THE PROBLEM WITH RON DESANTIS

Another bottom feeder polictician – grifter

I am sure Ron and Casey DeSantis are nice people away from the bright lights of politics, but I have many political questions for our governor. I wonder whether he respects the rights of children, if he understands the need for equality among “all the people” and whether he supports the sanctity of immigrants in America.

It would be too easy to spray the criticism that everything DeSantis has done as governor was only to further his national political ambitions. It appears that once he got the Governor job, he was living every moment to get another one… in Washington.

As the grandson of Italian immigrants, one would hope DeSantis had more empathy for the immigrant’s plight, but alas, it’s a case of, “We’re in, close the door behind us.” Florida is made up of immigrants and workers from everywhere. Why the constant condemnation of that class? DeSantis’ stunts and statements would have us believe he doesn’t care about what America stands for. Immigrants are people, not political punching bags.

Harassing large corporations that provide thousands of jobs is bad business, while giving another big donor exclusive rights to Covid shots reveals a payoff in the plan. Why did I have to drive four hundred miles to get my shot? Please stop bragging about how great you did. It was just okay.

We hear so much about respecting the rights of parents, but what about the rights of children? From banning Critical Race Theory, certain books and gender realization, DeSantis is kowtowing to the base, not protecting all the kids. One must ask, who decided that a child’s rights could be ignored, besmirched and ridiculed by the state? Will the governor and his wife attend funerals to comfort the parents mourning their trans or gay teen’s suicide due to constant bullying? Sadly, he will not be involved in the problem he exacerbated.

I’m puzzled by the DeSantis political family who rails against liberal elitism but sends their kids to private schools. I assume they think they are fixing education, but so far, they have created far more conflict, drama and fear than advances.

When the governor in his high-heeled cowboy boots rode his white horse into government, he was just a cheap imitator of Donald Trump. His actions, words and deeds since then have shown a man who truly doesn’t care about anyone else’s viewpoint. Florida doesn’t need a baby Trump; we’ve got the real one.

The facts are clear. Mr. DeSantis had no discussions with the families of LGBTQ kids before he handed Tallahassee his abominable bucket of hate: the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. He also had no consultations with the communities of color that he cut up like chum on the beach to gerrymander his way to power. He just did it without the regard for the voters’ rights in those places. If only Ron was honest about it all.

The lack of respect for equality and the Voting Rights Act are just as bad as his ploughing through the policies in education that were meant as safeguards for equality. Getting rid of much of what the New College of Florida was all about, only to suggest that adding sports teams will bring people back to the institution, feels a lot like “Biff” from Back to the Future being put in charge of education. It’s sad that a graduate of Harvard and Yale would see public education as an evil force. Maybe he doesn’t care about kids.

The idea of a “woke ideology” coming to take your freedoms away is much like Chicken Little screaming, “The sky is falling!” I still have no idea what “woke” means, but it’s clearly Ron’s N-word.

The fundamental problems of Ron DeSantis are his obvious desire to rewrite history, control the future and force all citizens to adopt his way of life. If “freedom” is really your north star, Mr. Governor, then why do you keep telling us what to do, how our doctors will treat us and even who to love. The demeaning discrimination on display so far proves he’s a bad governor and would be a horrible president.

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Tattoo Detective: Our Last Hope for the Future

Imagine being able to time travel into the unknown. TATTOO DETECTIVE: Our Last Hope for the Future is a science fiction novel examining the world after all the guardrails of normal society have been dissolved.

The story follows two American tattoo detectives who are sent on a mission that changes them and their world. This dystopic look at the United States and the flaw in humankind is not a Pollyanna prognostication, it’s fundamentally close to our current reality and could be predictive of where we are headed. The opening chapter says it best, “…we could have done something, but we fell madly in love with technology, weapons and wealth.” For purchase or dowload, go here. Check out our author page on Amazon.

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HOW TO BEAT TRUMP

An Open Letter to the Challengers

Are you in it to win it? Do you think you have an actual chance? You have studied Donald Trump’s every speech, every putdown, every ridiculous conspiracy theory and off-the-cuff remark, yet you come off like an eleventh-grade debate class student, fearful and defensive. He will grab you, crush you, chew you up and split you out.

I hear your bland and stupid statement that the country deserves you and you will make things better, but those who are loyal to the golden calf will only yawn and then change the channel.

Go ahead and meet behind closed doors with your consultants, con-artists and co-conspirators to debate the words you will use when asked certain questions about the fat, orange guy. Tiptoe around him, because if you do otherwise, he will kick your ass.

Your advisors will tell you not to say what you really think, because that will turn off people who don’t believe in the truth. And whatever you do, don’t piss off “the base.” You may think they are the only folks who count because they have gigantic, aggressive online mouths and fingers to tear you a new one, but they’re more like a conglomeration of 14-year-old high school dropouts who have formed a bond based on hate, misinformation and an intense feeling of disenfranchisement. That subset of America has already cast their vote. Ignore them! You can’t win them over and you don’t need them, so stop being so damn timid about them.

So, how can a reasonable person beat Trump to the punch and garner some points in this presidential slugfest? When Marco Rubio ran against Trump in 2016, he based all his comments on a few carefully prepared paragraphs that he recited verbatim. “Little Marco” was up against it, so he decided to pull a “baby Trump” bit by commenting on the size of Donald’s hands. He went low, and Trump just bullied him into submission. If you genuinely want to beat Trump, you must not be afraid to upstage the villain. Yes, the clown carries a spray bottle full of battery acid and it’s your job to face and conquer the beast.

