President Trump, Week 5

Here's another (astoundingly long) weekly list of incompetency coming from President Trump, and the White House, for the week beginning 2 PM, February 17th to 2 PM, February 24th.  This is likely not every one of the Trump team's transgressions, but it's most of them.

Another reminder - think five months back, if a Democratic Administration had done any of these things.  Everything on this list would've AT LEAST justified a scornful news conference.  Many would've automatically triggered official Congressional investigations, and some would've lead to impeachment proceedings.  To be fair, Republican politicians are currently running away frantically from their constituents at town hall meetings, so the little snowflakes are too scared to do anything, especially hold a Republican accountable.

This one's meaty, so let's take a bite!

• Trump allegedly screams at the CIA Director over news stories about certain intel being withheld from him due to his untrustworthiness
• The Trump Administration admits the story they initially labeled as false, using the National Guard as a Federal police force to round up undocumented citizens, was actually true
• Trump is mysteriously hesitant to stand up to Russia as it repeatedly tests our military and borders
• Decides to spend his 5th weekend in office at Mar-a-Lago, again
• Trump calls out specific media, labeling them the "enemy of the American people"
• Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn is in trouble again, this time for violating the Emoluments Clause, accepting an all expense paid dinner invite (flight included) to honor Vladimir Putin in Russia, and for talking money to appear on RT, Russia's english speaking pro-Putin news network
• A recording comes to light of then President Elect Trump in November vetting cabinet picks with party goers in an open party environment
• Republican Senator John McCain insists President Trump and his advisors are in disarray
• President Trump makes up another terrorist strike, this time one happening in Sweden
• President once again publicly shows the least amount of courtesy or respect for his wife
• At a campaign rally(?), Melania Trump starts by reciting the Lord's Prayer, a prayer which includes the line 'forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.' She then uses the rest of her speech to repeatedly attack the first family's perceived enemies
  
• Reince Priebus, the White House Chief of Staff, changes his story on the Trump/Russia Election 2016 connection from 'absolutely not,' to "as far as we know"
• A report surfaces that Trump and the Administration were thinking of trying to end US sanctions against Russia by blackmailing the Ukrainian President into ending his protest about his country being invaded
• As Trump's initial Unconstitutional Immigrant/Refugee/Muslim travel ban is tied up in court, he tried to install a new Unconstitutional Immigrant/Refugee/Muslim travel ban to replace the original one, only to have 2 Federal judges put a halt on that one too
• The Swedish government is, rightfully so, very disturbed and angry about President Trump's made up terrorist attack on their country, with their Embassy demanding answers to what the heck President Trump was talking about
• Personal trips for the Trump family during the first month of his Presidency cost the US taxpayers $11.3 million, almost the $12.1 million President Obama averaged PER YEAR in personal travel expenses
  
• Trump golfed for his third consecutive weekend, after complaining that President Obama golfed way too much during his Presidency.  Obama golfed only occasionally in his 8 year term
• Corey Lewandowski, a former Trump spokesperson who assaulted a female reporter and others during Trump's 2016 campaign, admits the voter fraud in New Hampshire President Trump insisted had happened, did not happen
• Trump insists there was zero contact between his Campaign/Administration and Russia, seeming to have forgotten about last weeks resignation of Michael Flynn for doing exactly that
• Trump Administration staffers, on damage control with world leaders after Trump made up a Swedish terrorist attack, tells world leaders to ignore what the President is saying
• US taxpayers paid for the Trump sons to travel to Dubai to open up a private business venture
• Due to Trump's Unconstitutional Immigrant/Refugee/Muslim travel ban, two lawyers in Houston, offering to help new arrivals, are arrested for doing so
  
• Trump's pick to be the Ambassador to New Zealand is a former nude model who has praised the torture technique of waterboarding
• Presidential adviser Steve Bannon undermines both Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson by insisting the US rejects and wants nothing to do with the European Union (EU)
• A nationwide attack on the American Jewish community, involving bomb threats and Jewish cemetery vandalization, counterpoints Trump's argument there isn't an anti-semitism problem in the USA
• Used a speech at the Museum of African American History, during Black History Month, to brag about winning South Carolina
• Has spent six days golfing in his first month in office
• Ivanka Trump apparently didn't pay taxes on her high end jewelry business
• In her lawsuit with the Daily Mail, Melania Trump drops the eyebrow raising reference of the First Lady position being a money making opportunity
• A White House spokesperson threatens massive recess appointments "if needed"
• Military bases are being forced to close day care facilities for military families due to Trump's Federal hiring freeze
• The White House lashes out at the Anne Frank Center, for their criticism of Trump's handling, and lackluster condemnation of, the escalating anti-semitism problem in the US
  
• Three times since the Trump Presidency began the Monuments on the National Mall have been vandalized.  I include this to remind people of how much grief the Republicans gave to President Obama for not having the National Monuments on the DC mall open during the Republican lead government shutdown.  He at least kept them clean
• Apparently, Trump did not consult with anyone in the Administration when it came to his decision to end support for the Middle East's two state strategy with Israel and Palestine
• Sweden is, justifiably, openly mocking Trump and the USA
• Spokesperson Stephen Miller appears to flash a 'White Power' hand gesture during a television appearance.  Where many people are quick to dismiss the allegation, it sure does look like a commonly used 'White Power' hand gesture.  As a veteran TV news person said to me, "it's pretty unbelievable someone would 'accidentally' or 'unintentionally' flash a recognizable version of a white power hand gesture."
  
• Trump administration admits their new travel ban will be identical to the Unconstitutional Immigrant/Refugee/Muslim travel ban currently being held up in court
• The Trump Administration breaks their promise and removes protections for transgender students in America, a move which will lead to violence and deaths
• E-mails that were intentionally not released until after his confirmation hearing show new EPA Chief Scott Pruitt worked tirelessly with the coal, gas, and oil industry to prevent any carbon regulation
• Trump announces he still plans on killing of the National Endowment for the Arts, PBS and National Public Radio
• A new report claims Trump needs constant praise from his staff
  
