Tag: Political Sideshow

Closing Thought–12Mar19

I have listened to our Beloved Leader on many occasions and his use of simplistic language leads me believe that he has NO grasp on complex ideas or thoughts.

My daughter and I were discussing our Beloved Leader and I told her that he says he is a”really smart person” but I think that if he is a grad of Wharton, probably the 2nd best business school, then daddy bought his degree.

Then I read something his professor i marketing had to say about student Trump……

Donald J. Trump was an undergraduate student at Wharton for the latter two of his college years, having graduated in 1968. 

Professor Kelley told me 100 times over three decades that “Donald Trump was the dumbest goddam student I ever had.” I remember his emphasis and inflection — it went like this: “Donald Trump was the dumbest goddamn student I ever had.” Kelley told me this after Trump had become a celebrity, but long before he was considered a political figure. Kelley often referred to Trump’s arrogance when he told the story that Trump came to Wharton thinking he already knew everything. 

https://www.alternet.org/2017/10/former-wharton-professor-trump-was-dumbest-gddam-student-i-ever-had/

I knew it!

Who needs to study hard to get ahead when Daddy has money and the school needs a new classroom?

 

“They Are Coming For Your Hamburgers”!

Closing Thought–05Mar19

Today we celebrate Mardi Gras and the beginning of Lent tomorrow……I use to give up watermelon for it was out of season anyway….but globalization crapped on that excuse….so now I give up liver for I refuse to eat it anyway.

Now onto more important stuff!

CPAC was last week and not a better SNL sketch than the president’s 2 hour ramble that some call a speech……he was unhinged and babbling like a demented toad……but that was not the best part of the CPAC gathering…….that’s right someone was more moronic than the president……

It was when that slug of a pundit Seb Gorka of FOX News fame compared the Green New Deal as some sort of Stalinist dream…..and he got thunderous applause from the mental midgets that attended his talk…….

Threatening to take away a Californian’s In-N-Out burger? That’s the kind of thing that could change minds, sway elections and maybe even turn a blue state red.

Sebastian Gorka, a former Trump aide, is well aware of America’s bipartisan passion for ground beef, and he played into that love affair during his fiery speech on Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference:

‘They want to take your pickup truck, they want to rebuild your home, they want to take away your hamburgers. This is what Stalin dreamt about but never achieved.’ Sebastian Gorka

Fact-check: Joseph Stalin, according to Russiapedia, once sent a top Russian official to America to study the development of the U.S. economy. Inspired by hamburgers, he came back and launched the mass production of meat patties.

Oh there is more……

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/ocasio-cortez-like-stalin-is-coming-for-your-hamburger-warns-former-trump-aide-gorka-2019-02-28

Want more?

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/yw8xdg/posts-conservatives-are-bizarrely-claiming-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-wants-to-take-your-burger-away

The conservs wasted NO time attacking AOC and her station…..

The right-wing media pounced, bleating that Ocasio-Cortez wanted to rip hamburgers from Americans’ hands. Then, last week, it seemed she was caught red meat–handed: Republican strategist Caleb Hull tweeted a picture of Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff, Saikat Chakrabarti, eating a hamburger. The hypocrisy was supposedly self-evident.

Ocasio-Cortez’s communications director, Corbin Trent, calls this claim “absurd,” noting that the Green New Deal doesn’t call for banning meat. “We want to restart America’s industrial capacity, revitalize economic growth, and ensure America’s leading in the development of new, bourgeoning green energy industries,” he told me. “That’s what the focus of the Green New Deal is. Not to take way anyone’s right to eat cheeseburgers.” Ocasio-Cortez, speaking to The New Yorker’s David Remnick last week, argued that “it’s hard for the Republicans to refute the actual policy on its substance. They resort to mythologizing it on a ludicrous level.”

https://newrepublic.com/article/153187/potency-republicans-hamburger-lie

I get it…the conservs are scared of AOC and the Green New Deal…..they are in opposition….but what do they offer as an alternative?

They have NOTHING!

All they can offer is stale old fearmongering from the 1950s….and yet 40% of the population will say they support Trump and as batcrap crazy people over actual ideas to solve some of our problems.

As you have read Stalin never wanted your hamburgers and neither does AOC……it is morons spreading manure…it is what they do best.

