Why do they seem so stupid?

 I am guessing when you assume everyone in the world is dumber than you, then obvious stupidity isn't really going to be an issue. The whole gift plane, for instance, is not something that would have occurred under previous administrations because of the perception of the attached strings, whether they exist or not. Most normal people might expect to be given a can of soda with no strings attached, but something like an aircraft would not treated the same way. Considering there are already questions about the computer chips he wants to sell the middle east as part of a deal, it isn't hard to conceive that they are included in expectations for the aircraft. (I think there were some military deals as well, so think what you will.)

I do hope the congressional Republicans who want to push for a more balanced budget sooner actually get something right, but I honestly doubt it. The last thing we really need is to up spending on defense, and should really chop 5% from that budget before anything. While the Republicans traditionally love trying to chop up the social safety net, this is not the time for that. Just keeping Social Security payments adjusted to inflation increases will be a challenge, especially since too many Republicans forget the obvious thing, if you don't want to cut anything, then you need to increase revenue, which means raising taxes, and of course the rich people in charge of the current government aren't going to sign something like that into law.

Honestly, the one thing that is consistent is that the administration is shameless in its belief that selling government services to the highest bidder is perfectly acceptable, which is why no one he appointed was concerned about the children starving when USAid was terminated (it is obvious poor children can't donate much money to him). Rumors of Tesla's regulatory issues vanishing also support this theory.

What are they thinking?

 It seems no one in Greenland wanted to play host to Usha Vance, so the itinerary was abbreviated with her and her husband just visiting a US military base.  Oddly, Vance decided to complain and insult Greenland.  Not sure what sort of treaty or lease exists for that base, but it these oafs really should remember that if it is a lease, there is always the possibility of it not being renewed.  There is no good reason Greenland should let a fox in the hen house, which with the rhetoric from Trump, it does sound like the US could use it for such a purpose.

I still don't understand why so many Republicans seem content to let Trump alienate the traditional allies of the US. If I recall correctly the revised NAFTA treaty was negotiated during his first term, so accusing Canada and Mexico of anything trade related is pretty much him complaining about his own negotiators.

And after all this there is still the rather ridiculous antics of co-president Musk, who has sued Twitter's former advertisers for not continuing to pump advertising money into that social media platform.  I saw a rumor today that he is also going to threaten people who criticize Tesla. Aside from being bland or downright ugly (see Cybertruck), I am not sure what people are saying. Musk just made the stupid decision to become the face of Tesla and then worked very hard to make sure much of the world was aware of his personal opinions, which they didn't happen to agree with, and now they are showing displeasure in the most obvious fashion... boycotting Tesla, and in some cases burning the product. I do seem to recall people being upset that Bud Light gave a trans person some beer and then boycotted that product, and I think Kid Rock even made a video about destroying a few cases of it with a gun. I also seem to recall that Disney has faced various boycotts over the years. Chick-fil-A has faced boycotts over the years as well, so it isn't the first time this has happened to a business, and the businesses are still operating (though I don't think Bud Light's market share has recovered). Musk should worry more about why people are picketing than that they are, but then figuring out why would require a bit of empathy, which Mr. Musk believes is a weakness.

Childhood Mortality (and some other stuff)

 I am beginning to think Trump really enjoys hurting children, from the forced family separation of the first administration to the withholding of food aid during the current one. The main thing in common between the two is that most of the children impacted are not white, but Trump is not a racist, at least if you listen to the Republicans. There is also a measles outbreak this year, which has caused at least one death, but lack of vaccination has been an ongoing issue, as it seems people like their kids dead, perhaps because they don't act up that way.

On another note, I think Europe is at least working in the right direction for Ukraine, but one thing they need to remember is that Trump is no more trustworthy than Putin. He really would prefer for the US to be aligned with Putin, so his team can engage in a bit of self-dealing just like Putin's collection of oligarchs. Europe needs to appreciate that under Trump the United States is not a reliable ally. Trump's ego is too fragile, and his administration is about chaos and destroying long-standing expectations. Europe needs to work with Ukraine and come up with a proposal that works for them, knowing Russia won't live up to their side of it. If it becomes a peace-keeping force, then by all means make sure the United States doesn't have authority over it, because who know what mischief Trump will ask of them.

