People who refuse to consider science (#3834)

     I just had a conversation with a fellow who used what he knew about science to argue that climate change is just natural. I said well what about CO'2s? He said well the Earth went into cycles before and always came back. I said well the Earth didn't have man made CO2's as a factor back then. He just sort of refused to believe the science around greenhouse gases and the major effect they have on heating the planet. It was an incomplete argument on his side to use what little of science he had that validated in his mind that global warming was no big deal while refusing to admit that science also tells us that we humans are destroying our planet, https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/
     The thing about it is that we don't need to do that to ourselves. The smartest thing to do in order to reduce CO2's and other greenhouse gases is to quit burning fossil fuels. So why would anyone but a wealthy coal or oil baron be fighting to save dirty energy? If even a chance existed that the science is right then why not promote green energy instead? Some people are fighting so hard against science that it makes me wonder what their motivation is. I suppose if trump is against science then they feel like they need to be as well. I just don't get this blind allegiance at a grave cost.
     So anyway I again talked about how our atmosphere is trapping in heat instead of letting it dissipate out into space. But all he could talk about is the current temperatures being less warm than 20 years ago. Which them leaves me talking about temperature and not climate. I finally just walked away telling him to check the science. That's all I can do when they don't want to stop using dirty energy which they have no stake in at all. It just boggles my mind how sheepish some of us can be when we don't remain objective and then spew out talking points that have nothing to do with the science of global warming. Again, I just shake my head!

The republican ego is a nasty brutish one (#3833)

     It is one thing to have an ego about oneself and then follow that ego until one learns the hard lessons in life. It is quite another to have an ego and then intentionally harm others with it. Yet that is the behavior of republicans. They have assumed that we who are not them are lesser and therefore deserving of their condescension and punishment for not being like them. They have no altruistic motive nor any compassionate empathy. All they have is their demented allegiance to being masters over those who will not be as cruel as they. They see kindness as a weakness, love as a sickness, and heroism as laughable foolishness.
     The republican ego is a massive amount of assumption based upon that which fits their narrative today. It is a murky ego capable of being a chameleon at any given moment. It's fluidity is astonishing in that the concept of logic nor common sense exist within it's finite space. Yet they can easily defend the illogical and nonsensical because after all it is their choice to choose. We are not all the human species to them. The many of us are a lesser subset of their delusional majestic elevation. So therefore our voices and cries are of little consequence to them. They are only respectful of brutality and hatred since it fulfills their lack of healthy emotion.
     The republican ego and by it's extension the republican agenda are of such a state that the hiding of it is no longer possible. With voter suppression and media control the republican party can now be themselves despite what the majority thinks because the republican party still controls who can vote and when they can vote. There are enough of these republican egos entrenched within our democracy that the silencing of our democracy is not that difficult. They have but one agenda overall and that is complete control of our nation regardless of what it does to free will and democratic values. Our nation is at that point and if I live another year and a some months I will know what our response to the republican ego will be.

Where will trump go? (#3832)

     Once the appointed president trump is defeated on November 3rd. 2020 and he turns over his claim to the White House on January 20th to the new Democratic president, where will he go? My guess is some place where the United States of America doesn't have an extradition treaty. Because it seems to me that there will many opportunities to drag him into court and hang some meaningful charges around his neck once he is out of public office. Which does bring up another point, will trump actually leave the White House? I can see a scenario where he is so tone deaf to the coming results that his monstrous sized ego won't let him believe that he lost.
     Which would set up an action by our security forces to actually have to remove him and then the idea that trump has anywhere else to go but to jail or a mental institution becomes obvious. Yet I don't think trump will allow himself to be arrested so he will acquiesce and leave the White House although surely begrudgingly. Back to the question though, where will trump go? I would prefer that he be held here in America to face his many allegations of criminality but if he does slink off somewhere outside our borders I wouldn't be too upset if he was never to be seen from again on our shores. If he does leave the possibility of having a bench warrant out for his arrest comes into play and then he would have to hide much more from the view of anyone seeking to bring him to justice.
     This will be one of the most intriguing questions to come about in the history of our presidential successions. Where will trump go that won't have a claim on him either judicially or economically. He runs in fast company and with shady characters so trumps disposition is truly up in the air. I feel no compassion for him as he chose his path knowing full well that every benefit in life has a cost. He will be presented with his bill and this time unlike all the other times in his life he won't be able to stiff the bill. He may run, but like all things that we run from, the world is finite and there aren't really any hiding places left.

Fact check dates and reporting sites on Facebook claims. (#3831)

     Too often claims are made on Facebook that show democrats being as lousy at being human as republicans. But upon further investigation most all the claims are false or misleading. This is how republicans are going to attack our blue wave. They are going to lie, cheat, and steal to keep their power over us because they know they cannot do that legitimately. So make sure that when you see a post making democrats look like what scurvy republicans are in just about every instance you will find that it isn't. Just some deception to cast doubt into the anger we democrats are experiencing with republicans. If they can change the narrative away from their despicable acts and behaviors then they may put a dent in the coming onslaught of 2020.
     So check not only dates from which an article is written but also by whom. Many a time I see an article attacking the House of Representatives as if it was just happening but upon looking at the date of the article find out that it was published back when republicans controlled the House. Little things like that and then there are the websites that are trying to look official but are just trollers trying again to blame democrats for something republicans are doing. If a republican can get you to think that both parties do the same things then they are successful in diverting away from the actual fact that both parties do very little the same.
     The only strategy republicans have to try to swing the election of 2020 their way is to take the wind out of our Tsunami blue wave. Well I am well versed enough into their strategy and will never be caught in their web of deceitful doubt. Sorry, double metaphor, :). No matter what republicans try to get us to believe they are not worthy of our ears to listen nor our eyes to see. They have cruelly and brutally attempted to demean and tear out our democratic foundation so they get nothing from me nor from any other democrat or intelligent independent. Just always keep your eye on the ball of voting for every democrat and never voting for a republican. Then things will turn out correctly and republicans will be kicked to the curb with the rest of the rubbish!

