1st, let me say that I do not agree with that. Trump violates so many of the 10 Commandments that the only real lesson here is that white Evangelical Christians do not believe in the 10 Commandments, rather they believe you can do what you want and then ask for forgiveness from Jesus, and everything is OK.
In the last two weeks, Trump has been caught lying again about wanting to fire the Special Prosecutor investigating his ties to Russia. He has been caught committing adultery with a Porn star and then paying her hush money. Hush money is bribery. He has American troops caught between Turkey and the Kurds and he is reducing funding to the PLO, which in turn will reduce their ability to offer hope, and likely lead to increased terrorism. I have no doubt that somewhere in his past, Donald Trump hired someone to be a hit man for him and get rid of a troublesome individual. And that is just the stuff Trump does that violates the 10 Commandments.
Every day is a violation of the Constitution Emoluments Clause.
If a Democrat were doing this, I guarantee you the GOP would be having a fit. But no Democrat has ever stooped this low, and the GOP is accepting Trump's definition of morality as their own.
All Donald Trump cares about is his personal financial condition. He cares about nothing else.
And I wish there was a decertification process for news organizations because clearly Fox News does not research anything and should no longer be allowed to call themselves a News Organization. What Fox, Breitbart, NewsMax, and Drudge do would make the KGB and Gestapo proud of the effort if they had done it.
I wish I could move to another country, but RSL would never do it. So I will stay here and just be in the Resistance and hope things improve in November.
meanwhile, I will be shocked if the House passes anything that helps the Dreamers. Not because there would fail to be sufficient votes on a bi-partisan basis, but because leadership will not bring it to a vote to appease the Freedom Caucus.
GOP Redefines Morality
And google SNL last Saturday and watch their take on how none of this matters anymore. They are right, only it is not funny, Trump can do anything and the GOP will not hold him responsible for moral leadership.
Saturday, January 27, 2018
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
The Upside to a 3:15 a.m. dog walk
We never had to do this with our Bouvier's, but our current dog is not as big and she occasionally cannot get her schedule right for we humans, or should I say me; as there is no way RSL is going to get up and go out at 3:15 a.m.
The unfortunate part of all this is that once I am up and had some exercise walking, I don't go right back to sleep. So I listen to the BBC.
This morning on Hard Talk, the interviewer, who has a real talent for pushing people (thus the show called Hard Talk), interviewed Michael Steele, an African American, who is the former head of the Republican National Committee. He is also a Never Trump'er and did not vote for him.
He explained coherently why GOP Congressman and many Senators will not go against Trump. While Trump is supported by only 36% of the Electorate nationwide, within Republican geographies, 60% of Republicans support Trump. While Steele felt Jeff Flake and Bob Corker should have taken the risk of a primary to make the case against Trump to the GOP base in their states, he stated that is why GOP Congressman take Trump's bad as a cost of achieving their policy goals.
And don't forget, Trump is making excellent progress for GOP policy goals. Tax cuts are done, the individual mandate to buy health insurance is ended, regulations are being rolled back, Federal land is being reduced and opened to mining and logging, and conservative judges are being confirmed.
So, that is the reality and winning elections is the only way to reverse this.
And gaining understandings like that from Hard Talk is the upside to a 3:15 a.m. dog walk.
The unfortunate part of all this is that once I am up and had some exercise walking, I don't go right back to sleep. So I listen to the BBC.
This morning on Hard Talk, the interviewer, who has a real talent for pushing people (thus the show called Hard Talk), interviewed Michael Steele, an African American, who is the former head of the Republican National Committee. He is also a Never Trump'er and did not vote for him.
He explained coherently why GOP Congressman and many Senators will not go against Trump. While Trump is supported by only 36% of the Electorate nationwide, within Republican geographies, 60% of Republicans support Trump. While Steele felt Jeff Flake and Bob Corker should have taken the risk of a primary to make the case against Trump to the GOP base in their states, he stated that is why GOP Congressman take Trump's bad as a cost of achieving their policy goals.
