5Jul

PLAYING THE TRUMP CARD

5 Jul 2017 Dwight

The Jester at the World Leader Table

If you play a trump card during a game of Spades, you take the whole trick, or in non-card terms, you get to pick up every card on the table. That makes you the winner. The trump card sounds like the strong member of the deck, but the name has slightly different roots. From old English(1500s), trump meant to “deceive, cheat” and then from Middle English trumpen. The old French tromper also meant “to deceive.”

We should remind our readers that Trump’s last name is not the original version of his name. His family were Drumpf’s in Germany and they changed their name to Trump. Another deception in play here, but either way, the word Trump doesn’t always have positive connotations.

The leaders of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union will gather at the 2017 G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. The meetings will begin on Friday, July 7, 2017.

In an interview in the German weekly, Die Zeit, Angela Merkel said, “While we are looking at the possibilities of cooperation to benefit everyone, globalization is seen by the American administration more as a process that is not about a win-win situation but about winners and losers.”  It was clear that she was taking the first shot across the bow of the USS Donald Trump.

This is a great lesson in the destructive power of over-statement. In the hours and hours of titillating campaign tirades and over-modulated microphones, the Donald made it very clear that it was going to be “America First!” In his bombast, he belittled the whole notion of globalization.

His raspy bleating convinced many voters that the rest of the world was ripping America off and they were the reason for the torment of our middle class. Guiltless, in Trump’s accusations, were the rich Wall Street oligarchy, who Trump relates to more than the common man.

The President’s conundrum was produced by his own reckless mouth. He talks about how it would be good to befriend Russia so that they can help us beat ISIS, without any apparent regard that Russia is an ally of Iran and will only go so far in the Middle East quagmire. Can Donald Trump not comprehend that Putin likes Assad and wants him to stay on top of Syria? You know, the guy who gassed the kids.

Trump probably forgot that Russia (Then, the USSR) spent nine years of direct involvement and occupation in Afghanistan. They may fly some sorties and drop some bombs, but they certainly aren’t going to bomb Damascus. They don’t even believe that chemical weapons have been used in Syria. What Trump wants from them, they have no intention giving him. It’s what THEY WANT that should make us nervous.

As far as China goes, why would they want to thwart Kim Jong Un now? Trump tweeted this morning (7-5-2017): “Trade between China and North Korea grew almost 40% in the first quarter. So much for China working with us – but we had to give it a try!” This tweet comes right before the dealer is ready to split the deck, so Trump farts at the table.

Why would the G20 nations think that Trump can be trusted after not even restating the commitment to Article 5 at the NATO meetings? Yes, he finally said he would, but what a dud not uniting the NATO group when they were all face-to-face.

When the bully is being attacked by another bigger bully from another playground, why does the home bully think that he can rally the tormented to help him thump the invader? Merkel wants to make sure the EU is protected and that means keeping Russia in its own borders and off line. Russia wants only to disrupt America. China wants to make sure Trump thinks he’s in charge. And the other kids on the playground just want to make sure that a global unity helps them maintain stability in their own homes.

What Donald Trump thought he needed to say to get elected has isolated him from those who really listen and want America to be successful. Trump sacrificed his credibility with all the players around the table with lies, exaggerations and ludicrous statements about how things work.

When everyone else shows their strong face cards, Trump will be left with the cards he pilfered from the deck before the other people arrived. Trump has continually played the isolation card and sadly, he’s been showing the Joker more than any other card at the world table. Someone needs to tell our great “Orange Leader” that the Joker has no value at this table.

 

4Jul

IMPATIENT AND “UN” AWARE

4 Jul 2017 Dwight

Trump’s Challenge: North Korea

That great term, “sword rattling” takes us back to simpler times, which were just as complicated as they are today. As a country, we don’t get to pick the leaders of the nations of the world. Leaders move to the top of a government sometimes because of birthright, while others kill their way to the top. And in democratic places, some run, campaign and get elected. Their viewpoints will either light the way, or cast a shadow over the land they rule.

Donald Trump ran his campaign on hardened opinions based on his consumption of extremely skewed media outlets and conspiracy theories. He railed against China by mentioning their currency manipulation and trade advantage over the US in almost every rally. He said few negative things about Russia. Trump also claimed he knew more about things like ISIS than his generals, but now that he is President it’s important that he actually listens to his generals.

On the day before the 4th of July, this nation’s 241st birthday, Kim Jong Un ordered the launch of what his press described as an ICBM that could reach the United States. Trump is now becoming aware that Little Kim is taunting the leader of the free world. In fact, the missile traveled 578 miles and made it two-thirds of the way to Japan.

