Weird, BUT TRUE!

Grim Reaper statue, Cathedral of Trier, Trier, Germany

https://www.npr.org/2023/01/02/1146318331/yoga-guru-qanon-conspiracy-theories

She was a popular yoga teacher who embraced QAnon

—//—

Man… shit’s just getting weirder, and weirder by the day.

Next thing you know, Putin will be an outer space transsexual vegan lesbian lizard with a PhD in Marianas Trench basket weaving using Jewish space lasers funded by Elon Musk and owned by Muslims who are in cahoots with dead Pope Benedict XVI, who actually died 59 years ago, and has been a zombie ever since, secretly controlled by Elvis who is still living in seclusion in Memphis, is a major Republican donor, secretly married Marilyn Monroe who is also still alive in the Himalayas, and gave birth to a child who has the secret ability to morph, then became the 43rd, 44th, 45th, and 46th U.S. President, and is still President, but secretly living in seclusion after impregnating Hillary.

That man, is

How Sick Is A Sick Party That Pushes Sick Candidates On Sick Voters?

Appearing on Alex Jones’ “InfoWars” program, Kanye West recently said, 

“I see good things about Hitler. Jewish people are not going to tell me: ‘You can’t say out loud that this person ever [sic] did anything good.’ I’m done with that. I like Hitler. The Jewish media has made us feel like Nazis and Hitler, [and] have never offered us anything of value to the world.” 

Kanye is widely known as a mentally disturbed multi-millionaire Black male entertainer whose fortune came in large part from sales of athletic footwear following modest recording successes, and now prefers to be called “Ye,” who continues supporting degenerate racist Republican madman and chronically habitual liar, the chiseler-swindler-thief, former POTUS and election-denier-in-chief, Donald Trump.

Kanye has increasingly and very publicly exhibited bizarrely erratic behavior on full display through various online social media accounts, in other public venues and ways, in 2016 and 2019 was hospitalized because of psychiatric emergency, and in 2016 was diagnosed with bipolar disorder about which he has publicly spoken, though he denied it in a public White House Oval Office meeting with the 45th President in October 2018 claiming that he was merely “sleep deprived,” yet months earlier claimed bipolar disorder was “my superpower” and on his June 2018 album cover of “Ye,” scrawled “I hate being Bi-Polar its awesome.”

His deteriorated mental health condition is painfully obvious to even the most casual of observers, and with the 2010 production of an album named “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” in conjunction with his on-again-off-again denial of the reality of his disease, refusal to treat his disease with medications, in combination with a very public divorce involving four children, his life has become an unsightly public disgrace at best, and a laughingstock and open mockery at worse.

“InfoWars” is a moronic madhouse media show of radicalized right-wing extremist conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who, despite multi-billion dollar civil judgements against him for deliberately promoting lies, continues producing his show, and has most recently filed bankruptcy in Texas following the civil judgments against him.

Alex foists numerous mind-boggling insane rants, including most notably and tragically, that the 2012 mindless mass murder massacre of 20 6-and-7 year old children, 7 adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut — and his mother in her home — was a “false flag” staged stunt, a hoax performed by actors perpetrated by the Federal government in an attempt to outlaw assault weapons. Alex Jones’ lies in turn caused his followers to harass the grieving parents & siblings, including an FBI agent who had responded to the scene. The 20-year-old perpetrator Adam Lanza committed suicide on site using the AR-15 style rifle fitted with several 30 round magazines which he used to kill the children, teachers, and his mother.

Alex Jones, Donald Trump, and Kanye West… those 3 men alone are IRREFUTABLE PROOF POSITIVE that America is much, much, much more gravely mentally ill than previously imagined, that the depths of depravity which they represent are but a mere scratch on the surface, the veritable tip of the proverbial iceberg, perhaps much like the one which sank the allegedly “unsinkable” luxury cruise ship “Titanic,” again, which ironically occurred after striking an iceberg on its 1912 maiden voyage.

But we could add a 4th: Herschel Walker, another man with a well-known mentally-disordered psychiatric disorder who is equally well known for his chronically habitual lying, spousal/partner abuse, and wholesale denial that anything is wrong with him.

Having been manipulated into becoming a candidate for Georgia’s U.S. Senate seat under the Republican banner by the former 45th President, Hershel Walker appears to have violated Georgia election law by claiming to be a Georgia Resident and voting in the state’s Republican primary and the Georgia November 2022 General Election, while simultaneously taking a homestead tax deduction in Texas, though “the place where he stays” is his wife’s house in Georgia.

Herschel Walker is an equally VERY SICK, SICK man, who is also a known chronic pathological liar, spousal abuser, philanderer, manipulator and all-around psychopath… much like the 45th POTUS.

BUT!

Do you know what MUCH, MUCH — even EXCEEDINGLY — worse?

A people who either cannot see, or refuse to see, the depths of Herschel Walker’s depravity and utter lack of character qualities befitting such an office, which on their face are innately inherent moral disqualifications, or either are so blindly stuck on the GOP that they’d vote for a warm piece of shit, instead of anyone else, just because it’s under the Republican banner.

Yet those sick men’s cult members cannot themselves be blamed for perpetrating and promulgating such mass evil. Their enablers are

Kenneth Starr Helped Jeffrey Epstein Avoid Federal Prosecution

Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr departs his home September 10, 1998, in McLean, VA. The 445-page Starr report on the investigation into the affair between President Clinton and former White House Intern Monica Lewinsky was delivered to Congress Wednesday afternoon.
KHUE BUI/AP

Here’s your QAnon pedophile network boss.

Would you be surprised to know that it’s Kenneth Starr?

Remember: The [radical right-wing] QAnon conspiracy theory [falsely] claims that Democrats are involved in a global cannibalistic pedophile network, and that anti-Trumpers were directly involved in an attempt to destroy the 45th President’s efforts in office because he was onto their game and was rooting them out of “deep state” government bureaucracies and big business. The never-Trump movement began as intra-party opposition by prominent conservative Republicans to prevent him from being nominated, and later morphed.

And it is worth noting, that the pernicious QAnon conspiracy theory has long been discredited by numerous independent individuals, none of whom worked together, and that like many other conspiracy theories – and viruses – continually evolves, ever changing various elements of itself to potentially become as  damaging as possible.

There’s always at least one element of truth in every lie, no matter how far-fetched the lie is, for without it, the entire house of cards falls apart. That’s just how fragile conspiracy theories are. They CANNOT survive independently, and like all parasites, need hosts in order to perpetuate.

Great Saint James (top center) and Little Saint James (lower center) islands in the U.S. Virgin Islands were owned by Jeffrey Epstein.

And in this instance, pedophilia is the solitary bit of truth.

From that single germ, the conspiracy begins to grow. Assertions of the existence of international cartels or networks are built upon the fact that Epstein was known to frequently fly abroad to various nations, and between 1995 and 2013 logged at least 730 flights to and from Teterboro Airport, NJ – a small, general aviation reliever “corporate” airport, just 12 miles from midtown Manhattan, where he maintained a seven-story, including basement, 18,814 square foot residence at 9 East 71st Street, on the posh Upper East Side of Manhattan. The pilots’ flight logs of his travel to and from Teterboro Airport represent only about a third of his total air travel between 1995 and 2013, and consist of thousands of flights. He was arrested at Teterboro Airport July 6, 2019 returning from Paris.

