Month: July 2019

RENOUNCE THE DEVIL NOW

When Does America Unite Against Hate?

The headline is always the same and the faux concern by the bubbled-headed blonde on TV is well-rehearsed. We can brag about how “great America is again,” but the people who make the laws are complicit. And I am going to say it as clearly as I can, DONALD TRUMP IS STOKING HATE. 80% of everything President Trump says or tweets is negative and some of it is downright hateful. The cable TV news networks spent hours over the last weekend attempting to either determine what is racist or defending racism. By the time we got to Sunday, it happened again. A lunatic with a gun acted on his hate.

A 6-year-old boy, a 13-year-old girl and a man in his 20s were killed at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in California when a gunman opened fire with an assault-type rifle. And as part of our tradition, we learned the weapon was an AK-47-style rifle that was purchased legally by the gunman in Nevada. Move on, nothing to see here. It’s all legal.

CNN identified the 19-year-old suspect as Santino William Legan. Oh yeah, the alleged gunman also injured at least 12 others before he was fatally shot by three officers who responded within a minute of the gunfire’s beginning. And despite the locals’ bragging about the quick response time, people died. The alleged gunman cut through the fence in order to avoid security and start his rampage.

We also have the recent ritual of “what we’ve learned about the shooter.” His Instagram posts contained a picture of people at the festival and a mention of a white supremacist book. Oh great, now we understand that he just hates people and wanted to kill them. What the fuck kind of country are we that we can’t open our eyes to the problem here?

As long as Donald Trump is president, things are going to get worse. We know the KKK endorses Trump. David Duke, the former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard, said it was ridiculous to condemn Trump. “If he disavows me fine. Let him do whatever he thinks he needs to do to become president of the United States.” In other words, the end justifies the means. The terrorist in New Zealand who killed 51 people at a mosque said that he supports US President Donald Trump as “a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose.” And I keep hearing people on TV comparing Donald Trump to Southern presidential wannabe George Wallace, a known racist and Klan supporter from our dark past. It’s 2019 and that’s not a giant red light?

When Trump was running for President, Republican Congressman Pete King told The Daily Beast in a statement, “Donald Trump’s refusal to denounce and disavow support from KKK supporter David Duke and white supremacist organizations is indefensible and disgraceful.” But now that Trump has turned up the racism with vile attacks on people of color, where are those Republican leaders? Where are the so-called Christian icons in America? They too have blood on their hands.

When will we as a people unite and fight hate? The greenlight that Trump has given the fringe radicals, racists and neo-Nazis is real. Consider yourself crazy if you ever expect Trump to admit that this is part of his plan. He spent too many nights reading Hitler’s speeches not to have a little of that good old white nationalism rub off on him. Or perhaps Donald Trump is simply too stupid to comprehend how his words promote the hate into the shootings that are taking place.

Trump’s sick calculation is thinking he can divide black against white, urban against rural, devout against agnostic and rich against poor. He believes the disgruntled people on both sides will propel him to a win in 2020. His political intimidation within his own party has poisoned the Congress, the Supreme Court and the Justice Department. He has convinced many people that he’s the winner so they will stick with him. His wrath has brought several prominent politicians to their knees, while others just walked away from Trump’s stupid game of political in-fighting.

Here’s a simple test. Ask each of those maniacs who took a gun against innocent people if they were influenced at all by Donald Trump. Let’s uncover the motivations of those who do such dastardly things. Maybe someone could then bring a wrongful death suit against the perpetrator’s estate, claiming Donald Trump’s words as the impetus. It would be like going after the person who screams “fire” in a theatre when there is no fire. People are getting killed here, and someone is yelling negatives toward people of color in America. And we all know who he is.

Oh, you can be a loyal little soldier and claim that it’s ridiculous to blame Donald Trump, the person who looks to blame others in every situation he encounters. Sure, you can say that the other person is the problem, when the one person who is stirring up hate is the President of the United States. The KKK, white Nationalists and racists can take the day off, because the head cheerleader for their cause is the very President they adore. Trump just thinks that he’s getting away with another con job. I will always contend that Trump’s got a large hunk of hate in heart and should get a mega share of the blame for the steep increase of hate crimes in America. Eventually you will see I am right, once Trump leaves office and people begin to learn the truth. Hate begets hate.

If you are interested in seeing statistics on Hate Crimes from the Department of Justice, look here.

Impact of Trump on America

The book that tells it like it is…

Gold, God, Guns & Goofballs shows how we’ve wasted our GOLD on bad wars and corruption. While GOD is there for many people as a spiritual enrichment and the provider of glowing feelings, the truth is just praying and believing will not change our major arc. We don’t determine who gets a GUN. We aren’t sure if we have paramilitary groups ready to storm the White House or a White Castle. There is no control of weapons. The GOOFBALLS with the power constantly try to manipulate us into spending more money on bombs and tanks and wars. When all of our institutions are infected with neglect and fall in disrepair, we will only have ourselves to blame. This book is not an antidote for the left or right, it’s an accelerant to move the middle off their collective asses to go do something positive for America.

Get the Kindle Version HERE. Or order your paperback edition HERE.


A MODERATE PROGRESSIVE

The Real Way to Beat Trump

We are going to be riding a roller coaster for the next year and a half and it’s going to be turbulent. Politics might be a blood sport, and some say each party eats its young, but the distance between winning a primary and a mandate to lead are damn far apart. The ruthless sports tactic of taking out one player, even if it means your disqualification, has hurt America from its inception.

One might say that the only time we were united as a nation happened when we broke away from Britain. But even then, there were doubters and conspiracies. Look to Aaron Burr, a former US Vice President, who was arrested in Alabama on charges of plotting to annex Spanish territory in Louisiana and Mexico. He was going to set up an independent republic and, oh yeah, in 1804 he killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel and got away with it. Richard Burr, who sits in Congress today, is a 12th cousin of Aaron Burr, proving that treason is not transferrable in a democracy.

This brings us to the current Democrat slate of those who want to be President. One could say that Donald Trump, with his populace bombast, has made everyone believe anyone could be president. And some believe just about anyone would do a better job than the present occupant at the White House.

The title of this piece might sound oxymoronic, but I mean it as “a thing.” There will be many words that Trump will cart out along with childish names to denigrate those running against him. His obsession with “socialism” is strange. No reasonable person in America will turn their back on capitalism. We have socialistic programs, but the common man doesn’t know what socialism is. And despite how oxymoronic it sounds, the average American voter has no idea what he or she doesn’t want.

We all want things to get better, and the base meaning of progression means that ideas and systems move forward, and those who make progress happen are progressives. When change occurs too fast or is perpetrated on the masses without a clear explanation of why it’s good for them, it’s easily attacked. In 2020, Trump will make a pitch that nothing should change. He will attack the demonic democrats as creatures from a murky place of socialism and will probably even use the word “communism,” which at this point has no street value. Trump will be talking to older, rich white people and white nationalists.

