Category Archives: Politics

Women’s March

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I attended my first Women’s March the other day.  I am happy to report these gals seem to know what they’re doing.  Something I just thought of.  If you’re interested in that sort of thing I would have to think that’s just the place to meet women.  But frankly I wasn’t so much interested in the ladies as I was in their clever signs.

I met up with some regular friends of mine who like me probably didn’t have much going on that day.  I have some irregular friends too, but they’re not inclined  push through something that smacks of commitment.  If you happen to know anything about our particular group that gathered for the march, I think you would conclude we are fairly close knit, in that we tend to think a lot alike on many issues.  Women’s rights is certainly one we all feel is important to support. And so there we were,  I think the idea being there is strength in numbers.  By that I don’t mean our numbers were that impactful in the way of improving the overall numbers of the march.  The strength of having numbers within our little group was that if one of us should happen to stumble there might be enough of our numbers to rescue the unfortunate before being trampled to death.

I would guess our march was typical of any other organized march.  First, all of the marchers converged to a gathering point to listen  to some inspirational rhetoric supplied by a few speakers.  A middle-aged woman of Puerto Rican decent was the first to address us.  I thought she hit the mark with pertinent points- equal pay, get out the vote, love thy neighbor, the usual stuff I think you hear at a women’s march. Her speech seemed a little on the long side, but there was no shortage of applause throughout it’s entirety and overall I thought she graded out pretty well- at least the half of her speech that was in English.  Unfortunaelty there was a second half, which as far as I could tell was a complete reproduction of the first half, only in Spanish.

Applause for the second half was, to put it mildly, a little sparse. I felt sorry for the speaker after a point.  I wanted to applaud.  I am sure my friends also wanted to applaud.  But about all we could accomplish were confused looks at one another, which if they could somehow be interpreted in Spanish said, “What in the hell is going on here.” I have to admit the march started to take a bit of a turn for me.  But a lot of that had to do with my feet.  They were really not cooperating.  I know that was my bad.  The shoes I had selected to wear during the march were not constructed to march over any kind of surface not covered in carpet with extra thick padding.  And then there was the annoying drone hovering directly above us. I was reasonably sure what I saw was an attached camera, but what if it was a canister of toxic nerve gas?  It would be so Trumpian to take the easy way and eliminate  8000 opposition votes instantaneously rather than instituting time honored but tedious traditions of gerrymandering and redistricting.

As  I said I was there for the signs, and honorable mention went to the sign that stated “I’ve seen better cabinets at Ikea.”  I guess you would  have to say that sign scored first place as well, in that it was the only sign any of the speakers mentioned, period.  You could see the look of disappointment on the faces of a number of sign carriers when it became apparent their signs were not about to be recognized.  To be honest with you the Ikea entry didn’t impress me.  The statement was clever enough, but you should have seen the drawing that accompanied it.  I believe what its creator was attempting to convey was the picture of a kitchen cabinet, but all it was was a frantic scribbling in brown magic marker with no involvement of discernible straight lines anywhere and two yellow circles that I guess were supposed to be knobs of some kind.  What it presented in my mind was a reasonable rendering of the face of Sasquatch.

For me, the winner of my imaginary sign contest was the one that stated “I can do anything you can do and do it bleeding.”  Not only did that thing make a bold gender-based statement that captured the essence of the march, but the solid red background was almost intimidating.  Frankly it scared the hell out of me.

I have to tell you a sense of relief overwhelmed me  when we finally got the word it was time to actually start marching, and I am pretty sure my peers in my group of marching friends had the same sentiment.   If I remember right, nearly every one of us were propped up with joints of an artificial nature, or have orthopedic surgery scheduled on the near horizon. If there is one thing I took away from the march, it’s there is no sitting in marching.

Off we went, ever careful not to step on each others heals and doing our best to appear not to be hobbled in any way.  As we marched along I become fixated on a sign carried by a marcher ahead of me.  There were lots of signs, and this particular one would disappear from time to time behind another.  The words on this sign that held my attention were, “Fuck as feminists.”  It was totally confusing to me.  Equally mysterious was the drawing underneath, which I think most would say amounted to a giant green apostrophe.  I just couldn’t help wondering what that sign was all about.  To me it would have made some sense if the word “for” was subbed in for the word “as”.  I mean then you might possibly be promoting some kind of cause.  I’m sure there are people out there who could get behind that sort of thing.  “As” just didn’t cut it for me.  It threw the whole thing off.

