Karin Wells
Yesterday at 11:40 AM ·
An anguished question from a Trump supporter: "Why do liberals think Trump supporters are stupid?"
The serious answer: Here’s what we really think about Trump supporters - the rich, the poor, the malignant and the innocently well-meaning, the ones who think and the ones who don't...
That when you saw a man who had owned a fraudulent University, intent on scamming poor people, you thought "Fine."
That when you saw a man who had made it his business practice to stiff his creditors, you said, "Okay."
That when you heard him proudly brag about his own history of sexual abuse, you said, "No problem."
That when he made up stories about seeing muslim-Americans in the thousands cheering the destruction of the World Trade Center, you said, "Not an issue."
That when you saw him brag that he could shoot a man on Fifth Avenue and you wouldn't care, you chirped, "He sure knows me."
That when you heard him illustrate his own character by telling that cute story about the elderly guest bleeding on the floor at his country club, the story about how he turned his back and how it was all an imposition on him, you said, "That's cool!"
That when you saw him mock the disabled, you thought it was the funniest thing you ever saw.
That when you heard him brag that he doesn't read books, you said, "Well, who has time?"
That when the Central Park Five were compensated as innocent men convicted of a crime they didn't commit, and he angrily said that they should still be in prison, you said, "That makes sense."
That when you heard him tell his supporters to beat up protesters and that he would hire attorneys, you thought, "Yes!"
That when you heard him tell one rally to confiscate a man's coat before throwing him out into the freezing cold, you said, "What a great guy!"
That you have watched the parade of neo-Nazis and white supremacists with whom he curries favor, while refusing to condemn outright Nazis, and you have said, "Thumbs up!"
That you hear him unable to talk to foreign dignitaries without insulting their countries and demanding that they praise his electoral win, you said, "That's the way I want my President to be."
That you have watched him remove expertise from all layers of government in favor of people who make money off of eliminating protections in the industries they're supposed to be regulating and you have said, "What a genius!"
That you have heard him continue to profit from his businesses, in part by leveraging his position as President, to the point of overcharging the Secret Service for space in the properties he owns, and you have said, "That's smart!"
That you have heard him say that it was difficult to help Puerto Rico because it was the middle of water and you have said, "That makes sense."
That you have seen him start fights with every country from Canada to New Zealand while praising Russia and quote, "falling in love" with the dictator of North Korea, and you have said, "That's statesmanship!"
That Trump separated children from their families and put them in cages, managed to lose track of 1500 kids. has opened a tent city incarceration camp in the desert in Texas - he explains that they’re just “animals” - and you say, “well, ok then.”
That you have witnessed all the thousand and one other manifestations of corruption and low moral character and outright animalistic rudeness and contempt for you, the working American voter, and you still show up grinning and wearing your MAGA hats and threatening to beat up anybody who says otherwise.
What you don't get, Trump supporters in 2018, is that succumbing to frustration and thinking of you as stupid may be wrong and unhelpful, but it's also...hear me...charitable.
Because if you're NOT stupid, we must turn to other explanations, and most of them are *less* flattering.
Karin Wells - FB
https://www.facebook.com/karin.wells.7?__tn__=%2CdCH-R-R&eid=ARCvnQu4s1_bcxXvb5MqXBqJcL9GIGzwn9UH8XYiPMyEfAv5w_MvH9n_pgUj-W31TpB7xqSs4e1QMUqx&hc_ref=ARRclutU7wtsqq1dCaxMv1WykcQGiB3oojNmQBPs5vvqJmm8XxjI_x86vJIqj0lo2-Q&fref=nf
Thursday, October 04, 2018
Monday, October 01, 2018
MUST READING for Women
From: https://www.thenation.com/article/the-heart-wrenching-trauma-of-the-christine-blasey-ford-and-brett-kavanaugh-hearings/
By Joan Walsh-The Nation’s national-affairs correspondent, is the author of What’s the Matter With White People? Finding Our Way in the Next America.