His international travel was facilitated by ownership of several jet aircraft and helicopters, including a Cessna Citation jet, a Gulf Stream jet, and a Boeing 727 jet airliner nicknamed “Lolita Express,” along with two Caribbean islands — the 78-acre Little Saint James, and the larger adjacent 165-acre Great Saint James, in the U.S. Virgin Islands — and was known to host notable guests on the them, among whom are known to have been former U.S. President Bill Clinton, accompanied by his Secret Service agents, because flight itineraries, manifests and passenger lists detail that he flew there as Epstein’s guest at least 26 times.

Jeffrey Epstein, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department booking photo, 27 July 2006, following his indictment for soliciting prostitution.

Other notable personalities who Epstein hosted regularly included such high-profile individuals as Donald Trump, renown Harvard University Professor of Law, emeritus, Alan Dershowitz, the UK’s Prince

Donald John Trump is a Loser and Liar

See: https://www.cisa.gov/news/2020/11/12/joint-statement-elections-infrastructure-government-coordinating-council-election

Donald John Trump is a:

• Pathological Liar

Fact Checking Thom Hartmann –OR– Did Trump Really Do/Say That?

“Fact checking” is a relatively new phenomenon, having become necessitated by the seemingly incessant barrage of lies, falsehoods, fabrications, exaggerations, and otherwise untrue remarks, comments, statements, insinuations, and innuendo of the President and those in the near vicinity of, and within the orbit of his warped, demented, corrupted, and perverted “inner circle.”

Had there been no POS45 President, there’d have been no need for “fact checkers,” per se – at least not in the sense to which we’ve so quickly become accustomed to them… including their imposters.

Thom Hartmann

The comments of most people can be taken at face value, that they’re true, and if they’re exaggerated, at least the exaggeration is clearly understood by the listener/hearer. And even if the content shared was biased, that too, was clearly understood, even if it was reported upon, relayed or conveyed by a third party – disinterested, or not.

As an aside, in that vein of truth-telling, there are at least two entertaining and fun-to-watch motion pictures which stories are based upon the premise of truth-telling. In one, everyone in society tells the truth, or at least is incapable of lying, save for one individual – Ricky Gervais, in the 2009 comedy “The Invention of Lying.” In another, the protagonist is temporarily rendered incapable of saying anything other than the truth – the 1997 comedy “Liar Liar,” starring Jim Carrey.

But as we have all sadly come to understand – some later, while others early on – is that when Donald John Trump speaks, he is “not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him,” and when Donald John Trump “lies, he speaks his native language” with a forked tongue. And according to those who continue to track his prevarications, as of the last update August 27, 2020, the Current White House Occupant had uttered a total of 22,247 false or misleading claims in 1,316 days as the nation’s Chief Executive.

Regarding assertions that the Current White House Occupant is neither racist nor bigoted, the axiom “the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree” applies, because there is extant a news record and official public record of his father’s June 1927 arrest at a KKK rally described then as a “near-riot” which occurred in conjunction with that parade/rally.

Not only that, but there’s the persistent fact and inconvenient truth of the Justice Department’s 1973 Federal racial housing discrimination lawsuit against him, his father, and their company, all of which is a very embarrassing matter of public record for him.

And then, there’s his continued recalcitrant adherence to the false idea that the “Central Park 5” were guilty of the particularly brutal beating and repeated raping of a 28-year old White female jogger, a 1989 case in which 5 young Black & Hispanic male teens ages 14, 15, and 16, were (falsely) accused, convicted, sentenced, and imprisoned for a crime they did not commit. Later, in 2002, after serving their sentences, DNA evidence and analysis cleared them all, and the true solitary culprit – a previously convicted rapist – was found. The young men’s convictions were all vacated, and they shared a $41 million settlement.

Despite the overwhelming and incontrovertible abundance of evidence of their innocence, the nation’s current Chief Executive maintains the false assertion of their guilt. Perhaps the Earth is flat, after all, eh?

And then, there’s the matter of a Federal Class Action lawsuit against him and his eponymous, now-defunct “university” which evidence found was nothing but a scam, a fraudulent, deceptive, shyster, high-pressure bait-and-switch criminal organization, which case was eventually settled for $25 million.

“You belong to your father, the devil,
and you want to carry out your father’s desires.
He was a murderer from the beginning,
not holding to the truth,
for there is no truth in him.
When he lies, he speaks his native language,
for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

– Jesus of Nazareth, as recorded in John 8:44 (NIV)

But again, more the point, and that being the veracity of remarks made by Thom Hartmann, a longtime renown liberal radio show host, and author, and speaker. 

In his November 5, 2020 column “Even Losing Will be a Business Opportunity for Trump” Thom Hartmann wrote in part:

“When Donald Trump first decided to run for president, he confided to friends that his real goal was to get publicity for his brand and squeeze a larger payment out of NBC for his TV show. He even bragged that he’d be the first person to make money running for the White House.

“Once he unexpectedly won,

Trump Signs Peace Deal With Nations Not At War

Not to worry.

It’s just another episode of the Trump Surreality Show.

You haven’t missed anything.

“We say enough to our conflict, after years of not fighting each other, finally we’ll bring calm to Dubai’s surrounding areas,” the Netanyahu character sarcastically begins.

The opening line derided the fact that the so-called “peace deal” was in fact between two countries who had never been at war.

“Unlike Begin, I didn’t compromise on anything,” the Israeli figure continues, referring to former Prime Minister Menachem Begin signing a peace treaty with Egyptian president Anwar Sadat in 1979.

If you really want to know what people think about their politics, and (mis)leaders, look at their humor.

So, here’s what Israelis think about the not-really-a-peace deal the Carnival Barker in Chief manipulated today.

It’s just

How Jerry Falwell, Jr. Influenced Trump’s Election

Predictions sometimes come true.

And paybacks aren’t always hell.

The NY Times and other news agencies are reporting that Liberty University is in the process of a forensic audit to examine the school’s operations during Jerry Falwell, Jr.’s tenure as its President.

You had to have known (i.e., strongly suspected) that it would happen.

Falwell, Jr. is a real estate attorney-developer whose father, the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, Sr. founded the school, and was founding pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia. As well, he founded the long-defunct “Moral Majority” – a right-wing Christian religious political action group which was extensively involved in Republican politics, and was predominately concerned with social and cultural matters, and vehemently opposed Civil Rights for anyone but heterosexuals.

Others in the same era include James Dobson, a psychologist and founder of “Focus on the Family” who frequently pointed to Judeo-Christian holy writ to support his theories, the Rev. Don Wildmon, a United Methodist pastor and founder of the Tupelo, Mississippi-based American Family Association, and the American Family Radio network which began as Low-Power FM stations in small communities and neighborhoods throughout the nation, and numerous other predominately White Protestant religious figures, including many in the so-called “blab-it-and-grab-it” heterodox pseudo-faith movement also known as the “prosperity gospel” preachers such as Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, Robert Tilton, Jerry Savelle, Marilyn Hickey, Kenneth Hagin, Sr., T.L. and Daisy Osborne, and John and “Dodie” Osteen, whose son Joel, with his wife, now occupies their former positions in the church they founded.

Perhaps now you can better understand the basis for some, if not much, of the shenanigans with the Republican party’s fawning obeisance to Evangelicals. Simply put, it’s payback, because they put them in power. You’ll see that theme emerge again, later in the article.

But back to the matter at hand.