In the Rose Garden (6-30-2017) Trump made a big announcement about the Asian country when he said, “The era of strategic patience with the North Korean regime has failed. And, frankly, that patience is over.” Okay, not quite a red line, but in a communist country, red is not such a bad color.

Once again, our federally paid tweet teenager took to the internet even before he knew the nature of the missile to weigh in on this crisis, “North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!”

When I read that tweet, I LOL’d. The line that stuck out was, Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? And I thought, yeah, that little monster, lucky-sperm leader is launching missiles and our great orange hope is launching tweets. Why isn’t he just talking to Japan and South Korea? It sounds like he is pitching a movie idea to China. What does he mean by “heavy move.” Isn’t that what Trump said he did with women he thought attractive?

According to the New York Times (6-26-2017): “South Korea’s foreign minister indicated strongly on Monday that her government would honor an agreement to deploy an American missile-defense system despite protests and economic retaliation from China.” That seems a bit far from what you want China to do, Mr. Trump.

The Donald might be impatient with North Korea, but he has to understand that country’s complexities. If General MacArthur in the 1950s would have been allowed to continue his march beyond the 38th parallel, who knows what Korea would be as a unified country, today. China wanted a buffer between a working democracy, albeit corruptible, in South Korea and what they want to believe is modern communism in China. Remember, it was China that convinced Truman to “stand down” and fire MacArthur to avoid another world war.

Trump showed his feelings about China’s lack of involvement in his tweet (June 20, 2017), “While I greatly appreciate the efforts of President Xi & China to help with North Korea, it has not worked out. At least I know China tried!” Why is our President attempting to shame leaders of major countries into action? It’s almost more important for him to have a running commentary on his feelings. O.M.G. Our president is like a teenage girl writing in her diary every night: Dear Diary…

While China and South Korea would like more discourse between countries, Trump is doing his best at making this about the cult of personality rather than real political diplomacy. Well, to be truthful, Trump is not a diplomatic person. Why is he President again?

Trump toys with people on tweeter and screams about his big bad enemy, the press, at his politically motivated rallies, while Kim Jong Un toys with nations with missiles. The frightening reality is that Un would sacrifice his country’s 25 million people just to prove that he is the boss. What are Trump’s priorities?

Trump may say he is impatient, but what is next? If the President of the United States cannot rally nations and the strong characters who care about the world, he is wasting his time with those 140 characters on Twitter. Those leaders want to know what is the plan and that includes, what happens after Kim Jong Un is gone. Unfortunately, most of those same leaders are looking forward to the time Trump is gone.

 

 

3Jul

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE BASE

3 Jul 2017 Dwight

Dear Donald Trump Fans

It is unlikely that you are reading this, but if you are, I just wanted to say a few things to you before you slap on the little red baseball cap or “Lock Her Up” T-shirt and jump in your car and drive to the next rally. I know that you are as American as I am and you really do want this country to be successful, but we have to talk. This isn’t funny anymore.

You probably haven’t gotten a raise in years. I get that, it’s horrible. In some cases, your raise was eaten up by the banking crisis that was created by greedy bankers with an immoral disregard for the common man and your mortgage. I get that, too. In other cases, your employer may have used the whole age of financial insecurity as a way to justify keeping the workers’ wages where they would produce profit for the owners, not your long-term benefits.

Donald Trump was hyper critical of Obama and Bush and government in general, maybe that is why you like him. His anti-government, anti-immigrant, anti-free trade, anti-anyone else, make him a leader who really respects the rule of law. As long as that law lines up with what he wants to do, he will apply it. When it doesn’t, he will attempt to break the law; it’s who he is.

He’s for state’s rights, until those state’s right interferes with his grand plan to remake America in his image. Go ahead, admit it, you are just as radical as those people who marched against the Viet Nam war, oh, you’re not, sure fooled me.

Trump say he is really going to change things, but do you really listen to what he says and then match that up with what he does. He kept saying that he was out for the blue-collar worker and he preaches he wants to bring back manufacturing to those places that once boomed with industry, BUT HE IS AGAINST INCREASING THE MINIMUM WAGE. Gee, why wouldn’t he fight for you on such a simple thing as a few more bucks an hour?

Donald Trump has yet to explain being nice to Russia is a good idea. He has yet to demonstrate that a country that doesn’t give a rat’s ass for the American worker, would be someone we have not be afraid of? Trump seems to be afraid of most things that are NOT AMERICAN, except PUTIN WHO IS NOT AMERICAN.

He has confused you with his mantra that he didn’t collude with Russia in the attempt to disrupt our election process? Trump did eventually admit that Russians did launch a cyber-attack against our beloved country. You did hear him say that, right? RUSSIA IS NOT OUR FRIEND AND YOU SHOULD BE ASKING TRUMP WHY HE HASN’T DECLARED CYBER WAR AGAINST THEM.  If Trump is so strong, why are Russia, Syria, Iran and North Korea not changing anything they are up to?

