All Trumped Up, Where are We Going??

     At the end days of the 100 day mark of the Trump Administration, the reports are dismal.  Obama Care is still alive and well and this is bad news for the Republicans.  The choices for chairs and cabinet positions have given us people who seem diametrically opposed to the position they hold, i.e. DeVoss in Education to name one, the one I called John McCain on to say.. "Please...NO!!"  Another thing is the economy.  Prices are rising in retail, brick and mortar stores are empty, malls are empty and the average American who might have shopped there, is keeping his or her nose above water with the rent, food and gasoline.  P.S. The rich are getting richer!  Anyway, empty stores are putting some of the smaller chains completely out of the market, while stores like Macy's, are downsizing and closing less productive stores.  Hopefully, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is safe for one more year!

     The only time I like Trump is when Alec Baldwin plays him on Saturday Night Live.  Apparently, I'm not the only one.  SNL has experienced a resurgence in ratings that I don't think they have seen since Gilda Radner was Rose Ann Rosana Dana!  Alec has been wrestling with himself, lately wondering if he is making fun of a mentally ill person.  He feels if that is the case, then he would feel guilty doing these skits which exaggerates Mr. Donald's temper, impulsiveness and repetitive use of the word "fabulous" and "fantastic". 

     We have bombed Syria.  I guess we were trying to show Assad that bombing Syria is wrong when Assad does it and proceeded to show him how we would do it.  For all the trauma that this has caused a progressive liberal peace freak, like me, the actual damage seems minimal.  The planes were once again flying off the "bombed" runways on day two.  So??  What was that all about??  It reminded me of Clinton when he ran off to bomb somewhere in the Middle East every time someone accused him of sleeping with someone new.  The Republicans used to scream, "Wag the Dog"!!  This meant that the bombings were diversionary attempts at keeping the news media away from the new mistress story and on the  unstable Middle East crisis that we could always stir the pot on,  any time we wanted!  Mr. Donald seems to be doing the same thing.  When the press gets too critical or he flubs the name of a top official in China, or thinks Korea is a PART of China, we can swing an air force fighter over a Middle Eastern desert and bomb something!  Keep those "fake news" minions occupied!

     And I thought I was terrified of the next thing George W. was going to do!  This Trump guy has me ready to dig a bomb shelter complete with dog biscuits and Gator Aide in case North Korea ever gets a missile to fly in our general direction.  Kim Jon Un  (hope I got that right!) seems as incapable of assembling a functioning missal, as Wiley Coyote was at catching the roadrunner.  Hopefully, karma will insure he blows up his palace and nothing more.  But Trump!  The proverbial loose cannon on the deck of our governing branches, causing our economy to wobble under the weight of what he could do next.  Where will his temper, his lack of advisors and his amazing social skills that leave dignitaries and heads of governments aghast and insulted take us in these NEXT 100 days?

     I'm hoping that this is the road to impeachment.  I think we will ALL see this road much more clearly after Trump starts scaring the hell out of the Republicans and they, too, begin to rumble in deep chambers, behind closed doors.  I will be the first to applaud them as we just might come to an across the aisle conclusion that Trump (and his ugly, ugly gold curtains) need to be removed from the Oval Office of the United States of America!

    

Rest In Peace, Trayvon!!

I want Trayvon's death to mean something. Something beyond senseless murder with racial underpinnings. Something beyond a flimsy excuse in a "Stand Your Ground Law" that does not even apply to the murderer of Trayvon! Something beyond a white murderer that is walking free on this threadbare law that does not cover those involved in volunteer security gigs and the running down of innocents they come in contact with on their "beats" in their neighborhoods. Florida is turning away from the obvious. A young boy has been murdered. A goon goes free. It has much more to do with skin color that the letter of the law. Because the murderer BROKE the flimsy little law that indicates that standing your ground does NOT cover pursuit of suspect. Killing Trayvon was just that, killing! Why law inforcement backed away from taking the murderer away and booking him for murder, I don't know. They had intent, racial epiphets, recorded dialoge with the 911 operator and an open admission to the police for the responsibility of Trayvon's death.
The circumstances around the death all point to murder. Not only murder, but FIRST degree murder, because the intention was there from the start that this man was going to kill him. He was going to kill him NOT because he was in violation of some HOA code, or he had caught him sneaking around houses, but because he was Black, he wore a hoodie and he was a teenager!
A black teenager in a hoodie? Is that a sentence for DEATH in Florida? If this is true this diverse state, then it may be time to re-examine the police force, the laws and the motives of all involved. It is only through justice that Trayvon's death will have any sense of closure for his family, his friends and the rest of this country. What we all want desparately is to believe that murder of a certain CLASS of people cannot be settled at the crime scene instead of a courtroom!