And that is concerning Jerry Falwell, Jr.’s tenure as Liberty University President and Chancellor.

NOTE: For sake of simplicity, and ease of understanding, the junior Falwell will be referred to simply as “Jerry Falwell,” except for instances in which it is pertinent to mention his father, the late “Rev. Jerry Falwell, Sr.”

Liberty University today (Monday, August 31, 2020) released a statement regarding their objectives, which also mentioned that they would be pursuing an investigation of Falwell’s time as President. Their statement read in part that,

(Not So) Random Coronavirus Thoughts From The Other Side Of The World

Andaman and Nicobar Islands chain showing North Sentinel Island in the Bay of Bengal, off the east Indian coast.

Remember the Stone Age Sentinel Island tribe members?

Sentinelese tribesman shooting arrows at an Indian Coast Guard helicopter sent for a Health and Welfare check upon the remote, Stone Age islanders following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

Way out in the middle of the Indian Ocean’s Bay of Bengal on Sentinel Island, they are the world’s last known “uncontacted” people, meaning that no one other than them has ever known their language, they likely don’t know how to make fire, and are a hunter-gatherer type primitive people.

Reckon the coronavirus has wafted their way?

We’ll likely never know if they survive, or not, since we (civilization/humanity) don’t stop by for a visit and cup of tea every now and then – regular, or unplanned.

One of the last known official attempts at contact with them was via helicopter, when Indian government officials performed a type of “health and welfare safety check” following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and were fired upon by a tribesman using a bow and arrows.

After that, the last time anyone ever “checked upon” them was around November 2018, when the now-deceased self-styled missionary John Allen Chau violated Indian law by visiting the island, and later, was killed by them in his misguided evangelization efforts.

But what if somehow, they’re immune to COVID-19?

We’ll likely never know.

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia watching the military parade alongside aging veterans. Credit–Alexey Nikolsky/Sputnik, via Agence France-Presse; Aging veterans in their 80s and 90s joined Mr. Putin on the reviewing stand, nearly all of them without masks, to watch 14,000 troops march in tight formation to stirring martial music. Tanks, missiles and other military equipment then trundled through the square in front of the Kremlin, followed by a flyover by strategic bombers, fighter jets and helicopters.

Macho, Macho Man… I’ve got to be a macho man.

Like his Russian buddy Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump doesn’t wear any protective nose/mouth face mask/covering against the coronavirus. The man is tough – cheap steak tough. Like chickens, he eats rocks… to digest his food, since he has no stomach to speak of.

June 24th, Putin, along with many other elderly Russian veterans of WWII, participated in

Donald Trump: An Accidental President

Donald Trump was never serious about becoming president, and campaigned exclusively as a lark, in order to better position himself in upcoming contract negotiations with NBC.

Thus said Howard Stern at least 3 years ago.

While it may have been a topic of some minor discussion earlier – and therefore not discussed much at all – Howard Stern, radio “shock jock” and self-described “King of All Media” – has been a long-time friend of the Current White House Occupant, the Liar in Chief himself, Donald J. “DJ” Trump.

As such, when Trump told Stern his plans, Stern said he advised Trump not to run, and later, again advised him to drop out of the running to become the Republican party’s nominee.

Trump has been a guest on Stern’s eponymous “The Howard Stern Show” many, many, many times. And socially, away from the microphone, Stern and Trump have enjoyed a long-running friendly relationship. Suffice it to say, Trump and Stern are intertwined – not quite inexplicably, or even inexorably, but definitely inescapably.

With over 24 appearances over 20 years, it would be reasonable to say that Trump has some level of relationship with Stern.

And, as you might imagine, there’s

Donald Trump… Bless his heart.

Two thoughts.

1.) I am no fan of the current President.

2.) The Current White House Occupant is not only a blithering idiot, and utter incompetent, but is a dictatorially-inclined abuser and bully.

That’s why he demands “loyalty,” rather than honesty and expertise. He micromanages, and fires anyone whom has any disagreement with him – no matter how minuscule.

And to be certain, as I have maintained for years, and continue to maintain, I am not now, nor have I ever been a member of any political party. I’m a GDI – God Damn Independent.

That’s also why ALL polls relating to his job performance/approval rating during the past 4 years have ONLY briefly – March 25 – April 6 this year, and May 15 – 19 – been above 46%.

That’s 12 + 5 days = 17 days. Only 17 days out of 1618 calendar days. Expressed as a percentage, that’s 1.0506%.  In 4 years 5 months 5 days, that’s only 1 day out of every 95 days has been a day in which he had the approval of more than a minority of Americans – 46% – not even a plurality.

The majority – 54% – have never approved of his performance.

Not even once.

The highest his approval rating has been is 47.4% which occurred, oddly enough, on April 1, 2020.

Most of the time, his approval rating has floated between 40% and 44%. It’s now at 42.3%, with the lowest being 37.1% on December 16, 2017. Even his beloved Fox News has found that 1207 Registered Voters who were polled May 17-20 this year overwhelmingly disapproved of him by a 10 point margin, 44 to 54.

In fact, in the totality of all polls conducted since the term of his presidency began, by well-known, highly respected, and legitimate polling organizations such as Gallup, Pew Research, Marist College, Quinnipiac University, Harvard-Harris, Reuters-Ipsos, Emerson College Polling, Monmouth University Polling Institute, etc., the OVERWHELMING and EXCEEDINGLY VAST MAJORITY of all polls conducted since the first one which was done by Reuters from the period 1/20-1/24, NONE have ever been over 3 %age points spread.

So, it’s not even close.

But moreover, the claims made about him – that he is racist, and bigoted – merit examination, and warrant genuinely serious consideration.

And it is in that vein in which we must ponder the question:

Is Donald Trump racist?

The aphorism “the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree” is apropos here, because his late father, Fred J. Trump, was a well-known racist, and was once arrested at a Ku Klux Klan rally in New York City. And though at the time, it was not “front-page news,” per se, the report of his arrest was a matter of record which was published in the New York Times, and is validated by now-public Census records which verify his address, which was also published in the story.

A Washington Post story about the matter dated February 29, 2016 by Philip Bump, National Correspondent, stated in part, that:

“The predication for the Klan to march, according to a flier passed around Jamaica beforehand, was that “Native-born Protestant Americans” were being “assaulted by Roman Catholic police of New York City.” “Liberty and Democracy have been trampled upon,” it continued, “when native-born Protestant Americans dare to organize to protect one flag, the American flag; one school, the public school; and one language, the English language.”

“It’s not clear from the context what role Fred Trump played in the brawl. The news article simply notes that seven men were arrested in the “near-riot of the parade,” all of whom were represented by the same lawyers.”

Fred Trump, Donald Trump’s father, was arrested at a Ku Klux Klan rally in New York City, on Memorial Day 1927. “Brawls erupted in New York led by sympathizers of the Italian fascist movement and the Ku Klux Klan. In the fascist brawl, which took place in the Bronx, two Italian men were killed by anti-fascists. In Queens, 1,000 white-robed Klansmen marched through the Jamaica neighborhood, eventually spurring an all-out brawl in which seven men were arrested. One of those arrested was Fred Trump of 175-24 Devonshire Rd. in Jamaica.”

A contemporaneous story published about the matter in the “Daily Star noted that Trump was detained “on a charge of refusing to disperse from a parade when ordered to do so.””

As well, when he was aged 27, Donald found himself – along with his father – named in a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The charge?

