The Jackass

The Nation is rapidly approaching the mid-term elections which should serve as a referendum on the Trump Administration and the most recent experiment of one-party rule.

It is normal in a non-Presidential election year for the in-party (i.e controlling the White House) to lose Congressional seats. Over the past 21 mid-term elections, the average loss is about 30 House seats and 4 Senate seats. Should both of these things occur in 2018, President Trump would have a tough time getting anything accomplished during his last 2 years in office.

Certainly, the President and the G.O.P have, as Ricky Ricardo used to say, “a lot of ‘splainin’ to do” to a lot of people.

The Republicans used to stand for fiscal conservatism. Remember Ronald Reagan? I voted for him…twice. The Bushes got my vote a couple of times. I ran a corporate billion dollar budget; expenses must match income. Debt should be used sparingly. Etc. Economics 101.

Remember the “Tea Party” faction, the one that got current Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and a bunch of other so-called Fiscal Hawks elected?

Well, once those true-blue Republicans got their snouts into the Federal trough, they went rogue...and now fully-embrace the Trump plan of budget-deficits, ballooned National Debt and tax code revisions that amplify the wealth of the nation’s millionaires and billionaires. Not so good for Joe Sixpacks of the country…who voted for the scam.

Republicans used to berate the “tax and spend” Liberals; now, they’re the “Borrow and Spend” Conservatives. Our children and grandchildren will pay the price for their orgy of giveaways and spending. Many American voters will punish the G.O.P. for this bait-and-switch.

Trump’s ill-conceived tariff wars are not playing well in the Heartland. Farmers have lost customers. Prices for everyday items are going up. That’s going to cost Republicans a few seats. Farmers are real conservatives, not the phony ones like Trump and Ryan.

The Administration’s strategy of insulting and harassing our erstwhile allies while coddling up to dictatorial regimes (like Russia, the Phillipines, North Korea, Turkey, etc.) is going to lose favor with true patriots and military veterans.

Just this week, Trump and Company got busy making excuses for an assassination of a Washington Post journalist at the behest, and by the royal guards, of the Saudi Arabian monarch.

(Coincidentally, President Trump, virtually every day, slams the Washington Post for unflattering articles about him.)

This is what happens when America “green lights” human rights violations by erstwhile allies. Our President, who should be appalled by the murder, instead slow-walked any criticism because…the Saudis bought a huge number of jet aircraft from the U.S. Besides, the Saudis gave him a gold medal and flattered him.

(The President, while stumping for a Republican candidate in Montana, praised the guy for “body-slamming a journalist”. Gee, and one wonders why the Saudis (our Middle Eastern ally) feel comfortable torturing and dismembering a journalist who had the audacity to criticize the ruling family.)

(Update: The Saudis originally said that Khashoggi left the consulate after his meeting there. Later, they said that he got into a fistfight and accidentally died, and his body was given to a “local collaborator”. Later, they revised that story to say that rogue elements killed him inside the consulate. Today, we learn from the Saudis that Khashoggi’s murder was “premeditated”.

Duh. (And, where’s the body?)

When this fiasco was first unwrapping, U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo flew over to Saudi Arabia to help the Kingdom get its story straight. Then, the C.I.A. Director arrived to help develop the cover-up. It still stinks; everyone in the world knows what happened and why. 

This steaming turd bears a strong resemblance to the sexy Stormy Daniels affair. At first, Trump denied even knowing the lady, let alone boinking her while his wife Melania was nursing their newborn child. Later, it came out that Trump had directed his attorney to pay Daniels $130,000 to keep her mouth shut. Trump denied that, too. Then, his attorney spilled the beans. Trump is now publicly calling his ex-paramour/whistleblower  “Horseface”, to which she is responding, “Oh, yeah? Then why did you pay $130K to sleep with me?”

Cover-ups usually go from bad to worse.