Too many women woke up Friday morning feeling too much the way they felt the morning after the 2016 election—crushed by a suffocating sadness. The day before, a talented, thoughtful, long-suffering woman who did everything that was asked of her faced off against a boorish, angry, entitled bully, and unbelievably, she came up short. The Ford-Kavanaugh hearings were a master class in the annihilating expectations that bind women versus the lofty entitlement that shapes the world for men. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford was patient, kind, deferential. She listened. She asked what was best for the senators questioning her. She wanted to be “collegial.” Her sadness and grief were evident but tightly wrapped, behind an emotional burka.
In contrast, Kavanaugh bullied and belittled the Democratic senators, trying to filibuster their five minutes with nonsense details about sports and studying, while hissing partisan bile. His low point was essentially accusing Senator Amy Klobuchar of blackout drinking, when she gently asked about evidence that he regularly drank to excess. It was a particularly cruel crack given that she had just confided her father’s struggle with alcoholism (another quintessentially feminine way to try to humanize a difficult line of questioning). Frankly, Kavanaugh’s demeanor confirmed stories that he could be angry and belligerent, especially when drunk. I don’t know if he has a drinking problem or not, but I have seen those tears of self-pity and self-righteousness when those who do are cornered: Everyone else is to blame for this awful place I find myself in. Why won’t you all trust me? You’re ruining my life!
Kavanaugh told lies big and small. He cruelly lied about the meaning of a sexual reference to a female classmate in his douchey yearbook notes, one she found “hurtful.” He lied about the meaning of “boofing” and “devil’s triangle” and “Beach Week Ralph Club.” He lied about the drinking age in Maryland. He lied about not watching Blasey Ford’s testimony; a Wall Street Journal piece featured him doing so. In the earlier hearings, he’d lied about receiving stolen Democratic documents when he was helping prep George W. Bush’s judicial appointments and being in on discussions of torture as staff secretary. We’re not yet sure he is a rapist, but we know he is a congenital liar.
A liar, and a partisan hack. “This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit, fueled by pent-up anger over President Trump in the 2016 election,” he whined. He ranted about the “revenge of the Clintons,” and dismissed the Democratic senators as “you people.” In those few hours, we could see the cruel partisan apparatchik who made Vince Foster’s daughter provide a hair sample when he was trying to prove Hillary Clinton had something to do with her father’s death. We saw the creep who insisted that Kenneth Starr ask the perviest questions about President Clinton’s sexual relationship with a White House intern in 1998. We saw the guy who used documents stolen from Democrats to prep GOP judicial nominees—and lied about it. Quite honestly, with his angry, entitled bluster, I saw a guy I could imagine doing what Yale classmates say: a guy who they suspect nailed a dead pigeon to the door of a gay classmate’s dorm room, who left his bathroom floor caked with vomit.
When Thursday was over, the Jesuit magazine America and the American Bar Association, both of which had touted Kavanaugh, withdrew their seal of approval and called for investigation into the growing number of disturbing allegations against him. But the audience that mattered most, Donald Trump and Senate Republicans, seemed to like what they saw. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted on party lines to refer his nomination to the full Senate, with retiring Senator Jeff Flake making a toothless request to delay a floor vote for one week pending an FBI investigation. If Mitch McConnell has the votes to put Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, he’ll do so—FBI investigation or no FBI investigation.
For the last two weeks—actually since October 7, 2016, when the Access Hollywood tapes confirmed that Donald Trump is a serial sexual abuser in his own words—American women have been struggling with collective trauma. For almost two years now, spurred first by the stories of Trump’s sexual cruelty and then by the tsunami of revelations in the #MeToo movement, women have been sharing stories of sexual abuse they’d never told anyone. I know the official statistics say one in four women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime. But when women of a certain age—and maybe any age—listen to the stories of what Brett Kavanaugh did or tried to do to Christine Blasey Ford and Debbie Ramirez and Julie Swetnick, many of us have had to reevaluate our own experiences, and realize that things we dismissed as the cost of trying to be a free woman in the world, to be a “cool girl” with a cool social life—well, some of those things were rape, or attempted rape. That time in high school I managed to flip a male “friend” off of me before he ripped my clothes off—two times, actually—well, that wasn’t someone getting a little too frisky, or handsy, or aggressive—it was attempted rape. When we begin to talk to one another about all of those experiences, from grade school through college, in the workplace, at a business conference, in a car—we begin to think we’re going to have to throw that “one in four” estimate out the window. Talking to women this week, it feels like more than half. It feels like almost all of us.
