Lost In America: Do You Feel Like a Stranger in a Strange Land?

Good Day World!

Do you ever get the feeling that you're a fish out of water? 

A stranger in a strange land? Left behind in the march of time?

Values. Ethics. Truth. Compassion. Morality. All are victims of the times we live in. 

In my youth, the office of the president was beyond reproach. Little boys and girls were told they could be the president of the United States if they worked hard.

After Nixon, the prestige of being the president was forever tarnished. I was forced to recognize reality. 

That revelation also came with the knowledge that America really needed to know more about its politicians to avoid repeats like Nixon in the Oval Office.

So what happened in 2016 when Trump slithered into office? Did the press go on a holiday? Were we so overwhelmed with fake news that logic no longer played a part in the choice for a new leader?

I wake up each morning hoping Trump's rise to power was all a bad dream. Reality slaps me in the face then. 

It's not just that we are living in the era of Trumpism that troubles me. The whole country seems to have broken up into principalities of partisanship. Compromise is now only a 20th century concept.

After 66 years, I find myself looking back and wondering if there were ever any good old days. It was more like the naive days when I think about what I didn't know.

My life education continues. I survived Vietnam. Numerous surgeries. Learned how to cope with my PTSD. In doing so I have come to the conclusion that youth is a big factor for feeling lost in America.

Age strips away illusions. It's harder to be optimistic when your life experiences have taught you to be wary. And that there is no free lunch.

George Bernard Shaw once said; "Youth is wasted upon the young."

One more thought from Curtis Tyrone Jones:

"Some situations are just like bad dreams, they're only unbearable while we're giving them our full attention."

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

I've Got The 21st Century Blues Full of Fake News and Views

                                   Good Day World!

"Find the sunshine leave the rain they say this town'll waste your mind
Must be right cause it's wasting mine. Some got to win some got to lose good time Charlies got the blues."

Waylon Jennings - Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues Lyrics  

The 21st Century isn't like what I thought it would be.
We have a demented president in our stressed-out country

No one seems to know what to do about the hate in the streets
No one wants to the the object of Donald Trump's tweets.

Oh! I've got the 21st Century blues 
just full of fake news and views

The 21st Century isn't like what I thought it would be
Friends, family and strangers just can't seem to agree.

Dreams of international peace have died
civilization's hope has been denied

Oh! I've got the 21st Century blues
just full of fake news and views

It's so hard to tell what is false and what's true
only common sense will get you through

Thinking about future dreams I had as a lad
and where we are now makes me sad

Oh! I've got the 21st Century Blues...

R.D. Stancliff

Trump's Bully Politics Are Popular With Republican Politicians

Good Day World!

If the president can get away with it...they can.

Republicans have found that Trump's bullying tactics work up to a point. Then there's a backlash.

The most recent example:

Rep. Jeff Duncan (R), attacked CNN for reporting on AG Jeff Session's failure to account for two meetings in 2016 with Russian Ambassador Kislyak while applying for his security clearance.

Duncan posted, "CNN's story was easily disproved within hours, and has since been removed from their website."

It didn't take CNN long to reply with a tweet, "No, Rep. Duncan...we did not retract or backtrack on our story. We stand by our reporting. Those are the facts.

So, once again facts have exposed another Republican bully trying to discredit the press.

Republicans have learned from experience by watching Trump's thug-like actions. Many of them have chosen to follow in his dirty footsteps.

Republican Greg Gianforte literally attacked a reporter, body slamming him, the day before the special election was held to see who would be the next senator from Montana.

Because the attack happened less that 24 hours before the polls opened, it didn't have that much of an impact. Almost two-thirds of the votes had already been mailed in. 

Gianforte won by a narrow margin because Montana has been Republican for over two decades. But his Democratic challenger Rob Quist came closer to defeating him than most experts thought he would.

Of course, Trump called him to congratulate him. I wonder if he sent Gianforte one of his old WWW belts?

Look what the Republicans have shoved through the House; a monstrosity that was meant to destroy Obamacare. It was such a perfect example of bullying the poor and middle class that Senate Republicans have been forced to rewrite it.

Apparently, there are still some Republicans that aren't buying the bully boy methods endorsed by Trump. 

How long can this bullying policy go on? Did Trump go too far in firing FBI Director James Comey?

