Face it – LGB fits the GOP to a T

What is surprising is that they spelled it correctly.

I’m sure you’re familiar with the right’s newest meme: “Let’s Go, Brandon.” If you’ve been living under a rock, it’s everywhere, though some still might not know what it’s about (short answer: code for “Fuck Joe Biden”).

I think it’s the PERFECT descriptor for the Republican Party, because:

• It’s based on a mistake

• It doesn’t mean what it says

• It covers a vulgarity

• It’s only being used to either

o Be hurtful or spiteful, or

o Be printed on clothing, hats, masks*, bumper stickers, etc. and sold to the rubes...er, faithful – it’s such an obvious grift.

* What could be more iconic/ironic that someone wearing a “Let’s Go, Brandon” mask while protesting a government mask order? I mean, you CAN’T wear the mask in “chin strap” position and still get your message across, which is…what, exactly?

What did I miss?

or

Prove me wrong.

The Dog Ate My Ballots

Every student knows this one trick, and it’s not even weird.  It’s a cliché.  Didn’t get that homework assignment done in time?  No sweat – just tell Teacher that the dog ate the finished product.  You’re blameless and best of all, there’s no evidence (the dog ate it – get it?).

Kinda like VOTER FRAUD.

It’s become the GOP cliché to claim that every election is due to one reason and one reason only – VOTER FRAUD (always capitalize, and BOLD when necessary; italics might make some feel that the phrase is being used ironically – laugh here).  They lose not because they don’t have the best interests of voters in mind, nor that they failed to “get out the vote” or because they have absolutely no good policies or even because they ran shitty candidates or IT’S A FUCKING LEFT LEANING STATE FOR CHRISSAKE.  Nope, gotta be VOTER FRAUD.

And VOTER FRAUD is just like “the dog ate my homework” in that (a) teachers/gullible conservatives tend to believe it without any evidence, and (b) there’s never any evidence.  Easy peasy.

It doesn’t even matter if there were hundreds of thousands of votes and the margin of victory was tens of thousands, 10% or more.  Those wily Democrats imported ballots from China or Norway or somewhere and maybe the governor’s dog ate a whole mess of them.

And any whiff of potential fraud no matter how many times it’s been debunked or explained is worthy of reporting…over and over and over and over.  Red meat for the base.  If 300 ballots are a small part of some larger mail heist IGNORE all that and tell your viewers just how diabolical those pesky Dems are, and assure them that mail-in ballots are the devil’s work and that fraud is in the air, everywhere and the election is rigged – hell, every election is rigged.

Unless you win, and then it’s all good.

Voter fraud is, in the words of Brennen Center for Justice, “vanishing rare, and does not happen on a scale even close to that necessary to ‘rig’ an election.”  OF course, that never stops Republicans, especially now that VOTER FRAUD has been given Carte Blanche by the former guy (I am surprised he didn’t use it in the big heavyweight fight he did commentary for on 9-11; and gosh, wasn’t THAT patriotic of a former President?).

So, for the record, let me state that:

• Almost twice as many Californians are registered Democrats (46.5%) than Republicans (24.0%).
• California’s two Senators are both Democrats.
• Forty-two of the 53 House of Rep seats are held by Democrats (that’s almost 80%).
• The California State Assembly is overwhelmingly Democratic, 60-19 (1 indy).
• So is the State Senate, with Dems having a 30-9 advantage.

IT’S PROBABLY THE MOST LIBERAL STATE IN THE UNION.

Every pre-election poll this month showed the recall failing and/or failing badly (and before this month there were only three polls out of 26 that showed a potential for recall.

But VOTER FRAUD.

Riiiiiiight.

For the record, loser-Republicans who bitch about imaginary VOTER FRAUD are pathetic whiny-ass-titty-babies.