• Trump accuses the protesters at GOP town halls of being paid for plants
• It is confirmed: while Navy Seals were having to shoot their way out of a botched Yemen raid, a raid ordered by President Trump against recommendation from senior military staff, a raid where one Seal died and two were injured, a raid with numerous civilian casualties, and a raid which was so botched, the Yemeni Government has forbidden the US from conducting any further raids in their country, during that raid, President Trump was not in the situation room, rather he was tweeting about a personal appearance he was going to make on the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), a tweet which was erased at a later point
• One of the 6 people removed from the White House due to a failed FBI background check was Gerrit Lansing, the Chief Digital Officer, a position which he held for a month, a position Trump insisted would be handled more securely with his Administration, as opposed to Hillary Clinton 
• A senior advisor for President Trump calls a critic in South Carolina on a private cell phone, in an attempt to avoid detection, and threatens said critic
• Evidence comes to light of Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, being blackmailed by Ukrainian officials due to payments he received from pro-Russian Ukrainians 
• Trump calls for MORE nuclear weapons
• US Attorney General Jeff Sessions undoes the rules President Obama put into place about using for profit prisons, prisons which are far more expensive to the taxpayers and far less effective at treating inmates
• A report surfaces that an unknown member(s) of the Administration apparently tried to get the FBI to lie, in an attempt to knock down the continued news stories of a Trump/Russia connection
• White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer claims the Administration will crack down on legal, recreational marijuana use
• The TSA, following new rules from the White House, was ordered to check the paperwork and ID's of passengers on a domestic flight between San Francisco and New York...A DOMESTIC FLIGHT
• Trump claims he negotiated a billion dollar saving on the new Air Force One planes from Boeing, but the Air Force, the military agency in charge of the Air Force One planes, has no idea what savings he's talking about
• In an effort to make the President feel good about himself, the White House planted pro-Trump stories on Fox News and in Breitbart, you know: FAKE NEWS!
• It's now discovered the person who asked the head of the FBI to lie about the connection between Trump and Russia, in an effort to disparage media reports of the very real connection, was none other than White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus
• The Department of Education is starting to begin a major nationwide push for school vouchers, even as reports on the effectiveness of using vouchers shows they get far worse results than keeping the kids in traditional public education
  
• Trump's infrastructure plan is back to the drawing board after analysis of the plan has deemed the plan fraudulent; benefiting a handful of businessmen without delivering any descernable positive benefits for the American people
• At CPAC, Trump supporters were proudly and jubilantly waving the Russian flag
• Trump's early Friday morning tweets seem to strongly imply he is not contesting the truthfulness of the leaks pointing to a major Trump/Russia connection, rather he's far more bothered the information is being leaked
• Trump brags about a 6 block crowd warmly greeting him to CPAC, when photos of his arrival show a sparse crowd of 10-20 people in front of the building's entrance, and that's it
• Press Secretary Sean Spicer had a press briefing where he specifically omitted many credible news outlets, blacklisting them; the White House has deemed these specific media outlets "the enemy"
• After specifically calling out certain news outlets as the "enemy of the American people," Trump has a deranged CPAC speech where he both claims he never did so, and then immediately contradicts himself by saying he proudly did so
• Additionally during his CPAC speech, Trump promises his war with the media will get worse
• At CPAC, Betsy DeVos, the Secretary of Education and a billionaire, jokingly eludes to killing off the free lunch program for hungry children
  
• Trump insists the USA doesn't have a trade surplus with a SINGLE COUNTRY, when the USA actually has a trade surplus with about half of the world's countries
  

Sweet JESUS!  There is NO WAY I thought last week's list could be matched...

Some people might ask why I'm including stories of Melania, Ivanka and the rest of the Trump brood on this list.  The answer is a simple one.  The right NEVER failed to attack Michelle Obama at any point.  They loved insisting her garden at the White House was disgusting, or how Michelle wearing a sleeveless top was beneath the position of First Lady (DO I have some photos for you to see of the new First Lady), or how her initiative to have healthy school lunches was EVIL.  And when those weren't enough, the right consistently posted horrifically racist and bigoted memes about her, laughing uncontrollably to their loathsome and vulgar insults, until they were exposed, when they claimed 'it was taken out of context,' or how 'you guys can't take a joke!'

(for the record, I have ZERO problem with Melania having a career as a model.  I'm posting this to point out the GOP voter's never ending hypocrisy)

Forget about the OBSCENE amount of taxpayer dollars we are spending on housing and transporting this family of clowns, and forget about the clear conflict of interests the First Family is partaking in by using their elected government positions as a mechanism for personal profit.  These people are very criticizable for their level of buffoonery alone, the undeniable stain they're leveling on what is supposed to be the grandeur of American exceptionalism.  The Trump family makes the Bush Twin's and Billy Carter look like the Obama kids.  Considering how the right went after the Obamas and the Clintons, they're fair game.

The Friday Link for 2/24/17

Jim Gaffigan!  Why the heck not...

I'm one of the few people who remembers his first TV show attempt, the very funny 'Welcome to New York,' where he played a midwestern weatherman who gets hired to work on a New York City morning TV show.  I enjoyed it, but I think it got lost in the insanity that was the 2000 election aftermath and the Supreme Court nonsense afterwards.

I occasionally hear his early stuff on the Sirius/XM Comedy Channels.  He used more colorful language in the early days, but, as is the case of many performers, having kids seems to have cleaned up his act.  I'd describe his style as 'self criticizing everyman who has become a master at observational humor.'  He's funny, and he's one of the few comedians out there who really delivers in long comedy specials.  The latest on Netflix is quite good.

One of the reasons I really like him is he's part of a new Catholic Progressives movement.   Gaffigan is notoriously shy about politics in his act, but he was described as a Progressive Christian in an article in 2015, something he's shared more about in various interviews since then, albeit briefly.  Gaffigan, Colbert, Fugelsang...these guys are my heroes right now because they never shy away from being Catholic, but reject a far right Republican version of Christianity which doesn't resemble the faith they, and myself, hold dear to our hearts.  Feeding the hungry, treating the sick, giving shelter to the homeless, and welcoming in strangers from strange lands...those are supposed to be big elements of Christianity, and Catholic progressives get that.

For a Friday treat, here's what might be my favorite special he has done, Mr. Universe.  Enjoy!




If you liked this, try anything he's done.  You'll be happy.  Have a great weekend everyone!

Conversations with Trump Voters

The Wealthy:

Me - "Why did you vote for Donald Trump?"
Wealthy people - "Because he'll give me all of my money back!  I'll be able to live in the United States, basking in it's freedom, without having to pay a dime for such a luxury.  As a matter of fact, he'll actually funnel more money to me!  He's giving me, a billionaire, a paycheck to live in the USA, a paycheck funded with my own employees tax payer dollars.  He's doing this for no other reason outside of rewarding my wealth."
M - "I understand why you voted for him."

The Racist:

Me - "Why did you vote for Donald Trump?"
Racist - "I'm for white power.  I hate        (fill in this blank with any combination of people broken down by race, religion, gender, and/or sexual orientation)        .  With his track record, proposing to build a Mexican wall, preventing Muslims from coming here, disrespecting women, his long history of hating black people, and his plans to continue discrimination on the basis of sexual identity, Donald Trump clearly feels the same way I do."
M - "You are a horrible person.  You disgust me, but I understand why you voted for him."

