Tag Archives: politics

General

Time to get the butterfly nets…

For those who think all I ever do when I talk about politics is slam Republicans, here goes some equal time.

From Ed Mazza and presented on the (oh so liberal) Huffingtonpost.com, a report about a DC lawmaker and his… strange… statement regarding the late winter storms we’ve been having.  The lawmaker, Trayon White, is a Democrat…

DC Lawmaker blames winter storms on Jewish bankers who control the weather

I mean, where do you start here?  The lawmaker later on apologized for his statement but… come on, how does one simply apologize when making a statement that’s that alarming and the people this lawmaker represents just let it go at that?

Sheesh.

There’s been a joke going around that the election of Trump proves we’ve entered into some kind of bizarro alternate universe.

I’m beginning to think this isn’t much of a joke anymore.

General

Assorted (political) musings…

…you’ve been warned!

Based on many of my political comments, one can rightfully surmise I don’t think much of “President” Donald Trump.  This feeling has extended into the Republican party and that’s because, IMHO, the party has been moving more and more toward having just such a Frankenstein’s monster of a leader for many years now.

The fact that so many prominent Republicans, the pundits in print and on TV now shake their heads and wonder what happened to “their” Republican party amuses and saddens me.

For example, I’ve written before that I liked what Michael Steele, ex-head of the Republican Party, had to say about the hypocrisy of Evangelicals in the way they looked away from all the dark moral actions Mr. Trump, noting that from now on they shouldn’t ever have anything to say about morals to anyone.

Kudos for that statement, Mr. Steele, but I have a long enough memory to remember when he was in charge of the Republican Party and during that time he said plenty of stupid crap that, sadly, has led the party to the point where it now is.

Another guy who laments where the Republican Party currently sits is Steve Schmidt.  His comments, whenever he appears on political shows, is sober and there is a genuine lamentation of what has become of the Republican party.  He has no kind words at all to say about Trump and wonders when any of the Republicans in office will finally stand up to him.

Based on these comments, he is another Republican I find myself in agreement with, but, again, there’s that pesky little memory of mine.

Wasn’t Mr. Schmidt the man who ran John McCain’s presidential campaign?  You know, the campaign that eventually gave us Sarah Palin?!

Yikes.

Anyway, my point is not to rub all these people’s noses in their past, though frankly those who so lament the state of the Republican Party and the “presidency” of Trump should really, really look hard in the mirror as he didn’t just come out of nowhere.  He was, I feel, part of a long and torturous process that took years to become realized.

Having said that and despite all the dark news regarding the current political state of the nation, I find myself of late remarkably optimistic.

It’s been said that the Great London Fire of 1666. a great tragedy that took the lives of many and destroyed much of medieval London, nonetheless allowed much of the city to rebuild from scratch and better than it was, perhaps leading to eventual greatness.

So too it feels with the state of the current Republican Party.

Yesterday in a special election in Pennsylvania there was a special election in what people have long considered a Republican stronghold.  The election, to be sure, means little as whoever wins stays in power only until November, when new district lines come into effect and an election will again be held throughout the state.

However, at this moment and at this time and thanks to now declared illegal gerrymandering, the district where this election was being held, as I mentioned before, was considered a “lock” for Republicans.  In the presidential election, Trump won by 20 percent over Clinton.

And yet, as of today it appears the Democratic challenger, Conor Lamb, has apparently won the election.  His margin of victory is razor thin, amounting to a little over 600 votes, but considering where the election was held, this can’t be a happy day for Republicans in general.

Mind you, I’m not anti-Republican.  I’m old enough to have *gasp* once been on the fence regarding party affiliation, one of those independents who could at times be for a Republican candidate as easily as I could be for a Democratic candidate.

Things changed, for me, during the Clinton years.  During this time the right wing, frankly, began to scare me.  I don’t like guns and scratch my head at this country’s fascination with them.  I like social services such as the police, fire-fighters, infrastructure workers, and scratch my head at the need to keep offering tax breaks to the rich when we need revenue to build and maintain the structure of this country.  Further, I want the government to fund science and technology.  I want more public transport and better schools.  All these things require tax money and while I hate seeing my salary go this way, the reality is that the investments have paid off.

Even worse, I hated, hated, hated the way many Republicans kept going after candidates on the other side as if theirs was a moral imperative.  They pursued Hillary Clinton for years over Benghazi yet they feel there is no more to investigate regarding Trump and Russia?

Wow.

Anyway, the election in Pennsylvania, whether it stands or not (there are calls by Republicans for a recount, something I can’t blame them for given the very close results), could well be the best example of how things just might be changing.

Today there’s a big protest from school kids regarding gun control, and suddenly, after far too long, it appears maybe people are finally starting to wake up to the fact that having such lax, pro-NRA elected officials in office may not be such a good thing.

After going so far over the bend with someone like Trump, could it be that the pendulum is finally swinging back?