And let’s not forget that Republican-in-case-this-recall-thing-works candidate Larry Elder put up a website on Monday…the day BEFORE the election…to claim that they already found fraud:

Statistical analyses used to detect fraud in elections held in 3rd-world nations (such as Russia, Venezuela, and Iran) have detected fraud in California resulting in Governor Gavin Newsom being reinstated as governor.  The primary analytical tool used was Benford’s Law and can be readily reproduced.

For the record, loser-Republicans who bitch about imaginary VOTER FRAUD are pathetic whiny-ass-titty-babies.

And for the record, at the time this website was live and the above was loudly proclaimed, NO results had been released (since the election was THE NEXT DAY).

Also for the record – I had to look up what the hell Benford’s Law is, and while it’s fascinating, it cannot be used to prove fraud for ANYTHING (merely a potential that something might be amiss). 

And also too – voter distributions do NOT fit into the standard data used in Benford’s Law tests; ergo, not only can it NOT be used to prove fraud, it cannot be used in a statistically valid manner.

I’m sure Larry Elder knows that.

Fucking pathetic whiny-ass-titty-baby.

Waiting…

I could never be these guys, always waiting...

I’ve never been a patient person.  I hate waiting.  Always have, although I was not born premature.  I think that was the last time I waiting until I was supposed to.

This edginess of mine drives my wife nuts, as she is a very methodical person, patient to a fault.  She would rather wait until everything is exactly right and in place before moving ahead; I’m comfortable with charging on if we’re 80-90% complete, or sure of what we’re doing, confident that I can repair/fix/change whatever isn’t right as we go along.  The old joke I used to tell when we ran the ice cream parlor is that if Mona had her way, waiting until everything was “just right,” we’d be holding our grand opening in two weeks.  And I told this joke well into our second decade of business.  And it was still funny, because it’s true.

Anyway, I’m “on hold” now because of the heat.  If you live in the western US, you know that Oregon is under this “heat dome” where we’re getting Las Vegas temperatures without the glamorous shows nor the buffets.  It was 110° in Warren yesterday (hotter in Portland, of course), and we’re expecting 115° today.  Hell, it was 95° in Seaside on the coast on Sunday, and it NEVER gets hot out there because of the cool breezes blowing off the Pacific.  We used to laugh at the tourists who would come out to the coast to cool off when temps hit 90° or above in Portland; dressed in flip-flops, tank-tops, and short-shorts, they’d walk around with their arms wrapped around themselves trying to keep warm, wondering “WTH is going on?”  It was the only time I regretted selling ice cream and not owning the sweatshirt shop down the street.

Anyway, I’m waiting to do all my outdoor projects until the heat dies down (in a day or two, promise!), and frankly, it’s not as tough as all that.  I think this is because I’ve been “waiting” on a lot of things lately…

I’m waiting for Oregon to reopen due to COVID.  It’s supposed to happen either (a) when we reach that magical 70% vaccinated threshold, or on June 30^th, whichever comes first.  It’ll be June 30^th, because while we’re close, we have plenty of “my body, my choice (this time)” people who would not get the vaccine if you paid them, and yes, we tried that.  Here in Columbia County, we’re at a paltry 42% it’s better in the zip code where we live, thank you); an island surrounded by both metro counties and coastal communities in the 50s and 60s.  At least we’re not Malheur County (28%) nor the 97712 zip code in Deschutes County (a whopping 9.3%).  Jeebus.

I’m waiting for the Democrats to do something good again.  Sure, Biden started like a house afire, but how could he not, reversing many of the Executive Orders of the Previous Guy and pushing through a stimulus package that gave some average Americans (for once) some relief.  But voting rights, infrastructure, etc., etc.; that “progressive package” we’ve all known and loved and waited for for so long is at a standstill.  It’s not the heat; but something that burns even hotter – Mitch McConnel and his GOP stonewallers, reminding us that only one party is allowed to skip the bipartisan gambit and push ahead with whatever-in-hell they want (pretty sure it’s in the Constitution).  And the press helps them with this bullshit, but that’s another story.

