January 2, 2017

Shhhhhh, be vewy, vewy quiet!

Trumpelstiltskin and Pootie are listening to everything and watching our every move.

January 2, 2017

Not exactly a surprise: The Sprint deal sham

Trump is taking credit for keeping 5,000 jobs stateside, but it's one big bait-and-switch

http://theweek.com/articles/670048/why-donald-trumps-sprint-deal-big-baitandswitch

January 2, 2017

Interesting piece on Pence

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/earl-ofari-hutchinson/impeach-trump-you-get-pence_b_13895876.html

Excerpt: Trump is lambasted for the nightmarish America he’d usher in. Pence worked hard to bring it about. In the White House, Pence could finish the job.

January 1, 2017

The comment I left on the White House Website

Thought I'd share what my wife and I sent to one of our greatest presidents ever!

President and Mrs. Obama: Thank you.

Thank you for demonstrating true courage and leadership in the face of unrelenting adversity.

Thank you for setting the new standard for dignity, integrity and grace-under-fire. Like Daniel in the lion’s den, you showed the citizens you stood firmly assured with equanimity regardless of the storms around you .

Since you first took office, your words and actions have inspired the country in ways which will continue to be realized for generations; we thank you for that. Rest assured Mr. President, your legacy will be recognized as one of profound stewardship and progressive vision for our beloved country. Thank you for being the person you are.

Mrs. Obama, our awesome First Lady: Your examples to the American people of what honesty and personal values mean in a person’s life will continue to reach deep into the hearts of many. Your demonstrations of grace and enlightened-empowerment serve as the breath of fresh air that so many need for their own journey of personal discovery.

So to both of you, and to your family, in the most heartfelt way possible, we thank you for bringing us all a wonderful eight years of a presidency that will move our country a little closer toward “… a more perfect union…” with your examples of honor and respect for each person that only true leaders can bring.

Warmest Regards,

January 1, 2017

Roy D. Mercer: A funny distraction from the current news

Roy D. Mercer is a fictional character created by disc jockeys Brent Douglas and Phil Stone on radio station KMOD-FM in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Brent Douglas, who performs Mercer's voice, uses the character as a vehicle for comedy sketches in which he performs harmless and funny prank calls to the unsuspecting at the request of a friend or relative.

The all time #1 favorite has to be the call into a Navy Recruiter’s office in Tulsa. It’s classic comedy at its finest.

December 31, 2016

SLATE article: "Trump is Weaker Than He Looks"

Found a well written piece on SLATE.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/12/donald_trump_is_unpopular_and_so_is_the_gop_agenda.html

Excerpt: Intoxicated and emboldened by their near-miraculous victory, Republicans are rushing into the new year with a divisive and unpopular agenda, led by a divisive and unpopular president. Indeed, with no apparent plans for increasing manufacturing jobs or improving veterans’ health care, Trump shows few signs of delivering on his substantive promises. In all likelihood, he’ll offer rhetoric and scapegoats and stunts, while delivering little in the way of tangible gains. And all of this will exist against a backdrop of corruption and influence-peddling, as Trump refuses to disentangle himself or his children from their opaque and sprawling web of business interests.

December 31, 2016

Trumpelstiltskin finally found a singer for his out-nauguration

December 30, 2016

Trumps Nuke Talk Could Break the Budget or Much, Much Worse

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2016/12/27/Trump-s-Nuke-Talk-Could-Break-Budget-or-Much-Much-Worse

"The use of even a single nuclear weapon, anywhere in the world, would be a global humanitarian, environmental and economic disaster,” Derek Johnson, the executive director of Global Zero, said in a statement last week., according to the New York Times. “A nuclear buildup in the U.S. and Russia only makes that nightmare scenario more likely.”

?itok=Al9rypPY

December 29, 2016

Dedicated to the Towering Fool whos about to inflict himself on us all.

TOWERING FOOL (Warren Haynes, Matthew Abts)

Yeah, somebody somewhere must have hurt you
You must have been really abused
A victim of your raising
Isn't that your excuse
Towering Fool

In a dream I watched you inflict yourself
On everyone within reach
Now frozen in time I see it still
Like a movie

How long has it been since you shook the hand
Of those who fell under your feet
And how long has it been since you washed yours clean
From the blood and the dirt of the street

Did you really think you could just fly away
Fly right out of those blues
Did you towering fool

Don't you know greatness comes to those who can hold it
Did it slip right through your hands
Did it brush your sleeve as it passed you by
Do you compare yourself now to then
All this pent up anger
Don't you feel alone ranger
Don't you towering fool

So you use every ounce of your energy
To keep those around you down
But there is a tear in the eye of the ring master
And a smile on the face of the clown

Yeah, you couldn't see through your own arrogance
To what the whole world already knew
You had to keep pushing it past the point
Till it all crumbled down on you
Didn't you towering fool

December 29, 2016

The Problem With Trumps Admiration of General Patton

If you haven’t seen it, there’s a great piece that was published in the Politico Magazine which lays bare the problems with tRump’s modeling himself after warrior figures like Patton (and Pootie) who end up being horrifically poor at diplomacy and governing.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/12/trump-general-patton-admiration-214545

Excerpts: His (Patton’s) life isn’t just an example of winning—it’s an object lesson in how hard it is to transfer skills from a ruthless campaign to the complex tasks of real governance.

Twelfth Army Group commander Omar Bradley, who knew Patton well, described him as “colorful but impetuous, full of temper, bluster, inclined to treat the troops and subordinates as morons. He was primarily a showman. The show always seemed to come first.” Patton acted as though he didn’t care what people thought, but he “harbored a burning ambition for personal recognition,” wrote Eisenhower’s son John.
He valued loyalty above all—“A loyal staff is more important than a brilliant one,” he wrote—and his inner advisers rarely contradicted him, which was an obvious disservice. Any sign of weakness sent Patton into a rage. Many of his associates, including Eisenhower, felt that “Old Blood and Guts” showed increasing signs of mental imbalance.