The next thing that we can expect is for some Saudi schmo to step up to the plate for the Kingdom and confess that he planned and executed the Khashoggi murder. This will absolve the monarchy, and the “murderer”‘s family will quietly be given a couple of million dollars to keep their mouths shut. Trump can then say that the Saudi royal family is totally honorable and the U.S. can continue to sell them fighter planes and high-grade military armaments to murder political opponents in the Middle East. A Win-Win.

And, then, President Trump can move on to the next cover-up.)

America, which used to be respected all over the globe for its humanitarian, human rights, and democratic ideals, is now a laughingstock. In fact, at a recent speech before the United Nations General Assembly, our President was loudly laughed at by officials from other countries. No one ever laughed at Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, or Ronald Reagan.

Our country’s loss of prestige and respect is not going to play well with some voters in November.

Neither is the juvenile, bullying, insulting and vulgar public behavior of the President of the United States. A lot of people are fed up with Trump’s foul mouthed public comments about other nations (“shithole countries”), disparaging comments about women (“horseface”), and demeaning tweets about people who work for him, like his Attorney General (“Dumb Southerner”).

People with proper upbringing don’t talk like that in public…particularly when they are representing the people of the United States of America.

 

Update: Recently, 13 pipe bombs were mailed to well-known Democrats, major Democratic fundraisers, celebrities who have criticized President Trump, and media giant CNN, which has been known to bring scrutiny on the President. Yesterday, the F.B.I. arrested an avid Trump supporter for the criminal acts.

Luckily, none of the bombs exploded.

Trump blamed the debacle on inflamed political rhetoric (which he has chiefly fostered over the past 2-1/2 years), and some Fox News talking heads predictably floated the rumor that the crimes were a false-flag operation engineered by…the Democrats!)

Of course.

So, although the name of Donald Trump is not on any ballot this November, the mid-term elections are all about President Trump. 

Although I have voted for candidates of both parties over the years (I am an Independent), this year I voted against any Republican on the ballot.

It’s my way of saying, “Stop enabling the Jackass!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Month from Hell

It’s Friday night, there’s a thunderstorm making all sorts of racket, Charlie is mad at me and went to bed, and I just found out that my Mega Millions lottery ticket is a bust.

It’s been a crappy month. And, we’re only half way through it.

The 30-day countdown to resettling in Mesquite, Nevada began on October 1st. Since that time, Charlie and I have been busy as one-armed paper hangers…orchestrating the move, loading storage containers, arguing over furniture in the new house, going to doctor and veterinary appointments, socializing with friends and relatives that we won’t be seeing for awhile, and worrying about our Bear Creek home, which hasn’t yet sold. And, did I say…we’ve been arguing alot?

I haven’t done this much physical labor in years. Lots of lifting furniture, wrapping artwork and decor items, and climbing up and down that nasty tri-level house. Holy Cow, it will be nice to live in a one-story!

We are slowly divesting the Bear Creek home of furnishings. We’ve now packed four storage containers and have them awaiting shipment. We’ll be filling two more on October 27th, including a large one (8’x20′). Some of the other stuff in the house we will be giving to our children and grandchildren.

It’s amazing how much stuff you can accumulate in a few decades.

We will be heading up to Mesquite on the 25th for our new home “walk-through”. We will also sign some title docs and set up accounts with local utility companies.

After that, we will return to Bear Creek for the big container loading extravaganza on the 27th and a more relaxing day of spackling and touch-up painting on the 28th.

And, then, we will bid a fond farewell to our home of twenty years and head back up to Mesquite to unload all of the crap. By the end of the month, my back will be shot.

And, probably, so will my marriage.

Moving is hard on a couple, even folks who have been together for 45 years. You get crabbier as you age, and the stress of uprooting and resettling your family life is constant and overwhelming. So many details, so much second-guessing, constant ups-and-downs, money issues…you name it. Lots of things to argue about.

We will survive this, I know, because we love each other. But, it’s been tough.

The dogs don’t have the slightest clue what’s happening. Gee, are they going to be surprised when we arrive in Nevada…to a new house with a big backyard! Oh, Boy!

