Saturday, August 31, 2019

Trump's Art of the 'No-Deal' is Devastating Our Economy

Good Day World!

The trade war with China is personal to Trump. 

Despite constant warnings from nearly every economist and corporate CEO in the nation that his tariffs are hurting American consumers, Trump's plowing foreword in the belief it will get him re-elected.

Not in the belief that it'll really be good for all Americans.

The narcissist-in-charge has had one mission since he was sworn into office: to get re-elected, regardless of the cost to the average American.

We're seeing this play out in dramatic fashion with 14 more months left before the elections. 

In his recent unraveling before the media and on Twitter, Trump waffled back and forth on issues, made 180 turns in the same day, and spewed easily recognizable lies without fear of being called out by "his team" in the Senate, led by Moscow Mitch.

Despite the diversions Trump has come up with this week in a new display of cruelty for immigrant children after hearing about declining support in the polls, he's faced with a growing reality; the good economy that he inherited off of the Obama Administration is showing signs of stress.

Related: Dow On Track For Second-Worst Month of the Year  

Related: Tariffs Are Hurting The Company That Makes Smith and Wesson Firearms

Related: Trump is Taking Us Back to Depression-Era Policy

Trump's base is cracking. Barely. But as the months pass how long can they support someone whose policies are crushing their livelihood?  

In particular the farmers that he always publicly praises as patriots for not complaining about the undo hardship his tariffs have cost them, are finding Trump's art-of-the-no-deal unpalatable.

Related: 'Your EPA Went Too Far': Farmers Hit Hard By Trump EPA's New Ethanol Rules Are Fuming  

Videos of Farmers Hurt By Trump Tariffs tell their story firsthand...

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

Friday, August 30, 2019

Top Trump Minion Pursuing Phony Allegations - Wants Obama Under Oath


                                         Good Day World!

One of Trump's top enablers, Lindsey Graham, plans on opening an investigation into unproven ties between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia.

One of his targets to interview is President Obama. 

Graham is also preparing to interview former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, former FBI Director James Comey, former CIA Director John Brenna, and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.

Like a good partisan toady, Graham claims there was a plot against Trump. His stated goal is to find out who told (and when and where) President Obama about the counterintelligence investigation into then-candidate Trump?

Graham needs to stop redefining actual history in order to protect the orange ape.

Here's Graham's answer on all three counts:

Moscow Mitch McConnell, along with other lawmakers, were briefed by the FBI on Russia's interference in the campaign in July of 2016, right in the thick of the election.

Graham can start his investigation with Moscow Mitch.

McConnell's response to the report was to warn the FBI not to release any of the information to the public. And yes, President Obama was aware of the report given to a selected group of lawmakers.

Those facts are being brushed aside by Graham to pursue a witch hunt to gin up Trump's extreme base. Not only is it wrong, it's treasonous.

Graham is not interested in pursuing the truth for the American people. This investigation is nothing more than a partisan attempt to get revenge, and to help re-elect Trump's fat, lying ass.

It's just a matter of time before Graham follows through with his threat.

I wonder how voters in South Carolina (Graham's state) are going to respond to this overt attempt at revenge? 

He's up for re-election in November 2020. 

We'll find out then.

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

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Trump Turns on His Propaganda Outlet: 'Fox Should Go All the Way LEFT'


                                        Good Day World!

H
ow badly have things gone for Trump lately?

Bad enough that he's attacking the TV station - Fox News - that has promoted his presidency since Day One. 


Frankly, I never thought I'd see the day. So what happened? Why is Donny dissing his biggest support network?


Trump's criticism of Fox News has been growing in the last few months. His ire at seeing Democrats given the chance to speak out started out as a camp fire and has since ignited into a wildfire of accusations.


Yesterday, Trump went off the rails again over a segment with Democratic National communications director Xochitl Hinojosa. 


"Just watched @FoxNews heavily promoting the Democrats though their DNC Communications Director, spewing out whatever she wanted with zero push back by anchor, @SandraSmithFox."