Speaking of bullshit, I’m waiting for more arrests in the January 6^th insurrection, and I don’t mean just the folks who went inside.  Rounding up the organizers would be a nice touch, don’t you think?  You don’t think it was organized?  They had T-shirts printed up with the date and the event.  In advance.

And speaking of arrests, it’s now being said that criminal charges may be filed THIS WEEK against the Trump Organization.  According to the Manhattan D.A.’s office, it’s related to tax-related conduct, more specifically, “…possibly extensive and protracted criminal conduct" at the Trump Organization, including tax and insurance fraud and falsification of business records.  Remember when Trump bragged about not paying taxes?  “That makes me smart,” he said, smirkingly.  It’s well past time to wipe that smirk from his face.  The rest of the family, too, as well as Roger Stone, et al.

And finally, I’m waiting for stuff in the garden to ripen.  That’s an annual event, of course, but this year it takes on a bit more trepidation.  It’s the first year for all of our berry bushes to bear fruit, and so far, it’s a gusher.  Two pints of Loganberries so far; another two pints of Olallieberries today, and the Marionberries…another couple of weeks, but we have twice as many plants, so we’ll be rolling in them.  I hope.  We’ve harvested a ton of lettuce, bunches of carrots (more to go), radishes, and three pints of peas with the other half of the bed ready by the end of the week.  Still to mature - two kinds of apples, some pears, corn, green beans, acorn squash, butternut squash, cukes, melons, pepper, and of course, zucchini (we planted half the crop we did last year just so we wouldn’t have them coming out of our ears).  On the other hand, we planted MORE tomatoes because you cannot have too many tomatoes.

Oh, and I’m waiting for a new freezer to put it all in. 

When’s it coming? 

In two weeks.  Seriously.

I can’t wait.

Details, details, (lack of) details

Before we begin, it’s worth noting that this blog is almost 10 years old, or, in other words, it’s lasted almost 10 years longer than Donald Trump’s blog (which was shut down yesterday).

Now, I can’t begin to tell you if I’ve sputtered more nonsense in my 10 years than he has in the last, oh, 6 weeks or so, but I doubt it.  If you somehow missed the latest, the “rumor” is that Donnie the terrible expects to be reinstated sometime in August.

Yeah, reinstated.  As President.  Of these United States.

Republicans, marching in the same direction

Before you go running to your local constitutional scholar to see just how this might play out (hint – it doesn’t; that’s not how this works, that’s not how any of this works), consider playing this fun game:  next time you see a Trumpkin post malarkey like this, ASK THEM.  Ask them, exactly, where in the US Constitution it says that a candidate who lost due to “fraud” (be sure to include the quotation marks) gets to be reinstated once the “fraud” is “proven” in “court.”  Ask them what proof is needed, which court decides, etc., etc.  Ask for lots of details.

You won’t get any, of course.

Conservatives have been horrible of late in providing details for…well, actually, for damn near anything.  They make claims, they make statements, and something is missing.  Details.

For example, many Republican-controlled legislatures are passing outrageous “voter protection” bills that do nothing of the kind.  What they actually do is make it very hard (for some people) to vote.  The GOPers say it’s to stop fraud at the polls, but when you ask them exactly how much fraud occurred in 2020, they mumble and stutter and then point to the lack of confidence the “voting public” (their side) has in the results (because of all the lies they told their side about why they lost). 

“Critical Race Theory” is being debated in many states by all the conservatives, but…do they even know what that means?  When I ask that question on the social medias, I get:

• “I ain’t doing your homework,”
• “Google it,”
• “It’s just another bad liberal idea, like all of them,” and
• [crickets].

(For a good overview, see here; for an interesting analysis, go here.)

Side note – this reminds me of a pro-Biden post I commented on last week, where a Trumpkin posted “This story is factually inaccurate and wrong.”  I asked what, specifically, was inaccurate and got a Sarah Palin-like response:  “All of it.”

You see, if Neo-Con-jobs would actually pay attention to the details, they might actually be able to think about the things they’re saying and the claims they’re making and realize it can be one way or the other way, but it can’t be both.