Hopefully, we'll find the answers in the days and weeks ahead as several committees look into possible collusion between Trump's team and the Russians during the 2016 presidential election.

The main bully boy, Trump, is in for hard times as a special committee looks into the possibility of him obstructing justice by trying to bully intelligence officers into dropping the Russian probe.

One more thing. Trump's attempt at having a Muslim Travel Ban has been shot down by the courts. Again. The last recourse now is the Supreme Court.

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

Why We're Watching Chaos Devour America - And It Isn't Pretty

Good Day World!

Today, I'm going to attempt to explain why America is in political chaos.

For starters, our president is demented.

Experts have studied his speech from 30 years ago, and compared it to his speech today, discovering a startling fact - he's definitely showing signs of dementia.

Coupled with forgetfulness, and use of filler words and non-specific nouns point to mental deterioration, according to experts. 

Next.

Team Trump is under investigation for collusion with the Russians during the 2016 election.  

The fallout of the investigations is a lack of important legislation that the Republican Party had hoped to pursue with their dominance in Congress.

Instead, GOP members in the House and Senate are torn between slavishly following their leader,or jumping off the Trump train while there's still time. 

Most are afraid of him. Most don't like him. Most are concerned about getting negative feedback from being associated with Trump and his crazy tweets and conspiracy theories.

Next.

The only counterbalance to the chaos created by Donny, is the Democratic Party, which is unorganized and uninspired. 

The good news.

A grassroots movement to Resist Trump has sprung up since his election. We've seen hundreds of thousands of Americans marching in protest of Trump's policies since the second day after he assumed power.

The majority of Americans don't approve of Trump: the man, the king, and the con man. 

The bad news.

The loosely organized resistance to Trump's reign hasn't produced fresh new leaders with a vision. No great leaders are emerging from the discontented masses.

Many Americans still believe Trump's claims about "fake news" despite facts that counter them. This "Tribalism" is the root of our political chaos.

In summary;

We've degenerated from die-hard political partisanship into full-scale tribalism. We're stuck. The era of Trump has descended upon us like a plague. 

We've all become mute witnesses to the fall of our once proud republic.

Sad.

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

Memorial Day 2017 - Remembering Fallen Comrades

Good Day World!

Here in America it's Memorial Day.

A day set aside to remember and honor military personnel who died in the service of their country, particularly those who died in battle or as a result of wounds sustained in battle.

I remember my comrades in battle who didn't come back from Vietnam alive. Boys. Mostly teenage boys like I was then.

I remember smoking - what we all agreed upon was - the best kick-ass weed ever. It made the stuff  we had in the states seem like oregano.

We'd pass joints under the Asian sky, dreaming of home, while privately afraid we'd die. Dark humor designed to hide our horror.

I still remember the one's who didn't come home. This bowl is for you bros...

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

He's Back! World Glad To See Trump Go Home

Good Day World!

Hold on a moment...I'm counting how many friends Trump made on his Magical Mystery Tour...

The answer is; zero.

Remember that King Salman of Saudi Arabia and Trump were already buddies putting together business deals. So he doesn't count.

So, what happened on Donny's Big Adventure? What deals were made? 

Pause. No diplomatic deals.

Signing a big arms contract between the Pentagon and Saudi Arabia, is hardly a diplomatic coup. We've been selling them, and other countries in the Middle East, arms for decades.

Trump wouldn't committee to the landmark agreement the U.S. has ready made during the Paris climate accord. He certainly didn't make any new friends at the G7 summit. 

One of Trump's favorite lackeys, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, went with him to the first stage of the tour; Saudi Arabia.

When he returned to the U.S. the next day he gleefully gloated that "There was not a single hint of a protester anywhere during the whole time we were there. Not one guy with a bad placard," to CNN.

Just to enlighten Wilbur, I would like to point out that protesters in Saudi Arabia lose their heads. Hence, no one protests.

Too bad Wilbur didn't stay with the Trump troop through the rest of the trip. 

From Tel Aviv to Taormina, protesters took to the streets as Trump stomped through their countries, shoving and name-calling.

Now that he's back, watch the spin on Donny's first foreign adventure.

Read some headlines in the newspapers today. 

You'll see an entirely different account of the tour from conservative sources - such as Fox and Friends - who will be gushing about Donny's statesmanship.