We made a left turn onto a street of paving brick, and if you know anything about that type of surface you know you have to pay attention to where you are walking.  There are dips and elevations that can be treacherous.  Between that and avoiding other people’s feet I decided it was time to bail.  We came up on the cross street my car was parked on and with my first open opportunity I weaved through the crowd and worked my way to safety.

With the sweet comfort of my vehicle in view I finally started to relax.  Overall I was impressed with the turnout, felt the march achieved its intent, and happy I participated.  I have to admit I wasn’t so happy with the parking ticket mocking me from underneath the windshield wiper of my car.  It was a reminder from the traffic department that two hours is not enough time to commit to a Women’s March.  I will remember that next time, and be sure to tell whoever I designate as my proxy to keep that in mind as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Puffery Meets Providence

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After final passage of the  Trump “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” members of congress gather on the White House grounds for a  rousing  round of congratulatory back-slapping and congregate around the press podium and microphones.  Representative  Paul Ryan steps up to speak.

     Executive, Legislative Celebration   

Ryan:  “Mr. President, it is an honor to stand here and celebrate with you.  We could not have accomplished this without your exquisite leadership.  The people of America can now finally experience real economic progress as we initiate entitlement program abatement in the coming years.  You are truly an inspiration.”

Ryan steps away from the podium and is replaced by Senator Mitch McConnell

McConnell: “Exquisite leader and Inspiration indeed Mr. President.  But you are more than that.  You are a great man and unparalleled  political thinker.  Just look at your accomplishments.  Your deregulation initiatives have set the tone for a new America powered by coal.  No one has ever done more to make sure our country leads the way in keeping this planet pleasantly warm. The whole world is appreciative. You have set so many records- why it’s impossible to keep track of them all.   Just take a look at how you made sure our mining industries have handy access to all our pristine water resources.  What an economic triumph!  If I might interject a personal note Mr. President, my favorites of all your deregulations are the ones involving air quality.  We kind of had to sneak some of those by the general public, but boy will they be in for a nice surprise when they find out what they are inhaling is not nearly the same as what they’ve been used to.  Like you say, Mr. President, it’s all about jobs.  Once we get all the air around us to be more interesting, like it was in the good ol’ days before all these darn regulations,  there won’t be such a thing as unemployment.  And now our coal miners can get down in there and do their work without fear of cumbersome safety regulations.  You’re really taking care of our miners Mr. President, just like you promised.  I speak for Kentucky and the entire nation when I say thank you Mr. President.”

McConnell steps aside to make way for Senator Orrin Hatch who has been tapping him on the shoulder for the last 30 seconds.

Hatch: “What a momentous day for us all Mr. President.  Not only are you an inspiration and exquisite leader, great man and unparalleled political thinker, but even more importantly, after this day, it can be stated undeniably that you are a great president, and I dare say without a doubt in my mind, no, it’s no dare let me tell you, it’s a fact.  With this tax bill you will go down in history as one of the greatest- no, not one of the greatest. You will be recognized as the absolute greatest president- ever. And I’m not talking just here in America.  I mean in the entire world.  Every democracy on the planet will praise you and seek your advice.  I, along with the entire state of Utah and everyone in America thanks you Mr. President.  By golly these new tax laws are really going to get the economy moving.  You can bet there’ll be all sorts of new construction going on now that all our hard working corporate executives have so much extra cash to fund the new wings on their mansions.   Dog gone it this tax bill is so dog gone good even dogs will love it. Like you Mr. President, my wife owns a pass through entity, and man o man with the tax windfall she’ll be getting next year, if I know her, and believe me I do, she’ll be treating her two little pooches to all of those top shelf items at Pet Smart.  Mr. President, once again I want to tha….”

Hatch stumbles a bit as Vice President Mike Pence shoulders him aside and takes control of the podium.