Racial discrimination in housing practices.

Fred Trump, as enumerated in the 1930 U.S. Census. The address listed for “Fred C. Trump” is the same address given for Fred Trump in the 1927 story of his arrest at a KKK rally in the Jamaica neighborhood of New York City.

“In October 1973, the government accused Fred and Donald Trump of violations of the Fair Housing Act of 1968 at 39 Trump-built-and managed buildings in Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island.

“The Trumps were drowning in evidence of systematic racial discrimination. On at least seven occasions, prospective tenants had filed complaints against the Trumps with the human rights commission, alleging racially discriminatory patterns and practices. 

“Investigative journalist Wayne Barrett, writing in the Village Voice, reported that the evidence of racial discrimination against the Trumps was overwhelming.”

For 2 years, the Trumps fought the suit with an attorney whom Donald met in a bar while cruising for sex – “Le Club, located on 55^th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, an exclusive watering hole for demimondaine café society” – Roy Cohn.

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“During their 63 years of marriage, Fred carried on a long-term affair with his secretary, according to Burleigh [journalist Nina Burleigh in her book Golden Handcuffs: The Secret History of Trump’s Women], who writes that Fred “was such a man of habit that he took her to lunch at the same Italian place near his office in Brooklyn for years.” Trump biographer Harry Hurt wrote that Fred was nicknamed “King of Miami Beach” for his rampant philandering in South Florida back in the day. But Donald himself judged it as a strong union: “I always told my father I made more money than him but he had a very successful marriage, he really did.”“

– Elise Jordan, “How Donald Trump’s Mother Did—and Didn’t—Shape His Life,” Vanity Fair, May 7, 2020

From: “Crossing the Line: How Donald Trump Behaved With Women in Private,” by Michael Barbaro and Megan Twohey, May 14, 2016, New York Times

Again, the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.

Some have asserted that support of Trump among the Black/minority community is/was significant, and helped in great part to put him into the White House. There’s no evidence to support that claim.

One only need examine his administration for STRONG anecdotal evidence. Dr. Ben Carson, MD is the token Black in his administration, and serves as head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) – an agency often associated and affiliated with minorities.

Donald Trump is the Charles Manson of Presidents

Despite his increasingly bizarre and contemptuous behavior, and bull-in-the-china-shop approach to almost everything, I could support perhaps a few of the President’s efforts and positions, and, I could even overlook some of his behaviors as merely eccentric, quirky, or even slightly off-kilter –– much like his well-known penchant for ketchup on steak.

But increasingly, his ill-advised actions – like publicly posting TOP SECRET surveillance satellite images of our enemies’ military efforts (even though as Commander In Chief he had the absolute right to do so), and meeting with despotic totalitarian Korean ruler-family killer Kim Jong-Un, and scheduling a secret peace talk summit at Camp David with arch enemies the al-Qaeda friendly Taliban 2 days before the 18th anniversary of 9/11 – are placing America at risk with our enemies.

That’s beside his unilaterally-imposed Trade War with China, Mexico, and Canada which continues damaging American families, farmers and industry, and diversion of monies meant for the Military, Coast Guard, TSA, and FEMA to

Rex Tillerson dishes on Donald Trump

“He is a challenging individual – it was challenging for me, coming from the disciplined, highly process-oriented ExxonMobil corporation – where everybody sang out of the same hymnal, or you got kicked out of the choir – and to go to work for a man who is pretty undisciplined, doesn’t like to read, doesn’t read briefing reports, doesn’t like to get into the details of a lot of things, but rather just kind of says, ‘Look, this is what I believe and you can try to convince me otherwise,’ – but most of the time, you’re not going to do that.

“We are starkly different in our styles, we did not have a common value system.

“I’d have to say to him, ‘Mr. President, I understand what you wanna do, but you can’t do it that way. It violates the law, it violates treaty.’ He got really frustrated. I think he grew tired of me being the guy who told him, ‘You can’t do that.’

Trump: Who Voted For, And Supports Him?

Formerly titled, “With Trump WYSIWYG: Who Voted For, And Supports Him?”

African leopard, Panthera pardus pardus, near Lake Panic, Kruger National Park, South Africa, 31 December 2013
Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0), Derek Keats, https://www.flickr.com/photos/93242958@N00/19448654130M

One either loves, or loathes, Donald Trump.

One does not simply “tolerate” him.

He is a divisive political figure.

He is starkly contrasted to former POTUS George W. Bush, who in a May 6, 1999 interview with David Horowitz of Salon magazine, famously said, “I’m a uniter, not a divider.”

Trump is a divider, not a uniter.

For Trump, e pluribus unum means nothing, even though we are the United States of America.

And for those who voted for him thinking he’d change, that he was merely spouting hollow campaign rhetoric, they might as well have asked a leopard to change it’s spots.

With Trump, WYSIWYG.

Specifically, I mean to refer to him in his executive Presidential capacity.

And yet, strangely enough, he has coalesced support from diverse, divergent sub-groups within, and without the GOP. The importance of that feat cannot, and should not be underestimated, glossed over, or minimized, because understanding it is key to political success, especially for

Follow The Money: Paul Manafort, Donald Trump & Michael Flynn

By now, you’ve likely heard, or read about Paul Manafort’s bail being revoked.

Manfort, of course, was briefly then-candidate Donald Trump’s Presidential Campaign Manager, and has been arrested by the FBI as part of former FBI Director Robert Mueller’s (b.1944) ongoing investigation into illegal activity by foreign nations in the United States, some of which may have been related to the General Election of 2016.

Manfort (b.1949) is a Georgetown University School of Law-educated attorney, and among other activities, has made his money lobbying for, and advising the national political campaigns of such presidential candidates as Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Robert “Bob” Dole.

Manafort has also advised political campaigns in totalitarian dictatorial regimes, and has lobbied for, advised, and represented some highly unsavory international criminal characters including

A few not-so-random thoughts on a rainy Thursday morning

A few not-so-random thoughts on a rainy Thursday morning
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
I’ve been “accused”…

…of being verbose, at least a time or two. The way I see it, why use two, three, or four words, when 50 or 60 will do?

And, I’ve similarly been accused of being “articulate,” to which I once responded, “as if I’m the only articulate man there is.” Maybe it’s the X-Y chromosome in me. Who knows? Are “articulate” men like “hen’s teeth” – truly in short supply?

At any rate…

Seriously, however, I think verbosity is a part of the “teacher” in me. Mama has said many times throughout my life, that I have an innate ability to teach.

Now, if you’ll pardon the Forrest Gump-ian expression… (I am a native Alabamian, after all.)

The act of education (yes, it is a verb) is the impartation of knowledge and understanding to those who have none. And face it, we’re all ignorant on some topic, to one extent, or another. Probably many. And that’s in part why we need one another.

Nevertheless…

Recently, an observation of mine was mischaracterized as

Charter Schools Hoodwinking Hypocrisy

Mark Weber, who blogs as “Jersey Jazzman,” is earning his Doctorate in Research and Statistics while teaching in a New Jersey public school. He is a sharp critic of shoddy research, especially of charter schools’ fantastical claims.

In his latest post, he asks why CREDO, the charter-evaluating institute at Stanford University run by Macke Raymond, continues to use an invalid metric – one which has never been scientifically sound – to evaluate charter schools’ performance.

Journalists, who have little expertise in evaluating research claims, eagerly, though ignorantly, promote such unsound claims by writing things like School X produces an additional “number of days of learning.”

