In The Eyes of Trump

Pandemic Diary - Day 206

Dear Diary,

It's in the eyes.

Madness. Lunacy. Obsession. 

We can see it in Trump's drive by photo-op (above) taken outside Walter Reed hospital, when he should have stayed inside instead of risking the lives of two secret service agents.

Anyone whose ever watched Stephen King's thriller, "It" (left) knows that look, and how a smile can mask evil intent.

One of the reasons Trump doesn't like wearing a mask is that he's an egomaniac who doesn't want to conceal his "beautiful" face, and because it puts too much emphasis on his shifty eyes.

It's common knowledge that a good con man doesn't let you look too deeply in his eyes which could give away his lies.

I've heard it said that a person's eyes are the gateway to their souls. Trump's eyes are the gateway to how he feels at any given moment.

Because Trump has the attention span of a gnat, his eyes rove around unbidden, taking in distractions like a toddler discovering the world.

In the eyes of Trump the world is his kingdom consisting of loyal subjects, or traitors to his cause.

Quote for the Day: "The face is a picture of the mind with the eyes as its interpreter." -Marcus Tullius Cicero

 

  

Trump's MAGA Reality Show Is Coming To An End

 

Pandemic Diary

Day 205

Dear Diary,

It was a surprising run.

Trump managed (barely) to stay in office for his full term. His greatest reality show, however, is in trouble.  

COVID-19 is closing the curtains on his presidential stage by following him around like a faithful dog...with rabies.

After denying how deadly, and prevalent, the pandemic is for eight months, it caught up to his fat ass...and bit him!

It's hard to have sympathy for such a deeply flawed human being who is himself unable to express any compassion or empathy.

So, I won't try to.

Moving on, the Trump disinformation campaign is slogging along in quicksand as conflicting reports about their supreme leader's health trickle in from Walter Reed Hospital where he's taking a vacation...oops! ... where he's valiantly fighting the deadly corona bug and kicking it's ass like no other corona patient has ever done... 

No one knows what to believe regarding Trump's health. The sloppy efforts at making him look like superman bounding over super spreader events, is comical... and sad.

Reality has caught him with Don the Con.

I think most Americans can see this, and would prefer to going back to the real world using science to combat COVID-19.

That means wearing masks and not pretending we've defeated the virus that's currently raging in over 32 states.

That means not lying about testing and data to hide the reality of the mounting causalities in our nation.

For the sake of our national health and democracy itself, we need Joe Biden to be the next president.

If you haven't registered to vote yet, please do. Your vote counts.

Quote for the Day: "The more real you get the more unreal the world gets." -John Lennon

In 2020, 30 Days Are An Eternity

Pandemic Diary

Day 204

Dear Diary,

A lot can happen in 30 days.

This year started off with Trump's impeachment, and it just kept getting more chaotic afterward.

Which brings us to October, the home stretch of a presidential election "like Americans have never seen before." 

When news started coming in on February that a deadly virus was coming from China, Trump ignored the healthcare expert's, and his DNI chief's advise, and played the pandemic down.

With seven million Americans infected with COVID-19 since February, and over 212,000 deaths, Trump's decision to prolong any action initially, has cost thousands of people to unnecessarily lose their lives.

In prior posts, I've documented major news events every month, every week, and every day of 2020. 

Some months felt like years with so many breaking news stories.

Everything from posts exposing Trump's taxes, to revelations from Bob Woodword's latest book "Rage," where he admitted (on tape) that he held back vital information to Americans because he didn't "want to panic them."

But it seems October has issued in another unwelcome surprise for our Divider-in-Chief; he caught the "corona bug" that he's been discounting throughout his historically nasty campaign to get re-elected.

It must have been pretty embarrassing catching a "Democratic hoax." 

Unless Trump dies (which is unlikely) the biggest story in November will be the election. 

We can count on Republican efforts to try and suppress votes through disinformation and intimidation, injecting chaos into the equation.

The question is, will Trump and his minions (along with Putin's assistance) prevail again? 

Or, have Americans learned their lesson about who Trump is, and vote for Biden in record-setting numbers?