And don't forget, Trump is making excellent progress for GOP policy goals. Tax cuts are done, the individual mandate to buy health insurance is ended, regulations are being rolled back, Federal land is being reduced and opened to mining and logging, and conservative judges are being confirmed.
So, that is the reality and winning elections is the only way to reverse this.
And gaining understandings like that from Hard Talk is the upside to a 3:15 a.m. dog walk.
Saturday, January 13, 2018
How Low Can We Go
We are pretty low right now and seemingly heading lower. I know we are better than this, but the President sets the tone, words matter as any child is taught and knows, and this is where we are.
this guy says it better than me
this guy says it better than me
Friday, January 5, 2018
Why I have not written anything lately.
1st, it has been the holidays. 2nd, nothing has changed. The GOP Congress kneels over and kisses Trump's hand.
Nothing the GOP legislators do or do not do surprises me. While they are not necessarily racists, they condone racism, bigotry, and fail to govern on behalf of everybody preferring to be slaves to supply side economics and alt-right social policies favored by the NRA and social conservatives.
Nothing the GOP legislators do or do not do surprises me. While they are not necessarily racists, they condone racism, bigotry, and fail to govern on behalf of everybody preferring to be slaves to supply side economics and alt-right social policies favored by the NRA and social conservatives.
Monday, December 18, 2017
Corporations and GOP Donors Win Big in Tax Bill
and reveal how corrupt Citizens United has made the Republican Party. If this were private business, it could be prosecuted for the giving and accepting of bribes. But it's politics, and political donations followed by favorable tax treatment is just fine.
Link to E.J. Dionne column
Link to E.J. Dionne column
Thursday, December 14, 2017
5 Year's After Sandy Hook
I just don't understand.
This country suffers gun violence on such a frequent basis and nothing is being done to address it.
Yes, the Sandy Hook parents are trying to work on educating people about how to identify people at risk of doing such horrible things. That is good.
But, you can still buy unlimited number and types of weapons in certain states in order to sell them in states where that is not legal. And the NRA and the GOP want to allow that and concealment of such weapons anywhere including states where it that is illegal.
Why do people need weapons that can be made into machine guns with bump bump stocks?
Why do people who are terrorists, criminals, abusers and other violent people, allowed to buy guns no matter what their personal history?
Why are people allowed to buy semi-automatic weapons that they can adapt to fire faster?
Why are people allowed to buy hand-guns that they can conceal and frighten policeman to the extent that they shoot anybody they fear may have such a gun? Even when the victim shows no move toward such a weapon.
This Congress will not do anything. I can only wait for enlightened people to be elected.
This country suffers gun violence on such a frequent basis and nothing is being done to address it.
Yes, the Sandy Hook parents are trying to work on educating people about how to identify people at risk of doing such horrible things. That is good.
But, you can still buy unlimited number and types of weapons in certain states in order to sell them in states where that is not legal. And the NRA and the GOP want to allow that and concealment of such weapons anywhere including states where it that is illegal.
Why do people need weapons that can be made into machine guns with bump bump stocks?
Why do people who are terrorists, criminals, abusers and other violent people, allowed to buy guns no matter what their personal history?
Why are people allowed to buy semi-automatic weapons that they can adapt to fire faster?
Why are people allowed to buy hand-guns that they can conceal and frighten policeman to the extent that they shoot anybody they fear may have such a gun? Even when the victim shows no move toward such a weapon.
This Congress will not do anything. I can only wait for enlightened people to be elected.
Sunday, December 10, 2017
Sunday Musings 12/10
Actually today's paper was a very quick uninspiring read. The themes today were Hate is everywhere and very unproductive. No one who is hated will have an incentive to listen to the hater to learn anything. If you want to get someone to see things your way, you have to be respectful of them at all times.
Meanwhile, we have a President who asks people to hate him. He supports a pedophile for the Senates on the grounds that a pedophile who supports me is better than someone I would have to negotiate with and try to convince to see things my way.
So I understand all the reasons why Trump and various other people think moving the Embassy to Jerusalem is appropriate. As much as I think we should have gotten Israel to stop building settlements on The West Bank in return for this, we didn't. So much for the negotiator in chief being the best negotiator ever. But I think it is causing the Palestinians to rethink what their goal should be.