Kavanaugh wasn’t the only hysterical, entitled male we had to put up with in this saga. Apparently, when Lindsey Graham lost his friend John McCain, he also lost his conscience, his decency, and his self-control. Graham took the reins from the Senate GOP’s hired interrogator Rachel Mitchell as she began to question Kavanaugh in some detail about his drinking (and zeroed in on a July 1, 1982, calendar entry featuring “skis” with the exact same friends Blasey Ford said were at the party where he tried to rape her). Yes, Graham plowed over another woman, rescued Kavanaugh, and trashed his Democratic colleagues. He was even worse on Friday morning. “I’m a single white male from South Carolina, and I’m told I should just shut up, but I will not shut up,” he roared from his leather throne, as he called Ford’s story “garbage.”
What happens now? We must continue to blitz undecided senators with phone calls and visits and hold Flake and other Republicans to their reported interest in an FBI investigation. Unbelievably, as I write, the most vulnerable Democratic senator, Indiana’s Joe Donnelly, came out against the Kavanaugh nomination. That took guts, but it shows that Ford’s story, and Kavanaugh’s bullying behavior, got through to at least one senator. Unfortunately, West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, who’s up by 10 in a race that was expected to be close, is said to be leaning toward confirming the judge. He should hear from us. Then there are the lone pro-choice GOP women, Maine’s Susan Collins and Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski. Murkowski’s more likely to buck Trump, since her state’s governor and lieutenant governor have come out against the president’s nominee. Collins is a perennial disappointment, but she has previously said she wants more investigation into the charges against Kavanaugh. Can she stick to that demand and hold back her vote until she gets it? I wouldn’t count on it, but I wouldn’t rule it out.
And then, it’s become a cliché: We’ll get them in November. The signs of a blue wave are strong, but it’s cold comfort if the Senate confirms a rabid right-wing accused rapist with a lying problem to the Supreme Court, to cement a conservative 5-4 majority that will erode the rights of women, workers, poor people, and voters of color. And it’s no comfort to women who’ve struggled to come forward to report sexual assaults, only to fear they won’t be believed, or that it won’t matter anyway. That’s what they’re seeing today. Shaken, Senator Chris Coons testified Friday that five women he knows texted him during Thursday’s hearings to tell him about sexual assaults they’d never revealed before. But he’s a Democrat: Kavanaugh’s confirmation shows that angry, boorish, entitled, female-abusing male behavior isn’t disqualifying to Republican senators; one would have to conclude it’s credentialing.
Let’s work our asses off in November, anyway. We’re women—that’s what we do. Their time will be up, just not as soon as it ought to be.
By Joan Walsh-The Nation’s national-affairs correspondent, is the author of What’s the Matter With White People? Finding Our Way in the Next America.
Too many women woke up Friday morning feeling too much the way they felt the morning after the 2016 election—crushed by a suffocating sadness. The day before, a talented, thoughtful, long-suffering woman who did everything that was asked of her faced off against a boorish, angry, entitled bully, and unbelievably, she came up short. The Ford-Kavanaugh hearings were a master class in the annihilating expectations that bind women versus the lofty entitlement that shapes the world for men. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford was patient, kind, deferential. She listened. She asked what was best for the senators questioning her. She wanted to be “collegial.” Her sadness and grief were evident but tightly wrapped, behind an emotional burka.
In contrast, Kavanaugh bullied and belittled the Democratic senators, trying to filibuster their five minutes with nonsense details about sports and studying, while hissing partisan bile. His low point was essentially accusing Senator Amy Klobuchar of blackout drinking, when she gently asked about evidence that he regularly drank to excess. It was a particularly cruel crack given that she had just confided her father’s struggle with alcoholism (another quintessentially feminine way to try to humanize a difficult line of questioning). Frankly, Kavanaugh’s demeanor confirmed stories that he could be angry and belligerent, especially when drunk. I don’t know if he has a drinking problem or not, but I have seen those tears of self-pity and self-righteousness when those who do are cornered: Everyone else is to blame for this awful place I find myself in. Why won’t you all trust me? You’re ruining my life!