Many Trump supporters believe that Donald Trump is a great Commander-in-Chief, but when he launched 59 tomahawks into Syria for their use of chemical weapons, the airport was up and running a few days later. WHY DIDN’T WE TOTALLY DESTROY THE AIR BASE IN SYRIA? Some strike, huh?

Now I know, you think Congress is useless institution and if you believe your leader, the court system is just as rigged, but aside from God, who do you believe in? Now, I have been quite critical of your addiction to the cult-like Trump dogma, but I want to have a man to man with you, or, ah, man to woman with you.

I have always asked the question, why do rich white guys always think they can fix things? They think that because no one confronts them when they are wrong. Let’s zero-base this thing, Trump’s Base people. You claim the Donald is smart because he got rich being a great business person, right? You said he would make a good president because the country would benefit from a strong businessman running the country like a business. Well, okay, let’s work on that premise.

YOU DO REALIZE THAT DONALD TRUMP IS $315 MILLION IN DEBT, RIGHT? Why? If he so rich, why would be carry any debt? Now, let’s see how he stacks up with other great American born success stories. Donald Trump is worth $1.4 billion, while Warren Buffet, the head of Berkshire Hathaway is worth $76.1 billion. Mr. Buffet disagrees with Donald Trump on many issues. Last time I checked, Warren Buffet pays his taxes and carries no debt at all. So, why wouldn’t we be listening to Buffet before Trump. While we are on the subject of wealth equals smarts: Jeff Bezos is worth $84.3 billion, Bill Gates is worth $88.7 billion and Mark Zuckerberg comes in at $63 billion. You should be listening to them. Beating he IRS system is more important to the Donald than paying his taxes on time like you do.

Now, let’s address the big fat orange elephant in the room. When Donald Trump screamed it was okay to smack protestors at his rallies, you were on his side. Of course, when he said, “It’s time for us to take our country back!” you liked that message. You also are enabling him with his war against the press, but then, you don’t trust that much anymore. In Donald You Trust.

You like the idea of America First because you truly, deep-down inside believe that immigrants and African-Americans and gay couples and people with a liberal progressive agenda have taken advantage of you personally. In many cases, you have been enabled by your evangelical leaders. When did church folk decide that white Christians are more important than the poor? WWJD?

When you say you want to take your country back, you seem to be immune to the reality of history that North America. Our land was stolen from the native peoples by European colonists. The colonization of America was simply people with guns and horses taking land from people who didn’t have guns. Probably why you want to keep your hands on your guns and the 2nd Amendment. I get that, too.

What really made America great were waves of immigrants from all over the world who came here to have a better life. DONALD TRUMP’S GRANDFATHER CAME FROM GERMANY FOR A BETTER LIFE. The Donald is more immigrant that those who want to take their country back. His mother was not born in America, she was born in Scotland. That makes the Donald only second or third generation American, depending how you’d like to split hairs.

Now we come to the most important issue for the Trump loyalists. We must talk about what you really want. What is it that you really want? Are you just in this for “endless winning”? Or are you, like most Americans, interested in more jobs, better healthcare, a better, safer life and an opportunity for your kids to do better than you did? DOES THAT RING TRUE?

Donald Trump has spent most of his time with rich people and famous people and the urban elites. I am sure he paid for an abortion more than once in his life. His political and moral positions change when they get in the way of what he wants. We know that he gave money to the Washington elite, he admits it. Donald Trump will attempt to bounce between helping rich people and his kids first, then, if there is anything left over, maybe he’ll throw you a bone. You don’t have to believe me, you just have ask, IF TRUMP WAS SO GREAT, WHY ARE YOU STILL PAYING MORE FOR MEDICINES AND INSURANCE?

The debacle in Congress over the healthcare bill is just an example that we don’t send someone to drain the swamp, because in Washington, the swamp must be navigated by someone with a map. Our government was designed so that one person could never dominate it. WHAT DO YOU WANT, A RAISE AND LOWER TAXES? OR DO YOU WANT DONALD TRUMP TO SPEND ALL YOUR MONEY ON A WALL?

As strong as you think Trump is you must start to think and realize that he’s just a rich, silver-spoon-in-mouth golfer who fooled you once, twice and again and again. Just ask yourself, “Are things better?” And if they are not better now, when will they get better? You can say he’s not a miracle worker and “please give him a chance.” But remember, HE TOLD YOU HE WAS A MIRACLE WORKER.

 

 

 

 

 

2Jul

FAKE NEWS OR FAKE PRESIDENT?