On a side note, because of Musk's over-bearing influence on Trump's administration, I do thing all of his companies should be banned from being granted any new contracts and any extensions on current contracts, since then taxpayers would be sure he didn't benefit from his time as a Ginormous Ego.

Humiliator in Chief

 While many people seemed to expect that the President of Ukraine would be happy with the public extortion of minerals that Trump was pushing for him to sign. I am not sure if this agreement was for future aid or something else, but any sort of peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia should, at minimum, have Ukraine and Russia both at the negotiating table. The current farce taking place between the United States and Russia regarding Ukraine, is really more of the United States giving Putin whatever it is that Russia wants, or at least as much as Trump thinks he can pass off on the world stage. Trump won't really be happy until the United States is viewed as a client state of Putin and Russia. Trump and Vance are unhappy that Zelenskyy didn't get on his knees and polish their shoes, thus showing proper appreciation for the ritual humiliation that Trump loves to serve. Maybe my history is a bit messed up, but normally reparations are sought from the aggressor rather than the attacked. Be that as it may, Trump making an ass of himself is nothing new, and it will likely continue on the world stage for the 3.5+ years left of his term, since everyone knows the Republicans in Congress really just want to collect a paycheck without doing much in the way of legislation.

Cockalorum Trump and his lickspittle Musk

 I had actually been looking for an insult using cockle, and found a lovely Merriam-Webster page on older insults, and found a new one, cockalorum, and a favorite that I haven't seen in a while, lickspittle. The last month or so I have been wondering about appropriate names for the Decorative Presidency of Donald Trump, by which I mean he is the President, but he has basically off-loaded all the work to Elon Musk. Off-loading the decisions also means off-loading a percentage of bad press, though I honestly think all that is happening is that Musk is tarnishing whatever good name he may have had.  Not every government department is overstaffed, and his blindness, or should I say rather, willful ignorance that such a thing could be possible is obvious.

The fact that DOGE (Department of Ginormous Egos) can't even properly record what they are doing makes all the havoc that much more unnecessary. It really is too bad the whole thing is about making headlines rather than making good government. Blaming an endless need for clicks on is too easy, but it is certainly one way to look at it. Trump and Musk both live and breath social media, so they want a lot of chatter about them, so much so, that it seems Musk is taking offense when people correct lies proffered.

One thing for myself at least is that while I will likely comment on things periodically, it isn't something I want to do constantly, as it is too tedious with negativity. I have yet to hear either of them say something that offers hope and good will to the entirety of people living in this country.

Long time, no chatter

 Wow... should I be impressed or depressed that is has been almost 4 years since my last post - probably depressed, but I don't want to go on any meds, so I will just say it has been a bit.

Anyway, I think the current US President has done an excellent job in showing how to sell access to the office. Elon and Jeff and so many others gave a fabulous amount of cash, which will somehow make it into the families private coffers, so we know that as long a the "voters" don't complain too loudly, an executive order or three that benefits their businesses can be created.

I really don't have much more to add, except that for some reason at work, rather than something innocuous like Bloomberg, it has been Fox News, and I have to say those opinion people really need to remember they are entertainment and not news.  Some of my colleague don't seem to appreciate me laughing  at them, but seriously, from what I can read, since we don't play it with sound (thank goodness), the opinion hosts must truly decide on a topic for the day and then every show hammers it, over and over again, ad nauseam. Any angle Laura might have had has been pretty much blunted since everyone else slices and dices the same story, often with the same perspective... yawn!