We have to survive until November 3rd 2020 (#3830)

     Lots more insane brutish things will happen between now and the next election so what we must all do is hold strong and never relent until we can crush the republican party and their snakehead trump within the next year and a third. It is a long time I know but those 465 days will go by eventually and then after we crush his appointed presidency we will only have 78 days of his lame duck time to make sure that he is well and gone from our White House on January 20th. We survive by living in each and every moment like our lives are dependent upon it because literally our lives are.
     465 days is 99 days and then a leap year away. However we slice up what time he has left we have to make sure that we never tire from the opposition to him and his accomplices. We can heave a sigh of relief once our democratic presidential candidate is sworn into office but only just that. Because whomever it is we Democrats elect will immediately rescind just about every executive order the appointed president trump has initiated. The list is there for all to see and with some precise accounting the reversals can take effect immediately, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_executive_actions_by_Donald_Trump. Nothing the trump has done so far cannot be undone through some amount of time, including rectifying the balance on the supreme court.
     Once we Democrats take back control of the Presidency, the Senate, and keep the House on November 3rd. 2020, we can decide to increase the amount of supreme court justices to put the republicans on the court back into the minority, if needed. Having the executive and legislative bodies back in Democratic control would allow us to pass laws that overrule current supreme court holdings like gerrymandering, health care, and especially public financing of elections. There is a long list of wrongs that need to be righted so we Democrats although weary from the fighting of trump and republicans to get them out of office can little afford to rest when we need to correct our ailing democracy.

Shaming, terrifying, and ignoring, the new American way! (#3829)

     I swear to whatever that this trump and his crony republican party are the death of me! I cannot stand by and let them tear up the best part of who we were as a nation. Making children afraid by taking them from their parents or guardians and allowing them to build up a hatred toward our society. Reducing the life span of all Americans who are going to lose health care or keeping it from them when it is available. Causing less than able seniors to go without nutritious meals and then the trumps saying that it is good for them. How in what decent way is that good for them? Cutting back programs that help our citizenry afford lower and higher education as well as trade schools.
     The list goes on with trump and republicans keeping the minimum wage at a ridiculously low number all the while creating many more low wage jobs. The effect of this is to make most all the working middle class into the poor class. How convenient for the wealthy who cannot ever seem to get enough money from our society for themselves instead of spreading the wealth to those who actually help them make profit. Denying access to the ballot for Americans who cannot meet stringent registration requirements while making it hard to meet those stringent registration requirements.
     What is as egregious as the way trumps and republicans are dismantling anything kind and wonderful thing about our nation is the strategy they are installing of making our democracy slip into an oligarchy. We the people are now less than citizens when the privilege and advantage of the wealthy is weighted against us while we cannot afford to even partake in our government as representatives because the cost of doing so has us the many of us at a tremendous disadvantage. I fear that since republicans have been working their strategy to overthrow our democracy for so long that we the people are ripe for losing it. I have been saying this at least twice a day for many decades, never ever vote for a republican. The reason being is that you would be voting to take our democracy away.

Abolish the electoral college! (#3828)

     The best way to defend our democracy is to make public all financing of elections and eliminate the electoral college. Today I want to focus on the electoral college but by no accounting is the public financing of elections any less important. The electoral college was put into place by those who feared that direct democracy would somehow be manipulated to elect an person who would otherwise do damage to democracy instead of promoting it's growth. Well we see with trump that the electoral college is not enough of a persuasive argument to block such an event. Which is why it had become less productive as a preventive measure.
     Today's electorate although not fully informed nor enlightened to the values of democracy over their own considerations still have grown in intellectualism over the last 243 years. For us to be kept in the cradle as a child for this long a time because fear looms over the survival of democracy is absurd. Again, given that the fear actually allowed a manipulation of the electoral college system to force a non majority outcome in the 2016 presidential election. The time for a more direct democracy like what we use in all our other public offices has come. Making the case for dismantling the electoral college system of choosing our president outside our actual votes is being done quite obviously by trump, the brutish and inept appointed president.
     At the same time the public financing of elections needs to happen as we have seen that the wealthy have too much influence in choosing our candidates for us who then do much to appease their donors and little else for us. Enough of that and enough of having some group of electoral college electors who get to decide what our votes mean outside and beyond our own choice. I have not been a child since the middle of the last century so why would I want the most important choice I make in our democracy to be subject to one person's interpretation? I don't and neither should anyone else when the candidate with the most votes has been denied the presidency twice in the last 20 years to favor a system that does less than nothing to protect our democracy.