They have been aiming for a Two State Solution, but frankly because of Arafat's obstinance and, after his death, general PLO ineptitude, Israel has had sufficient reason to offer nothing serious about a two state solution. So I think the PLO should simply demand that Israel incorporate the West Bank into Israel and make the Palestinians Israeli citizens with all the rights of citizens. To me, that is an unthinkable position for Israel to be in because the Palestinians have a much higher birth rate. But it might force Israel to get serious about a Two State Solution because the current situation is not sustainable over the long run.
For some reason I have a number of readers that come from all over Europe in batches from a single Country. 1st, it was Russia, then Poland, then France, now it is Italy. I frankly think it is botts from somewhere where illegal things can be gotten away with: Russia, Kazakstan, etc.
But in case y'all are real readers and are wondering what is going on here in the U.S. with women objecting to be made 2nd class citizens who are objects of desire by men who cannot control themselves, I have the following observation to make. Since WWII, many women have been raised from childhood to have the belief that they are equal to men in all respects. And even women in the 1st wave who may have been raised with conflicting messages or even traditional messages, raised the next generation of women to believe they are equal to men in all respects and deserve to be treated that way and not as a sex object. And with a President who has never understood that, and has violated many women's sense of self, women are tired of being abused and willing to go public with their disgust at what certain men have done to them. And it does seem that some of these men would possibly have been guilty of rape if the proper steps had been taken at the time.
What is interesting is that the GOP cannot overcome their sense of war with the Democrats to deal with the undesirables in their midst. They accuse the Democrats of tolerating all sorts of misbehavior but refuse to do anything about bad behavior within their party.
David Brooks Friday column was worth reading for a summary of just how far the GOP has fallen below any resemblance of decency in politics.
Link to "The GOP is Rotting"
Meanwhile, we have a President who asks people to hate him. He supports a pedophile for the Senates on the grounds that a pedophile who supports me is better than someone I would have to negotiate with and try to convince to see things my way.
So I understand all the reasons why Trump and various other people think moving the Embassy to Jerusalem is appropriate. As much as I think we should have gotten Israel to stop building settlements on The West Bank in return for this, we didn't. So much for the negotiator in chief being the best negotiator ever. But I think it is causing the Palestinians to rethink what their goal should be.
They have been aiming for a Two State Solution, but frankly because of Arafat's obstinance and, after his death, general PLO ineptitude, Israel has had sufficient reason to offer nothing serious about a two state solution. So I think the PLO should simply demand that Israel incorporate the West Bank into Israel and make the Palestinians Israeli citizens with all the rights of citizens. To me, that is an unthinkable position for Israel to be in because the Palestinians have a much higher birth rate. But it might force Israel to get serious about a Two State Solution because the current situation is not sustainable over the long run.
For some reason I have a number of readers that come from all over Europe in batches from a single Country. 1st, it was Russia, then Poland, then France, now it is Italy. I frankly think it is botts from somewhere where illegal things can be gotten away with: Russia, Kazakstan, etc.
But in case y'all are real readers and are wondering what is going on here in the U.S. with women objecting to be made 2nd class citizens who are objects of desire by men who cannot control themselves, I have the following observation to make. Since WWII, many women have been raised from childhood to have the belief that they are equal to men in all respects. And even women in the 1st wave who may have been raised with conflicting messages or even traditional messages, raised the next generation of women to believe they are equal to men in all respects and deserve to be treated that way and not as a sex object. And with a President who has never understood that, and has violated many women's sense of self, women are tired of being abused and willing to go public with their disgust at what certain men have done to them. And it does seem that some of these men would possibly have been guilty of rape if the proper steps had been taken at the time.
What is interesting is that the GOP cannot overcome their sense of war with the Democrats to deal with the undesirables in their midst. They accuse the Democrats of tolerating all sorts of misbehavior but refuse to do anything about bad behavior within their party.
David Brooks Friday column was worth reading for a summary of just how far the GOP has fallen below any resemblance of decency in politics.
Link to "The GOP is Rotting"
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