Hiatus

I'm taking a break, a hiatus. You know, I started reading the greatest writers of sci fi and horror when I was a kid. True sci fi is not just the subgenre of Star Wars. True sci fi reflects back to us who we are and who we can be. It gives us a glimpse into the future showing us our potential, the potential for good and bad, and our worst nightmares so if and when they happen? We c an be forewarned and forearmed.

What I've seen in today's America is not good. It is what I read in the dystopian sci fi of the past by people like Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, Ray Bradbury, Philip K Dick, and others. So when you see it all around you, when you feel it and your skin crawls, you recognize it. When others support it and gaslight you that you are the problem, that you are just hateful, stupid, or divisive, it hurts, and it's wrong.

And so I am taking a hiatus here because America is quickly becoming "Amerika" under Donald Trump. A sad manufactured reality for the benefit of a few and powerful. American kleptocrats with the help of Russian Oligarchs like Putin and his intelligence and organized crime machine.

This isn't conjecture, it's not theatre or fantasy It's hardcore fact supp[orted by our own intelligence community Donald Trump disrespects and tries to subjugate to his ill will. While even that of intel from our friends worldwide try to warn us, to help us, and Trump dumps on them, distances himself from them and more closely associated with those who we know to be autocratic and criminally inspired and oriented. 

"Pres." Trump is making US into a closer example of Putin's Russia day by day. 

The world is happier and better without autocrats, oligarchs, and kleptocrats. These are bad guys and yet their supporters have been groomed not to see it. Trump supporters now see reality through the lens Donald Trump touts and projects, and whines about on Twitter and from his illiberal bully pulpit of the Oval Office. 

We are being abused. And lied to. So yeah, I'm taking a break. I've had enough for a while. I'm sickened by the road Trump and his Trump Popularist Party (once the GOP) has put us on and even THEY are sick of it as more and more Republicans speak out against Trump and join supporting the opposition party and Joe Biden. Myself, I'd have preferred Bernie Sanders, but I'll vote for Biden. Because we have to at this point. 

There is a mistaken belief that I, or many of the non-Trump, non-Trump Populist Party (the "TPP" as the "GOP" or old "Republican Party" are now defunct), or conservatives, are hated by us. I hate no one. But I also do not like criminal or criminal aligned people or party's in our government, especially our White House. 

Once back to reality and decency, I will again appreciate whatever party remains to rightfully and democratically oppose the Democratic Party. For those pointing out faults in the DNC, anything can be made better, but in comparison to the RNC, well, there is no comparison as that party has killed itself off since the early 90s and the efforts of Newt Gingrich to win at any or all costs to any or all others than themselves.

When we are wrong, we should lose and that is considered anathema to the conservatives of this country now. And that is a crime and treason. 

I'll be working on finalizing two new books of my previously published and unpublished horror and sci fi short stories and one novella ("The Unwritten"):

"Anthology of Evil II", and...

"Anthology of Evil II, The Unwritten a novella"

Coming soon. 

I just need to take a breath from this madness. I have high hopes for us still though. It's obvious the majority of America does not want this president or support the once "Republican Party", the once "Grand Old Party", the now-dead "GOP", which is now the Trump Populist Party...built on Putin's suggestions and model of abusing the country you are supposed to be leading.

Speaking of horror, here's my new cover. From photos taken in Bremerton, Washington by Gordon Hayes, format by myself with help from artist Marvin Hayes:

Cheers! All the best America! 

Trump, Soleimani Assassination and Reality

There's a lot to unpack in Pres. Donald John Trump's Qasem Soleimani assassination incident. One being that George W. Bush for two terms and Barack Obama for two terms BOTH decided it was more dangerous to kill this cretin. As it was with Sadman Insane, wiping him out was a huge mistake in his case because of the power vacuum it left. 

Yes, fine, kill Soleimani, or Hussein. But do it thoughtfully. Play the Chess game, or the Go game, but play it, don't just cut off someone's head. Have a plan. Have another to take over, one who will do the job we need, perhaps more so, the one that country needs.

Yes, Soleimani needed to go, but how we did it was important, that was the issue. Having not involved the CIA and the DNI in this decision is patently ludicrous, not allowing for truly assessing the repercussions and therefore acting without full consideration which is never advisable.

What conservatives think Dems are unsettled about is mostly not what they are actually unsettled about. We don't even have to go into the timing of the Trump impeachment or re-election situation or how such a distraction such as this was wholly expected. Or the desire for a war leading up to a damaged election on the administration's side is greatly desired.

Really, there's much more here than is superficially obvious.

One does not make decisions like this without the DNI and the CIA involved, and others like the NSA. they were not in the room in or involved when this decision was made.

Almost more importantly is this:

Trump's Soleimani assassination has taken an Iran with a fractured leadership and a citizenry becoming more united against them and turned that right about to the other direction.

What's not to know about that, we've been hearing it for weeks and months now. Then this happened and it reversed...not to mention Iraqis who saw him as a hero because when they were attacked by ISIS he was the first to show up and fight for them. This is much messier than the administration is trying to let on or those in full support of this action are realizing.


This is also the Middle East we're dealing with here. It's screwed up and interesting and educational to note that when Bush Sr. attacked Iraq, he left Saddam in power. For a reason. He didn't want to, he had to. He had been head of the CIA, which was why I voted for him, though it would be nice to have a POTUS who knew something for a change. He knew what he was dealing with. 

I voted for Reagan the first time, the year I started college. I knew him as a kid on TV and from movies. Then I saw on-campus protests against the Iran/Contra issue at Western Washington University, day after day. Why were they so against the guy I had finally voted for. See, when I turned 18 I voted that year. But that was it. 

Through the military and the Jimmy Carter years. I didn't know him, he seemed OK, but everyone in the military I knew at my based hated him, mostly because he was cutting bases, and closing them down. So after the USAF I thought I should vote next time and I did. 

So, I voted for, Reagan. Stupid? Yes. But. I didn't vote him for re-election, I didn't like things he did, or his view on the world, or his dumping government responsbilities for citizens onto Churches and charities. So very Republican, so very disingenuous. The "no debt because we sloughed it off to others", mentality. Lazy, ignorant, mean spirited, greedy, power grabbing, underhanded, all that has lasted until today and grown worse, in this current travesty of the GOP.

I'm fooliish at times, not stupid. But I did vote for Bush Sr. thinkinng it good to actually have a POTUS who knew the inside of intelligence and actual "Intelligence". I was proud of voting for who I thought was the best person for office, regardless of their party. I was raised in a Union household, a Democratic family. Liberal I suppose, progressive. 

Until recently when the GOP has taken a deep shite and a deep dive off the deep end of Reality. Literally denying reality, time and time again.

Sonny boy Pres. Baby Bush wasn't, didn't and so ignored dad and took Hussein out, with the nightmare that led to. But then W planned to do that even before he became POTUS anyway.

Nothing over there is easy, clean, or obvious. If it seems like that, there's something unknown lurking.

And now we have the same issue with Trump we had with Baby Bush.

Ignorance and satiation of one's beliefs desires and feelings over reality and associated issues. And of course, obfuscation, distraction, and redirection.

By the way, I learned my lesson with Bush Sr. Leaving Saddam in place left me very unsatisfied and upset with him for a decade until his son took him out. And then I learned how complicated things really are over there. You do what needs to be, not what you want or just think should be done. Just watch the near end of Lawrence of Arabia and know that it's all still going on.

Right and wrong are shaded with many colors, especially in the Middle East. And even when you're right at times you will suffer the consequences. This present situation will come back to bite us.