Meanwhile, Donny has to face the music here. The Russia probe is expanding, and not going away.

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

Being A Parent of a Correctional Officer Means Waiting For That Bad Phone Call

Photo: Eli Stancliff posing with his Gold Medal from last years National Law Enforcement Games.

Good Day World!

My youngest son, Eli, is a Correctional Officer at Pelican Bay Prison in Crescent City, California.

It's the home of the baddest of the bad in California's penal system. So-called "Shot callers," or crime bosses, plot crimes from their cells.

You may have recently read about the riot there. Large groups of prisoners overran a small group of officers in the day yard.

My son was one of the responding officers. During the brawl he was instructed to save a prisoner's life - he'd been shot in the face.

Luckily Eli didn't sustain any injuries. What he did do, at his first chance, was to call his mother, and I, to reassure us.

"I'm okay, " he said. That was all we wanted to know. He told us before it even hit the news. He knew what both of our greatest fear was...getting that phone call.

You know the one I mean. Where a stranger calls you and tells you your son has been killed. The one you've had nightmares about throughout the years that your child has been working in a dangerous profession.

Police Officer, correctional officer, a fireman, a soldier, a sailor, coast guard, and many more professions bring that fear your child is going to lose his/hers life in the course of doing their duty.

In every case, the parents must reconcile themselves to the fact that someday they could get that phone call. Until then, we parents must go on with life and it's many challenges.

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

How Long Will The Lord of Lies Lead America?

Good Day World!

Behold! We have the King of Asses, leading us and dividing us.

Alexander Hamilton wrote in the Federalist Papers:

“The person of the king of Great Britain is sacred and inviolable; there is no constitutional tribunal to which he is amenable; no punishment to which he can be subjected without involving the crisis of a national revolution."

That's why The United States of America has a Constitution, to protect us from anyone trying to rule like a king.

By ignoring the emoluments clause of the Constitution which bars the president from accepting payments from foreigners, Trump acts as a king, as if there is “no punishment to which he can be subjected without involving the crisis of a national revolution.”

I think Trump needs to look at his job description closer.

He'll find Impeachment is written into it. Trump is subject, not superior to, the law, according to the Constitution.

The Founding Fathers wanted to make sure someone like Trump could "be held liable, tried, and, upon conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes or misdemeanors, removed from office; and after that they would still be libel to prosecution and punishment in the ordinary course of law."

Trump's disdain for our laws is already legendary, as he goes after judges like they're mindless vassals in his kingdom.

A week doesn't go by when Trump claims he can do anything he wants. 

Whether it's giving away U.S. espionage secrets in the Oval Office to the Russians, to forming meaningless commissions to investigate his version of voter fraud where he claims Clinton didn't win the popular vote.

He lies with the impunity of a King beholden to no one but himself. When no facts support his lies - like Obama bugging him in Trump tower - he just moves ahead with more lies.

During his campaign Trump told his supporters that he would rule like a CEO, and they'd all benefit from his enormous experience.

That certainly isn't what the rest of the world sees. Some countries are now leery of Trump's ability to keep his big mouth shut when it comes to state secrets.

His imperial ways will only take him so far. Shoving another Head-Of-State aside for a NATO photo op, Trump displayed his blundering lack of tact and statesmanship while in Brussels.

His lies will eventually end his reign when he's convicted of obstruction of justice in the course of the intelligence probe centering in on his ties with Russia.

He is the Lord of Lies. 

He is NOT a legitimate president, but one whose election campaign was aided by our greatest enemy in the world, Russia.

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

Drain What Swamp? The One In Washington Has More Players Than Ever Before

Good Day World!

Can you still hear the chants, "Drain the swamp! Drain the swamp!" 

Trump supporters were thrilled that he was going to clean up Washington.

Fact.

Not one of Trump's transition team signed a pledge not to take a lobbying job.

That happened despite the fact that Trump instituted a "rule" to prevent anyone who held an office in his transition or administration into taking a lobbying job.

Supposedly Trump was draining the swamp. It's more like he's stocked the swamp with his own creatures:

From Politico:

Three months after Trump moved into the White House, at least nine people who worked on his transition have registered as lobbyists, highlighting holes in the president’s pledge to keep people from cashing in on government service.

