This is a running commentary on contemporary social, political and religious issues. From the Introduction of James Comey's book "A Higher Loyalty -- Truth, Lies and Leadership" "Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary" Reinhold Niebuhr
Thursday, August 18, 2016
Hillary's Message -- Trump's Campaign & Breitbart -- Read and HEED!!
Forward to anyone you choose.
Whenever you hear about a right-wing conspiracy theory somehow making its way into the mainstream of political dialogue, there's a good chance that Breitbart News had something to do with it.
Never heard of Breitbart News? It's a fringe website where there's no opinion too ugly, too divisive, or too outright crazy to be worth breathless promotion.
The one about President Obama being a secret Muslim born in Kenya? Breitbart was all over that "story."
Or maybe you heard about the time they attacked an opponent -- a conservative Republican, no less -- by calling him a "renegade Jew."
Why does this matter?
Donald Trump just hired Breitbart's executive director to be his new campaign CEO.
Now, we've had a conservative media in this country for a while. I don't always like what they have to say, but I respect their role and their right to exist.
Breitbart is something different. They make Fox News look like a Democratic Party pamphlet. They're a different breed altogether -- not just conservative but radical, bigoted, anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic conspiracy peddlers who never have been and never should be anywhere near the levers of power in this country.
But Donald Trump just gave them a broad new mandate to shape his campaign, his message, the future of the Republican Party, and quite possibly the country.
It goes without saying that we have to beat these people. But I want to beat them so decisively that their kind never rises again.
Doing that is going to take hard work, moral clarity, unshakeable determination.
Trump's New Chilling Team
If you did not have a chance watch yesterday's Rachel Maddow here or below do so. You would NOT believe what is going on with this ridiculous shift in Trump's team. He demoted rather mainstream Manfort and brought in the "CEO" manager of Breitbart.com the sensationalist extremist right wing a guy named Bannon and a Republican pollster Kellyann Conway.
Rachel explains this move much better than I have time to do but Trump's campaign is now headed, in essence, by an extremist right wing baloney spin machine promoting ALL kinds of conspiracy theories that comprise it and a plethora of made up crap against most especially Cinton and Obama (the birthers and other lies) or any liberal Democrat who wants to hold office. Breitbart uses conspiratorialist views of radio shock jock Alex Jones as well and Trump listens to them. This explains a LOT!
They go after Hillary now with made up concoctions about her health or whether she sits on a pillow (no, I'm not kidding), they post fake MRI's of her brain and fake film of her by speeding it up to make her look like she has some kind of neurological disease. The film of her they sometimes use is like an early 20th century fast walking film as "proof" that she has a neurological disease and even mouth cancer. No, again, I'm not kidding. It's ALL total extremist baloney. Worse still is that Trump re-tweets junk from white supremacist advocates and white nationalists. These horrible humans USED to be the right wing fringe and NOT certainly mainstream Republicans they are now.
Breitbart/Drudge are AWFUL sites made up of phony UNtruths. It is consummately RIDICULOUS and even more ridiculous that the Republican candidate for the presidency uses these sites of lies and is now using it's manager, Bannon. The late Breitbart, who died young, was a right wing extremist and Bannon, the now "CEO" Manager of the Trump campaign took over Breitbart. It posts the phony sensationalist site of Drudge.com as well.
Trump goes to Alex Jones conspiracy theorist seen by Jones's right wing extremist niche market for his view points. This shows one how unqualified Trump is and that his campaign now is run by solely Trump as Trump and his right wing extremist lackeys that take only his orders. It is totally OUTRAGEOUS as it is volcanic.
They verbally indict Obama and Hillary for invading Afghanistan (it was invaded by Bush in 2001) and his moronic supporters like former Mayor Giuliani accuse Obama as the only president who has had terrorist attacks on his watch. Excuse me former Mr. Mayor I seem to remember 9/11 on Bush's and Giuliani's watch. Moreover, some of Breitbart's posts are not above pointed antiSemitic slurs against mainstream Republican figures like Billy Kristol and others.
This is the kind of crap with which Hillary is having to deal. Robbie Mook, Hillary's campaign manger, was interviewed by Rachel too. It is illuminating as she gives you a pointed understanding of who now surrounds and advises the deranged Trump. Chilling!
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show
WHY IT IS IMPERATIVE NOW MORE THAN EVER TO MAKE HILLARY CLINTON PRESIDENT AND MAKE SURE TRUMP'S INSANITY DOES NOT INVADE THE MOST POWERFUL NATION ON EARTH WITH THE MOST NUMBER OF NUKES!
Rachel explains this move much better than I have time to do but Trump's campaign is now headed, in essence, by an extremist right wing baloney spin machine promoting ALL kinds of conspiracy theories that comprise it and a plethora of made up crap against most especially Cinton and Obama (the birthers and other lies) or any liberal Democrat who wants to hold office. Breitbart uses conspiratorialist views of radio shock jock Alex Jones as well and Trump listens to them. This explains a LOT!
They go after Hillary now with made up concoctions about her health or whether she sits on a pillow (no, I'm not kidding), they post fake MRI's of her brain and fake film of her by speeding it up to make her look like she has some kind of neurological disease. The film of her they sometimes use is like an early 20th century fast walking film as "proof" that she has a neurological disease and even mouth cancer. No, again, I'm not kidding. It's ALL total extremist baloney. Worse still is that Trump re-tweets junk from white supremacist advocates and white nationalists. These horrible humans USED to be the right wing fringe and NOT certainly mainstream Republicans they are now.
Breitbart/Drudge are AWFUL sites made up of phony UNtruths. It is consummately RIDICULOUS and even more ridiculous that the Republican candidate for the presidency uses these sites of lies and is now using it's manager, Bannon. The late Breitbart, who died young, was a right wing extremist and Bannon, the now "CEO" Manager of the Trump campaign took over Breitbart. It posts the phony sensationalist site of Drudge.com as well.
Trump goes to Alex Jones conspiracy theorist seen by Jones's right wing extremist niche market for his view points. This shows one how unqualified Trump is and that his campaign now is run by solely Trump as Trump and his right wing extremist lackeys that take only his orders. It is totally OUTRAGEOUS as it is volcanic.