Believe in Us Not Profit at all Costs

This, is good news. Automation, means humanity has more leisure time to pursue things like the arts, bettering oneself, bettering families, bettering humanity, lending aid in volunteering, and so on. We should be headed to four day work weeks, six hour days, not ever longer hours and weeks.

We are being lied to and have been for so long we can no longer see the light at the end of the tunnel. And then we are told we are the fault. We have been actively and consciously maneuvered into this position. A position where we see no way out. Even our good leaders can no longer see this anymore. Many of them too have bought into the foolishness we've been led into.

I read about where we should be heading and where we should be now, as a child in science fiction  books. Books written by the masters of futurism, science and speculative fiction. We were warned. Warned by books like 1984 and Brave New World and others.

The issue isn't that of immigrants or robots or automation are taking our jobs.

The issue is our leaders did not seem to know this was happening, what was coming down upon us, and where our future was heading. Because too many of them simply do not study the past. They can therefore, do little about considering out future.

They only seem to care about the present, about capitalism, about profit, about power for themselves, their tribe, their oligarchs and corporate masters.

Why is everything so broken?

As I've said now for decades, our priorities are simply wrong. Pure and simple.

If we had been working toward these aforementioned things rather than being so focused with tunnel vision on profit for stockholders, corporations and the wealthy, none of this would be an issue now.

We would and should be hands down the moral and humane leaders of the world. Yet, we are not.

The profit takers, the Trumps of the country and of the planet have taken over and convinced us there is no recourse... other than theirs. Too many of us are too ignorant or too stupid to believe otherwise.

That puts Putin firmly in the lead as the world's greatest profit taker, fiscal and moral rapist of his own country. While Trump mimics his beloved efforts here and just as the rest of the world's leaders seem to be following suit.

That's why there are so many Russian connections with the Trump family and administration.

#realDonaldTrump, #Putin and his #POTUS, out country's #GOP, the broken zombified #Republican party of big business, they are all focused on wealth and for only the few.

We are all in the movie #GetOut and we... are the new guy.

We need to win. To expose. To decimate bad priorities. To take over. To take control of our lives. To remove those who have so damaged us. To change our priorities to those most suitable to not just us, not just our tribe, our only nation, only our profit structure.

But for OUR entire human race. We do that, or we are doomed. But that is not just a depressive and pathetic end to our existence.

Hope. Effort. A refusal to be beaten down any further. It is in our hands. And we are seeing it happen. So many women are starting to run for office. People who were very recently of the mind that there was no hope. We had no say. Are now saying, yes we do have hope! Yes, we can have a say.

We are seeing a paradigm shift unlike we have seen in decades.

And it's just in time.

Crippled America, Trump Presidency

Never forget who voted for Trump as president. Those who elected him. They are dangerous.

We should never give the ignorant, the greedy or the immature the vote. No matter their age. Yes, we do that. We did that in giving everyone the vote. But that's not even the problem. And not everyone has the vote.

Regarding the travesty in Charlottesville. No Mr. "President", you have NOT calmed our fears. But, nothing new there. Not when your calming message to us also is calming to those we all see as, or we should all see as, the enemy. As in this:

David Duke (American white nationalist, politician, antisemitic conspiracy theorist, Holocaust denier, convicted felon, and former Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.):
"We are determined to take our country back. We are going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump. That's what we believed in, that's what we voted for in Donald Trump. Yes he said we're going to take our country back. And that's what we're going to do."

Uh, no, dumbass. It's like John Oliver said on his show Last Week Tonight (you can watch it yourself here) recently about Neo Nazis and Trump and how Nazi types are like cats, "If cat's like you, it's probably because you're feeding them."

In deciding to be a Nazi type, a white supremacist, your rights end in your beliefs being contrary to America. We are a melting pot, not a separatist society. The rich and powerful have indeed divided us. We're working, fighting back, against all that. We don't need you making it even more confused and difficult to do what is right.

Germany, their hero's fatherland (in Hitler, and Germany...Germany who despise Nazism of any time), doesn't want you either. They at least matured into humanity. Try Iran, some country run by religion. You (and they) won't like it either though. Just consider yourselves outcasts find an island where you can vote yourselves off. Tear yourselves apart. Because we, don't want you. And it would seem in your ignorance, neither do you.

A Canadian friend and writer this weekend said America is misguided in thinking that hate speech is free speech. And she may have a point. We have gotten carried away with exactly what free speech is or should be. But we have to be very careful. Still, our extremism on freedom and free speech has indeed led us to allowing things that should be disallowed and has led to a segment of America who voted for someone like Donald J. Trump. And the Republican party, who have deluded themselves into their current dysfunctional and dissociative form.

Giving everyone the vote wasn't the Founding Fathers original intention. They gauged their intentions upon industry and land ownership, indications of an investment in America. That was the climate of their times leading into the industrial age. They also had an entirely different consideration of corporations. They had built in checks and balances for our government but did they fall down on protecting us from the future weight of modern economics? Or did we simply cripple their original intentions?

They understood the need for education and intelligence. When capitalism, greed, when big money of the size it is now, a size which they could have never imagined, supplants intellect and morality; when something they could imagine in religion subverting our morals and ethics, then you are in serious trouble.

We, are in serious trouble.

From:
Elements of Economic Theory in the Founding

For the Founders, government has an extensive set of responsibilities that it must fulfill in order to enable people to exercise their right to acquire and possess property. There are three main Founding-era economic policy principles that make possible sufficient production, for rich and poor alike, of the goods that are needed for life and the pursuit of happiness.

• The first principle is private ownership. Government must define who owns what, allow property to be used as each owner deems best, encourage widespread ownership among citizens, and protect property against infringements by others, including unjust infringement by government itself.
• The second principle of sound policy is market freedom. With some exceptions, everyone must be free to sell anything to anyone at any time or place at any mutually agreeable price. Government must define and enforce contracts. Means of transportation must be available to all on the same terms.
• The third principle is reliable money. To facilitate market transactions, there must be a medium of exchange whose value is reasonably constant and certain.

The Founding Fathers never wanted much of what we now have now to happen. According to Brian Murphy, a history professor at Baruch College in New York:

Early Americans had a far more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of corporations than the Court gives them credit for. They were much more comfortable with retaining pre-Revolutionary city or school charters than with creating new corporations that would concentrate economic and political power in potentially unaccountable institutions. When you read Madison in particular, you see that he wasn’t blindly hostile to banks during his fight with Alexander Hamilton over the Bank of the United States. Instead, he’s worried about the unchecked power of accumulations of capital that come with creating a class of bankers.

We got ourselves here and we continually shoot ourselves in the feet, making it hard to walk far enough to correct the disabling actions by those who benefit from them and do not want corrected. It is like we handed prisoners the keys to the prison and then allow them to lock us up, expecting them to do good by us. Many of which, do not have the right to vote, by the way.

It ain't gonna happen, it never does. Just like free markets without regulation do not function well and are harmful to far too many people. If we don't fix these things ourselves, if we don't take corrective actions, we will continue to see America heading as it is into a world built only for the wealthy and oligarchs.

That was not why America was founded, nor was it how it was set up to run. We can make it work. If we can just wrest it away from those who control our money, who hoard it from us, and who manage our government to run for them and not those who it was originally set up to support.

This isn't the end. Unless we want it to be.

A brief word on a very current topic. I know this is offensive to some but...

We should teach evolution in schools. If you want the disingenuous belief so inappropriately balled "intelligent design" taught then it should be in an appropriate class, which would have a social or eschatological and not a scientific orientation and has nothing to do with science, other than as a counter to scientific thinking. We should teach science as the best form of thinking that we have because we should teach the best forms of human thought, not the worst and not just second rate forms as primary.