Pence:  “That’s right Mr. President.  This country is so thankful to have you guide us into the future.  You are absolutely an inspiration and exquisite leader, great man, unparalleled  political thinker and of course I second that thing that you are, as of today, the greatest president to ever walk the face of the earth.  Certainly as we reflect upon all of your accomplishments everyone is amazed.  But it’s more than presidential accomplishment.  Take a look at your life.  From humble beginnings you took charge of your own future, and with only the several million your father gave you, you parlayed that and the bankruptcy and tax laws of this great country with the astounding, and perplexingly generous gullibility of the American public and created a massive fortune for  yourself.  And wow, with this new tax law of yours you have carved out an even bigger fortune.  By eliminating benefits for veterans, students and orphans and all those fakers who claim they have some rare disease, you were able to save that well deserved golf course deduction.   You represent the epitome of the American dream.  Why we don’t even know how massive your fortune is because your great team of lawyers, and as we all know our country is great because we are a nation of laws and such, your great team of lawyers has buried  the true value of your wealth amongst a huge volume of paper at the IRS.  American families are so grateful to you, especially those burdened by that ridiculous estate tax.  Looking out for your children is the most important responsibility a man has, and you have profoundly demonstrated how a simple man can provide untaxed millions for family and friends with the flamboyant stroke of a pen.  You have taken the power of the presidency to an historically new level Mr. President.

So impressive is your dynamic life, Mr. President, I have to tell you I have racked my brain in search of an example of a life of comparative import.  And in that desperate search, I tell you I have found but one- only one- that stands alone in mirroring your magnificent stature.  The man I’m referring to resides in those pages of the sacred book we know as– the Bible.  Mr. President, like all good Christians I know you use that holy book to guide your life. I don’t know about you, but when I read the Bible I am always struck by the power of the miracles surrounding the life of Jesus.   As you stand before us as President of the United States, most everyone believes that your election might be the single most impressive miracle to have ever occurred in this country.   Mr. President, it is such a privilege and honor to serve you, and I think it is only fitting that now, as we move into the future with these momentous new tax laws at our disposal, that I and this august body  bestow upon you the official title of— Supreme Almost Divine President of the United States of America.”

After a few seconds of stunned silence, hysterical applause breaks out throughout the congregated group.   Much back-slapping and hand shaking quickly generates a state of exuberant pandemonium and congressmen begin to fall to their knees and bow before the newly anointed Supreme Almost Divine President of the United States of America.  Curious clouds mysteriously develop overhead, but no one engaged in all the rapture seems aware.  The sky turns forebodingly black, and suddenly  massive, multiple bolts of lightening are hurled into the crowd.

First, there was the explosion.   Witnesses say  body parts flew everywhere.  One man saw eye balls blown away from their sockets and roll down the street.  The blast was quickly followed by a raging inferno.  Later it was reported that bystanders were commonly awe-struck by its intensity.  What really baffled everyone interviewed however was how not one of the elected officials participating in the ceremony survived, yet there was not a single reported incident of an injury to onlookers.  When the blaze subsided and the smoke finally cleared,  a smoldering mass of charred flesh and bone was all that remained on the White House grounds.

Heavenly, Judicial Condemnation

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It’s been a year of confusion and despair.  That is why I thought it would be a nice gesture to give this story a cheerful ending during this season of hope and joy.  Happy New Year to All!

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In Search of Normalcy

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OK.  This is really pissing me off.  Hannity Republicans Hammer Mueller. I keep trying to get my head around this. Our politics have become so poisoned there is now a group of American citizens so contaminated they believe it is imperative to derail an investigation that is trying to get to the bottom of an attack on our democracy by a foreign adversary.  Republicans now want to increase the national debt and Democrats are the party of “family values.”  White evangelicals who call themselves Christians voted unanimously for Roy Moore.  More and more I am beginning to question what is normal. I am questioning myself.  I mean is it normal for me  to be overwhelmed by the compulsion to staple Sean’s Hannity’s tongue to the roof of his mouth and then sew his lips shut?  No, of course not.  But that impulse gets less disturbing to me each time I hear his voice or see his image.  It happens only in the terror of my worst nightmares, but  I even smell him.  The scent is an odd combination of  Brylcream,  Axe cologne, and polyester resin, which is the stuff Nerf products are made of.  If you’ve ever seen Sean toss his special football to whoever his mysterious receiver is hiding off stage, you might be getting a glimpse into the wonderings of my mind.  What a dork.  Like tossing a Nerf football somehow validates his manly manliness. Son of a bitch. Now I even associate Nerf footballs with scummy behavior.  I used to like my Nerf football.  I recently tossed it in the trash.  That is not normal.

Neither is Ohio Representative Jim Jordan.  During the House judiciary hearing mentioned above he is the guy who is convinced the American public’s trust in the Mueller investigation is kaput. As some sort of confidence restoration act he is certain what the country needs is a second special investigation of Clinton involvement in the election.  I would like to jam a red-hot poker up his ass.  That is not normal. I am aware of that.  The red-hot poker thing I mean.  Is a  second Clinton investigation  normal though?  Personally I think not, but congressman Trey Gowdy, the Benghazi kamikaze, disagrees. That guy would self-immolate if he thought going up in flames would get any kind of mud on Hillary to stick.  I fantasize about carefully placing his nuts on an anvil and smashing them with a  ballpien hammer.   That’s not normal is it?