The Rest:

Me - "Why did you vote for Donald Trump?"
Idiots - "I got tired of the Democrats not paying attention to the plight of regular everyday, white working class Americans."
M - "So you turned to a billionaire with zero working class, political or government experience; A man who inherited most of his wealth and has failed repeatedly over the years with his private businesses; A man who's undeniably racist, and who has surrounded himself with racists; A man who has clear ties to a foreign power who wants control of the USA; A man who has a history of sexually abusing women (by his own admission!), and a man who openly mocked a disabled reporter, something we all saw on film.  That was your choice over Hillary Clinton?"
I - "Hillary was just as crooked, if not more so!  Just look at Benghazi!"
M - "Investigated multiple times and found she did nothing wrong."
I - "The Clinton Foundation!"
M - "Also investigated multiple times, and never prosecuted."
I - "E-mails!"
M - "Also investigated multiple times by the FBI, not exactly her biggest supporters, and they determined there was nothing they could charge her with."
I - "...uhh...Pizzagate!"
M - "Now you're just being silly.  Tell me there was SOMETHING else going on here."
I - "The Democrats have stopped caring for the American worker."
M - "Considering Obama single handedly resurrected the jobs market in the US, and considering the Democrats were the ones who put forward a health care plan which prevented you from having to chose between death, bankruptcy, or both, that's just not true.  Plus, the Democrats have been the ones fighting for better wages and more benefits for the American worker.  And considering all Republican labor policy for the last 30 years has been undeniably geared towards taking away money, jobs and the rights of the American worker, that's a laughable justification for your Trump vote."
I - "Trump had a better policy platform!"
M - "What platform?  What policies?  Outside of a Mexican border wall and a Muslim roundup, both of which are undeniably racist (and foolish), he never shared ANY of his initiatives in detail prior to the election.  He said nothing!  Compare that to Hillary Clinton, whose webpage had a complete breakdown of policies and initiatives she'd try to implement.  He was only saying campaign slogans, with zero details.  You can't lean on his policies and platform being your justification when there weren't any."
I - "Well, the Democrats are against traditional values!"
M - "You voted for a guy who represents every bad character from both American History and The Bible!  He's a self admitted sexual deviant.  You're not going to convince me voting for a corrupt, self centered, mentally questionable, dark souled, disgusting money worshipper is somehow embodying traditional American and/or Christian values."
I - "FINE!  I just couldn't stand the idea of Hillary Clinton being my President, so there!"
M - "So instead, you went with an unqualified buffoon with no plan in place outside of giving billionaires your tax dollars and implementing a racist agenda.  You're an Idiot."

I've had that last conversation multiple times, in varying forms, over and over again since the election.  And it ALWAYS ends the same way...

President Trump, Week 4

Here's my (astoundingly long) weekly list of horrible things coming from President Trump and the White House for the week beginning 2 PM, February 10th to 2 PM, February 17th. This is, likely, not all of the Trump team's transgressions, but it's most of them.

(Notice his bulbous throat pouch!)

A reminder: if the letter next to the President's name was a 'D' instead of an 'R', all of these transgressions would've at least warranted a ridiculing press conference from the Republicans.  Most of them would've gotten their own committee hearing, and some of them would've warranted impeachment consideration.  But who am I fooling?  No Democrat would EVER come up with a list this bad for a YEAR in office, let alone for a week.  I'll elaborate more on that afterwards, but without further ado:

• Trump refuses to wear a translator earpiece for a speech from the Prime Minister of Japan, relying on hand gestures and cues from his aides in an attempt to react accordingly
• It's revealed President Tump doesn't know how to shake a person's hand
• Trump insists again New Hampshire would've voted for him if not for the illegal voters he says he has proof of, but refuses to release any information about
• In what is clearly the beginning of a major crackdown, he has US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) start rounding up undocumented people across the country, including Dreamers, a group of people he'd said he wouldn't deport
• He states he's most upset with Saturday Night Live (SNL) for having a woman playing his Press Secretary
• The White House Press Secretary makes up another massacre, this one in Atlanta 
  
• In a conversation with Senators, refers to Senator Elizabeth Warren a 'Pocahontas,' a derogatory reference to her ancestry, and ALL Native Americans.  He clearly said it in a demeaning and insulting manner
• Talks about passing a new Immigrant/Refugee/Muslim Ban through Executive Orders as a way to counter punch the Judical Branch's rulings agains his Unconstitutional Immigrant/Refugee/Muslim Ban
• Senator Franken reveals many Republican Senators do not feel Trump's mentally fit
• Trump accuses the media of bias because they're reporting on the trouble Ivanka's having with her product line, problems which were brought to light when Trump himself started commenting about them on Twitter
• Reports arise of President Trump having a VERY limited understanding of how the US government functions and operates
• Reports also arise of infighting within his Administration, going as far as saying most of them hate each other
• North Korea threatens the US and it's allies with a missile launch, but Trump continues to golf with Ernie Els
• The Department of Education removes a resource website for families who have a student with a disability, a website used regularly by families who have a student with a disability
• It's revealed the annual cost of housing Trump's wife, Melania, in New York City (reminder, there's a pretty fancy, tax payer paid for house set aside for her in Washington DC) will be greater than the entire annual budget of the National Endowment for the Arts
• Trump complained about the relatively few times President Obama golfed, but has already spent two of his first four weekends as President golfing
• The Department of Education released a statement where it had misspelled W.E.B. DuBois name, and the apology it released later also had a misspelled word in it.
• Trump's spokespeople continue to spread the voter fraud lie without any evidence voter fraud actually happened.  Trump lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by 2.9 million 
  
• Insisted a massive group of protesters at Mar-A-Lago were actually supporters
• On Lincoln's birthday, Trump and the GOP falsely attributed a quote to him
• There's a typo in Trump's official Inauguration photo/poster
• It took Trump four days to declare parts of tornado impacted Louisiana as official disaster areas
• Trump spokesperson insists Trump has done more in his first three weeks than most Presidents do in their entire term.  Laughably untrue.  Trump is trailing well behind what President Obama had accomplished by the same time in his first term.
• Trump thinks secure negotiations about a national security crisis is a round table discussion on the floor of a jam packed restaurant, with unscreened diners and employees all within listening and viewing distance of the negotiations
• While American and Japanese officials scrambled to deal with the North Korea crisis, Trump was posing for photos with the public.  The photos captured the official intelligence briefings, and were posted for the public to see on social media
  
• At Mar-A-Lago Resort, a regular citizen was able to approach the soldier carrying the nuclear launch codes (the nuclear football), struck up a conversation with him, and was able to photograph him.  The regular citizen posted the photograph on social media, identifying the person carrying the nuclear football, compromising his and this country's national security
  