They verbally indict Obama and Hillary for invading Afghanistan (it was invaded by Bush in 2001) and his moronic supporters like former Mayor Giuliani accuse Obama as the only president who has had terrorist attacks on his watch. Excuse me former Mr. Mayor I seem to remember 9/11 on Bush's and Giuliani's watch. Moreover, some of Breitbart's posts are not above pointed antiSemitic slurs against mainstream Republican figures like Billy Kristol and others.
This is the kind of crap with which Hillary is having to deal. Robbie Mook, Hillary's campaign manger, was interviewed by Rachel too. It is illuminating as she gives you a pointed understanding of who now surrounds and advises the deranged Trump. Chilling!
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show
WHY IT IS IMPERATIVE NOW MORE THAN EVER TO MAKE HILLARY CLINTON PRESIDENT AND MAKE SURE TRUMP'S INSANITY DOES NOT INVADE THE MOST POWERFUL NATION ON EARTH WITH THE MOST NUMBER OF NUKES!
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
The blabbermouth gets a national security briefing--Duck and Cover
Oh my God, can the blabber mouth blow national security wide open with his big wide open mouth?!
http://www.cnn.com/…/donald-trump-intelligence-b…/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/…/donald-trump-intelligence-b…/index.html
Donald Trump will receive his first classified national security briefing Wednesday in New York, two sources told CNN.
cnn.com|By Jeremy Diamond
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
Obama/Clinton created ISIS. Really? Really?
Excuse the lack of well constructed prose but the accusation by Trump playing in the media 24/7 that Obama/Clinton created ISIS and rarely rebutted must be addressed. I will do the honors.
Who the hell could believe that stupidity? If Trumpet a/k/a Drumpf a/k/a Small Hands Donald KNEW anything anything at all about ISIS and its etiology -- which he doesn't -- he would know it was an outgrowth of Al Qaeda in Iraq. Al Qaeda was NEVER EVER in Iraq as Hussein hated it but it emerged because Georgy Porgy Know Not a Thing Bush ordered the mayhem that was the Iraq War based on WMD LIES and proceeded to blow Iraq up while fracturing the entire Middle East. ISIS, more extreme than Al Qaeda, proceeded to take territory taking advantage of the Syrian civil war as well.
President Obama has killed THOUSANDS of ISIS and taken back territory that ISIS took after the US left including at least 25% of Fallujah where hundreds of US soldiers gave their lives for that god forsaken place. Obama was elected to get us out of Iraq and the Iraqi government wanted us out -- a Status of Forces Agreement which Bush signed agreed that the US would leave. Can one imagine what a field day Caliphate clash of cultures ISIS and Al Qaeda then too would have had the US stayed? It would prove their point that the west is waging a war against Islam. ISIS would have killed HUNDREDS if not thousands more Americans.
President Obama was damned if the US left Iraq and damned if it did not. Why? Because another Trumpian like idiot Bush decided to launch a war based on lies in the first place. Can you imagine what Republicrats would do to Democrats if Iraq was begun based on lies on their watch and if a Democratic president did not heed the warnings based on the PDB Bush received before 9/11 that Al Qaeda was poised to strike in the US but then that president went on vacation to clear brush? Can you spell impeachment, w a r c r i m e indictment, imprisonment or worse?
This is what happens when the American electorate in their wisdom does not care about intelligent leadership. Trump has not a clue, as the vice president said, as to what he is talking about. He is a know nothing just like Bush. The definition of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.
Monday, August 15, 2016
Secret Ledger in Ukraine Lists Cash for Donald Trump’s Campaign Chief--[The Keys to the Kingdom]
See link below my comment for the story.
Yes, without a doubt Manafort needs to make his dealings with Russia transparent. BUT we know he never will do that and Trump never will either. Trump will not even release his tax returns. Trump's campaign is beyond corrupt. The word I like to use describing Trump is AMORAL. He has no morality except that which will increase his power and wealth no matter what he has to do or with whom he must associate to do it. The 30 year study of Trump and an expert on him, David Cay Johnston, wrote a staggering book, "The Making of Trump." It gives one an eye popping insight into Trump's character or lack of it. If the book speaks truth Trump will surround himself with any one he needs to do the job he wants from mobsters to Roy Cohn to play the system no matter if it's legal or not.
This story below on the Russian connection while explosive my guess will go the route of all the nefarious stories on Trump, a man vying for the most powerful job on the planet. It will get buried and not investigated, illuminated and made transparent because the press is about headlines while it forgets perseverance and substance. One thing I know is true Trump is always about Trump and could not care less about we the people.
His hands, if elected, as stated so often will be on the nuclear codes and our lives will be in his small hands. God save us from the truth Mitt Romney spoke. Trump is a con man trying to perfect the con of his life IF we give him the keys to the kingdom to do it.
HILLARY CLINTON MUST BE ELECTED THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES TO AVOID THIS TRUMPIAN CATASTROPHE!
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/15/us/politics/paul-manafort-ukraine-donald-trump.html?_r=0
Thursday, August 11, 2016
Fractured Lands: How the Arab World Came Apart--NYT Magazine
Read, learn and understand. Then question what your leaders do in our name!
http://www.nytimes.com/ interactive/2016/08/11/ magazine/isis-middle-east- arab-spring-fractured-lands. html?emc=edit_ta_20160811& nlid=75028030&ref=headline
http://www.nytimes.com/
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Let's Try
I lost sleep last night worrying about the potential assassination of Democratic Presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, because of Trump's malevolent words of madness urging his Second Amendment supporters to take matters into their own hands if they do not get elected whom they want. Even if one does not love Hillary Clinton one should worry about what the Cretan of cacophonic discourse said. Nothing short of the demise of our Republic is at stake.
Trump cannot defend what he said. What he said matters not because anything he says is brilliant but because his supporters often are not and take his words seriously. Not only are those who support him not brilliant they are prone to violence as well. Two brutes in Boston beat up a homeless man at the beginning of Trump's campaign. They thought Trump was advocating they do so. Trump could not care less about the immorality of what he says because the only virtuous empathetic morality Trump has is to himself.