Geezuz what are these guys afraid of?  Russian involvement in our past presidential election has been verified by every law enforcement body in this country.  It is impossible to deny that fact now that Mueller has produced two indictments and two cases of false statements.   Why in the hell is that so hard to grasp? And our president is totally disinterested in identifying our vulnerability and  preventing future foreign intrusion. That is not normal.   Is it normal that some investigators are biased in some regard?  Well, yes.  Considering our current political landscape how could that not be true.  There is bound to be an appearance of bias, but Mueller has shown he expects politics to be checked at the door by dismissing agent Strzok.  That’s the normal thing to do.

OK.  In the interest of  fairness I’m willing to concede and consider that thing about a Clinton investigation is normal.  Will that make the Sean Hannity’s of the country happy?   Go for it.  But let’s first focus on the more pressing investigation- the one involving the sitting president that has all the corroborated instances of Russian involvement stamped all over it.  Let the thing run its course and stay the hell out of the way.  Complainers are doing nothing but a disservice to democracy. Three-fourths of the American public wants this investigation to progress.   After it’s resolved, go ahead with a Clinton investigation.  Sean Hannity can sit on the investigative panel for all care.  I was never a big Clinton supporter anyway.  Load the investigation team up all you want with anti-Clintonites. What better way to get to the bottom of things than by inserting people to investigate that are motivated by vengeance.  That was protocol during all those Benghazi investigations.  Huh.  I guess that is a more normal way of investigating  than I was originally thinking.   The bottom line is dig up all you can, and to make things normal have someone with integrity sort through it all to make sense of it.   I don’t give a shit if you find something shady or don’t, with either investigation, and I don’t care how long it takes.  Just come to a conclusion and make it public.

Mueller is going to analyze all the evidence.  And likely whatever recommendations he makes will go before the House.  They will decide if there is any  impeachable offense.  If Mueller finds out the Trumps had some shifty non-political, financial dealings, which I personally think will be the case, there is no gray area to debate.   There will be concrete numbers that define allegations that the president will not be able to deny. Remember it was Trump himself that brought on this investigation by firing the director of the FBI. On the other hand, after he scrutinizes everything presented to him,  there is a fair chance Mueller will not find anything  related to the president particularly nefarious.  Let the man do his job.

Let me throw this out there.  How about a third special investigation.  Let’s investigate crazy conspiracy theorists like Sean Hannity.  Anyone protesting so vehemently about anything must be sweating it.  I bet it’s the golden shower dossier.  Just my personal conspiracy theory.  And it’s become completely normal to me.

 

 

Trophy Comfort

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November 6, 2017

During a press appearance at a Tokyo golf course this afternoon, President Trump dedicated a golf trophy to the shooting victims who died during the Sutherland Springs church massacre.  “The people of Puerto Rico really seemed to enjoy the one I dedicated to them,” the president stated.  “What happened in Texas was such a terrible thing.  I  thought everyone would appreciate a nice, beautiful trophy.  Throw in a bunch of prayers and people will be feeling a lot better.” Since there was no tournament taking place on the golf course, the president was asked where the trophy came from.  He replied that he always keeps a spare on hand whenever he travels because they always make him feel good.  “It probably has something to do with my collection of trophy wives,” the president said wryly.

No official press conference was scheduled, but President Trump did spend a short time with the media discussing the slaughter at the Sutherland Springs church.  In anticipation of a query about gun control, the president artfully defused the situation by stating the horrific incident was not a gun problem, but rather a mental health problem.   “The American people know that now is not the time to talk about gun control. It is time to roll up our sleeves and do absolutely  nothing.  What is needed is a bunch of prayers.  So let’s everybody say some prayers, but maybe just not in church till all this blows over.  And of course the trophy will help a lot.’

 

Trump Gets “Up” Around Any Kind of Trophy

 

 

 

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Three Things

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Has this Trump guy just worn you out?  One ridiculous thing on top of another tends to numb the brain, and actually many pundits and even professional psychologists believe that this behavior of his is absolutely intentional- that he does all this stupid shit continually so that the majority of us simply can’t keep up and we loose track of just how moronic he is.  Thank you Rex for calling attention to the obvious.  We need a reset every once in awhile.