It's Christmas Time In D.C.

It's Christmas time, again. This Year, people are writing letters to the President instead of Santa Claus. They are asking Mr. Obama to stand up to the Republicans.

"All we want for Christmas is for you to stand up to them and say NO to tax cuts for the richest of the rich. Say NO to DADT, extend unemployment benefits to people still searching for a job and say it like you mean it. Do these things and we will forgive you if you lose. Really, we just don't want you to give up before you try. Hurry, before the House gets painted red and has tea stains all over it."

The Republicans have already submitted their list.

"We will tantrum and filibuster if we do not get tax breaks for the rich and richest. If not, we will say no to all the things on the list of the American people. We will not allow the government enough money to operate. We will not protect out treaties with Russia to bilaterally scale down nuclear weapons."
Can you see the "naughty" here?

No wonder Mr. Obama is getting as much mail as Santa Claus! No wonder we want him to stand and "President Up"... if you will... Silence the naughty children, give them their ritalin and make them behave.. as if they had a constituency in their home states that they were supposed to be representing.. instead of standing on some very tall egos and screaming about the solidarity of party lines.

It's not unusual for children to confuse God and Santa. It's very unusual for Democrats to confuse Santa and the President.. and throw in a few prayers to God to preserve our well-being throughout the New Year. And it seems necessary to do all of this!

The only other thing left to do is bring in the 43 filibusters and let the votes fall where they may. Policies only become policies when they get to the table. It's obvious that we are going to have to crack a few eggs to get an omelette out of this mess and Christmas is coming. We need people lines, not party lines!

Mr.Kyl,
Seeking to block something as vital to American defense and security as is the treaty with Russia to stop the escalation of nuclear weapons is foolish. It puts our President in danger of being made to appear weak to other nations which lowers our ranking on a global level. I'm sorry that you cannot see beyond your own interests as a Republican and start acting like a responsible American with your country as your first concern. I realize that none of what I say to you here makes any difference to you.. as all you are bent on is destroying a Democratic president. When this president .. or ANY president loses respect on a global level... it is all of America that suffers. We cannot afford your unpatriotic action against this treaty and I will be pointing out to all my friends the danger you are putting our country in!

We Have Jan Brewer!

Yes, you could hear the burdened, collective exhalation of the beaten, liberal Arizona soul on Tuesday night. TV cameras panned the faces in camps of dashed hopes and nightmares imagined. Sullen, crestfallen faces, just like mine that night, complete with the sheen of unshed tears, a mixture of failure and rage at the outcome of the election results that locked up most of Arizona for the Republicans... again!

We let that BITCH win? I can't believe it! That thirteen second fade out of dead air? That, "Are you gay, Terry?" BITCH?

Smug in her limited understanding of reality.. headless corpse in the desert beliefs... dramatic in her anger.. confronted by press that knew more than she did... and greedy for her fame and good fortune to land a job outside of her skill set.. we have a governor who hides from the people, can't give a good speech and thinks she is the hero of SB 1070.

Janet Napolitano, we have to talk... about Homeland Security. You left Arizona boarders unprotected, leaving us to the unconstitutional whims of the Wicked Witch of the Southwest! She's even had lunch with Sarah Palin. It must have been a friggin' TEA PARTY!

The Republicans said yes to no health care, thank you, Barak HUSSAIN Obama. Why is health care a bad thing? Why is letting American children be covered, preexisting conditions be covered and the insurance agency NOT to be allowed to drop someone because they were sick.. be bad things? Is this because all those people who now have health care should be the only ones allowed to have health care? Maybe all others should go under the Republican plan... that is, that they should .. GO QUICKLY.. according to the Republican plan.