My America (#3827)

     The inspiring Statue of Liberty Lady in the Upper New York Bay is the genesis of how I see our nation. Holding a light up in the darkness for those who are looking for a safe harbor. The welcoming message she sends out is what hope and dreams are made of. This is why America is the greatest nation on the planet, because those who are persecuted and driven from their places of birth can find refuge and an opportunity to flourish. This is how I have always seen our nation. Yet in reality with republicans in control we are not that country any more.
     Instead we are the nation that drives away those who are persecuted and sends them back to their graves. It is unconscionable that we are now the nation that despises those who we were just a generation ago. The whole of our country are immigrants except the American Indians who were displaced when all the rest of our ancestors immigrated here. How ironic that now republicans want us to think that we are the ones who must defend against immigration. Safety and security are concerns but not at the expense of helping to murder those who are just trying to save their own lives. How we treat these displaced souls is on us and with the despicable camps that have been set up by republicans it is a shame and disgrace that will never be rectified as long as republicans are in political office.
     My America is still the greatest nation in existence but only if we can purge our government of the republican party and all of it's hatred and cruelty to those who are not them. The very nature of voter suppression and foreign influence to maintain their public offices should be enough to rally the heart of our nation against them and rectify the mental and physical torture we are committing against those who aspire to live in the greatest nation on the planet. The republican party takes their dreams and smashes them right for all the world to see. How embarrassing for us who fought hard to keep the republicans out of office and how much more embarrassing it must be for those 46.9% of our eligible voters who didn't even bother to vote in the last presidential election.

Racism is fear (#3826)

     I don't know how else to describe racism other than to call it fear. Why on Earth would anyone hate someone else just because they are not of the same skin color or hair type. It amazes me that as human beings who are all diverse from each other in many ways would draw the line on such an artificial paradigm. The DNA we all share is human and as such we are all of the same species so why the divergence from acceptance to fear turned into hatred? Again, I come back to fear. I am different than many I guess in that I accept and embrace reality. I am not here to find some comfort zone and then live out my life ignoring reality.
     Granted physically I have planted some roots and have found a patch of dirt to call my own but that is the extent of my comfort zone. In my mind I am open to all who communicate a message of togetherness as a species. It is because when we are all welcoming to each other we are mightier and much more able to advance into the modern future. All of us have gifts from one end of the spectrum to the other so keeping some of us from joining us is absurd, cruel and anti species.
     The one thing about our species that I have observed from my time and space on Earth is that there is no bounds to any of us attaining magnificence if only given an equal opportunity. We don't know which person will be the next genius who will guide us into a brighter and more magnificent future so why would we exclude anyone who could be that person? No human being is above another human being in innovative potential so letting fear, that becomes hatred, come into the determining equation is corrupting and anti human. We humans are not above the animal kingdom when we resort to acts that lower our ability to achieve greatness. Our great attribute is to create something from what we have and turn it into much more, not much less.

The lawless appointed president (#3825)

     There is no law that trump will become subservient. He has shown us his contempt for anyone who would challenge him under the laws that the rest of us have to abide. Somehow in his mind he has verified to himself that he is greater than the sum of our democratic parts. The arrogant ego it takes to make this assumption is beyond anything I have ever seen contained in one person's entity. Surely in the past their have been individuals who had no doubt as to their greater authority over all that exists in time and space but I haven't seen it until now.
     His elevation to a god like status is remarkable in that there has never been a god like figure who holds trump's characteristic other than the incarnate evil of a satan. Yet as I see it a satan had no redeeming qualities whereas trump hasn't perfected his awfulness to that degree but he certainly is closing the gap. I suppose now trump thinking that he is above the law is natural given the evolution of his cruel and brutish behavior but still he must be one sick puppy to think that the system that allowed him to become an appointed leader would also allow him to defy it's core premises.
     Yet that is exactly what most of us rational human beings conclude, that trump is one sick puppy and no amount of pretending that he isn't will change the reality of his mental deficiencies. I know a lot of people are getting something they want by having trump in power and that is why they will not recognize his deficient humanness. They prescribe to the theory that the devil we have now is much more preferable to their inability to comprehend reason, analysis, and conclusion. If skating through life is how they choose to live and taking advantage of the hard work of others then there will be no hope for us if we do not end the madness that is trump and his breaking of our democracy.

The next election will be about who we are (#3824)

     Make no mistake in understanding what the parties running to be our next political administration are about. We democrats are about protecting the tapestry of our citizenry regardless of race, color, religion or identity. The republican party is about none of those and want a white race to own and operate the United States of America. I am a white man and am so disgusted and angry with the current white administration that I will fight them with all that I have to change them out this coming November 3rd. 2020. I understand that our nation is all about our diversity. It is what made us great to begin with so when I hear the segregationists say they want their country back it is the same mantra that the confederacy believed back in the 1860's.
     Never would I allow it to happen on my watch in this existence because what history has taught us is that when we welcome all human beings into our society we actually become a more enlightened society. The fact that our nation was built on immigration and fueled by it's yearning for a better life is indisputable. America could never have survived without the links we established in our many different combined cultures. The lessons we learned from each other is beyond valuable and consistent with our American values of equality, fairness and justice.
     Which is why we are more than a melting pot nation, we are a tapestry like a quilt woven together but yet still different in our lives. We accept each other as having a right to exist and live in a civilized society. None of us is better than another but we may distinguish ourselves through merit, ingenuity, creativity and innovation. Still we are all due the same respect given anyone from the street sweeper to the president. Because in all societies the work needed to keep that society healthy is both honorable and necessary. This is what we democrats are fighting for and what republicans would destroy. Come this next election it will be about who we are and nothing else.