That happened most recently in Texas, where charter schools finally matched the test scores of public schools – aka so-called “failing schools” for which charter schools are supposed to be the rescuers.

Continue learning…
http://wp.me/p2odLa-hSK

Jeff Sessions Should Resign

Update: Saturday, 20 February 2021
NOTE: TO THE READER: As you read any story mentioning, involving or written by Donald V. Watkins, Sr., it must be borne in mind that he is now a Federal Convict, and along with his son, Donald V. Watkins, Jr., was found guilty of numerous charges. “Donald Watkins Sr. was convicted of seven counts of wire fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy. Donald Watkins Jr. was convicted of one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy.” As of the date of this note, he is in Federal Custody at Oklahoma City Federal Transfer Center, an administrative security facility, having been relocated away from the minimum security Federal Prison Camp on Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama.

DONALD V. WATKINS
Register Number: 36223-001
Age:	72
Race:	Black
Sex:	Male
Located at: Oklahoma City FTC
Release Date: 01/10/2024

Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Alabama
FATHER AND SON SENTENCED TO PRISON IN MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR INVESTMENT FRAUD SCHEME
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndal/pr/father-and-son-sentenced-prison-multimillion-dollar-investment-fraud-scheme

Here also is the SUPERSEDING INDICTMENT dated December 2018 entitled as:
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA SOUTHERN DIVISION, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. DONALD V. WATKINS, SR. and DONALD V. WATKINS, JR. – 2:18-cr-166-KOB-TMP
https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1116081/download

See also: Donald Watkins, Son Sentenced For Federal Fraud Convictions
Updated Jul 16, 2019; Posted Jul 16, 2019
https://www.al.com/news/2019/07/donald-watkins-son-to-be-sentenced-for-federal-fraud-convictions.html

See also: Donald Watkins’ $1.5 Billion Question: Was It Ever Real?
Updated Feb 23, 2019; Posted Feb 23, 2019
https://www.al.com/news/2019/02/donald-watkins-15-billion-question-was-it-ever-real.html

---

EDITORIAL—
by Donald Watkins

Jeff Sessions Should Resign

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions should resign his office. President Donald Trump does not like, trust, or respect him.

Sessions reportedly offered to resign two weeks ago amid Trump’s growing frustration over the Attorney General’s decision to recuse himself from the Justice Department’s investigation into ties between the Trump Campaign and Russia. Trump has blamed Sessions for

In Defense of Photographer Tyler Shields and Comedienne Kathy Griffin

Much Ado About Nothing?

“Judith with the Head of Holofernes,” by Cristofano Allori, c.1613

Photographer Tyler Shields‘ recent depiction of comedienne Kathy Griffin holding an effigy of Donald Trump’s decapitated head is nothing new in artistic circles, neither is it new among political practitioners, or religious adherents.

“Judith Beheading Holofernes,” by Caravaggio, c.1598-1599

Caravaggio painted “Judith beheading Holoferenes” c.1600.

Cristofano Allori, completed “Judith with the Head of Holofernes” c.1613.

Artemisia Gentileschi, c.1614–18 similarly depicted that scene in “Judith slaying Holofernes.”

“Judith,” by Franz Stuck, 1928

Lucas Cranach the Elder completed “Judith with the Head of Holofernes” in 1530.

“Judith with the Head of Holofernes,” by Lucas Cranach the Elder, c.1530

The so-called “outrage” is focused upon the female model Kathy Griffin, not the male creator artist and photographer Tyler Shields.

Why?

Men have always been fearful of powerful women. And Tyler Shields’ photograph is nothing new under the sun.

In The Book of Judith

#ALpolitics: The “Alabamafication” of America

Update: Saturday, 20 February 2021
NOTE: TO THE READER: As you read any story mentioning, involving or written by Donald V. Watkins, Sr., it must be borne in mind that he is now a Federal Convict, and along with his son, Donald V. Watkins, Jr., was found guilty of numerous charges. “Donald Watkins Sr. was convicted of seven counts of wire fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy. Donald Watkins Jr. was convicted of one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy.” As of the date of this note, he is in Federal Custody at Oklahoma City Federal Transfer Center, an administrative security facility, having been relocated away from the minimum security Federal Prison Camp on Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama.

DONALD V. WATKINS
Register Number: 36223-001
Age:	72
Race:	Black
Sex:	Male
Located at: Oklahoma City FTC
Release Date: 01/10/2024

Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Alabama
FATHER AND SON SENTENCED TO PRISON IN MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR INVESTMENT FRAUD SCHEME
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndal/pr/father-and-son-sentenced-prison-multimillion-dollar-investment-fraud-scheme

Here also is the SUPERSEDING INDICTMENT dated December 2018 entitled as:
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA SOUTHERN DIVISION, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. DONALD V. WATKINS, SR. and DONALD V. WATKINS, JR. – 2:18-cr-166-KOB-TMP
https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1116081/download

See also: Donald Watkins, Son Sentenced For Federal Fraud Convictions
Updated Jul 16, 2019; Posted Jul 16, 2019
https://www.al.com/news/2019/07/donald-watkins-son-to-be-sentenced-for-federal-fraud-convictions.html

See also: Donald Watkins’ $1.5 Billion Question: Was It Ever Real?
Updated Feb 23, 2019; Posted Feb 23, 2019
https://www.al.com/news/2019/02/donald-watkins-15-billion-question-was-it-ever-real.html

---

The parallels are uncannily ironic, and unmistakable.

Consider also who is Attorney General… former Alabama Senator Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III.

—//—

Twins of Deception: Robert Bentley and Donald J. Trump

By Donald V. Watkins
©Copyrighted and Published (via Facebook) on May 21, 2017
Used with permission

We recently experienced in Alabama what the nation is undergoing with President Donald J. Trump – a seemingly endless saga in which the top executive official is entangled in a web of deception that was spun to hide a scandal that is spiraling out of control. The culprit in Alabama was former governor Robert Bentley. He was attempting to cover-up a secret love affair with Rebekah Mason, a “senior political adviser” who was married to one of Bentley’s department heads.

Bentley’s twin of deception at the national level is the “real” Donald J. Trump. The parallels between the two men and their misconduct are striking and frightening.

Bentley and Trump were viewed as long-shot political candidates who ran the table to win it all. Against all odds, Bentley became Governor of Alabama and Trump became President of the United States. Both men were unprepared to govern after they won. Because of their oversized egos, arrogance and stupidity, both men became embroiled in explosive political scandals.

Bentley fell in love with his much younger paramour and used state resources, campaign funds, and “dark money” to romance her. Trump fell in love with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and his highest-ranking KGB agents in the U.S. – Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. In doing so, Trump has foolishly compromised America’s national security interests.

Bentley’s behavior as governor became increasingly erratic after

Attorney, Entrepreneur, Banker Donald V. Watkins Offers POTUS Trump Advice

Donald V. Watkins is an American Attorney, Entrepreneur, and Banker.

Update: Saturday, 20 February 2021
NOTE: TO THE READER: As you read any story mentioning, involving or written by Donald V. Watkins, Sr., it must be borne in mind that he is now a Federal Convict, and along with his son, Donald V. Watkins, Jr., was found guilty of numerous charges. “Donald Watkins Sr. was convicted of seven counts of wire fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy. Donald Watkins Jr. was convicted of one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy.” As of the date of this note, he is in Federal Custody at Oklahoma City Federal Transfer Center, an administrative security facility, having been relocated away from the minimum security Federal Prison Camp on Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama.