General

By all that’s holy…

I will give Trump this much credit: By having so many catastrophic-sounding things happening in one day, as a voter one is so overwhelmed it’s hard to focus on any one thing!

For the record, among other things we’ve had happen is: Longtime aid Hope Hicks -who many thought would be the last one to leave Trump’s side- resigns one day after a grueling congressional testimony session, its finally made clear that Mueller’s investigation is going directly after Trump, there was a meeting with Senators regarding gun control and Trump noted -among other things!- he would go after guns (I can’t help but chuckle about this one… it made many a pro-NRA people/Republicans’ heads explode), Trump goes after Sessions (I suppose this is low hanging fruit), Kushner’s security status downgraded -it was announced his family received perhaps billions of dollars in loans from foreign run companies- and people are now wondering what’s still keeping him there and why he hasn’t resigned…

What else?

I feel like I’m missing a couple hundred things!

There is, however, one thing I find a positive development: It appears the massacre at Parkland, the latest example of one person with a weapon of war killing far too many people, looks like it finally –finally!– has moved the needle regarding awareness of, and perhaps lowering tolerance for, assault weapons.

To date, many companies have reacted, from no longer giving discounts to the NRA for their services to Dick’s Sporting Goods stating they will no longer sell such weapons while Walmart stated they will no longer sell weapons or ammo to anyone under 21 years of age.

Some have noted Dick’s barely do sell assault weapons to begin with so this might be more of a PR move but, given their public statement, I do believe its a brave thing to do.  Same with Walmart.  I use neither company all that much, but I do salute their moves.

General

Tourism slump…?

Ben Popken over at nbcnews.com offers the following article which, I suppose, is political in nature yet has real world consequences:

Tourism to the U.S. under Trump is down, costing $4.6 Billion and 40,000 jobs

I know I’m probably preaching to the proverbial choir, but this here is a very solid example of the real world harm which happens when someone in as prominent a position as Mr. Trump shoots off his mouth as he does.

Considering I live in a region which benefits from tourism, this is indeed very scary.

General

Thanks for saying that, Michael Steele…

As usual, a warning: Politics be here!

So beware!

I’m old enough, and have perhaps wasted far too much time on following the ebbs and flows of politics, to recall when Michael Steele was chair of the Republican Party.  When he was in that capacity, he would come on TV and often make what to me were incredibly asinine comments in defense of the Republican Party.

To put it bluntly: He made my blood boil.

Now, I should have taken those comments that so inflamed me back then with the proverbial grain of salt.  While chair of the RNC, it was his job to defend the Republican Party and therefore some of those crazy (again, IMHO) statements were probably made for the cameras but which he may well not have believed in.

Now that he’s no longer the chair of the RNC, he’s become one of my favorite pundits on TV.  His comments/opinions have been, it would seem now, to come from a far more honest place.  He’s willing to criticize both sides equally and, at least whenever I catch him, talks with a combination of wit, humor, and refreshing bluntness.

His latest comments given toward the end of this segment of MSNBC’s Hardball, regarding evangelical leaders, is particularly right on target (sorry for the stupid add for a CNN clip that hides his face):

Preach, brother.

Preach.

General

Oh Al…

Politics be here… beware!

There’s so much going on in the world -the Bizarro Trumpworld we’re currently in- that its hard to focus on one thing but I’ll try.

Time magazine offered a brilliant, IMHO, “Person of the Year”: The Silence Breakers.  It was about the women -and men!- who spoke out about sexual harassment and blazed a trail which has led us to a point where we, as a society, are finally confronting something which should have been confronted a very long time ago.

There are many people, some shocking to find, who have engaged in these types of sleazy activities.  Many of them have lost their jobs, rightfully, while at least a couple of prominent ones -talking about you Trump and Roy Moore- who are determined to swim against the tide and continue the “they are lying” defense, which rings hallow, to say the least.

Another who has been exposed is Al Franken.

I like Mr. Franken, senator.  I feel many of his philosophies are in line with my own and I think it was incredible the way he cornered Jeff Sessions in a lie.  I wish there were more senators out there who vote the way he does.

And having said all that… he needs to resign.

While the allegations regarding Franken’s alleged harassment isn’t anywhere near being in the neighborhood of what Roy Moore is accused of (let’s face it, that man is in a perverse, disgusting world of his own), there comes a point when one either is against harassment or isn’t.

If we are to believe the allegations about what he did, which included forcibly kissing unwilling women, that’s quite enough, thank you.

As a politician, I really like you, Al.

Now do the right thing and resign.

If you’re sincere about being ashamed of what you did, provide restitution.  Volunteer your time to shelters that provide aid and comfort to victims of sexual harassment.  Show penance.  One day very soon, you could step back into the political limelight, a renewed, hopefully forgiven man.

Who knows, you may even be elected again to office.