Trump has stepped up his attacks against Fox News personalities Donna Brazile, Juan Williams, and Shep Smith.

Trump's disappointment with his favorite propaganda outlet has been palpable: 


"The New @FoxNews is letting million of GREAT people down! We have to start looking for a new News Outlet, because Fox News isn't working for us anymore."


There's been a swinging door between the White House and Fox News since Trump was elected. What we've witnessed is Former WH Trump minions going to Fox News, and Fox employees going to the WH.


That seems to be changing, as Trump is increasingly going to the dark side as his critics and the courts close in on his corruption and high crimes.


I'm not saying Fox News has suddenly repented and is trying to be more balanced. The network's goal is to increase their audience by whatever means possible.


If that means interviewing Democrats, so be it. Fox still loves Trump however. Even when he attacks the network and it's stars. It was a deal bartered in hell and isn't easily broken.


Trump's anger with Fox is based upon what he sees as disloyalty. As Congress continues it's investigation into Trump's illegal activities - before and after the election - he's becoming increasingly unhinged.


His tweets made explicit Trump's long-held belief that Fox belongs to him and his supporters. Despite daily cheerleading from "Fox and Friends" in the morning all the way until "The Ingraham Angle" at night, he doesn't think that's a sufficient display of loyalty.

He knows that the world thinks he's a clown, as do the majority of Americans, but Trump doesn't care. His oversized ego overcomes facts. Trump the con man will do anything to promote his image with his base.

Anything.

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

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Trump's War With Reality: Everyone Can See The Emperor Has No Clothes


                                         Good Day World!

With the exception of his hardened base, everyone in America, and abroad, knows Trump, our wannabe Emperor, is a con man whose being exposed more every day.

The naked truth is he's demented, dangerous, and living in an alternate reality that is challenging the real world, truth, and facts.

Recent example:

From today's headlines - 39 of the Wackiest Lines From Trump's Freewheeling G-7 press conference 

Here's a running tab of Trump's lies since he's been in office from Politifact

It's nearly impossible for me to wrap my mind around the fact that not only do Americans think he's liar, and at least partly deranged, the rest of the world does too.

Watching how world leaders had to pamper Trump during the G-7 conference was instructive. They know his temper tantrums could literally rock economic havoc on their countries.

As far as the GOP majority senate under Moscow Mitch goes, it's been a case of lemmings ready to walk off a cliff for their crazed leader.

They know he has no clothes, but they fear a political backlash should they stand up to his insanity. The GOP senators have made their bed, and history will judge them for enabling the worst president this country has ever had.

Meanwhile, the American people are being held hostage with a moody, infantile con man who senses he's in trouble for the 2020 re-election and is doubling down on crazy in response.

Witnessing the damage he's wrought on our government and democratic values, is extremely hard. 

It's no wonder the number of people diagnosed with depression since Trump slung into office, has gone off the charts.

Here's an excellent article From Psychology Today about Pathocracy, which is about individuals like Trump with personality disorders who occupy positions of power. Find out why Pathocracy is arguably one of the biggest problems in the history of the human race.

The more the public knows about Trump's numerous disorders, the better the chance he'll lose the re-election. There's still plenty of sane people in America who never drank his Kool Aid.

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

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

G-7 Conference: No Tantrums Thanks to Babying Trump

Good Day World!

From the moment our commander-in-thief got out of his heavily armored car to be greeted by French President Macron, everyone walked on eggshells.

It was common knowledge the orange ape didn't even want to go, but his aides somehow convinced him he'd look bad if he didn't.

Yesterday all the heads of state gathered and attended a climate change forum. Except one. Baby Trump, who doesn't believe in it. 

His staff claimed he had another meeting scheduled at the time (a lie), and then Trump pretended to be surprised after he said he was on his way to the forum and a reporter pointed out the meeting was already over.

