting evidence, despite everything.  Some of the Senators who sat and found Bill Clinton guilty of lying about a blowjob will once again give the Orange Foolius a pass on his crimes.  And for the record, let me make this perfectly clear - here's the difference between now and then:

Clinton lied and the damage done was a stained dress.

Trump lied and the damage done was an insurrection where there was damage and destruction and people died – and democracy almost did.

Only one of these is seen by the GOP as worthy of a "guilty" verdict.

So it is with Republicans.  Sex is bad; sedition, not so much.  But their shenanigans are old hat.  I’m trying to look forward, move on.  I realize that “unity” won’t really happen until those responsible are brought to justice, but until the other side sees this as well, we might as all hope for unicorns and rainbows.  We might look forward to 2022 teaching them a lesson, but jeebus, if 2020 didn’t do the trick, what will?

Until then, I’m out in the garden, snow and all.

Monday, January 18, 2021

Trump’s Legacy of Lies

This is the "comic relief" portion of his legacy

Despite the fact that somewhere in the bowels of the White House basement Trump is plotting with notes provided by the MyPillow Guy to somehow hold onto the Presidency, in just a couple of days he’ll be gone.  Historians will begin the process of determining the “Trump Legacy.”  Oh, please, let me help.

THE DEBT

This seems an unusual place to start, given more recent events, but it’s a wonderful bellwether of his four years in office.  He campaigned heavily on his ability to run the government like a business, and claimed he could reduce the debt “easily.”

Instead, he ran up massive deficits despite a robust economy.  His disastrous tax cuts that favored the rich, his “trade wars are easy to win” tariffs, his stupid ineffective costly border wall, and the corruption for the benefit of himself, his family, his cabinet, and his cronies all contributed to a staggering rise in the debt BEFORE Covid-19.  Check out the chart:


Yes, Trump ran the government like a business – one of his bankrupt, failed casinos…or airline…or wine company…or university…etc.

CORRUPT/INEPT CABINET

I mentioned the cabinet briefly above, but it bears repeating that his cabinet was another reflection on ho w poorly he ran the government.  “Only the best people” was really “only people completely loyal to me and me alone.”  Some publications called his initial cabinet “the most conservative” but it was also the richest ever, one also with the least experience.

But that was then.  Since 2016, there have been more changes in the cabinet and other top positions in Trump’s administration than the NY Jets coaching staff.  Rather than me make comment on this, I’ll let Trump speak for himself:

"We have acting people. The reason they are acting is because I'm seeing how I like them, and I'm liking a lot of them very, very much. There are people who have done a bad job, and I let them go. If you call that turmoil, I don't call that turmoil. I say that is being smart. That's what we do."

That works if you’re hiring someone to be a casino host; not a top admin position.  And having acting administrators avoids that pesky problem of getting them approved by Congress, which sums up Trump’s relationship with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle for the length of his term:  “Screw you.”

Of course, many of those who now sport “Former Secretary of …” tags are former-Trump supporters and have incurred his wrath (and they tend to give as good as they get).  That there are so many of them, and the fact that the merry-go-round is STILL continuing mere days before he leaves office gives special consideration that the cabinet of Trump is every bit as scary as that old silent, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.  Actually, they have something in common as both are “…actually the delusion of a madman.”

COVID

Remember this?  

In March, President Donald Trump said keeping the death toll at 100,000 to 200,000 people would indicate that his administration had “done a very good job.”  Later he said, “We have done a phenomenal job with respect to COVID-19.”

That story was printed on September 9th, the day we hit 200,000 deaths.  We’re now at TWICE that, and it’s no wonder no one in the Trump administration mentions COVID anymore.

It’s THE single biggest failure of Trump.  From the very beginning he downplayed the virus, lied about, bungled every attempt to control it, screwed up equipment and supplies, and even now the administration has failed to provide states with sufficient vaccine (while lying about the process to boot).

OK. I lied.  There’s a bigger legacy than COVID.

THE INSURRECTION

After two months of failing to concede a lost election, countless lawsuits, and endlessly claiming “FRAUD” but never showing an ounce of evidence, Trump (and his minions) goaded Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and others of their ilk to storm the Capitol on the day the Electoral College was to seal his fate in order to…what, exactly?  “Re-steal” the election?   Obviously motives for many were only a show of support, but for others an ominous undercurrent of sedition was “in force.”  This story is still being written, and participants still being arrested, but the initial evidence is clear – those involved in the takeover of the building and the attempted takeover of the country were merely doing Trump’s bidding.

And the reason they were doing so is the real legacy of Trump’s Presidency:

LIES

Every instance of trump’s incompetence, every dismantling of our democracy, every slight, every cruelty inflicted, everything – was always accompanied by lies.  Big lies, small lies, continual lies in the face of fact checking; no President, hell, no individual has lied as much as Trump.  CNN’s Daniel Dale has done an excellent job cataloging them, if you’re interested.