Speaking of medical rights.. smoking marijuana will NOT be a medical right. The proposition lost by a very narrow margin. One reporter, in the aftermath, said he was leery about pot being able to, "cure intended diseases." Apparently he was uninformed that medical marijuana is being used for palliative care. It has been proven, in cases of people on high doses of potent drugs such as the ones used in HIV treatment and chemotherapy, that marijuana represses nausea, lifts depression and causes... THE MUNCHIES... in patients that are appetite supressed. And, so I hear.. even in those people how are NOT appetite supressed! So marijuana is officially off the table... along with the zig-zags and the pipe!

But, I digress. I would like to invite you all to join in with me in the Self Pity Party, the Pity Arizona Party and Pity the Children of Arizona Party, the children who will grow up more uneducated then their parents. My greatest fear is that Arizona will pass a law to send back social security checks to the socialist government it came from.. BEFORE I get to retire.. and medicare will be a soup kitchen down by the Capitol, complete with TV's blasting FOX news. By 2012, we may succeed from the union because we will vote out BIG GOVERNMENT! We won't need it because we have JAN...............13 sec drumroll, please..... BREWER!!

Warning! New Virus Detected

Distracted by the shortcomings of the Democratic party, I have missed a significant development in the Republican camp. It seems that the primaries across the nation has pumped new blood into the Republican party. Some of these candidates seemed to have emerged from the earth with no previous record, some are discarded re-runs from previous elections that, for the first time, were taken seriously enough to make it through primaries. Most of them have their "Tea Party" affiliations to thank for their popularity. All of them seem to have mixed one part anger at the economy, one part "Democratic party for liberal spending" anger, a dash of racism, a fistful of fantasy, spread over the top of their campaign speeches like fairy dust.
They tend to indulge themselves in lies, imaginary past lives, embellishment and repeating mantras to their supporters in attempts to dazzle and baffle them simultaneously with bovine waste and half truths. Wow! Where was I when this political LSD trip was booked? I guess I was still licking my wounds over no public option in the health care bill!
At first, I admit, I was alarmed. These people seemed to have no respect for what government was set up to do. In fact, one guy was running his political campaign on the premise he was going to shut government down. Gosh, how much could we get for the White House in today's real estate market? 12 Supreme Court Justice robes? One gentleman keeps telling his stumping audiences that he is , "Mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!" What place does a line from a 1980's movie have in a 2010 election? Does it bring the house down? Are people opening up their windows and screaming this into the night? No.. at least not on my block!
The more I look at these antics the more I realize that I should not be the one being alarmed! It should be the Republican Party. This band of manics makes it obvious that someone has let the squirrels loose. More at the bidding of pissed off voters that the Republican strategy planners, these little mini-mavericks are causing havoc and mayhem instead of towing the conservative line that the Republicans have long prided their party on.
The term, "Tea Party" should be scaring the Republican party more than the rest of us because they have some of the ideals of the Republican party, and some direct affiliation with the party as well, but they are taking the party outside of it's lines. Many people are arguing that the Tea Party stands as a third party which is not completely true, because the Tea Party has drawn most of its support from "rogue" Republicans, Sarah Palin, for one example. Even if the third party idea is an acceptable explanation, because it's base is primarily Republican, it will split the party votes and reduce Republican power. This is bad news in any election year, but the Tea Party has started something that is more than a shortage of votes for the Republican party. The presence of the Tea Party within the Republican party makes it a political virus, that is repolarizing a faction of the voters and candidates, turning them away from the political machine that held Republicans together through 8 years of Bush and fought off much of the "change" that President Obama campaigned for.
As Abraham Lincoln once said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand.". The Tea Party Virus, (TPV) is an unwanted invader, relentless in scooping up the votes of the far right wing causes.. No abortions, No sex (not even self-sex), No government (who will pay the armed forces?) No Gays or illegal aliens should be allowed to exist. Which brings me to the final question, WHO is going to keep our borders safe? TPV is not a succinct invader that has a plan. It is spread through random, illogical and/or emotional contact. It has no plans on how to keep itself in existence once it has taken over. It was cultivated out of fear in a poor economy, spread by the lips of people capitalizing on the fear that others have and preys on people easily led by emotions rather than reason.
For all these reasons, I think that the Republicans have more to fear from this virus than the Democrats. This virus attacks from within and destroys structural integrity. Now the question is. Can voters pick out the infected candidate and vote against him or her?? It would be a great day for the Democrats if they can!