2 Jul 2017 Dwight

Trump’s War on the Constitution

Occasionally I see, hear or read a journalist saying that Donald Trump has some grand strategy. And when pressed, the author says that this latest move was pure genius, or the tweet did exactly what he designed it to do, as if the Donald is some intelligent media designer.

There’s not much difference between Trump and a 9-year-old boy grapping the microphone at Walmart and yelling stupid kid-things into the store’s PA system. The kid’s grand plan is to get attention, same as the “leader” of the free world.

In the President’s latest tweet (7-2-2017), he proclaimed, “The FAKE & FRAUDULENT NEWS MEDIA is working hard to convince Republicans and others I should not use social media – but remember, I won the 2016 election with interviews, speeches and social media. I had to beat #FakeNews, and did. We will continue to WIN! My use of social media is not Presidential – it’s MODERN DAY PRESIDENTIAL. Make America Great Again!”

When I read this my mind heard a spoiled 9-year-old brat saying, “Mommy made me president. I’m the president. I get to be president and do whatever I want!”

This over complaining and endless whining about news coverage in the media isn’t new to presidents. Trump has decided, however, that anyone who disagrees with him, critiques him or attempts to cover his achievements or lack of them, is the enemy. One could change the term “Fake News” to “People who hate me” and it would fit perfectly in all contexts.

Steve Bannon, the administration’s dark, Spiro Agnew evil twin, has said openly that the media is the “opposition party.”  He, along with Trump surrogates, Miller, Conway and that overtly obnoxious, fake intellectual Sebastian Gorka, have crafted a White House position that is obstinate and cantankerous. Any thinking America hearing them speak can clearly see through the pretentious, defensive droning of their propaganda.

Richard M. Nixon did the same thing when he was president, even using the same terms about the media.  However, Trump is no Nixon. The 37th President had to resign in disgrace. This president, when the time comes, will have to be removed from his current residence by the Secret Service, Capitol Hill Police or maybe the Army.

Even Trump’s slogan is not new. It is a total rip-off of Ronald Reagan’s campaign motto, demonstrating that Trump is an even better actor than Ronald Reagan. An actor takes the stage and plays a part while not being the real thing. We now have a fake President and everything he does is directed to making his character likeable, rather than forging policy and decisions that are right and good for the country. #FakePresident

Trump bellyaches that his achievements are not covered in the “fake news” but he broadcasts his tirades on the very same “fake” mainstream media he continually slams. His complaints about not being covered are total lies. The media covers every speech, every signing, every tweet. His “key promises,” such as reforming healthcare, getting a better, fairer, tax code and creating jobs, have become fake, rally fodder rather than reality.

Months ago, President Trump and VP Mike Pence rode their white horses into the Carrier furnace plant in Indianapolis to announce they had convinced the company to abandon a plan to move to Mexico.  They stated publicly that this would save hundreds of jobs.  Update: many employees will soon be losing their jobs at the plant.  CNBC reports (6-22-2017) that Carrier’s plant in Indianapolis is scheduled to lay off about 600 workers by the end of the year. The jobs are going to Mexico. Nice work, little boys.

Donald J. Trump will probably write that off as “FAKE NEWS,” but the road to success for this president has to go through the media. You cannot be a great president in a vacuum. You cannot guard so dearly the Second Amendment and spit in the face of those who employ the First Amendment to keep democracy strong. Without the First Amendment, we don’t need the Second Amendment.

Fake means fraudulent, and the usage of that term by our president in the context of media coverage is troublesome on many levels. When something is fraudulent it is obtained, done by, or has involved deception – especially criminal deception. The American public, the Congress and the courts must be on-guard with this president. There’s a very small step from complaining to outlawing and, in this case, the outlawing would be executed by an elected outlaw.

At this date, the Fake President may not like the Fake Media, but if all the media outlets stopped talking about Trump, he would probably melt into a damp pool of man tan and makeup.  Sad.

29Jun

THE CYBER BULLY-IN-CHIEF

29 Jun 2017 Dwight

Trump: Unhappy in His Own Skin

Donald Trump has once again demonstrated his thin skin and relentless mean streak. In a morning tweet, the President of the United States decided to do a silly immature, cruel and misogynistic post deriding MSNBC morning host Mika Brzezinski.

The tweet read as follows:

“I heard poorly rated @Morning Joe speaks badly of me (don’t watch anymore). Then how come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came to Mar-a-Lago 3 nights in a row around New Year’s Eve, and insisted on joining me. She was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said no!”

Now, I could have simply chalked it up to his M.O. and how Trump shows us his true colors through Twitter, but there is a problem here that is not going to go away. There is no respect for the office of the President of the United States with Trump and all his men and women.