There’s an abundance of history-making Trump insanity — impeached twice and indicted twice, with surely more to come from the overzealous prosecutors in the land. Although this martyr routine appears to be working for the makeup-wearing tough guy, it’s time you find a way to forcefully cut through that.

Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, believes he must go to the right of Trump and promises to be a new kind of Trump who can win and get things done. Being twenty-five points behind, however, proves he’s just another baby Trump. As long as voters can get the real deal, why would DeSantis think he can win by selling his bag of lukewarm fascism to America?

The one thing I remember from my early sports playing days was a rough and tumble coach standing before us and not only challenging our strength but asking us that all-important question, “Boys, do you really want to win?” Today I stand before most of you asking that same question.

The only current challenger who is acting as if he really wants to defeat Donald Trump is Chris Christie. He’s telling the truth and he’s not trying to please Trump voters at all. I’m sure there are experts, statisticians and soothsayers telling him this is the wrong approach but, seriously, what other path to beating Trump exists?

If the rest of you want to beat Trump, you will have to talk louder and more directly in ways that might be uncomfortable. I’m looking at you, Mike Pence. You cannot bring yourself to say that Trump was not a good president even though he cajoled his fans to see you in a bad light and threaten your safety. I get the “turn the other cheek” Biblical stance, but really Mike, if you cannot stand up to Trump how are you going to deal with a real dictator like Vladimir Putin? Your pussyfooting will get you nowhere.

The question of whether a challenger, if elected president, would pardon Trump is revealing. If one says they will pardon him, that is the wrong answer. It means they feel what he did wasn’t wrong or it was wrong, but they want to “heal” the country. There’s only one answer to that pardon question that makes any sense, “NO.” Trump is not above the law, and he should be held accountable. Your ticket to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue does not have PARDON HIM printed on it.

There is probably more dirt to dig up on the Donald, but don’t think you are going to convince his loyal fans he’s bad for them. However, you must criticize him openly, directly and by name. You must point out our critical need for someone we can trust in the White House. Trump’s biggest flaw as a potential president is he’s a liar. He doesn’t know right from wrong or truth from a lie. Get right up to the microphone and say, “This man is clinically ill and cannot be trusted to run the greatest country in the world” Lay it out directly or get the hell out of the way of someone who will. The fundamental goal is branding Trump as a LIAR!

Stop wasting our time with your lack of clarity and deflections. Trump is a bad human being and should not be reelected. If you cannot say that, then you are not really running for president. You don’t want to win. You are just masturbating in public and wasting jet fuel flying around the country playing the fool.

Why are you not going after Trump? Are you going to admit to the coach you really don’t want to win the game? Stop being so damn weak!

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AMERICAN GROUND ZERO

Trump Keeps Wasting My Time

According to legend, Moses ascended and descended Mount Sinai seven times attempting to mediate, communicate and understand God’s will. During one of his mount sojourns, his temporarily leaderless followers fomented fear and melted all their gold jewelry and trinkets into a golden calf. Afraid that God had forsaken them, they wanted something they could see and touch to worship. They sent their prayers to this graven image rather than the real God.

When Moses finally returned, he was carrying two large stones with the Ten Commandments etched into them, the believers’ fundamental “truth.” The first two commandments clearly state, “You shall have no other gods before Me“ and “You shall not make idols.” Now, you might be wondering what this has to do with Donald John Trump.

Before we wander around for forty years, we need to understand who Trump is, and why his continued power over people is dangerous, damaging and demonic. Donald is the golden calf, a fake god, a craven image, a false idol whom millions of people, beyond all logic and reason, worship as their savior. His “success” flows from the fearful people who were made angry and afraid by feckless politicians seeking only power and money without regard for the common men and women.

I have two thoughts for you. First, the United States of America is never as bad as those seeking office would like us to believe. I have faith in our country, in fact, I love America and believe that as flawed as the Constitution might seem in the eyes of critics, crapshooters and con artists, it’s the best in the world. Next, Donald Trump is not the end all and be all. Remember, even the UK Queen passed away and they just slid another person into the chair.

Joe Biden is a lifelong politician and understands how the system works better than just about anyone else. Is he the best president? We’ll have to wait for the historians to write that up, but for now Biden’s keeping us from going back to Egypt to be enslaved. Remember that in 2024.

Like many of my fellow citizens, I am totally sick and tired of this Trump guy. After the smoke clears and the Department of Justice has laid all the evidence at his multiple doorsteps, it will be evident that Donald Trump is a corrupt liar with no redeemable intellect or ability to make things better.

What happened to the golden calf? Well, it wasn’t good. Moses burnt the idol in a fire, ground it to powder and then scattered the remnants over water which he forced the Israelites to drink. Surely, drinking water laced with gold was not healthy, but that was his just punishment for ignoring the truth.

In today’s world, we have Republican politicians in Congress playing the role of High Priests in the Temple telling us what to believe and who to follow. It’s as if they’re taking money for themselves and demanding we bring them animals to sacrifice. The true Judas of Democracy is Jim Jordan. His Judiciary Committee is being encouraged and manipulated by rich donors, the moneychangers outside the temple, with tentacles reaching even into the chamber of the Supreme Court.

It’s true that this is all political; everything is political. By their words and actions, fifty people in Washington, after swearing to protect and defend the Constitution, have revealed they are loyal to only one man, the obese, orange calf who will be brought before the judges.