Kavanaugh told lies big and small. He cruelly lied about the meaning of a sexual reference to a female classmate in his douchey yearbook notes, one she found “hurtful.” He lied about the meaning of “boofing” and “devil’s triangle” and “Beach Week Ralph Club.” He lied about the drinking age in Maryland. He lied about not watching Blasey Ford’s testimony; a Wall Street Journal piece featured him doing so. In the earlier hearings, he’d lied about receiving stolen Democratic documents when he was helping prep George W. Bush’s judicial appointments and being in on discussions of torture as staff secretary. We’re not yet sure he is a rapist, but we know he is a congenital liar.
A liar, and a partisan hack. “This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit, fueled by pent-up anger over President Trump in the 2016 election,” he whined. He ranted about the “revenge of the Clintons,” and dismissed the Democratic senators as “you people.” In those few hours, we could see the cruel partisan apparatchik who made Vince Foster’s daughter provide a hair sample when he was trying to prove Hillary Clinton had something to do with her father’s death. We saw the creep who insisted that Kenneth Starr ask the perviest questions about President Clinton’s sexual relationship with a White House intern in 1998. We saw the guy who used documents stolen from Democrats to prep GOP judicial nominees—and lied about it. Quite honestly, with his angry, entitled bluster, I saw a guy I could imagine doing what Yale classmates say: a guy who they suspect nailed a dead pigeon to the door of a gay classmate’s dorm room, who left his bathroom floor caked with vomit.
When Thursday was over, the Jesuit magazine America and the American Bar Association, both of which had touted Kavanaugh, withdrew their seal of approval and called for investigation into the growing number of disturbing allegations against him. But the audience that mattered most, Donald Trump and Senate Republicans, seemed to like what they saw. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted on party lines to refer his nomination to the full Senate, with retiring Senator Jeff Flake making a toothless request to delay a floor vote for one week pending an FBI investigation. If Mitch McConnell has the votes to put Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, he’ll do so—FBI investigation or no FBI investigation.
For the last two weeks—actually since October 7, 2016, when the Access Hollywood tapes confirmed that Donald Trump is a serial sexual abuser in his own words—American women have been struggling with collective trauma. For almost two years now, spurred first by the stories of Trump’s sexual cruelty and then by the tsunami of revelations in the #MeToo movement, women have been sharing stories of sexual abuse they’d never told anyone. I know the official statistics say one in four women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime. But when women of a certain age—and maybe any age—listen to the stories of what Brett Kavanaugh did or tried to do to Christine Blasey Ford and Debbie Ramirez and Julie Swetnick, many of us have had to reevaluate our own experiences, and realize that things we dismissed as the cost of trying to be a free woman in the world, to be a “cool girl” with a cool social life—well, some of those things were rape, or attempted rape. That time in high school I managed to flip a male “friend” off of me before he ripped my clothes off—two times, actually—well, that wasn’t someone getting a little too frisky, or handsy, or aggressive—it was attempted rape. When we begin to talk to one another about all of those experiences, from grade school through college, in the workplace, at a business conference, in a car—we begin to think we’re going to have to throw that “one in four” estimate out the window. Talking to women this week, it feels like more than half. It feels like almost all of us.
Kavanaugh wasn’t the only hysterical, entitled male we had to put up with in this saga. Apparently, when Lindsey Graham lost his friend John McCain, he also lost his conscience, his decency, and his self-control. Graham took the reins from the Senate GOP’s hired interrogator Rachel Mitchell as she began to question Kavanaugh in some detail about his drinking (and zeroed in on a July 1, 1982, calendar entry featuring “skis” with the exact same friends Blasey Ford said were at the party where he tried to rape her). Yes, Graham plowed over another woman, rescued Kavanaugh, and trashed his Democratic colleagues. He was even worse on Friday morning. “I’m a single white male from South Carolina, and I’m told I should just shut up, but I will not shut up,” he roared from his leather throne, as he called Ford’s story “garbage.”