Quote for the Day: "I'm still growing. I take each day, one day-at-a-time. I'm always thinking and dreaming. As long as this heart keeps beating, there will be new things coming along." -Roy Haynes

Super Spreader-in-Chief Screwed His Own Campaign

Pandemic Diary

Day 203

Dear Diary,

There's no delicate way to put it... Trump's re-election campaign has been derailed by his own stupidity.

The Trump train ran out of steam when he tested positive for COVID-19 two days ago.

His staff had to cancel his future in-person super spreader rallies in swing states with just 31 days left before the election.

White House officials were seen scrambling around in confusion Friday, as some chose to stay (wearing a mask) and others went home to either quarantine themselves, or to wait until it's safe to go back into the "people's house."

Trump's defiance, dating back to February, against wearing face masks - because they didn't appear to be a "good look" - is a chilling insight into the mind of a malicious narcissist. 

To illustrate how malicious he is we need look no further than what happened Wednesday night when he knew he tested positive for the coronavirus, but still attended an in-door super spreader fundraiser.

To be clear, Hope Hicks, his most trusted aide and White House communications official, may have spread the virus to him because she had tested positive the day before.

The fact is no one really knows, but it has since come out that people present at other Trump events, including the Rose Garden super spreader ceremony introducing Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, have had people who tested positive in recent days.

Face masks were nowhere to be seen at any of Trump's events, and there was certainly no attempts at social distancing at them.

Surprisingly, Trump hasn't been on Twitter since the shit storm happened, and his Karma caught up with him. Could be he feels too sick. There's no way of knowing because the White House communication staff is bunkering in and only dribbling out information on his condition.

One common theme is Trump's habit of being his own worst enemy during the campaign. 

His lies, lack of leadership, lack of morality, empathy, civility, humility, and underlying support for far-right extremists and conspiracy groups like QAnon, have destroyed any attempts to achieve the necessary credibility with most Americans to re-elect him.

Trump the showman is pulling down the curtains on his own reality show.

Quote for the Day: "The ego is the false self - born out of fear and defensiveness." -John O'Donohue

Trump's Army: Who are these People Ready To Defy Democracy?

 

Pandemic Diary

Day 202

Dear Diary,

One of the things that came out of the last presidential debate was that Trump is openly counting on white supremacists and militias to vote for him.

His pathetic attempts to clean up his coded comment to the Proud Boys (an extremist right-wing hate group) "Stand down. Stand by" was a chilling call to arms.

Unsurprisingly, the leader of the Proud Boys is also the head of a Pro-Trump grassroot organization to re-elect him.

Republicans and Democrats have roundly criticized Trump's inability to say anything negative about the violent fringe groups that are on the FBI's list of domestic terrorists.

FBI Director Wray recently testified under oath to Congress that white supremacists are the biggest domestic threat in the country today.

Unfortunately, the public has been getting a crash course on extremist groups with names like The Proud Boys; Patriots Front; Bugaloo Bois; QAnon; and Oath Keepers. 

It's fair to say that these groups, especially the Proud Boys, after Trump's coded message to them, all believe he supports them, and that they're willing to fight for him on the streets of America.

These groups all have one thing in common: they hate anyone that doesn't look like, and act like them. Another common theme is racism. 

The most dangerous of all the right wing groups are the militias. Every state has militia's dedicated to bringing down the current government and establishing their own racist rule. 

Because these paramilitary groups support chaos and anarchy, Trump's encouragement to riot if he loses the election is the signal they've all been waiting for.

Finally, who are these people that are so ready to destroy democracy and everything our Constitution stands for? A common denominator among militias is fear.

Fear that someone will come to take their guns away. Fear that people of other races are out to take over THEIR country. Fear that liberals will force them to stop marginalizing the LBGT community. Fear motivates their every decision.

As all Americans know by now, Trump has always, and will continue, to motivate people by the use of fear. He has that in common with authoritarian leaders worldwide.

Quote for the Day: "Fear cuts deeper than swords." -George R.R. Martin

Commission on Presidential Debates Should Be Ready for Trump Next Time

 

Pandemic Diary

Day 201

Dear Diary,

Short of putting a Hannibal Lecter style facemask on Trump when it's not his turn to speak, debate organizers had to come up with a way to muzzle him when he interrupts Biden, and the Moderator during the next debate.