DONALD V. WATKINS
Register Number: 36223-001
Age:	72
Race:	Black
Sex:	Male
Located at: Oklahoma City FTC
Release Date: 01/10/2024

Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Alabama
FATHER AND SON SENTENCED TO PRISON IN MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR INVESTMENT FRAUD SCHEME
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndal/pr/father-and-son-sentenced-prison-multimillion-dollar-investment-fraud-scheme

Here also is the SUPERSEDING INDICTMENT dated December 2018 entitled as:
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA SOUTHERN DIVISION, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. DONALD V. WATKINS, SR. and DONALD V. WATKINS, JR. – 2:18-cr-166-KOB-TMP
https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1116081/download

See also: Donald Watkins, Son Sentenced For Federal Fraud Convictions
Updated Jul 16, 2019; Posted Jul 16, 2019
https://www.al.com/news/2019/07/donald-watkins-son-to-be-sentenced-for-federal-fraud-convictions.html

See also: Donald Watkins’ $1.5 Billion Question: Was It Ever Real?
Updated Feb 23, 2019; Posted Feb 23, 2019
https://www.al.com/news/2019/02/donald-watkins-15-billion-question-was-it-ever-real.html

---

Donald V. Watkins is an American Attorney, Entrepreneur and Banker.

–––//–––

March 26, 2017

Open Letter to President Donald J. Trump

Dear President Trump,

I am a longtime political independent who cherishes America’s form of participatory democracy. Even though my ancestors were slaves who worked on plantations in Mississippi, my parents, siblings and other relatives finally got a chance to vote after Congress enacted the Voting Rights Act in 1965 and President Lyndon Johnson signed it. I have even held elective office within this democracy.

I believed in America when I could not drink from public water fountains or use bathrooms that were reserved for “Whites Only”. I did not sit in an integrated classroom until I entered college at Southern Illinois University in 1966. I attended law school at the University of Alabama from 1970 to 1973 on a desegregation scholarship awarded to me by the national office of the NAACP. I arrived on campus a full year before any black athlete played on a sports team at the University.

Donald Trump, 45th United States President, official portrait

When I started practicing law in 1973, a few diehard segregationists in Alabama’s court system openly referred to me as the “nigger lawyer from Montgomery” during official court proceedings. I was not addressed as “Attorney Watkins” or “Mr. Watkins” in these courtrooms until sometime in 1976. A few judges just barked out instruction to me without ever looking me in the eyes or addressing me as a human being.

I got through all of these degrading experiences by focusing on the American flag in each courtroom I entered. To me,

Trump lies. We know that. But why? And what effect will it have upon his presidency, the nation, and GOP?

Update: Saturday, 20 February 2021
NOTE: TO THE READER: As you read any story mentioning, involving or written by Donald V. Watkins, Sr., it must be borne in mind that he is now a Federal Convict, and along with his son, Donald V. Watkins, Jr., was found guilty of numerous charges. “Donald Watkins Sr. was convicted of seven counts of wire fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy. Donald Watkins Jr. was convicted of one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy.” As of the date of this note, he is in Federal Custody at Oklahoma City Federal Transfer Center, an administrative security facility, having been relocated away from the minimum security Federal Prison Camp on Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama.

DONALD V. WATKINS
Register Number: 36223-001
Age:	72
Race:	Black
Sex:	Male
Located at: Oklahoma City FTC
Release Date: 01/10/2024

Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Alabama
FATHER AND SON SENTENCED TO PRISON IN MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR INVESTMENT FRAUD SCHEME
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndal/pr/father-and-son-sentenced-prison-multimillion-dollar-investment-fraud-scheme

Here also is the SUPERSEDING INDICTMENT dated December 2018 entitled as:
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA SOUTHERN DIVISION, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. DONALD V. WATKINS, SR. and DONALD V. WATKINS, JR. – 2:18-cr-166-KOB-TMP
https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1116081/download

See also: Donald Watkins, Son Sentenced For Federal Fraud Convictions
Updated Jul 16, 2019; Posted Jul 16, 2019
https://www.al.com/news/2019/07/donald-watkins-son-to-be-sentenced-for-federal-fraud-convictions.html

See also: Donald Watkins’ $1.5 Billion Question: Was It Ever Real?
Updated Feb 23, 2019; Posted Feb 23, 2019
https://www.al.com/news/2019/02/donald-watkins-15-billion-question-was-it-ever-real.html

---

Donald John Trump, elected November 2016, and inaugurated January 20th, 2017, is the 45th United States President. Official portrait

One might as well ask why a bird flies or sings.

Trump is a one-man show. He bullies others to get his way. He doesn’t know how to collaborate, or cooperate with others.

He’s also emotionally insecure, hence the sense of an inherent need to constantly obtain approval as evidenced by an inordinate desire to obtain adulation and adoration from media.

But, there’s more.

Why Trump Clings to Discredited Lies

by Donald V. Watkins
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Used with permission

Even though the FBI and all of America’s national security agencies have stated emphatically that there is no evidence that President Barrack Obama, or anyone else, wiretapped Trump Towers during or after the 2016 presidential campaign, President Donald Trump still claims his phones were tapped. Other than his Twitter rants about this wiretapping, Trump has offered no proof to validate his claim.

So why does Trump cling to this now discredited lie?

Based upon my observations of Trump over the past 20 months, I have notice several disturbing character traits that facilitate Trump’s ready ability to take a mental flight from reality and truth. These traits are scary and dangerous to the American people.

First, Trump is a

Flynn Lied To Pence, Pence Repeated Flynn’s Lie, Flynn Quit, Trump Loves Flynn

Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, Director, Defense Intelligence Agency, USA

Vice President Mike Pence, USA

Here’s how Trump rewards those who look out for our Nation’s Security.

REMEMBER:
Before Michael Flynn resigned as National Security Advisor…

Before the Inauguration, when Flynn was asked about his calls and texts with the Russian Ambassador Sergey I. Kislyak, he lied to Vice President-elect Mike Pence.

A former administration official said the Justice Department warned the White House in January that Flynn had not been fully forthright about his conversations with the Russian ambassador, and because of that, the Justice Department feared that he could be vulnerable to Russian blackmail.

CIA Director John Brennan, and Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr., agreed with Acting Assistant Attorney General Sally Q. Yates that:

Sergey Ivanovich Kislyak, Russian Ambassador to the United States

John O. Brennan, Director, Central Intelligence Agency, USA 3/8/13 – 1/20/17

1.) “Flynn had put himself in a compromising position”;
2.) Could be vulnerable to Russian blackmail;
3.) That he had been deliberately misleading about his interactions with Russia’s ambassador;
4.) That VP-elect Pence had a right to know that he had been misled, and;
5.) Recommended that POTUS Trump be warned.

Trump then fired Yates.

Flynn publicly stated that when he was Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, he traveled to Moscow in 2013, and there met Kislyak, who continued to communicate with Flynn during, and after the Presidential campaign.

When it became known that

#BREAKING*!* America has elected a TRAITOR as @POTUS.

When I was a young boy, my father gave me his Hallicrafters brand shortwave radio. When the tubes warmed up in the metal chassis, I could tune in numerous worldwide broadcasts in myriad languages. I also found the music from other nations equally enthralling.