Closing Thought–19Jul17

You Think Politics Is Silly Now….Just You Wait!

A couple of decades ago I got chuckle out of the fact the Sonny Bono had been elected to Congress from the San Diego area…..I couldn’t see “I Got You babe” as a Congressman.

Then last year another chuckle was produced when I watched this country vote Donald Trump into the office of the presidency.

I though then the our politics would become one game show after another…and so far I have not been disappointed.

I even asked myself if it was possible for our politics to get more silly then it is now……

I just had to ask that question….and by god I got my answer…..yes it can get sillier and even worse than it is today…..

Why would I say that?

Then came the news……

Kid Rock has announced on Twitter that he’ll be throwing his fedora in the ring for Michigan’s 2018 senate seat. While some find his bid to be “pimp of the nation” humorous, Democrats are not discounting the rocker. CNN reports that Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer contacted supporters in an effort to raise money that would be split with Debbie Stabenow, the Michigan senator up for reelection. “I’ll be honest,” Sen. Schumer wrote, “we don’t know if this is real, a joke, or a bizarre publicity stunt. But I’ll tell you this: I don’t find it funny.” Schumer added that in the Trump era, “We can’t afford to take this tweet as a joke.” Warren also warned against dismissing Kid Rock’s potential bid.

“We all thought Donald Trump was joking when he rode down the escalator at Trump Tower and announced his campaign, too,” she wrote. Per Michigan Radio, Stabenow’s campaign also referenced Trump in an email to supporters, saying that after his “surprising” win, “we need to act fast.” The senator, who plays guitar, tweeted an article about Kid Rock’s bid with the words, “I know we both share a love of music. I concede he’s better at playing guitar and I’ll keep doing what I do best: fighting for Michigan.” Kid Rock’s response? “I concede she is better at playing politics than I am so I’ll keep doing what I do best, which is being a voice for tax paying, hardworking AMERICANS and letting politicians like her know that We the People are sick and tired of their bulls***!” The musician hasn’t yet filed paperwork with the FEC to run, but says he will.

Even before I could stop laughing at the moronic idea of this toad being a candidate….more silly news arrived…..

From Bruce Jenner to Caitlyn Jenner to … Senator Jenner? The transgender activist said during an interview on New York’s AM 970 over the weekend that she’s considering a run for the Senate in California, reports the Hill. The former Olympian is a lifelong Republican and supporter of President Trump, which the Los Angeles Times notes won’t necessarily help her cause in blue California. But she also has publicly disagreed with Trump over transgender policy.

“I have considered it,” Jenner, 67, said in the interview. She added that she likes politics but is debating whether she can be more productive as an insider or an outsider, noting, “I gotta find out where I can do a better job.” The next Senate election in the state is 2018, when Democrat Dianne Feinstein’s seat will be up for grabs. Feinstein, 84, has not said whether she’ll seek re-election, and no big-name Republican has stepped up so far.

Oh my god….American politics has become one long reality TV show……they will not win but even that they are considered as serious candidates is too much stupidity in one place.

Have a laugh on me.

Until we meet in the ‘morrow….chuq

Only In The Land Of The Tree Hugger

First it was the masked owl that is attacking passer bys……..the first victim was a surgeon that lost a cap and was mistaken for a wholly beast because of his hair……and then there was an escalation to include 3 other victims……as humorous as this all is….it is not what the best part is about……

Nope…it is the governor and his wife that is the big story……does not get any better than this situation………

First, Oregon’s first lady admitted to an “illegal” previous marriage, then to planning a marijuana grow operation and running a consulting business out of the governor’s mansion. Now, Gov. John Kitzhaber’s fiancee Cylvia Hayes faces claims that she was paid consulting fees to influence her future husband. The Oregonian finds two Kitzhaber associates, who later joined his administration, connected Hayes with jobs that landed her $143,000, including $118,000 from a clean-energy group from 2011 to 2012, while she served as an unpaid energy adviser to Kitzhaber. She allegedly failed to report the income on tax forms, nor did Kitzhaber account for the money on his ethics filings, the Los Angeles Times reports. While Kitzhaber has said Hayes “will have no policy role and no political role in the administration” for the rest of his term, “Kitzhaber is already enacting policies Hayes was paid to promote,” the Oregonian reports.

