Category: Politics

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Really Pelosi???

90.jpegYou’re going to go with “As the president fiddles people are dying.“

Really Madam?

Was it not you, that delayed the stimulus bill with your own bullshit pork?

Was it not you and your party, creating distractions with bullshit impeachment proceedings at exactly the time that the virus first appeared in Wuhan? You & your party created distraction for the President and the American people, when the focus of the President and his staff should have been more global, instead of concerned with defending himself?

Was it not your supporters, that criticized Trump’s restriction of flights from China, as racist and xenophobic?

You say or imply that the President downplayed the severity of the virus. Yep, he probably did. Given that Toilet paper and bottled water disappeared from California store shelves in 24 hours. That may have been a wise move. Given that gun sales skyrocketed in the days after the President started talking about emergency procedures, perhaps downplaying the severity publicly, wasn’t a bad idea. 

The last thing you want is full blown panic of the populace even as you’re working to move emergency materials to places they’ll be needed, while trying to educate the medical personnel about the virus and what is known.

Anyone with a lick of sense knows… Once the virus hit our major airports & population centers, it was over!

A full hazmat quarantine of every person returning to the country in December, might have stopped the spread here. However, that would require complete control of our borders, which you oppose. 

The President wandering the halls of the Whitehouse wringing his hands weeping, or making impotent decrees will not stop the virus. The only option at this point is to mitigate the effects. 

Yes, we as a country should have been better prepared. That would require a little thing called cooperation between the Democrats and Republicans, something you personally have done nothing to engender.

If anything you’ve personally fomented one of the worst schisms in our political process in at least a century.

By the way, that preparation would have been something that should have started during the Obama administration or before. Yes! Remember the previous administration, the one you were such an integral part of?

Where was your concern then?

Regarding mitigation of the effects…

Accept the harsh reality of people dying. There’s little that can be done to stop it now. People will die. Bitching about what was, or what should have been, is pointless.

Our only path forward is listening to and supporting the Scientists and Doctors while they try to map a path forward. They’re as much behind the 8 ball as the rest of us. This virus is new and they are working very hard to figure it out as they go along.

At this point, we’d be better off turning our entire response over to the Doctors & Scientists and then without question, doing what they suggest.

Just to be clear, I think the President should put the professionals front and center in the briefings. He should be introducing the Doctors and Scientists and stepping to the side to let them do the talking. The president is not a Scientist and has a tendency to get the science wrong. 

Science should not be political. Science should be nothing but truth.

When MIT can produce a ventilator that costs $100. When American companies can retool and start producing necessary supplies… That should say something to even someone who hates the President as completely as you do. Our nation isn’t politics, it’s people.

The message you should be getting is that we’re a very resilient and creative nation.

If you want to show leadership, you should be encouraging our inherent creativity & resilience and making every effort to grease the wheels removing regulatory obstacles so that goods get where they’re needed as quickly as possible.

But you’re not a leader. You’re a partisan politician whose been in office far too long. 

I look forward to you losing re-election. 

I genuinely hope you survive this pandemic and live a long life.

I want you to experience the pain of seeing all your cherished “work” dismantled.

Retire to your walled, guarded, mansion. Maintain your isolation from the people you were supposed to represent. Enjoy frothing at the mouth as you watch the daily news seeing our nation adapt, succeed, and survive.

You see, unlike you, I have faith in the exceptionalism of my Nation. I still have faith that my Nation and our People are amazing in our ability to innovate, create, and rise to any challenge.

Your efforts to thwart the American People not withstanding.

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On The President

First thing:

Every other western country has very specific rules about immigration. For example, I’m too old to immigrate to Australia. Yes, they’re agist about it. In their defense they wouldn’t let me immigrate because I can’t work long enough in their system to pay enough taxes to fund my pension and healthcare post retirement. They are logically limiting the number of people in their country that could be dependent on their form of welfare.

I can’t immigrate to Canada because my skills aren’t in high enough demand versus their own population and therefore it’s likely that I’d be a burden on their society.