And those lies have consequences.  Not just in everything I’ve stated above, but…well…everything.  He’s lied so much, so often, about so many things that many Americans are completely bamboozled.  Brainwashed.  They have no idea what’s true and what’s false.

Covid is a hoax.  Antifa stormed the Capitol.  Nazis are very fine people.  He won the election by a landslide.  Despite photos, evidence, facts, proof…he keeps on lying and people believe him.

And why not?  He has media to back him (not the ones who are “enemies of the people,” of course), a weak and frightened party to support him, and he’s never, never, NEVER had to suffer the consequences for his actions.

Until now.

Now he’ll have to leave office.  He’ll try to regroup, like he always has, but this time it will be more difficult.  He’s in massive debt.  His Trump “brand” is in tatters.  And there are countless lawsuits and investigations he’ll have to respond to.  Sure, he’ll respond with the usual lies and falsehoods.  It’s his nature.  It’s his M.O. 

It’s his legacy.

Tuesday, January 12, 2021

My Last Post About Sheldon

Sheldon Adelson is dead.

The casino mogul, super-rich mega-donor to the GOP, and staunch opponent of online gambling, died at age 87 after battling cancer.  Fans of this blog (both of you) know that of all of my posts dating back these many moons, no one has incurred my wrath more than “Uncle Shelly,” mostly for his stand against online poker/gambling and his Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling (CSIG).

My first anti-Adelson post was in 2012, the last one on 4/1/2017 (though he got a bonus mention in December).  That April Fool’s Day post has my favorite pic of Sheldon (as a pimp – how apropos), and also facetiously announced the “death” of CSIG.  Of course, as of this writing CSIG is all but dead, and I’ll get to that in a moment.

But first, the numbers: 70 of my 293 posts (almost a quarter of ‘em all) had something about Adelson; that’s 12 more than my current #1 villain, Donald Trump.  Interestingly, there were nine posts that had both Trump and Adelson in them.  Talk about bonuses.  

But Sheldon was my favorite whipping boy/punching bag.  Hell, I even dove into creating my first comic strip, “A Chip and a Chairman” to make fun of the hearings he helped arrange with noted Republican Putz Jason Chaffetz.  Kids, if I can be goaded into created COMICS to help my rage, anything is possible.  Hell, I did TWO of ‘em!


But now…this is the last post about Adelson, and hopefully, CSIG (it’s #71 for those of you keeping score).  Yes, now that Sheldon is gone, so should be CSIG.  I mean, for all practical purposes it’s on life-support if not already keeled over –

  • The website hasn’t been updated since February, 2019
  • Their Facebook page’s last post was in 2018 *
  • Their Twitter page is “still active” (last post was in September 2020), but – almost ALL of the posts are of FOREIGN gaming issues (UK mostly, some New Zealand posts).  It’s almost as if they can’t find any issues about online gaming in America, for some reason.  Imagine that!

* fun side note – if you look at the FB posts, you’ll see hardly any comments to their posts, except from one determined individual who seems intent on making sport of their concerns (yeah, that’s me).

So someone is still collecting a paycheck, but…for what, exactly?

And Sheldon’s attempt to rewrite RAWA (Restoration of America’s Wire Act) is all but a faded memory; those politicians who took up the mantle (and Sheldon’s money) to fight for it are old, battered, and have other fish to fry (Feinstein, Graham, Chaffetz, and their ilk).  That ship has long sailed, and while progress via states adding online poker is slow, online gambling for other games (lottery, slots, etc.) is growing, and online sports betting is off the charts, where soon you’ll be able to take Ohio State and lots of points almost everywhere except Utah and Hawai’i (sorry, I could not resist that dig).

So while other’s will extol Adelson’s virtues and sing his praises (admittedly he was one of the first in Las Vegas to promise to continue to pay employees when casinos closed last Spring because of COVID; then again, who best could afford it if not him?), I will take a hard pass.  I will also not mourn the disbanding (whenever it’s official) of CSIG and I look forward to the day when I can finally play poker online legally here in Oregon. 

Of course, I also hope that occurs before I wind up like Adelson.

Sunday, January 10, 2021

Justice, not Unity

It’s been a few days since the riot at the White House (aka “coup” or “insurrection” or “the first time the Capitol has been attacked since the War of 1812”), and many Americans are still wanting.  Wanting answers to questions like:

  • What the hell happened with some of the Capitol Police?
  • Why the hell wasn’t the National Guard called in sooner?
  • Why the hell wasn’t the National Guard ALREADY THERE?
  • Who was all involved?
  • Who organized this?
  • Who should be held responsible?

A lot of these questions would be best answered by members of the Trump Administration, but seeing as how it’s most likely the Trump Administration who is complicit for all of this, that might prove difficult.

But fear not; the Republicans who have been at Trump’s beck and call are leading the way, making all sorts of public statements calling for…anything but answers.

They want “unity (whateverthehell that means).  They want is to “move on” – y’know, forgetaboutit, sweep it under the rug, what’s past is past – the usual tropes they pull out whenever there’s wrongdoing and their complicit.