Joe Biden represents a difficult challenge for Democrats who think that every force from Trump must be met with an equal amount of energy pushing against him. The danger is younger, more vigorous souls want to push twice as hard in the opposite direction, making them look like leftists. That can create an opportunity for Trump to sell against their “radical” viewpoints and “extreme” changes that will be “too risky” as the economy is doing so well. Someone who believes they can modernize their approach without selling out what they’ve stood for over the years just might be the person needed to get rid of the orange Putin puppet in the White House.

Hillary Clinton didn’t win the 2016 election because of the massive number of swing voters and on-the-fence Republicans who didn’t trust her. Oh, we can thank the Russians for most of that, but she has been demonized from her days as first lady. People of his generation will be okay with Joe Biden, but the younger Bernie Sandersettes will need a progressive in the VP slot. So, there’s a way to balance the ticket. It’s a good reason for Ms. Harris and Ms. Warren to be protected in the long race to the ticket.

After a few hours of productive drinking, a voter from South Carolina pontificated about how “you democrats” can beat Trump. He declared what the party needed was a “WHITE MAN” to run against the Donald. At first I was aghast at his chauvinism, but I got it after some thought. Here was guy who voted for Trump but now has doubts about whether he’s a good idea for the next four years. He’s unabashedly saying that people in his state don’t believe a woman can make a good president. Wow, gender is still a thing. But then, I did see Confederate flags in many of his neighbors’ front yards. Have we progressed as a nation?

The prescription for beating Donald Trump is simple. First, keep investigating him and surely some deep dark secrets from his past will surface. Keep monitoring all he does currently and magnify anything he does improperly. Pass a law to make every candidate disclose their tax returns and examine Trump’s carefully. He must be seen for what he is, a grifter politician with no care for the common man.

Next, find a strong candidate with instant brand recognition. It’s okay if the person is a salt-of-the-earth moderate. Mix that person with a feisty hard-working progressive VP who can be the attack dog against the sellout swamp dweller, Donald Trump. Keep your eye on the prize and bring the party together under one message and one creed, like Obama did back in 2008. Moderate progressives with positive messaging are what America needs.

And to all those rich Democratic donors, please do give your money to your favorite candidate, but hand America a big favor sometime around June 1, 2020 by pulling all your money out of the stock market. Donald Trump will melt into a puddle like a wicked witch. Don’t worry, you’ll be withdrawing the money at a high and you can always pour it back into the market after the election. That will make all the rich 1% Republicans feel good about electing a Democrat. Hey, it’s cheaper than lubricating Super PACs and wasting your money on idealistic baby candidates who are clearly not at all ready for prime time.

Impact of Trump on America

The book that tells it like it is…

Gold, God, Guns & Goofballs shows how we’ve wasted our GOLD on bad wars and corruption. While GOD is there for many people as a spiritual enrichment and the provider of glowing feelings, the truth is just praying and believing will not change our major arc. We don’t determine who gets a GUN. We aren’t sure if we have paramilitary groups ready to storm the White House or a White Castle. There is no control of weapons. The GOOFBALLS with the power constantly try to manipulate us into spending more money on bombs and tanks and wars. When all of our institutions are infected with neglect and fall in disrepair, we will only have ourselves to blame. This book is not an antidote for the left or right, it’s an accelerant to move the middle off their collective asses to go do something positive for America.

Get the Kindle Version HERE. Or order your paperback edition HERE.


MUELLER, MUELLER, MUELLER

The Origin of the Presidential Probe

In the end, we often want to know about the beginning. In the beginning, it was apparent that lies and misdirects caused more suspicion than confidence. Donald J. Trump will survive the seven hours of Robert S. Mueller’s testimony, after all the S stands for Swan.

The most important point yesterday (7-24-19) in the two Mueller hearings was the sobering reality of Russian interference in our electoral process. Maybe it began when our Supreme Court decided the Citizen’s United case. It was brought by a political non-profit group, Citizens United against the Federal Election Commission, which claimed that the law preventing corporations and unions from using their general treasury funds for independent political advertising violated the First Amendment’s guarantee of Freedom of Speech. The disposition of the case was narrowly decided. It eliminated the law and paved the way for massive amounts of corporate money to flow into the political election process. As we know, money corrupts and lots of money corrupts absolutely.

Without the Citizen’s United case, would the money paid to a porn star and Playboy bunny be less of a distraction and more of a campaign violation for Trump? His co-conspirator in this secretive payment is in jail. Why was Trump not charged? And on the question of Russian interference, if the case went to the Supreme Court, would they declare that Russians were just another “corporation” with a right to freedom of speech?

There is a need for checks and balances in our democracy, and the questioning of Special Counsel Robert Mueller was an example of how we do things out in the open. But what’s next? Did the Mueller hearings make a difference or change any minds?

The first thing Congress should do is pass a resolution that a candidate for any office in America should not be allowed to get information, help or money from a foreign government to aid their campaigns.

Of course, Trump would probably veto such an act, and without a majority in Congress, this President holds that power. If we have a representative government, why is one person able to determine the fate of a proposed law? It’s a system flaw that we normally live with, but under Trump it’s a burden.

Donald Trump seems to find conspiracy swirling around his life. He believes he knows the origin of everything, but some of his theories are senseless. To believe that the clean air movement was started by China to give them an advantage in business is thoughtless dribble. If that is true, why would China be the number one manufacturer of solar panels? More importantly, why wouldn’t the leader of the free world be pressing the USA to become the leader in solar panels? America First? Well not when it comes to the environment or sustainable energy. Trump is a loser.

Our President thinks that the “Russia thing” began as a personally driven conspiracy against him. He believes that anyone not in tune with his thoughts and ideas is un-American. He visualizes all those Russian contacts as fictions of the Democrats to hurt him. Robert Mueller said that his work was not a “witch hunt” and that Russian interference was not a hoax, but that won’t stop Trump. We can all stand by and watch Trump give aid and comfort to Kim Jong-Un (murderer), Mohammad bin Salman  (murderer), and Vladimir Putin (murderer), or we can take a page from the book now being written by young, progressive Puerto Ricans. If you want someone to leave, surround the castle and loudly tell them so.

It seems that now the only prospect of removing Trump from office is a great candidate running against him. It would be best to beat Trump in an election so that Mike Pence will never have an opportunity to pardon the son of a bitch. You heard what Robert Mueller said, “Trump can be charged for the obstruction of justice once he is out of office.” And yes, Congress, it’s time to change the statue of limitations on obstruction to ten years, otherwise Trump will use his money, power and bullshit to escape justice.

