Nearly ten mind numbing months now of Trump's unorthodox Presidency. The initial shock has worn off but it's being replaced by "Trump Fatigue". The man is wearing extremely thin as the endless boastful stories of his personal heroics  become repetitious and boring. He's finally learned to read a script fairly well -until he starts speaking off the cuff- endlessly bragging about how "No other President has ever (fill in the blank) as I have". It is true that no other President has gone this long and accomplished so little. It's also true that no other President has fired more people in less than a year as Trump has done. 

Trump largely got elected by being provocative, saying outrageous things, and making a spectacle of himself. He gained fame as the host of a "reality show" but unfortunately  he continues to govern as if running the Country is just hosting an bigger reality show. He fires people with the same regularity and imperial attitude that he did on "The Apprentice". Every single issues somehow ends up being about him. His ego knows no bounds and he's difficult to get off stage when he's in front of a live audience.

We've seen enough of this man to know that nothing is going to change. Our only hope is either impeachment or nearly unanimous censure by the members of the Republican Party. The best route to impeachment will probably be accomplished by "following the money"- or the discovery of recorded conversations. 

The good news is that Congress can't get the votes to do much damage until after the next election cycle.

Watching Trump roll back environmental, banking,  and consumer privacy regulations is heart breaking. It's one thing to thin out unnecessary and pointless regulations which only make everyone's life more difficult but quite another thing to cancel regulations that protect our privacy, and our air and water for future generations. This is the only livable planet that we have. It was a gift given to us and when we foul it and deplete the natural resources we violate the sacred trust given to us by Nature.

Trump has no knowledge or respect for Nature or the laws of the Universe. He has no respect for our neighbors and other Nations. He has no respect for our judicial system and our judges. He has no respect for honesty and truthfulness. He has no empathy for those in need. He has never spent a day in any form of public service -nor has he ever served a day in the Military. His primary goals are to promote himself and increase his wealth . His secondary goals are to roll back all of the protections to our rights to privacy, the regulations which prevent Banks and Wall Street from creating another Depression, reduce the tax rates for the wealthy, and allow corporations to rape our natural resources for profit.  Given his way the wealthy will prosper, working people will earn less money, and pollution will make our planet unlivable. If we continue to "consume" and not "replace" - eventually there won't be anything left to consume. Trump's overall philosophy is to say "To hell with the future - it's not our problem. We live in the "now" not the "future".

It's no coincidence that many of Trump's appointments to the various regulatory branches of government are person's who have openly advocated against those very same branches of government.

Bannon is the man who whispers in Trump's ear at night and Bannon's openly stated goal is to unfund, or eliminate,  as many  government regulatory branches of government as possible.

Bannon's behind the scenes manipulation of Trump should never be under estimated or discounted.
He's George Bush's Dick Cheney. Taking advantage of a rookie first year President who doesn't have a clue about how the regulatory functions of our Government work or what purpose those regulations serve.  Cheney lead Bush down a path that lead to one of the worst depression in Decades. Bannon is on course to do the same unless people wake up and start paying attention to the potential long term problems that Bannon and his ilk are going to create with their passion for de-regulation.  By the time (if ever)  President Trump wakes up and starts to listen to more voices outside of his closed circle of un-elected advisers it may well be too late to save the regulatory agencies which protect public health, the environment, safety, equal opportunity, freedom of religion, and equal opportunity for all.  We are after all a Nation of laws which protect and create fair play. These laws also protect the planet and our natural resources. If we don't leave our planet is better shape than we found it. If we don't reduce and eliminate pollution. If we don't replenish what we consume- the planet will become so toxic and depleted that life as we know it may no longer be viable. This is not a political issue. At it's core is an issue of taking care of the "Garden of Eden" which has made our very existence possible. At it's core it's an issue of fairness and fair play. Private Enterprise is probably the most fair and productive and economic system that's been created by our species. Even so regulations are critical to prevent a hand full of Business Owners from enriching themselves on the backs of those who do the actual work.

Trump's lack of interest in the details of governing and government make him extremely vulnerable to those who have his ear and want to manipulate him for their own purposes. Trump is a skilled "pitch man" but his moral compass is non-magnetic -swinging wildly from East to West in search of North. 
We can not allow this person to virtually destroy all of the social, environmental, and economic progress that we've fought so hard to create and protect over the centuries that our species has walked upon this planet. We must never forget that we are just one of the millions of "animal" species that have been risen from the seas and lands over the past 500 million years. Whatever conceit we claim for our intelligence- that intelligence was lent to us by the elements of the planet itself. Existence requires co-existence. Only  the Sun exists by consume itself. The rest of us must consume each other.