Speaking of the pups, Jay Jay is recovering from surgery today. The lad had some dental work done, and while he was “out” under anesthesia, our vet Dr. Black took the liberty of removing two fatty growths in Jay’s groinal region. Our boy dog is now a healthy 12 year-old, and we’re hoping that he has a lot more mileage left on his tires.

The thunderstorm has finally moved on, the dogs have settled down in the rig, and maybe Charlie and I can get a well-deserved good night’s rest. We haven’t had a lot of them lately.

Remind me not to move again. I’m getting too old for this.

 

 

Senator John Blutarsky

In the 1978 classic National Lampoon’s Animal House, the chief boozer and juvenile mischief maker of the infamous Delta Tau Chi fraternity is John Blutarsky, played by John Belushi. “Bluto” spends his entire college life drinking beer, hard-partying, and finding ways to torment Faber College Dean Wormer, while proudly amassing a straight-F grade average. The movie ends with the Deltas carrying off a “a really futile and stupid gesture”, wrecking a city parade to honor Dean Wormer, with the Delta car plowing into the parade reviewing stand.

As the movie ends, and before the credits start to roll, photos of Delta fraternity members come to the screen, with comments on their alleged achievements after college. The last one, of course, features Belushi triumphantly driving down the road in a convertible, sorority girl at his side, with the caption, “Senator and Mrs. John Blutarsky, Washington D.C.”

Yeah, I suppose that could happen (and it probably has, judging by some of the talent walking the halls of Congress!)

On a serious note, I was once a young man and did some stupid things that I’m not too proud of, particularly when shit-faced. I can remember being plastered at one of our Delta Chi frat parties and acting the fool toward our sorority guests; I thought I was being cool. It’s a good thing that cell phones and U-Tube weren’t in use back then!

I bring all of this up to reflect on the unseemly travails of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who is being unfairly publicly pilloried for indiscretions he may have made, while drunk, at wild parties…when he was 18 years old.

I can hear Mr. Kavanaugh thinking, “C’mon, Man…name one person who didn’t do stupid things as a teenager. You can’t, because that is the definition of teenager!” I agree.

Let’s all be honest: Poor Kavanaugh is being horsewhipped in the media by his opponents, who probably did worse as teens, as public payback for dirty tricks employed by the Republican Party a few years ago.

What goes around, comes around.

You might recall the incident in question: the Merrick Garland appointment to the Supreme Court by President Obama. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell overturned tradition and refused to schedule a hearing on the nomination…the first time in the history of the country that a President has been so snubbed. Everyone knew that there’d eventually be payback for this crass political move that will forever stain the legacy of the Republican Party.

I happen to believe that one of the perks of being President is the ability to appoint Supreme Court Justices. It is perhaps the greatest power of the Chief Executive…because Supreme Court positions are lifetime appointments. In some ways, they become the legacy of the President.

I’m not a fan of Donald Trump, but, by election, he earned the right to nominate Brett Kavanaugh. And, the Senate, as lousy as it has become, has the right to “advise and consent” on such nominations. The process is the spoils of political war, like it or not.

The normal mode of operation is for the out-of-power political party to protest at the President’s SCOTUS nominations, but acquiesce in the face of reality. In this case, however, with the lingering, bitter taste of the Merrick Garland fiasco still on the Democrats’ lips, coupled with the impending mid-term elections, anything could happen.

Brett Kavanaugh could continue to be a public whipping boy for the foreseeable future, not that it’s right. He could be denied the SCOTUS appointment, although that is not likely.

If the Democrats make sufficient inroads through the mid-term elections, and gain control of one or more houses of Congress, they could re-visit the Kavanaugh appointment with impeachment proceedings based upon perjury he may have committed in the nomination hearings…denying that he was ever at drunken parties, fondling young gals, doing his best “Bluto” Blutarsky impersonation.

It’s unfair, to be sure, but…as they say…”that’s politics”. Brett can thank Senator Mitch McConnell for his public humiliation.