Stations from the Netherlands, Swaziland, Australia, Rhodesia (now South Africa), England, Spain, China, Japan, India, Germany, Poland, and all points in between opened my mind and expanded my intellectual horizons. Many broadcasts were in the nation’s native language, though some broadcasts were in English, including some from Russia.

As I listened to Russian Pravda shortwave news broadcasts (which were in perfect, accent-free English), my father warned me that what they told were lies.

Even though what the Pravda news broadcasters said sounded “reasonable” and even “true,” Pravda, which was then the Communist government-owned propaganda agency, would tell “little” lies, or twist and pervert the truth and facts of the story, so that it made the entire story false. They never bothered to tell a “whopper” of a lie, just a few little changes here, and there, which when compiled, changed the entire story into a lie. Interestingly, the word Pravda in Russian means “truth.”

That is a distinctly and uniquely Russian technique, which hasn’t changed. We recently were subjected to it on an unparalleled level in our recent General Election with the abundant proliferation of Internet-based “Fake News” from impoverished former Communist-bloc nations which our nation’s Intelligence and Security Agencies later reported was used specifically to sway the vote for Donald Trump. Never in the history of our nation has external national influence ever been used to elect a Presidential Candidate.

The Russians and their evil government have long been our sworn enemies. And yet, we now – or, more accurately, the GOP – act as if everything is hunky dory.

It is not.

We saw Donald Trump repeat lies from the Russian propaganda agency

Original Russian Tea Recipe

Holiday season is again upon us, and many folks – particularly Southerners – are familiar with a tasty warm beverage known as “Russian Tea.”

Exactly how and where the recipe developed, and how it came by that name is somewhat unclear, but “the font of all knowledge” – and I sarcastically refer to Wikipedia – cites an article entitled “Russian Tea is Favorite Recipe in the South” by Cecily Brownstone in the November 27, 1976 issue of Kentucky New Era newspaper in Hopkinsville.

Interestingly, the story which is perhaps the newspaper’s most renown is the August 1955 Kelly-Hopkinsville Alien Encounter, which may also be known as “Kelly Green Men Case,” or the “Hopkinsville Goblins Case.” It’s a precursor of sorts to a “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” type story in which five adults and seven children reported to Hopkinsville Police that “little men with big heads and long arms,” presumably alien creatures, were attacking their farm house, and that they’d held them off with gunfire “for nearly four hours.” It all started around 7PM when one of the men went out of the house to get a bucket of water, and lasted until 0330 – that’s 3:30AM.

Who knows? Maybe they’d had too much Russian Tea. Anyway, I don’t think you’ll be doing any hallucinating, or discharging any firearms after drinking this, so it’s pretty tame stuff… unless you start adding Kentucky Bourbon or other liquor to it.

Anyway…

Spiced Tea infusion recipe in Joy of Cooking, p40

However, as seen in the image herein, the

In Response to John Goodwin’s FaceBook Post

A man named John Goodwin made a public post on FaceBook, which also included a link to an OpEd published in the Washington Post on November 9, 2016, which was written by Charles Camosy (PhD, University of Notre Dame), and entitled “Trump won because college-educated Americans are out of touch.” Dr. Camosy is an Associate Professor of Theological and Social Ethics at Fordham University, and the author of a book entitled “Beyond the Abortion Wars: A Way Forward for A New Generation.”

Mr. Goodwin’s FaceBook profile is sufficiently ambiguous of himself, though in his public post which is time & date-stamped 9:45AM, November 10, 2016, and ostensibly geolocated from Washington, D.C., he wrote of himself that, “I haven’t posted about the election mostly because 1) I do this for a living and most of you don’t,” which would lead one to suppose that at some level, he works in or with public policy, or more likely, with politicians.

I do not.

However, suffice it to say, that for many, many, many years, I have remained immensely interested in public policy, though I do not now, nor have I ever made my living from it, or influencing, or attempting to influence others in elected office.

In other words, I have taken the high road.

Mr. Goodwin’s public post to FaceBook is linked herein, as is the article upon which he expounded.

https://www.facebook.com/goody37/posts/10154328123133884

In order to fully understand the matter of discussion herein, I encourage the reader to fully read this item following herein, as well as Mr. Goodwin’s post, and the OpEd upon which he opined

I have responded to Mr. Goodwin’s post as follows:
His words appear italicized, and in “quotation marks.”
My commentary follows immediately after.

“…not everyone lives in big cities.”
• That is correct. The United States Census Bureau says that 80.7% of American reside in urban areas. In fact, they report that “the population density in cities is more than 46 times higher than the territory outside of cities.” So that leaves a whopping 19.3% in rural areas.

“I didn’t grow up with money.”
• Money had been invented by the time I was born. But seriously, someone votes for Donald Trump as if the wealthy are advocates for the impoverished or even the average American? C’mon. Mr. Born-With-A-Silver-Spoon-In-His-Mouth? Really?

“…not everyone went to elite colleges.”
• According to the United States Census Bureau, “in 2015, almost 9 out of 10 adults (88 percent) had at least a high school diploma or GED, while nearly 1 in 3 adults (33 percent) held a bachelor’s or higher degree.” I’m in the 33%. So I’m an elite. Thanks!

“You think they (people who eat at

Can @realDonaldTrump this?

Sunday, November 13, 2016
Day 5: The standard has been set… by a Black man.

According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – the huge government bureaucracy established by Executive Order 13228 under President George W. Bush on October 8, 2001 – and it’s subsidiary bureaucracy the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), from 2009-2015, President Barack Obama has deported over 2.5 Million illegal immigrants… more than the George W. Bush administration.

Statistics for this year (2016) are not ready, because… the year hasn’t ended. Duh!
So, there are more to be added to the “we kicked you out because you broke the law” rolls.

Really? Obama deported more illegals than Bush?

Yup.

He’s deported so many illegals that he’s been nicknamed the “Deporter in Chief.”

In fact, he’s deported MORE than any other administration in history.

MORE than Reagan.

MORE than George H.W. Bush.

MORE than Clinton.

MORE than Carter.

In fact… MORE than ALL OF THEM COMBINED!

Oh yeah.

Ouch… that’s gotta’ smart!

The Office of Immigration Statistics (a subsidiary of the Department of Homeland Security), says

The @GOP’s Love/Hate Relationship With @realDonaldTrump Is Beginning To Show Hair

November 12, 2016
Day 4: The shit’s starting to hit the fam… er, fan

Donald Trump, the GOP Presidential nominee who appears to have won the 2016 General Election, has reportedly made remarks that he might not, after all, as he proclaimed in his “Contract with the American Voter” that he would “5.) Repeal and Replace Obamacare Act. Fully repeals Obamacare and replaces it with Health Savings Accounts, the ability to purchase health insurance across state lines…”

Strike One:
According to his first post-election interview, which was exclusive to the Wall Street Journal, “President-elect Donald Trump said he would consider leaving in place certain parts of the Affordable Care Act,” and that “Mr. Trump said he favors keeping the prohibition against insurers denying coverage because of patients’ existing conditions, and a provision that allows parents to provide years of additional coverage for children [up to age 26] on their insurance policies.”

Regular readers will recall that yesterday I had made the same observation, that portions of the law are worth keeping.