We should not remove memorials showing who we were and who we have been, we should simply place additions to them to explain and place them in context. If it is humiliating to some, reality should always trump ignorance, stupidity and mere belief whenever and wherever they go against it.

We are a heterogeneous country, not a homogeneous one.

It is sad and ironic that white supremest types love homogeneity in only some areas but celebrate heterogeneity in others. Especially since it seems quite obvious where the homogeneous ones are for them even in their being hidden and yet so reviled by them.

Political Ignorance in a Trump Universe

The ignorance in this last 2016 presidential election on the side of Hillary Clinton supporters is superseded only by that of Donald Trump supporters. It is reminiscent in form of the quote by Winston Churchill.

'Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…'
Winston S Churchill, 11 November 1947

I'll get to Pres. Trump's address to both houses of Congress, in a moment.

For many Clinton supporters who have been around a while, they saw this as her time to become president as after all she had put up with, succeeded through, and done they felt she deserved it. And they deserved it to have a woman president. It was time for a woman president. We are long past that time. It needs to happen. Just not apparently with Hillary. Sad for her, but true nonetheless after to failed runs for that office.

However Mr. Trump should never have been a candidate. That is clearly obvious now even as it was for most people during the campaign.

In hindsight we can now see what I had thought all along during the campaign. That yes, Hillary had paid her dues to become president, all through husband Bill Clinton's rise, campaign, two term presidency and all throughout his romantic antics. Also through her work in Congress and as Secretary of State under the opponent, Barack Obama, whom she had lost to not once but in the end, twice.

However as we now examine our actions and how things turned out, we can see more clearly that as some contended during the campaign, Bernie Sanders could very well have won over Donald Trump. I had said and wished that Hillary would have subordinated herself to become Bernie's Vice President on the ticket to his Presidency.

I still think that would have been a world changing event.

Not a Trump style world changing event, but a positive, useful and constructive one. With Hillary as VP, someone who had been through all she had internationally to the point of Secretary of State, what a block buster team that could have been. Perhaps she could then have run at a future date as President. Perhaps it was simply never to be.

In looking now at the world and the state of American politics, it seems clear that we should all have put aside our beliefs and desires, and gone with a Bernie/Hillary ticket and not a Clinton/Bernie ticket, and certainly not as it turned out, a Clinton ticket up against some nutcase like now Pres. Trump. I said that before many times but no one would listen, that surely she would sadly never take second to a Bernie Sanders.

Very sadly as we now see.

We don't realize the advancements we've made. Some say the IQ has dropped. But I think more importantly what we're seeing is a better educated citizen, smarter people, who aren't yet smart enough. And Republicans always want to cut education. Makes you wonder. And I won't even go into things like cognitive dissonance here.

Read: 7 Things Our Founders Believed about Public Education

These people are smart enough to know there is someone behind the curtain, but then think it's the Illuminati (which always surprises them when you tell them that), or some ridiculous entity, or that this is as deep as it goes and no others are involved, or no other process, entity or entropy is involved.

What I've seen, mostly to be honest on the conservative side (liberals have another issue altogether), is that they are smart enough to see they need to break things down somewhat in order to see what there is and where the problem is.

While a wise person knows when you stop doing that and you have the answer. OR, that you cannot achieve a viable answer from any known information at the time.

Still some will push over the edge into what many call insanity, but is simply drawing conclusions with too little information, or never drawing a conclusion other than the one they have already drawn and which all too frequently turns out to be totally incorrect, once all the information is finally known.

Which almost always does eventually show up.

And so we find those who we offer the solutions to for things and yet they refuse to accept it, in thinking they are that smart as to be able to literally divine the answer from not enough correct information. When frequently it is answers they need and not just one. And so it goes, on and on.

And so too, to most critical thinking people they appear stupid.

But they are not stupid. They are simply not intelligent (or educated) enough. Basically and to put it simply, they know just enough to get themselves and others into real trouble and to look foolish.

Therein lay the Republican party.

One of my favorite people for many years has been Christopher Hitchens who sadly died of cancer in December of 2011. In considering what he thought about Hillary, he would have preferred to have seen her not even run for president. But she did not run in a vacuum. She was against Trump.

I have to believe that he would have seen her as President a far better thing for the world than a Trump administration as we have now and as we're seeing is highly dysfunctional and frequently clueless, self serving, and at times outright dangerous.

Charlie Rose on February 24, 2017 had a segment of his show about Chris asking his wife and friends how he would see things today if he were still alive. There is also an article by Newsweek titled, "What would Christoper Hitchens Write?" (1/2/16)

What Chris might have said may all well be true. However he didn't see her having to run for president against not a Barack Obama, a figure who cut a graceful Fred Astaire profile in form and mind, but a Donald Trump figure who cuts more of an Alfred Hitchcock profile though with little of the grace and intellect and none of the style.

Pres. Trump has  a flabbiness of mind exceeded only by his inflated ego, overt narcissism, greed and questionable mental health. He is not insane as some claim but is a capitalist and narcissist and I'm sure other terms of dysfunction we will be seeing and hearing of in the near future. If he makes it that far.

Chris called out Todd Purdum's view of Hillary Clinton and her husband. Yes, there are many things to be said about all that. Which brings us then back to Pres. Donald Trump. There is little need to lay out the issues we are now seeing with him as President of the United States of America. He is a travesty pure and simple and if you cannot yet see that, you simply don't want to. There is no comparison between the two. One is a work horse, one is Donald Trump. One may have an agenda that would have been poignantly put into place, one is scattered and a novice or worse at executing his skewed and admittedly deconstructive agenda.

Even with all the things we know about Hillary, we would still today be far better off with her than a Donald Trump as president. Both Hillary and Trump have as politicians do, deluded their supporters. Trump simply had a far easier job of it with his. As could be seen in many fact checks during the election campaign up to today, Hillary showed far more truth in her statements than Trump ever did or again, even as he does today.

I won't even go into the Republican, Conservative, and Russian slander against Hillary going back to the 1990s. A grass roots hatred of a candidate that deserved that hatred far less than did her opponent in Trump in deserving his praise by those who have found they need to translate in their heads, what he is saying, because he is frequently not saying anything coherent. And reading into what the president says is a highly, extremely dangerous thing to do, and to have to do.

Frankly, Trump supporters were far more easily duped to the point that we now have him as POTUS. Something that will plague not only America, but the entire world, not to mention benefit Russia and perhaps China, for a very long time after he leaves the world stage.

To be fair to Trump supporters, they voted for him not out of intelligence and information, but out of anger and frustration at our government. It has indeed been entrenched for decades now in a style of government that desperately needed change and repair. Much of  that repair being needed for Republicans working hard to damage the government.

Thinking to elect a disruptor, someone to shake up the government and not just another status quo candidate, Trump is most definitely now disrupting things.

However he has consistently and blatantly lied to us, damaged our government's standing with our citizens and even more so with other countries around the entire planet. Good things will come of his presidency, of that I have no doubt. But in the same way as a broken leg is stronger at the break than it was before it was broken. However that also weakens the areas on either side of that break.

Things like government and in such a big and powerful country as the US, needs care not damage to fix things. Of that few gave much consideration out of their frustration at being promised change for so long and seldom seeing it. Or simply not seeing it as fast as change happens on reality TV shows.

I get that. We all do. But a child throwing a tantrum in a shopping mall merely evokes a parent to do whatever they can do stop the tantrum. Not necessarily at all doing what really needs to be done.

Yes, a good parent will do what is needed, and not just what is required to assuage the child. Trump however is not a good parent. Pointing to his children raised by wives and not him, is not proof of anything other than to show that he knows how to marry multiple women and have them raise his kids. Not to mention, those children do have problems as we're now seeing. First off, they're all capitalists. And too rich to really see clearly what most Americans are living through.