Melania Trump, the first lady of this country, through a spokesperson said, “When her husband gets attacked, he will punch back 10 times harder.” I know that English is not Melania’s first language and I hope we didn’t miss anything in translation, but I have to say, there goes that whole bullshit concept of her being the titular head of some anti-cyber bullying campaign. Now, zero credibility.

If that was not bad enough, the protectors of the drunk uncle president were out in full force today. Sarah Huckabee Sanders commented, “I don’t think that the president’s ever been someone who gets attack and doesn’t push back. There have been an outrageous number of personal attacks, not just to him, but to frankly everyone around him. This is a president who fights fire with fire. And certainly, will not be allowed to be bullied by a liberal media and the liberal elites within the media or Hollywood or anywhere else.”

I’m not sure that the president of a country with a 1st Amendment can allow or disallow what others say about him. We have now seen the real enemy of the state and they are, indeed, those who work for the state. We are all getting burned by Trump’s fire and disregard for human beings.

The people around our president are soulless. They lie and disregard common decency to show their love for this power-hungry tyrant, Donald J. Trump. How do they sleep at night?

Whether you like Joe Scarborough or Mika or not, you have to consider that the imagery battles between the free press and the oppressive regime of Trump are now, in fact, real. The media, be it liberal, conservative, or far right, has a duty to find facts, write stories, conduct broadcasts and inform the American people.

Some talk show hosts do live in glass houses, but this president doesn’t care about anyone but himself. Those who support his abuse of power will be tried not only in the court of public opinion, but perhaps even called to testify in real court about whether they were instructed to lie to the American people. If lying to the citizens is not an impeachable offense, then what is?

 

 

29Jun

MUSLIMS BAD, RUSSIANS GOOD

29 Jun 2017 Dwight

Trump’s Travel Ban Begins

The Supreme Court wanted to show some respect for the office of the President, so they gave him the benefit of the doubt with a baby-ruling on the Travel Ban. While pushing the bigger decision about how America’s image will be morphed by arguments this October, the court gave the president the power to manage who enters this country.

Taking Trump’s ban on face value, he wanted the ban to allow our government to research the credibility of the vetting of visas, and to create a system that would provide better security of our country. One of the things that happened in the last year, which most experts and representatives agree on, America was the victim of a cyber-attack by Russia.

The administration has done nothing to protect America from that threat. Every President says these words with his hand on a Bible: “I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

The protection of our democracy and the defense of our Constitution are paramount. Donald Trump has done nothing about the issue of electronic invasion by Russia and most people around him say he considers most questions about Russia to be alarmist over-reaction. Others, who have taken a more psychological approach, believe Trump has combined the Russian hacking scandal and any possible collusion into one large bucket of dissent against any disdain for him personally. Someone has programmed his tiny brain to believe that if the Russian probe goes forward, America will find out that his whole presidency is a fraud.

Trump is so used to hearing critics calling him a phony or con that he just assumes he must have done something wrong. But this time, he really is doing something wrong. He is ignoring a threat to cyber-security and has a Mister Magoo vision of protecting and defending this nation.

The Senate approved a bill to lock in sanctions against Russian by a 98-2 vote. Interestingly, Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky and Independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont voted against the measure. The bill, which includes both Russian and Iranian sanctions, heads to the House for approval before President Donald Trump gets to sign it. If Trump vetoes the bill, it will disclose his reticence to ruffle Russian feathers. Trump seems to be able to intimidate the House, where the Senate sees him as a necessary evil.

As the summer tornadoes, hurricanes, droughts and fires rage across America; our representatives will get an earful at their town meetings, if they are brave enough to have them. We can sit here and take this bad management on the part of Donald Trump’s White House, or we can start to scream.

The House of Representatives has an interesting balancing act right now. Their members don’t want to have Trump in their faces.  However, if they stand by and let Trump screw up the country they will surely be losing their jobs. The leadership on both sides are so full-on ideologs that nothing will get done. And as much as the President claims the Democrats are keeping him from being successful, he has never invited them to his house to sit down and talk. He’s the problem.

Trump is doing nothing about Russia and has pushed it aside. Why? Trump moved very quickly on his Muslim ban, which was blocked by the courts. He modified it, even so far to say he liked the first one better, but at least he compromised. And if he would have just applied a logical verbiage to his order, and not flame out online, he could have gotten what he wanted in the first place.

We don’t hear Trump screaming about Russia, so we can only assume he really doesn’t care about Russian interference with our election. Someday, he will have to explain. From this vantage point, he’s clearly declared, “Muslims bad, Russians good.” The real question is why?