President-elect Donald Trump leaves a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), at the U.S. Capitol November 10, 2016 in Washington, DC Zach Gibson/Getty Images

Strike Two:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (KY, R) has pointedly said he opposes and will refuse Trump’s first order of business in his Contract with the American Voter which is “Constitutional Amendment for Congressional Term Limits.” The Senator, who has been in office since 1984 (32 years), said, “I would say we have term limits now. They’re called elections. And it will not be on the agenda in the Senate.”

Strike Three:
Furthermore, McConnnell has also said that he’s opposed to

The Great Unknown… Or Not: Separating #Fact From #Fiction: @realDonaldTrump’s First 100 Days – Realistic, Or Idealistic?

November 11, 2016
Day 3: Still thinking

Yesterday, President Obama met with Donald Trump at the White House. It was the first time either of them had met. According to brief remarks made to the Press afterward, their collegial meeting lasted about one and a half hours.

The erudite will recall that “the first 100 days” is taken from a radio address given by Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s first term in office, in which during his first 100 days , and modeled after his plan to get Americans back to work, protect their savings and create prosperity, provide relief for the sick and elderly, and get industry and agriculture back on their feet.

Having read Trump’s goals for his first 100 days in office, it seems to me that there are some ideas I can support. Yet, there’s some pure bluster and ignorance designed for purely emotional appeal. I’ll separate fact from fiction, and we’ll have to wait and see how it all pans out.
See: donald-trumps-contract-w-american-voter

Trump’s objectives are in bold, my comments follow.

—/—

First: Constitutional Amendment for Congressional Term Limits – I have long supported that idea. Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell (R), however, opposes them – as, presumably, do some others. Whenever their income source or security is potentially challenged, they’ll fight. Which is probably all the more reason it ought to enacted. A Lifetime Limit of Eight terms in the House of Representatives (2 years x 8 terms=16 years), and a Lifetime Limit of Two terms in the Senate (2 terms x 6 years=12 years) for a combined total of 20 years Lifetime Total ought to be enough for anyone.

Second: Federal Hiring Freeze, to reduce federal workforce through attrition (exempting military, public safety, and public health) – I can understand that, and could go along with that for a period of time. Realize also that whenever any public action is required to be taken – such as “extreme vetting,” it is done by Federal Employees. So if their numbers are reduced, as a natural result, expect slow-downs and delays in any actions undertaken.

Third: Require that for every new federal regulation, two existing regulations must be eliminated – That’s unrealistic, and impracticable. It may be nice to think about, but as a blanket statement, it’s simply unrealistic.

Fourth: A 5 year-ban on White House and Congressional officials becoming lobbyists after they leave government service – TOTALLY in favor of this idea.

Sixth: Lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government – Totally in favor of, and the ban should extend to ALL former Federal Employees.

On the same day, I will begin taking the following 7 actions to protect American workers:

FIRST, I will announce my intention to renegotiate NAFTA or withdraw from the deal under Article 2205 – I have long advocated for changes to NAFTA, and other Free Trade deals to which the United States is a party.

SECOND, I will announce our withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership – TOTALLY in favor of this idea.

THIRD, I will direct my Secretary of the Treasury to label China a currency manipulator – Some say “yes,” some say “no,” but there is no disagreement China has bought American currency on the FOREX (Foreign Currency Exchange Market), and has purchased American indebtedness (T-bills, and other bonds). Mr. C. Fred Bergsten, Senior Fellow and Director Emeritus at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, put it this way: “Currency manipulation occurs when

“It is finished.”

I couldn’t help but think of that phrase as I reflected upon the stunning conclusion of the 2016 Presidential Election.

“It is finished.”

The erudite will recognize the utterance attributed to

I had a Late Term #Abortion.

I HAD A LATE TERM ABORTION.
IT IS NOTHING LIKE DESCRIBED BY TRUMP.
PLEASE DON’T BASE YOUR VOTE ON THE FEAR MONGERING HE IS DOING.
PLEASE READ MY EXPERIENCE:

I had to have a late term abortion. It was the worst moment in my life. What made it even worse was the State of Utah had made it illegal. I had one dead twin. The other had severe Spina Bifida, and would only have lived with life support, in great pain, for a few days.

by Alyson Draper
October 19 at 8:46pm · Midway, UT
used with permission

I lay on the hospital floor, bawling hysterically, for twelve hours, waiting for an ethics committee of the health care corporation to

Hillary & Trump: Two Deeply Flawed Candidates

By many accounts, the 2016 Presidential Election year is a complete campaign in the ass. Two deeply flawed candidates manipulated and exposed deeply flawed processes in both major political parties, not the least of which is for the GOP, how to vet their candidates more thoroughly, and have the ability to remove them from official party candidacy, and for the Democrats, how to maintain candidate neutrality, and prevent party officials from influencing candidates of the top officials’ choosing toward nomination. I predict many much-needed changes on the horizon for both parties… following the November General Election.

—/—

by Gary Cosby, Jr.
Used with permission

WARNING:  This is a long post. It is also my final political post before the election.

I am not an editorial writer but today I am going to play one on Facebook. First, let me say, everyone is welcome to comment; however, if your comment uses foul language or is abusive to anyone else, your comment will be deleted. One of the great problems we have today is our lack of ability to disagree and still have civil discourse; therefore, we will practice it or be censured. Keep in mind, this is my opinion and you do not have to agree with it. Thank your First Amendment rights for that.

By now, we all know this presidential election cycle has presented us with the two poorest candidates in memory, perhaps in all of American history. Certainly there have been poor candidates running for one party or the other throughout our history but not facing one another in the same election.

They have turned the presidential debates into bad Saturday Night Live skits. In fact, I doubt the writers of SNL would have been able to dream up anything this hideous. The American political scene will never be the same and

Known vs Unknown: A Voting Rationale

Someone opined that they hoped the 2016 GOP Presidential nominee would be elected.

I couldn’t disagree more.

Here’s why:
As we have suffered, never before has there been a more grotesque figure campaigning for the noble office of the President.

The candidate has never served in an office of Public Trust, nor ever served in any Elected Office. There is literally no shred of evidence of governing competency, much less experience, in any Public Office, and though our Constitution states that the minimum eligibility requirements for the office are to be “a citizen of the United States… the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States,” we have never elected an individual as President whom has never served in any capacity of Public Trust, nor Elected Office.

And so, in that regard, the candidate is a significantly Unknown Quantity. That can be, and often is, fraught with enormous peril.

We expect

Are There Any Good Choices In The 2016 General Election?

There are NO GOOD choices in this General Election.

We have:
The Devil We Know vs The Devil We Don’t Know.

We also have:
Choosing the lesser of two evils is still a choice FOR evil.

Granted, someone WILL be elected, and granted further, s/he won’t be liked by those whom didn’t vote for the winner.

The two major party’s candidates are almost universally disliked within and without the parties. And that is a very sad state of affairs. It is, in large part, why there was such enormous support for Bernie Sanders… who is the opposite side of the same coin as Trump.

What concerns me most about Trump is that he seems

Is that clear enough?

The GOP is comprised almost exclusively of

Donald Trump-hosted Republican “debate” now has TWO candidates

Face it Don.

You’re an idiot, and the American public knows it.

The very fact that the NewsMax “news” organization hosted it and made their whacko choice should speak volumes.

And even if the TrumpDump weren’t such a blithering idiotic, grandstanding nincompoop, the very fact that

Donald Trump to moderate GOP debate – *LOL*

Truth is stranger than fiction.

Yes… the latest news in the grand fiasco party is that