• An official White House spokesperson threatens and bullies a member of the media, telling her the Tump Administration has "dossiers" on all White House reporters 
• Michael Flynn, the National Security Advisor, resigns.  He violated the Logan Act, contacting a foreign country while not having the authority to do so.  He broke the law multiple times and likely was compromised by Russia.  He also lied repeatedly about it
• Hours after the National Security Advisor resigns in scandal, the White House insists it's "old news," and asks why the media hasn't "moved on"
• It's learned during the national security crisis with North Korea, Trump stopped everything to attended a wedding reception at his resort Mar-A-Lago.  He said he specifically put aside a national security crisis, a direct threat to the United States, so he could reward his loyal private business customers
• Trump spokespeople insist Flynn had the full confidence of the President hours before he was forced to resign. They don't elaborate on this claim
• Trump spokespeople again insist New Hampshire would have been a Trump victory if not for thousands of illegal voters being bused in from Massachusetts.  Once again, they don't offer any proof of this claim
• A senior spokeswoman, KellyAnne Conway, retweeted a known white supremacist
• Flynn was not aware, as National Security Advisor, that US spy agencies regularly spy on foreign countries ambassadors, like the Russian ambassador whom Flynn called in December
• It's reported the Trump campaign was in "constant contact" with the Russian Intelligence agencies during the election
• Russian Intelligence, during the 2016 election, was bragging about the access they had to then candidate Trump
• Trump is furious that SNL portrayed Senior Advisor Steve Bannon as the anti-Christ, and the continued implication Bannon's actually the acting President
  
• While using the crumbling Oroville Dam as a springboard, Trump insists we need to fix our ailing infrastructure, but offers zero details on his plan to do so, nor does he offer any plans, short or long term, for fixing Oroville
• A report insists two of the most visible spokespeople in the White House Kellyanne Conway and Press Secretary Sean Spicer are actively working against each other
• Trump decided the US should no longer be a leader in world peace, officially abandoning the two state strategy with Israel and Palestine, opening the door to likely bloodshed
• A former advisor of Trumps brags to clients he has full access to Trump's twitter account
• When it's discovered a Russian spy ship is anchored off the US coast, Trump seems to know nothing about it, and has zero response for Russia's bold and threatening move
• Trump is asked about the recurring Russia problems at a news conference, smiles, says nothing and abruptly walks away
• Trump sends out a celebration tweet at the news Humana will leave the Affordable Care Act
• Trump's nominee for Labor Secretary, Puzder, withdraws from consideration after scrutiny of his anti-worker policies, and the allegations he abused his wife
• After being asked about the rise of anti-semitism in America, Trump ignores the question and talks only of the 306 electoral college votes he received
  
• Official FBI file on Trump from his days as a landlord discloses the doorman was ordered to quote African American people a rent that was double the rent quoted to whites
• The White House released plans for having a billionaire investigate the United States spy agencies to determine who is and who is not loyal to Trump (Trump the person, not who's loyal to the office of the President)
• Trump announces a month into his first term he will hold a campaign rally for election 2020
• As they wait for the Press Secretary, Bannon walks past the media and refers to them as the "Opposition Party."
• Trump publicly states his electoral college victory was the largest since Reagan.  His electoral college victory ranks 46th, behind all Presidents since Reagan, outside of George W. Bush.  When pointed out he wasn't close on this stat, he insists he was talking about Republicans only.  George HW Bush's electoral college margin was also well ahead of his.  Insists, "someone told me, I didn't know if it was true."
• Trump's claim he finished first in his class at Wharton is not true
• Calls a press conference.  For 77 minutes his main message is "I'm great, and the media is the worst thing ever!" He lies repeatedly during this train wreck of a news conference
• During his infamous news conference, asks an African American reporter to set up a meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus, implying a racist, 'all African Americans know each other' narrative 
• During his infamous news conference, verbally assaults and belittles a Jewish reporter who asked about the rise of anti-semitism in Trump's America 
• Adds that all anti-semitism in America is coming from his "opposition."
• During his infamous news conference, claims street drugs are cheaper than candy bars.  Unsure if Trump knows how much candy bars cost
• Trump's latest National Security Advisor candidate turns him down
• Trump's Defense Secretary contradicts Trump directly, says there is "No doubt" Russia threatened to hack the election
• Trump attempts to leave a bill signing ceremony without having signed the bill (you only had one job!)
• Trump doesn't seem to understand that both the US and most of the rest of the world's countries  record and release a transcript of all conversations they have with each other, especially when the United States President is involved
• Trump claimed Clinton gave Russia 20% of our uranium. That is false
• The Trump Winery has asked the Labor Department, for the second time in a year (!), to allow the winery to hire foreign workers with visas, as opposed to American workers.  The irony is lost on all involved
• It's revealed that along with the hundreds of millions of tax payer dollars it will cost to have a second White House in New York City for the First Family, the additional costs of transportation for the First Family, due to being in multiple locations, will also be hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars
  
• Due to failing to qualify for FBI security clearances, six White House staffers were dismissed AFTER having been given access to classified materials by the Trump Administration
• Has proposed using the National Guard as a nationwide police force to round up Immigrants, refugees and Muslims.  At first the White House denied the AP's story on this, but then admitted that had actually proposed this plan
• Demanded more fancy pens for bill signing ceremonies as he apparently had already given away all the ones the Administration began the term with, in less than one month

Let's just take Trump's 43rd or 44th worst discretion of the week; the Trump Winery trying to hire foreign workers.  Imagine what the reaction from the GOP would be if this was President Hillary Clinton trying to do this.  We'll put aside the context of Trump's entire message revolving around "America First," and his draconian immigration policy, AND his conflict of interest revolving on whether he actually divested himself from his personal businesses, and just focus on Trump's attempt to hire foreign workers with visas instead of American workers.

Republicans would be EXPLODING with outrage if this was 'Clinton Winery!' They'd be hammering their shoes on podiums, hosting red faced press conferences, and calling town halls to allow the unfettered anti-Hillary outrage to flow freely. Both Houses of Congress would begin multiple investigations into why Hillary HATES the American worker.  These 'investigations' would go on for years, with the GOP digging up every worker they could from 100 miles around the 'Clinton Winery' to testify about how 'they're just salt of the earth folks looking for a job, watching their hopes and dreams go to someone who likely is an anti-American terrorist.'  And without a doubt, a few Republicans would draw up the impeachment papers, leading to a long discussion about what would be the right punishment for such an Anti-Ameircan traitor.

Instead, the GOP averts their eyes and whispers, "nothing to see here..." Hell of a double standard the GOP has right now.

The Friday Link for 2/17/17

I have to make this quick tonight as illness has struck the McNeil abode.  NO!  I'm not using this as an excuse to go out and enjoy this shockingly warm evening...

Colbert's brilliant take on the Trump press conference from Thursday.  Enjoy!




Have a great weekend everyone!

What I Like...