The Moon landing (#3823)

     50 years ago today Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed their module on the surface of the Moon. It wasn't until the next day, July 21st that both Neil and Buzz stepped out onto the Moon's surface. I remember this well as I watched it on television like 10's of millions of other Americans. I was only just about 14 but being so self aware as I was back then I can still see the few of us sitting around the black and white television taking it all in and feeling like our lives were just beginning. I had already suffered through both Kennedy's and Dr. King being assassinated so this historic event got us back to being the most hopeful generation again.
     But like all things that conservatives put their hands on the space program was left to die having only accomplishing a few more trips with no clear vision for what to do with our arrival on the Moon. Conservatism in whatever form it takes is always a punishing anchor to progress and modernity. If everyone with working brain cells would just understand this then we would never again be burdened with their fallaciousness. It is liberal and progressive ideology that has spurred us into great achievements and greater imaginings.
     The Moon landing will always be the one great achievement that {conservatives, ie... (republicans)} will never be able to factually deny nor sabotage much like everything else we humans try to achieve, not only in creating a greater society but in expanding our species out beyond the bounds of our known origins. We liberal progressives have a love for our species and at the core of that a love for life and it's mysteries. We are not content to sit back and let just a few have it all while the rest of us are scrounging to survive. No, we liberal progressives are adamant in our manifest destiny to achieve even greater plateaus with not only our current corruptible society but with our exploration out beyond the bounds of our current existence.

Every day we fight (#3822)

     The trumps have us at their mercy but we are no quitters! We fight back against them every day because every day they do something that tries to harm us. By us I mean we democracy loving Americans who fight for each other instead of against each other. Those of us who believe that equality is more than just a word to be scorned or laughed at. Every day we fight against the republican party and their hatred, racism and misogyny in new and varying forms. This is no game for us it is a matter of civilized survival and no one who joins us better think and act any less.
     When this time is looked back upon in the future it will show that we were able to stem the rotting vitriol of trumps at it's neck and squeeze it's vileness from our existence. The nature of our government here in America is all that is at stake. The heart of who we are and were is being fought for and those who defend our history as one that is evolving toward enlightenment and modern rationalization will have the battle scars of victory as proof. The corpse of what trumps and the republican party host is still alive and putrid for now but for it to become the past we here in the present are tasked with driving a stake through it's heart.
     So every day we fight and although the next election is 473 days away, each day is another step toward the end of trumps and his acolytes in Congress. Each day we get one day closer to the end of this living nightmare and closer to reclaiming our democratic heritage. The time will come before the election when trumps realize that they may well be going down to an overwhelming blue Tsunami and that day will come sometime next late summer when all the indicators show that we Americans cannot get rid of trump soon enough. The polls are consistent in that they show a negative approval rating for trump and nothing he seems to be able to do can help that.

How far will trump go to defy the courts? (#3821)

     A big test this morning concerning trumps hush money payments. The federal judge in charge of the case has ordered for the details of the hush money payments be made public by 11:00 am eastern this morning. So in about an hour and a half we will either see the details or trump will have defied the court. I suppose he could get some kind of stay somehow through another legal channel but I don't know if it is there for him to utilize. So for me it is either post the details or defy the judge. Knowing how trump operates it would surprise me if he complies with the judicial order.
     He sees himself as above the law for not only himself but for those who operate around him. It is like he has an immunity that he has created in his mind that extends to all his activities. Well our democracy gives no such right to any public figure regardless of position. So I believe we are going to have a stand off with trump not releasing the details of his hush money payments. Yet I have also seen trump back down when the courts have interpreted against him so maybe this will be one of those times but I expect not.
     If he does release the details of his hush money payments then I expect the rest of his appointed presidency will tip steeply downhill. Like a crack that breaks open the other court cases against him, it will wedge the disclosure gap even further open. What trump doesn't want is for us to see behind the curtain of his dealings that would effectively show he is truly nothing but a con man getting away with crimes his whole life. For him to expect to be appointed another presidency would be delirious and although we see him as being out of touch it would be beyond the scope of the imaginable for him to understand that his days are done.

On the congressional record (#3820)

     It isn't like the republican members of the House were screaming their disapproval, instead they called it foolishness. Well, telling non white members of Congress to go home and solve their "own" country's problems and then come back when they do is akin to telling these non white congresswomen to go away. That is not a presidential thing to say or think so that is why the resolution of condemnation was required and not foolish at all. In all there was a recently turned independent from republican, vote for the resolution and 4 other republicans joined every democrat who voted for the resolution.
     So although it wasn't a huge bipartisan vote for the resolution it wasn't completely partisan. In times like this when even one republican vote is a major betrayal to the republican party whip line it says much that 5 other than democrats voted with all voting democrats on the racist condemnation of the appointed president. Thus trump now has set himself up to be impeached just like Andrew Johnson was back in the late 1860's. Remember, back then republicans were the liberals and democrats were the conservatives, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_Republican_Party. With Johnson's opposition to the 14th amendment his actions nearly got him convicted in the Senate after he was impeached in the House, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Johnson.
     Now it is trump who has joined his fellow conservative brethren johnson in being condemned as a racist. This is well documented and like the 17th president johnson, trump is stained as well as racist and primed for more. The truth of the matter is that both johnson and trump have let it be known that the conservative movement which is now the republican party, is and always will be against civil and moral rights for anyone not white and like them. It isn't a question of ambiguity or supposition it is fact. Look at the legislative history of the conservative movement and you will see outside of their tokenism when it benefits them, they are still like the old slave owners fighting to keep their human property!