Do I think Donald Trump conspired with the Russians? No, not because he wouldn’t do it, but just because the foolish assholes surrounding him are incapable of pulling off such an intricate plot. I do think Brad Pascale and Steve Bannon knew what was going on with the Russians buying tons of Facebook ads, but they just smiled and kept it to themselves. Allowing this all to unfold the way it did was horrible and un-American. Mueller’s team didn’t go far enough into the “who knew what and when did they know it,” but it’s over now.

And on the biggest question, Mueller was totally ineffective. The best mantra of any conspiracy investigation is, “Follow the money.” It carried us through Watergate, so why didn’t the Special Counsel’s office follow the money? What was really going on between the Trump Organization and the Russian building project? Has Donald Trump been in debt to the Russians for years? Could that be the origin of his attitudes and policies toward Putin and Russia? Why don’t we have the answers to these questions? Congress must pass a law that says ANYONE running for Federal office in this country must disclose their tax returns for the past five years.

Donald Trump’s actions and conspiracy of lies will increase the national debt by $1 trillion for each year he remains in office. He lied about the budget. He lied about the debt. He lied about the tax cut. He lied about his tax returns being under audit. He lied about his interactions with other countries. He’s a liar and will always be a liar. So, here we are America. We have a pathological liar as president, and there seems to be nothing we can do about it. Of course, we could just vote him out.

Impact of Trump on America

The book that tells it like it is…

Gold, God, Guns & Goofballs shows how we’ve wasted our GOLD on bad wars and corruption. While GOD is there for many people as a spiritual enrichment and the provider of glowing feelings, the truth is just praying and believing will not change our major arc. We don’t determine who gets a GUN. We aren’t sure if we have paramilitary groups ready to storm the White House or a White Castle. There is no control of weapons. The GOOFBALLS with the power constantly try to manipulate us into spending more money on bombs and tanks and wars. When all of our institutions are infected with neglect and fall in disrepair, we will only have ourselves to blame. This book is not an antidote for the left or right, it’s an accelerant to move the middle off their collective asses to go do something positive for America.

Get the Kindle Version HERE. Or order your paperback edition HERE.


LIARS, LOSERS & RACISTS

Trump’s Challenges in Washington

When I first visited the attraction Stone Mountain Park in Georgia, I was not only amazed at the massive carving of three Confederate heroes in the face of the largest exposed piece of granite in the world, but what I found at the visitor center disturbed me greatly. There were four restrooms on the right side of the building, two for men and two for women. A local explained that once two of the bathrooms were for WHITES ONLY and two for COLORED. In 1979, the restrooms were still there but the signs were gone. I learned there remained a deep-seated racism embedded in many people of the south.

It wasn’t unusual for some drunken fool at a party in Atlanta to tell a tasteless, degrading and racist joke right in front of African Americans serving the food. I was appalled, but had I objected in any way I would have been chided by a local saying I was just a northern Yankee who didn’t know better. I even had friends who claimed the south won the civil war, but to repair the nation their ancestors had worked with northerners to resolve the situation. I found their narrative of sacrifice most disturbing. They were rewriting history right in front of me.

I truly believe Donald Trump is now and always has been a racist. He likes to live in a rat pack world, where the only African Americans who fit in are those of fame or wealth. He has his “Sammy Davis, Jr. friends,” but deep down inside he carries the feelings of his father echoing that the only reason black Americans don’t do better is because they don’t work hard enough. Our president also holds a dark resentment for Hispanics with a special kind of hate for Mexicans, even though the Trump Organization hires undocumented Mexicans at their businesses.

The Trump administration will end food stamp benefits for three million people with regulations curtailing each state’s authority to enroll residents who receive welfare benefits. When Ronald Reagan did the same thing, it led to crack cocaine being sold on the corners of many metropolitan cities and deepened the divide between black and white in this country. Trump cares only about those people above a certain stratum. More painkillers? Sure, as long as it’s good for business.  

Considering Trump’s horrible policies, his quest to look important and his constant lying, one must ask how this man become President. I never have and never will vote for him.

While sitting with the prime minister of Pakistan in the Oval Office on 7-22-2019, Donald Trump told reporters that he was personally asked by India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, to mediate the Kashmir conflict with Pakistan. Modi’s Foreign Office quickly issued a statement that “no such request has been made.” Trump obviously doesn’t understand the implication of saying something that makes India look weak while sitting with Imran Khan of Pakistan. Trump is diplomatically dense and unaware that this border conflict has been going on since 1947 and it’s extremely sensitive to the Indian people. Well, cross India off the list of reliable allies. Trump just dumped on a friend.

It is clear by now that Trump has surrounded himself with real losers. In the beginning, reasonably intelligent people were assembled to fill the cabinet and advisory positions, however more than a hundred people have left the White House because of a perceived lack of their loyalty or direct confrontation on his policies,. Trump has slowly worked his way down to the bottom of the barrel, and those who remain would rather kiss his big fat ass rather than keep America safe. These scums don’t serve at the pleasure of the president, they serve at the insanity of this fake president.

There are some in Congress who silently harbor Trump’s racist viewpoints. These are not conservative viewpoints; they are hard-held beliefs that white males should rule. There is a baked-in fear of different cultures and colors, and those elected officials who carry this flag of bigoted cause and action are shameful. Charlottesville was only the beginning of what we now clearly see is white nationalism. This group is willing to bend or ignore the very meaning of racism to hold power. Imagine, Congressmen who publicly deny that saying “go back to where you came from” is not racist or xenophobic on the highest order. Did they really win the Civil War?

Trump seems to be vocally administering a loyal test. If you disagree with him or are critical of his policies, you are somehow less American. He’s even gone so far to question others’ love of this country. Who died and made him God? How can he determine what another man or woman has in their heart? Trump is part of an era when the large boot of discrimination was just business as usual. There no space between the terror that Joseph McCarthy employed in the 1950s hearings on un-American activities and what Trump is attempting to do today. If you use fear as a power to rule, then you are not a leader. You are a tyrant.

What finally stopped McCarthy was the realization that fear didn’t put bread on the table. Fear doesn’t make America great; it stymies our development as a free democracy. If Trump is so worried about how minorities will vote, why doesn’t he do something good for all the people? If he really cares about Christians, why doesn’t he stop lying? Why do I have to remind those of faith that “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor” is exactly what Trump is doing to the Congresswomen of color? Why does he divide us? He is following the Hitler playbook and the Congress is failing to call him out. Issuing a demand that people leave the country is what Hitler did before he ordered the trains.

We can only hope that the history books of the future show that President Donald Trump attempted to bring back the past and became a total failure of a president. We hope future generations will read that he was a liar and a loser. It will be good for them to learn how his racist policies and rhetoric became his downfall. If this doesn’t happen, then America will have lost the war.