No sane American wants to see another performance like the last debate.

It's going to take a long time for the rest of the world to stop laughing...and to stop worrying about about the fate of Democracy in America after that humiliating performance.

The debate event organizers should institute a "kill the mike policy" when Trump won't shut up in the next round. There's already talk of that and we should know the results tomorrow.

The commission is trying to ensure an "orderly discussion" for the next round. I wish them the best.

I realize Trump will just talk louder when he's disconnected. There's probably a good chance he'll throw one of his famous tantrums the first time the mike goes silent amid his ranting.

That's okay. Undecided voters won't have any trouble making up their minds after another disastrous debate displaying Trump's ignorance and blatant racism. If there are any undecided voters still wandering around in the hinterlands.

I suspect they're as rare as unicorns. 

It's sad that the only way to go forward is for the organizers to make necessary changes because Trump's camp would never allow any restrictions on his antics. That would be taking baby Donny's rattle away, and that'll never happen.

These are not normal times. Long-held traditions have been trashed. Morality and civility are just two of the causalities in our society during the Trump regime. 

Truth is the biggest causality as a president who lives in an alternate reality refuting facts from experts, whether scientists or doctors, squats in the Oval Office.

Trump the grifter pulled off a long con (with the help of the Russians) in 2016 that's nearly brought our republic to ruins in the short period of three years, and eight months. 

The Russians are back again, following Trump's lead to discredit our electoral process. The very foundation of a free nation is in jeopardy.

We must vote Trump out of office, and begin healing the country that he's divided so deeply. Vote for Joe Biden, and you'll be voting for America's future.

Quote for the Day: Authoritarian political ideologies have a vested interest in promoting fear, a sense of the imminence of take over by aliens and real diseases are useful materials." -Susan Sontag

Debate Analysis: The Most Disgusting and Embarrassing Moment in American History

Pandemic Diary

Day 200

Dear Diary,

Last night's presidential debate was a shit show.

There's no other way to put it. Trump went off the rails within moments of the first question. It was like watching a kindergartener debate with an adult.

What was supposed to be a debate was nothing more than a shouting match with Trump ignoring the rules of the debate his side had agreed upon. 

Watching Trump's orange makeup glisten under the hot lights highlighted the impression of a mad clown as he contorted his face in expressions of rage and constantly interrupted Biden.

There was no attempt to address any real issues on Trump's part. Instead he practiced being an asshole with Chris Christie's help prior to the debate. 

Last night was the super bowl of politics for Americans...and the world. It was also deeply embarrassing to watch. Our allies cringed. Our enemies celebrated. Our standing in the world community took another hit.

What all the viewers saw was a democracy in crisis. The polarization and division in this country was laid bare for all to see. It was obvious the incumbent president was crazy with desperation because he knows he's losing in all of the polls.

When the debacle finally came to a close one of the first questions to come up was, should the other two debates be canceled? The idea of seeing a repeat of last night was a popular concern.

I think they should go on however. People need to see Trump outside his protective bubble to understand how deeply stupid and evil the man is.

Quote for the Day: "There is one thing that has disappeared, not just from the U.S. but from the entire world, is the idea of ever being embarrassed by anything." -Fran Lebowitz

Stay Calm: Don't Play Trump's Game and Give Up Now

Pandemic Diary

Day 195

Dear Diary,

Election experts and lawyers saw it coming for months.

Republicans were filing lawsuits disenfranchising voters and suppressing their vote in so-called swing states. 

But what really worried them was Trump's assault against the United States Postal Service.

With 30-days to go before election day, Trump has managed to create voter confusion throughout the nation. States are fighting off Trump's attempts to slow down the USPS. Striking back, two federal judges ordered state ballots to be prioritized in November.

This insidious game is going to greater links every day, reflecting Trump's desperation. 

When FBI Director Wray testified there was no evidence of mass mail fraud or cheating anywhere in America, Trump exploded. 

His chief of staff (and professional ass wipe) Mark Meadows mocked Wray saying he couldn't find emails in his own FBI, let alone figure out whether there's any kind of voter fraud. It amazes me how low this idiot will go.

