Really Snarky Snippets!

Posted on by under Election 2020, Law and justice, Political commentary

snarky-4My last snarky snippets post failed the snark test … not quite snarky enough.  So, you’ll be happy to hear that tonight I am loaded with snark … it is oozing from my pores!  Mondays are rather always like that, though … Trump & Co kick back into high gear after the weekend and give Filosofa much fodder for the gristmill.  So, sit back and be prepared for … S-N-A-R-K (all caps!).

Say ‘Goodbye’, Sue …

Good ol’ Susan Collins is back in the news.  This time, as she has on rare occasions, she found a shred of conscience and called out Trump (very mildly) for his firing of yet another Inspector General, Steve Linick, the latest in his Stalinistic purge.

“I have long been a strong advocate for the Inspectors General. They are vital partners in Congress’s effort to identify inefficient or ineffective government programs and to root out fraud and other wrongdoing.  The investigations and reports of IGs throughout the government help Congress shape legislation and oversight activities – improving government performance, providing important transparency into programs, and giving Americans better value for their tax dollar.  The President has not provided the kind of justification for the removal of IG Linick required by this law.”

Well said, Susan … a day late and dollar short, but thanks for finding your voice and your conscience.  Turns out that in addition to investigating Mike Pompeo for having staff run personal errands such as picking up the dry cleaning, and walking the dogs for Mike and his wife, Linick was also investigating a highly questionable sale of arms to Saudi Arabia in their quest to overtake Yemen and kill as many Yemenis as possible.  Trump’s administration has admitted that he fired Linick as per a request by Pompeo.Senate Judiciary Committee Scrambles After Accusations Against Judge KavanaughMs. Collins is trailing behind her Democratic opponent, Sara Gideon, in the polls by 2.5%.  It’s hard to say whether this will give her a boost or bring her even lower, but it is well past time for Susan Collins to retire.  She has been in the Senate since 1997, twenty-three years, and while she has done some good things, of late she seems to be more of a Trump bootlicker than not.  She was, of course, one of the Republican senators who voted not to convict Trump on the impeachment charges, thereby handing him the keys to the castle, giving him carte blanche to do such things as purge all oversight via the Inspectors General.

Do you know where your tax dollars are going?

It comes with the job … Secret Service protection for the president, his wife, and immediate family members.  Nobody argues with it, for we surely don’t wish to see a member of the president’s family kidnapped or gunned down, but there are limits.  Since Donald Trump took office, those limits seem to have been repeatedly broken, as We the Taxpayers are funding Secret Service protection for Trump’s grown children while they flit about the globe conducting Trump Organization business … nothing to do with the nation or its people … the only beneficiaries carry the surname ‘Trump’.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so take a look at this one …

Yes, my friends … those last three super tall bars represent the number of trips Trump or his family have taken that required protection that WE paid for.  On average, Obama’s family took 133.3 protected trips per year, while the Trump family has taken an average of 1,625 annually. More than twelve times as many!  Much of the Trump family’s known travel has been to promote Trump Organization businesses, which Trump still owns and profits from.  But does he use some of those profits to reimburse the U.S. Treasury for the protection Junior and Eric were afforded?  NO, he does not. Next time somebody tells you that Trump doesn’t take a salary (which is not true, either), remind them that he is spending more money protecting his grotesque sons than the past three presidents combined!  trump-kidsThis, my friends, are what you and I are paying millions of dollars to protect.  WHY???

Oh, the irony!!!

You’ll remember that last week, North Carolina Senator Richard Burr stepped down as Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee because he is under investigation for insider trading, among other things.  Well, of course a replacement had to be chosen … now, before I tell you who it is, remember the name of the committee … the Senate Intelligence Committee.  Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that … wait for it … Senator Marco Rubio would replace Burr!  I nearly choked on my coffee, for when I think of Rubio, ‘intelligence’ is the furthest thing from my mind.

marco-rubioFirst, he is the 17th most conservative republican in Congress, leaving no room for negotiation, no compromise whatsoever.  Second, he is in the pockets of the NRA, and in February 2018, after the Parkland school shooting, he made a virtual ass of himself when he was questioned by a survivor of the shooting about the more than $3 million he had received in donations from the NRA. Rubio replied, “I will always accept the help of anyone who agrees with my agenda.”

He has been dead-set against ACA, is dead-set against women’s rights, immigrant’s rights, and has vacillated on LGBT rights, depending on which side of the coin seemed most popular at the moment.  And, of course his most recent crime in my book came in February of this year, when he refused to stand for justice and instead voted “not guilty” in the Trump impeachment trial.  That one is unforgivable, for look at the consequences.  Intelligence???  I think NOT.

Doctoring the numbers?