Oh, and Mr. Moore?  Mr. Trump?  I’d ask you two to drop out and do the same but it seems you’ve lost your shame a very long time ago.

If you ever had any to begin with.

General

Angry about Keurig…

Big time politics here, so look away if you’re not interested in reading my opinion of these issues…

The other day Sean Hannity, right wing apologist and another of the too many right wing machine over at Fox “News”, had controversial Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore on his show.

For those who don’t know, Roy Moore is controversial for a number of things, from going against Supreme Court rulings to  -this is the latest controversy- having sex with teenage women/girls as young as 14 years of age when he was in his (gulp) thirties.

He’s being accused by women who are willing to put their name to the accusations of engaging in pedophilia.

So of course, when Mr. Moore shows up on Sean Hannity’s show, the questions are softballs and the purpose of the episode is to give Mr. Moore a platform to prove he’s a good guy and the accusations aren’t true.

He didn’t quite do that…  From vox.com, Jen Kirby writes about that interview, and the one startling thing he had to say when asked if he dated teenagers at that time:

Roy Moore on whether he dated teenage girls: “Not generally, no”.

Way to issue a strong denial there, Mr. Moore!

As a result of that interview, and the way it was performed by Mr. Hannity, people started flooded some of his sponsors with letters/tweets/etc. asking them how they can continue to sponsor a show where its host seeks to show someone like Mr. Moore in a positive light.

Among the companies that were contacted was Keurig, coffee machine makers.  In a tweet regarding whether they would continue to support Mr. Hannity’s show after that interview, Keurig stated:

Thank you for your concern and for bringing this to our attention. We worked with our media partner and FOX news to stop our ad from airing during the Sean Hannity Show.

As with any action, there is a reaction, and one of the big reactions from fans of Hannity’s show is to slam Keurig and, idiotically, decide to destroy their Keurig coffee making machines.  Tom McKay over at gizmodo.com writes about this:

Angry Sean Hannity fans are smashing Keurigs on Twitter because 2017 is dumb as heck

But you know what?  Dumb as it is to decide to protest Keurig (and liberals, I suppose) by destroying your Keurig machine is just another iteration of dumb protesting.

Way, way back in 1976 and when Blue Oyster Cult first released their song “Don’t Fear The Reaper” (you know, the cowbell song!)…

…there was a great deal of controversy amongst the very religious/right wingers out there about it.

Why?

Because the song’s lyrics refer to death in many incarnations and states “don’t fear the reaper” when referring to, among others, “Romeo and Juliet.”  To many, the implication was clear: The song promoted death and suicide and, therefore, it was a sinful song. (Didn’t help that Blue Oyster Cult cultivated a dark image)

So controversial amongst the religious/right wingers was the song and album in which it came on that one day this group has a big BOC bonfire, wherein people brought the vinyl albums and burned them.

To which one of the members of BOC (I forget which) was quoted as saying something along the lines of: “I don’t care what they do to our albums… as long as they buy them first!”

I suspect Keurig is feeling the same.

General

Rand Paul and that neighbor of his…

If you’ve been reading/watching the news lately, between stories involving Russians, Trump’s latest stupidity, Sexual Assault, and as much depressing shit as you can handle, came the news that Libertarian Senator Rand Paul was tackled by his next door neighbor while cutting his lawn and suffered several broken ribs.

The cause of the attack remains a head-scratching puzzle.  Early word came out that this involved -of all things- landscaping issues.  Mr. Paul was mowing his lawn, after all, when he was attacked.

This was quickly disputed, but no reason was given for why the attack took place, either by the attacker or the victim.

Over at theslot.com, author Ellie Shechet offers a quick recap of the whole weird affair and wonders…

What the Frick Is Going On With Rand Paul and His Neighbor, Someone Tell Me Right Now

I was very amused by the comments after the article.  Several people have noted they think the source of the animosity between Paul and his neighbor is something more deeply personal… perhaps even sexual.

That perhaps Mr. Paul overstepped his boundaries and/or has had trysts with his neighbor’s wife or daughter or what-have-you.

This is clearly nothing more than the rankest of rank speculation, yet one can’t help but wonder why both the neighbor and Mr. Paul are so very reluctant to get into the details of why they had this confrontation.

A weird story that, by virtue of its timing, is essentially being buried under an avalanche of other stories.

General

Yesterday’s news…

So Bob Mueller, the special counsel investigating the Trump administration’s ties to Russians during the election, indicted and arrested two former Trump officials, the biggest naming being one time campaign head Paul Manifort, while revealing another, “smaller” name in this affair, George Papadopoulos, had pled guilty and was cooperating with the special counsel for some time now.

Which makes one wonder if, perhaps, he might have been used by the special counsel since his arrest to record some conversations…

Speculation, for sure, but…

Whew.

Things must be pretty scary for some in the White House… and it has nothing to do with Halloween.