Another word about my being bussed in high school (#3819)

     It's not about fitting in it is about who you are. This is a mantra that has come to me over time to help me explain my high school years. When I knew I was going to be bussed from my familiar mostly all white junior high school I was apprehensive and just a little bit scared. Because the high school I was going to be sent to once I graduated from my junior high school was about an equal mixture of Latinos, African Americans, Asians, and Caucasians. A true melting pot at the time. but I had one clue already in that I played sports in the school system and in the parks and recreation system so I was already experienced with some diversity and its nuances.
     But my main goal once I got to high school was to fit in as quickly as I could so that a smooth transition would ensue. But what I found out was that there was nothing institutional about fitting in that could be done. We were all a little bit unsure of each other since all of us had been pretty much sheltered from each other. So what happened was that instead of hiding in our metaphorically "safe harbors" we were all forced to be the best version of ourselves in order to survive this larger pool of unknown actors. Which worked out pretty well for most of us since most people like people who are real and decent regardless of culture or race.
     I had to be who I was and then defend that at all costs. So my plan to fit in and cruise through without any trouble was instantly shattered and in its place was something I had to make and then protect. I didn't always do my best and there were some opportunities for me to stand tall and accept blame when it was due and in that I failed once or twice but overall I did a pretty good job of being a good person. I suppose that no perfect all the time can be found and if I think I could have been perfect through those years I am a fool. What I will say again though is that me being bussed to a diverse high school grew me up quicker, and better than not being bussed to a diverse high school.

Our blue wave keeps rising (#3818)

     It seems that trump has a knack for helping us defeat him. Although we did defeat him last time with nearly 3 million more votes his republican machine was successful at keeping our voters from voting in key states that allowed him to be appointed by the electoral college. The electoral college is another stinking pile I will write about later but for now back to trump and his keen sense of sabotaging his own chances at being reappointed. Clearly he will never get the majority vote but he has designs on again stealing the election through the anti democratic paternal electoral process.
     We are on to him though and although he doesn't believe we can outsmart his self identified "stable genius" persona, we will succeed this time because we know how to defend against him whereas last time we were caught unawares. His trick worked one time but we have had plenty of time to expose his trick and it won't work again. We know that 46.9% of our voting electorate didn't vote in 2016 and many who did thought that voting 3rd. party was proper. not this time however. The non voting percentage this time around will be much lower probably in the mid to low 30's and the option to vote green is pretty much nil.
     So our blue wave will be the dominate feature in 2020 and nothing trump does will help him. In fact what trump is doing will further increase our blue wave totals. So much so that the senate is now becoming ripe for our blue wave as well. I have little doubt that we will hold the house and may even increase our majority a bit more. Because trump is a hateful petty man who doesn't inspire anything that is truly an American honorable value. What he does inspire is the worst of who we are and the most pernicious attack on our democracy. Our blue wave increases each of these last less than 500 days until the voting and for all of America I say it can't come soon enough.

trump torturing asylum seekers (#3817)

     This is his plan to keep people fleeing persecution and death. trump wants to hurt people so that they don't run toward us when we were the main destabilizing force chasing these asylum seekers. After decades of sowing seeds of strong arm tactics in Central America our payment is coming in the form of upheaval and chaos. So when these citizens of Central America flee the carnage of our sowing they find that America now, under trump, does not care about their plight. So let me be clear, We Americans caused much of the fleeing but don't want those fleeing for their lives coming to us.
     Under normal circumstances our nation would be caring about past mistakes in American administrations that caused turmoil but not trump. He is the exception to the make things correct rule, and instead when you are responsible for correcting a mistake you just act like there was no mistake and hurt people instead of helping them. This is the American legacy under trump. We hurt you before but we won't admit it and we are going to hurt you again if you seek shelter from our past harms. I am not okay or indifferent about this I am angered to nth degree. trump has caused our nation to become a hard hateful one that cares more about it's profit than anything else. Well that won't be long in maintaining if Karma has it's way.
     Societies that cause harm as a first choice are short in history and the same will be for America if this continues. I hear some talk about how trump can be appointed or actually win a second term and it shakes me to my core. How bad of an actor does trump have to be for those who support him realize that they are supporting a petty want to be dictator? How bad does he have to be? Seriously? How bad? Because for anyone to actually think trump will survive the 2020 election a screw or two must be loose in their heads. If this is what America is now then I am ashamed beyond all civilized paradigms. When the worst of who we are is the most preferred then we will deserve any and all cost that comes back on us for it.

Normalizing bad employers because good people have to work (#3816)

     This morning I had a chance to interact with someone who was appreciating a person doing a good deed for someone. Yet the headline included the employer of the person doing the good deed which overshadowed the actual doing of the deed. I hate this type of narrative control where the bad actor, the despicable employer, tries to make himself look good by using a good deed by one of his employees. Many of us liberal/progressives often fall into the trap of praising the deed while also inadvertently praising the bad actor.
     Which is why I always avoid such posts that include a much hated entity despite a positive spin from something they did nothing to create. There are enough good people doing good deeds for me to post and write about without having to use some message of good manipulated by a despicable employer. If anything it confuses the readers into thinking that the bad actor employer isn't such a bad person or that their product for sale isn't such a harmful exchange for money. Yet it still is. When we support the bad actor we are just making life harder for those who are being vilified for no democratic reason.
     I know that sometimes there are no other opportunities for employment in certain areas and the need of revenue will outweigh our principles, yet for those of us who are under no such desperate situation there is no need at all to give benefit of doubt to a worthless bad actor. Those employers and companies that support anti democratic harms should never get a positive spin out of our mouths even when some ancillary connection to them is a positive one. The naming of the bad actor company in a post about a good deed is disingenuous at best and downright deceitful at worst. Like I said, if like say for instance in the extreme Hitler were to have helped someone across the street, I would no more share that then if a bad actor company is purposefully clumped into a good will story.