Dan Carol, the man who got Hayes the gig with group Clean Economy Development Center, was soon after hired by Kitzhaber. He now makes $165,720 a year, almost twice as much as Kitzhaber himself and significantly more than anyone else on his staff, the Willamette Week reports. “No one in the governor’s office or the governor ever asked me to do anything for Cylvia,” Carol says. “When it fits and the work makes sense, I connect good people, groups and projects together.” He adds he was hired because he had previously worked with Kitzhaber and “had the right skills and national connections.” The Oregon Government Ethics Commission will vote March 13 on whether to launch an investigation, but the Oregonian has already called on Kitzhaber to resign, noting his “credibility has evaporated.” Last week, Kitzhaber said he wouldn’t even consider resigning from his post. He added he had “no regrets” about his relationship with Hayes and “the marriage is still on.”

Has there been another state with as much drama as Oregon?  Not even Virginia can top this ….

GOD I love this stuff!

Thoughts?

SCOTUS: Hard At Work (?)

I have been very critical of the Supreme Court in the past couple of years…..It looks like it is becoming as worthless as our elected officials…..today SCOTUS is nothing but a right wing controlled group that does nothing legal and everything ideological……and then they hear cases that are as stupid as they are humorous…….

The Supreme Court was unanimous today in a decision that will allow an Arkansas inmate to grow a half-inch beard. The state’s rule specified that beard length must be kept to a quarter inch; Gregory Holt, a Muslim man also known as Abdul Maalik Muhammad, had sought permission to grow the slightly longer beard in a compromise: He believes his faith demands a full beard, but was willing to accept the half-inch length in keeping with what California prison policy afford Muslim inmates there. In what NBC News terms a “handwritten plea,” he noted that Arkansas’ restriction put inmates in a catch-22: grow the full beard he sees as required by his religion and be disciplined, or give in and violate his faith.

Arkansas argued that contraband smuggling would become a concern with the longer beard. Wrote Justice Samuel Alito in the opinion, that “argument … is hard to take seriously. An item of contraband would have to be very small indeed to be concealed by” such a beard, and the inmate would have to devise a way to keep the item in there to boot. Further, “Since the Department does not demand that inmates have shaved heads or short crew cuts, it is hard to see why an inmate would seek to hide contraband in a half-inch beard rather than in the longer hair on his head.” The AP notes that more than 40 states allow inmates to keep beards, and NBC frames Arkansas as “virtually alone in having such a restrictive rule.” Holt has previously served time for threatening President Bush’s daughters; he’s now serving a life sentence for a brutal assault on his girlfriend.

The length of a prisoners beard?  Seriously?  Is this what the court was designed to do?  What’s next for this band of corporate owned flunkies?

Is anyone else getting really disgusted with this whole ball of lunacy?

Cowards!

I know some of my readers get tired of my continuing bitching about the people we elect to govern us….I have accused them of more concern for their re-election than in the future of this country and its people…I do not feel that I had been unnecessarily hard on these people, but I have had some push back against my views (go figure)……but like most people I DO enjoy it when I am proven right….like others my ego needs a shot from time to time……

For weeks now we have heard about the Medicare proposals by the GOP in Paul Ryan’s budget….that the end game of his proposal was the elimination of the program that has benefited so many seniors over the years…..of course, the conserv noise machine had spent a bunch of time and resources trying to push back from the position…and even those GOPers who held town halls were catching total Hell from their constituents…..but they stood by their guns and tried to explain it to their people and unfortunately the narritive was NOT getting through…..so what will they do?

Will the GOP stand by what they believe is a solid answer to some of our debt problems?  Or will they do what I have expected them to do and drop the Medicare thing?

And then yesterday the call went out……this from Talking Points Memo….

A little dust-up happened tonight that likely tells us where the debate over Medicare Phase-Out is going.  Shortly after 9 PM this evening the Washington Post emailed a breaking news alert which read “Medicare dropped from GOP budget proposal.”   That kicked off a furious push back from the office of Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA).   And shortly after 10:30 PM the Post sent out a revised email with a new headline: “Republican leaders seeking compromise in deficit talks.”  In the body of the email there was an editorial note: “The headline on an earlier alert incorrectly described the GOP position in deficit talks.”