Avoiding Second Amendment remedies in the form of violence to change a political process was SUPPOSED to make us different in the future from the Europe our Founders knew in their past. Maybe we are not so different after all. Maybe violence is in our DNA and cannot be changed. I hope that is not the case. I rather love this nation warts and all. Everyone else whose ancestors braved a dangerous journey to get to Lady Liberty's shores should as well.
Benjamin Franklin, as he emerged from the Constitutional convention in 1787, was asked : "Doctor, what do you have, a Republic or a Monarchy? Franklin replied "A Republic IF you can keep it." Let's try.
Trump cannot defend what he said. What he said matters not because anything he says is brilliant but because his supporters often are not and take his words seriously. Not only are those who support him not brilliant they are prone to violence as well. Two brutes in Boston beat up a homeless man at the beginning of Trump's campaign. They thought Trump was advocating they do so. Trump could not care less about the immorality of what he says because the only virtuous empathetic morality Trump has is to himself.
Avoiding Second Amendment remedies in the form of violence to change a political process was SUPPOSED to make us different in the future from the Europe our Founders knew in their past. Maybe we are not so different after all. Maybe violence is in our DNA and cannot be changed. I hope that is not the case. I rather love this nation warts and all. Everyone else whose ancestors braved a dangerous journey to get to Lady Liberty's shores should as well.
Benjamin Franklin, as he emerged from the Constitutional convention in 1787, was asked : "Doctor, what do you have, a Republic or a Monarchy? Franklin replied "A Republic IF you can keep it." Let's try.
Amending the Constition is Hard
Hillary Clinton could NOT amend the Constitution but those who support Trumpet are either ignorant of basic civics or stupid or both!
http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/constitution/
The authority to amend the Constitution of the United States is derived from Article V of the Constitution. After Congress proposes an amendment, the Archivist of the United States, who heads the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), is charged with responsibility for administering the ratification process under the provisions of 1 U.S.C. 106b. The Archivist has delegated many of the ministerial duties associated with this function to the Director of the Federal Register. Neither Article V of the Constitution nor section 106b describe the ratification process in detail. The Archivist and the Director of the Federal Register follow procedures and customs established by the Secretary of State, who performed these duties until 1950, and the Administrator of General Services, who served in this capacity until NARA assumed responsibility as an independent agency in 1985.
The Constitution provides that an amendment may be proposed either by the Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures. None of the 27 amendments to the Constitution have been proposed by constitutional convention. The Congress proposes an amendment in the form of a joint resolution. Since the President does not have a constitutional role in the amendment process, the joint resolution does not go to the White House for signature or approval. The original document is forwarded directly to NARA's Office of the Federal Register (OFR) for processing and publication. The OFR adds legislative history notes to the joint resolution and publishes it in slip law format. The OFR also assembles an information package for the States which includes formal "red-line" copies of the joint resolution, copies of the joint resolution in slip law format, and the statutory procedure for ratification under 1 U.S.C. 106b.
The Archivist submits the proposed amendment to the States for their consideration by sending a letter of notification to each Governor along with the informational material prepared by the OFR. The Governors then formally submit the amendment to their State legislatures or the state calls for a convention, depending on what Congress has specified. In the past, some State legislatures have not waited to receive official notice before taking action on a proposed amendment. When a State ratifies a proposed amendment, it sends the Archivist an original or certified copy of the State action, which is immediately conveyed to the Director of the Federal Register. The OFR examines ratification documents for facial legal sufficiency and an authenticating signature. If the documents are found to be in good order, the Director acknowledges receipt and maintains custody of them. The OFR retains these documents until an amendment is adopted or fails, and then transfers the records to the National Archives for preservation.
A proposed amendment becomes part of the Constitution as soon as it is ratified by three-fourths of the States (38 of 50 States). When the OFR verifies that it has received the required number of authenticated ratification documents, it drafts a formal proclamation for the Archivist to certify that the amendment is valid and has become part of the Constitution. This certification is published in the Federal Register and U.S. Statutes at Large and serves as official notice to the Congress and to the Nation that the amendment process has been completed.
In a few instances, States have sent official documents to NARA to record the rejection of an amendment or the rescission of a prior ratification. The Archivist does not make any substantive determinations as to the validity of State ratification actions, but it has been established that the Archivist's certification of the facial legal sufficiency of ratification documents is final and conclusive.
In recent history, the signing of the certification has become a ceremonial function attended by various dignitaries, which may include the President. President Johnson signed the certifications for the 24th and 25th Amendments as a witness, and President Nixon similarly witnessed the certification of the 26th Amendment along with three young scholars. On May 18, 1992, the Archivist performed the duties of the certifying official for the first time to recognize the ratification of the 27th Amendment, and the Director of the Federal Register signed the certification as a witness.
The Clinton Imperative -- Wonderful editorial -- [The Messenger of Madness]
Trump's Second Amendment Remedy that is the assassination of Presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton and/or the judges she appoints, chilled me to the bone so much so I could not fall asleep. This beast Trump is the worst candidate Republican, Democrat or anyone else that we have had the misfortune to witness on the American electoral scene. It should give pause to all who consider themselves civilized to reject Trump, this messenger of malice and madness.
The Clinton Imperative By Charles Fried -- The Boston Globe
Increasing numbers of registered Republicans, and former and present Republican officials like myself, will not support Donald Trump for president. That’s the easy part.
He has shown us that he is a mean and vindictive bully, striking out in the crudest ways (e.g., his sexist ripostes against Carly Fiorina and Megan Kelly) against anyone who attacks him, and then extending his vile remarks even to their relatives (Heidi and Rafael Cruz, Ghazala Khan). Indeed it is hard to think of any person in recent public life who has displayed a more repellent personality. Richard Nixon might come to mind, but that only because of what showed up in the secret recordings of what he thought were private conversations in the Oval Office. In public, Nixon had the self-control and self-awareness to keep his worst qualities reasonably well hidden. Rochefoucauld said that hypocrisy is the homage that vice pays to virtue, and in this respect at least, Trump is no hypocrite. Add to that the unabashed racism, the divisive and hate-filled quality of some of his proposed domestic policies, his disregard for the reputation, even the credit of the United States in his proposals for dealing with our treaty obligations and debts to other nations and foreign creditors, and his professed admiration for the sly and murderous Vladimir Putin — all these are reason enough for anyone, of whatever party, to refuse to support such a person.