Germany would require that I learn the language, German history, and be employable. Unless I was a refugee.

England, has rules very much like the Canadians. I couldn’t immigrate unless I brought skills that were in short supply.

So why then is America “The evil bastard” in the room?

Isn’t it more reasonable for America to institute similar rules to be more in line with other Western countries?

Even Mexico has immigration guidelines.

So why the hypocrisy?

More curious, is why aren’t our media outlets pointing this out? Oh yeah, hatred of Trump.

I was in Palm Springs yesterday.

While waiting at a counter to purchase something, A gentleman volunteered that he’d just moved to Palm Springs from Los Angeles. He said that the traffic in LA had driven him out of the city, but that his out of state friends couldn’t grasp how bad the traffic actually was. The clerk said, “Yes, that’s why I moved out here,” 

The clerk acknowledged me, “Is that all for you?”

I said, “Yes thank you.” Then offhandedly mentioned if you want to give out of town friends a real taste of LA Traffic invite them to LA when the President visits. The clerk laughed, the other man got a sour face and said, “I wouldn’t go anywhere near the President.”

I realized he was thinking only about Trump, so I explained that I meant any President. And that I personally had been stuck in traffic for seven hours due to President Obama’s visit.

The clerk immediately said, “Wasn’t that a cluster fuck?” I agreed and told him eventually I’d weathered the nightmare traffic in a bar.

The newcomer to Palm Springs simply said, “Oh”

It was at that moment that I realized Trump has been living “Rent Free” in a lot of people’s heads. Apparently a significant percentage of these folks somehow think that Trump controls everything.

This dude is only a President. He’s not in direct control of much of anything. He’s bound by rules, regulations, Congress, and the Judicial branch of our government.

Don’t take this to mean that I think Trump is a good president. He’s a bombastic, hyperbolic, rhetoric spouting messenger.

Yes, he can champion initiatives. He can veto bills, He does have some control over the direction the country is heading, (although apparently no control over his tweets,) but if you think of him as generally a messenger, a face of the government, then you might start to see that the real power in Washington is in Congress.

The next logical question to ask is, “What have those assholes done for us lately?” Aside from each party battling the other to complete impotence in virtually every state and the hallowed halls of congress. Really, what have they accomplished?

Following that train of thought, since both the House or the Senate are distracted, It’s only logical that a President might be able to grab more of the reins of power and pursue his or her personal agendas. Nature abhors a vacuum.

Which points right back at the problem. Congress! Were they actually doing their jobs instead of fighting like children, President Trump would just be a “meh” President.

Presidents come and go, some are leaders, others are ventriloquist’s dolls. Others still are rogue operators. History determines what a President was.

President Trump may have correctly identified the problem when he described Washington as a swamp. Hey, give credit where credit is due… However he clearly overestimated his ability to change it.

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Completely Unacceptable

Just my opinion.

Former Vice President, and Current Presidential Candidate Joe Biden insulting a 21 year old student on national television is demonstrative of Candidate Biden’s lack of qualification.

The young person asked a legitimate question.

Joe Biden demonstrated with one sentence why he does not deserve to be President of The United States.

“You’re a lying, dog faced pony soldier.“

bidenblowsit3.pngFirst of all, what the hell does that even mean?

At Joe Biden’s age, he should understand that he’s essentially interviewing for a job. He should also be able to answer a direct question;

“How do you explain the performance in Iowa, and why should voters believe that you can win the national election?”

Rationally and courteously, instead he asked an irrelevant question then resorted to bullying and dismissiveness as his response.

His campaign has tried to brush this off as a joke. Did he apologize? Did he make any attempt to answer the question, or indicate that he was joking? No? He wasn’t joking. 

Even more disturbing is that the crowd laughed. Someone, ANYONE in that crowd should have stood up and called him out on his behavior. 

This man is nothing special, he’s not a god, he doesn’t have to power to have someone arrested for speaking out against what is clearly an inappropriate response to a young voter.