I’d like to ask members of the 700 Club and the other evangelicals who defend Trump from their so-called holy pulpits, “What would Jesus do?” Would he keep the gold so his offspring would have some bounty after he is gone? No, that is not what God’s son would do. The reality is we have preachers, priests and pontificators defending lawlessness to create a Christian Nationalist State rather than a free and honest Republic. Be careful, folks. Their church will probably not look like the one you love.

I don’t feel sorry for Donald J. Trump. He claims to be a genius but constantly does stupid things. He can’t keep saying he is an innocent man, while lying, cheating, paying hush money to porn stars and completing all sorts of other illicit acts to keep his power and position intact.

America’s new, self-inflicted ground zero is filled with “Orange Trash.” If you want to follow the man down a black hole of mendacity and hate, go for it, but remember that will not help you on judgement day. TRUTH will judge you, not the lies of a fat and false prophet.

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BIRDS OF A FEATHER

Has CNN become Fox News?

Just when you thought it was over it starts again, and many feel that CNN just pooped the bed. But let’s be more civil and analytical, if such is possible in today’s world.

I understand television programming and its various justifications for reasons of ratings and revenue, but CNN broke some rules last night when they put the orange devil on the air for nearly ninety minutes in prime time. According to the American Press Institute, journalism’s first obligation is telling the truth. Good decision making depends on people having reliable, accurate facts placed in meaningful contexts.

The second rule in TV news is never let the interviewee play you. Mike Wallace and Walter Cronkite turned in their graves last night. Why did CNN allow the former President to lie about the 2020 election? Why didn’t they confront him live, in real time, and tell him to his face that he’s still lying and ask him why he needs to constantly do so? Why not make it personal? Trump certainly does.

Any interviewer would have their hands full with Donald Trump, but a noble journalist must elicit truth. Kaitlan Collins asked Donald Trump some great questions, but she didn’t get him to admit anything. She was a facilitator for his lies. No matter how many panels CNN puts on for the rest of the week whining about Trump, some people will continue to believe his mendacities. It’s impossible for a journalist to create a clear vision when their primary source is a pathological liar, so why did CNN put him on?

This “town hall“ did not provide any insight into a lying candidate. It was just another network elevating Trump, giving him more oxygen and free airtime for his continuous deceit. How is this good for America?

Trump is an idiot on foreign relations and the current cultural realities of an ever-growing browner and more diverse America. He stopped absorbing and thinking in 1956.

The Donald couldn’t call Putin a war criminal, but in the very next sentence he described the atrocities of the war in Ukraine, unable to connect the dots that it’s his buddy Vlad who is doing the killing. I would have asked him, right at that moment, “What makes you so afraid of Putin?” Instead, we got more of the same bullshit, deception and tap dancing so fundamental to Donald Trump.

Chris Wallace is on the CNN payroll, but I’m sure Trump would never have agreed to a sit down with him. Instead, the network brought out their morning show tryout who asked penetrating questions but didn’t adequately rebut the responses. The entire affair became lost in the dust of Trump’s repetitive, nonsensical crap. Had he been properly grilled, I’m sure Trump would have walked off the stage, which would have been far more illuminating.

And what was up with that audience? It’s clear they were not properly vetted or managed, which obliterated the newsworthiness of the whole event. Instead of having a hall full of dimwits laughing and clapping at a fat, orange monkey, why not have an audience of journalists with each getting to pose one short, pointed question?

If TV news is to survive, it must have a certain gravity and gravitas based on truth. The CNN debacle showcased our drunken uncle babbling away about matters well beyond his comprehension. He couldn’t even pull off looking prepared, statesmanlike or normal. He just blathered put-downs and platitudes with the overarching theme of how screwed up America is. Why would we give this blowhard four more years to do what he couldn’t do in the four years he was president?

I’m going to briefly step aside here to inject a Tweet of someone who says it better, the former President’s niece, Mary L. Trump, “I’m furious…. CNN is anti-American. In less than an hour, they allowed an authoritarian wannabe to lie constantly while an audience full of his followers applauded. This was not a town hall; it was a rally. Donald bragged about overturning Roe v. Wade. He claimed—unchallenged—that Democrats allow babies to be murdered after they’re born. He bragged about his intention to pardon convicted insurrectionists. He advocated for the United States to default on its debt which would destroy the world economy. And he showed, once again, why a jury of his peers found him liable for sexual assault and defamation. But Donald Trump cannot destroy our country by himself. That requires allies. He already has the Republican party in his pocket. And now, he has CNN on his side. Tonight’s CNN fiasco was a tragedy for American democracy.”

Mary Trump clearly is just as appalled as I and many others are. CNN will have to work awfully hard to restore its credibility with me but, then again, like many my age I am starting to think that it’s all just bullshit. We can’t trust Congress. We can’t trust the Supreme Court and we certainly cannot trust CNN, or Fox, or MSNBC, or any news outlet that hides behind the bright lights of showbiz while leaving honest reporting and penetrating journalism splat on the sidewalk.

Think about all the major news stories that have broken in the last ten years and realize they resulted from the arduous work of journalists at the New York Times, Washington Post, Politico, Pro-Publica and other outlets. The talking heads on TV just read the words. They spend more time on their hair and makeup than pounding out the truth on a keyboard.