Many are registered to lobby the same agencies or on the same issues they worked on during the transition, a POLITICO review of lobbying disclosures found.

Many are registered to lobby the same agencies or on the same issues they worked on during the transition, a POLITICO review of lobbying disclosures found:

A former "sherpa" who helped to guide Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos through the Senate confirmation process is now registered to lobby her department. 

The former head of the transition's tax policy team has returned to his old company to lobby Congress on tax reform. One ex-member of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative team is now registered as part of a team lobbying on behalf of a major steelmaker."

If there's a bright side to Trump's blatant corruption it's playing itself out in the investigation of his team's collusion with Russia, and his own attempts to obstruct justice.

We can only hope real justice will be served.

Time for me to walk on down the road..

There's A Special Place in Hell for Trumpies Who Use Fake News To Deflect Trump Campaign Revelations

Fake News, like the meme above, is being used to deflect from the current investigations on the Trump campaign staff's ties with Russia.  

                                       Good Day World!

Two grieving parents took legal action against crazies who have spun a conspiracy tale over their son's tragic murder.

When more shocking revelations were coming out daily about Trump's campaign staff colluding with the Russians, Trumpies were desperate to change the conversation.

It was time for Fake News, or Faux News.

Enter the ultimate crazy, Newt Gingrich. The man with no shame to his game, has been pushing the idea that DNC staffer Seth Rich, who was shot and killed last summer in Washington, D.C., was murdered as part of a WikiLeaks-related conspiracy.

He even called for an investigation into the matter. A favorite Trumpie ploy these days.

His sources were hardly credible...Breitbart and InfoWars.

Gingrich told Fox News, "We have this very strange story of this young man who worked for the Democratic National Committee who apparently was assassinated at 4 in the morning, having given WikiLeaks something like 53,000 emails and 17,000 attachments."

Rod Wheeler, a private investigator who was hired by Ed Butowsky, a Dallas financier and Fox News guest, claimed that the FBI took Rich's computer which had proof of communications with WikiLeaks. 

Of course that statement was a lie, and has been debunked, by Seth Rich's parents who asked Wheeler to stop spreading the false accounts via a cease-and-desist letter.

Wheeler quickly walked back his claims, saying in an interview with CNN that he had only heard that information from a reporter at Fox News.

Speaking of Fox News...

Sean Hannity is still spreading this fake theory along with the hashtag #SethRich to his nearly 2.5 million followers despite the fact that Fox has retracted the story.

Once again Trumpies are gambling that enough people will believe their lies, and it will hinder official investigations into their leader's (and minions) connections to Russia during the elections.

There really should be a special place in hell for treasonous liars trying to subvert our democracy.

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

As Trump Tramps Through 9-Day Magical Mystery Tour Lots Of Bad Things Are Happening At Home

Roll up
They've got everything you need
Roll up for the Mystery Tour
Roll up
Satisfaction guaranteed
Roll up for the Mystery Tour
-The Beatles

                                          Good Day World!

While Trump is seeking to broker an ultimate peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, his minions are busy at home working on a plan to take away health care for millions of Americans.

Right now the entire world looks beautiful to North Korea's dictator Kim Jong Un, who has been busy launching test missiles while Trump stumbles through a nine-day Magical Mystery Tour where he intends to woe the world (and get lot's of business for the Trump clan).

While Trump and his staff danced the sword dance with their Saudi pals, one of his top health care officials has been caught offering insurance companies a quid pro quo to get their support for Trumpcare. 

While Trump was Tramping around Israel, the White House was busy giving a new cover story for why Trump fired FBI Director James Comey.

Trump's appointees are busy screwing the poor and helping the wealthy here at home. With punks like ex-Tea Party member, Mike Mulvaney, as Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the new budget is sure to turn out badly for the majority of Americans. 

Big Chemical companies are thrilled with the appointment of Sonny Perdue as Secretary of Agriculture. The new Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, is paving the way to corruption and collusion with corporate companies.

Trump's commerce secretary oversaw Russia deal at Bank of Cyprus

And the new Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVoss, has to have bodyguards with her when she visits public schools because she's so reviled in the education community.

I could go on, but you get the idea. Abroad, or at home, Trump's corruption is corroding our society, and the way the world looks at America today.

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