We can rule out the idea that Trump just had the climate meeting down on his schedule wrong. Why? Because the orange anus has a slew of advisers keeping track of where he is going and when. They never know when they're going to have to change his diaper. 

Baby Trump always has adults hovering in the background like servants, all trying to keep his day moving and trying to prevent him from stepping on his tiny dick too often.

It all boils down to Trump not wanting to be in a room of world leaders who are united on the global warming crisis. His childish rejection of facts and bullshit like China perpetrating a hoax against the world... is infantile.

Prior to the conference, the six world leaders agreed to babysit Donny and avoid provoking him with facts, while still trying to show a unified front. It wasn't easy.

I have to hand it to Macron; having Iran's ambassador a short way from the conference site caught some attention. Was Macron trying to get Trump to meet with him? Perhaps, but it was a good curve ball and sent a message to the rest of the world.

It must have been hard pandering to a 300-pound (his claim of 239 pounds is pure bullshit) clown who is also a dangerous narcissist.

Nothing much came from the meeting. No agreements signed. The only good thing was that Trump didn't start a war, or impose more tariffs on his allies... yet. The possibility always looms with the moron.

Going forward, Trump hinted he wanted to have the next G-7 conference at his golf resort in Miami. I think there's going to be a howl of protest coming from Congress and the Senate.

Trump's still under investigation for numerous violations of the emolument clause. Holding the 2020 G-7 Conference at his personal golf club and resort would be akin to pouring gasoline on the current investigations.

I doubt if Trump would even worry about that. His ego and stupidity knows no bounds. Someone give him a pacifier and maybe he'll go away.

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

Monday, August 26, 2019

Trump Hit Squad Discrediting Legitmate Journalists deemed 'Hostile' To Him

Good Day World!

The assault on America's mainstream media has entered a scary new phase.

Trump operatives have formed an organization that is devoted to publicizing damaging information about journalists who write anything negative about Trump.

Arthur Schwartz, a combative 47-year old conservative consultant and informal adviser to Trump Jr., is one of the main players in the campaign against Trump's detractors. 

It's the latest step in a long-running effort by Trump and his minions to undercut the influence of legitimate news reporting.

Trump's new hit squad has been busy compiling dossiers of potentially embarrassing social media posts and other public statements by hundreds of people who work at some of the country's most prominent news organizations.

This hit squad of alt-right wackos has already released information about journalists at CNN, The Washington Post and The New York Times.

The one thing the three outlets have in common is they have been publishing articles that the minions believe might harm Trump's re-election prospects.

The game plan is to intimidate journalists so much they're afraid to write news reports on Trump, or doing any commentaries that aren't praising the orange ape.

To that end this is what they've done thus far:

** Minions have closely examined more than a decade's worth of public posts and statements of targeted journalists.

** Thus far the hit squad has only released a fraction of what they claim to have compiled.

** The plan is to disclose more information as the 2020 election heats up.

** Now the really scary part; the minion's research was extended to members of the journalist's family who are active in politics, as well as liberal activists and other politically opponents of Trump.

This cowardly way of intimidating the press' 1st Amendment rights shows how far Trump's minions are willing to go with him.

As a retired journalist, I'm mad as hell about this increased attack on Americans 1st Amendment rights, which includes protecting the press.

Trump has proven no bar is too low for him to go in his quest for a second term. From Day One, he tried to delegitimize the free press with his "fake news" bullshit.

Not only do Americans have to be concerned about Russia, or other bad actors intervening again in our 2020 election, they also are going to have to sort out real news from the distractions created by Trump and his minions.

Footnote: Trump and WH staff claim they knew nothing about the hit squad (until an article on it appeared in the New York Times on 8/25) linking Trump Jr. to it. 

Anyone that believes that group of vipers in the WH must also believe Trump wrote The Art of the Deal.

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

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Conservative Backlash: Trump's Troubles Just Got Worse

Trump at G-7 Conference-World Leaders Try To keep him from having a temper tantrum.

                                          Good Day World!