It’s embarrassing. Recently I heard one of the talking heads actually say, “Well, I haven’t read the whole document yet, but this could be either real good, or real bad for Donald Trump.” WTF!

Sorry, but if you attempt to be “fair and balanced” with Donald John Trump, you will merely make him President again and that would be the end of journalism and, oh yeah, DEMOCRACY!

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An Open Letter To Chief Justice Roberts

If you agree, write a letter:

Supreme Court, United States
1 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20543

Telephone: 202-479-3000

Dear Chief Justice:

I have to believe you are aware of what has happened in Tennessee. The sad part of that tragedy is it’s the result of those in an ivory tower who demand respect by wearing black robes, making them appear as if they are pious preachers, but alas, they are only humans who make grave mistakes in logic and judgement. Just today, I read that Justice Thomas admitted to taking $400,000 in “gifts” that he didn’t declare. How can the America public possibly believe that one of the country’s most important institutions is not for sale?

We’re told that laws are based on facts and traditions to attain and maintain justice for all, but now we have racism out of the closet and in the streets and legislatures. You cannot rewrite every state law involving gerrymandering and voting schemes to give one party more power and advantage. And your observation that we’ve come along far enough to not need voter protections for people of color in this country is naïve and incorrect. Between declaring a corporation is a person and your decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that ended women’s rights to decide their own medical care, your legacy is in tatters.

You and the other justices have little respect for what came before, and it’s clear that Justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett lied during their confirmation hearings about Roe vs. Wade. That should disturb you greatly. Your court’s removal of a law that was on the books for more than fifty years was a dismal miscalculation that has sullied the institution FOREVER.

Our Supreme Court has divided us more than we were before these decisions. Taking away rights from minorities, women and the disadvantaged is not what your legislative body is supposed to do. You might want to spend some time with African Americans who cannot find a job.

I hope you read this, but if not, it’s simply proof of how your isolation has warped your judgement to the detriment of this great land. Chief Justice Roberts, corporations are not people, the Second Amendment doesn’t give anyone the right to kill school children, and it’s well past time the Supreme Court starts seeing the world through the eyes of common men and women.

How about the courtesy of a response to this taxpayer?

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Tattoo Detective: Our Last Hope for the Future

WRONG WORDS, WRONG TIME

The price we pay for freedom

You know, people say stupid things. It happens frequently. Many folks on social media are ready to attack those who tweet, text or talk Second Amendment smack after a mass shooting, and so today’s coverage begins.

Late last year, Tennessee Representative Andy Ogles sent out a holiday card with his entire family holding guns. The caption read, “The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference — they deserve a place of honor with all that’s good.” When asked about that photo in light of three kids and three adults being gunned down in a school in his city, he refused to apologize for his tasteless holiday P.R. Why? Perhaps he fears an expression of sorrow and grief would expose him to be less than the manly man he conjures for his brand and image.

Oh, Ogles did say he was, “devastated by the tragedy,” but like 99% of the Republicans in office, he will do absolutely nothing to protect the rights of “life, liberty and happiness” of the very people he represents, but he’s only one of many misguided guys who believe a gun is part of the “American dream.”

Another trope that rolls out of the mouths of the protectors of the amendment they like is a notion that mass shootings demonstrate that “freedom is not free,” and when people die at the hands of a lunatic it’s simply “the cost of freedom.” I find myself screaming that sounds exactly like a notorious domestic terrorist, Timothy McVie, who was put to death by the state.

On April 19, 1995, Timothy McVie planted a bomb at the Oklahoma City Federal Building and killed more than 168 people, including nineteen children. When asked about the kids lost in his retribution for the Waco siege two years before, McVie uttered the immortal line, “They were just collateral damage.” Now, we have far-right members of Congress blaming the Nashville shooting on transexual procedures and illicit drugs, ignoring the real problem. The alleged shooter was being treated for a mental disorder.

There was no law in Oklahoma that prevented anyone from buying enormous amounts of the fertilizer McVie needed for his bomb, and obviously there are no red flag laws in Tennessee that would have prevented the shooter from legally buying seven guns. Audrey Hale’s parents didn’t think she should own guns, but she was a 28-year-old adult who could own as many guns as she wanted.

Tim Burchett, another braindead Congressman from Tennessee, declared, “We’re not gonna fix school shootings.” He even went so far to say that he doesn’t think the government has a role to play in stopping mass shootings. This guy, along with Andy Ogles, should be thrown out of Congress. If they cannot even believe a solution is feasible then they are part of THE PROBLEM.

Intellectually, I don’t care if you own one or four hundred guns, but if the purpose of your weaponry is casting fear over the neighborhood, you are misguided. If your reason for ownership is sport and hunting, I must ask what happened to using a rifle to bring down a deer or bird? Why would you destroy the very meat that is the object of your quest? Most police departments don’t have the firepower of their local gun clubs but, when protecting blue lives, pro-gun fans never seem to remember that cops are often outgunned by those with the automatic weaponry that Democrats want to ban.

Maybe I am naïve about the protection aspect of having weapons in the home. I get that you want to protect your family, but protect them from what? If an average gun lunatic wanted to off your whole family, all they would need is a loaded AR-15 and you would be helpless with your little 9mm handgun. It’s just a teddy bear for a nervous person, bringing comfort but no real protection.