This is not to say that the young person was incapable of defending themselves but given the circumstances, I could see them needing a moment to regain their balance. 

An older, more experience person should have given them that moment. While reminding Joe Biden that he is choosing to serve the American People. No one is forcing him to run for election. Choosing to serve America, means treating everyone with courtesy and fairness.

This is not the first time Biden has been insulting or dismissive. 

I think it clearly shows us that he is not a candidate worth voting for.  The last thing we need in the Office of The President is another elitist who believes they can do no wrong and  above question or reproach.

It’s time for Biden to throw in the towel. 

Retire Sir. Leave the field while you still have some honor.

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Now, can we get back to business?

Trumpnews.jpgIt’s been a week hasn’t it?

Trump delivers a very nice state of the union address. Regardless if you hate him or love him, it was up lifting, positive and heart warming.

Nancy Pelosi demonstrates her frustration and disgust with The President.

Trump is acquitted.

(I’ll bet Nancy was throwing stuff after that vote)

pelosipissed.jpgAnd Trump’s “Victory Lap” was embarrassing.

Mr President, you need to keep your list of enemies private. That way, when they disappear you can shrug your shoulders, maintain plausible deniability, and assign your shittiest investigators to “determine” what happened. On inconclusive results you can say, “I don’t know…”ultimatebs.jpg

When you’re handed a victory, you should just say something like, “It’s as we’ve always maintained, this was a purely political stunt. Now that this matter is cleared up I & the Whitehouse will be able to get back to work.”

You see, that would freak out your enemies far more than letting them know they’re your enemies. They’d never know if or when you were coming for them.

You might want to ask President Putin for some pointers… 

That’s not to imply any collusion between you and Russia. It’s simply acknowledging that President Putin was a spy and there’s no doubt in my mind that he knows how to deal with enemies.

For that matter you might consider hiring some Southerners. My Dad once told me, “If you have a run of really bad luck, look for an enemy.” Which is to say that Southerners have long known how to smile in the face of adversity and then just when their enemies are least expecting it. They put the knife where it can do the most good.

Just a couple of thoughts for your next four years.

OH STOP!

We all know that Trump is going to be The President four more years. The Candidates from the other parties are… Uh, well, Pitiful! Based on what I’ve seen I wouldn’t vote for any of them to wipe my ass.

To be sure, I’ve been looking. For once in my life I’d like to cast my vote not for the lesser of two evils, but for someone that I actually believe in.

You know, someone who’s honorable, dignified, logical, has great personal presence, and who’s in the game for the people, not them self.

I don’t give a shit what color they are, their sexual preference, or gender.

Full disclosure;

I actually agree with some of Trumps opinions and policies. I also agree with some of the Democratic policies. Please remember; I have maintained for years that neither party has all the answers and extreme polarization is not serving the best interest of the American People.

Do I like President Trump? Uhhh rarely. Did I vote for President Trump? Nope. Did I vote for Hillary? Absofuckinglutely NOT!

Had Hillary become President, I’d have seriously considered becoming a citizen of Russia. At least then I’d have known what I was in for.

To her credit though, She apparently knows how to deal with her enemies. Albeit she’s sloppy. The trick is to be able to keep your hands clean. That’s why there are professionals for these sort of things. Erase the drives or tapes, THEN have a terrible fire! Didn’t we learn that with Richard Nixon’s infamous 18 minutes?

The problem with being Machiavellian or implementing Vlad Dracul’s way of governing is that you can’t nibble on the barrel. You have to go all in. You’ve got to commit totally.

As it turns out, few people have the stomach for it.  Which may be why world governments aren’t more fucked up than they are.

I actually see that as a sign of hope. Hey, gotta see the positive where you can…

In other events:

I thought going into this week that I’d extricated myself from a company whose website I’d been maintaining for years.

Uh, NOPE!