Trump is a man on an island, and some conservative vultures sensing his growing weaknesses, are circling overhead... ready to pounce.

True conservatives never liked Trump. Mainstream conservative writers and columnists like George Will, Jonah Goldberg, Mark Steyn, and Michelle Malkin are horrified by the ballooning national debt.

Thus far, disgruntled conservatives have complained but taken no action against the "great divider" in the Oval Office. That's changed.

Enter Joe Walsh, a conservative radio show host and former Tea Party congressman from Illinois. He's decided to challenge Trump for the Republican ticket even though he knows the odds are against him. A formal announcement is expected soon. 
___________________

Update (8/25 9 a.m. PST): It's official - Joe Walsh Announces GOP Primary Challenge

___________________  

To make it real juicy, Walsh use to be a supporter of Trump. Unlike Bill Weld, who has already declared he's running against Trump, Walsh has the ammunition to rattle Trump and make his life harder.

Being a media-trained radio-show host has taught Walsh what it takes to get under a person's skin. To prove the point he's recruiting George Conway (husband of Kellyanne Conway and Trump's biggest supporter) to play a senior role in his campaign.

George Conway has become one of Trump's most vocal critics in the last couple of years, after initially supporting him. His attacks, alongside Walsh's, will be coming from a new direction against Trump... from the right.

To recap: Trump now has the world against him because of his tariff war with China, that could trigger a global recession. World leaders at the G-7 today are walking on eggshells trying to not trigger one of Trump's tantrums while attempting to solve global issues like climate warming.

At home, Trump's losing in every campaign poll against Democratic challengers - even in the Fox News polls, which really pisses him off.

Trump is facing a dozen investigations into everything from his finances to obstructing justice. Half of Congress is ready to begin an impeachment inquiry against him. 

This new challenge for Trump coming from a right-wing pundit with a big audience, might drive him over the deep end - after all, we're talking a thinning of his vaunted base.

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

Saturday, August 24, 2019

2020 Election: 6 States Give 'Faithless Electors' Power To Overrule Popular Vote


                                          Good Day World!

Thanks to a recent court ruling in Colorado the fate of 44 states popular vote is in jeopardy of giving one person the power to overturn the majority selection.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver opened Pandora's box four days ago by allowing state electors to vote anyway they want instead of backing the popular vote which has been commonplace in most states for over a century.

In essence the federal court gave the okay to create chaos by allowing a partisan elector to upend the majority of votes to favor the other party. 

It could also give that single elector the opportunity to decide a presidential election - if the popular vote results in an apparent Electoral College tie.

According to legal scholars the ruling was the first from a federal appeals court on the issue of faithless electors. It applies immediately to Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Kansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico.

I suspect there will be an appeal, but for now it's a done deal.

Right now there are 30 states which have laws that bind electors, requiring them to cast their votes for whichever candidate who won that state's popular vote.

The problem is the laws are weak, providing only nominal penalties for faithless electors who fail to conform to the popular vote.

After the 10th U.S. Circuit's decision, corrupt political operatives are going to have a new way to thwart the will of the people.

In conflict with Colorado's decision, Washington state's Supreme Court ruled electors have to go with the popular vote last May. 

But groups like "Equal Citizens" (who filed the case in Colorado) are encouraged by their initial success, and have already moved to challenge Washington state's recent ruling.

Depending on the push back from states, the whole issue might end up in the Supreme Court. If it does, there would still be time to make a ruling before the Electoral College meets in December 2020 to cast the formal vote for president.

Since when did Democracy mean the power of one - as opposed to the power of the majority? How can anyone seriously entertain the idea of giving one person that much power over our presidential elections?

We're getting closer every day to the most divisive election in American history. It could mean the end to our Constitution's guaranteed rights for citizens, and give rise to a totalitarian government under Trump if he wins.

Democracy as we've always known it, is at stake next year. Let's all hope the country survives the challenges ahead.

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

Friday, August 23, 2019

Trump May Be Crazy But He Stacked the Deck To Protect Himself

Good Day World!