Another aspect of our ongoing struggle with the plague of lunatic shooters is this concept of congratulating the police on how fast they responded. That’s all well and good, but in the end it’s not the quick response to the 911 call but the lack of concern about mental health challenges, red flags laws and dismal gun ownership record keeping. We truly have no idea about who owns guns and how many. Maybe we just don’t care.

A workable system would be national gun registration and a database entry required for weapon merchants and accessible by law enforcement. We need to keep an eye on those who buy “too many” guns or “too much” ammunition and messages posted on social media presenting clues to a crazy person’s intent. Yell to the ACLU all you like, but the print clearly states, “a well-regulated militia.”

Let me get real here. When dishonest politicians, TV talking heads and far-right scum on the internet claim the ravaged, dead bodies of nine-year-old children is just “collateral damage” or the “price of freedom,” I want to screech, “If you cannot do something to protect our children and make America better then SHUT UP!”

I don’t care if you are a Republican or Democrat, if you don’t do something about this crisis you will go to hell. According to Axios, “At least 57 people have died in 38 mass shootings in the US this month alone, with another 133 injured.” With seven hundred people taken from the earth each year by senseless mass shootings, we must address it. We first must admit it happened, then agree it’s a scourge and decide what we will do to prevent it. If not, we are not much more advanced than Neanderthals, who didn’t have guns.

Security at every door, metal detectors, teachers with guns, students with guns, more resource officers, more weapons, more religious resistance to a Second Amendment update will only kill more. We are at the tipping point and maybe it’s too late. It’s certainly too late for the 57 people who were taken from us this month by firepower, but it’s not too late to take back some guns, limit who can own them and convince America that inaction by those in power is careless, reckless and intentional disregard. In a court of law that’s called “negligence.”

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Tattoo Detective: Our Last Hope for the Future

BANNING BOOKS NEVER WORKS

Why would “educators” ever support censorship?

Do you remember the phrase “Banned in Boston?” Why wouldn’t the city first settled by the Puritans be nervous about art, literature and language which surely could corrupt America? When the Catholics arrived there from Ireland, things were just as bad. The idea that the Pope in the Vatican could control the viewpoint of people in America, even plagued John F. Kennedy’s run for President.

The phrase “banned in Boston” was used to describe a literary work, song, motion picture or play which had been prohibited from distribution or exhibition in Boston, Massachusetts. City officials had wide authority to forbid works they claimed presented “objectionable” content or sexual language. They even outlawed the $5 bill of the 1896 “Educational” series of banknotes that featured partially nude allegorical figures. Now here’s a funny twist. Things banned in Boston were available as something special everywhere else. When it’s banned, people want to see it.

A news story hit last week saying the McMinn County School Board in Tennessee had banned books, some of them written by Pulitzer Prize winners, I immediately thought about Germany in the 1930s and Russia in the 1950s barring books telling a truth that differed from that of the people in power. Right after they banned the books in Germany, they started to round up the Jews and put them on trains.

I know some moderates will probably say I am overreacting, but my pointed concern is we are facing a conflict of reality right at our doorstep. The right-wing nutjobs keep telling us that the lefties and socialists are coming to take America away, but it’s clearly the opposite.

I was concerned when I learned that Michael Flynn, disgraced former general, convicted felon and Trump pardon beneficiary, moved into the next town over from mine. Now it seems that Michael and his equally poisoned brother are opening a storefront to mobilize locals to keep Donald Trump’s Big-Lie alive. As CNN reported, “The Army is now acknowledging that Lt. Gen. Charles Flynn, the brother of President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn, was in the room for one of the key January 6 phone calls in which D.C. government and US Capitol Police were asking for National Guard troops to quell the unfolding violence at the US Capitol.” I’m not at all sure why the guy should have even been there but, clearly, it reeks the same odor that flowed from the Nazi party in the 1930s.

There are some real emotional topics driving the far-right propaganda. First, they have this idea that Democrats are not capitalists, which is a lie. Socialism might be their devil to defeat, but they simply don’t understand how America works. Then they have this thing about Black people gaining too much power and “taking things over.” Okay, but I have yet to meet a single person from the right who can tell me what critical race theory is, let alone explain why the basic truths of America’s past would be bad for anyone to know.

CRT isn’t taught in 98% of the universities and colleges in America, and it’s certainly not comprehensible for any kid without a college degree. That’s why it’s not taught in public or private schools. I’ll sum up CRT in one sentence. The United States of America, either knowingly or unknowingly passed laws that held African Americans back. To this very day we have a bundle of barricades weighing against Black voters, starting with the Jim Crow laws, such as IQ tests for voting, fees for voting and reducing the number of polling locations. Then there’s gerrymandering, reducing the power of Black communities. Finally, we are passing laws that prevent the teaching of certain subjects in American history. We have a problem.

When a Tennessee school board voted unanimously to ban the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Maus, which details the horrors of the Holocaust, the white school board majorities included those of the Jewish faith in this whitewashing of history. In their quest to remove intellectual pain and concern from teaching, they are going to guarantee we raise dumb kids who will believe there is no racism, cops are always right and the federal government is evil. Since we already have a fundamental problem, just imagine how this could expand in the next couple of decades. We teach the Civil War in our schools so please explain why we should not teach about what Germany did to the Jews in World War II?

Probably more than six million people of the Jewish faith were murdered by the Nazis and there were more than six hundred thousand Americans killed during the Civil War. Both of those death tolls are greater than those of the Covid crisis. If you want kids to understand the value of life you must show them, sometimes graphically, how fast life can be taken away. If you want our next generation to think we’ve cured all the ills, then the question of how we did so will be raised. Someday our kids will rip off the wallpaper to see what you’ve been hiding from them on the surface beneath.