Don't Ask, Don't Tell and Don't Vote!

Some very disappointing events have taken place in the political arena this week. Don't Ask, Don't Tell was the very stance the Senate took in constructing an argument to repeal this unfair act. Instead of winning or losing, postponement would mean that the date for reassembley would be so far down the road that maybe no one would notice if they failed to act again. Why our Commander-In-Chief cannot issue an executive order to strike down DADT is beyond me.

Before I get down to bitterly lamenting the party of NO, NOPE and NEVER, let me express my frustration in the Democratic party for their fragmented front, lack of purpose and unwillingness to stand and FIGHT for what is right! The whole idea of gay Americans being any less Americans that the straight Americans is... well... unconstitutional! As in the past, I remind my right-sided friends that the USA is governed by the Constitution and not the Bible. When we first got here.. it was the white males that held all the power. The Civil War gave Black Americans their freedom and the right to vote, which the White Southern population found "legal" ways to take back the voting privilege. One way was allowing only those who could read the right to vote! There were many other convoluted hoops to jump a black man through on his way to the ballot box, but by the 1950's, the Black population knew it's place and the consequences of stepping out of that place. Civil Rights was not one march that ended in victory. It was many marches, a few riots and one sympathetic, determined President to give Black Americans back their rights. The President was John F. Kennedy. He not only opened Southern ballot boxes by holding ground, he opened up segregated schools from kindergarten to colleges. At one point, he even stood up to George Wallace, then governor of Alabama who threatened the President in a telephone conversation with "anarchy" if he insisted on desegregation in Alabama. JFK, without missing a beat, reminded him of the "possibility" of federal troops being deployed to insure the "safety" of young black students attending the schools and universities of Alabama! That conversation is preserved for all time at the Black History Museum in Memphis, Tennessee! This is an example of Democratic ideas followed by Democratic action!

In the 1920's women had to fight for their right to vote, own property and be considered elgible for all the freedoms afforded the men in this free country. One would think that once you gave ground to an entire group of people left out of a free nation, that the idea of being all inclusive would have an obvious choice at some point in early times! Instead, we have given freedom out in rations, according to acceptance into the norm of American life. Equality is doled out only when we accept a culture that has dissolved into our melting pot.

Sadly, we go another round for a group of people disallowed two major rights of American community. The right to engage in a legal joining of property, legal responsibility and inheritance between consenting partners and the right to serve in the United States Armed Services as openly gay. There seems to be no one to effectively speak in a forceful and powerful enough voice to push the legislature through an uncooperative Senate to insure the Constitutional rights for this group of people! I realize that the vote may fail due to the heavily divided nature of this bill, but I would rather have a failed vote than the failure TO vote, as what actually happened yesterday!

Stepping up to the plate is what gets our country where it needs to go! We have become a nation of no challenges, no forward movement and we have set aside higher ideals for "order" and "tradition". How is this ever going to make us a better nation? How are these lackluster performances ever going to raise us out of our depression and put this country back where it belongs? How can we be the shining example of hope and tolerance if we hold petty divisions amongst our own people? What has happened to us? Why does the granting of one group's rights automatically make us turn around as a people and look for someone else to discriminate against?

Stephanie Germanetti, dropping her world famous Lady Gaga persona, stood in front of a rally speaking out that if someone in the armed services is unhappy serving next to an openly gay service man or woman, that person should, "Go home"! Our new policy should be that, "If you don't like it, Go home!" Her speech was incredible! It was heartfelt, to the point and the strongest show of support to end DADT that we have had to date! As much respect as I have for Stephanie and all the credit I give to a 24 year old girl who is a talented and idealistic young American... this type of support needs to be coming from the Democratic party as well! Maybe even first, to show the country the gap we have created in offering "a lesser cut of meat" to the gay population of America and speaking out in opposition to not offering all of the constitution to all of the people in America.

Democrats, get off your duff! Losing an argument is a better option than NO argument!