What happens now? We must continue to blitz undecided senators with phone calls and visits and hold Flake and other Republicans to their reported interest in an FBI investigation. Unbelievably, as I write, the most vulnerable Democratic senator, Indiana’s Joe Donnelly, came out against the Kavanaugh nomination. That took guts, but it shows that Ford’s story, and Kavanaugh’s bullying behavior, got through to at least one senator. Unfortunately, West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, who’s up by 10 in a race that was expected to be close, is said to be leaning toward confirming the judge. He should hear from us. Then there are the lone pro-choice GOP women, Maine’s Susan Collins and Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski. Murkowski’s more likely to buck Trump, since her state’s governor and lieutenant governor have come out against the president’s nominee. Collins is a perennial disappointment, but she has previously said she wants more investigation into the charges against Kavanaugh. Can she stick to that demand and hold back her vote until she gets it? I wouldn’t count on it, but I wouldn’t rule it out.
And then, it’s become a cliché: We’ll get them in November. The signs of a blue wave are strong, but it’s cold comfort if the Senate confirms a rabid right-wing accused rapist with a lying problem to the Supreme Court, to cement a conservative 5-4 majority that will erode the rights of women, workers, poor people, and voters of color. And it’s no comfort to women who’ve struggled to come forward to report sexual assaults, only to fear they won’t be believed, or that it won’t matter anyway. That’s what they’re seeing today. Shaken, Senator Chris Coons testified Friday that five women he knows texted him during Thursday’s hearings to tell him about sexual assaults they’d never revealed before. But he’s a Democrat: Kavanaugh’s confirmation shows that angry, boorish, entitled, female-abusing male behavior isn’t disqualifying to Republican senators; one would have to conclude it’s credentialing.
Let’s work our asses off in November, anyway. We’re women—that’s what we do. Their time will be up, just not as soon as it ought to be.
Sunday, September 30, 2018
Friday, September 28, 2018
Thursday, September 27, 2018
Mad As Hell
Like some people I listened/watched the Kavanaugh Investigation today. When I first turned on the radio I was assaulted by Grassley's opening statement: full of so much bullshit I was glad I was in the bathroom. And talk about a grumpy old coot. I bet his wife - if he has one - doesn't want him to retire. There needs to be an age limit to these politicians, y'all.
Christine Blasey Ford - in my opinion, as well as a great number of others - was a a credible witness. She was real, nothing fake about her testimony. She was terrified and confused during some points of the hearing, but she got thru it and it wasn't because of the cold-hearted, full-of-hate, trump and russia loving GOP. Those men just ooze good ole boy network.
Then came the entitled all american frat boy. Brett "wah wah" Kavanaugh who - to my memory - didn't answer a single question. He lacked respect for anyone who was questioning him. He cried thru his opening statement. Pretty ugly thing to witness from a pretty ugly person. He was so disingenuous, so full of himself, so not nice.
I only enjoyed this part of his testimony
Christine Blasey Ford - in my opinion, as well as a great number of others - was a a credible witness. She was real, nothing fake about her testimony. She was terrified and confused during some points of the hearing, but she got thru it and it wasn't because of the cold-hearted, full-of-hate, trump and russia loving GOP. Those men just ooze good ole boy network.
Then came the entitled all american frat boy. Brett "wah wah" Kavanaugh who - to my memory - didn't answer a single question. He lacked respect for anyone who was questioning him. He cried thru his opening statement. Pretty ugly thing to witness from a pretty ugly person. He was so disingenuous, so full of himself, so not nice.
I only enjoyed this part of his testimony
After Ms. Ford's testimony, the Grumpy Old Paunchbellies decided to do away with the woman who was originally going to speak for the Republicans (Rachel Mitchell) and they each took a turn to gush over cry-baby-frat-boy. At one point Lindsey Graham completely lost it. I was hoping he would stroke out:
I finally turned it off, I couldn't take it any more when I saw that Louisiana's John "granny" Kennedy was going to gush to the rapist. Couldn't take anymore.
I'm pissed, knowing that frat-boy-cry-baby-rapist is going to be confirmed tomorrow unless something totally unexpected happens. I've been waiting for something totally unexpected to happen since November of 2016, so I'm not feeling good about it.
