Saturday, October 21, 2017

The Day I Realized John Kelly Wasn't The Only Adult In The White House

Good Day World!

That does it!

I thought there was at least one adult in the West Wing.

Looks like I was wrong.

You know I'm not talking about Trump. Everyone on the planet knows he's just a mean man-child by now.

I'm talking about the WH Chief of Staff, John Kelly.

As a Vietnam veteran, I listened to him when he gave that emotional speech about our military dead and he really had me going after hearing that part of him walking through Arlington Cemetery to be with "his friends."

When he made the accusation about Representative Frederica S. Wilson making a speech where she glorified herself and not the two FBI agents the dedication ceremony was about...I hesitated.

Somehow that story, injected between the patriotic platitudes, didn't sound quite right. Why would he even bring it up, I wondered?

 The answer came later that day, and the next. The story was bullshit. Certified grade A cow paddy!

A video emerged of her 9-minute speech and proved he made the story up. But why? 

That's when I realized there were no adults in the West Wing. He lied to cover up for Trump's bumbling phone call. He tried to turn the story into a partisan attack. To deflect the truth.

I have to admit I was disappointed. I wasn't surprised when Sarah Huckabee Sanders continued the farce and even got a cheap jab in herself.

This whole event stems from Trump's stupidity. As usual. The guy can't sound sincere for the life of him. He should of taken Kelly's advise and not even called.

But Trump doesn't like to take advise. So he called and upset the fallen soldier's widow. When confronted about his call he impulsively lied...it's second nature to the ex-reality star.

Trump kept up the spat this morning like the spiteful man-child he is. 

As long as everyone around Trump lies to please him we're going to have endless controversies. Like the last nine months.

Sad.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Friday, October 20, 2017

Strange Days: Dubya Dishes on Trump's Presidency

Good Day World!

It's one of those cold mornings where hot coffee seems like a gift from the gods.

I'm feeling reflective this morning.

I've been thinking back to when George W. Bush was president, and how much I loathed him and his war-mongering cronies.

Like cartoonist, and pundits, throughout his two-term debacle, I viewed the man as an idiot. He did little to dissuade me of that opinion during his time in the Oval Office.

But a strange thing happened.

Bush doesn't look that bad in retrospect, especially when compared to the psychopath we now have as president. At least he was able to use words with more than four-letters in them, unlike Trump.

Even stranger. Bush came out of wherever he's been hiding and made a rare speech. And what he said made sense!

“Bigotry seems emboldened,” Bush said in his opening remarks at the Bush Institute’s Spirit of Liberty event in New York City.

“Our politics seems more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and outright fabrication,” the former president told his audience.

But that's not all:

“We’ve seen our discourse degraded by casual cruelty,” he continued.

“At times, it could seem like the forces pulling us apart are stronger than the forces binding us together. Argument turns too easily into animosity. Disagreement escalates into dehumanization.”

Good grief! What's got into Georgie? I had to pinch myself to see if I was awake when I saw the video of him speaking.

Things are so chaotic in our society today that a once reviled former president sounds like Mahatma Gandhi. Imagine, Bush promoting peace and love?

Some pundits may point to this moment and say it's another sign the world is coming to an end.

I'm not sure about that. I can think of a lot of other signs that point to an impending collapse of our country, but not necessarily the world.

When that horrible final day does arrive, I doubt we'll get a warning.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Thursday, October 19, 2017

Addiction To Technology: Just The Way Designers Wanted It

Good Day World!

Here's a disturbing thought this morning; Americans are addicted to social media platforms and smartphones.

Addicted. That's a powerful word, but an accurate description of what's happened in America today.

Most of the tech insiders questioning today's attention economy/tech addiction are part of the last generation that can remember a world in which telephones were plugged into walls.

Nir Eyal, the author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products, has spent several years consulting for the tech industry, teaching techniques he developed by closely studying how the Silicon Valley giants operate.

"The technologies we use have turned into compulsions, if not full-on addictions," Eyal wrote.

“It’s the impulse to check a message notification. It’s the pull to visit YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter for just a few minutes, only to find yourself still tapping and scrolling an hour later.”

None of this is an accident, he writes. It is all “just as their designers intended.”

What concerns me is there's no apparent way to reverse this dangerous trend.

People are so addicted - and their attention is so distracted - in many cases that they get ran over by cars, fall into manholes, or walk off piers.

Driving a vehicle has taken on a new challenge in the 21st century; avoiding drivers that talk and text on hand-held devices while driving.

I read that many of those youngish designers are coming up with apps to help them stay off social platforms - especially Facebook. It's that bad.

We have turned into a nation of zombies, helplessly addicted to fake news, "Likes" on Facebook, and instant images of ourselves doing stupid things.

It's too late. There's no signs these addictive trends will let up as long as we fail to embrace what's happened in America. 

Time for me to walk on  down the road... 

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Trump's House of Lies Will Collapse When The Truth is Out

Good Day World!

I still can't figure out how Trump gets away with lying every day?

It's certainly no secret.

The whole world, not just the American people, knows he lies, and that he's in love with himself. Facts, for him, are like garlic to vampires, not enough to kill if one stays on the move.

Here's the latest roundup of lies from the AP Fact Check website. None of these lies, or the ones that preceded them, bother what Trump calls "his people."