 

 

26Jun

TRUMP’S TRUE COLORS

26 Jun 2017 Dwight

Inherently Racist Messaging

I don’t profess to know what is in another man’s heart, but after many years of observations I do believe I have found some answers to many of my questions about Trump.

One of the things that most experts tell you about pathological liars is that they hate when someone proves they are lying. And they usually embody the following characteristics: narcissism, selfishness, abusive attitude, obsessive, compulsive behaviors, impulsivity, aggressiveness, jealous behavior, manipulative behaviors, deceptiveness, socially awkward, uncomfortable, low self-esteem, temperamental outbursts and anger. Why do these words feel like they were written about Donald Trump? Actually, those are straight-off-the-shelf descriptions of most pathological liars.

But there is a toxic combination of jealous behavior, low self-esteem and anger that can also deliver another dark disorder called racism: prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior.

If we dip into the Donald’s past, we know that one of the most embarrassing things that happened to the Trumps in New York City was the law suit accusing them of discrimination in the housing market. According to the Business Insider Website: A civil-rights lawsuit brought by the Justice Department against Donald Trump and his father Fred Trump in 1973 claimed that African-Americans and Puerto Ricans were prevented from renting apartments from Trump. In 1975, Trump agreed to a consent decree, whereby no admission of wrongdoing would be given, however, his management company was ordered to take out ads telling ethnic minorities that they were welcome to seek housing at Trump properties.

Trump’s well-established modus operandi is to blame those who disagree with him or stand in the way of him either getting away with a lie or making money. Blame the accuser and hit back hard. Could the President be harboring deep-seated feelings that African-Americans are out to get him in some way? That is a strange form of racism.

Trump brags constantly about his wealth and success and attributes it to his genetic makeup. He told Playboy in 1990 that he is “a strong believer in genes” and “I’m a strong believer in genes, that my kids can be brought up without adversity and respond well if they have the genes.” Forget about whispers to the Alt-Right, this is a scream.

According to the Independent website: “The [Trump] family subscribes to a racehorse theory of human development. “They believe that there are superior people and that if you put together the genes of a superior woman and a superior man, you get a superior offspring.” Doesn’t that sound a bit like what the Germans were talking about in 1939?

Let’s look at his weird responses to white supremacist groups. In TheGuardian: Activists who recently gave Nazi salutes and shouted “hail Trump” at a gathering in Washington will revolt if the new US president fails to meet their expectations, the leaders told the Guardian. And have we heard the President declare his contempt for these groups once?

Steve Bannon stokes the gene fire and white supremacist messaging. Trump is being played like a limp puppet by Stephen Miller and Bannon who actually believe that nationalism trumps pluralism. They want to divide the nation and give the “power” back to white people. Trump, at least, is an accomplice in this terrible affront to American citizen equality.

Now that brings us to the final argument on the racist in the White House. Let’s assume that some of the material that was in the now famous Dossier that was prepared by a British spy was less than accurate, but one point stood out to me. The fact that Donald Trump did not like Michelle Obama and, if Trump’s backward blaming is to believed, he dislikes the former President even more. Get Serious! For years, Donald Trump claimed Barack Obama wasn’t born in America, only to later half-heartedly admit that he was wrong. And Trump has never convincingly pushed back against the Alt-Right’s use of Nazi images of Obama.

Trump actually believes that he can attribute everything that is wrong in his America to Obama. This week Donald Trump blamed Obama for not doing more about the Russian attempts to get him elected. Does he really think the people are that stupid? Yes, he does and, sadly, some are.

Deep down inside, this constant use of Obama as whipping boy speaks to his real true color, prejudice. Some will say I’m being unfair, but it’s all there in front of you. Think about it:

Trump knows that Obama is a better speaker and smarter man (jealous behavior).

Trump knows that no matter what happens in the world Obama’s legacy will be lower unemployment, saving the US auto industry and moving the economy back into the black (uncomfortable, low self-esteem).

Trump’s real job seems to be doing everything he can to justify his presidency by creating a narrative that Obama is inferior to his perfect planned genome (manipulative behaviors, deceptiveness).

And in the end, Trump will find himself all alone in a country whose diversity will never be stopped by racism or tied down by stereotypes. It appears from this vantage point that Donald Trump, our President, is at best, a part-time racist.

 

 

 

 

24Jun

THE GRAND CON

24 Jun 2017 Dwight

Trump’s Fake Promises

Imagine during a contract negotiation your boss promised you that he would never lower your wage. So, you accepted the new deal and at some point, he reduced your wage.  What would you think of your boss?