Misery loves company, so I am sharing Trae Crowder's take on this travesty:
Monday, September 24, 2018
Sunday, September 16, 2018
Monday, September 10, 2018
Regarding the Authorless NYT Op-Ed about drumpf
From Facebook 9/7/2018
Mark Bear
https://www.facebook.com/drbearphd
September 7 at 5:58 AM
Good Morning, Friends,
Since the released Op-Ed in the New York Times, I have had several of you in my audience ask my thoughts on the matter, and therefore I am going to provide them here for each of you to contemplate.
First, I do not look at the individual who has written that piece to be heroic in any meaningful manner. The definition of heroic is to be brave. I do not find any aspect of this writer's actions to be considered brave. He or she still has his job, and will continue to do so, unless of course, the New York Times violates the ethical standard of journalists protecting their sources at all costs.
In addition, the author does not convey any information to the public which we did not know already. Consider the following passage from that essay:
"The root of the problem is the president’s amorality. Anyone who works with him knows he is not moored to any discernible first principles that guide his decision making."
Nearly every American citizen is and was aware of Mr. Trump's amorality. We knew from his past that he had not paid his employees or contractors the agreed upon price after a job was complete, that Mr. Trump had committed adultery, and that he is a sexist and misogynist - as evidenced by the Access Hollywood tape - and, in addition, is a bigoted prejudicial man, who very well may be a racist - as evidenced by his comments at rallies and treatment towards those "who do not look like us." Furthermore, we all sat observing a man tapping into the darker side of our fears, while blaming others for the problems of our nation. This is not news, folks.
Second, the writer of this essay easily can pass for any Republican lawmaker sitting in Congress or the Senate, who perhaps, while making their complaints known off camera, sit idly by allowing Trump to have his way on nearly every single situation, while rarely calling him out, as he continues to blur the lines in our system of checks and balances, and nipping away at our democratic ideals and values as a nation.
Third, the writer of this essay actually believes there are "bright spots" in this administration, this when Mr. Trump has enacted a travel ban on Muslims, continues calling the press the "enemy of the people," consistently lies at near record pace, is failing to deliver on many of his campaign promises, specifically crafting a way to provide health coverage to each and every citizen in this nation, and "draining the swamp."
Despite this, as is typical of every single lawmaker who self-identifies with the current "party of family values," the writer states the following:
"There are bright spots that the near-ceaseless negative coverage of the administration fails to capture: effective deregulation, historic tax reform, a more robust military and more."
The author of the piece further states:
"We want the administration to succeed and think that many of its policies have already made America safer and more prosperous."
However, our image around the globe has decreased since Mr. Trump has taken office, and those who are prospering seem to be CEO'S and the stock holders of major corporations in our nation.
And deregulation, while perhaps being a sought after goal of republicanism is also construed by many as a highly negative attribute of this administration; consider the consumer financial protection agency as just one example.
Further, the "historic tax reform" the writer references, is turning out to be one that merely benefits the wealthiest in this nation while expanding the income gap between the wealthiest in our nation and our middle-class. And, while we already enjoyed a robust military prior to Mr. Trump taking office, his lack of diplomatic skills, coupled with cuts to our State Department means he simply has resolved a problem of his own creation.
Fourth, heroes rarely, if ever, toot their own horns. However, the writer of this essay takes great pains to ensure the public knows just how heroic he or she and others within the administration are. Consider this passage from the essay:
"The erratic behavior would be more concerning if it weren’t for unsung heroes in and around the White House. Some of his aides have been cast as villains by the media. But in private, they have gone to great lengths to keep bad decisions contained to the West Wing, though they are clearly not always successful."
The erratic behavior referenced is of course that of Mr. Trump. Furthermore, the writer(s) voice the exact same complaint made by Mr. Trump himself: they are "cast" as villains by the media. In other words, it is the media's fault, because in "private" we are to believe this writer and those with him or her go to "great lengths: to keep bad decisions contained."