The headline in The Washington Post caught my eye …

By order of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp: The day after Thursday is now Sunday

So naturally, I had to take a quick glance.  Turns out that, eager to prove his decision to be among the first to ‘re-open’ his state, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp played fast and loose with the statistics regarding new cases, hospitalizations and deaths due to coronavirus in his state.  The graph looked real nice … that ‘curve’ the experts keep talking about appeared to represent a steady decline in the new cases and deaths.

But on further investigation … the dates on the chart showed a curious ordering: April 30 was followed by May 4; May 5 was followed by May 2, which was followed by May 7 — which in turn was followed by April 26. The dates had been re-sorted to create the illusion of a decline.  I ask, of nobody in particular, why a governor’s office should be the ones reporting these statistics anyway?  Especially one of the most appallingly corrupt governors in the state’s history!

More importantly, however, is this makes us wonder if ANY statistic we have been given is true, or if the numbers, bad as they are, are being manipulated and hundreds of thousands of new cases, as well as thousands more deaths are being hidden from the public.  I’ve long said that I do not believe a single word that comes out of the Trump administration, and this only confirms what I’ve been saying all along.  Over the past month, I have seen numerous articles positing that the death toll in the U.S. has been under-reported by tens of thousands.  Perhaps even more?  Perhaps we’ve already hit the 200,000 mark, while the statistics say we will hit 100,000 by the end of this week.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could TRUST the government that our hard-earned tax dollars support???

22 thoughts on “Really Snarky Snippets!”

  2. Trump’s grown children while they flit about the globe ̶c̶o̶n̶d̶u̶c̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶T̶r̶u̶m̶p̶ ̶O̶r̶g̶a̶n̶i̶z̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶b̶u̶s̶i̶n̶e̶s̶s̶ hunting and killing trophy animals.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Hello Jill,

    I don’t see the “snark” in the data regarding the Trump family’s “trip spending.” You make no point at the end of that particular snippet other than how much you despise the idea that your tax dollars are funding an administration you dislike. It’s like me assessing the Obama family’s trip spending amount and saying, “gee, I had to fund their trips?” Obviously I disagree politically with Obama, but complaining how you might be partially funding Trump (and his large family’s) traveling arrangements is like screaming at your landlord about the fact that he makes voluntary transactions with your rent money. Perhaps one of the reasons for President Trump’s disproportionately larger traveling costs has something to do with the fact that he is accomplishing much more than other presidents?

    I enjoyed the post,

    Dylan,

    Liked by 1 person

    • Well, Dylan … here’s the thing. Trump’s own travel is on a par with past president’s, except of course for his frequent golf trips and trips to Mar-a-Lago, but even those aren’t as excessive as the money that is being spent to protect his sons as they travel around the world, making business deals for Trump Organization. Trump was to have put his interest in that organization into a blind trust, but instead he very much has his hand in. Now, it seems to me, since he is profiting from all this travel on the part of his sons, he should be using part of that profit to reimburse the Secret Service for all the money they are shelling out to protect his ‘boys’. Trump’s accomplishments, you say? I’m sorry, but … could you name a few, for in my book, the only things he has accomplished have been destructive … they have hurt the environment, have hurt endangered species, have hurt the average citizen, and have definitely hurt immigrants. The only accomplishment I want from him at this point is to say, “I can’t do this job … I resign.”

      Liked by 1 person

  4. Your snarking about Trump’s adult children is well founded. Everybody else treated this as a Presidency ie the job.under an umbrella shared by all in the role. Trump treats it as a Trumpcy something he will design according to himself. He has never given value for money in this role despite promises which is why it would have been good if the Republicans could have been bipartisan and voted against him at the impeachment, there would still have been a Republican President, and one who might ave giiven value for money. The Republican Senators would have laid claim to some credibility then. Now it appears many of them are waiting by the trough to get what they can in case the election goes the way they”re currently driving it.Off the road.
    Cwtch

    Liked by 1 person

    • You’re so right … he seems to see this as a big vacation where he can golf, visit his resort, and jet-set about the world on our dime. And for his sons to be flitting about on our dime, while increasing his wealth, is simply unconscionable. Can you imagine if any other president, republican OR democrat, had done the same in years past? Why, there would have been such a hue and cry that you would have heard it ‘cross the pond! The Senate dropped the ball in February … we damn well better make it right in November.
      Cwtch