Isn't that what Jim Jones called his followers?

There's never been a president of the United States who was a serial liar. None of Trump's predecessors were caught in blatant lies almost daily, refuting reality when confronted.

This is our 21st century reality; people are confused when confronted with fake news and facts. Many doubt the origin of facts, just to support a partisan worldview.

Trump's White House is a mockery of democracy. A shrine for right-wingers, neo-Nazis, KKK members, and ethically-challenged wack-a-loons.

The White House has transformed into The House of Lies. The Liar-in-Chief's agenda is crippling Americans health care, and numerous other programs designed to help the poor and middle class.

I'm waiting for truth to emerge triumphant over all of Trump's lies since he snuck into office with Russia's help. 

And, I'm waiting for the results of special prosecutor Mueller's investigation on Trump cronies colluding with Russia in the 2016 presidential elections, and Trump's attempts at obstructing justice.

Time for me to walk on down the road... 

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

McConnell Makes All-Time Creepiest Dummy List While Performing With Trump

Good Day World!

I'm adding Mitch McConnell to the list of the Top 10 Creepiest Ventriloquist Dummies of all time.

After watching Trump and Mitch hold a duel press conference yesterday to prove they can still work together, I was surprised that Mitch just didn't sit on Donny's lap.

At first he just parroted what Donny said and swiveled his thin neck around like a turtle trying to escape it's shell. Try to imagine how creepy that looked. 

You could tell it was uncomfortable for Mitch who never stopped blinking his eyes like a startled owl at high noon.

When Trump couldn't answer a question he turned to Mitch who gave short passionate responses that he thought Donny would like to hear.

I have to hand it to Donny, for a moron he does a pretty good imitation of a ventriloquist. Then again when you have a natural dummy like Mitch, it isn't all that hard.

Unlike in the movie "The Ventriloquist's Dummy (1945)" where Hugo the dummy watched his handler get carted away to the booby hatch in the end, Mitch hasn't gotten the pleasure of seeing his handler trotted off to an insane asylum...yet.

That doesn't mean we can't hope.

As for future performances by these two dummies it's just too hard to say.

Donny's moods change like a pregnant woman's craving for sardines on ice cream one day, and Buffalo Burgers with soy sauce, the next.

Let me also add that it wouldn't hurt the argument they both needed to be locked up if they would perform wearing the same outfit, and Mitch got a hair implant just like Donny's! 

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Monday, October 16, 2017

Trump's Revenge Against Obama and the Middle Class


                                                       Good Day World!

When you have an ego as big as Trump's, the better part of your life is spent getting revenge against anyone who has opposed, or mocked you.

Trump never got over being the butt of jokes by President Obama during a White House dinner. It permanently scared his already sensitive ego which has to be stroked daily by his minions.

Then there's Trump's billionaire buddies. We now see them scattered throughout the administration. They needed a voice in the White House. 

They are Trump's peers. He can't identify with the middle class and poor because he's been brought up to believe he's special. A one percenter.

I think it's obvious these two factors are what motivated him to run for president. Just look at what he's done to erase all evidence of the Obama administration.

Despite failing to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act with a Republican majority in Congress, he's plowed ahead and violated the Constitution again.

By signing an executive order that allows a backdoor attempt at selling private insurance he's sabotaged the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which is the law of the land.

When Trump was sworn in he gave an oath to uphold the Constitution, whose Article Two demands that the president “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.”  

When Trump signed his executive order on the ACA it directly collided with the “Take Care” clause in the Oath of Office.

I think that's pretty clear. 

By rolling a grenade into the ACA system he's going to undermine millions of Americans health care.

Instead of helping the majority of Americans get health care by continuing the subsidies to ACA, he's stopping them.

Just like that, in total defiance of the law. Trump desperately wanted some kind of victory because he's been unable to get any serious legislation passed in his 10 months of office.

It's a victory for Donny, and his mindless minions. Not the American people.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Sunday, October 15, 2017

The Religious Right's Hypocrisy is Nothing New

Good Day World!

I've heard a lot of people ask how Christians could possible back a misogynist, racist, narcissist, liar like Donald Trump?

First off, it helps to understand that the religious right was once referred to as the Moral Majority, despite being anywhere near honest (or with morals) about what they really stood for.

Discrimination. 

The first clue is that the majority of the religious right's members are white. Always have been. Resistance to racial integration helped unite conservative evangelicals in the 1960s.

They developed their own political agenda after losing a landmark court case - Green vs Kennedy. It ended the tax-exempt status for private Christian schools known as "Segregation Academies."

A myth then arose among the evangelicals that they were so morally outraged by the Roe vs Wade decision (which came after Green vs Kennedy) they resolved to organize and overthrow it. 

History refutes that myth. 

The fact is they organized to protect segregated schools, but it's leaders tweaked the evangelical movement's real purpose and seized upon abortion as it's main mission.

Back to Trump.

Hypocrisy meets hypocrisy, and there's a marriage made in hell between Trump and the white evangelical cult.

As long as Trump furthers their hypocritical aims he's going to get a pass on anything stupid, or mean, that he does to millions of Americans.

Time for me to walk on down the road...












  





It's Time to Pay Up Donnie!

It's looks like there will be some prime real estate going on the market soon in New York City. Convicted rapist and former president ...