Cowardice is defined as follows: "lack of courage to face difficulty, opposition, or pain." It is clear that the writer enjoys protections afforded him or her through the New York Times, does not have his or her name attached to the article, despite the massive speculative predictions made by those in the realm of social media, and will face no opposition or pain for voicing his or her opinion.
Undoubtedly, there will be several of you who disagree with my analysis, but as you do, please consider the following words articulated by the writer:
"The result is a two-track presidency."
If readers were not concerned prior to the release of this essay by our writer, they surely should be by now. The leading question that should be on the mind of each and every American is "Who is running the White House?" And, if we are asking that question, then is it not logical to realize that the rest of the world is asking the exact same question too?
Which leads to my final point: As the media is subsumed with the "Who done it" narrative these past two days, we currently have a Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, who has dodged nearly every single question asked of him, coupled with thousands of pages of his writing being withheld from the Democratic Party until absolutely necessary, if even then. Furthermore, he is a man who did not appear on Mr. Trump's short-list of nominees, until the Special Counsel was appointed by Rod Rosenstein. And, Judge Kavanaugh absolutely refuses to recuse himself should any pending civil or criminal complaint come before the Supreme Court. In other words, this Judge could very well be Mr. Trump's get out of jail free card.
And if THAT does not unsettle you in the slightest, then nothing will. My point here is that we do not know who wrote the letter, and personally I could not care less, especially given the absence of heroism. In fact, while I am not wont to embrace conspiracies, Mr. Trump has a record of writing the media in order to portray himself in the best possible light during his business career. For all we know, Mr. Trump directed several within his administration to craft the letter to serve as yet, another diversion, taking our focus off of the Kavanaugh hearings, and placing it squarely where Mr. Trump likes attention placed the most: On himself!
Doc
Links of support will be placed later on as I am able to do so and will be in the first comment!
Link to essay submitted from somebody or a group within Mr. Trump's senior cabinet officials - as identified by the writer - arguing how they are heroes keeping Mr Trump in line. Just a daily watch of the news tells a different story.
https://www.nytimes.com/.../trump-white-house-anonymous...
Mark Bear
https://www.facebook.com/drbearphd
September 7 at 5:58 AM
Good Morning, Friends,
Since the released Op-Ed in the New York Times, I have had several of you in my audience ask my thoughts on the matter, and therefore I am going to provide them here for each of you to contemplate.
First, I do not look at the individual who has written that piece to be heroic in any meaningful manner. The definition of heroic is to be brave. I do not find any aspect of this writer's actions to be considered brave. He or she still has his job, and will continue to do so, unless of course, the New York Times violates the ethical standard of journalists protecting their sources at all costs.
In addition, the author does not convey any information to the public which we did not know already. Consider the following passage from that essay:
"The root of the problem is the president’s amorality. Anyone who works with him knows he is not moored to any discernible first principles that guide his decision making."
Nearly every American citizen is and was aware of Mr. Trump's amorality. We knew from his past that he had not paid his employees or contractors the agreed upon price after a job was complete, that Mr. Trump had committed adultery, and that he is a sexist and misogynist - as evidenced by the Access Hollywood tape - and, in addition, is a bigoted prejudicial man, who very well may be a racist - as evidenced by his comments at rallies and treatment towards those "who do not look like us." Furthermore, we all sat observing a man tapping into the darker side of our fears, while blaming others for the problems of our nation. This is not news, folks.
Second, the writer of this essay easily can pass for any Republican lawmaker sitting in Congress or the Senate, who perhaps, while making their complaints known off camera, sit idly by allowing Trump to have his way on nearly every single situation, while rarely calling him out, as he continues to blur the lines in our system of checks and balances, and nipping away at our democratic ideals and values as a nation.
Third, the writer of this essay actually believes there are "bright spots" in this administration, this when Mr. Trump has enacted a travel ban on Muslims, continues calling the press the "enemy of the people," consistently lies at near record pace, is failing to deliver on many of his campaign promises, specifically crafting a way to provide health coverage to each and every citizen in this nation, and "draining the swamp."
Despite this, as is typical of every single lawmaker who self-identifies with the current "party of family values," the writer states the following:
"There are bright spots that the near-ceaseless negative coverage of the administration fails to capture: effective deregulation, historic tax reform, a more robust military and more."