One example is the January 6^th insurrection.  More than 70% of Republicans say Antifa and/or was responsible, yet, also, too, more than 70% say there should NOT be an investigation and we should move on.  Wouldn’t they WANT to have PROOF that the nasty Antifa crowd should be answerable for all that death and damage?  And yet…

How about this one?  Fans of the Orange Blob want Trump to get credit for rushing the COVID vaccines through, but…they also say, ”I won’t take the vaccine because it was rushed.”

Oh, by the way, they STILL think Obama was born in Kenya.  Still.

And don’t forget that “Unemployment benefits are too generous” and simultaneously “The economy is overheating so much that inflation is going to kill us all.”

I mean, sure, it makes your head hurt, but all of this bullshit does affect our social discourse.  How can you reason with people who blurt out any string of words whether there’s any truth to them or not?  How can you possibly negotiate with anyone like that?

I know Joe means well, but as he would say: “C’mon, man.”

Times a wastin’ – let’s move forward without the bastards.

Guns ‘n’ Motives

Let me start by saying I haven’t written much about guns or gun violence.  Twice, to be exact, both in 2015 (October and December) and one of those was more about hate than about guns.  This time, I am writing about guns.

As I’ve said previously, I have no use for guns.  Never owned one.  Never will.  Can’t shoot ‘em straight if I did (I have an eye defect that inhibits my ability to sight the target, and I proved I’m awful about this once when I did a radio story about the local ROTC Turkey Shoot and they foolishly let me try to hit the target for the story and even though they showed me how to do it I wound up hitting the target…in the next booth over).

A gun, whatever the type – handgun, rifle, AR-15, has one and only one purpose – to maim or kill whatever is being shot at.  Period.  Any other “weapon” is similar to this, though there are many tools that have other primary purposes that are used as weapons, too.  Knives, hammers, hands, feet, and so on.

Again, a gun is a weapon designed to main or kill.  You might say, “No, I use it for defense” and my response is “So you use it for defense, in case your home or your family is attacked, and the purpose of this defense is to…do what, exactly?  Maim or kill whoever is attacking, I assume.”  You might “I use it for target practice” and I would respond “Yes, so you can shoot more accurately, so when the time comes to use the gun to maim or kill you can more accurately hit your target.”  Do you want to practice hitting a target?  Play darts, or play lawn darts (oh, wait, that’s outlawed). 

Some folks hunt.  Yup.  Many friends (and some relatives) do this.  I understand completely.  Of course, they hunt animals, not humans, but again, they use whatever weapon they use to maim or kill their prey.  Can’t deny that.  Bow & arrow serves the same purpose and is much more of a challenge (I knew a guy in Idaho who was more successful getting his elk/deer this way).

But when the national discussion turns to gun violence, we never get to talk about guns.  And that’s on purpose.

The first tactic is to delay the conversation, partly to defuse the emotion that comes right after yet again another mass shooting.  “It’s too soon,” they say, and what they really mean is “Is never soon enough for you?” because they never wish to discuss it.

Then, when there is “conversation” it’s merely one side throwing out words and statistics and the other side responding with the same.  But as you surely know by now, you can make statistics say whatever you want.

And they do.

Recently, the old “hammers kill more people than rifles” argument has been circulating, and you know what?  It’s true.  It’s cherry-picking the data, of course, but it leaves the impression that guns are not the problem.  And that’s wrong.  Here’s the data:

Now, you see that there are separate categories for handguns, rifles, shotguns, and firearms (not specified).  Why?  Why would these be separate categories?  One reason could be because combining all of them together makes the chart look like this: 

All firearms are now shown to be TEN TIMES more lethal than the next highest category (knives/cutting devices).  Draw your own conclusions.

Another argument making the rounds again is the fact that in Switzerland, every male citizen 21 and older is MANDATED to have guns at home, so why not do this in America?  And yes, this is a true (as far as it goes) statement, because of the Swiss Army’s rules regarding their militia.  So if that’s true, why this chart?