Nothing will get done until republicans are voted out of the majority (#3815)

     You get this don't you? I mean nothing of any value will get done for we the working middle poor class. I hate describing us this way but it is what it is. Until republicans are gone we will never begin to raise the bar on opportunity and progress. Like I have been saying before I even knew what Facebook was, only vote for democrats and never for any republican. Our nation has become unintelligent and rogue when it comes to understand and respecting the rule of law. The republicans taught us that education is a detriment to thievery and respect anathema to winning at any cost.
     Our nation, America, will never recover to become the shining city on a hill until that dreaded republican foothold on our necks is lifted. The republican party has gerrymandered themselves into a strong position to keep their majorities but what they cannot control is an overwhelming democratic Tsunami of votes that will defeat their gerrymandering and once and for all allow us the majority working middle poor class to change the gerrymandered districts to fair and equitable lines. Until then we are stuck with their condescension and hatefulness.
     It should be obvious to all who look upon the American political landscape that the republican party is not interested in representing all of us they are only invested in protecting their wealthy and their majorities. What kind of democracy is that? None that is definable as democracy, none! But it is definable as an Oligarchy where a smaller group of people rule like with Russia, and the majorities are kept at a distance from reclaiming power. Well we the American electorate still have a chance to end this traitorous charade by trumps and the republican party but it will take a mighty effort by all of us to accomplish it. Come November 3rd. the mantra is to vote for all democrats everywhere on the ballot, no matter who!

Keep doing the next right thing (#3814)

     This is a simple reminder of how to live life. It isn't about wealth or fame, it is about being successful at whatever you find important in life. It works for me as a guide to choose what I do next. If you like yourself then this is a perfect way to keep liking yourself. If you don't like yourself then reflect on what it is about yourself that you don't like and stop doing that. Nothing is easy and neither is stopping doing whatever it is that makes you miserable or unhappy. As in all things it is a moderate way to go about living but it is exactly needed to maintain a balance in life.
     I have to think about the cost of living here in America as well as the cost on humans in the misery department. I do what I can to alleviate the misery around me but I also must maintain my lowly position in life. A balance. I can only do what is within my power despite the knowledge I have that grinds on my soul. If I could snap my fingers and put everyone in a better place in life I would. If I could give to those who have none and lift up those who struggle mightily only to be denied equality of opportunity I would.
     There is nothing in life more important that all of us having the same opportunities to succeed from our starting points. It is egregious to me that there are those out there who only think of themselves and give no thought to what they are doing to others. I cannot make them think like a decent human being but I can do that for me and as such I do. I do the next right thing that keeps my life in order and makes a small difference in the lives of others. It is what I can do and I don't stop doing it because of something that isn't the next right thing.

The misunderstanding of understanding (#3813)

     We can see with trumps just how much understanding is loathed and vilified. The common sense and logic of things is under attack by the chaos of anti intellectualism. It is easier to tear something down than it is to build it up so that is how the trumps perceive their duty. The more ignorant among us applaud this approach since it relieves them of any duty to be intelligent. All that thinking and analyzing has never been their protocol. Instead they sit back and then attack that which they call fake. It is an easy gig for them and to root them from this paradigm is not going to happen without some life intervening event.
     So what do we do with these folks who are steadfastly proud to be less than intelligent? For the most part we move on from them and try to reach those who still have an inkling of understanding about how logic works and the application of common sense to solve problems. I don't normally cast aside human life but there comes a point where no one is worth redeeming when they will not try to be understanding in a civilized world. I cannot waste a precious second on anyone who refuses to engage under the guidelines of truth and fact to decide conclusions.
     Our population here in America is still largely attuned to logic and common sense as our guidelines. Our society demands that we are able to communicate our thoughts and desires in a way that is understood by the speaker and the hearer. When this simple logical event cannot be instituted because one side of a conversation refuses to accept the premise of fact and truth then the whole of what we are as a society comes into question. Just because one side of a conversation doesn't like the logic of the truth and/or fact does not make the truth or fact any less real. So those who refuse to understand because they refuse to accept a conclusion have no place in my life nor should they.

Getting our ducks lined up in a row (#3812)

     We democrats are starting to give form to our roster of candidates for the upcoming November 3rd. election. It is still early days yet but the first signs of getting organized are appearing. With today's Amy McGrath announcement to run against the deeply unpatriotic mcconnell for his senate seat in Kentucky we could not have had a better beginning. There are other shakeups coming with the many presidential candidates that are testing the waters but soon several of them will see the writing on the wall and go to plan B which is to contest for congressional seats and governorships.
     Our greatest needs outside of winning the presidency is to retake the senate while holding the house. But just as vital although not as publicized is to retake control of the state governments. That local control beneath the federal level is crucial to building a foundation for a lasting democratic vision for the future of our nation. It is really simple to accomplish if we all just do this one thing. Vote for every democrat on the ballot without exception. I know that our party is not perfect and has some dodgy characters for now, yet they are still head and shoulders above any republican candidate anywhere in the nation.
     What republicans have shown us is that by far the vast majority of them will only follow the leader of the republican party despite the illogical outcomes and cruelty of such devotion. There can be no other way forward toward a democracy that cares about all of it's citizens. Yes, we democrats care about the wealthy but we don't put them above the poorest among us. We all get to have a chance at the American dream not have to live a republican nightmare of wealth induced privilege and advantage. So as our candidates start to fill the slots available for winning the next election we get that much closer to having that blue wave dream we are all working hard to create.