His complete lack of respect is par for the course for Trump lackeys. Speaking of lackeys, Trump had Barr look into an alleged mail fraud case based upon a suspicious circumstance where nine military ballots were found discarded in a northeastern Pennsylvania county.

It was apparent he was hoping for a major scandal but was sorely disappointed to hear the ballots were actually "incorrectly" tossed by as temporary seasonal independent contractor who started work sorting mail at the Elections Bureau. He threw out a small number of military and overseas ballots.

The county elections director found out what happened two days later, and had all the trash from the three-day period "placed in a dumpster and secured."  For the record, the temp lost his job.

The distractions don't stop there. Trump has thrown out the best scientists in the country and is telling America to ignore their expert advise and to just go about their business while the pandemic kills more than 1,000 Americans daily. 

Meanwhile he's shoving through a confirmation for a new Supreme Court justice before election day despite the majority of Americans (71 percent) who think the winner of the election should make that important pick. 

There's more distractions on the way. But, we can't let them take our eyes off the prize... a massive blue wave drowning out Trump and his minions. 

It'll cleanse our government, restore civility, sanity, traditions, broken laws, and the rest of the damage Trump's toxic regime has wrought upon this nation.

Quote for the Day: "There's a difference between playing and playing games. The former is an act of joy, the latter-an act." -Vera Nazarian

No More Pretense: Trump Intends To Destroy Democracy and Embrace Authoritarian Regime

Trump's most fervent dream is to be among the pantheon of former and current world dictators. He's counting on qualifying this November.

Pandemic Diary

Day 194

Dear Diary,

If you are living in America today, you're facing the biggest crisis to ever happen to the republic. America's fate will be decided on November 3rd... or not!

The founders of this country are turning over in their graves wondering how one con man can come so close to destroying everything they helped create - the United States of America. Equality for all. Justice for all. And, above all, making sure the nation never has a king (the equivalent of a dictator for life).

At this point in Trump's presidency, he feels empowered to violate laws and rules with impunity. No one has been able to stop him since he was impeached for seeking foreign help in an effort to discredit his political opponent Joe Biden. 

Trump didn't pull off this extraordinary coup against our democratic system alone. His enablers in the Republican-controlled Senate are complicit. Without those GOP senators help, we wouldn't be wondering if there's going to be a peaceful transition of power right now.

Because of a spineless senator majority, Americans are wondering if their mail-in votes will be counted. Republican propaganda and voter suppression efforts have caused confusion among voters in many states. With Trump mega donor Postmaster DeJoy in charge, the USPS (and Congress) has been fighting against efforts to slow down the system before election day.

This kind of blatant obstruction of the upcoming election tells me that Trump is confident he's going to get away with his power grab. As long as the jellyfish in the senate stick together he has a slim chance of doing just that.

It's not enough to just win this election. 

Democrats have to turn out at the polls, and the mail, in historic numbers. The landslide has to be so apparent in the first 48 hours it'll defuse the avalanche of lawsuits GOP operatives are going to launch. Trump has made it clear he's not going to accept Biden's win, possibly setting the stage for the ugliest court fights ever witnessed in our judicial systems.

Democracy is at stake. So are lives. American's are living during a pandemic without leadership. Instead, we have a corrupt president whose only goal is to get re-elected. His disbelief in science, and safety recommendations from the USAs most prestigious healthcare professionals, make him more dangerous.

Freedom in America faces its biggest challenge yet. Not from an outside enemy, but from within by a malicious narcissist and sociopath. 

The FBI and the Cyber and Infrastructure Security Agency are putting out public messages urging the public not to panic if they hear about election hacking. The larger goal is to explain why voters shouldn't believe disinformation about vote-stealing hacks if they see it. 

We've never encountered a president who wouldn't agree to a peaceful transition of power. We've never had a Congress with a bigger pack of ideological cowards who have repeatedly broken their oaths to defend Trump's predations on our Constitution.

The key to recovery is Americans turning out to vote in numbers never seen before. I'm talking such a powerful mandate that Trump's lies will shrivel in this winter of our discontent.

Quote for the Day: "Pretense cannot sustain blind power." -Dejan Stojanovic

Why Johnson/Grassley's Bombshell Revelation Was a Dud

Pandemic Diary

Day 193

Dear Diary,

There's two traitors nestled in the Senate who have been doing everything they could to discredit Trump's opponent Joe Biden for over a year. 