Which brings me to my first “thing.”  Trump indicated in one of his recent tweets he would love to have an I.Q. test-off with his secretary of state.  Raise your hand if you likewise think this is a smashing idea.  Personally I think we would be in store for quite the revelation since this is a man who never reads a book,  who’s vocabulary is limited to 350 words, and refuses to release academic transcripts of any kind.

Yes, I am worn out also.  I really need to take a break from political blogging. There are so many blogs and op-eds out there written and spoken by way more qualified people than myself.  It’s just easier to marshal their words with a link insertion, like this. Tom Brokaw and Guns.  No one needs a silencer.  Use some ear plugs if the noise from your hunting rifle bothers you.  How in the world the sale of “bump stocks” ever materialized is beyond me, but there is no sane reason any regular citizen should posses an assault rifle in the first place.  And Geezus H Kreist open carry on college campuses?  WTF?  There have been four recent shooting incidents on Texas campuses now, two of them fatal.  Is there no one with the balls to take on the gun lobby?  How refreshing would it be if a political party evolved whose platform was solely to do the unthinkable- take away guns.  Why not?  We have a president who’s radical agenda seems to be a nuclear war.  We need a counterbalance to all the insane chest thumping hawkishness with some kind of dovish appeal.  It’s the democratic way.

                  

More of This                                         Less of This

That was point number two.  Number three is something more realistic.  I can’t remember what stupid thing Trump wanted to deflect from by initiating his mind-boggling statement about objecting to protests in the NFL.  As mentioned, who can keep track?  But  this could end up being a gaffe that comes back to bite Trump in the ass.  Can you imagine the public outcry if the NFL shut down operation over this?  It really wouldn’t take much now that Dallas owner Jerry Jones just opened the door to a political shit-storm by thretening to bench or fire any of his Cowboys who kneel during the national anthem.  If a couple of his starters take a knee anytime soon you can bet there will be a very good chance of a landslide of professional participation.  The players would have Jerry Jones and the NFL by the balls. And as much as I hate to say it, good for them.  I love football.  I might go crazy myself without it.  But this is just the platform professional athletes should exploit to emphasize their position, which is to demand equality, not disparage the military, the flag, or even the president.  Peaceful protest is a fundamental  first amendment right of every citizen.  I imagine there would be some good ol’ boys in Alabama rethinking their jubilation over Trump’s initial provocative remark that launched this unnecessary  maelstrom during his political rally in their football crazy state.

 

Gratuitous Exploitation

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Interjected in the center of all this controversy about kneeling during the national anthem is the question” why”. It arises again and again with our current president.  I’m not talking about why it’s happening.  We know that it is all about freedom of speech and the right to protest.  And likewise I’m not talking about why many consider the whole thing to be such a display of disrespect of the flag and all it stands for.  That is perfectly understandable.  Personally I have to say I wish athletes could find a different way to express themselves.  The head scratcher for me though is why the president of this nation  would go out of his way to inflame an already sensitive issue. That would be something to ponder if we had a normal man running the country.  But this is the Donald Trump show, directed by a man who by now we have come to realize is so completely not normal, the “why” in this situation is fairly easy to ascertain.

During all the anthem kneeling and so forth, what has surfaced as debatable argument with a likely outcome of gradual resolution, overnight turned into a firestorm of controversy, all because of a provocative statement  president shit-for-brains made during one of his after market campaign rallies.  Make no mistake.  Trump did not go to Alabama to stump for a Republican congressional candidate, although that was the initial intention pushed by the WH. Trump seems unsure if he is even backing the right candidate. Stumping for a primary candidate is a bit odd in the first place.  The real answer to “why” here is it was just another chance to supply Trump with a fix of his never ending need for public adoration.  What better way to give his ego a boner than letting him listen to a crowd of his staunch supporters enthusiastically respond to his profanity-laced course of red meat- the kind seasoned liberally with racial overtones.

Labeling NFL players who protest during the national anthem as unpatriotic is a complete win for Trump when his audience is a rabble of football crazy Alabama good ol’ boys. Heck, nationally over half the population feels that way, or is at least uncomfortable with that type of expression. Include me in the uncomfortable segment.   And Geezuz it’s hard to feel sorry for anyone making millions of dollars, although you can’t help admire someone who is willing to get his brains scrambled all in the name of entertainment.   Calling anyone an SOB during a nationally televised speech is pretty crass for anyone holding public office though, let alone the president of the United States, but unfortunately it is what we have come to expect from this president. You can argue that protesting during the national anthem is disrespectful to the flag, but so is racism.  As hard as it might be for many to swallow, these NFL demonstrations are about racial justice, not the U.S. flag,, the national anthem, our military, or Trump.