484 days left to vote trump out (#3811)

     This really is getting to be my favorite time now with the days counting down fast and furious on trump. We just passed the 500 day threshold a couple of weeks ago and now we are dwindling down from that. For me it is very satisfying time in that the end is in sight and no amount of illusion is going to change the fact that our blue wave election will happen. This is what I had expected back in 2016 but to most of our shock it didn't. But now we are aware of what can happen when we liberal/progressives/independents don't get on the same page and vote like our lives depend on it.
     After the voting time on November 3rd. 2020 there will still be trump in his appointed presidency but he will be a lame duck. The problem with a lame duck though is that some, like trump, cannot accept losing and he will try to maintain his appointed position with a frenzied behavior. Yet our constitution does not allow for such an egoistic ambition and although trump will still have whatever majority in the senate during his lame duck time he will not get past the house and it's authority under our constitution.
     With a might victory for the center left of our nation on November 3rd 2020. we the electorate will not be intimidated by a defeated angry trump. We will prepare for his tantrums and attempts to subvert our democracy because we know who he is and how he reacts now. He isn't an unknown entity. He will be a forgotten one though after the inauguration on January 20th of 2021. His ilk, and repressive vision for life will be banished to the dustbin of history and that we survived the 4 years of his inadequacies is only more the tribute to our fighting spirit to defend against his democratic overthrow.

There are more of us than trumps (#3810)

     By trumps I am referring to republicans. Because it seems that the republican party has given itself over to the dastardly trump and his acolytes. But what else it seems is that the many more of us who will not let what is the worst appointed president in our overall history, have another term. We saw the beginning of it in the 2018 when we democrats swept back into power in most crucial races. We didn't do as well as we could have in the senate races but remember the cards were heavily stacked against us in over 10 races that could have easily gone to a normal republican candidate but we only lost 2 of those. The next time in 2020 the senate favors our candidates so as our blue wave continues so does the likelihood that we will not only take the presidency but the senate and keep the house.
     With the executive and congressional branches recovered from the despicable republican party there will be a new dynamic going forward that favors the working middle poor class. With trump holding firm for more than 2 years now with an unfavorability index of about minus 10, https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/, it is now becoming clear that regardless of normal indicators to predict any reappointment for trump the fact that he is so despised will seal his fate come November, 3rd. 2020. With the knowledge now that republicans are truly out to deny folks votes, those same folks are making sure they will not let them take it from them.
     As we all are angry at trumps for being such vulgar human beings the vote that will come next November will be a Tsunami much more than what trump endured in 2018. The time of trumps is coming to an end and the next iteration of our democracy will be to serve the people of our nation, all of us, and not just the wealthy and powerful. I know it is not a sealed deal but I also know that we the American people are not hoodwinked by trumps any longer and respect our right to vote much more than they respect us. The many more of us will vote because we know that not voting is why we got trump to begin with.

trump keeps pushing the envelope (#3809)

     Like a balloon that finally reaches it maximum stretching point so it goes with we the American people. We will pop with a loud bang and the balloon will be no more. This is what trump is heading for as he keeps blowing infinite bombast into our finite acceptability. The time will come when we the people will say no more. Whether it is on a known timetable or not the time will come because with trump he sees every inch he attains as a challenge to go a mile. He is non stop on his personal agenda to remake our society into his image.
     What trump is learning is that he has little obstruction for his agenda so he is going all in on it. But what trump doesn't understand is that what he sees as us cowering to him is really us just getting our fill of his wrongfulness before we come down on him in ways he has not considered. We Americans are truly the sleeping giant and when provoked from our slumber become a force that no one wants to be the focus of. I know there are those who will defend trump upon their dying breath but there are fewer and fewer of those as trump shows his true self.
     Which is going to make trump's judgment that much more harsh and deserved. His last days will not be as some all controlling dictator he sees himself as becoming. Instead his days will be lived in obscurity and shame although he will never know what shame and remorse are since his psychotic behavior is unable to translate the concept. So in the future trump will be a man more in tune with living in a padded room than a gold palace. When the history of this time of trump is written I hope that it is as truthful as possible since we cannot allow the same event of trump to ever happen again.

My cat Betsy (#3808)

     Yesterday I saw a heartbreaking sight. My cat Betsy, who I got at the same time as a kitten with her life companion Artie, was laying all curled up on the spot in the yard where I buried Artie about 3 months ago. It broke my heart to see her there. It isn't just a coincidence either since my yard is about 1/3 of an acre in the back. Those two little feral kittens came to me just at about 3 months old. And all the time we spent getting to know each other, very cautiously I might add, they were inseparable. Artie was the character of the two and would let me pick him up and snuggle a bit with him.
     Betsy is the opposite and just to be able to scratch her head area for a few seconds when she is close enough is close to miraculous. I have been wondering how the dynamic of losing Artie would affect Betsy, as she was the one who alerted me to Artie's final moment. Artie had been poisoned I reckon from all the evidence I could cull. So I know she knew Artie had died especially since he struggled to stay with us a little over a week when he first showed signs of being ill. But when Artie died at about midnight, Betsy took off and wasn't around when I immediately took Artie's little body out back and buried him.
     But obviously she knows where he is buried and although I dug down plenty far enough for Artie's final resting place I expect that Betsy and her keen sense of smell must have picked up some trace of him. To see her there hugging the top of his grave like that overwhelmed me and reminded me of the preciousness of life regardless of who or what is doing the living. It has been hard getting Betsy to acclimate to living here with us without Artie but she loves my big dog Jimi and snuggles up to him like she used to do with Artie when he was with us. I love all my little animals and when one hurts it hurts me as well. Such is the nature of this human being.