Today's big news is that even with a Senate majority, those poor elephants needed a Vance vote to get the highly questionable defense secretary nominee confirmed into office. Really... you have the majority and your nominee is so lousy you can't get him into office without a tie breaker.  Oh well, as with many recent Republican Presidents, he didn't win the majority of votes cast (something like 49.8% of the votes cast) so he hardly has any sort of mandate, so trouble with the legislative branch is to be expected.

#Trump, #Stupid, #Republican, #FoxNews

Ignoring Oaths and Obligations (and Amazon prices)

For the most part, I have to say the year has been a disappointment, but "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai! Across the 8th Dimension" is still pleasantly as bizarre as ever.

While I doubt Ms Collins or Ms Murkowski will do anything to budge #MoscowMitch into, at minimum, giving the appearance of a fair impeachment trial, it is nice that they are willing to pretend to care about impartiality, and maybe they mean it, but both tend to kiss the ring of Trump more than not, so I think it is just noise.  You can argue whether or not there was an impartial investigation, but during the public aspects of it, the Republicans were just complaining about the whole thing, rather than asking questions that might have provided some sort of defense to Trump. It seems they want a reality show and don't want to face the reality that it appears that Trump has involved or attempted to involve foreign governments in US national elections.

While I don't intend to harp on the subject, please beware of Amazon pricing.  Twilight Time Movies has issued a Blu-ray of an earlier cut than is on most public domain prints of "Beat the Devil."  While I appreciate that there was a handy dandy website that gave me that information (It came from the bottom shelf!), the proprietor of the website has a linking deal with Amazon, the movie in question was listed as $42 or so on Amazon and $20 or so at Twilight Time Movies.  True, it was on sale at the latter, but the normal price was only $30, so someone did some major mark-up, and that third party vendor was using Amazon, giving the appearance that Amazon is jacking up prices. I was going to leave a note for him there, but I figure he already knows what I am talking about.  In general though, Amazon is comparable to other movies sites for DVD/Blu-ray, though they aren't always willing to get them, as I do recall ordering directly from Criterion when Amazon advised me they were unable to get the disc, with my guess at the time being that they could not get the disc at a price favorable to them.

The Good News

While I am sure I do not agree with all the former editor's beliefs, I will give him kudos for standing up for what he believes, especially when others are so willing to ignore Christ's teachings while claiming to follow them. The biggest bit of hypocrisy they spout is how it is only illegal immigrants they dislike, but legal ones are fine--as if the Holy Family would have waited for the proper paperwork to legally flee once they learned Herod had issued an extermination order for those under two years old.  As the two thousand year history of the church has revealed over and over again, nit-picking is fun, and even though Jesus encouraged his followers to Love Thy Neighbor, those same followers will continue to find reasons to ignore that particular teaching.

I do hope in the future that those who speak for the religious, speak for following the teaching of their religion in practice, rather than the "do as I say, not as I do" sort of thing that seems to be going on now.  I am not sure which part of Christ's work Trump is doing, but with many evangelicals Trump walks on water, just like Jesus did.  We all know Trump loves his prostitutes, just like Jesus did, with the exception being that Trump pays for their services rather than absolving their sins. Hush many after the fact is exactly the same as paying for their services, the only difference is the fee isn't negotiated prior to the act.

Amazon and other stuff

It is always odd when you see things on Amazon that don't make sense, like an adult romance novel being listed as a children's book, but I couldn't understand what happened in the case above, as it looks like the UP Faith & Family trial version is priced like that to inspire you to subscribe, even though it is cheaper to rent than the other version.  I doubt there is anything different about the movie, it does make one wonder just how connected the various parts of Amazon are.  Regarding the movie, it is a guilty pleasure of mine, as it is a feel good movie, and while there are some religious overtones, it isn't quite as onerously preachy as others.

In other news, the impeachment is proceeding, though I have to honestly wish the republicans would actually take it seriously and present something concrete that mitigates or contradicts what looks like an abuse of power, but so far they have done nothing to argue a defense, preferring instead to attempt to turn the proceedings into a reality show circus that Trump will appreciate, though not too much if it gets good ratings.