 

Note that Switzerland is here along with damn near every other country having low death rates.  The answer, of course, is that while the Swiss have plenty of guns at home, they HAVE NO AMMO.  Big dif.

But it’s these “facts” and “statistics” that continue to muddy the waters when it comes to discussing guns and gun violence, as does the tired drumbeat of “SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS.”  The facts are that weaponry is far different now than in 1791, and the amendment calls for a “well-regulated” militia.

Consider that we’ve changed voting laws considerably since then – in 1791 only white males who owned property could vote.  And the militia only had three types of weapons: single-shot rifles, swords, and cannons.

It seems that when it comes to voting, certain factions wish to make it harder to register and harder to vote.  That same faction wishes to make it EASIER to own a gun.  Seems weird.

Another analogy:  when it comes to abortion, certain factions wish to make it harder to get one.  That same faction wishes to make it EASIER to own a gun.  Seems weirder.  Especially since those who really want to reduce the number of abortions know that reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies is a far better method.  Increase the public’s knowledge, sex education, access to pregnancy prevention like pills and condoms, and other methods help reduce unwanted pregnancies and abortions.  And it’s those same steps that certain factions wish to reduce or eliminate.  The very things that could achieve the supposedly “goal” of reducing abortion are tossed aside in favor of outright restriction.  But the very things that might achieve the goal of reduced gun violence (background checks, liability insurance, banning assault weapons, invest in better gun technology, and eliminate restrictions on gun violence research, for example) are never considered in favor of…the idea that more guns are the solution.

Seems weird.

Anyway, we’re going to have that “conversation” again and I know how it will turn out because it ALWAYS turns out that way.  Still, here is a page with some wonderful charts to use when having that conversation.  Good luck.

Psst: Democrats - use "The Benghazi Standard"

Not Benghazi

As the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump begins today (with the results already known to anyone who’s been paying attention), I wonder why Democrats don’t hold Republicans to the “Benghazi standard.”  After all, the events of 1/6/21 are eerily similar to the events of Benghazi.

• Both were attacks on US government buildings by armed militants.
• Both were believed to have started out at a nearby protest.
• Both resulted in damage and destruction to government property.
• Both resulted in the deaths of several Americans.

There are a few differences.  For one thing, Benghazi happened BEFORE a Presidential election; the Capitol insurrection occurred afterwards.  Benghazi was deemed by Republicans to be the fault of Barack Obama and his administration; they blamed him for two things:

• Not providing enough protection prior to the attack, and
• Not telling the truth about the reasons for the event.

And yeah, that does sound a lot like what happened last month.  There is one more glaring difference.  OK, two, but I’ll get to the second one in a moment.  One BIG difference is that Obama wasn’t at that protest in Libya egging the protesters on, urging them to storm the embassy.   If he had, maybe the GOP would have considered impeachment proceedings against him.  Who am I kidding?  They did it, anyway.

And they held all sorts of hearings.  There were no fewer than eight investigations into the Benghazi attack, at the cost of tens of millions of taxpayer dollars.  All these investigations found no wrongdoing by the Obama administration. To put the GOP’s egregious political gold-digging into perspective, Republicans “investigated” Benghazi longer than congressional probes into the September 11, 2001 attacks, Watergate, the JFK assassination and Pearl Harbor. 

Benghazi happened in September, 2012…BEFORE Obama’s re-election.  THAT’S why the initial effort was to hang Benghazi around HIS neck.  Clinton was an afterthought and wasn’t the focus of the Uber-GOP investigations until she announced her presidential candidacy.  THEN it was Clinton = Benghazi.  And all of those investigations and hearings achieved the GOP’s main task; to defeat Hillary Clinton at the polls (and they needed additional help to do that).

But here’s the second, and more important, difference between Benghazi then and the Capitol insurrection now:  back then, the building that was attacked was on foreign soil.  The more current assault happened here.  In our nation’s capital.  In the Capitol.  In the very fucking building where many of the Republicans who called for all those hearings and investigations on Benghazi WERE WORKING AT THE VERY TIME OF THE ATTACK.