I don’t know if it was their intention but they really fucked me up. On the plus side it confirmed that I was on the right course and made the right decision. On the down side every email, & text really pissed me off. Honestly, I had expected it to be difficult because I’d  been too nice.

breakuptxt.jpgI gave them months to prepare. After spending 4 hours on the phone Friday & Saturday with the hosting company it appeared that their website was fully and completely their own. Then, I’m guessing that they got an estimate from a couple of web designers and shit themselves.

After that, they came back at me, trying to guilt and manipulate me into maintaining their site. 

The problem is, that each message pushed me into a rage. So I lost a number of days because I just walked away from the computer and couldn’t look at anything digital. 

I went so far as to shut down all the tech just because I was tired of being needled. Phone, computer, even my apple watch. I do like the simplicity of my good ol fashioned wind up watch.

You’d think that would be a good thing. No Tech for days on end…

Well, yes and no.

Yes, because it’s remarkably quiet and there are fewer distractions.  

No because when you turn the tech back on, your shit explodes with all the missed messages and you’re stuck scanning and deleting all the BS in one long irritating session. (Next time, I’m going to have a whiskey or two while dealing with it.)

After spending yet more time writing a polite email explaining that I wasn’t interested in teaching them HTML, CSS, and JAVA. Wherein I attempted to describe the basic mechanics and suggesting that they use a pretty nice tool they already have, that’s completely graphic and requires no knowledge of HTML. The whole time I was writing this polite email, I was receiving texts that read like those you get during a bad breakup or divorce.

Anyhow, after sending the email, they sent me a snotty response. “Fine,” I thought, “They finally got it.”

The next day they try again to engage me, it almost felt like they were trying to trick me into helping them.

I was walking around the place asking myself, “Was I not clear? Did I write above their reading level? What part of ‘No’ don’t they understand?”

Then I realized they didn’t want to understand what I was saying.

They wanted it to be personal, painful, and ugly. In effect it was a form of bullying. So I just blocked any communications from them. (Thank you Apple!)

I have other things to do. One of which, is living my life on my terms not the whims of others. To do that, I need to not be pissed off all the time.

In retrospect, I should have turned them loose years ago. The very first time they complained about the price.

That’s a lesson/note to self for the future, “If someone bitches about the cost when you know you’ve lowballed it… Walk the fuck away! It’s a losing proposition.”

Today, I’m feeling better. Oddly, I’m not missing them or their bullshit in the least. Go figure!

Now I’m ready to tackle some things I promised real “Friends” and can do so without being annoyed by people who claim to be my friends only when they’re ramping up to ask me for something.

Job Search:

I was trying to rewrite my resume when all the bullshit above was going on. I simply gave up. I’m going to be using the weekend splitting time between it, writing in general, and keeping promises.

There has been no activity at all on the resumes that I’ve already sent. I’m getting down to the wire and fingers crossed I’ll still be able to pull my ass out of the fire.

Hope everyone has a happy weekend.

I’m sure as hell going to try!

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If Pelosi is all about obeying the law…

Then she should be ready to pay the price for breaking it.

When Speaker Pelosi tore up her copy of the State of the Union address in full view of the American people and the world, she may have violated the law.

(18 U.S.C. § 2071)

(a) Whoever willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, or destroys, or attempts to do so, or, with intent to do so takes and carries away any record, proceeding, map, book, paper, document, or other thing, filed or deposited with any clerk or officer of any court of the United States, or in any public office, or with any judicial or public officer of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

(b) Whoever, having the custody of any such record, proceeding, map, book, document, paper, or other thing, willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, falsifies, or destroys the same, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both; and shall forfeit his office and be disqualified from holding any office under the United States. As used in this subsection, the term “office” does not include the office held by any person as a retired officer of the Armed Forces of the United States.

Of course it would be for the court to decide. There were members of the Supreme court in attendance at that State of the Union address. While they probably would have to recuse themselves from the hearing, they could be called as witnesses.

Speaker Pelosi has said that no one is above the law.

She must now prove that she too is bound by it.

As a citizen of The United States of America, I formally request that an investigation be opened in this matter. Further, if evidence warrants, I request that Speaker Pelosi brought to trial.