On the campaign trail Donald Trump was forceful with his promise that he would not lower Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. And with this grand con, many low income and older Americans connected to that promise. In many cases it may have determined votes in the election. But now the President is silent while the Republican Senate and House of Representatives create large cuts to those programs without his squeaky high voice saying, “No.” What kind of leader is he?

AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond said, “The Senate bill which imposes an “Age Tax” on older adults—increasing health insurance premiums and reducing tax credits, makes cuts to both Medicare and Medicaid funding, and yet gives billions of dollars in tax breaks to drug and insurance companies. AARP calls on every Senator to vote ‘NO’ on this harmful bill.”

It’s pretty obvious that Donald J. Trump is just another typical politician who promises things to get elected and then does what he wants, or what the party tells him to do. This spineless bundle of white fat with oversized neckties has little empathy with the poor, the middle-class or the millions of retired Americans who depend on these services and programs. He just wants to be loved by his slowly dissolving base and get reelected; cringe the thought.

The National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship posted this on their Website today: “The Senate GOP recently released their version of the ACA repeal bill that they crafted in secret. Under this bill, millions of Americans, including cancer survivors, will lose health insurance. Cancer survivors are at risk of losing vital protections for people with pre-existing conditions, and premiums and out-of-pocket costs will increase for millions of Americans, especially older, sicker people.”

According to Gallup (here), Congress only has a 20% approval rating, while Donald Trump in the RealClearpolitics.com average gets around 40% approval with 54% disapproval of the job he is doing. Yes, he can blame Congress for the slash and burn healthcare bill passed, but remember that the President still has to sign it and if he signs it, he owns it. Recall when people talked about “Death Panels?” Well with Trumpcare we are actually going to get them.

There are many liars and lies in politics and the average Joe doesn’t have the wherewithal or time to discern the numbers, language and deceits from the truth. Free market healthcare, like trickle-down economics, is a diabolical myth perpetrated on the American public. Math doesn’t lie.  Rich people, the upper 1%, are getting richer while the middle class is getting poorer.

You might not want to trust someone like Donald Trump, or Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, who on the side just made a boatload of money producing the Wonder Woman movie. They have no credibility when it comes to what they do with your money. Mnuchin, for example, just sold his interest in Dune Entertainment and then named his fiancée Louise Linton CEO to protect his wealth while he toils at his job in government. I assume Steve and Loise have a swell healthcare plan at Dune.

Can’t you see that this healthcare bill is the way they are going to give the upper 1% more money? Trump and his great disrupters are running a scam, a con, a scheme on the American public. In the next three years, they want to justify tax cuts for the rich by taking services away from the poor, the disenfranchised and the elderly. They aren’t good people and conservative Republicans truly believe that giving rich people more money will help them get elected. After all, rich people give money to super PACs and campaigns, the middle class will never finance their greed.

Trump has already gotten rid of the death tax with the stroke of his pen. His kids will greatly benefit by what he has already done. But we all have to realize how much a burden the rich people have to endure by moving their money around so the IRS doesn’t see where it actually is going. Trump is no better than the steel and train magnates of the late 1800s. Winning may be everything to the Donald, but the middle and lower classes of America will not tolerate much more of his poisonous political pain.

If you thought the voters were angry during the election, wait until they find out you screwed them with a horrendously false promise, Mr. Trump.

 

 

 

23Jun

NO TAPES, NO PROOF

23 Jun 2017 Dwight

Trump Incessantly Playing Games

Donald Trump was pushed off cable TV for a few hours when the Senate released its healthcare bill, but he was able to get into the headlines again after his latest tweet.

‘With all of the recently reported electronic surveillance, intercepts, unmasking and illegal leaking of information, I have no idea whether there are “tapes” or recordings of my conversations with James Comey, but I did not make, and do not have, any such recordings.”

And with this, he called a TV black out on the daily press conference which was run by Sarah Huckabee Saunders (6-22-2017) in order to keep his daily “shit show” off the TV. But after the briefing, they allowed the audio to be released. So, there were tapes of the press conference and after the press briefing CNN and others ran the audio.

Donald J. Trump doesn’t really have a mental filter when it comes to Twitter. With the admission that there are no tapes of his conversations with fired FBI Director, his original tweet was more of a threat than a question. He knew there were no tapes of the conversation, but went ahead with the tweet. Therefore, this action is tantamount to witness intimidation.

The statute is rather clear: Witness tampering is the act of attempting to alter or prevent the testimony of witnesses within criminal or civil proceedings. Laws regarding witness tampering also apply to proceedings before the U.S. Congress, executive departments, and administrative agencies.