When Republicans say "affordable" healthcare, or what American's can afford, or for them to pay reasonable healthcare costs, they have no clue that is a code word for too expensive. My healthcare now that I'm retired is one third of my income. One Third. That's just to have healthcare coverage and not even considering out of pocket expenses.

As for Ivanka, I personally have issues with anyone who chooses on their own to convert to any religion, let alone one like Judaism which is convoluted and rather silly like so many religions. Especially those desert religions of the Middle East which evolved out of a one time need and have evolved into a religion of the obfuscations of reality.

But then, that's what religions do. Make the fears of living more palatable. Offer up hope. When reality should do that if we would just let it. But that really isn't the point either. The point is, Trump is now president. Two words that should never have ever come into the public consciousness: President Trump.

Just how politically ignorant can we be to have allowed such a thing to take place?

Obviously. Pretty damn ignorant. But mostly just frustration.

I have never been so embarrassed to be an American as I was the day Trump was elected. I was pretty embarrassed by the Nixon debacle in the early 1970s as a kid in High School. I was embarrassed by Gore losing to Bush in 2000 and that debacle. I was more embarrassed with the false war in Iraq and then George W Bush being unbelievably re-elected in 2004 at which time I simply gave up on the American people for a time until Obama was elected.

But nothing trumps America electing a Donald Trump as president.

Nothing.

Speaking of political ignorance, Pres. Trump's speech last night on February 28, 2017. He spoke through his teleprompters, made it mostly through the speech with only a single break where he almost turned into The Donald again, but caught himself and returned to reading Steven Miller's curious speech.

photo from CNN

The ONE thing I'd have liked to see last night from a President who says he wants to bring people together... A nod at Republican's for their eight years of obstructionism, now that they ARE in power, for them also to work with Democrats. To have put that ALL on Democrats was ludicrous.

I wouldn't have half minded the several other negative nods at Democrats about that then.

But when it was mostly Republicans refusing to work for America through eight years, it screamed for equal time to both parties last night to do something constructive together, especially for the Republicans and even more so.

Mr. Trump's creating the Voice agency to point out immigrant illegal activities brought a hush of fear over the Congress for a moment, then a few Republicans clapped. It is not as he said to support victims but to further his contentions about immigrant abuse of Americans. A sad commentary on the Trump administration.

Highlights of Pres. Trump's speech if you missed it (go here for a more professional account):

-Various fluff, chaff and misdirections
-Magical promises.
-He's great!
-Republicans rock!
-Immigrants are dangerous! To the point of their creating Voice agency to publish list of crimes by immigrants. The President claimed that murders were being kept quiet by 'special interests']
-Democrats suck because they are partisan and they need to work with Republicans. Republicans apparently are doing just great on that point!
-ACA ("Obamacare") is giving people cancer or something and needs to be exorcised from American consciousness for the great plan Republicans are going to put in place, if only Democrats and the American people would get out of their way and let them implement whatever it is they may come up with if they can only think up something and by the way, NO ONE KNEW that healthcare reform was so hard.
-Display a woman who was in a wheelchair and an inspiration.
-Display the wife of the Navy SEAL the president sent into harm's way with too little planning and who died on the mission, leading to an emotionally rousing and very long standing ovation.
-Other stuff.

It's going to be a very, very long four years....

Vladimir Putin, Russian Mobster, Pres. Trump Hero

Both Pres. Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping admire President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation.

I've been warning the public about Vladimir Putin [Mikhail Ivanovich] literally since the first months he took power in 1999. Ivanovich, Putin's alleged nickname, is a name gleamed from a 1969 Russian comedy film. Actor Stanislav Chekan played Mikhail Ivanovoch, Captain, then Major of militsiya. Also Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin known familiarly by Soviet citizens as "Kalinych", was a Bolshevik revolutionary and Marxist–Leninist functionary. Another was an opera singer by that name.

Putting it simple, Putin is a criminal. He is also, as Donald Trump is in America, Russia's worst political cancer and needs to go merely for the sake of Russia, but as well for the rest of the world. Russia definitely needs more than anything to be rid of him. Putin has been involved in criminal activities since leaving the KGB. He was then elevated by being put into power by Boris Yeltsin in order to replace him. And in order to protect Yeltsin from prosecution, from his own actions to be clear. Putin then absolved Yeltsin and his family from prosecution or further investigation. 

Once in power Putin kept himself there. Our President Trump at allegedly $10 billion, loves this jerk. Probably because he's illegally gotten away with becoming massively wealthy. By one report in a 2014 documentary, to the amount of 60 million euros. My understanding of Mr. Trump is that he is of a similar cut of the cloth in his own business dealings to a much minor extent.

Donald Trump is not at a financial level with Putin. Where Mr. Trump may have walked the fine line of legalities in America, I would assume he has had to use somewhat rough methods to achieve so much silence in this time of his becoming and being, president. 

Putin however is more murderer and thug to Mr. Trump's illiberal businessman demeanor, to be overly polite and politic. Putin wears vastly expensive watches, even giving them away at times. though he claims he only makes the meager sums he is paid as his position dictates. 

"And some people, including myself, believe that he's the richest man in the world, or one of the richest men in the world, with hundreds of billions of dollars of wealth that was stolen from Russia." [When] asked by [journalist Fareed] Zakaria what Putin's net worth is, Browder replied, "I believe that it's $200 billion."

[Kremlin whistle blower Sergei] Kolesnikov, who published a 2012 article in "Vedomosti" titled "Putin Forever," says the Russian leader's controversial third-term reelection convinced him that after years of criminal self-enrichment, the only way to stave off prosecution was to remain in power.

"Putin's entire chain of command is built on a foundation of corruption," Kolesnikov says. "To see power go to another party or other people would be to put themselves under enormous threat of criminal investigation and inevitable punishment." That, is Vladimir Putin.

That is the man the new American President Trump admires so much. And that greatly speaks to just who our new president is and what his orientation is.

We are seeing a Trump administration in the White House who seem to be clueless that they are actually in the White House, running the government. Luckily, Federal Judges and appeals courts have reigned him in. Something they have sorely needed. 

Mishaps with Press Secretary Sean Spicer, and presidential counselor Kellyann Conway have led to restraint on their parts. As well in senior presidential advisor "I can barely read pre written scripts off que cards during interviews" Stephen Miller, who has added confusion to their messaging. 

These people appear to be lacking any sense of what they are supposed to be doing. Not in what is most desired by the administration, though that too seems somewhat lacking. Mostly they seem to be best at not doing what is in the best interests of the country. 

Yes, it is the same with every new administration. The question always being, how long will the indoctrination period last? With the Trump administration it is very likely that it could last until the end of the Trump presidential term, if not longer. 

With a crew like this on his administration and his exhibiting admiration for criminals like Vladimir Putin, this loose canon of a president should have only up to go from here. Or does he? As he still shows potential for continuing to go down again and again and again.

#POTUS #PUTIN

America is Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth

Dear Member of the Press,

Please immediately point out whenever the President lies.

You may wait until he's out of the room, but then turn to the camera and just say it:

"Nothing exists to support what the president (or Sean Spicer, or Kellann Conway, or etc.) has just said. It appears simply to be a falsehood."

Start getting sued for libel and defamation. I'm sure the courts will toss it out and you'll be a big hero and achieve many monetary gains at some point. But if not, dude, come on, just toss yourself on the sword. SOME one HAS to!

The President doesn't even want to hear from us.

I suggest you also start having fact checkers in an ear piece working furiously behind the scenes back at the station\network.

You're our last hope. We cannot find Obi Wan Kanobi. it's up to you.

Thanks,
America

#POTUS

America is Crying

Dear World,

Help!