Impact of Trump on America

The book that tells it like it is…

Gold, God, Guns & Goofballs shows how we’ve wasted our GOLD on bad wars and corruption. While GOD is there for many people as a spiritual enrichment and the provider of glowing feelings, the truth is just praying and believing will not change our major arc. We don’t determine who gets a GUN. We aren’t sure if we have paramilitary groups ready to storm the White House or a White Castle. There is no control of weapons. The GOOFBALLS with the power constantly try to manipulate us into spending more money on bombs and tanks and wars. When all of our institutions are infected with neglect and fall in disrepair, we will only have ourselves to blame. This book is not an antidote for the left or right, it’s an accelerant to move the middle off their collective asses to go do something positive for America.

Get the Kindle Version HERE. Or order your paperback edition HERE.

 

 

 

 


TRUMP’S MOB BOSSING

The Difference Between “Go” and “Send”

Watching TV news networks drives me crazy. It doesn’t matter which one, they all hyper-position and bias-bend their stories to fit whichever political vein they have decided to hit. Once they make the connection, they pump bile and venom into the blood supply of their victims, ah, I mean, audience. It’s a respect of journalism that drives my opinions.

I have been at major music events where the adoring fans became a roaring mob. They sometimes become so vocal and loud when singing along with the music that they drown out the vocalist. Even though the audience might have the wrong words, the artist will sometimes just pause and listen to the crowd. That is what Donald Trump did at the East Carolina University rally the other night as the audience chanted “Send Her Back!”

This wasn’t an isolated, impromptu mantra. It was based on a tweet that Trump posted last Sunday morning, you know, the day people go to church, “So interesting to see ‘Progressive’ Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run. Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how it is done. These places need your help badly, you can’t leave fast enough. I’m sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!”

Trump now feigns surprise that his mob got “out of control” and started to chant “Send Her Back!’ at the rally. Let’s not forget that Trump promoted the phrase, “Lock Her Up!” at his campaign rallies when running for President against Hillary Clinton. It’s senseless for people to shout that phrase at rallies. Deportation and incarceration are both rotten. I even heard one try to downplay the “send her back” chant by declaring that Hillary Clinton is not locked up, meaning we can ignore the mob but what about the mob leader?

The difference between “Go back” and “Send her back” is significant. As chief executive, the President of the United States has the power to deport anyone. By chanting the word “send,” was the rally crowd asking Trump for action? The constant, silly attempt to sound unbiased by the talking heads on TV gets me crazy. Their duty is to expose the lies of those in power. When they ask a member of Congress if they accept Trump’s claim that he didn’t like the chant, they are giving the Donald way too much credit. Seriously, if a reporter cannot see through that kind of smoke screen and call it out, maybe it’s time for a new job.

Once again, Trump attempted to soften his line-crossing with the most used tool in his kit, the outright lie. He’s lying when he says he didn’t like the chant. If you want to be as pedantic as the press and show that he waited 13 seconds before going on with his speech, you can live there. However, I choose to call it as I see it. The crowd was trying to please Daddy with the chant, and Daddy liked it.

Trump is a racist and uses tropes to gin up the deep racism within his fan base. There is a difference between systemic racism and subconscious racism. The former is what kept people of color out of Trump Organization housing in New York. The latter is seen in people who say they never trusted Obama but cannot articulate the reasons why. It happens every day and the closet racists have found a superhero in Trump. They are out in force now.

Trump can claim he can’t control the crowds who wait for hours in the hot sun to get good seats at his rallies. He can say that it’s a free country and his followers speak their minds because of their love for the First Amendment. In fact, the mob is created in Trump’s image. Look at this cartoon and see the things Trump has said at his rallies. Most notable, “I’d like to punch him in the face,” “Knock the crap out him, would you,” “I promise you, I will pay your legal fees” and of course, “The audience hit back. That’s what we need more of.”  Those are real statements from our President, not fake news bites.

I suspect that Trump’s Sunday tweets are in violation of Federal Labor Laws. Harassment is a form of employment discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, (ADEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, (ADA). Donald Trump is actually a “coworker” of the four Congressional members he is attacking in public view. They all work for the government. In the law, the harasser can be the victim’s supervisor, a supervisor in another area, an agent of the employer, a coworker, or a non-employee. The victim does not have to be the person harassed but can be anyone affected by the offensive conduct. Unlawful harassment may occur without economic injury to, or discharge of, the victim. So, why don’t those offended file a complaint? Well, the rules of the House of Representatives prevent them from doing so. What kind of country is this?

Trump is vainly trying to soften the blow by saying it was just a chant and that he didn’t like it, but that is total bullshit! His rabid crowd of fans were parroting his worst motivations. The difference between “go back” and “send her back” may not be important to you, but to those who have had to judge racial harassment and hate crime cases understand the deep pain and suffering of the victims. If any of Trump’s targets become victims of violence, he will have blood on his hands.

This isn’t going to end until Donald Trump is out of the White House and eradicated from our Democracy. His unnatural, inhuman proclivity is racism. He plays the bully due to his lack of confidence and insecurity. He attacks and wants to fight anyone who says he’s a bad boy. Maybe he needs to be put into time-out, for the rest of his life.

Impact of Trump on America

The book that tells it like it is…

Gold, God, Guns & Goofballs shows how we’ve wasted our GOLD on bad wars and corruption. While GOD is there for many people as a spiritual enrichment and the provider of glowing feelings, the truth is just praying and believing will not change our major arc. We don’t determine who gets a GUN. We aren’t sure if we have paramilitary groups ready to storm the White House or a White Castle. There is no control of weapons. The GOOFBALLS with the power constantly try to manipulate us into spending more money on bombs and tanks and wars. When all of our institutions are infected with neglect and fall in disrepair, we will only have ourselves to blame. This book is not an antidote for the left or right, it’s an accelerant to move the middle off their collective asses to go do something positive for America.

Get the Kindle Version HERE. Or order your paperback edition HERE.


BULLY IN THE BACKYARD

The Mental Makeup of Trump

I like to sit on the back porch and watch how birds deal with one another. We have an ample supply of flowers and birdfeeders filled with both seeds and hummingbird nectar. Big blackbirds and crows will occasionally come around and make all the little birds fly away. Blue jays zooming down from Canada can be quite violent toward the other birds, whereas most of the songbirds live peacefully and share.

Now that brings us to the hummingbirds. They are rather remarkable little creatures. Unless you take a photo of them, or they smash themselves against glass windows, you don’t realize they are just birds with wings that move 53 beats per second in normal flight and can travel up to 50 mph; not bad for something that weighs less than an ounce. But what is most amazing, is how territorial they are.

Even when there is plentiful sugar-water and flowers, a hummingbird will chase away all others within their field of vision. Their Top Gun like maneuvers are remarkable and probably studied by fighter jet pilots. We know that their protection of food is a built-in survival mechanism that makes them want all for themselves. We know that they don’t think it through, much as what often exists in the domain of men and women.