It’s not clear to me how much the article itself changed.  My sense is little or none at all.  And the initial headline probably was an aggressive read on just what Republicans are saying.   But my sense is they were likely much more right than wrong.

Come on people!  You know damn well that this is NOT about the budget……rather their fear of NOT being re-elected!  And yes I said cowards!  If this is truly about trying to find answers to our spending problem then to abandon it is COWARDLY!  But NOT unexpected!

Since I began writing this post 2 more GOPers have backed off of the Ryan Budget thingy….

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) told TPM that while he would vote for the House budget if it comes to the Senate floor to “move the ball down the field,” his own preference on Medicare was a different proposal that would give seniors the option to remain in the traditional government plan.Senator Rob Portman (R-OH), one of the GOP’s most experienced budget hands, having previously served as OMB director under President Bush, told TPM that he and his colleagues — while not ruling out Ryan’s budget — are looking at several alternatives.

Let us be honest….we all knew these people would not stand by their golden boy once the fur began to fly with the seniors…..it is a dead issue…they know it and now YOU know it!

BP Must Pay!

From the VOMITORIUM

From time to time there are some things that happen in the political world that can be best described as a………..BLOWJOB!  And now it has Florida on its knees…..(pun intended)

It seems that Florida’s governor, Charlie Crist has a new idea:

Gov. Charlie Crist authorized property appraisers Wednesday to calculate lost real-estate values caused by the Gulf oil spill, so homeowners and businesses can send the tab to BP.

The governor signed an executive order authorizing property appraisers in 26 counties under threat from the oil spill to give property owners an updated assessment on their homes and businesses if they believe they have lost value because of the spill. Property owners could use the document to file a claim for damages against BP, although they wouldn’t necessarily have their tax bills lowered.

“It is logical to predict that the oil spill will result in declining property values,” Crist said at a news conference. “Businesses and families of the Gulf Coast did nothing to warrant this loss, but they bear the burden of it.”

State law requires property to pay taxes based on the value of their property in January. But in many cases — particularly for hotels and businesses dependent on the beach — their property values have dropped as much as 30 percent since then.

His action drew approval from some affected property appraisers, although staff time and cost of reappraisals will be tough on cash-strapped counties.

This is a helluva idea, right?

This is just plain stupid!  It is just another political ploy to gain votes in Crist upcoming election against Rubio.  This will probably never happen….why?  Florida has suffered much from the economic meltdown…how does one prove that the oil spill is the cause of loss of value?

If you read my stuff you know that I think that BP should be held accountable for their damage because of the oil spill….but this idea is just plain moronic…..does that mean that I can sue AIG or Goldman-Sachs for the loss of value of my property because they gambled with my money?

This is all so much political theater….after all, he has an election to win.

Obama DID Have Some Success

The media has been all over the so called “failures” of Obama in his first year as president….health reform….cap and trade….card check…..although I do not consider anything a failure on his part, just business as usual in Washington…..but beyond that some attention should be drawn to what some call his first year successes……

Thanx to mediamatters.org for the list….my commentary will be in italics…..

Passing stimulus, generating jobs. On February 17, 2009, Obama signed the $787 billion stimulus bill into law. In December 2009, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office issued a report estimating that “in the third quarter of calendar year 2009, an additional 600,000 to 1.6 million people were employed in the United States” due to that legislation. According to the White House Council of Economic Advisers, CBO has increased its estimate to 800,000 to 2.4 million additional employed through the fourth quarter of that year. Moreover, a November 20, 2009, New York Times article reported that the “consensus” among “dispassionate analysts” is that “the stimulus package, messy as it is, is working,” citing nonpartisan analyses of gross domestic product and total employment figures by several companies specializing in economic forecasting.  This was wasted money…the plan should have been to create demand, not liquidity for the banks…….l

Eliminating wasteful spending. Obama was able to achieve some significant cuts to wasteful spending — most notably, the elimination of the F-22 fighter jet program after he successfully lobbied the Senate to vote to strip out financing for more jets from a defense funding authorization bill. The Washington Times reported on January 14 that Obama won “60 percent of his proposed cuts” and also managed “to get Congress to ax several programs that had bedeviled President George W. Bush for years.”   Another good idea……unfortunately the “savings” will come from much needed domestic programs….while the biggest bureaucracies will continue with their feeding frenzy of taxpayer money…..