I like warm days...just not when we're supposed to be coming out of the coldest days of winter.
I like wearing shorts...but I'm not supposed to be able to wear them in Minnesota, in February.
I like the heat of the sun...as long as it's not melting snow six weeks earlier than it's supposed to.
I like the growing grass...but I'm not supposed to mow in Minnesota in March and November.
I like the plants in Minnesota...some of which are no longer able to survive locally.
I like the wildlife of Minnesota...but some beloved species are leaving, while new unfamiliar ones arrive
I like taking a dip in a northern Minnesota lake...but we're not supposed to be able to do so in May.
I like swimming in Minnesota lakes...without wondering if the lake has a brain eating amoeba which has started to live in Minnesota due to the warmer water temperatures.
I like charismatic weather people...as long as they're not discounting reality to pander to the masses.
I like ice fishing...a season so short lately I've decided to stop buying new equipment
I like cross country skiing...but not having to drive three hours in February to do so.
I like flowers...even though the ones I grow are having a harder and harder time.
I like gardening...but I'm having a harder time figuring out when and what to plant.
I like a multi seasonal, diverse business community...not one which has been impacted by climate related setbacks, causing companies to layoff workers and close down shops.
I like to think there are mysteries on this planet still unanswered...but I also respect tens of thousands of scientists from all over the world, well over 97% of them, who have spent their lives studying in differing scientific fields, all coming to the same scientific outcomes, independently.
I like to think my political opponents are good people...but they're undeniably cheering on a cataclysmic, man-made change to this planet, changes which could end up dooming a majority of the population.
I like warm weather...but I'm not willing use a nice day as an excuse to ignore the undeniable anymore.
I like summer...and I like it being in summer.

21 + 3

On February 8th, The Star Tribune (to it's credit) published a letter to the editor which dismantled the paper for its wasted 2016 endorsement of MN-03 Representative Erik Paulsen, an endorsement which ran October 29th of last year.  You should read it.  It's a good laugh.

The Star Tribune endorsed Paulsen, with their argument being he's a moderate.  Why?  I'm guessing it has to do with two things: 1) Years ago, he threw his name onto an anti-human trafficking bill Senator Klobuchar put forward, quite literally the least he could do to qualify, albeit briefly, as bipartisan, and 2) Erik insists he's moderate, a lie, but that's good enough for the Star Tribune.  Paulsen's about as moderate as any member of the modern GOP.  They say they are, but when it comes time to vote, they always vote the way the party tells them to.  Afterwards, they chest bump, high five, and victory dance in the face of any Democrat they can find.  Moderate my ass.  Paulsen has been a right wing rubber stamp his entire Congressional career, and he's proud of it!

(Possible image of MN-03 Rep. Erik Paulsen, and friend)

The Republicans are able to reinvent themselves every election.  They swear they'll be bipartisan, work with the other side of the aisle, and build consensus with the opposition party, but when they get  to either St. Paul or Washington D.C., they swear a blood oath to never deviate from how they're told to vote by party leaders.  The last time you saw Republicans go against their party's wishes was 2008, when 6 Republicans DARED to help the DFL override Governor Tim Pawlenty's veto of the Transportation Bill.  It didn't matter that each of the 6 Republicans had VERY legit reasons to override the veto.  They became Republican persona non grata, with Pawlenty personally making sure all 6's political careers were ended by primarying them; labeling them traitors to the party, embracing far right alternates who made the GOP base swoon.  Fear of being primaried is why modern Republicans have no spine or soul.

But their undeniable lack of moderation doesn't stop Republicans from convincing the Star Tribune, or their voting base, they're salt of the earth, middle of the road politicians every election season.  For God's sake, Paulsen, a man who darkened Ashwin Madia's skin color in campaign literature to make him look 'blacker,' in an attempt to make voters scared of him, has used the anti-human trafficking bill as the centerpiece of his campaigns.  At some point you'd think he'd need to produce something else to justify his 'moderate' claim, but everyone just gives him the benefit of the doubt.

Compare that to the Democrats.  Paulsen's last challenger Terri Bonoff, was more Republican than Democrat, even sucker punching Governor Mark Dayton in 2015 by siding with the minority Republicans on bills which came straight from the deepest veins of tea party hysteria.  I guess you could call Terri Bonoff bipartisan, but when you constantly vote against your own party's best interests, it might be better to label you a Republican disguised as a Democrat.  How was her bipartisanship received?  Star Tribune clearly didn't see the facts, and the voting base in the MN-03 were convinced she was from the far left of the Democratic Party, a laughable comparison.

I guarantee, the Republicans in 2018 will frantically insist they hate Trump, always willing to work with the other side of the aisle.  Heck, things are already so bad for Trump they'll probably begin distancing themselves from their records in the Fall of this year.  And we haven't gotten to the removing of all government healthcare, the death of social security, the impending farming crisis with Trump's trade war, and the forsaking of the taconite industry in Northern Minnesota.

We've just begun a 21 month run, with a focused left; a left which is angry, active and engaged.  This unquenchable thirst for marches and protests, phone banks and grass roots campaigns makes me feel a lot better about fighting this modern Republican tyranny.

What I'm most concerned about is the three months following the 21; August, September and October of 2018.  Right now, the GOP is not only planning their 'we're really moderates' spin, they're also plotting on how to keep all non-Republican voters at home.  They could come up with another fake medical scare, like ebola from a few years back.  They could try to flood the market with entertainment stimulus, attacking you on all media platforms.  They could impose draconian voting regulations which make it difficult for anyone to vote.  They could create a fake attack or crisis to encourage your ambivalence.  It'll probably be a little bit of all of the above.

Keep some of your powder dry.  Don't let your fire burn off before the end game begins.  Save your most intense passion for the final three months of this election cycle.  Remind everyone Federal and Minnesota GOP'ers are not moderates.  Be prepared to pepper the media, reminding them of the right's voting records and Trump allegiance.  Show everyone the Republican's victory tweets and Facebook posts from the day after the election.  Show them the GOP's chest bumps, high fives and victory dances, the ones they displayed for the least popular legislation.  Lash them all to their voting record, and to Trump, and let them all go over the falls.  We can rest the day after we vote these clowns out of office, the day after the election on 2018.

Then we begin the fight to take back the White House in 2020.

President Trump, Week 3

Here's the list of things I managed to catch emanating from the swamp factory known as the White House from the last week, beginning at 2 PM, Friday, February 3rd to 2 PM on Friday, February 10th. These are (likely) not all of the Trump team's transgressions, but it's most of them.

Remeinder, most of these would have warranted an investigation if the letter next to the President's name was a 'D' instead of an 'R.'  A few of these should've justified calls for impeachment.  Instead, Republican politicians and Trump's supporters jam their fingers in their ears harder, close their eyelids tighter, and scream "NOTHING TO SEE HERE" louder.

On with the countdown!