That brings us to Donald Trump and the over-analysis of his quick moves, darting from subject to subject and not being consistent in any medium he deploys. Twitter Donald is the politician and rally speaker. Teleprompter Donald becomes serious and attempts to make points in a formal setting. Now we must add Tarmac Trump, who stands on the asphalt outside the White House, screaming to the press over the whining helicopters. This is tantamount to a dog pissing on his territory before he leaves to wreak havoc somewhere else. It’s a strategy to keep authority, to swat away critics and people he perceives who hold power over him.

Trump held another self-aggrandizing ego booster last night in North Carolina. It took only seconds for the hashtag #SendHerBack to light up the twitter-sphere and create a crazy hum. Both sides of the issue, or shall we say the campaign of personality-besmirching, were ignited. Soon, #IStandWithIlhan appeared from those who wanted to bash Donald Trump, who sees this president thing as a platform for his narcissism. In his mind, that goal is far more important than anything else in the United States. It’s all legal battles, conflicts and drama. He truly thinks his duty is to manufacturer press coverage, just like he did as a young stud in New York hanging out with Jeffrey Epstein. He’s engaged in his “brand,” not the business of America.

The parallels between Trump’s actions and those of most totalitarians, tyrants and tormentors of democracy is fearfully obvious. The remedy that our founders established was a balance between the three branches of government. We can rely, for a bit longer we hope, on the sanctity of the Judiciary. But even that could be eroded by appointments of too many ideologs. We can see clearly that Trump has hijacked the most respected names in Congress. The Republican party is now filled with so many people who believe more in Trump than the feelings of the constituents they were elected to serve. They are not doing their duty to protect the Constitution. The Executive Branch, which we must remind our readers includes the Department of Justice, is in the hands of a neophyte of epic proportions. It’s utterly embarrassing that a career professional must explain the law to Donald Trump every time he proposes something stupid.

I’m not sure why the framers put the Justice Department under the president, but it’s too late now. Even the least studied legal minds can see that William Barr, as Attorney General, is part of Trump’s plan to control more and consolidate power. Barr is not the A.G., he’s a P.O., Political Operative — no respect, tainted legacy.

Trump will attack anyone who disagrees with him. Trump will lie to win any argument. Trump has no interest in any constructive dissent and will punish or push anyone who gets in his way. Today’s analogy shows the hummingbird’s need to constantly feed to power those wings in flight. This brings up an important calculation. How much food can the little bird take on before it must fly back to the nest and feed the kids? If the hummingbird takes too much from the feeder, it will be too heavy to fly. When a man takes on too much power, he might get quite full of himself and become unable to fight off the other hummingbirds. Then, someone lighter, faster and more cunning might disrupt their feeding frenzy.

Trump may want to paint the four women of color in Congress as un-American, but what many Hispanics, African Americans, Asians and Middle Easterners, who make up a large percentage of voters in America think is that TRUMP HATES THEM. That could spell the end of the Republican party in ten years. None of those goofballs in Congress care about the future, they are focused only on the next election. They will let Trump play with racism because deep down inside there’s a little bit of racism in each of them. 87% of Republicans in the House are white men and some have either sought or got support from white supremacists.  Google: Steve King, Steve Scalise. If you cannot call out racism, you become complicit in hate. Ask the Christian Germans of the 1930s about their silence.

Within all the pundits and self-proclaimed experts, there should be at least a few smart enough to know that Trump is making this all up as he goes along. He has no forethought of which ideas or tweets may royally backfire on him. He has no concept about how little things have determined so much in the history of political processes. Take the King of France, Louis XVI; he was executed for treason by guillotine in 1793 because of the abuse of his abundant power. People remember bad guys.

It might be unwise to challenge young minds in Congress, but for Donald Trump it’s just one day at a time. He, like the hummingbird, doesn’t remember what happened yesterday. And without logic, a firm memory, or object permanence, he will attack another bird, even if it looks like him. What would the little Donald bird do if attacked from the right? He would attack his own philosophies and kill the very brand he created. Without a doubt, Donald J. Trump is a racist. So, what are you going to do about it?

Each Day This Book Is Making More Sense

Gold, God, Guns & Goofballs shows how we’ve wasted our GOLD on bad wars and corruption. While GOD is there for many people as a spiritual enrichment and the provider of glowing feelings, the truth is just praying and believing will not change our major arc. We don’t determine who gets a GUN. We aren’t sure if we have paramilitary groups ready to storm the White House or a White Castle. There is no control of weapons. The GOOFBALLS with the power constantly try to manipulate us into spending more money on bombs and tanks and wars. When all of our institutions are infected with neglect and fall in disrepair, we will only have ourselves to blame. This book is not an antidote for the left or right, it’s an accelerant to move the middle off their collective asses to go do something positive for America.

Get the Kindle Version HERE. Or order your paperback edition HERE.


BIRTHERISM TROPES

The Trump Dictionary of Hate

One of the things we learn about language is that one doesn’t have to invent a word, they just need to push the needle in the right direction. Words are invented when we don’t have another way to say something. When citizen Donald Trump got tons of publicity claiming that the 44th President Barack Obama was not born in America, and thus not legally qualified to be president, lots of people followed Trump into that hole.

Birtherism was the invented word to put meaning into the Donald’s dastardly deed. Today, we all know the meaning of the word, but that doesn’t legitimize the act of discrediting someone by emphasizing where they were born. This disconnect with reality is not only harmful, but hateful. Why would Trump spend so much time trying to accuse Obama of not being a legitimately elected President, unless he truly hated him?

Now we find ourselves at the question, what is racism? What is this hate that seems to permeate much of what Trump says? The four freshmen congresswomen held a press conference to rebuke Donald Trump. They reminded us how Trump told everyone during his campaign how the United States was broken and how he alone could fix it. He constantly put down everything from airports, to laws, to treaties and people. He claimed everything had fallen in such disrepair, including the military, that we should be ashamed of what America had become. He capped his rhetoric with the slogan promising he would make America great again. Well, did he?

Maybe we have permanent damage here. On their Website, Fox News reported, “Trump’s remarks apparently were directed at four congresswomen: Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. All are American citizens and three of the four were born in the U.S.”

Good that they pointed out that all four are American citizens, but wait, they just handed Trump a way out and he took it. This was what happened during the Made in America Day at the White House yesterday (7-15-2019). A reporter asked, “Does it concern you that many people saw that tweet as racist and that white nationalist groups are finding common cause with you on that point?” The president responded, “It doesn’t concern me because many people agree with me. And all I’m saying, they want to leave, they can leave.” None of the four people receiving the hate ever said they wanted to leave their country and nothing for nothing, those “many people” who agree Trump are RACISTS, too!