  


 

Trump and the Truth

Our new President is playing fast and furious with the Truth- alternate versions of the Truth- and the Truth as he wants it to be. He makes up his own facts as he goes along and attacks the Press when they check on his "facts". His blatant disregard for revealing his many potential personal and business conflicts of interest is in clear violation of the intent of our founders and the Constitution itself, let alone any regard for the people's right to know about his personal finances- information which his new cabinet members are required to provide. He has loans with banks- some of which may be foreign banks. He collects income from Corporations , Foreign Heads of State and their staff for staying in his hotels in America and around the world. He promised to release his income tax returns if he was elected and now he refuses to do so. This can only mean that he has some ethical or financial problems that he doesn't want to make public. This man has a long history of being involved in law suits,  bankruptcy, and not paying his contractors. He recently settled a class action suit filed by people who attended his "University". He is being sued by a woman he molested. Other women will probably come forward with their own claims. He has financial ties with Oligarchs in Russia and the Ukraine.
It's very important that the free Press dig into each of these matters and shed light on this man's past and current financial ties and potential conflicts of interest.

Nazi TRUMP

Got to love it. Trump had no problem when the FBI  went after Clinton's emails but when they published Russian emails he accuses the FBI and the CIA of being Nazis! He yells at reporters in his first "Press Conference" and won't even let some of them ask him questions. He's refusing to reveal his income tax returns. He's refusing divest himself of his businesses. The man has skin so thin that everybody is afraid to speak up for fear that Trump will find a way to punish them. He's an ignorant uninformed "wanna be" dictator. Still shipping job overseas for his own products and still stiffing the working men and the contractors that work for him. How any God fearing Christian or honest working man or woman could vote for this vain jerk is beyond belief.

Trump has the emotional stability of a two year old and the attention span of someone who is afflicted with an "Attention deficit disorder". He's semi-illiterate - forced to use Twitter because he apparently lacks the ability to write in complete sentences. He's conducting Nuclear proliferation policies on Twitter and insulting the Chinese who are our biggest trade partner while kissing up to Russia whose economy is in tatters. He thinks Global warming is a hoax and that the world had an unlimited supply of fossil fuels.

He ships jobs overseas for his products while criticizing others who do the same. His best big buddies are the President of Israel and President Putin of Russia. We used to describe people like Trump as having constipation of the brain and diarrhea of the mouth. He has no concept of "conflict of interest". He doesn't read or study issues before spouting off for all the world to hear. Forget about Income tax laws and policies. He'll decide who pays taxes and how much. Forget about treaties- he'll decide which treaties to honor and which to ignore. The same with immigration, foreign affairs, the United Nations, and health insurance. He looks in the mirror every morning and says "people love me". God save us. God save the world.

Christians for Trump?

This is not fake news. Many Christians actually voted for Trump - a man who demeans and gropes women. Trump mocks disabled people and war heroes who get captured. He brags brags about the size of his daughters breasts. If you're a Christian what do you think Jesus would say about Trump's behavior? 

Not fake!

Trump doesn't want to listen to dull repetitive security briefings. Remember when President Bush felt the same way? Early in his first term Bush flew home to Texas as often as he could and apparently missed the briefing about the terrorist plot to weaponize commercial aircraft. How many lives and wars might have been avoided if Bush has taken the warnings seriously and ordered all commercial airplanes to install security doors in order to prevent terrorists from gaining access to the cockpits? Being President is not a part time job. You don't get to go home every weekend and watch football games on TV. You don't get to tweet instead of holding press conferences and being held accountable for your actions and works by the Press. You don't get to run a business while you're running the Country.

Not fake!

Trump puts a climate change denier in charge of the EPA. An advocate of using pubic money to fund Charter Schools in charge of Education. The chairman of a fast food giant who opposes minimum wage legislation in charge of the Department of Labor, a retired physician with no experience managing a large government agency in charge of HUD, a General whose son publishes fake news stories in charge of Intelligence gathering, and a bunch of White Nationalists on board as his advisers.
You can't make stuff like this up folks. Trump makes up his "facts" as he goes along. Get ready for impeachment hearings when he fails to divest himself of his various business enterprises. Conflict of interest is Trump's middle name. Bankruptcy is his business model. Sexual harassment is his life style.
His popularity ratings are lower than the sitting President or Hillary Clinton. The man is an egocentric
con artist.

Trump gets construction permit for twin towers hotel in Moscow. Putin to have shares in new venture.

Fake News

Donald Trump, in a sudden reversal of his campaign promises, is going to urge the Senate to confirm the nomination of the Supreme Court candidate that President Obama sent to the Senate. He's also agreed to reveal his income tax records and sell all of his business interests in order to avoid any conflict of interest.

Trump verses Castro?