In other words, the assault was ON THEM.  We have ample proof that the domestic terrorists responsible for storming the Capitol were seeking congressional leaders and Vice President Pence.  Not to shake their hands or ask them for a grant, but to do them bodily harm.  How else do you explain the phrase “Hang Mike Pence?”  How else do you explain “Shirtless Horn and Facepaint Guy” screaming that this was their house, and that they were there to take the Capitol, and to get congressional leaders and used his bullhorn to communicate that they were there to take out several United States congressmen?

Why aren't Republicans calling for investigations like they did Benghazi?  Why aren't they calling for hearings?  Why aren't they outraged that an assault on their workplace happened a mere month ago and we still know very little about who, and why?

Will they ask these questions during the impeachment trial?  Or will they attempt to “move on” and “call for unity” until the next time a Democrat is in charge?

I leave you with this from one of the many Benghazi investigation reports.  I took out the one reference to the event, but you could use it for either one – Benghazi or the Capitol insurrection – and you’d be right.  Well, at least you’d be right about one of them.

“What we did find was a tragic failure of leadership – in the run up to the attack and the [during] – and an administration that, so blinded by politics and its desire to win an election, disregarded a basic duty of government: Tell the people the truth,” the congressmen wrote. “And for those reasons [this] is and always will be, an American tragedy.”

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.

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 9^th, 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.

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 25^th Amendment.

Jeebus.  Lookie here:

       

 

Does THAT sound like the worst is over?

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

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.”

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?

Part Two of Four Freedoms, Revisited

Yesterday we revisited two of Roosevelt’s “Four Freedoms” (from his 1941 SOTU speech).  I was of the opinion that with the first two – freedom of speech and freedom of worship – we’re doing OK.  But, boy, the other two…

FREEDOM FROM WANT – Well now that everyone is getting an additional $600, we’re all good, right?

Obviously, I’m kidding.

Even before COVID, the gap between “those with lots of money” and “those with hardly any” was getting larger and larger.  And one of the major reasons for this was the very people who Roosevelt thought should be making that gap go in the opposite direction – the Federal government.  Thanks to two huge tax cuts for the über wealthy and corporations (Bush in 2001 and 2013, Trump in 2017), average Americans are picking up the tab for the super-rich.  Meanwhile, the minimum wage has remained stagnant at the Federal level.

Some states have decided to do something about that, as many have decided to raise the minimum to $10 or more, with some headed to the “magic” amount of $15/hour (that’s a whopping annual salary of $30K).  Strangely enough, if you overlay a map of those states who either have a minimum wage STILL at 7.25 OR LOWER (looking at you, Georgia) with a map of Trump states, it…looks pretty much the same.  OK, not so strange.

So it was bad before, but now, in 2020 thanks to COVID, it’s dire.  More people out of work or at jobs below what they used to be making.  People still working but fewer hours.  Millions scheduled to “face the music” with evictions come January.  And Trump’s latest action is sure to help put food on the table – an Executive Order “prohibiting new federal buildings from being built in anything other than Neoclassical, Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival, Beaux-Arts, or Art Deco styles.”

25^th Amendment Now, please.

 

FREEDOM FROM FEAR – Jeebus, isn’t the above enough?

Nope.  Tack on some of this:

• Hacking of government networks by Russia
• Right-wing extremists planning massive “Civil War” protesting the election
• Shortages at food banks
• Economic insecurity
• Global warming
• Hiccups with the Presidential transistion
• COVID
• Vaccine distribution problems
• Murder hornets

You get the idea.  The thing is, every one of those things above is bad, and MADE WORSE by the Trump Administration.  How can one man fuck up so much?

And how can so many gullible fools* continue to support him and send him money?

Worse yet, Trump revels in fear and chaos.  Remember the caravans?  Ebola?  Mexican immigrants who simultaneously will rape and murder us and then take our jobs?  He did nothing but campaign on a message of FEAR FEAR FEAR and the “comforting” thought that “I alone can fix it.”  A man rife with a history of failure and bankruptcies, here to save the world.  Right.