      Liked by 1 person

  5. I am still amazed that you never call for the resignation of a democrat in congress. How about people like Maxine Waters and Nancy Pilosi who have been there longer, perhaps they should resign too.
    This lack of bipartison perspective gives the proof to the notion that you’re not really an independent as you claim.
    That’s all I’ve got to say about it, it’s not a personal attack. We are more than our politics but I call out less than honest posts when I come across them, no matter who the author is. I don’t care about sources, the most right and the most left sources have valid information, like the link I posted yesterday about a democrat who opposed trump and the lockdowns.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Well, Scott, more than a few times I have said that we need term limits for members of Congress just as we have for the executive office. That means both parties. But, if you don’t hear me calling for Pelosi or Waters to step down at the moment, it is because they are not the ones whose actions are a threat to the democratic underpinnings of our government at the moment. People like Mitch McConnell and Susan Collins are, by their actions, threatening everything we once thought this nation stood for. If Pelosi were doing the same, I would be calling her out, as well.
      Sources do matter … and Scott … for you to call my posts “less than honest” is not only a personal attack, but a wrongful one. If there is one thing I strive for, it is to research and present facts. Yes, I state an opinion as well, but I don’t just opine … and, when on occasion I get my facts wrong, as I have done before, I am the first to correct the situation and tender an apology. I spend hours every day checking and double-checking facts, so while there are criticisms you might offer of my writing, my opinions, ‘dishonesty’ is not one of them. If our government were as honest as I am, I would no longer have anything to write about! Hugs.

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    • Thanks, Larry! Good to know I’ve got my snark back! I was getting worried. Yes, much material to work with … it’s sometimes hard to sort the chaff from the wheat.

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  7. Thanks Jill. As we know, the Obama/ Flynn thing is a distraction from Trump’s own mess. I think we need flood Republican senators with the following simple messages.
    – we see the firing of the Inspector Generals as a major concern. We must have oversight of the White House regardless of whose party is in charge. Full stop.
    – we support the efforts of Republican Lincoln Project and Republicans for the Rule of Law who see the president’s corrupt and deceitful actions as a problem. Their courageous voices need to be heard.

    Keith

    Liked by 3 people

    • Jill, I just posted this on Mitch McConnell’s website. Please feel free to adapt and use.

      “Please resist the temptation on our nickel to chase the president’s pipe dreams seeking to find something on Obama. This is an intended distraction. This independent and former Republican voter is far more concerned by the firing and attacks on Inspectors General. It matters not what party occupies the White House, we must have governance. If the US was a publicly traded company, the Board’s Audit Committee would be all over the CEO for firing auditors. We need the senate to ask many why questions of these firings. I would also include questions on why Dr. Rick Bright (who seemed very credible and earnest on ’60 Minutes’) was forced out.

      I shared recently I support the efforts of The Lincoln Project and Republicans for the Rule of Law who see the corrupt and deceitful behavior of the president as a problem. Since that time I learned that a recent survey said 23% of Republicans would like another candidate and the two groups above will be running a “Never Trump” convention in Charlotte as well.

      Obama was not perfect. No one is. He made mistakes, but this incumbent is seen by more than me as a concern. A Pew poll in Europe said 64% of those surveyed do not trust the US president, actually trusting Putin and Xi more. America is less trusted because our president is untrustworthy.

      It saddens me to say this about the US president. If you truly disagree with what I have said, I would love to hear your arguments. Again, I encourage you to support Joe Biden for the sake of our democracy. He is a decent man and will attempt to restore bipartisanship. We desperately need a president who will bring us together.

      PS – Trump was told DON”T HIRE MICHAEL FLYNN by Obama, Chris Christie (before he was fired as transition manager) and others on his staff. Trump owns the Flynn mess. And, we should be reminded Flynn did more than lie to the FBI. He conducted diplomacy with the Russians before he had the authority to do so (before Trump was sworn in).”

      Liked by 2 people

      • I will definitely adapt and use … thanks, Keith! I was pleased today to read that Barr is saying he sees no reason to pursue any investigation of either Obama or Biden, much to Trump’s annoyance. I wonder … does this mean that Barr is finally seeing the light and realizing just what he’s doing to his own reputation?

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    • As I was pondering last night, I thought … why should the president have firing authority over those whose job it is to oversee the president and ensure he doesn’t abuse the power of his office? It makes no sense. I agree with your two key points … we must stay focused on what really matters and not let ourselves be distracted by all the smoke and mirrors that are being thrown up in an effort to distract and obfuscate.

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  8. That bar graph gives a whole new meaning to “Trump Towers,” doesn’t it? Meanwhile, I think Collins is trying to walk the proverbial fence, hoping undecided voters will see her strengths, while trying to hold on to her Repuglycan backers. Too bad she has no strengths, it’s all smoke and mirrors. Excellent SNARKS today, Jill.
    I approve this post.

    Liked by 3 people

    • You’re right … I hadn’t thought of it that way. Collins bends with the wind … the wind that is whatever seems popular among republicans at any given moment. She did stand up with Lisa Murkowski and John McCain to stop Trump from repealing ACA in 2017, but that was then. Glad you found today’s snarking to be up to par!

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