• Trump's working to repeal most of Dodd/Frank, the legislation imposed in 2008 after Wall Street proved they can't regulate themselves, forcing the government to do so
• Turned off the recording equipment for his conversation with Russian Dictator Vladimir Putin, vowing to not release a transcript of the conversation
• Released a 10 year old video, insisting it was footage of the Yemen raid from a few weeks ago
• Refers to the Republican appointed judge who put a hold on his Unconstitutional Immigrant/Refugee/Muslim Ban as a "so called judge"
• Defends Evil Dictator Vladimir Putin by insisting America has got a lot of killers too, adding "You think our country is so innocent?"
• His Secretary of Defense openly threatens China
• Spokesperson lies, insisting she didn't make up a fake massacre (the Bowling Green Massacre), something she clearly did, multiple times with multiple news outlets
• Trump decided the investigation into voter fraud during the 2016 election is back on, insisting "It's really bad," even though he has yet to produce any of the proof he says he has
• Trump apparently was tricked into appointing Bannon to the National Security Council, not knowing what he was signing when it was put in front of him
• Trump threatens California, a US state, with "defunding"
• Report says Trump insists on treating the Presidency like a regular job, leaving the office at 6:30 PM every day to retire, watch TV and tweet.
• Insists every poll which has negative numbers for himself and his Administration is a "rigged" poll, implying every American approves of him
• The Administration is still unsure of how all the lights in the White House are operated
• Trump continues to insist his Unconstitutional Immigrant/Refugee/Muslim ban would've stopped 9/11, Orlando, Boston and San Bernardino, when it clearly wouldn't have
• Trump insists the media has purposely not covered many terrorist attacks; refuses to answer which ones when asked
• Releases a list of what Trump insists are terrorist attacks which went uncovered, a list of attacks which were covered extensively.  Also included on the list are non-terrorist crimes. This brought the justifiable ire of a British mother whose daughter was murdered in Australia, but was included in the White House's terror attack list
• Trump was apparently manipulated into approving the botched Yemen raid by advisors who goaded him, lying to the President by telling him President Obama was too afraid to authorize it
• White House spokespeople insist anyone who's calling to lodge a complaint or protest aren't "real people"
• The White House, via Vice President Mike Pence's tie breaking vote, approved Betsy DeVos, the most unqualified cabinet nominee ever, for Secretary of Education, proving a person can buy their way into the Trump Administration
• Threatens to 'destroy' a Texas politician who dared to propose rules which would prevent Sheriff Office's from seizing, and selling off, a person's private property prior to a guilty conviction being handed down...no REALLY!
• In another disastrous call to a foreign leader, Trump bad mouthed NATO to France's Prime Minister Hollande, asking for Hollande to send back the US's NATO dollars
• Because of the disastrous Yemen raid, Yemen will no longer allow US military incursions into their country
• Trump was apparently obsessing over the softness of the hand towels on Air Force One
• Has a tendency of calling people WHO ARE NOT EXPERTS, at all hours, to consult with them about basic government operation and governmental finances
• Insists the Dakota Access Pipeline was NEVER controversial 
• Via Twitter, attacks a private company, Nordstrom's Department Stores, for deciding to not carry his daughter Ivanka's private company's line of products
• Trump claims the murder rate has skyrocketed in the last 47 years.  It's actually down dramatically in that time frame
• Uses the term 'Easy D' in a tweet, not aware that 'Easy D' is an inappropriate term
• The Press Secretary is reckless with online media again, as he leaves another personal social media site, Venmo, open for the public to access
• Trump apparently tweeted his anger at Nordstrom's 21 minutes into his Daily Intelligence Briefing
• It's discovered a current high up White House insider wrote extremely anti-Jewish and Anti-Muslim articles, LAST YEAR, under a fake pseudonym 
• Administration members are breaking the law by openly pushing for people to buy Trump's daughter's product line
• Insists the nominees for his cabinet are "taking the longest ever" to be confirmed; it's nowhere near factually accurate 
• Wasn't familiar with the details of the US's nuclear agreement with Russia prior to discussing and commenting about it with Russia
• Trump removed the chief of network communications, digital online and data security and has yet to replace him
• Trump throws a very public Twitter temper tantrum when the 9th Circuit Court rules against reinstating his Unconstitutional Immigrant/Refugee/Muslim ban
• It's announced the wall on the Mexico border will actually cost, at it's cheapest, 21 Billion dollars, near double the $12 Billion Trump insisted it would cost
• Trump does an about face on his earlier comments about Taiwan, now endorsing the US's long standing One China policy
• National Security advisor Michael Flynn was discovered lying.  He'd lied about being in touch with Russia a month before Trump was sworn in, an illegal action, telling the Russians Trump would lift sanctions against Russia that then President Obama was putting into place in December, another illegal action.  Once again, what he did is extremely illegal, and he lied about it
• Much to Canada's horror, Trump has floated Sarah Palin as the Ambassador to Canada
• The Administration has scrubbed the USDA's website of all animal abuse and animal welfare records, refusing to comment on exactly why they did so
• Claims New York Times lied about his communications with China.  In the article Trump claimed had lies, the NY Times actually had stated the correct facts, but Trump stopped reading the article before getting to that point
• Openly threatens two senators who dared questions his botched, disastrous Yemen raid
• It's now known Michael Flynn, in December, openly lied to Vice President Pence, and had Pence in turn lie to the American people.  Flynn knew the Vice President was lying
• Backtracks on moving the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem

Looking back on the first three weeks, this is incredible.  The incompetence on display is beyond believability.  Yet, his supporters still think he's their savior.  Like I said, Idiots and Racists...

It was also revealed most of his meals since he entered office have been Big Macs and KFC served on a silver platter, something only white trash would think is high end.  Crap presented as a fine meal; there's no better analogy I can come up with for this whole fiasco.  President Trump is a national disgrace.

The Friday Link for 2/10/17

There was NEVER a doubt.  I've been waiting all week to start off this Friday's edition with the sheer brilliance of Melissa McCarthy as Sean Spicer.  Best impression since Tina Fey's Sarah Palin.  And that's including Larry David's Bernie Sanders.  PER-FEC-TION!




The other skit I'm linking to this weekend is one that makes my ancient Scottish blood proud.

***Warning, a lot of bad language.***

The Scots were the first to flip off Trump, and they did it so effectively, we all could learn from them. Full Frontal with Samantha Bee sent the incredibly funny Amy Hoggart (okay, I have a crush) to talk to the fine folks of my motherland.




Have a nice weekend, and pray President Idiot doesn't get us into a war while in-between tweets!  Dear Lord, is he a disaster.

Republicans Don't Care

Republican politicians don't care.  They just don't.  The only people they care about are the lobbyists and donors who bankroll their campaigns, whether direct or through 501c3's. That's it!  No one else.  They could care less about the people they represent.  They only worship the money they can raise, and the cush lobbying gig waiting for them when they retire.  They know if they do a good job representing the money, their wife, kids and grandkids will all get lobbying gigs too.  They don't care.