And now, when Americans are just beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel, when the new administration is only a month away from taking the oath of office and the vaccine for the coronavirus is being distributed and people are talking about “getting back to normal,” the moron-in-chief is seriously considering a coup d'état to remain in power.  And the Republican Party is complicit.  They’ve done nothing to put America at ease about this situation; offering passive words of “oh, it’ll be fine” but none of them actually standing up to the Orange Clown and saying, “ENOUGH.  Pack your shit and leave.”

The transition of power, when it’s vitally needed to secure proper distribution of the vaccine, to secure our borders (real and online), to put America back together, is compromised and held hostage by a party who is far more interested in remaining in power than in actually doing anything for the average American.

And the vote in Georgia’s runoff elections, which will decide the makeup of the Senate and perhaps the direction the country will go in for the next two years, is expected to be very, very close.

No wonder people are scared.

 

* Yes, gullible fools.  They’re sending their money to someone who supposedly is one of the richest men in the world.  Think hard about that.

FDR’s Four Freedoms, Revisited

It’s been nearly 80 years since FDR made his infamous “Four Freedoms” speech (his 1941 SOTU).  You may recall that Roosevelt listed four “freedoms" - 

• Freedom of speech,
• Freedom of worship,
• Freedom from want, and
• Freedom from fear.

Let’s take ‘em one at a time – we’ll do the first two in this post. 

FREEDOM OF SPEECH – I would say we’ve got this, but there are many who would disagree.  Problem is, they really don’t understand the communicative process, and they also confuse this with the First Amendment, which merely prohibits the government’s restrictions on speech. 

You can say whatever you want to say.  Period.  Well, OK, there are a few restrictions (see: fire in a crowded theater).  But what’s not covered here is private entities restricting what goes on within those private entities.  If you want to rant about subject “A” and write a 1000-word essay for your local paper’s “Letters to The Editor” and there’s a 500-word limit, guess what’s going to happen? 

Now, take this concept to social media.  Remember those agreements you (mindlessly) clicked “OK” to when you signed up?  Same issue – when you break your “terms of service” your speech might become restricted.  YOU AGREED TO THE RULES.  Break ‘em and pay the consequences.

And that’s the other part about “Freedom of Speech” that people gripe about but don’t comprehend.  You say what you want, and others are free to do likewise.  And if there are consequences for your speech, so be it.  You say racist things and it gets captured on TikTok and your employer finds out about it…well, unless you’re in law enforcement, there’s a good chance you’ll face some disciplinary action for that speech.

Hope it was worth it.

FREEDOM OF WORSHIP – Here again I think we’re doing OK (like a heathen would know this, right?).  Back in the day, our Founding Fathers whipped up that First Amendment to protect this freedom and the one mentioned above:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Of course, the concern then was the ability to practice any Protestant religion of your choosing, Jews and Catholics were not much of a concern and few worried about Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, etc. But today folks are free to worship however they please, or, as I am thankful for, to not worship at all.

But, here again some folks feel persecuted (and they always use that word, having the previous religious context as if that adds some weight).  Thanks to COVID some services are limited in size, or they’re online only, and other restrictions may apply.  There have been lawsuits galore and much misplaced anger because of these restrictions which are merely intended to keep people safe and alive.

You know what people used to do when they felt like their religious liberty was at risk?  THEY MOVED.  Packed it all up and went…well, surprise!  They moved here to America. 

If you feel like you’re not getting to practice your religion as intended (and you’re not since I don’t see anyone doing the burnt offering thing), perhaps you’d better pack the U-Haul and move to one of the Dakotas or Florida, where you’re free to cluster as tight as you want indoors and sing and move about with total abandon.  Knock yourself out.

Literally.

 

These two Freedoms are doing pretty well – next time we’ll discuss the other two, which are taking quite a beating.  Stay safe and well.