What they’re calling for is “healing” by ignoring the issue.  Just like when you have a urinary tract infection – just ignore it and it will heal.

Well, BULLSHIT.

Not only do we want answers to what happened, we want accountability for it.  Is it too much for the party of “law and order” to want some law and order?  Is it too much for the party of personal responsibility to want personal responsibility now?

It seems so.

They don’t want Biden or Congress to waste time impeaching Trump a second time, mostly because they’d have to decide, once again, to either do the right thing or continue to support a lying, traitorous party member.  Y’know, just like they did the last time, back in March.  Or, more recently, during the confirmation of the results of the Electoral College.

And we know how well THAT turned out.

Worse yet, Mike Pence.  Of all the Trump enablers, he’s the worst.  And I almost feel sorry for him.  Almost.  I mean, he could have been killed on Wednesday.  He was a target; that we know.  Trump was pissed as hell at him, and he fueled his anger into that raging mob who went looking for him.  And Trump never checked up on him during the siege, just to see if he was safe.

Despite all of that, Pence wants to wait it out another week and a half.  Like fellow suck-up Lindsey Graham, he feels the worst is behind us and that there’s no need for either impeachment or invoking the 25th Amendment.

Jeebus.  Lookie here:

       
 

Does THAT sound like the worst is over?

We must get rid of that traitorous bastard NOW – impeach!

Friday, January 8, 2021

The Insurrection was Televised – So Must be the Investigation


You saw the insurrection on television.  We all did.  We read the articles.  We saw the pictures.  We retweeted the tweets.  Everyone saw it.  Everyone knows what happened.

Except…not entirely.  Not exactly.  We know all about this…

  • Pipe bombs
  • Zip-tie handcuffs
  • Tasers
  • Mace
  • Guns
  • Vandalism
  • Wanton destruction
  • Theft
  • Compromised law enforcement
  • Complicit police
  • Known right-wing agitators
  • Elected GOP state legislators
  • Advance notice
  • Death

What we don’t know is everyone who was involved.  Everyone who committed a crime has yet to be identified or arrested.  So far, no one who organized or planned the event has been cited.

But we know who is ultimate to blame.

It’s the guy who said, “We’re going to have to fight much harder…” and “You’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength. You have to be strong,” and who encouraged the crowd, just shortly before the stormed the Capitol following his speech “…to see whether or not we have great and courageous leaders or whether or not we have leaders that should be ashamed of themselves throughout history, throughout eternity.

And after it was all over, said, “We love you, you’re very special.

That’s why the insurrection cannot be forgotten, or ignored, or pushed aside to let us heal or some shit like that.  If we can hold eight hearings about Benghazi, where four soldiers died, we can certainly hold hearing after hearing about a violent, pre-meditated coup at out own Capitol.

Yes, pre-meditated:

We need to know why police presence was light, why reinforcements weren’t available, why the National Guard wasn’t there AT THE BEGINNING and who delayed their deployment.  Etc. Etc.

Even though we watched it all, we need accountability.  We can’t just let “bygones be bygones” because the coup failed.

It was a coup.  Sure, many in attendance considered it a rally for support.  To demand “something be done.”  But there were many there who had far more nefarious plans, and some of the former got caught up with the terrorists (call them what they really are) in that “Mob mentality” thing.  Tough shit, too bad.  You didn’t want to be a criminal; you didn’t leave home in Idaho expecting to be a criminal…but here you are.

And the biggest crim of all still has his hands on the nuke codes, got his twitter phone back after a half-hearted, half-assed video speech (which was one of those sort-of apologies worthy of Eddie Haskell), and is already planning his escape from both reality and prosecution.

Don’t let it happen.  Don’t fall for the “both sides” bullshit.  Don’t listen to a single word coming from the mouths of those who have supported this POS for the last four years (Cruz, Rubio, Graham, Johnson, et all).  No more “Meet the Press” for Kayleigh and KellyAnne.  Expulsion for any current legislator, federal, state, local; who participated in this travesty.  We turn a new leaf in two weeks, but the “healing” is not complete without JUSTICE.

As someone famous once said, “MAKE THEM PAY.”

Wednesday, January 6, 2021

Go Ahead Mike – You’ve Got This!

 


Mike Pence can’t lose.

Trump’s been on his case to fade the election, toss out the Electoral College, and keep Donnie in the chair.  OK, fine.  Let’s say Pence does exactly what Trump wants him to do.

On January 21, we see the beginning of the second term for Trump and Pence.

And a Democratic House AND Senate.

The House moves to impeach the bastard, again.

This time, the Senate votes to CONVICT (Mitt Romney rounds up a bit more support this time, with help from…wait for it…MIKE PENCE).

Trump is GONE.

Pence is President.

GO AHEAD MIKE – THE PATH TO VICTORY IS CLEAR!

Bwwwwhaaa ha ha!

 

Nah, not gonna happen.  But a fella can dream, can’t he?