Sure, take Maus off the shelves, but now there will be lots of people who get the book and share it with their kids. If something is banned in Tennessee, many smart kids will find the work, read it and get smarter. You just gave the subject matter of the Holocaust a special place with those goth-oriented intellectuals living right under your nose. Are you going to ban smart kids from your schools, or better, take those kids you want to protect and put them in private schools where they will learn that the rich run the world?

BTW, the big headline in Slate.com proves it: Sales of Maus Soar After a Tennessee School Board Banned the Book.

Our society is doomed if we are going to stop teaching certain subjects just because, well, they’re not important, anymore. Imagine a time when totally unqualified people who buy into the Pollyanna propaganda step up to teach children Big Lies. Boy, that would be terrible.

Not everyone in Tennessee is stupid. Al Gore hails from that state and he received a great education on climate change. So, should we strike that subject from our curricula and not give a damn about what we leave for our kids?

Banning books is bad but it’s even worse when people get away with that shit. Someone must stop them.

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How to Hire Great People: Tips, Tricks and Templates for Success

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WORKING THEIR WAY TO THE TOP

Oath Keepers leader arrested: seditious conspiracy

We now have abundant evidence the Department of Justice has decided that the January 6^th attack on the capital was more than “just a protest.” Someone could get twenty years in prison for planning, ordering and being involved in a grand conspiracy to overthrow the US government.

According to CNN, “The Justice Department has charged eleven defendants with seditious conspiracy related to the Capitol attack on January 6, 2021, including the leader of the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes. The new indictment, handed down by a grand jury on Wednesday (1-12-22) and made public Thursday, alleges that Rhodes and his co-conspirators engaged in a conspiracy to ‘oppose the lawful transfer of presidential power by force, by preventing, hindering, or delaying by force execution of laws governing the transfer of power.’”

So, let the games begin. In plain terms, sedition occurs when one conducts or incites people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch. The definition is more detailed in US law, “If two or more persons in any State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.”

If we were living in a different era and time, the punishment could have been death by firing squad. However, the arrest of Mr. Rhodes and the other ten indictments should serve as a warning shot across the bow of the USS Big Lie. While former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Minority Leader Keven McCarthy are playing footsy with the House Committee investigating the January 6^th Insurrection, they might want to rethink their witness tampering and non-cooperation. If there was communication between them and any of these conspirators, they, too, could be charged with a major crime: seditious conspiracy. If they are waiting for the slow courts to help them avoid telling the truth to Congress, things will start moving much faster if they are arrested for sedition.

Rhodes was not in Washington on the day of the Capitol attack, he was in his command post in Virginia, but his communications, now in the hands of prosecutors, will speak to his involvement, influence and criminal acts. Most likely, Rhodes, much like his hero Donald Trump, has a great desire to attain martyr status and will not cop a plea. He’s proud that he was able to do what he did on January 6^th and there will be no mea culpa. Trump might want to check and see if he, or any of his underlings made contact with Rhodes from December 11, 2020 to January 7^th, 2021. This investigation is far from over and all of them could be scooped up.

I hope everyone involved in this travesty gets arrested and given the well-earned punishment they deserve. No one on the side of democracy will be satisfied until we learn how the confluence of Trump’s rhetoric, actions, inactions, and lack of responsible leadership let to this mess.

I would like to see the trial of Stewart Rhodes take place now. And if you were wondering what they did, here’s a quick recap:

Manner and Means

The conspirators carried out the conspiracy through the following manner and means, among others:

Preparing for and coordinating travel to Washington, D.C., to use force to stop the lawful transfer of presidential power;

Organizing into teams that were prepared and willing to use force and to transport firearms and ammunition into Washington, D.C.;

Recruiting members and affiliates to participate in the conspiracy;

Organizing trainings to teach and learn paramilitary combat tactics;

Bringing and contributing firearms, ammunition, and related equipment to the QRF* staging areas outside Washington, D.C.;

Bringing and contributing paramilitary gear, weapons, and supplies-including knives, batons, camouflaged combat uniforms, tactical vests with plates, helmets, eye protection, and radio equipment-to the Capitol grounds;

Breaching and attempting to take control of the Capitol grounds and building on January 6, 2021, in an effort to prevent, hinder, and delay the Certification of the Electoral College vote;

Using force against law enforcement officers while inside the Capitol on January 6, 2021;

Continuing to plot, after January 6, 2021, to oppose by force the lawful transfer of presidential power; and

Using websites, social media, text messaging, and encrypted messaging applications to communicate with co-conspirators and others.

*Quick Response Force

I didn’t make this up and judging by all the gear they had brought to the insurrection, and planned to use during the after math, this was surely a pre-meditated, planned and perpatrated crime.

Should you be up for some pleasure reading, here is a copy of the entire 48-page indictment:

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Anyone who reads the document and still defends these disillusioned, low-life traitors should be spanked so hard they cry out for their mommies.

Among many other things, January 6^th is a total embarrassment. Should it be found that our former President was responsible for inciting events that tragic day, he must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.

Book for the Recovery – Build Back Better!