Lazy Day thoughts

My reading pile doesn't ever seem to get smaller, though I did move the Tom Bianchi picture books to the shelf, so they aren't here making things look worse.  Because this blog is proof that I haven't totally forsaken social media, I can say that I am happy about having, at least for the time being, given up Twitter, and Facebook has been gone for a long time. It isn't that I have found marvelous new ways to occupy myself, though I did make double chocolate chip cookies last week, but I think with only checking the news a few times daily, like morning and afternoon papers, then the evening news in the past, it keeps me current enough for all intents and purposes and I also don't overreact about anything, or even issue tweets that I may regret down the line. This is where I insert my opinion about too many cable news channels running 24/7 so they need to overanalyze Donald Trump's farts just to fill air time. The impeachment inquiry moves forward, and it doesn't look any better now that everything is "public" than it did when things were behind closed doors. Republicans really do need to put party aside and view these actions from a Constitutional perspective, and once they do that, then they need to pass legislation that allows the President to be investigated and charged with criminal acts while in office, as I doubt Jefferson, Hamilton, or any of their peers would think the current AG office is doing right by the American people.

Too bad about the impeachment inquiry

While it certainly can be said that I welcome the end of the Trump administration, it is unfortunate that it may end in impeachment.  Unlike Clinton with an intern or Johnson with his racism, Trump's impeachment inquiry is about determining whether Trump abused his power for political benefit, though the fact that even after Mueller if he chose to involve a foreign power, then he truly does deserve having the whole mess out in the open for the American public to see.  If it is ugly enough, perhaps the Senate will actually impeach and remove him from office, and if it isn't ugly enough, then at least Americans will see what is determined acceptable by Congress.  What really saddens me is that Trump has brought it to this point, because he certainly knew that requesting a foreign investigation into a specific person, who just happened to be the Democratic frontrunner, would echo a bit too close to his request that Russia break into his opponent's email and leak it for the world to see.  Trump knew better and if Congress didn't act, then they might as well have given him a golden ticket to do whatever he wanted.  Impeachment is the ultimate punishment for a public official, and while there are good arguments that it shouldn't have been used on Johnson and Clinton, there isn't a good argument that it was inappropriate to use it with Nixon, and I think history will show the same thing here, that it was a justified response to a President who refused to be constrained by law and the US Constitution.

Wonder how long it will last

Just as a lark today, I decided to deactivate my Twitter account.  I seem to spend a good deal of time refreshing the page, as it is something I would do whenever I pass my laptop.  Oh well, perhaps a bit less time in that specific sphere of silliness will be good for me.  I doubt Monty Python could top the absurdity that is Devin Nunes suing a parody account of someone representing his dairy cow.  I figure it will also allow me to review whatever stupidity Trump has gotten up to in the last day or so after the news organizations have had time to decide with was the biggest bit of asininity.

Sean Spicer, back in the news

It seems Mr. Spicer has made his way back into the news, parodying the press conferences that made him (in)famous.  What I wonder is how much he honestly regrets the lies he foisted upon America?  True, he had a new job, one at the summit of his profession, but in taking it he was expected to play the fool, which is not something I think he expected, and certainly not something that is traditionally associated with the position of White House Press Secretary.  Repeatedly he has said that it was an honor to serve in the Trump administration, but now he is saying he regrets comments (about crowd size) from his first press conference.  Is he saying it was an honor to lie for Trump, but now he regrets it?  Whatever he means, it seems like all good capitalists he is off to the speaking circuit to rake in big bucks, mouthing whatever mea culpas are required along the way.  Let us hope that at some point he actually apologizes to America for the obvious incompetence of his tenure in office.  It is not unreasonable to expect the Press Secretary of the President of the United States to give an honest account of a situation, especially when the White House version is so easily disproven.  There is a difference between spin and lying Mr. Spicer, and it is unfortunate that difference escapes you.

Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" and current events, part 1

I am hoping that this selection of comments on my various readings actually makes a bit of sense.  [All of the emphasis in the quotes is from the source text rather than my own.]

“Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our POSITIVELY by uniting our affections, the latter NEGATIVELY by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first a patron, the last a punisher.”

Excerpt From: Thomas Paine. “Common Sense.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/wp2Kx.l

I do feel the Republicans, for whatever reason, are no longer trying to govern the wickedness, rather they are trying to legislate their wants on the general population.  Discussing healthcare, if the Healthcare Industry and Insurance industries weren’t so focused on maximizing profit, but instead focused on reasonable profit, then the whole rigamarole of the healthcare debate would be gone.  What would be a positive step in the current debate would be that in places where insurance companies have pulled out because costs did not allow enough profits (or lead to potential losses), then the government allows people to buy into Medicare at a reasonable price.  If the insurance industry truly has no interest in those markets, then there are no market forces that are impacted, but the citizens in such locations have access to at least one insurance option, even if it is just basic government coverage.

“Wherefore, laying aside all national pride and prejudice in favour of modes and forms, the plain truth is, that IT IS WHOLLY OWING TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE PEOPLE, AND NOT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE GOVERNMENT, that the crown is not as oppressive in England as in Turkey.”

Excerpt From: Thomas Paine. “Common Sense.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/wp2Kx.l

This quote struck me as so very timely, considering the current President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is working hard to become an autocrat.  While I find that particular power grab distasteful, I am more concerned about a potential power grab here, considering President Trump has such limited understanding of how our government has traditionally worked.  It really seemed to be a surprise to him that Executive Orders wouldn’t allow him to do everything he wanted.  I am most disheartened though by the number of folks who seem to think everything is fine (he has over a 35% approval rating, while not good, it indicates a large number who have no qualms with how he is running things) and that Trump is doing a stellar job, and they don’t realize his constant attacks on the press and judiciary are actually doing harm to our republic, because there are people who believe him whole-heartedly, even after all of his lies.

Both of those excerpts were from the first section of “Common Sense” on the general origins and design of government.  While I have finished the second section, on hereditary monarchy, as well, I did not find any quotes that I wanted to carry over to this effort.

I think as I work my way through Paine’s “Common Sense” there will be additional posts as appropriate.

Trump and LGBTQ stuff

I guess it is touching that Caitlyn Jenner is still naive enough to believe Republicans when it comes to civil rights issues, but I doubt that was the only reason she sided with them.  Any amongst the the GLBTQ spectrum who voted for Trump, I hope you are enjoying what he has done with your trust.  Personally, I think his campaign and presidency has been an embarrassment to this country.  A large percentage of people decided they would really like to forgo the difficulties of compromise and working under the rules laid out by the Constitution and years of precedent, and the treasure the country was received is basically someone upset he can't rule by fiat like he does in his family business.  Kellyanne Conway complained about the ethics requirements for working in the government.  Seriously, if there are people turned off by the ethics requirements of serving in the government, perhaps they shouldn't be in the government.  The administration has surrounded itself with those willing to be abused by Trump (see Jeff Sessions and Sean Spicer) who for some reason believe that abuse is good for the country.  Now Trump is abusing those transgender who serve in the military, because while he never served, he doesn't think they should.  It is acceptable for the military to spend $84 million on Viagra and erectile disfunction, but the $8.4 million for transgender medical care is too much money, at least that is Trump's argument.  I honestly wonder if Trump didn't tweet that transgender and the military crap as a diversionary tactic from the ongoing healthcare debate in the Senate.

Inspector Clouseau vs. Donald Trump

With Trump visiting France for Bastille Day, I can't help be think for a better comparison of Trump's six months as President than Inspector Clouseau, since Trump seems to be just as accident prone, and just as determined to do it his way, oblivious of the consequences.  It is this apparent obliviousness that actually bothers me most.  I honestly do not believe that Trump has the best interests of the United States in his mind as he parades himself around the world, so he doesn't look beyond the pictures of him standing with other world leaders.  Seeing that he looks good in those pictures is all that really matters.  I have never received the visceral impression that the United States is so totally isolating itself as I am feeling now, and our world is too complex for that, though I don't think, aside from Twitter, Trump actually lives in today's world.