Now Trump’s claiming that people who criticize him or suggest improvements for our country are being un-American and they all must hate America. Really? He goes on to state that if you hate America you should leave. How does this man know what people feel or what they love?

Did it ever occur to this man that if someone disagrees with his policies, that doesn’t make them less American? Perhaps they don’t hate America at all. Maybe they just hate you, Mr. President. And the attempt to pivot from racism to socialism isn’t fooling anyone with half a brain.

Let’s have some Birtherism fun here. Donald Trump’s father was born in New York City on October 11, 1905 and his birth name was Frederick Christ Trump. Yes, his parents gave him “Christ” as a middle name (family name). Donald’s grandfather came to America from Germany in 1885, while Donald Trump’s mother was a domestic worker from Scotland who came to the United States in 1930 to marry Donald’s father Fred. Two of Donald’s wives were born outside of the United States (Czechoslovakia & Slovenia), but Donald Trump was born in the US. His lack of respect for immigrants is rather astounding considering the number of immigrants in his family. So, logic follows. Simply being born in America doesn’t make you a good person.

I’ve written a lot about Donald Trump in the last three years and I’ve pointed out how racist his words and actions have been. It’s rather gratifying that more people, Americans, think Trump is contributing to the problem. A Pew Research Center poll earlier this year showed 56% of Americans saying Trump has made race relations worse. Trump was wrong about the place of Obama’s birth and all we have for it is the term Birtherism. Trump uses hate to make people, at best, uncomfortable around people of color and, at worst, to promote white nationalism in the open.

Trump has an on-going disgust for people of color who don’t fit into his definition of a “rightful American.” He and his father tried to keep the “coloreds” out their apartment buildings, fearful that their presence would lower the value of those buildings. This was proven in court. Donald Trump may pal around with famous black people, but deep down inside he believes his genes are superior to “others.” Playboy magazine documented this in a 1990 Trump interview. He calls them “lucky genes.”

Trump has always been a racist but we’re not sure why. Maybe his German relatives or mother Mary and the Scots poisoned his soul; unlikely. My money is on Fred Trump. On Memorial Day 1927, after riots erupted in New York and 1,000 white-robed Klansmen marched through the Jamaica section of the city, seven men were arrested. One of them was Fred Trump of 175-24 Devonshire Road in Jamaica. No one has ever denied it.

Then again, it could be the result of Donald J. Trump’s small brain interpreting the silver spoon given to him at birth. He was told he was better than others. He was given loads of money to prove he was superior. Today, he believes in his heart that he somehow rises above all other humans. That’s dangerous and will never be cured by the truth.

Ivana Trump once told her lawyer, Michael Kennedy, the disturbing fact that Donald Trump kept a book of Hitler’s speeches near his bed. We have no reason to believe he read the book, but when confronted by the fact Trump said, “…my friend Marty Davis from Paramount gave me a copy of ‘Mein Kampf,’ and he’s a Jew.” In fact, the book was My New Order, a collection of Hitler’s speeches, not Mein Kampf. But then, Trump hardly ever gets the facts right. The important question is why did he keep the book by his bed?

And while we are on the subject, Hitler was born in Austria, not Germany. And we all remember that the Emperor of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, was born on Corsica of Italian descent with the name Napoleone di Buonaparte. He changed his name at age 27 to sound more French, just like the Drumpfs changed their name to Trump. We would never suggest Donald Trump and his family go back to Germany. They wouldn’t want him, and we need to see him in court once he becomes a non-sitting President.

I wonder if where you are born means anything about the way you grow up. Donald Trump has a lot of nerve saying that anyone hates America as much as he does. If he really loved America, he would bring her together. Don’t waste your time expecting the Republicans in Congress to say this is wrong. They have already bought into his bullshit. What’s another lie, another sin, another indiscretion in the name of winning. If they were true Christians, they would be worried more about judgment day than the latest polls, or the next tweet.

Each Day This Book Is Making More Sense

Gold, God, Guns & Goofballs shows how we’ve wasted our GOLD on bad wars and corruption. While GOD is there for many people as a spiritual enrichment and the provider of glowing feelings, the truth is just praying and believing will not change our major arc. We don’t determine who gets a GUN. We aren’t sure if we have paramilitary groups ready to storm the White House or a White Castle. There is no control of weapons. The GOOFBALLS with the power constantly try to manipulate us into spending more money on bombs and tanks and wars. When all of our institutions are infected with neglect and fall in disrepair, we will only have ourselves to blame. This book is not an antidote for the left or right, it’s an accelerant to move the middle off their collective asses to go do something positive for America.

Get the Kindle Version HERE. Or order your paperback edition HERE.


THE WORST DEAL EVER

More Posturing Than Progress

Here’s a twist of logic that has become the go-to harangue when Trump loses, “I didn’t need to do this, but I’d rather do it much faster.” Yes, Donald J. Trump has lost many battles while being the president. He never apologizes but certainly takes time to justify his actions when things go wrong. In most cases he over-talks and shows his real intent with poorly constructed sentences saturated in doubt.

Over the weekend we learned more from leaked cables sent to the UK government by the former United Kingdom ambassador to the United States, Kim Darroch. He said the Trump administration was, “set upon an act of diplomatic vandalism,” in its decision to abandon the Iran nuclear deal. He further opined that President Trump abandoned the Iran nuclear deal to “spite” predecessor Barack Obama. I personally wonder why Donald J. Trump hates Obama so much. Could the President be a racist?

So, the deal that Trump railed against with Iran, which was signed by China, France, Germany, European Union, Iran, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States, had no value to Trump other than something he could erase from the list of Obama accomplishments. The pact provided a way to see if Iran was enriching uranium, but Donald never believes the reports he doesn’t read. And all the money he kept referring to during his scream-filled speeches, was money we took from Iran during the sanctions. We were lawfully obligated to give that money back, with interest.

When we pulled out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (the Iran Deal), we unilaterally paved the way for Iran to do whatever they wanted. Trump not only failed the American people, but he failed those other countries that believed the JCPA could bring some stability to the region. Trump’s action made things worse.

When Trump receives criticism for his exploits, he dishes up the same red meat that his “base” loves in an attempt to get all the world to believe him. It’s not working. Not only did the UK Ambassador see through Trump, but the whole world is laughing at the fool in the White House.

When Alexander Acosta resigned from his job as Secretary of Labor, Trump brought him out on the lawn to shout at the press over a whining helicopter in a vain attempt to justify his departure. The president expressed regret over Acosta’s decision saying Acosta was a “great labor secretary” and reassured the secretary with “you don’t have to do this.” Trump made it clear that it was Acosta’s decision and not his own. Really? If he’s great at his job and Trump liked him, why would he leave? He left because Trump knows much more that most about the Jeffrey Epstein case, and in his small little mind he believes this will make it all go away. Trump fears being drawn into his own past.