The author of the piece further states:
"We want the administration to succeed and think that many of its policies have already made America safer and more prosperous."
However, our image around the globe has decreased since Mr. Trump has taken office, and those who are prospering seem to be CEO'S and the stock holders of major corporations in our nation.
And deregulation, while perhaps being a sought after goal of republicanism is also construed by many as a highly negative attribute of this administration; consider the consumer financial protection agency as just one example.
Further, the "historic tax reform" the writer references, is turning out to be one that merely benefits the wealthiest in this nation while expanding the income gap between the wealthiest in our nation and our middle-class. And, while we already enjoyed a robust military prior to Mr. Trump taking office, his lack of diplomatic skills, coupled with cuts to our State Department means he simply has resolved a problem of his own creation.
Fourth, heroes rarely, if ever, toot their own horns. However, the writer of this essay takes great pains to ensure the public knows just how heroic he or she and others within the administration are. Consider this passage from the essay:
"The erratic behavior would be more concerning if it weren’t for unsung heroes in and around the White House. Some of his aides have been cast as villains by the media. But in private, they have gone to great lengths to keep bad decisions contained to the West Wing, though they are clearly not always successful."
The erratic behavior referenced is of course that of Mr. Trump. Furthermore, the writer(s) voice the exact same complaint made by Mr. Trump himself: they are "cast" as villains by the media. In other words, it is the media's fault, because in "private" we are to believe this writer and those with him or her go to "great lengths: to keep bad decisions contained."
Cowardice is defined as follows: "lack of courage to face difficulty, opposition, or pain." It is clear that the writer enjoys protections afforded him or her through the New York Times, does not have his or her name attached to the article, despite the massive speculative predictions made by those in the realm of social media, and will face no opposition or pain for voicing his or her opinion.
Undoubtedly, there will be several of you who disagree with my analysis, but as you do, please consider the following words articulated by the writer:
"The result is a two-track presidency."
If readers were not concerned prior to the release of this essay by our writer, they surely should be by now. The leading question that should be on the mind of each and every American is "Who is running the White House?" And, if we are asking that question, then is it not logical to realize that the rest of the world is asking the exact same question too?
Which leads to my final point: As the media is subsumed with the "Who done it" narrative these past two days, we currently have a Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, who has dodged nearly every single question asked of him, coupled with thousands of pages of his writing being withheld from the Democratic Party until absolutely necessary, if even then. Furthermore, he is a man who did not appear on Mr. Trump's short-list of nominees, until the Special Counsel was appointed by Rod Rosenstein. And, Judge Kavanaugh absolutely refuses to recuse himself should any pending civil or criminal complaint come before the Supreme Court. In other words, this Judge could very well be Mr. Trump's get out of jail free card.
And if THAT does not unsettle you in the slightest, then nothing will. My point here is that we do not know who wrote the letter, and personally I could not care less, especially given the absence of heroism. In fact, while I am not wont to embrace conspiracies, Mr. Trump has a record of writing the media in order to portray himself in the best possible light during his business career. For all we know, Mr. Trump directed several within his administration to craft the letter to serve as yet, another diversion, taking our focus off of the Kavanaugh hearings, and placing it squarely where Mr. Trump likes attention placed the most: On himself!
Doc
Links of support will be placed later on as I am able to do so and will be in the first comment!
Link to essay submitted from somebody or a group within Mr. Trump's senior cabinet officials - as identified by the writer - arguing how they are heroes keeping Mr Trump in line. Just a daily watch of the news tells a different story.
https://www.nytimes.com/.../trump-white-house-anonymous...
Sunday, September 09, 2018
Monday Morning Smile
From Facebook User Tom Adelsbach
September 3 at 12:46 PM
BREAKING: the Donald Trump animatronic in Walt Disney World's Hall of Presidents attraction, was vandalized today - in front of a shocked audience.
Thursday, September 06, 2018
Beauty
"Beauty is the only thing that time cannot harm. Philosophies fall away like sand, creeds follow one another, but what is beautiful is a joy for all seasons, a possession for all eternity."
- Oscar Wilde
- Oscar Wilde
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