An ironic twist to this whole episode is instead of remaining unemployed, the chances of Colin Kaepernick getting picked up by an NFL team are suddenly looking promising, exactly the opposite of what Trump intended with this recent speech.  I’m surprised the editorial pages in Alabama didn’t go ballistic about Trump’s lack of football knowledge.  Outside of a platoon of combat vets or company of firefighters, I doubt if there is any institution that evokes more loyalty to their group than a team of football players.  Anyone who has played the game, from high school on up, is instilled with a sense of camaraderie that no doubt can be attributed to the violence of the sport.  Throw in the fact that 70% of those playing in the NFL are black, and you should understand chastising one of its members for exercising first amendment privilege to point out racial inequality is bound to create some blowback.  Trump’s concept of loyalty however only flows in one direction- his.  Underscoring how little the president knows about football is his comment about how the sport is not violent enough for his liking.  Every NFL owner arm-locked in protest with their team or otherwise knows all too well it is exactly that that could  be cause to litigate the sport out of existence.

“Bone Crusher” Kowalski models prototype of NFL headgear requested by President Trump

Of course that is all secondary.  The real issue is anyone’s first amendment right to protest.  And a protest is only as effective as the impact it has on society.  Whether you agree or not with Colin Kaepernick or any professional athlete taking a stand to promote racial equality during the national anthem, it is their right to do so.  And importantly, like it or not, for these black athletes there is no better opportunity to create impact than during the peaceful resonance of the national anthem.

Just for the hell of it here is a Chicago Tribune article that expresses the concerns of those who feel President Trump created an unnecessary shit-storm.  Presidential Fumble

Once again, instead of presidential leadership, we get little but incompetence and cultural divisiveness because of our president’s insatiable need for gratuitous applause.  Like this Tribune article implores, let’s leave race relations, free speech, religious protection, and now sports, to leaders who still have credibility.

 

 

 

The Land of the Free

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See this? This American Land  You don’t necessarily have to read the article, although if you appreciate nature you will likewise appreciate what David Brooks has to say.  I just wanted to rub something in.  I just got back from spending a week in the Teton National Park, pictured at the top of this article.  It is a majestic place, and when planning vacations I make it a point to include a visit here whenever possible. I don’t like mentioning how beautiful the area is, because then you might get the idea you have to go there and I really don’t want you cluttering up my space.  But it is a national park, preserved for all of us to enjoy, so it is only fair that I put my personal feelings aside and hope for the best.  I’m from Wyoming, so when I was a kid my father took our family to the Tetons many times.  The first time I laid eyes on the imposing beauty of those magnificent mountains it took my breath away, and that reaction occurs even to this day.

There are many, many places in our country that are similarly striking and if you are the type that truly does appreciate nature you probably hold a special place in your heart for one of those places.  Chances are it is one of America’s national parks or monuments.  Which brings me to another article with a heading photo of a place in my home state, and it really pisses me off.  Making America Polluted Again.  It is very true that Trump has little interest in policy and practically makes it a point to stay disconnected from any kind of agenda.  The one constant that holds Trump’s interest though is a bazaar, pernicious obsession with the destruction of the environment.

Why?  “I’m, like, a really smart person,” to quote the guy.  He apparently attended a prestigious college- Wharton School of Business, but he leaves to the imagination how accomplished a student he was since he won’t release his transcripts.  Was his educational experience totally related to business and devoid of any academic course involving the humanities?  Growing up, did he live his life walking only along concreat paths and amongst nothing but a forrest of tall buildings? Something in the Brook’s article struck me.  He points out that Trump is “Untouched by wilderness, by the awe and humility that comes with the encounter with nature.”  The closest thing the man has to any kind of naturalistic epiphany is the boner he gets when he visits one of his golf courses.  For a very enlightening perspective of how he feels about golf, get a look at the August edition of Sports Illustrated ( First Golfer ).  It’s a long article, but worth the read if you want a different perspective of how this privileged man has lived his life.  I think you would find how he has screwed local communities out of their educational tax revenue by manipulating the tax assessment of his golf courses in his favor particularly galling.  What caught my attention personally was how he equates golf with status.  Deep into the article he states people should “earn” the privilege to golf.  WTF?  I don’t play a lot of golf, but Geezuz I don’t feel like I’m something special when I do. I do have my own special rule when I’m on a course though.  That’s everyone in my group has to stop off at the clubhouse for drinks every 3rd hole.  I have found that does wonders to tilt the field of competition towards my level of incompetence.