Much thanks!

America

#POTUS

Special thanks to the Netherlands!

American Presidential Inauguration Day 2017 - Donald J. Trump

Ask yourself this, if a President Trump "fixes" America, triples everyone's income, vastly enriches his position, do you really care?

Do you?

I'd like to be rich too, I'd like America "fixed". What do I care if one guy becomes not a billionaire but a trillionaire over it? Spell checker just now didn't even recognize the word, trillionaire, but it soon may have to.

If you do not care, do not care if Trump breaks laws, befriends other oligarchs and discpicables toward their private benefit in other nations, binding together elements we won't even recognize perhaps for decades, then you have become one of them. Their poor supporters. Like poor Republicans who keep voting against their own best interests because their politicians keep telling them, they will benefit. And they so frequently simply do not. As in Flint Michigan where people were poisoned with lead and their Republicans governor refused to listen, or act, but protected himself and his family and people.

So, just join the Republican party. By the way, I'd like to apologize to the world for Trump. But I'd also like to apologize for Putin. Let's face it, and they're not the only ones, we have some pretty pitiful leaders running things in the world today. Well, maybe not Canada. And a few other places.

Anyway, you might as well start calling yourself a conservative. One of the basket of deplorables once referred to.

Why?

If you have to ask that question, aren't you really already one of them?

Let me explain.

We have laws, for a reason. We are a powerful nation. We could do many things that are awesome for us (or some), but when you take from one basket, you remove from someone else's. Same thing we have seen with Republicans in taking from those who have little, to give to those who have much.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, if they just abused their own supporters. But they cross off to affect non Republicans in restricting election days to keep themselves in power.

We have laws merely because they are the right thing to do. Like laws against torture. They keep us from devolving as a nation, from becoming a power of ignobles and perhaps, a world wide despised nation. Feared, not respected.

Fear, is the mainstay of the Fascist, the Authoritarian, the Trump, who is an authoritarian. So is Putin. Would YOU be a Russian citizen, a Russian defector, a Russian opposing Putin, a Russian reporter, a Russian needle under skin of Putin in Russia? Many of those are now dead. I wouldn't want their position.

Though I do have to admit, if it were my country I saw being abused, I could be one of them. I have issues with authority since childhood you see, something i have trouble controlling. Whenever I see someone doing bad to others, I have to call them out on it. I've been beaten for it, abused socially, set up, and attacked. And I keep on going like the bunny in the battery commercials. Someone has to and I see too many now a days (mostly on the right) who turn a blind eye, who don't see ahead, don't see what their actions can lead to, apparently.

Many Russians have died for speaking out, for love of their country. They were murdered and they have my respect. They certainly do. Did Putin murder them? To be sure I believe we can safely say he did, some of them. Have them murdered anyway. At his position, in a country like Russia, all it takes is a comment, a nod, a smile, and someone dies. Plausible deniability is key. Just like Bush used for Iraq.

Like Trump already uses for so many things. How far will he go? How bad will it get? Unlike many conservative conspiracy theories, we don't really kill as can happen in Russia. It's unnecessary, messy, too much risk of blow back, especially not a days with all the electronic surveillance and in our our government works differently than in Russia. Yes we have our abuses, but they play out differently here.

Others were murdered in Russia by Putin's friends, or just supporters, perhaps even those he abused who were from other countries. But he has created a climate as such that allows for others to think they could execute that kind of behavior on his behalf, bring a brief smile to his face, and get away with it.

And they have, and do. To be fair, Russia has had a climate of killing reporters going back over a hundred years. But that doesn't excuse it happening today.

Trump has been setting up such a climate in America. Weak like his ego, but it's there. Will it grow into the fruition of strange fruit hanging from trees as we saw during the slave and Jim Crow laws years? Some have threatened just such things. Reporters have been threatened. In America. For speaking the truth, or trying to get to the root of a truth.

Are you seeing how things are going with Trump and reporters? There are similarities already before he has even become president.

We are in a difficult position. In how America works, we need to support our elected President. But when you have elected someone like Trump, you also have to speak out. We have to protect our Office of the President of the United States. But we also have to protect America, and our ideal of being America.

I wouldn't like to be a reporter in Russia who is well known and speaks against Putin. But I also wouldn't like to be an American now, who has to deal with the current climate we have that is coursing it's ugly way through our heartlands. And yet, here I am. So I'll do my best.

We have to be careful. We do have to follow the laws. Not just to legalize something like let's say, murder, just so we can say that technically there is no murder in America. But we have to take the time to fix things correctly and legally, and in the spirit of America, so that in that case, the murder rate goes down for real, and not just as something we can claim, while people continue to die all around us.

1984 by George Orwell was a warning. A stark warning we have thought int the past was going on around us. And it was, to some degree. But I don't think I've ever seen it raise its ugly head every before in such stark and ugly fashion. During a time now where we have issues with government surveillance, with government abuses, with secrecy, with then an authoritarian bordering on fascism entering the White House. Russia is turning into an oligarchy. Will America? In Trump trying to be friends with Putin will their rich affect our wealthy? is this the beginning of the end?

Yes, following the laws slows things down. Yes we could certainly move faster. Conservatives believe President Obama didn't move fast enough. And yet, he pulled us from a pit of despair and has now turned over to Trump, a viable economy where once was a damaged and ravaged one. Just as Democratic President Bill Clinton turned a viable and healthy economy to Pres. Bush, who ran it into the ground and passed that nightmare on to President Obama.

What will the future hold now that another Republican is in office? Our only hope being, he's not a real Republican. But worse, he's a devout Capitalist. What day should we plan for a war, President Trump? Because that seems to be the mainstay of Republican presidents. That, and ruining the economy.

So, should we allow some few to illegally benefit in our behest? Trump is putting many wealthy people into key positions in his administration. We could invade other nations too and just take what we what.

Like Russia has done. Then again, that is not really who we are, even though we have done things in the past. For many years we have been trying to get on track to be the best we can be. Many of us will continue to push in that direction. But it would be so easy to just invade, to pillage weaker nations, even disingenuously, through trade, through bullying them. through other means the rich may know of and most of us do not.

But then we'd have to change our name from America, to the UFSCR, the United Fascists States of Conservative Republicans.

We try to hard to do good in such a diverse society as America. It seems like every good dead has an associated and unintentional bad one. We just need to keep educating ourselves, be patient with those who don't yet know, and keep trying.

I know that's why many object, craving a return to a simpler time.

Yes, we're too stupidly PC sometimes, but much of this is a need in America, and making it a safe and pleasant living space for everyone living here. Be reasonably vocal about PC idiots. But also realize, you may be the idiot in the other direction if you're not even trying to be aware.

Now, ask yourself.

Who are you? Who do you want to be?

We wish you the best President Trump.

Because we're stuck with you now. You and your scary ideologue in VP Pence, who has damaged his own state as governor as many Republican governors have done merely for wont of pushing their silly conservative, religious, Republican agendas.

Serve the people, all of us, not just yours. Other religions not just Christians. Other ways of thinking, not just theism.

They say taking the Oval Office changes you.

Here's hoping....

#Trump #Putin

Our Modern Authoritarian Politicians

Just...an observation from what I've been seeing. I'll try to define as I go for those who are unfamiliar.

First we have to address this new intelligence report on Trump and the one that McCain gave the FBI last month.

There is much in modern politics today that is damaging to the whole (including those opposing them) but is massively self-serving of those who us it. To be sure some of these elements are being used by both sides, but as with much of what we see today, it is a false equivalency by one side against the massive action on the other. Plausible deniability is the order of the day. This single concept has filtered down to mean more than it originally was intended or used for and at the levels it was typically initiated at.