These snakes-in-the-grass are Sen. Chuck Grassley, and Sen. Ron Johnson.

Johnson has been exciting Trump's base for months now, teasing that his committee is going to expose Joe Biden's corrupt dealings with the Ukraine. 

The report, titled "Hunter Biden, Burisma and Corruption," was nothing more than a reprisal of years-old claims that were disproved numerous times. If the report was released to change minds of voters in the 11th hour...it failed miserably.

There was no evidence against Joe Biden of abusing his power to help his son Hunter. This bogus report compiled by two traitors was fueled in part by foreign actors linked to the Kremlin and whom U.S. officials said were interfering in the 2020 election.   

This blatant attempt to influence the election didn't go unnoticed after Johnson released his flawed bombshell revelation. 

Sens. Gary Peterson of Michigan and Ron Wyden of Oregon, accused Johnson of publicly hyping a damaging report on Joe Biden only to have to issue a report that included no such evidence.

What has emerged, at taxpayer expense, is Johnson's actions aided Putin's attack on American elections. What's more the two traitors were working with a Russian agent who was a pro-Russia Ukrainian lawmaker, Andriy Derkach. 

After the Treasury Department released evidence against Dekach the two slime bags pushed back and claimed ignorance. Personally, I agree...they were ignorant, but their actions were corrupt and meant to re-elect Trump.

After months of repeated lies designed to put heat on Biden, their feckless lies have been exposed to the public. Johnsons jaw-dropping claims that it wasn't a political investigation have dissolved under facts and evidence.

First and foremost Sen. Richard Burr - the former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committed - met privately with Johnson last year and warned him his probe could aid Russia's election-meddling efforts. As history shows, Johnson chose to ignore him. We now know why.

Quotes for the Day: "Truth cannot be constructed. To live in ideology is, as Havel so eloquently reminds us, inevitably to live in a lie. Truth can be revealed. We cannot be creators, only receptors." -James W. Sire

Trump's Alternate Universe: Red States, Blue States, White States, Black States and Gray States Too!

Pandemic Diary

Day 192

Dear Diary,

Back in 2018 Stephen Colbert came up with a funny book about Trump that helped raise funds for disaster victims of Hurricane Florence.

The title was "Whose Boat is this boat?" It was comprised of Trump quotes and Colbert boasted it was "perfect for young readers and presidents."

The book's publisher, Simon and Schuster, put out a press release that really cracked me up; "Research suggests this will be the first children's book ever published that demonstrates what not to say after a natural disaster."

Flashback to the present.

Trump has upped the odds from being befuddled by a natural disaster. He's currently dividing up the country into blue states and red states. It's his version of the Civil War and his mindless minions are buying in.

In his alternate reality Trump has been carving up the US into sections that will vote for him. Race is a major factor in the process as he tries to scare white suburban women into voting for him by claiming "coloreds" will move into their neighborhoods and rape and pillage them. 

It gets even simpler. Trump's white states, that can also be Confederacy gray, can be counted on to follow him off a slippery ramp to hell. Black states are bad because minorities are plentiful and they don't like Trump. But Trump's dialogue about red and blue states is particularly menacing.

It transforms two political parties - Democrats and Republicans - into active combatants that are more concerned with their ideologies than the wealth or health of the American people. Transforming cities into battlegrounds where protestors on both side of the spectrum endlessly attack each other is crippling our nation's ability to survive these chaotic times, and cling to democracy in a united nation.

Somewhere in the Oval Office as I write this, Trump has wooden building blocks with states names and colors on them.

It gets hard for even his own staff to watch him play with those blocks...sometimes throwing them across the room in a tantrum, and at other times stacking them up as high as he can before they fall. Squeals of delight usually ensure when that happens. 

Trump's minions, one and all, are happy to see him build a wall. Building blocks in the Oval Office are fine, or a few miles of real wall somewhere along the southern border...it doesn't matter. It's all about entertaining Donny...the man child.

Quote for the Day: "Some people's immaturity is intensified by their stupidity." -Mokokoma Mokhonoana