As I say, to keep one’s distance from this malignant buffoon is the easy part. Now for the hard part.
Recent statements — and they did not just casually slip out — make clear why any person of conscience must actively work to assure that Donald Trump is not our next president. For just the other day he has added a thinly veiled threat of, indeed invitation to, violence and civic disruption if he loses in November. He has said that if he loses this would be the result of a “rigged” election, riddled with fraud, people voting “ten times” over — fraud which in court proceeding after proceeding has been found to be a pure bogeyman, a fiction used to justify transparent racially, ethnically, and politically motivated maneuvers to deny the ballot to whole classes of persons. Even in 1960, when the election may well have been stolen by shenanigans in Texas and Chicago, the loser did not cross the line to invite lawlessness. And this is not the first time Trump has made this threat. He had said much the same would be the result if he were denied the Republican nomination in a “rigged” convention.
Think of it. This is the man who would have in his charge the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service, the CIA. He would be commander in chief of the armed forces. And imagine if shortly after his inauguration there were, as there well might be, a serious terrorist outrage on our homeland. How would he react? Would that not be Trump’s Reichstag fire, justifying sweeping arrests, violations of civil liberties, suppression of the media? Are Trump’s reflexes more restrained, more respectful of democracy than those of Recep Tayyip Erdogan? I would not count on it.
Respect for our country, its Constitution, its history and traditions, just a sense of common decency, require that we not allow this man to be elected president of the United States. To invoke party loyalty, to dwell on one’s reservations about Hillary Clinton, to contemplate not voting at all, or the silly and self-defeating gesture of voting for the Libertarian or Green Party candidate, would be a frivolous failure of the most urgent present duty of patriotism. I support and shall vote for Hillary Clinton. Any other course risks complicity in a national catastrophe.
The Clinton Imperative By Charles Fried -- The Boston Globe
Increasing numbers of registered Republicans, and former and present Republican officials like myself, will not support Donald Trump for president. That’s the easy part.
He has shown us that he is a mean and vindictive bully, striking out in the crudest ways (e.g., his sexist ripostes against Carly Fiorina and Megan Kelly) against anyone who attacks him, and then extending his vile remarks even to their relatives (Heidi and Rafael Cruz, Ghazala Khan). Indeed it is hard to think of any person in recent public life who has displayed a more repellent personality. Richard Nixon might come to mind, but that only because of what showed up in the secret recordings of what he thought were private conversations in the Oval Office. In public, Nixon had the self-control and self-awareness to keep his worst qualities reasonably well hidden. Rochefoucauld said that hypocrisy is the homage that vice pays to virtue, and in this respect at least, Trump is no hypocrite. Add to that the unabashed racism, the divisive and hate-filled quality of some of his proposed domestic policies, his disregard for the reputation, even the credit of the United States in his proposals for dealing with our treaty obligations and debts to other nations and foreign creditors, and his professed admiration for the sly and murderous Vladimir Putin — all these are reason enough for anyone, of whatever party, to refuse to support such a person.
As I say, to keep one’s distance from this malignant buffoon is the easy part. Now for the hard part.
Recent statements — and they did not just casually slip out — make clear why any person of conscience must actively work to assure that Donald Trump is not our next president. For just the other day he has added a thinly veiled threat of, indeed invitation to, violence and civic disruption if he loses in November. He has said that if he loses this would be the result of a “rigged” election, riddled with fraud, people voting “ten times” over — fraud which in court proceeding after proceeding has been found to be a pure bogeyman, a fiction used to justify transparent racially, ethnically, and politically motivated maneuvers to deny the ballot to whole classes of persons. Even in 1960, when the election may well have been stolen by shenanigans in Texas and Chicago, the loser did not cross the line to invite lawlessness. And this is not the first time Trump has made this threat. He had said much the same would be the result if he were denied the Republican nomination in a “rigged” convention.
Think of it. This is the man who would have in his charge the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service, the CIA. He would be commander in chief of the armed forces. And imagine if shortly after his inauguration there were, as there well might be, a serious terrorist outrage on our homeland. How would he react? Would that not be Trump’s Reichstag fire, justifying sweeping arrests, violations of civil liberties, suppression of the media? Are Trump’s reflexes more restrained, more respectful of democracy than those of Recep Tayyip Erdogan? I would not count on it.
Respect for our country, its Constitution, its history and traditions, just a sense of common decency, require that we not allow this man to be elected president of the United States. To invoke party loyalty, to dwell on one’s reservations about Hillary Clinton, to contemplate not voting at all, or the silly and self-defeating gesture of voting for the Libertarian or Green Party candidate, would be a frivolous failure of the most urgent present duty of patriotism. I support and shall vote for Hillary Clinton. Any other course risks complicity in a national catastrophe.
Tuesday, August 09, 2016
GOP Senator Collins: "Why I cannot support Trump" -- The Republican Baby
Senator Collins's article linked here or below.
Good for Senator Collins. She is, I know, a decent empathetic Republican -- a rarity among that species. What I cannot understand about her is her perception that Trump is not of the Republican Party she knows. Senator Collins, with all due respect, Trump IS a reflection of the Republican Party that has morphed over time. I place the date of its Frankenstein-like morph to 1964, when it ran the right wing "extremism in the face of liberty is no vice" Barry Goldwater. Curiously, he looks moderate in comparison to the present day Republican Party.