Plausible deniability is the ability for persons (typically senior officials in a formal or informal chain of command) to deny knowledge of or responsibility for any damnable actions committed by others (usually subordinates in an organizational hierarchy) because of a lack of evidence that can confirm their participation, even if they were personally involved in or at least willfully ignorant of the actions. - Wikipedia

Non-attribution to the United States for covert operations was the original and principal purpose of the so-called doctrine of "plausible denial." Evidence before the Committee clearly demonstrates that this concept, designed to protect the United States and its operatives from the consequences of disclosures, has been expanded to mask decisions of the president and his senior staff members. — Church Committee (Wikipedia)

Those who have been most forcefully using it are elements of the neo fascists (even pseudo fascists, a political movement arising in Europe after World War II and characterized by policies designed to incorporate the basic principles of fascism (as nationalism and opposition to democracy) into existing political systems. Wake up on this one.

This includes those authoritarians, right wingers (including Alt Right), the neo conservatives (relating to or denoting a return to a modified form of a traditional viewpoint, in particular a political ideology characterized by an emphasis on free-market capitalism and an interventionist foreign policy) and those either theistic based (even if the individual or organization is atheistic in nature) or fawning theism for purposes of acquiring power. Another thing that has got to stop along with so much concern, so much sick fascination over personal lives for that of public ones.

They skillfully utilize modern techniques in persuasion using elements of counter-intelligence, even and in some cases greatly so using counter-intellectualism, disingenuous (not candid or sincere, typically by pretending that one knows less about something than one really does or twisting elements about to appear the opposite of what they are, or blaming an opposing group for what the claimants are perpetrating) polemics (using a strong verbal or written attack on someone or something).

This is what we need to fight against. Big money is politics utilizes it going back to their Godhead, the Tobacco industry, which the auto and petroleum industries have taken to their bed and that unholy marriage has led to its dissemination into politics to the detriment of the citizenry it supports, is supposed to protect, and exists only for the express purpose of making their lives better. Or to prop up bad ideas, bad ideologies, or whatever ideologies get them into and keep them in, power.

Further, rationalizing various points of democracy has led to a mentality of "the ends justifies the means", and that of (and sometimes, which is the needle as it is AT TIME true but not to the degree to which it has been utilized) that the nation comes before that of the individual citizenry. Which has led, along with big money and the sometimes unholy alliance of lobbyists (but again, as lobbyists have pointed out, they sever a special need, and it is the dynamic between them and others, and the interplay of power and money that has been and should be vilified) to separate out the protection and elevation of the citizens for that of the politicians, the powerful, the leaders of industry and corporations.

We have a big job ahead of us. We'll need the right person and people at the top, the right people surrounding (honestly) her (and I'm not referring just to Hillary but not a man) and those around that person. They will need the correct and cohesive national mindset to bear us through to see this applied, accomplished and eventually, through undoubtedly much pain and strife, fixed.

I see the desires on both sides of the aisle to fix this, but only on the left does there seem to be a reasonable mindset that comes close to reality in order to find the right path.

What we see in the bulk of the conservative right is simply far too much magical thinking.

Proof?

"Trump will save us! He says only HE can fix all this!"

Uh, huh. Oh yeah, this will go just fine....

Magical thinking comes from religion. Religion seems to be the moniker by which those who come to power need to bow and feign honest subservience to, all while they have no real feeling for it, no real adherence to it considering all the things mentioned above. But as with all the other elements of the modern politician have made use of and cast aside religious adherence like a pair of socks, discarding when dysfunctional, all while still ascribing a use and belief in.

Oh yeah, I can see this is all gonna go just fine for the next four years...if he can make it that far.

Trump is really irritating. Says he knows more than our Intelligence community says he knows "a lot about hacking."

I don't have the TIME or space to explain how much he doesn't know, ESPECIALLY about hacking. I wonder if he is a hunt and pecker on his keyboard. I wonder if he calls the IT guy every time he has a glitch on his home system. I wonder if he can even USED a computer.

He's pretty much far more of an embarrassment that Bush was.

We're in for a very Chinese style "interesting times" with this character in charge. Here's hoping this next intel briefing he's going to get dresses him down in such a way his brain kicks in, begins to work in the real world and actually starts to see something based on reality and not just what his "really good brain" and his own imagination comes up with.

Remember, Trump's imagination is based on two things primarily, both directed at better HIS position in the world. One, being a businessman. Two, conning his business marks, and now, thanks to people who cast their vote and made him president, we're now (and in his conflated mind, the entire world) are his marks.

America, World at large? You are Trump's big con (large confidence game\scam\trick) "mark" and a mark is all these things to a conman:
...something that shows how someone feels about something, this refers to the mark's attitude, to be manipulated in the con.
...a sign or indication of something, which shows what the mark is to a conman, an object to be manipulated.
...a quality or trait that is typical of a particular type of person or thing, what the con learns about and manipualted for their own good and the detriment of the mark in taking something away from the mark which sometimes is simply dignity, as perhaps the mark has access to something they don't own ouright, but the con can steal anyway.
...the line or place where a race starts, the mark is the beginning, the line of the scam starting.
...a cross made in place of a signature by someone who cannot read and write, the attitude of the con toward the mark in their being stupid, not as smart as the con artist. And Trump is an artist in many ways when it comes to taking things from people. This is common knowledge and if you don't know about it, you're a... then you're a prime mark.
...something that is aimed at or shot at, self-explanatory.
...a person who is tricked into losing money or property...America.

Happy New Year!

#GOP #Trump #NewtGingrich #Putin

Trump vs Kim Jong Un and his North Korean Nukes

Would you stand between two gunslingers in a showdown where you can't tell, you can't be sure what they will do? Standing there between two narcissists who think they are the great one while they are unpredictable if not outright unstable?

Okay now think of Trump as POTUS on the east coast of the US and North Korea just uh, north, of South Korea. 

Even if NK can launch a nuke at the US, it's Alaska, maybe Hawaii, perhaps more so Guam, or at some point, possibly Seattle who is going to get it, not the east coast, not Trump. So effectively we also have two gunslingers where one can't even be hit. As we've seen, Trump is real brave, until he is actually in danger. Then he tends to run like a little girl. And not a beautiful one. 

Now consider... I live in Bremerton, a navy town near Seattle, just across the Puget Sound. But I've lived in the PNW all my life mostly, born in Tacoma, WA. I've grown up through the cold war, with threat of nuclear annihilation and only the apparently highly effective program and theory of MAD protecting us. Just up the road a little way from my house is Nuclear Sub Base Bangor. As a kid I lived near McChord MAC AF Base and Ft. Lewis Army Training Base, now both JBLM (Joint Base Lewis -McChord). 

1962 Soviet Nuke Strike radius, line to my elementary school then.

You can use NukeMap to detail your own home town strike. Or more quickly, here is a US Nuclear Strike map.

Washington has always been a target for nuclear missile strikes. Lot of bomb shelters around here when I was a kid and missile bases. You learn to live with it. In second grade during a nuclear attack drill when we were ordered to get under our desks, I had to ask our teacher why? She asked why I asked and I said because in a real attack the nukes blow sideways. 

She gave me a look that said, "shut up, you're scaring the other kids." It didn't make me feel any better and I saw the scared looks from the other second graders, but I shut up and did the ridiculous drill anyway. Basically it was for an attack that happened a long way off. Except, my grade school, and you can look it up, James Sales Elementary School, is about a half of a mile away. A nuke's strike diameter at that time was 

If you live elsewhere than the west coast consider this. NK is trying to build nuclear missiles on subs. The long term concern for America for many years has not even been a missile, but a briefcase nuke. Not even a full blown nuke but a dirty bomb of conventional explosives wrapped in nuclear material. 