The Legal Information Institute embellishes: Whoever knowingly uses intimidation, threatens, or corruptly persuades another person, or attempts to do so, or engages in misleading conduct toward another person, with intent to:

(1) influence, delay, or prevent the testimony of any person in an official proceeding;

(2) cause or induce any person to:

(A) withhold testimony, or withhold a record, document, or other object, from an official proceeding;

(B) alter, destroy, mutilate, or conceal an object with intent to impair the object’s integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding;

(C) evade legal process summoning that person to appear as a witness, or to produce a record, document, or other object, in an official proceeding; or

(D) be absent from an official proceeding to which such person has been summoned by legal process.

As Robert Mueller begins his quest to find the answers behind Russian interference with the election, President Trump said today (6-23-2017) that Mueller is good friends with James Comey and the friendship is “bothersome.” Agent Orange is planting doubt and staging the next firing, for sure.

Trump is spanking the press with his news briefing blackout, but his passive aggressiveness makes no sense. The White House released the audio right after the event. He wants to be able to block the release if the briefing doesn’t go well.

The press is not amused. World leaders are not entertained by this childish deception. The credibility of the highest office in our country has been lost with Donald Trump. It will never be restored until Donald Trump is gone.

You cannot be impeached for being stupid or obsessed with issues that have little to do with being a great President. Some of his actions have now been moved from inappropriate to obstruction to incompetence.

Keep your eyes on Trump as the investigation gets closer to his front door. He once again has taken the heat off the Senate and their secret Healthcare bill but, in the end, we will still have a country when the Donald is back in New York as an irrelevant ex-president.

 

22Jun

SECRETS, RIDDLES AND LIES

22 Jun 2017 Dwight

Trump’s Russian Roulette

There is a great word that helps us understand the current President. It’s publicity: the notice or attention given to someone or something by the media. It also has a second meaning, the giving out of information about a product, person, or company for advertising or promotional purposes.

With all the complaints about leaks from somewhere inside the White House, Donald Trump just may be the leaker himself. He loves to talk and brag and when no one else is in the room, how do we know what he is saying on the phone to the hundreds of people he talks to in any given week?

The Russia story is a saga because Trump and his surrogates have never been able to say the right things. Their push-back only exacerbates the matter. Donald Trump did business with Russians, that is a fact. Just look up the company Bayrock with which Trump was involved in SoHo and Florida.

According to USA Today, Trump addressed potential investors in Moscow and bragged to Real Estate Weekly about his access to Russia’s rich and powerful, “I have a great relationship with many Russians.”

Also, Donald Trump, Jr. went on the record in September of 2008 by saying, “In terms of high-end product influx into the United States, Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets; say in Dubai, and certainly with our project in SoHo and anywhere in New York. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.”

According to Bloomberg News, “One of Bayrock’s principals was a career criminal named Felix Sater who had ties to Russian and American organized crime groups. Before linking up with the company and with Trump, he had worked as a mob informant for the U.S. government, fled to Moscow to avoid criminal charges while boasting of his KGB and Kremlin contacts there, and had gone to prison for slashing apart another man’s face with a broken cocktail glass.”

The first secret isn’t so much a riddle, but an out-and-out lie on Donald Trump’s part about involvement with Russians. Why Congress hasn’t demanded total disclosure of the President’s financial entanglements is a riddle that can only be solved by the old maxim, “winning is all that matters.”

The President of the United States is playing Russian Roulette, the practice of loading a bullet into one chamber of a revolver, spinning the cylinder, and then pulling the trigger while pointing the gun at one’s own head. He can say that this story is a “hoax” and part of “fake news” but deep down inside Trump must have some guilt about his involvement with the Russians.

John Harris, the Co-Founder and Editor-In-Chief of Politico, was on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show (6-21-2017).  He made an extremely cogent point about the Trump Era by saying this is one of the most transparent White Houses he’s covered.

Harris added, “It’s the most secretive and transparent administrations.” He made the observation that the President is so obsessed with press coverage, many of the staffers, immersed by infighting, can only get their message to their boss by leaking. They are aware of his lack of openness and cannot find any other way to deal with his isolation as a leader. So, I guess he’s inaccessible and a poor listener.

One of the sad things about this administration is its need to hold political rallies to keep a fist-grip on the base and to extract funds from the middle-class to pay for his ego massages. Donald Trump has created nothing short of a cult who really believe his lies and listen to his harsh rhetoric as something pure and patriotic. He insults them with, “I’d rather have a rich person than a poor person running the economy.” (6-21-2017) I assume he means that poor people aren’t smart enough to make economic decisions because they are poor. Sad!

With each bold-orange-faced lie we learn more and more about the American populace and how far one man can abuse power and obstruct justice. The insults are free. Trump has business dealings with Russians and he has been lying about this from the start. The bullet in the chamber is Michael Flynn. Will Flynn bring the President to his knees?