The Republican Party, to be sure, is far from the Party of Lincoln. It bears no resemblance to our 19th century and 16th president. In fact, it is its opposite. No, the Republican Party is unhappily the Party which has immersed the nation into torturous economic circumstances first with the Great Depression courtesy of Harding, Coolidge and Hoover wondering what government could possibly do to ameliorate a nation of breadlines and then the Republican Party that led the nation more recently into the Great Recession of 2008 courtesy of fantasy trickle down economics beginning with Ronald Reagan and ending with George W. Bush. Trickle down sounded oh so good but failed to trickle. It never created jobs but rather deregulated Wall Street sending jobs overseas while ending the amelioration of the Great Depression Glass Steagall Act.
It then went Wall Street wild with its fraudulent subprime loans, worthless mortgage backed securities bundled in Standard and Poors ratings lies and sold to innocent millions who did not know what those in the know knew. Accompanying it were credit default swaps insurance for those who knew the stocks they were selling were junk, bank failures, home repossessions, unemployment and homelessness. It created the economic weakness and psychological malaise of insecurity we still feel in present time but Republicans are still Wall Street's opiate drug pusher promising trickle down will do right this time. Fool me once ...
In truth when economic implosions happen it takes Democrats to pull the nation out. Franklin Roosevelt did in the Great Depression New Deal and Barack Obama over a period of 8 years during the 2008 Great Recession and near economic collapse despite Republican extreme opposition. Time and again Republicans in good standing like Susan Collins refer to a Republican Party with mournful nostalgia. I aver it was never that Party in contemporary time. Rather the Republican Party has been a Party against the poor, for the wealthy, against the civil rights of minorities, for voter suppression and mired the nation in perpetual war begun by a Republican that continues in our time. From the springboard of the Republican Party a George Bush it created made a Middle East mess, killed thousands, and sent millions into exile all based on a lie. A Republican Bush lit the spark that exploded the Middle East bestowing the gift of Al Qaeda in Iraq and its ugly spawn enemy ISIS costing unpaid-for trillions. All of the above were Republican created with some Democratic complicity but in truth most of it is the Republican baby.
Susan Collins, you and a few other Republicans may mean well but your Party is populated by laissez fare cruelty and a sink-or-swim you're on your own economic mentality. If it were up to Republicans the poor could starve and those who had no medical insurance would be left to die. Let's hope Hillary Clinton can work her magic and truly craft a Middle East calm and a more equitable economic security. If anyone will I think it is she.
The link to Susan Collins's article is below.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/gop-senator-why-i-cannot-support-trump/2016/08/08/821095be-5d7e-11e6-9d2f-b1a3564181a1_story.html
Good for Senator Collins. She is, I know, a decent empathetic Republican -- a rarity among that species. What I cannot understand about her is her perception that Trump is not of the Republican Party she knows. Senator Collins, with all due respect, Trump IS a reflection of the Republican Party that has morphed over time. I place the date of its Frankenstein-like morph to 1964, when it ran the right wing "extremism in the face of liberty is no vice" Barry Goldwater. Curiously, he looks moderate in comparison to the present day Republican Party.
The Republican Party, to be sure, is far from the Party of Lincoln. It bears no resemblance to our 19th century and 16th president. In fact, it is its opposite. No, the Republican Party is unhappily the Party which has immersed the nation into torturous economic circumstances first with the Great Depression courtesy of Harding, Coolidge and Hoover wondering what government could possibly do to ameliorate a nation of breadlines and then the Republican Party that led the nation more recently into the Great Recession of 2008 courtesy of fantasy trickle down economics beginning with Ronald Reagan and ending with George W. Bush. Trickle down sounded oh so good but failed to trickle. It never created jobs but rather deregulated Wall Street sending jobs overseas while ending the amelioration of the Great Depression Glass Steagall Act.
It then went Wall Street wild with its fraudulent subprime loans, worthless mortgage backed securities bundled in Standard and Poors ratings lies and sold to innocent millions who did not know what those in the know knew. Accompanying it were credit default swaps insurance for those who knew the stocks they were selling were junk, bank failures, home repossessions, unemployment and homelessness. It created the economic weakness and psychological malaise of insecurity we still feel in present time but Republicans are still Wall Street's opiate drug pusher promising trickle down will do right this time. Fool me once ...
In truth when economic implosions happen it takes Democrats to pull the nation out. Franklin Roosevelt did in the Great Depression New Deal and Barack Obama over a period of 8 years during the 2008 Great Recession and near economic collapse despite Republican extreme opposition. Time and again Republicans in good standing like Susan Collins refer to a Republican Party with mournful nostalgia. I aver it was never that Party in contemporary time. Rather the Republican Party has been a Party against the poor, for the wealthy, against the civil rights of minorities, for voter suppression and mired the nation in perpetual war begun by a Republican that continues in our time. From the springboard of the Republican Party a George Bush it created made a Middle East mess, killed thousands, and sent millions into exile all based on a lie. A Republican Bush lit the spark that exploded the Middle East bestowing the gift of Al Qaeda in Iraq and its ugly spawn enemy ISIS costing unpaid-for trillions. All of the above were Republican created with some Democratic complicity but in truth most of it is the Republican baby.
Susan Collins, you and a few other Republicans may mean well but your Party is populated by laissez fare cruelty and a sink-or-swim you're on your own economic mentality. If it were up to Republicans the poor could starve and those who had no medical insurance would be left to die. Let's hope Hillary Clinton can work her magic and truly craft a Middle East calm and a more equitable economic security. If anyone will I think it is she.
The link to Susan Collins's article is below.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/gop-senator-why-i-cannot-support-trump/2016/08/08/821095be-5d7e-11e6-9d2f-b1a3564181a1_story.html
Sunday, August 07, 2016
Nitwit Nominee -- Duck and Cover
Page Lavender of Huffington Post Reports: "Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump claimed Japan, an ally of the United States, can “sit home and watch Sony television” if the U.S. is ever attacked.
“You know we have a treaty with Japan, where if Japan is attacked, we have to use the full force and might of the United States,” Trump said during an appearance in Iowa on Friday. “If we’re attacked, Japan doesn’t have to do anything. They can sit home and watch Sony television, OK?”