They don't care about the voters who voted for them.  When was the last time you saw a Republican politician, state or national, pass a bill where the common person was the sole beneficiary of the outcome of the legislation?  When?  It's been decades.  There might be a few constituent scraps in a bill, but Republican bills are primarily for corporations and the ultra wealthy.  Heck, in Minnesota they couldn't even give the unemployed Iron Range workers the money the state had set aside for extended unemployment assistance without giving a massive tax hand out to their corporate buddies first.  They do not care.

They sure as hell don't care about the people who vote Democrat.  All the phone calls made, all the protest marchers, all the screams; they ignore them all.  You are their enemy, and they want to hurt you.  They take pleasure in it.  If they could, Republicans would scream in your face, "You're house got destroyed in a natural disaster?  GOOD!  Serves you right for not voting for me.  I'm not going to get you the help you need, just lap up your tears!  Maybe next time you'll think before you vote!" They don't care!

They don't care about how the laws they pass will hurt hundreds of millions of Americans.  They don't care about the damage they can do to this country, and the Constitution, by forcing a megalomaniac's nefarious agenda on the masses.  They don't care about using Christianity as a thin veil for their very anti-Christian agenda.  They don't care about putting grossly incompetent, unqualified boobs into the highest seats of power in the United States.  They just do not care!

Even if we stay angry, stay focused, keep the fire burning, and vote them all out of office in 2018 and 2020, they'll never apologize, they'll never admit they were wrong, they'll never feel remorse, they'll never acknowledge their defeat.  They'll be like the villain in Scooby Doo.  "I would've gotten away with it, if not for those meddling voters!"  And they flip us off, as they take the company limo over to their new office they'll share with their spouse, their kids and their grandkids, all getting million dollar jobs, a thank you from the company they shoveled billions of taxpayer dollars into.

Republicans will never care.  That's why we have to, completely and absolutely.  For every negative force, there has to be a positive one.

That's why I care...

President Trump, Week 2

As promised, here's the weekly list of things President Trump and his staff did during his second week in office, things which, at best, should've drawn Congressional scrutiny; at worst, led to his worthless ass getting thrown out of the most powerful office on the planet.  This list runs from 2 PM, Friday, January 27th to 2 PM on Friday, February 3rd:

• Installed a Immigration/Refugee/Muslim ban under the false notion it would stop terrorists from coming into the United States
• Proudly stopped Syrian refugees from relocating from their war torn country to the safety of the United States, even after the refugees had gone through our long, extensive screening process
• Installed new Immigration laws without an implementation plan, guidance, rules or methodology
• Prevented legal US residents from returning back home
• Had TSA screeners ask about Trump loyalty before allowing people into the country.
• Placed a racist/white supremacist, Steve Bannon, his closest advisor, on the National Security Council
• Openly declaring war on the Judicial Branch and all Government agencies who dared stand up for the Constitution, which forbids many parts of his new Immigration/Refugee ban from being enforced
• It was discovered the Administration lied about the senior State Department Staff resigning.  The Trump White House fired them
• Has already filed to run in 2020, meaning he's already raking in campaign donations, money which is openly profiting his private business ventures
• The Administration continues its war with the media's factual reporting, calling for apologies and firings
• Mysteriously removed the Judicial Branch from the White House webpage, only to bring it back when people noticed
• Installed the insanely stupid "for each new regulation, two have to be rescinded" rule
• Press Secretary insists Trump was praised for omitting the Jewish people from his Holocaust remembrance
• Fired the temporary Attorney General for refusing to violate the Constitution by enforcing his Unconstitutional Immigration/Refugee/Muslim ban
• It's discovered most Governmental agency heads, Representatives and Senators were omitted from drafting Trump's Unconstitutional Immigration/Refugee/Muslim ban
• Goes around Senators and Representatives to draft the Unconstitutional Immigration/Refugee/Muslim ban with Congressional staffers. Orders them not to talk about it with their bosses
• His Nominee for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, is discovered plagiarizing her official Congressional questionnaire 
• Trump's first military action as President is a raid in Yemen, which was staged against the advice of senior military officials, led to one dead Navy Seal, multiple wounded Navy Seals, a dead 8 year old American girl, and varying reports of multiple civilian casualties, as the raid went poorly.
• Fires the head of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); replaces with a crony
• Orders a pipeline endangering Native American water supplies and land to move forward, ordering the Native American protesters moved.  This pipeline is being routed here because it was deemed too dangerous to be placed near non-Native American populations
• The Administration is exploring deporting legal immigrants who use the US's welfare system
• His Black History Month speech was primarily about him; implies Frederick Douglass is still alive (died in 1895)
• During his Black History Month speech, Trump criticizes CNN's coverage of him
• President Trump, after Mexico reiterated would not be paying for the border wall, threatens a military invasion of Mexico
• A 4 month old missed her scheduled heart surgery due to his Unconstitutional Immigration/Refugee/Muslim ban
• Administration once again threatens to boycott "non-friendly" media
• The President greatly damages the USA's relationship with Australia, when he insults and threatens them.  His excuse was he was cranky because he was tired
• With the Australian incident, it is discovered the White House is clearly editing the transcripts of the phone conversations with foreign leaders
• The Administration takes a pro pollution stance when it endorsed the House GOP's plans to allow coal mines to dump waste product directly into waterways
• Has endorsed removing the filibuster from the Senate, endorsing one party rule over the United States, with NO input from the minority party at all
• Wants to eliminate all gun free school zones, allowing people to wave guns in children's faces regardless of whether parents want the guns waived in their kid's faces.
• At a prayer breakfast, openly mocks and insults a reality TV show and its host
• Vows to destroy separation of church and state by removing the Johnson Amendment
• The Administration is openly lying about cancelling a scheduled event at the Milwaukee Harley Davidson plant
• Leaders at the Pentagon expressed strong concerns about his leadership ability
• The Trump Administration started to ease sanctions against Russia
• It's discovered Trump and Bannon themselves removed all references to the Jewish people from the Holocaust remembrance speech
• Administration spokesperson created a fake 'massacre' to justify the Unconstitutional Immigration/Refugee/Muslim ban
• The Administration is now backing away from the voter fraud investigation they insisted needed to happen, voter fraud they still insist happens, voter fraud they still insist they have overwhelming proof of, proof no one else has seen
• The former Prime Minister of Norway gets detained under the Unconstitutional Immigration/Refugee/Muslim ban
• The Administration purposely and specifically turned off the recording equipment when Trump talked to Russian's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
• The Administration states it will not even release a transcript of the conversation between Trump and Putin
• The Administration has decided to open a second official Presidential residence in New York City, a decision which will cost Americans hundred of millions of taxpayer dollars every year
• Trump tweets that Iran is "on notice." Doesn't explain what "on notice" means.  No one in his Administration can explain it either
• The Administration removes rules in place which force investment advisors from Investment firms/Banks to work in the best interest of their clients
• Was apparently in bed texting during the Yemen raid, not in the situation room getting briefed as American forces were put into harms way, in a raid he ordered, a raid which went horribly wrong

Well, that's a God awful list.  Can you imagine the apocalyptic diatribes coming from the Republicans if any of these would have been attempted by Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama or ANY Democrat?  Week two is in the books.  Off to document Week three...