On a related note, I do hope the Republicans in Congress realize that dictatorships are made when you choose party over country, consistently overlooking glaringly questionable behavior, but making no effort to enforce accountability.

Are we really surprised?

This latest from Trump:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/29/business/media/trump-mika-brzezinski-facelift.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

As Americans, can we be truly surprised that our President is issuing such inane and sexist comments?  I do recall telling my mother that I would try to be patient and let things work themselves out, but I lost patience with that when he started nominating his cabinet.  All I can say is that at least the office hasn't changed him, and he is still as infantile as he was prior to being elected.  I really hope that those in my family who voted for him are cringing, because while Twitter is good for venting, this is truly a series of inappropriate tweets from the man who is President.

From the Gnostic Gospel of St. Thomas

If you couldn't tell, I read a lot, and a lot of different things.  Amongst the things currently on my reading list is "The Gnostic Gospels" which are those books expunged from "The Bible" for whatever reason.  Saying 34 from The Gospel of Thomas is:

Yeshua said,
If a blind person leads a blind person,
both will fall in a hole.

For some reason this saying speaks to me of much of the current situation in the United States.  I haven't figured out whether the blind person leading is Trump or Bannon or Trump's "base," but I do know someone isn't leading our country in a fashion appreciated by many.

Even Trump is flip-flopping on his direction, as a few weeks ago he lauded the House healthcare bill, while lately he described it as "mean."  I am not sure if this change was due to some bee in his ear, but it is one of his few policy changes I can agree with.  People shouldn't be punished financially for being born with allergies or anything else, but a healthcare bill that doesn't protect those with "pre-existing conditions" from higher charges is not really fair, especially when they did nothing to cause and can do nothing to cure said condition.

Comey testifies and the British Election

Of course these two have nothing to do with each other, except that they occurred on the same day.  Comey seems to have done what was expected, which was raise all sorts of questions about Trump, while the Brits confounded everyone by seemingly depriving the Tories of the majority required to rule without a coalition.  (I said seemingly because not all the results are in just yet.)  If our constitution allowed for snap elections, I am sure someone could sweet-talk Trump into having one. Nothing like telling him that it will erase doubts about Russian meddling and such, play to his vanity and his sense that he needs to "win" without any doubts.

The one big surprise for today, from the Trump camp, was what appears to be a lack of Twittering during the testimony.  From the sound of it, his team did manage to get him off Twitter long enough to meet with some Christians (Faith and Freedom Coalition).

Trump and Comey

While I will not be the first to question James Comey's neutrality during the last election, and I will not be the first to question Trump's recent removal of him from his position, I do wonder why?  The common though is that Comey was a tool of the right, but I am beginning to think that while Comey may have been a tool, he did not appreciate the degree to which he was being used.  Whether or not his comments prior to the election actually swayed the result, many believe they did, so this is an irrelevant line of thought.  What actually occurs to me now is that Trump hasn't been able to get the media off the Russia trail, and, as such, can't bring the media into focus on Trump's agenda.  The flip side is that by firing Comey, Trump has diverted media attention from something else, but at this juncture, I am not sure what Trump is avoiding.  Many Americans already perceive that the recently passed (in the House) replacement for medical care is a farce, and no one is sure that with hospitals, insurance companies, and doctors against it who actually benefits from it (except maybe the wealthy).  Even this got sidetracked this last week with the firing, and, whether accurate or not, the comparisons to Nixon when he didn't get his way will tar Trump.  If there was truly nothing with Russia, then he should have let the investigations go along and finish their course, rather than adding fuel to the fire.  Trump wants the media to give him praise and accolades, but he doesn't really know how to do it from under the microscope that is the Presidency.