Trump told The New York Times in July that he would judge NATO members’ spending on security before helping them face down a potential invasion. The businessman had previously stated he wants Japan, Germany, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and NATO countries to “pay up.”
“They owe us tremendously, we’re taking care of all those people and what I want them to do is pay up,” he said in June.
Earlier this week, a group of foreign policy experts ― including several Republicans ― denounced what they called the “disgraceful” Trump comments on NATO, along with his call for Russia to find Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s missing emails from her time as U.S. secretary of state. Trump has had one of the worst weeks in modern American politics."
My 2 cents:
Has the Republicon Party's nitwit nominee who has the attention span of an intoxicated gnat ever picked up a book and read a history of World War II? The question more appropriately is has the Republicon presidential nitwit nominee, Donald J. Trump, ever picked up any book and read its entirety? Perhaps, he has, as he has said, read the Bible but refused to quote even one passage from it not even the 23rd Psalm or Christ's Sermon on the Mount because he says it's "too personal." Does he think we are all nitwits?
My guess is the nitwit Republican nominee has NOT read the Bible. Nor has he probably read his second favorite book, his own "The Art of the Deal," which we now know was ghost written by Tony Schwartz most probably because Trump has no writing skills and this man of the restlessness of a five year old with Attention Deficit Disorder could not sit still long enough to write anything. No writing skills, reads nothing, and has the attention span of a drunk gnat are the qualifications this brainless blob wants to take into the White House.
I might suggest he read something on the war in the Pacific during WWII. It means something when a nation wins a massive war. If he read anything about it he would know (1) The US won it (2) the US (the only nation to explode a nuclear bomb) nuked Japan's cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and (3) a requirement for the surrender of Japan was that they possess no standing army except an elementary one (to the US liking) for self defense and that the US occupied Japan giving up Okinowa in 1974 but still retains a large base there.
Does one think the nitwit nominee might guess that our friendly now ally in Asia had a penchant for territorial acquisition back in the day? Does one think he might have learned that the bombing of Pearl Harbor was the Japanese attempt to dismantle the US Pacific fleet so the US could not stop Japan's lust for the invasion of China and other Asian nations within its sphere? Does one think that IF, in fact, Japan acquired nuclear weapons, as Trump thought might be dandy, that Japan just might want pay back against the only nation to have nuked their country?
If this nitwit nominee becomes (God forbid) president duck and cover!
THIS SHOULD CONVINCE YOU TO WORK FOR IF YOU CAN AND VOTE FOR HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON AS THE MOST KNOWLEDGEABLE AND EXPERIENCED CANDIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENCY!
What a Wonderful World -- Gorgeous
This is a Youtube from a 1989 show that someone sent to me. It is that for which I and those who ally themselves mostly within the diverse Democratic Party are fighting. It is a gorgeous rendition of "What a Wonderful World" featuring some of the nation's most brilliantly talented women.
As I replayed the video embedded within is a small pop up ad (perhaps more than one) to my dismay appears. Simply "X" it out as ironically one may be of the Republicon presidential candidate whose name is so noxious and repellent to me I will not and do not have to mention it here.
Apologies if it appears but know it must be embedded within the link and is OBVIOUSLY not my doing!
Enjoy the Youtube. Then in November vote and if you can work for the ONLY nominee for president who possess superior intellect and a plethora of experience, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lWdrVWIPhk
Saturday, August 06, 2016
Dementia?
A doctor I know has been saying he thought Trump's verbiage and behavior were signs of dementia. Who can know that but the Washington Post had an interesting article stoking one's thought about it.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/after-a-brain-injury-i-suddenly-displayed-some-behavior-similar-to-donald-trumps/2016/08/05/c8bbbc12-5b55-11e6-831d-0324760ca856_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-a%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
Friday, August 05, 2016
Donald Trump and the fitness threshold
I am not usually a Charles Krauthammer fan but this article linked below by him on Trump hits a bulls-eye.
Is
Trump in a stage of dementia OR has he always enjoyed the psychological
malady of personality disorder with the attention span of a gnat? It
could be both or just the latter. Who knows what is the psychological illness of Trump? He has shown his deep narcissistic solipsistic
traits over a lifetime. Whatever his psychological illness is should not matter to us.
What SHOULD matter to us is that he never get near the oval office!WORK AND GET THE VOTE OUT FOR HILLARY!
Thursday, August 04, 2016
HUFFINGTON POST HEADLDINES
Huff Post headlines: Poll: Nearly 7 In 10 Voters Think Donald ‘Out Of Bounds’... Strategy To Win Military Vote Jeopardized... Veterans Enraged... Capt. Khan’s Commander: ‘The Khan Family Is Our Family’... Clinton Cements Lead In Key Swing States... Up 15 Points In NH... And 11 In Pennsylvania... ‘Growing Signs That Colorado Is No Longer In Play’...
DO NOT BE COMPLACENT. WORK YOUR HEART OUT FOR HILLARY!!
Wednesday, August 03, 2016
TRUMP ASKED 3 TIMES IN AN HOUR NATIONAL SECURITY BRIEFING WHY WE CAN'T JUST USE NUCLEAR WEAPONS
While General Hayden was explaining to the Morning Joe crew why he wouldn't vote for Trump, Joe dropped a bombshell about Trump and nuclear weapons.
Stunning! Listen to and watch the whole video. it is NOT long and may save your life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSffjlttTys
THIS IS SERIOUS AND YOU SHOULD PAY ATTENTION IF YOU WANT TO SEE YOUR LIFE CONTINUE, YOUR CHILDREN'S LIVES CONTINUE AND YOUR GRANDCHILDREN'S LIVES CONTINUE YOU WILL HELP HILLARY CLINTON, THE ONLY QUALIFIED PERSON, BE ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!
Monday, August 01, 2016
The Mountaintop of Love
Oh the the humanity and the irony that Mr. Khan and his lovely wife both Muslims bestowed upon this nation. They may have done more for our country and the world than even the election of a president could do and maybe they have done more to defeat the ugliness of Trump than any of the logical arguments that could be made against him.