Celebrate our true American patriots (#3807)

     The travesty of trumps and their parade for themselves notwithstanding, the real American patriots like George Washington, Nathan Hale, Mary Draper, Samuel Adams, John Paul Jones etc..., https://www.american-revolutionary-war-facts.com/American-Revolution-Hero-Facts/American-Revolution-Hero-Facts.shtml. need to be remembered this day. All those gallant young men and women who risked their lives against a repressive British Monarchy determined to see them all hanged. All those brave colonial fighters for independence who died for the right of all of us today to call ourselves Americans.
     These are the heroes of our heritage and nothing short of honoring them this day will ever cross my mind. When I look at our flag I think of Betsy Ross who created the first iteration of it. I especially think of George Washington and his leadership in the most grueling and cruel times of war for our freedom. No less important to me is Nathan Hale. A young man who gave to his country the ultimate sacrifice as a spy for our intelligence gathering and his uttering of the sentiment that to this day is the most precious verbiage to the spirit of our cause, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."
     Paul Revere's ride to warn of the British invasion, Thomas Jefferson's vision of our Declaration of Independence. Benjamin Franklin's steady hand in securing the signatures to our declaration of independence from the 13 states and getting Marquis Lafayette from France to militarily help secure our victory over Great Britain. These are the thoughts in my head today. Not some coward who ditched his chance to prove his mettle in battle. Today is an honor to those who are real patriots and their struggle to give us this celebrative memorial today, and it is to there sacrifice that I swear any allegiance.

The trump parade (#3806)

     It seems that trump has found a way to make our fourth of July celebration a little bit less than enjoyable. Because it seems that every celebration that isn't trump is a slight to him. So instead of honoring our independence with tributes to peace and understanding he is instead focusing on himself and the destructive power our nation can employ. The little draft dodger playing at being a strongman. The only thing strong about trump is the stench of his whole existence including his offspring.
     I do not say this lightly either since I am a true humanitarian but when humans defy their nature to care and wonder I often find myself dismissing them from any real sense of being. Of course it is harder to do when the cad is the actual appointed leader of our nation but nonetheless the effort to ignore and otherwise avoid him is continual. What he has done to the fabric of our nation is beyond condemnable. His outlandish self importance is crude and laughable while also being insufferably boorish. The time we have to endure his mold encrusted hollow nature is coming to an end soon and for that I am overwhelmed with glee!
     As to the actual parade trump has devised for himself and his closest colluders, it will be an abomination to any enlightened human being. I know I won't be tuned in to watching a second of it and many of my like minded friends won't either. The world may watch like many do at a train wreck but that is only because the world finds some amusing satisfaction that America is now such a foolish nation with trump as our bumbling appointed leader. Previous intellectualism from our nation is now humbled by the stupidity of trump and his underlings. My great wish today is that somehow we make it to July 5th without all of us losing our heads to the metaphorical guillotine.

trump and mcconnell, conjoined twins (#3805)

     They share the same cruel brain with no heart between them. I cannot dislike either any more so than I already do. They are the reason for the worst leadership in American history and that is saying a lot. Our nation survived it's early days by the skin of it's teeth and the only reason we are not doomed yet under trump/mcconnell is that we have just enough safeguards in place to keep our democracy alive at least for one more day. This last blue wave election in 2018 showed that we the American people are not like trump/mcconnell nor shall we be swayed to be like them in 2020.
     Not only does trump have to go but his twin mcconnell needs to be either defeated in his own senate race or lose his majority power in the senate through democratic majority victories in the next election. I would prefer that mcconnell be defeated in his home state but given the politics of Kentucky there can be no assurance of him losing. Even now mcconnell is under water in his popularity at home but somehow always manages to win enough votes to stay in power. This time however his road to another victory might be his most difficult given his attachment to the cancer trump.
     Even Kentucky voters must realize that everything they have is now in jeopardy of being taken from them under trump/mcconnell. Most of the rest of our nation realizes it and the continuation of our blue wave is not to be denied. The consistent underwater polling of both trump and republicans since the 2018 election gives me confidence that our electorate is not being fooled by trump or republicans any longer, https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-underwater-approval-rating-battleground-states-2019-6. We all saw mcconnell's senate republicans try to destroy Obamacare and if not for the maverick nature of John McCain, Obamacare would not exist today. We voters remember this and the many more cruel policies trump/mcconnell have laid on our heads so their demise is coming forthwith!

492 days until trump loss (#3804)

     I have been waiting for this time to come around. Less than 500 days left until the election on November 3rd. For me this is officially the beginning of the real campaign for the presidency. What we have seen over the years is that the election season starts earlier and earlier each year yet when the time left until the next election drops down below 500 days is when I start to get fully involved. It is still early yet and for we democrats there is a lot of thinning out of candidates to do but that will happen soon enough through their own inability to capture the imagination of the electorate or their inability to forward enough policies that matter to most of us.
     As it is now we democrats have a lot of winnowing to do but I like that there are so many to choose from. We get to see our candidates go through the white hot fire of a nominating process which can only help us meld our eventual candidate into a battle tested champion. What happened last time in 2016 where the eye on the ball was not our highest priority we let happen a most cruel idiotic candidate get appointed president. A repeat of this will almost certainly kill our democracy so whomever our candidate is must be supported thoroughly by all of us democrats despite our own perceived butt hurt over our individually wished for candidate.
     There is only one indisputable fact in reality that we must never lose our sight of and that is the end of trump no matter who replaces. No one is worse than trump so voting for anyone else is the only option our nation can afford for us to end the reign of trump. There is also no hope for a third party candidate so any vote thrown that way is just another vote not counted against in the trump column. We democrats must all rally and I mean really rally around whomever is our nominee. There can be no doubt as to our vote and when so the total destruction of trump may come as well as the end of mcconnell and his lackey republicans as the majority in the senate.