On Nuclear Bombs vs Dirty Bombs vs Suitcase Bombs vs EMP Bombs.

A study showed that if one were delivered downtown Seattle, it could render many square blocks of the downtown district uninhabitable for many, many years. Not so much a devastating blow (other than to those citizens who died from it) but surely one economically speaking.

Feel any better now? 

No. Me either.

Maybe Trump will be to North Korea, what Richard Nixon was to China and bring them into the world.

Here's hoping. 

#Trump

Special: End of the Trump \ Pence Administration - 2040

From a standard history book in 2040:

"Donald J Trump, a quickly forgotten businessman turned politician for profit, was America's last Republican president. A narcissistic and authoritarian style politician he had been a reality TV star (see, "The Apprentice") and businessman of questionable ethics. Trump ran for President of the United States of America in the election of 2016 and much to everyone's amazement (including his own and that of his campaign staff), he won.

"Trump's campaign, which started merely as a joke and a way to enhance the "Trump" brand under the guise of "cleaning up the swamp" (referring to Washington DC politics) and "Making America Great Again" (a slogan that had little substance or meaning to it, but resonated a great deal with faux conservatives who had little or nothing better to do). The campaign was propped up by a rag tag ad hoc supporter base of the disenfranchised, the poor, the uneducated (see, "I love the uneducated"), many who should have simply known better, oddly enough a Christian evangelical base and those we now know as the Faux Freedom Believers (FFB) mindset in America at that time.

"This was a group who pushed for freedom of public lands (so individual Republicans profiting from it didn't have to pay to use public lands), a desire for "a gun in every hand", and essentially a desire for anarchy in wanting little or better yet, no government, all along with a faux conservative electorate and the rapidly dissolving Republican Party (see, "Zombie Republican Party") who saw in Trump, simply a way to regain power no matter how crazy he sounded or how ignorant is grasp of civics and world politics was during a very dangerous time in the world.

"Trump's election was also the last time Christian Americans lost the path of their religion and elected someone like Trump for reasons of, "just because". Even though he had exhibited a lifetime of a lifestyle that was the antithesis to what Christianity espoused. But then most Christians had little clue about what their leader, Jesus, really wanted or said or meant. Christianity lost many believers after Trump's short lived administration because it was taken over by Mike Pence who was his short lived Vice President (See, "Downfall of Pres. Mike Pence") and it began the American decline of the Christian Evangelical movement.

"Russia also saw opportunity in this election and helped from afar through electronic connections and elsewhere including direct interactions through Russian espionage operatives, in order to enhance and assure the Trump election. This included a branch of the FSB in Wikileaks and it's founder, Julian Assange (see, "2019 Assange Execution by FSB"). Thus assuring Russia a place at the negotiating table in being closer to the head of the table along with American interests. Russian interests which over time were found to overwhelm American desires for Russian ones through the cult of personality of Russian President Vladimir Putin (much like Trump's). This Ex-KGB trained operative ruled Russia for many years and was an authoritarian nationalist (see the article, "Be Extremely Wary of Nationalism") who abused international borders, killed his dissenters and reporters he did not like, and had ex patriots killed in their new home countries (see, "Alexander Litvinenko").

"Trump did not last through his first 100 days as president before uncovered illegal activities came to light, an ever increasing instability and a Nixon like breakdown in office (see, "Pres. Richard Nixon Barked Like a Dog Under Pressure and Other Stories of Mental Illness"). It is difficult now for critical thinkers to consider how it could have been possible for something so obvious and happening in the open wasn't realized and put down. But that is how a well run operation is executed on a foreign power. Again it is very hard to understand, though Russian activities in American politics is understandable, how an American Republican party would work against its own country and citizens.

"Among other things It was also found over time and finally accepted that:

"1) Trump had attained the election during a period of duress by the America people in lying to them publicly and openly and getting away with it, and other questionable activities (see, "Backdoor Manipulations of the Electorate");

"2) Trump had the help of long term detrimental workings through Soviet Union style disinformation and misinformation by both the Russian intelligence community (as directed by their leader, Vladimir Putin), as well as oddly enough by the now defunct American Republican Party. Also and in general by American faux conservatives (true followers of the conservative mindset were wary of all this) through right wing media (see, "Wingnut Media") and citizen groups against the Democratic nominee running against him for President in that of Hillary Clinton. One time First Lady during the 1990s Clinton Administration of her husband Bill Clinton, as well as having served as a Senator and Secretary of State in the Barack Obama Administration it was later found that nearly all of the negative beliefs about her were false and had been managed by Russian intelligence and again, and oddly enough (again), the American Republican Party.

"3) This section is so extensive it is here simply labeled, Money (see, "Illegal Actions by Pres. Donald J Trump)."

"America learned a great deal from the Trump/Pence administration even though in total it only lasted a mere two years and brought down with it many Republican Congressional leaders such as Mitch McConnell who was jailed and later murdered in prison for crimes against America. It was only a two year term of office that took nearly twenty years for America to recoup from both inside America and with their damaged international prestige. The American legacy was quickly resurrected and enhanced once a Democratic president took over in 2018 (see, "Emergency Presidential Election of 2018"). It was an election that was also supported even by the soon to be dissolved (by the FBI) Republican party (See, "New Party of the Republic" (NPR)) which grew more to be far more functional than it's precursor in the old GOP (Grand Old Party). American politics after the election of 2018 began to be more functional from then on for the first time in over twenty years (see, "Arrest and incarceration of Newt Gingrich").

There is hope. There is always, hope.


#Trump #Putin #GOP

Trump HAS an Attention Span?

The most important primary difference between myself and Donald Trump? I'd never consider running for President of the United States of America. And I think in many ways I'd do a better job then he will.

In all areas not involved with making ME (or Trump) greater, or richer, that is. I'm sure he would win in those areas because in part, my better nature, my ethical considerations would stop me from going over the top and choosing myself over America, or as the Leader of the Free World. Well, the free world....

First let me say that the current argument going around that electing a president just to get a fresh perspective on government to evoke changes, is not a viable argument. It IS however the modern civilized version of a revolution or what would at onetime be an armed insurrection.

Yes, I do much prefer it this way. But having an ignorant put "fresh eyes" on our government and situation to fix it, does not allow for his orientation of big money or his bigoted considerations or his conman style of winning at all costs using whatever tactics it takes, agreeing with everyone in your face and your lowest common denominator in public, using the ends to justify the means.

It's at least a questionable and kind of juvenile tactic. Not, even if it works (and that says something about those it works upon), as it's not a big brain tactic. It's a little brain tactic for little brains to be affected by.

Anyway, getting back to my point....

So Trump's and my greatest difference is? Other than the GOP protecting him against Russian involvement in his election, while they went nuts against Hillary?

I personally believe that America is greater than myself.

Oh, and I can hold a thought longer than 12 seconds. ADD people can have great talents. They have to learn how to be functional and mostly, in most careers, hide it from others. But there are some jobs I'm not so sure it's good to hold if you have ADD and if you have negative other associated, or typically unassociated behaviors like narcissism, severe greed of power or money.

From a JEVA LANGE article at The Week - "How long is Donald Trump's attention span?" (9/6/2016) "I think he's definitely got attention deficit disorder. That doesn't mean he isn't really smart — it just means he's not at his best when he's asked to dwell on a topic," Trump biographer Michael D'Antonio told Politico.