To the most casual observer on the planet it's obvious that Trump's mental state has deteriorated rapidly in just the last week.

Even his most ardent supporters, Jared and Ivanka, have avoided the White House and reporters during his rant about American Jews being disloyal to Israel if they vote Democrat.

They know Trump is crazy and defending statements like that will take them down the rabbit hole with him. So they hide during times of crisis.

The Senate and the House are playing footsies with a demented narcissist to the determent of our Constitution and system of government. 

The scary thing is Trump keeps upping his game against our traditional allies, and cozying up to the dictators of the world.

After insulting Denmark - our longtime ally - when they weren't interested in selling their territory of Greenland to him, he turned around and spoke up for Russia suggesting they should be allowed to rejoin the G-7 (making it the G-8 again).

The odds of stopping Trump from creating crisis's here in America, and abroad, before next November are regrettably thin.

There's two options:

Enact the 25th Amendment, Section 4, which states; "The Vice President and either the Cabinet, or a body approved "by law" formed by Congress, to jointly agree that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office."

The Section 4 clause to the 25th Amendment was designed to deal with a situation where an incapacitated President couldn't tell Congress that the Vice President needed to act as president.

Being crazy would definitely qualify for being incapacitated. The problem is Trump has stacked the deck and there's no way his corrupt cabinet and vice president would consider defying him - even though they know he's not right in the head.

That just leaves impeachment. 

I suspect Democrats will open an inquiry into impeachment in September or October. The political tea leaves seem to be pointing that way as Pelosi is slowly giving in to pressure to endorse the move. 

I don't believe we have the luxury of waiting until next November to vote the Orange Anus out of office.

Who knows what he's going to do tomorrow? Or next week? Or next month? Will we be in a dirty war in the middle east? There's too many mind-boggling scenarios to even think about.

Trump has been like a tick in the nation's dark underbelly of White Supremacists and racists which he knows are his base.  

However, ticks can be extracted with a twist, and pulled out.

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

Thursday, August 22, 2019

A Good Laugh and a Warning: Trump Claims to be 'The Chosen One'

Good Day World!

Being a king wasn't good enough for Trump. 

After nearly three years of royal decrees he's decided it's time to elevate his ambition and go for the "God thing.

In a scrum with reporters yesterday he declared himself to be the "chosen one," and the only one who could bring China to it's knees economically. He believes that.

Egged on by hard-right Jewish activists in Israel, and conspiracy nuts lately, Trump is letting their praise for him go right to his tiny birdbrain. 

This latest act of idiocy was spawned by an alt-right organ called Newsmax which claimed that Israeli Jews see Trump as "the second coming of God" and that "American Jews who don't support him don't even know what they're doing."

The last thing you want to tell a narcissist like Trump is that he's God. The public has been witnessing his dissent into dementia with trepidation.

As his actions become increasingly erratic (saying one thing and doing another), no one is putting the breaks on his slide into irreversible madness. GOP senators who have been enabling him are starting to have second thoughts, but are too cowardly to act on them.

Trump has always claimed only he can fix things that others couldn't. He tells whoever listens that he's a stable genius and a very smart guy because he has an uncle who is a college professor and it's in his blood(?). 

Hard-line Jews in Israel have been comparing him to King David since he moved the American Embassy into Jerusalem. 

So have hard-right Evangelicals. So, I guess this next step - being God - was the natural follow-up for those loons who follow him.

Meanwhile, the majority of Americans aren't quite so gullible (I'm being nice here). The idea of Trump being God has brought out the pundits, editorial cartoonists, and memes in a flood of ridicule.

I doubt however, that the push back bothers Trump who has at least one foot in an alternate universe.

Time for me to walk down the road...

The Day a Journalistic Icon Resigned in Disgrace: Dan Rather Interview Set for Sunday

It's been nearly two decades since journalistic icon Dan Rather resigned from CBS after reporting a discredited story about then-Presid...