Trump walked away from NAFTA and made Mexico and Canada, our most important trading partners, very uncomfortable with our government. Through the fog and insanity of Trump, the three countries did manage to get a new deal, the USMCA trade agreement. Time will tell if much was gained with this new concept, but Trump’s imaginary problems with NAFTA was more campaign rhetoric than actual crisis. It’s ironic that after the USMCA passes the trade numbers between the countries may be about the same.

One can argue that the damage of NAFTA, or any older trade deal, has already been done because the American work force was never retrained to maximize the global economy. Pittsburgh didn’t die when the steel mills closed, but the hefty union wages disappeared. But then, cheap goods and free trade were hallmarks of the Republican party, so assign blame to Nixon, Reagan and the Bushes in addition to the Democrats.

When Trump loses an argument or a deal, he calmly says “we didn’t have to do this.” We didn’t need to shut down the government to work on the budget for border security, but he did, and Americans suffered. We didn’t need to get rid of Alex Acosta, but his resignation was accepted. You see the pattern here? It would be more believable if Trump didn’t pontificate so much. We overdose on today’s lie, only to hear him rescind his entire premise. It’s a dizzy ping-pong game.

Over the weekend, Trump blasted out some extremely racist tweets against women in color in Congress. Rather than back him up, one official source of the White House said it never happened. WTF? Trump by Monday was telling anyone who doesn’t like America to go back to “their country.” Not sure why I would want to go back to Scotland, after all, my family has been here for more than 320 years. And what would he say to a native American?

Trump has no new Paris Accord. Trump has nothing signed with North Korea. Trump has no trade deal with China. Trump hasn’t replaced NAFTA with an amazing agreement that will make us all rich. Trump gives away money to farmers who are suffering because he’s a piss-poor negotiator, and he hasn’t made things better for the future farmers of America. It just might be the time for everyone to ask, “Are we really better off than we were four years ago?”

I’m sick of Donald Trump and his family. I’m sick of the President’s stupid statements and lies. I’m sick of hearing him coddle his base. And by the way, WHO IS HIS BASE? You don’t lose more than 100 people in an administration without realization that the problem is at the top. The fish rots from the head, and the head of our government is a lame-ass liar.

Each Day This Book Is Making More Sense

Gold, God, Guns & Goofballs shows how we’ve wasted our GOLD on bad wars and corruption. While GOD is there for many people as a spiritual enrichment and the provider of glowing feelings, the truth is just praying and believing will not change our major arc. We don’t determine who gets a GUN. We aren’t sure if we have paramilitary groups ready to storm the White House or a White Castle. There is no control of weapons. The GOOFBALLS with the power constantly try to manipulate us into spending more money on bombs and tanks and wars. When all of our institutions are infected with neglect and fall in disrepair, we will only have ourselves to blame. This book is not an antidote for the left or right, it’s an accelerant to move the middle off their collective asses to go do something positive for America.

Get the Kindle Version HERE. Or order your paperback edition HERE.


INSANE ASYLUM LAWS

Trump Lack of Knowledge Shows

The more President Trump talks, the more he reveals his abysmal lack of knowledge about laws, customs, traditions and the agreements our country has stood behind for more than 70 years. In short, he truly believes that if he doesn’t know what something does, it must be wrong. Because of his bully pulpit stance and the American public’s lack of understanding about International Law, Trump is pushing the masses to adopt his opinions. This might not be a good thing to say, but you cannot make an out-of-work victim of the global economy read a book.

Let’s talk about the term “asylum.” The pun in the headline of this piece harkens back to my childhood, when the term “insane asylums” was used in the newspaper, on TV and in comedy routines. Some synonyms were, mental institution, mental home, mental hospital, psychiatric hospital, crazy house, cuckoo’s nest, funny farm, loony bin, madhouse, nuthouse, sanatorium and snake pit. These derogatory terms helped shape the word “asylum” for us growing up in the 1950s.

But the real meaning of the word is more important. An asylum seeker is a person who flees their home country, enters another country and applies for asylum, a request for international protection. An asylum seeker is a type of migrant who may be a refugee or a displaced person but is not one who enters another country for economic benefit.

Vice News

According to the website Immigration Equality, “U.S. asylum law is derived from international agreements written after World War II which provide protection to people fearing or fleeing from persecution. The first agreement, the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, was drafted by the United Nations in response to the large migrations of people in the aftermath of the Second World War.”

In order to bring US law into compliance with its obligations under the UN Protocol, the United States enacted the Refugee Act of 1980. It adopted essentially the same definition of refugee as set forth by the Convention. A person with a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion is encouraged to apply for asylum in any country that signed the treaty. We are one of those countries.

Trump either doesn’t know these obligations exist, or he simply doesn’t care about these agreements. Contemporary complications have arisen because the process has become jammed up with so many people claiming “persecution.” Our judicial system is inadequate and unable to process the abundant claims. This is not Donald Trump’s problem. It’s been present for years and the non-solution of previous administrations was camouflaged by lack of transparency and the fact that some did not see this influx of migrants as a problem. Donald Trump cannot present a creative solution because he’s so vocal and afraid of the far-right. He thinks that we just needed to get “tougher“ to make it all go away. He’s an idiot.

Donald Trump is obsessed with immigrants and people who he claims do not belong here. Ironically, his relatives were Drumpfs. In the 1600s they changed their names to Trump, which in German means drum. Not only were his family immigrants from Europe, Donald’s mother, Mary, was a McLeod from Scotland. And Melania, his immigrant wife, brought her parents to America using the loophole that our President likes to call, “Chain Migration.” Their house is literally filled with immigrants

Trump can beat his drum about how bad things are at the southern border, but he is missing the fact that, according to The Center for Migration Studies of New York, “…from 2016-2017, people who overstayed their visas accounted for 62 percent of the newly undocumented, while 38 percent had crossed a border illegally.” Trump is clueless about the difference between “asylum seekers” and those who just visit here then stay. He thinks asylum seekers are liars, while those who pay for an airplane ticket are okay?

Trump screams at his rallies that the problem at the border could be fixed if the Democrats would just change the asylum laws. The Democrats don’t have the will or power to change an International treaty. One would have to go to the UN and propose changes to the 1969 accord, or the president of the US could just invalidate the treaty. He probably doesn’t even know this. The US agreed to take care of asylum seekers, and this is a good idea. If we don’t have the will or desire to go into these “shithole” countries to fix their major human rights problems, then we should just shut up and keep the asylum rules the way they are.

America is an ideal, not necessary a set of rules and regulations. The failed agreements after WWI taught us that bad things can follow. Ask the families of almost six million Jews who were killed by Hitler. That was almost 60% of the Jewish population of Europe. If only they could have sought asylum somewhere.