Sotomayor nomination. On May 26, 2009, Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court to replace the retiring Justice David Souter. She was confirmed by the Senate on August 6, 2009, and sworn in August 8, making her the first Hispanic justice, and only the third woman, on the court. Good one!

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. The first bill President Obama signed into law, on January 29, 2009, was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which expands the rights of workers to sue employers over wage discrimination claims.  About damn time…thumbs up!~

SCHIP expansion. On February 5, 2009, Obama signed a bill expanding the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to cover 4 million more lower-income children.  Well Done!

Public lands bill. On March 30, Obama signed an omnibus public lands bill, which The New York Times reported “allows for 2 million more acres to be declared wilderness… [with] more than 1,000 miles designated as scenic rivers, and adds land for national trails.”  Not much news coverage but an excellent bill…at least on the surface…..

Credit card reform. On May 21, 2009, Obama signed into law a bill providing what USA Today called the “most sweeping changes to the credit card industry in 40 years,” adding restrictions on interest rate increases and fees and restricting the marketing of credit cards to college students. Good idea, but does not go far enough to reining in these guys…..

Transparency. The Washington Post reported that moves by the Obama administration to improve government transparency “included a ban on lobbyist gifts; restrictions on the hiring of lobbyists; publication of White House visitor logs and other records; and a move to bar lobbyists from serving on advisory boards.” A report by Common Cause, Democracy 21, the League of Women Voters, and U.S. PIRG stated that: “The cumulative effect of the Administration’s actions has been to adopt the strongest and most comprehensive lobbying, ethics and transparency rules and policies ever established by an Administration to govern its own activities.”  All in all a very good idea….just is not working out the way it was envisioned….

Tobacco regulation. On June 22, 2009, Obama signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which, for the first time, gave the U.S. Food & Drug Administration the authority to regulate the manufacturing, marketing, and sale of tobacco.  This one sucks…but then I smoke…..

National service. On April 21, 2009, Obama signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which expands the scope of AmeriCorps and provides opportunities for young people and senior citizens to join in service programs. This one got all kinds of flap from the lunatic Right…..so I guess I think this one is a good one…..

Stem cell research. On May 9, 2009, Obama signed an executive order easing restrictions on the use of federal money for embryonic stem cell research.  About damn time!

See people….the Obama team has had some small successes…regardless what the Right would have you believe….In my opinion…not nearly enough or even close….but we will see how they fair during his second year in office…..

Stay tuned…..it can only get more bizarre as the year grows older…..


The Next Legislative Sideshow

I have said that the next political theater, in the next year, will be energy and immigration…….well my prediction was a bit early

Democratic lawmakers, led by Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., on Tuesday filed the first comprehensive immigration reform bill in the current Congress, giving renewed hope to millions of undocumented immigrants in South Florida and around the country.

Provisions in the Gutierrez legislation — Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity Act of 2009 — are somewhat similar to those in prior bills.

Undocumented immigrants in the United States prior to Dec. 15, 2009, would be encouraged to come forward and register with the government in exchange for a future path to residency and citizenship.

Certain immigrants in deportation proceedings, facing removal or ordered to depart would be able to apply for legalization under Gutierrez’s bill. Applicants would pay a $500 fine — lower than the thousands of dollars sought in prior bills — and must have clean criminal records. If approved, applicants would receive a six-year visa, which eventually could be replaced by a green card — the path to possible citizenship.

The bill also incorporates provisions of the DREAM Act, separate legislation filed earlier that would provide green cards to children of undocumented parents who are in high school or college and were brought to the United States as minors.

Can you hear that?  It is Lou Dobbs jerking off in the corner for now he has yet another apple to lock his teeth into…..since he may have political ambitions…it will be interesting to see if he attacks this in his usual way….or will he remain silent with the hopes of rants past will not come back to haunt him?  He smells a political future and will do what he may to have that voice….for the people……..now that is total crap!  If he goes into politics it will be for fame and fortune….and of course that darn pesky thing called POWER!