What Trump infers of course is there is no way in hell you are going to play on one of his courses unless you reside in the economic class that can afford to pay his gaudy membership and rental fees.  Only the pampered rich dare belong.  What an asshole.  Instead of playing golf every weekend, I think it would be a good idea if Trump spent a week just relaxing within the confines of one of our beautiful national parks.  Perhaps take a book along, one of those large informational ones about the spectacular places in our country, the kind that has few words but lots of pictures to help him out. Should be a good way to prod a neophyte into appreciating the world around him.  There is a good chance what David Brooks postulates is correct.  Perhaps what we all need is a reconnection with the land.

 

 

Presidential Eclipse

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This is rich. The Sun and the Moon.  Most people probably saw this somewhere, but it is worth mentioning once more that it would be in the president’s own best interest if someone took his phone away.  Somehow Trump thinks this meme tweeted by one of his devotees was worthy of his retweet.  It’s a well known fact the man has the attention span of a gold fish, but if he thought it through he would realize this is hardly flattering.  We know English grammar and vocabulary were not exactly his scholastic strengths, and obviously any kind of subject involving history must have been a challenge for him.  But now maybe we have an understanding of where his climate change denial comes from.  Science class must have been a big bother to him.  He probably felt it was more important  to get a a good look up little Lucy’s skirt than it was to pay attention on the day his teacher explained a solar eclipse.  Actually you couldn’t ask for a more appropriate analogy to the Trump presidency.

We had a former president who was a bright star of  intelligence and dignity, was eloquent, diplomatic, principled, and respectful, and then along comes the next one and the light went out.  And an eclipse only lasts for a short period of time.  Let’s hope there is something merciful on the horizon and the Trump  presidency moves into its short and final stages.

The reaction of course is something we should expect from this man who seems so desperate for attention and adoration, but not only did President “Thumbs for brains” appear clueless about the meme itself by retweeting it, but it turns out the sender of this ironic tweet is a practicing white supremacist.  Once again, how appropriate.

Who Are We?

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I think I have mentioned I read a lot. It’s the way I cope, living day to day in Trump world.  Lately I have developed a curiosity about things that are existential and philosophical.  Probably a big waste of my time.  I should be watching sports on TV.  I like to read about evolution, and books about that topic will inevitably ask the big questions, Who am I and Where did I come from and How did I come to be here?  Well shit, I know who I am, at least I know my own name.  And I came from hard working parents who were raised in the the corn belt with midwestern values and settled and raised their family in a very conservative western, overwhelmingly white, state.  I never saw a black person in my home town and it was not until I went to college in Omaha that I had any contact with members of that race.  And I am embarrassed to say that in spite of having absolutely no interaction with a black person, when I was young I had prejudices against them that were of course unfounded and ridiculous.  Those misconceptions were a product of my father, a member of the “Greatest Generation,” the generation that saved the world from Naziism but paradoxically had engrained in it feelings about black society that ranged from prejudicial naiveté, as was the case with my father, to outright hateful bigotry.

Stupid Dicks

But I grew, matured, and became aware of racial/social injustice, and believed that, slowly but surely, as a country we were progressing likewise.  And so It is upsetting to me to see something so disconnected from American principles like we all witnessed in Charlottesville Virginia earlier this month.  I know who I am.  But who are these stupid dicks and where in hell did they come from?  Those are the big questions I have.  What was striking to me and particularly alarming as well was the fact that the white supremacist faction during this demonstration was pretty much all young men.  What I expect to see at these supremacy gatherings are old farts, men my age who still have not been able to cast aside the prejudices of their fathers.  I see far more men of the generation behind me participating in these nefarious demonstrations.  It is a generation that by now should have a better grasp of racial issues and  a more flourishing respect for humanity.  I can’t help feeling that instead of our society evolving forward with more understanding and compassion, it is slipping backward and becoming  more prejudicial and tribal.