Donald Trump shames the United States every day and he’s not worthy of being President. He’s spreads lies, hurts human beings and plays games with his power. It’s too bad that we cannot get rid of him sooner. Maybe he will end up in an insane asylum when he realizes, most of America truly dislikes him and clearly hates his policies.

Each Day This Book Is Making More Sense

Gold, God, Guns & Goofballs shows how we’ve wasted our GOLD on bad wars and corruption. While GOD is there for many people as a spiritual enrichment and the provider of glowing feelings, the truth is just praying and believing will not change our major arc. We don’t determine who gets a GUN. We aren’t sure if we have paramilitary groups ready to storm the White House or a White Castle. There is no control of weapons. The GOOFBALLS with the power constantly try to manipulate us into spending more money on bombs and tanks and wars. When all of our institutions are infected with neglect and fall in disrepair, we will only have ourselves to blame. This book is not an antidote for the left or right, it’s an accelerant to move the middle off their collective asses to go do something positive for America.

Get the Kindle Version HERE. Or order your paperback edition HERE.


FAILED VETTING PROCESS

Congressional Confirmation Process Broken

We should be able to trust that our congressional representatives will keep bad people from becoming decision makers in our government. Donald Trump’s actions and appointees have exposed the weakness in the system. It’s time to take a hard look at how people are nominated and how the confirmation process works.

Trump bombastically promised that he would hire only the best people. He said that he would employ extreme vetting in not only those he wanted in his cabinet, but those who would be allowed to participate in the governing of our great nation. In the less than three years President Trump has been in office, more than one hundred people have left his administration. Most embarrassingly, there is a Wikipedia page dedicated to those who have left Trump behind.

On the morning news, we learned the fate of the UK Ambassador to the US, Sir Nigel Kim Darroch. He has resigned in light of leaked classified documents in which he called the Trump administration “inept,” and described Donald Trump as “insecure” and “incompetent.” Obviously, Trump had to “punch back,” as he calls it. But his rambling rants on Twitter were not only less than diplomatic, they proved Darroch’s point. In his resignation, Sir Kim said, “The professionalism and integrity of the British civil service is the envy of the world. I will leave it full of confidence that its values remain in safe hands.”

Donald J. Trump has no integrity. The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles is not part of Trump’s fiber. Being pals with Putin, Xi and Kim Jong-Un degrades the office of President. Letting Saudi Arabia murder a journalist with no consequences clearly shows how Trump is a compromised, corrupt politician. Keeping a sleezy Secretary of Labor on his team after learning about his conduct in Jeffrey Epstein’s case of sex trafficking in Florida and New York is just another brick in Trump’s wall of insecurity, amoral behavior and lack of patriotic grounding in law.

We don’t get to vet the President of the United States. People vote and sometimes the system gives us a turd. Richard Nixon was fecal matter of the highest order. Trump is just today’s version of the kind of tragic mistakes possible in our imperfect experiment of Democracy. But unlike happenings in the lands of kings, tyrants and dictators, we can fix this blunder.

The misery and distress arising from the lack of teeth in Congress becomes more insidious every week. Maybe the people in our two houses of government are too old and afraid to use their political power to bite down hard on those the President sends for confirmation? Maybe it’s time for more young, aggressive representatives to push candidates for important roles hard up against the wall of scrutiny?

The lack of incisive questioning on Alexander Acosta’s involvement in the Jeffrey Epstein plea deal is proof that this system is broken. Acosta should have never been approved. We saw a similar lack of proper process in the Bret Kavanaugh hearings.

Listen up congressional people! I get the idea that when “your” president sends someone up to the hill for confirmation, you are to do your “duty” to protect the person from real scrutiny and vetting; but it’s wrong and must stop. When the votes are counted, your decision to confirm a person can become a giant stain on your reputation. Many of the more than one hundred people who have left the White House were never examined as part of Congressional oversight. Some were just hired hands who couldn’t pass FBI security checks, yet they landed in positions with major responsibilities. Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump have no business occupying their positions in this administration, but no one is holding Trump’s little hands to the fire.

I know businesses that do more vetting and review of potential employees than this administration does. And it’s not just Congress’ fault. The free press must do its job and dig into these lies and lives and reveal the truth about them. Had the Julie K. Brown article about Epstein in the Miami Herald appeared a day before his confirmation hearing, Acosta would have never been confirmed. After all, the damn Department of Labor oversees investigations into human trafficking, the very charge Acosta let Epstein worm his way out of, producing one big fat sloppy happy ending for the billionaire.

Is Congress brain dead or do they not have the intellect or courage to investigate what is right before their very eyes? I was impressed by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’ questioning of Michael Cohen during a recent hearing. She asked him if Trump was inflating the value of his properties to garner large loans and deflating the value of his enterprises to the IRS for a better tax deal. Good question? Yes! Republicans on the same panel were fixated on reminding us that Cohen is a known liar rather than calling on the IRS to investigate Trump and his companies about tax and loan fraud. This may end up being litigated after Trump leaves office, but it shows exactly where the two-party system disrupts the important work of oversight. It’s why we must wait so long for bad apples to be plucked from a government we should be able to trust.

This system has been weakened by time and partisan politics. It’s time we elect some straight shooters to upend the apple cart so we can see all the rotting fruit. Trump’s message to drain the swamp was successful because most people believe it’s a needed effort. Sadly, Trump didn’t help the situation. His appointments and hires have been and will continue to be purely political. He even placed people into departments or administrative bodies after they claimed they thought those roles should be eliminated. The ignorance of one man has weakened this nation.

If the result of disruption, is the rebuilding and restocking of a government with better people, then one can justify stirring the pot. But what Trump has rendered is nothing short of letting the fox run the hen house. After all the hens have been eaten, and all the foxes leave for the greener pastures of private practice, what will we have left in our government? It’s become a place where talented and gifted people no longer want to belong. Trump has fucked up the law, the environment, diplomatic relations with allies and, tragically, has made America a meaner, more divided populace. Congress needs to get its act together and throw the bums out, especially the douchebags in their own chamber.

BRAND NEW BOOK ON AMERICA

Gold, God, Guns & Goofballs shows how we’ve wasted our GOLD on bad wars and corruption. While GOD is there for many people as a spiritual enrichment and the provider of glowing feelings, the truth is just praying and believing will not change our major arc. We don’t determine who gets a GUN. We aren’t sure if we have paramilitary groups ready to storm the White House or a White Castle. There is no control of weapons. The GOOFBALLS with the power constantly try to manipulate us into spending more money on bombs and tanks and wars. When all of our institutions are infected with neglect and fall in disrepair, we will only have ourselves to blame. This book is not an antidote for the left or right, it’s an accelerant to move the middle off their collective asses to go do something positive for America.

Get the Kindle Version HERE. Or order your paperback edition HERE.