How to Hire Great People: Tips, Tricks and Templates for Success

New Modern Art – Doodles and Cartoon Website

Another book you have to read:

We knew that the great divide in America would have a major effect on the presidential election in the year 2020, but something else was lurking that we didn’t anticipate. The world suffered a global pandemic of Covid-19, and everything changed. The lockdown motivated one author to write MASHED POTATOES: Covid, Cancer & Comfort Food. The cover ironically claims the book is a “humorous” recollection of 2020, but one might ask, “Where was the humor?” This is a work of survival to motivate those who desire to get beyond Covid-19, beat cancer and defend our precious Democracy. Get it here.

THE CULTURE OF CONTEMPT

Repetition Makes Lies Sound True

I am sick and tired of people on TV, in print and in videos telling me how divided we are. The line is, “After all is said and done…” oh, who are you trying to kid? It’s never all said and the B.S. is never done. So, let’s talk about our culture of contempt and see if you agree of disagree that we can or cannot agree.

I’ll start with common values. What are those? Did we never have them or are we so lame and stupid we cannot comprehend what they could possibly be? Okay, that is a contemptible statement, but even if true it’s still a way to show contempt. Not in the contempt of court sense, but more the everyday variety of contempt for a person. The definition of contempt is clear: the feeling that a person or a thing is beneath consideration, worthless, or deserving scorn. Why is scorn such a major part of life these days?

Consider this phrase from a famous document, “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” We know that human life can be detected by a pulse. Liberty is pretty much whatever floats our boat. Conflict happens when my neighbor is happy firing guns in his backyard at 11PM while this guy next door wants to get a good night’s sleep. Sleep isn’t the only thing on my happiness list.

I don’t like certain people who become powerful, run for political office, get elected and then tell me what should make me happy. Should I disagree, then I am accused of being a bad person. When I try to find shared values to keep open communication between us, I am told there are none. Okay, that’s a hell of a place to start.

I hear people say they would like things to go back to the way they were, but when exactly was that, the 1950s, 60s, 70s, or pre-Civil War? If you’re going to say “things used to be so much better when….” please fill in the blank. A democracy never stays the same, and it certainly cannot go back to the days where the government allowed factories to dump poisons in our rivers, endorsed cigarette smoking and persecuted Gays and African Americans, because, well, that’s the way we did things back then.

While the far-right lunatics are acting like spoiled children at board of education meetings across the country, not one of them can explain exactly what Critical Race Theory is. It’s like the child needing to have the light on because of the boogieman in the closet. When you cannot convince the child nothing’s there, you compromise and leave the light on. You might shut up the racist parent by promising not to teach C.R.T., but then you’re perpetrating the myth that our founder fathers looked the other way about slavery because they were “good guys.”

A major story in the Washington Post today lays out the truth. “More than 1,700 congressmen once enslaved Black people.” It’s too late to ignore the truth and for those who shudder when they hear the term “white privilege” or “Black Lives Matter,” I have one question. Have we gone too far? As much as you might hate the term “defund the police,” it inspired many communities to investigate their expenditures. In the small town of Fort Wayne, Indiana, a taxpayer might ask, “Do we really need a tank?” but that is only one question in a sea of disagreements in America. Black people get shot by cops more than white people, but research clearly shows that Black communities say they need cops.

Media spends much time drumming on about January 6^th and Donald Trump. I’m not saying he doesn’t deserve it, but it’s keeping us from moving on. Had Congress convicted him during one of his two impeachment hearings, then voted he may never hold office again, the Republican party may have been motivated to clean up its act. However, that would not have changed anything regarding progress. Between two self-serving Democrats and the entire Republican party there is no desire to talk about common values. This is where we must start.

I would think clean water is a common value. I live in Florida and I won’t drink the water here. I recycle tons of plastic bottles every month because the water from the county is unsafe for drinking and cooking. Why aren’t those screaming lunatics at the school board meetings attending the public hearings on water? When fracking was being done in rural areas one could light tap water on fire. In cities like Flint, Michigan, children acquired mental health issues from drinking water the government said was safe. The governor of Michigan got away with harming kids in his state.

The culture of contempt is everywhere. A public servant who doesn’t testify before Congress, especially one who took a large paycheck bankrolled by us taxpayers, should be thrown in jail. It shouldn’t be done through a long court case where they get to spread lies to the public and not undergo an oath to force truthfulness. I have no respect when the presidential pardon is used for political purposes and I have no idea how to change it. My contempt for those who shun the law, get off scot-free and then make things worse is palpable.

When the lopsided media and social media constantly repeat that something is confusing, or that somehow January 6^th wasn’t an insurrection, in many small minds that blather becomes the truth. And when misguided souls act on the that false news and repeated lies, what should we do? We can’t arrest everyone to set minds straight, but when our system arrests more than 700 people it’s working backwards. What we should be doing is finding the people who have promoted this contempt and make them admit publicly, over and over, that they were wrong. Make them become the focus point for the rath of their own mob. Boy, that would make great TV!

Ours is not a culture of contempt, it’s just a few assholes with too much power who lie and cheat and steal. Unlike Arab lands where one loses a hand when they steal, or a tongue when they lie, we are a civil land but slow to justice. I can see why so many people are lost in their own misconceptions. We need to bring forth change, and a good starting point would be teaching our kids a truthful history and not sugar coat those who have committed sins. God was always fast on the draw when it came to retribution, well, at least in the Old Testament. As for those of you who want to go back to the old days, be careful about what you ask. Those weren’t all good times.

Book for the Recovery – Build Back Better!