There are troubling similarities between these two leaders. Both prefer to deliver long speeches than actually govern. Both think they are above the law. Both punish those who disagree with them. Both are populists who attract the disaffected and impoverished but their policies favor the bankers and the political elites instead of the working people. It's interesting to note that the history of populist leaders usually evolves into cruel dictatorship governments where those who speak out are jailed or murdered.

Trump Protesters,

How many of you actually took the time to vote? How many of you didn't like either candidate and decided not to vote? If you're protesting now, it's too late. If you didn't vote you have no right to complain or protest.

We have no way of knowing if Trump is a racist but we do know for sure that he attracts racists and we do know that he's giving racists positions in his cabinet.

Those of you who voted for Trump hoping he would create jobs, have to ask yourself why he has all of his products made in foreign countries instead of hiring American companies to manufacture those products. When he complains about illegals ask yourself why he hired illegals to work on his buildings.

All those promises he made- listen and watch, he's already backing off on most of them and he's not even in office yet. The wall is going to be a "fence" now and it's not going to be everywhere.
Rounding up mexicans and muslims and deporting them in the firsts 45 days? Now becomes only  deporting known criminals. Global heating is a hoax? Guess what. Alternative energy is creating thousands of new jobs. Bomb the hell out of ISIS. Guess what- not practical- chose another option.
Cancel all trade agreements? Guess what- there goes our export income. Cancel Obama care. Guess how many low income Republicans that's going to put in bankruptcy. If you bought Trumps promises you've been had by a real con artist folks. 

Crooked Hillary?

If anybody should be "locked up" it's Crooked Donald Trump. He's a serial sexual harasser and groper who cheats on his income taxes and doesn't pay his bills. His college is a complete sham. Students are suing for a refund. He employs illegal immigrants and hires unregistered foreign Nationals and government agents on his campaign staff which is illegal. He lies about a putting up a wall on the Mexican Border- knowing that it will never happen. He insults physically handicapped people and war veterans. He lied to get out the draft for Viet Nam. He lied on his income tax statements. He encouraged Russian hackers to break into his opponents emails- which is  illegal. He incites people to punch people who protest against him- which is illegal. He discussed details of his National Security Briefing which is illegal. He took aides to his National Security Briefing who had no security clearances. He lied about President Obama's birth certificate. Lock him up!

Our two party political system is the cause of many of our problems- especially when the two parties self identify along ideological lines. Life is not black and white. Life is all shades of gray. Politics is not the American League and the National league playing for the World Series. Conservatives and Liberal are not natural enemies- rather they're both sides of the same coin. When we flip a coin there are only two possible results- a winner and a loser. Our challenges are too complex to be debated and discussed in terms of winners or losers. Children bicker because they see things in terms of  black and white. They only see their own self interest. Adults are capable of seeing beyond their own self interest. Adults know that we're all in this together.  If there were no political parties our chances of finding agreement on the increasingly complex challenges we face would be greatly enhanced. After all we're all adults. It's time to put aside the school yard bickering and come together as a team - with mutual respect for each others points of view and enriched by diversity of those views. 

Enough already! When we vote we expect the politicians to accept the result and cooperate with the person we elect. Unfortunately it looks like the Republicans are already gearing up to oppose every action that Hillary proposes. If that the case they can mail in their "nays" and spend the next four years trying to Impeach Clinton. All this nonsense about the votes being rigged is true if past actions by the Republican Party are any indication. All that gerrymandering, closing voting locations, unreasonable demands for I.D. - these are things the Republicans have been doing since the last election to rig the votes in their favor. If anyone knows anything about rigging an election its the Far Right Wing of the Republican Party.

Colin Powell doesn't have a right to criticize Clinton for her judgment or her  emails- especially now that his own emails have been hacked. This is the man who didn't take the time to fact check his speech to the United Nations when seeking approval for our ill fated invasion of Iraq. This is the man who is  responsible for so many of our young men and women being injured or killed in Iraq- and this man has the balls to criticize Hillary Clinton? There is no evidence that Hillary's emails have been hacked. Powell can't make the same claim.  

Donald Trump doesn't want to make American great again. He wants to sell it to the Russians.

Gold Medals

Maybe the Olympics can teach us something about the nobility of the Olympic Spirit. Something  beyond physical triumph and medals. Something about respect for our opponents in deed and thought.
Something about being able to achieve more when we're pushed to our limits by a worthy opponent. Something about having deep respect for those who make our victories possible by their own failures. For without a loser than can be no winner. In order to have a record breaking performance someone else had to set that record. The Olympics teach us to respect those who have the courage to get in the arena and risk failure. Whether it be a physical contest or a contest of ideas - what a wonderful world it would be if we could learn to respect one another for our sincerity of thought and purpose. There is no shame in losing- only shame in not having the courage to enter the arena.

Trump's comment about the Purple Heart the veteran gave him "Wow I've always wanted one of these"!  What is wrong with this guy?