I seriously doubt the morons carrying tiki torches and screaming racial and religious insults were in Charlottesville to express disapproval of removing a statue.  They were there to foment trouble and express hatred.  And yes there were those with an opposing viewpoint that felt it was important to take a stand and physically confront the rabble of white supremacists.  Certainly that is regrettable.  But to say there was a moral equivalency between the two groups, as did our ignorant, unhinged president, is absurd.  One side was spewing racial and religious hatred and the other had members among it that became lamentably but understandably incensed enough to react.

Perhaps people should take some time off from their busy programs of harassment and give serious thought to role reversal.  Envision a time gone by where your white ancestors were abducted from a far away land, chained together and stuffed on slave ships for a couple of months, forced to labor in a foreign country of ruling blacks, and were whipped, raped, mutilated, hung and abused in every way imaginable,   Of course there were no legal repercussions for any of the atrocities because slaves were considered property and in the eyes of a slave holder had little connection to humanity.  And lets say after a bit of time a large segment of the black population decided there should be an end to all the cruelty, but another segment of the black population decided it was not about to relinquish its peculiar institution of inhumane conduct and thus raised an army that initiated a treasonous war with the intension of governmental separation.  Then that war took the lives of over a half million of the country’s black men, but as horrible as it was, at least it once and for all put an end to the practice of white enslavement.  And imagine that even though slavery was officially abolished, a good percentage of blacks maintained an erroneous sense of superiority over the white race, accompanied with practices of intimidation, and inaugurating upon it one indignity after another.  You can bet as time moved along the white population would not appreciate seeing any kind of reminder about that scandalous past.

To those legitimately  participating in this demonstration or any other for sentimental or historical reasons and think it is important to save these statues, personally I would not argue your point.   Save all those statues of Confederate soldiers, but put them in museums all around the county and attach to each a narrative that explains what the Confederate South in America stood for, which was slavery, intolerance, and an appalling example of man’s inhumanity towards his fellow man.  It is indeed important to save history, but it is just as important to remember it.

 

 

 

 

Our Most Supreme Scout Master Has Cerebral Melt-Down

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Is this guy for real?  Every time I think Trump can not possibly be any more shallow, he finds another way to drain the pond.  This son of a bitch is absolutely nuts.  Seriously.  There is something wrong with a person who is so completely absorbed with himself.  And nothing gives him a boner like a crowd of cooperative people, his most recent mark being a huge gathering of teen age boy scouts attending a Jamboree.   Of course none of them can even vote, but that didn’t stop our megalomaniacal president  from turning the event into one of his ego-stroking campaign orgies.  I think he was even surprised by the chorus of jeers and cheers he got whenever he pulled something from his bag of trigger words and phrases.  It is truly a sad day in America when the president of the United States thinks manipulating a group of pubescent boys into a chanting frenzy by denigrating a predecessor is setting an appropriate example of patriotism.  It’s the Boy Scouts of America!  They are supposed to be out there promoting God, country, and civic duty, but president shit-for-brains just could not resist the temptation to provoke the impressionable group into giving him one of his adulatory orgasms and in the process humiliate them and the entire organization.  The man is absolute pond-scum.  And that also goes for the ass-kissing members of his cabinet standing right behind him and encouraging him with their shit-eating grins.

I was a boy scout, loved being a part of it and learned a lot from participating.  Fortunately I was never subjected to any maniacal  rantings by a flakey adult.  The organization has a law.  It begins “A scout is:” and after that is just twelve words. Here they are: Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, reverent.  It might be smart if the scout leaders of each troop in attendance do some recon when they get home and suggest the youngsters do their best to purge their brains of the self-angrandizing and incendiary rhetoric uttered by Trump at this Jamboree.  It should be easy to make their point.  Do you see any of these attributes in Donald Trump?  Maybe “clean,” but only because he is a paranoid germaphobe.  If you could be prosecuted for violating the Boy Scout Law, Trump would get a life sentence in a federal prison.

I wonder what is upcoming on the Trump quasi campaign trail?  If he sees a huge gathering of migratory geese resting along a river bank while he is flying in Air Force One, he’s likely to instruct the pilot to land so he can go tell his feathered friends what a smashing victory he had in Wisconsin.  I heard there is a national Girl Scout conference scheduled in a few months, and boy would he love to weasel in a speaking invite there.  Mom’s, if you have even the slightest inclination that might happen, and any knowledge at all of previous Trump behavior towards young women,  you might want to consider tagging along on this one.  Of course you must be ever vigilant lest you be grabbed yourself.