How to Hire Great People: Tips, Tricks and Templates for Success

New Modern Art – Doodles and Cartoon Website

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CONGRESS IS THE REAL PROBLEM

Reading is mandatory — logic, not so much

If you thought that just because an individual is elected to Congress, they have a certain level of intelligence, you would be incredibly incorrect. It has become vividly clear that anyone who has enough money, an intriguing rap, the gift of gab or a reasonably lackluster competitor can get elected.

I’ve never looked at popularity polls to determine how well a given Congressperson was doing, but there does come a time when it becomes necessary to judge the work of an elected representative. Unfortunately, we have to wait way too long to do something about electing the wrong person. Thus, the name of this very blog. Yes, we can vote every two years on Representatives and every six years on Senators, but that’s not fast enough in today’s sped-up reality and news cycles. Six years is a wait much too long for undoing a bad Senator.

Recent polling is not good for Congress. Last month, a Gallup Organization survey found that only 28% of those researched approved of the job the House and Senate are doing, while 69% disapproved. And I might add that 3% had no opinion. Who are those people?

2001 set the highest mark in the ongoing Gallup polls. That’s when Congress was voting to go to war in Afghanistan and invade Iraq due to trumped up lies about weapons of mass destruction. This underscores the reality that even when we like them, Congress is often doing the wrong things for the right reasons.

And that brings us to the politics of it all. No member of Congress wants the United States government to default. Any member who does should be arrested and charged with treason, but there’s a word that has lost its power and seriousness. When the former president was told that that some of his allies and administration officials had broken the law, he simply pardoned them. There are members of Congress who think investigating the insurrection of January 6^th is bad for America. Truth is, Republicans fear becoming tarnished should the public come to fully understand their involvement in Donald Trump’s effort to “Stop the Steal.” Really?

Congressional grifters use information gained from subcommittees and intelligence briefings to shape their investments and give themselves an advantage in preserving and increasing their wealth. Sure, they add rules and polices to help their tribe along the way, but they have never passed legislation that makes it hard or impossible for them to profit from their positions in Congress. If they were serious about making America better, they would pass potent regulations about financial disclosure, term-limits and the amount of political campaign contributions they can personally use. The true reason Donald Trump hasn’t declared his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election is to avoid disclosure of the cash in his campaign coffers. He’s a grifter.

When a member of a party, especially a leader or whip, tells his or her caucus how they are going to vote on a bill before it’s even debated, they are no better than the political bosses of the 1940s and 1950s who manipulated their members and thwarted any discussion on the merits of proposed legislation. Have we really grown from there?

Making law requires intense labor and demands tons of reading. When I was working with a local Little League group in Atlanta years ago, I volunteered to revise and publish the rules of the games. What a mistake! First of all, there were different rules for each level of play and all the rules had to be in-sync with the national rules from headquarters in Williamsport, PA. That project ended up as four packets of fifty pages each.

Well, imagine having to go through 1,500 pages over a weekend. That would be like reading three 500-page books. It’s most likely that the average Congressperson never reads an entire budget bill. They direct their staffs to find the things they ardently object too, or the things that are really good for them. The underlying words and meanings no longer have objective analysis until laws are passed. And this playing with the economic status of the country you claim to love just to shit on the other guy’s party, how many US citizens approve of that?

The demonizing of Joe Biden will happen no matter what he does or says. The media seems to like kickin’ old Joe to the ground right now. Sure, his numbers are down but anyone who says the economy is bad is ignoring three major realities.

First, under Donald Trump, Congress passed a major tax cut by restricting the ways corporations house their money. The corporate tax rate was changed from a tiered tax rate ranging from 15% to as high as 39%, depending on taxable income, to a flat 21%. At the same time, some related business deductions and credits were reduced or eliminated. Yes, stocks soared, and corporations bought back stock, but the disparity between the wealthy 1% and the rest of us grew. Yay, score another one for the rich people!

Second, Trump blew the federal response to Covid-19. It was his “Katrina,” only on a national level. His advisers can take some of the blame, but the more he told us it was nothing, more and more of us realized it was truly something, and that something was really, really bad. You can’t go to a restaurant that is closed, and a restaurant without enough employees provides an unpleasant experience. Just like Obama inherited the financial crisis, Biden was handed the challenge of righting a post-coronavirus tanked economy. Sadly, far-right saboteurs think fighting against the vaccine is good for their political gains even while their opinions are killing us.

Third, forced errors like the Afghanistan evacuation, the rising conflict at the southern border and our selling submarines to Australia are front and center. We need to remember that Trump pulled out of northern Syria and 130,000 Kurds, our allies in the fight against ISIS, were forced to flee their homes and hundreds of them were killed. Trump wanted to invite the Talban to negotiate a peace treaty, but he excluded the legit government of Afghanistan. Why were we so surprised when the Taliban took over?

While all the pontificators and pundits are overanalyzing the “Biden Doctrine,” it might make more sense to keep the government open and pay our bills. Why are we tolerating Republican actions to make America weak? It’s just a budget bill, and not any different than Trump shutting down the government because he thought it would hurt the Democrats. He even called it the “Schumer Shutdown.” Let’s see, how did that work out for him? Oh yeah, he’s not the president anymore.

Let’s focus on just one fact. Joe Biden’s approval rating is 43% while that of Congress is 28%. Who is the fairest in the land?

BRAND NEW BOOK

Book for the Recovery – Build Back Better!

How to Hire Great People: Tips, Tricks and Templates for Success