For the record, I grew up in Rhode Island, so I love the Patriots, but I might root against them because of certain members of that organization's unexplainable love of Trump.

Un-Civil

I mentioned a few weeks back, the minute Trump took office, the outrage meter for Republicans would immediately swing in the complete opposite direction.  Let's look at a few ways it has.

The Russia/Trump call - Last week, Trump made his long anticipated call to Vladimir Putin, the evil Dictator who holds the Russian people under his iron first of oppression.  When a President calls a foreign leader, we make a recording of the call, and an official transcript is released to the media.  Funny!  The Trump Administration intentionally turned off all of the recording devices for that specific conversation.  It also has no plans to release ANY transcript of what the two leaders talked about.  The response from the Republicans so far has been yawns and scratched asses; uninterested ambivalence.  If Hillary Clinton was the President, and it was discovered she had a conversation with China where she pulled the same stunt, OH MY GOD!  EVERY Republican politician would be screaming EVERYWHERE about immediate investigations, asking "what did they discuss?!?"  More than a few would be screaming for an immediate impeachment vote.  Republican media, especially in small town America, would be running story after story about "Crooked Hillary in cahoots with Beijing!" Every Republican voter you know would be filling every social media feed with meme after meme about how we can't trust Hillary, and how she's handing over America to a foreign power!  People wonder how Austria would choose to freely hand themselves over to Germany...

Prayer Breakfast - I'm going to post a photo meme which points out the subtle differences between President Obama and President Trump's Prayer Breakfast messages:

Subtle!  Remind you: a shocking amount of Americans think Obama HATED Christianity, but think Trump is Jesus incarnate on Earth!  Their hypocrisy in regards to what behavior they're willing to 'forgive as Christians' for each man speaks for itself.

Yemen - It's not exactly clear what happened leading up to, and during, the Navy Seal/Yemen raid in January.  The Trump Administration made the decision to send in the forces, even though the military said they didn't have enough re-con of the area, and support troops for the mission.  One Navy Seal died, two were injured and at least one 8 year old American girl was shot and killed.  There are rumors many more civilian casualties occurred, as the Navy Seals had to shoot their way out of a mess. Instead of anyone calling for an investigation to find out who gave the orders and what exactly happened, most Republicans are promoting the lame excuse 'this was something President Obama had wanted to do, so even though he was already out of office, hence could not order the troops to do anything, he's responsible for Trump making the call.'  Trump, during the raid, was not in the situation room getting briefed, rather (and you can't make this crap up) tweeting in his bed.  The GOP House and Senate were planning on starting their 8th and 9th Benghazi investigations, even though the first 7 investigations had cleared the Obama Administration and Hillary Clinton of any wrongdoing.  So far, not only have no Republican politicians called for an investigation into the Yemen raid, but there's only silence from the same people who screamed their throats raw with cries of "BENGHAAAAAZIIIII!!!!"

There are MANY more examples I could point out (Goldman Sachs, threatening Australia/Mexico, the obscene spending of taxpayer dollars for personal reasons for the First family), but how about one where the outrage meter has gone the other way:

Calls for Killing all Liberals:  During the campaign, pro-Trump violence towards protesters was called Freedom of Speech, American values, and nothing to concern anyone with.  We have tons of video evidence of Trump supporter violence.  Didn't matter, as the right dismissed it as harmless fun.  Since the Inauguration, there have been numerous protests, including the largest protest EVER in the USA, the day after Trump was sworn in.  Outside of one Nazi getting repeatedly punched in the face, and the specific case of UC-Berkeley (where it's likely right wing extremists, looking to make the left look bad, infiltrated the protesters and rioted) the protests have been extremely peaceful, but passionate.  After the falsely created 'Liberal Uprising at Berkeley,' spokespeople for the right are floating a new theme - "Shoot all liberals in the head to teach them a lesson!"  Here's a conversation excerpt which was begun by a leader in the Alt-Right movement:

Thats one of HUNDREDS of conversations I've seen in the last two days, talking about armed uprising against the Democrats and Liberals.  Many of these conversations are being encouraged by leaders in the modern Republican Party.

And here's a link to a story about a Michigan politician calling for gunning down protesters, stating "One bullet stops a lot of thuggery," but now insisting the Liberals took him out of context! 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/michigan-gop-official-kent-state_us_58952eafe4b09bd304bb86f0?kpdto4ndkuykwewmi&

Okay Anti-American, sadistic, murder fantasizing, racist Nazi gun kooks, let me ask you a few things.  Where would you start? A Gay pride parade?  A minority school in the inner city?  A Mexican Heritage pride celebration?  A coffee house in a liberal area of a town?  Is that where you'll build your front lines?  You think the police will be on your side?  Sure some racist, white supremacist cops will be working for you, but since we have no national police force, you'd have to infiltrate department after department, nationwide, at city, county and state levels, installing people who will openly turn on their sworn duty at a prearranged time.  Yeah, that's not going to happen, so most police won't be on your side.  And the military?  You think a fighting force with a large African American and Latino element will openly start firing on inner city communities just because the district happened to vote Democrat the last 50 years?  The US Military will kick your asses!  And how about the Democrats who own guns, personal defense weapons and hunting weapons.  You may have 100 guns, but you can only fire one at a time effectively, braintrust!  No real advantage there.  Nope, you guys would wet yourself and frantically blame someone else for starting it.  You're a bunch of freaking cowards.

Expect more of the mighty hypocrisy!  Can't wait...

The Friday Link for 2/3/17

It's Super Bowl weekend.  I know most people who follow the radio show or read the blog are probably not too into sports, but, good or bad, it's a part of American culture.

The commercials are usually best part of the game, but this year, I'm excited for Lady Gaga's halftime show.  I think it'll be insanely good.  She'll have her library to choose from.  Hope this one is in there:

For the Link's funny side, the Bad Lip Reading guys are back with a salute to the NFL season that was.  TIC TAK!  Enjoy!

On Sunday, I'll be enjoying a Reuben sandwich, made correctly, and a beverage of my choice.  Maybe for a few hours, I can forget the insanity of this country.  Heck, I guess I should be prepared for a war announcement during the game...smart money is on Albania...

Nina Luna - Blaze

I usually don't post music here, but I wanted to make sure I posted Nina Luna's new single, 'Blaze.' Enjoy.