Their pain so emphatically expressed by Mr. Khan and in the soft words spoken by his wife concerning the patriotic death of their beautiful son for our country in Iraq has brought more humanity, unification and love to this nation than anyone has expressed in a very long time.
They are a gift and what has transpired around them are the times I think, perhaps, there is something of a higher purpose. What wonderful people and what a wonderful message they have conveyed with my hope that they have helped ensure Trump be relegated to the ash bin of history and our nation elevated to the mountaintop of love.
Sunday, July 31, 2016
Putin is giving aid and comfort to Trump. Today we found out why.
The big news today is that Trump explicitly urged Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s e-mail — i.e., to commit an act of espionage and cyberwar against the former Secretary of State and the current nominee for one of America’s major political parties. It goes without saying that this is shocking, unprecedented, and beyond the pale.
But it’s not inexplicable. Trump’s coziness with Russia in general and Putin in particular has become a feature of this campaign. We know that his campaign manager, Manafort, has disturbingly close ties to Russian interests. We know that Trump never fails to praise Putin, an autocrat, at every given turn. And we know that Russia reciprocates the love. There is a growing consensus in the intelligence community that Russia was behind the DNC hack, which shows that Russia and Putin believe that a Trump victory is in their best interests.
All of the above has been discussed at length in the media in recent days. One question that has gotten less attention is why. Why does Putin want Trump to win so badly? What is it about Trump that is so appealing to the Kremlin?
Trump answered that today. This aspect of his disastrous press conference has gotten less attention than his call for a foreign power to spy on his political adversaries, but it explains why he has Putin’s support:
Donald Trump said Wednesday that, if he is elected president, he would consider recognizing Crimea as Russian territory and lifting the sanctions against Russia.
At a wide-ranging news conference, Trump said he “would be looking into that” when asked about his stance on Crimea and Russia. The Crimean Peninsula has been part of Ukraine for decades, but Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed the territory in March 2014 after a popular revolt toppled Kiev's pro-Russian government.
This is jaw dropping. The annexation of
Crimea violated international law and sparked a prolonged and bloody
conflict in the Ukraine. It was an unacceptable act of aggression that
has no place in a post-WWII world. But here Trump is, ready to “look
into” giving it his official stamp of approval.
We knew Putin wanted Trump to win. Now we know why. Trump will not only turn a blind eye towards Russian aggression in Eastern Europe. He will excuse, allow, and enable it.
The stakes of this election are unfathomable. Trump must be stopped at all costs.
Update: Timaeus makes
a great point. Trump has been bleating for months that he’s interested
in reducing American support to NATO. What he said today is simply a
more explicit version of what he’s been saying along. Trump is just
fine letting our European allies fend for themselves.
Expensive Shoes--Russia's hacking of Democratic emails and Donald Trump
Trump thinks he is oh so smart but I think he really is
rather stupid no matter how much money he has made stiffing those
gullible enough to fall for his Trump University and Trump Institute
schemes. Stiffing the middle class from money they rightfully earned
building Trump edifices is not only stupid but unethical. This
unethical Cretan decides to run for the presidency and thinks his life
will not be opened like a Pandora's Box. Despite a less than
inquisitive press and a press which loves making money when Trump
dribbles some drool from his uncensored mouth, things do manage to be
revealed. Either Trump has an incurable mental illness having its
origins in a black hole of self aggrandizement, perhaps even a massive
inferiority complex disguised as superiority or that dementia may be
setting in sooner than one might think.
Trump is in trouble. Why do I say this? Answer: Taxes. Trump refuses to reveal his taxes thinking that saying they are being audited is an excuse most will not challenge. In fact, however, auditing matters not. He still could revel his taxes to an American public from whom he wants the most consequential job on the planet. Why will he not reveal his taxes when all modern candidates for the presidency have done so?
Trump is really, in the final analysis, a dope for overtly and verbally challenging Russia's Putin to hack into Democratic email. He has advised a foreign power -- an enemy -- to influence the results of an American election. He cannot walk these egregious statements back although he has tried. If this not be treason it is damn close. He has given the Democrats now a gift that will keep on giving much like Nixon's Watergate did. One can only imagine if it were Hillary Clinton who said what Trump did to Putin against Republicans she would be skewered as she has been for infinitely less.
The issue of Trump's tax returns, of course, has to do with his fear of what the electorate may find out. We could find out he paid NO income taxes; we could find out he lied on his submissions BUT more importantly we could find out how much money he is borrowing in loans from Russia if any. Follow the money the old Watergate adage tell us. See links below.
If Russia loans Trump money because no one will loan him it here as he has a habit of not paying it back or declaring bankruptcy what will that mean? Maybe Russia even forgives a debt then what would Putin possibly want from a Trump presidency for that act of kindness? Try on the Baltic states and Eastern Europe for size. Putin wants to get back for his nation the empire it lost after the cold war. The Russian people would place him on a historical pedestal for life. He knows he could possibly get that from a Trump presidency because Trump says NATO can be abandoned if those nations do not pay their "fair share" and we also know Putin would be happy to fill the vacuum of power the abandonment of NATO would mean. Eastern Europe should tremble at a Trump presidency. Trump has committed a near treasonous if not wholly treasonous act suggesting Putin, a foreign enemy power, hack into Democratic emails and skew an American election toward Trump and he waxes effusive in his warm feelings for the autocrat as well.
Trump is SO stupid that he just gave the Democratic Party a gift. This issue will not die. His actions and his financial ties to Russia are now subject to investigation. Just what could Trump get from Putin? This begs investigation and the American electorate should demand nothing less than the submission of Trump's tax returns for public scrutiny. I would not want to be in Donald Trump's shoes as he steps into a black hole he has dug for himself no matter how expensive his shoes are.
https://www.washingtonpost. com/politics/inside-trumps- financial-ties-to-russia-and- his-unusual-flattery-of- vladimir-putin/2016/06/17/ dbdcaac8-31a6-11e6-8ff7- 7b6c1998b7a0_story.html
https://www.washingtonpost. com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/07/ 27/the-trump-russia-money- question-in-24-steps/#comments
Trump is in trouble. Why do I say this? Answer: Taxes. Trump refuses to reveal his taxes thinking that saying they are being audited is an excuse most will not challenge. In fact, however, auditing matters not. He still could revel his taxes to an American public from whom he wants the most consequential job on the planet. Why will he not reveal his taxes when all modern candidates for the presidency have done so?