From MICHAEL KRUSE in his Politico article: "Donald Trump’s Shortest Attribute Isn’t His Fingers - People who know him well are starting to ask: Can he focus enough to run the Oval Office?" September 08, 2016

"In the late 1980s, Jack O’Donnell, one of Donald Trump’s Atlantic City casino executives, devised a special strategy for talking to the in-and-out owner. “I would know Donald was coming to town,” O’Donnell said in a recent interview from his home in Arizona. “And if you were going to pitch him something, you would say”—and here he sped up his cadence, as if he were hitting a verbal fast-forward button—“‘Oh-hey-Donald-good-to-see-you-hey-I-wanted-to-run-something-by-you.’ Boom. That was it. Because if you hit him too late in the conversation, he might say, ‘Let’s talk about it later’—and he was gone.”

Finally....

From a New Yorker article by JANE MAYER recounting Trump's biographer Tony Schwartz regards as one of Trump’s most essential characteristics:

“He has no attention span.”

"But Schwartz believes that Trump’s short attention span has left him with “a stunning level of superficial knowledge and plain ignorance.” He said, “That’s why he so prefers TV as his first news source—information comes in easily digestible sound bites.” He added, “I seriously doubt that Trump has ever read a book straight through in his adult life.” During the eighteen months that he observed Trump, Schwartz said, he never saw a book on Trump’s desk, or elsewhere in his office, or in his apartment."

For the record, I had ADHD as a kid and ADD as an adult and have been pretty successful in my life and apparently I have some talents. Unlike Trump, I came to realize that things weren't going by me too fast, but too slowly. Something I came to realize after two events. One in taking Evelyn Wood Reading Dynamics twice in my life, once in eighth grade, and again during my stint in the Air Force.

During that months long class taught in the context of teaching my class Washington State History and Reading Dynamics. I went form 280 words per minute at 60% comprehension to 20,000 world per minute at 80% comprehension. Evelyn was asked by natural speed reader Pres. John F. Kennedy, who read his morning newspapers very fast and read many of them, to teach his staff to do this too.

The other time I realized in some ways my life was passing me by too slowly was one day in high school when my teacher was moving too fast writing on the blackboard. For the first time I was seeing clarity, following clearly, until to my surprise and shock and dismay, the entire class rebelled. They were getting lost and asked her to slow down, while I was innervated because for the first time I actually was able to clearly catch what she was teaching us and that all these years of K-12 I wasn't stupid after all, I was just bored and the information coming at me was coming way... too... slowly.

Here is a list of speed readers. Donald J. Trump is not on this list.

In the end I know certain jobs just aren't for me. IF I were Trump, I'd never run for president and I think he too knows better. But his self interesting got the better of him. He has put himself above the country and our citizens. I've read hundreds of books. The most was probably in 8th grade when I read over 60 novels. But I would never have considered running for president.

For myself as for Trump, that's just cray-ZY.

Trust in Politics

I want to address two issues here right now. Keith Olbermann and trust.

Keith and his show on Youtube, The Resistance with Keith Olbermann, are awesome. He gives me a catharsis, satiates my need for reality and over reaction at times. But he is a resource. I use him for information that I can look into. When I validate his reasonable reactions to something, then I go on with it. If I find him a bit over the top, or just too far out there, I don't pursue that. But I share his videos for others to see and listen to. It's up to them to do their own vetting of information. If I have time I point out what I can, either that isn't punched up enough by Keith, or when he stretches a point to the end of its elasticity.

Rachel Maddow and her The Rachel Maddow Show (TRMS), whom I also love to watch and cannot any longer as I don't get MSNBC on my cable package, is a more restrained version of Keith. She makes it very obvious when she is stretching a partisan point. I'm so used to her I feel like a light goes off in my head when she does that. She doesn't exactly wink and nod at the camera when she is going over the top, but almost.

The other thing I like about Rachel is that she gives you historical context in things, so you can make up your own mind. She doesn't just feed you pablum like conservative media does, who just expects you to believe them and not verify what they say. Liberals verify them, which is why they are always discounting them in public. If only conservatives would do that properly (not in a liberal fashion, but a rational one), we'd all have so much less of this polarization effect.

Conservatives, from what I've seen from them, don't get that. They seem to swallow the load hook, line and sinker from conservative pundits and punks. I say that about them because in lying to the public, in warping the truth like that, they become an evil entity. And by association, so do conservatives who willingly or unwillingly allow themselves to be a part of that.

Trust. I hear a lot about trust, mostly from conservatives. "I don't trust Obama." "I don't trust the US Government." "I don't trust Democrats." Even when there is no reason not to. It's kind of childish.

And a false equivalency. To say liberals simply don't trust conservatives isn't the same. It's not the same because regardless of conservative diatribe, liberals do not lie as much. It's a proven fact. But liberal media, by objective media, by international media. Not so much by conservative media.

I don't so much look at things in relation to "trust". It's a simplified form of political thinking. It's again, childish. It's a conservative thing.

Conservatives don't "trust" because they are ignorant. Liberals don't trust mostly because conservative contentions are so often incorrect or out right lies.

You listen, to everything. That's harder for liberals because of literally so much nonsense from conservatives who consistently discount proven facts, accepted lines of thought. It's embarrassing. If not by them, from all others.

You listen, you verify, then you act.

Conservatives seem to not listen very often, if it doesn't get through their conservative filters, they don't tend to verify unless it's only through their own media, and then they act, but on so frequently what is false information.

And it is damaging to themselves, America, and frankly, Mother Earth.

It is also warping reality for others, and therefore, it is evil. If you are spreading that false information as fact, then you too are evil.

Don't be, evil. We have enough like that already.

World? Don't Abandon us now! Or, Our Great American Experiment

First off. Happy Halloweed!

Um, HalloweeN! (Yeah, I live in Washington, a legal pot state).

Hope you have a great, fun time tonight. Be safe! Enjoy friends and family! Scare yourself a little.
Here, I'll start you off....

BOO!

Pretty damn scary. Right? Maybe too terrifying? Too soon?

Okay. Have fun! Moving on....

When you are for someone like Hillary for the best of reasons, and then someone like Bernie jumps into the race, you really have to appreciate our American system.
But then when you see people supporting a candidate like Trump, to the point we have now gotten, if you do not seriously question our system, those voters and who is allowed to vote under those circumstances, you should be questioning if not yourself, the system. I'm all for equality. But when you take an informed voter and put them up against a Trump voter, equality is sorely lacking there. A voter who is an uninformed (Trump) voter, who believes that in merely thinking they are informed is as good as actually being informed, and not with nonsense but with actual and relevant information that is intimately tied to the real world at large, then you have GOT to ask yourself: Have we, or better still, when have we taken a jaunt off the path of our Grand Experiment and into the darkness? An experiment indicates we can make mistakes and correct them. Are we blatantly seeing something that needs correcting? Of course if Trump loses, then we're good. But if he can get this close, if someone like him can, we are setting ourselves up in the future for some very bad times. Shouldn't we course correct? It is like we have two pilots on our ship. Democrats and republicans, progressives and conservatives. The more enlightened and the Dim. Obviously these parties are both defective. IF and WHEN they stop working together. IF they work together then we can pilot our great vessel across stormy seas and again into safe harbors. And I lay this at the feet of the Republicans for their obstructionist actions. Still, shouldn't we be doing something to course correct before the iceberg is halfway through our great ship? Shouldn't we? Or do we believe something this dangerous will autocorrect? In doing nothing do we believe we are doing something, because we are. You have the thought now. You have already in reading this considered it. And that alone, may be enough. Don't stop thinking. Just, don't. We have an entire political party for that, the GOP, the Grand Obstructionist Party (Grand Obfuscation Party works too, I suppose). And those independents who are having such trouble deciding? They are not a party to those enlightened thoughts. They just wish to believe they are. They too are a part of the problem. Again. Just don't stop thinking. But don't think along the path of foolishness either. Again, we have a party for that.