Trump is really, in the final analysis, a dope for overtly and verbally challenging Russia's Putin to hack into Democratic email. He has advised a foreign power -- an enemy -- to influence the results of an American election. He cannot walk these egregious statements back although he has tried. If this not be treason it is damn close. He has given the Democrats now a gift that will keep on giving much like Nixon's Watergate did. One can only imagine if it were Hillary Clinton who said what Trump did to Putin against Republicans she would be skewered as she has been for infinitely less.
The issue of Trump's tax returns, of course, has to do with his fear of what the electorate may find out. We could find out he paid NO income taxes; we could find out he lied on his submissions BUT more importantly we could find out how much money he is borrowing in loans from Russia if any. Follow the money the old Watergate adage tell us. See links below.
If Russia loans Trump money because no one will loan him it here as he has a habit of not paying it back or declaring bankruptcy what will that mean? Maybe Russia even forgives a debt then what would Putin possibly want from a Trump presidency for that act of kindness? Try on the Baltic states and Eastern Europe for size. Putin wants to get back for his nation the empire it lost after the cold war. The Russian people would place him on a historical pedestal for life. He knows he could possibly get that from a Trump presidency because Trump says NATO can be abandoned if those nations do not pay their "fair share" and we also know Putin would be happy to fill the vacuum of power the abandonment of NATO would mean. Eastern Europe should tremble at a Trump presidency. Trump has committed a near treasonous if not wholly treasonous act suggesting Putin, a foreign enemy power, hack into Democratic emails and skew an American election toward Trump and he waxes effusive in his warm feelings for the autocrat as well.
Trump is SO stupid that he just gave the Democratic Party a gift. This issue will not die. His actions and his financial ties to Russia are now subject to investigation. Just what could Trump get from Putin? This begs investigation and the American electorate should demand nothing less than the submission of Trump's tax returns for public scrutiny. I would not want to be in Donald Trump's shoes as he steps into a black hole he has dug for himself no matter how expensive his shoes are.
https://www.washingtonpost.
https://www.washingtonpost.
Friday, July 29, 2016
The DNC Convention--Morning in America again
A few thoughts: The DNC Convention was one of the GREATEST political events I have ever witnessed in my entire watching-of-political-conventions life. IT WAS FLAWLESS AND WONDERFUL beyond measure! It was like watching the perfection of a Fred Astaire/Ginger Rodgers dance -- well choreographed, so moving, and so beautiful. It was humanitarian principled like a Steinbeck novel and I cried though a lot of it.
I love the Democratic Party and I love Hillary Clinton. I look forward to the debates of Clinton v. Trump. Did you ever see a professional football team play the Pop Warner League youth football? Of course, not. Neither, thankfully, have I. I suspect it would be like a fight between Mike Tyson and me. One could only imagine what the gruesome result would be. I would NOT want to be in Drumpf's shoes when he debates Hillary Clinton. It will be, for Democrats, I hope, a fun spectator sport where the intellectually uber qualified Goliath beats the pitifully mentally and academically unqualified Trump.
There were no bases left untouched. The speakers -- ALL of them -- were not only perfect but heart warming and moving. From Michelle Obama, Michael Bloomberg, the Reverend William Barber, all the victims of violence, the 9/11 people that Senator Hillary Clinton helped, the disabled, the Republicans for Hillary, the Military for Hillary, the police for Hillary to Tim Kaine, Vice President Biden, President Barack Obama and finally the star -- Hillary Rodham Clinton herself. I have missed naming many more stars as time does not permit. All were stunning in their excellence. If one watched it throughout the week and last evening or will be watching reruns this weekend you have seen or will be seeing the perfection of, hopefully, the first woman President of the United States.
Welcome to the White House, soon-to-be Madam President. Forty years of political presidential practice is a long time to wait. There is no one on earth who deserves the presidency more or is more qualified than she to win it.
For me, at this moment, it's morning in America again.
GET OUT THE VOTE AROUND THE NATION FOR HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON AND FOR DEMOCRATS DOWN TICKET TO GIVE HER THE ABILITY TO RECTIFY THE MANY PROBLEMS OUR NATION NEEDS SOLVED.
I love the Democratic Party and I love Hillary Clinton. I look forward to the debates of Clinton v. Trump. Did you ever see a professional football team play the Pop Warner League youth football? Of course, not. Neither, thankfully, have I. I suspect it would be like a fight between Mike Tyson and me. One could only imagine what the gruesome result would be. I would NOT want to be in Drumpf's shoes when he debates Hillary Clinton. It will be, for Democrats, I hope, a fun spectator sport where the intellectually uber qualified Goliath beats the pitifully mentally and academically unqualified Trump.
There were no bases left untouched. The speakers -- ALL of them -- were not only perfect but heart warming and moving. From Michelle Obama, Michael Bloomberg, the Reverend William Barber, all the victims of violence, the 9/11 people that Senator Hillary Clinton helped, the disabled, the Republicans for Hillary, the Military for Hillary, the police for Hillary to Tim Kaine, Vice President Biden, President Barack Obama and finally the star -- Hillary Rodham Clinton herself. I have missed naming many more stars as time does not permit. All were stunning in their excellence. If one watched it throughout the week and last evening or will be watching reruns this weekend you have seen or will be seeing the perfection of, hopefully, the first woman President of the United States.
Welcome to the White House, soon-to-be Madam President. Forty years of political presidential practice is a long time to wait. There is no one on earth who deserves the presidency more or is more qualified than she to win it.
For me, at this moment, it's morning in America again.
GET OUT THE VOTE AROUND THE NATION FOR HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON AND FOR DEMOCRATS DOWN TICKET TO GIVE HER THE ABILITY TO RECTIFY THE MANY PROBLEMS OUR NATION NEEDS SOLVED.
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