Bad People Doing Bad Things …

Posted on July 18, 2019 by jilldennison under Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Political commentary, Rants, Social commentary

Look at the circle above. What colour do you see? What? Red? No, I call that blue … definitely blue. You still claim it’s red? Then you will not be allowed to speak about the colour of the circle, for your view does not match my own, and thus is wrong.

Dr. Rod Schoonover was a senior intelligence analyst with the U.S. State Department and is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. Last week, Dr. Schoonover left the employ of the State Department. Why? Because he is a scientist. Because he looked at that circle and called it red, even though Donald Trump and his administration warned him to say it was blue. And then, Trump taped his mouth so he couldn’t say it was red. And Dr. Schoonover decided he had enough and resigned his position.Dr. Schoonover was invited to speak before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on June 5^th about the security risks the United States faces because of climate change. The Trump administration, according to leaked internal memos, tried to force Dr. Schoonover to change his prepared speech, but the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research refused and ultimately he was allowed to speak before the committee. However, when it came time to publish his written testimony, the administration blocked it.

Why? Because it did not match the Trump administration’s views. According to Myron Ebell, who was once considered to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before Trump settled on Scott Pruitt, Trump’s re-election campaign consultants told him …

“We have polling showing that you need to stress your environmental accomplishments and not start controversial things that will get you bad press, like going after climate science.”

Let that one sink in for a minute, folks.

Policy decisions and governance are now being mandated by Donald Trump’s campaign for next year’s election. Not the welfare of the country and its people, not our safety and well-being, but what will play well in the rallies, what his ‘base’ wants to hear, what will give him the best chance to spend an additional four years destroying our nation, our lives.

One of the statements White House officials objected to was this observation:

“Absent extensive mitigating factors or events, we see few plausible future scenarios where significant — possibly catastrophic — harm does not arise from the compounded effects of climate change.”

On Monday, July 8^th, Trump did, in fact, give a speech where he stated that his White House was working “harder than many previous administrations” on the issue of the environment, adding: “Maybe almost all of them.”

Given that he has spent his entire two-and-a-half years in office destroying environmental regulations, pulling out of the Paris climate accord, encouraging the fossil fuel industry, destroying wildlife protections, opening federal lands to drilling and mining, environmentalists’ jaws dropped when they heard his speech. We shouldn’t be surprised … the man has yet to speak an honest word!

The environment and climate change should not be … should not be an issue of partisan politics! And yet … it is. According to a recent survey, 81% of Democrats said climate change was “very important,” compared with more than the 56% of independents and a measly 26% of Republicans. Yo Republicans!!! Wake up and remove your head from your arse!!! You are killing us!

Daniel Q. Greenwood, Trump’s deputy assistant in the White House office of legislative affairs, said that Schoonover’s written testimony was unacceptable because …

“The testimony still has serious concerns with internal components and focuses heavily on the science. Because it doesn’t reflect the coordinated IC position, or the administration’s position, there is no way this can be cleared ahead of the hearing.”

It focuses too heavily on the science??? And it doesn’t reflect the administration’s position. Apparently, Dr. Schoonover didn’t read the republican’s bible that states, “Ye shall put forth no facts, but only whatever fantasy his Trumpship wishes on any given day”.

You can see and download the .pdf file of Dr. Schoonover’s written assessment, with comments and suggested changes written by Trump lackeys. It is said that most of the comments came from William Happer, a ‘theoretical physicist’ and White House adviser on the National Security Council who denies the established scientific consensus on global warming. Certainly that makes him uniquely qualified to edit a scientific document on climate change, doesn’t it?

Wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, droughts, melting ice caps, algae blooms, a declining bee population … all far in excess of what has been the normal range. Where I live, we have had “air quality alerts” every day for the past two weeks, and today for the first time ever, I received an “excessive heat warning”. This coming weekend, I will not be able to leave my house because the temperatures are expected to be around the 100° (F) mark (38° C), and I cannot survive in such. I have lived in this general area since 1987 and have never once seen temps reach 100°. In fact, as a rule, I can count on my fingers the number of days the temps are over 90°.

Bottom line — climate science is unpopular with Trump’s base, and there is an election in just over 15 months, so the entire planet must be doomed to the whims and vagaries of an uneducated group of people who like Donald Trump because he says there is no such thing as climate change … and oh yeah, besides that he’s gonna build a damn wall and have Mexico pay for it.

Above The Law … Once Again!

Posted on July 16, 2019 by jilldennison under Humour, Law and justice, Political commentary, Rants, Trump's Staff Picks

Donald Trump claims to be above the law. That is a matter of opinion, however since he has selectively placed his lackeys such as William Barr in key positions, for the moment, it seems to be the case that he cannot be held accountable. The exception, of course, would be if Congress would use their Constitutional oversight authority, but with the likes of Mitchell McConnell in the position of Senate Majority Leader, that seems highly unlikely. So, okay, Donald Trump is effectively, though not legally, above the law.

But Trump is not alone. Attorney General William Barr has placed himself effectively, though not legally, above the law by refusing to answer a subpoena issued by the House of Representatives. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross claims immunity from the law, as he too refused to respond to a subpoena by the House. How many others? I’ve lost count. But this latest one … this is too much.

Trump’s personal mouthpiece, Kellyanne Conway, has been found by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel to be in violation of the Hatch Act. The Office of Special Counsel is led by a Trump appointee, Henry J. Kerner, and it was he who testified before the House Oversight Panel last month that Kellyanne had violated the Hatch Act not just once, but repeatedly, and he called on Trump to terminate Ms. Conway’s employment. Trump immediately refused to do so.

The Hatch Act, for those who may not be familiar with it, is a United States federal law whose main provision prohibits employees in the executive branch of the federal government, except the president, vice-president, and certain designated high-level officials, from engaging in some forms of political activity.

The counsel states that Conway participated in media interviews and used her social media accounts, with her title, to engage in activity affecting the midterm elections. She has also made a number of remarks aimed at 2020 democratic presidential candidates including Senator Cory Booker, Senator Elizabeth Warren, former U.S. Representative Beto O’Rourke, and former Vice President Joe Biden. She has also openly endorsed Trump’s re-election. According to the letter by Mr. Kerner …

“Ms. Conway’s advocacy against the Democratic candidates and open endorsement of the President’s reelection effort during both official media appearances and on her Twitter account constitute prohibited political activity under the Hatch Act.”

Not once, not twice, but multiple times. Remember when she almost got in trouble for urging people, on television, to buy from Ivanka Trump’s clothing line? Kellyanne doesn’t seem to learn. But then, she has Trump to bail her out, so why does she need to try to ‘do the right thing’?

Kellyanne was cordially invited to testify, to present her side if she had one, before the House Oversight Committee, but “the White House” declined the invitation on her behalf. So, committee chairman Elijah Cummings issued a subpoena. And guess what? She defied the subpoena. Therefore, we can only conclude that Kellyanne also considers herself to be above the law.

Now, here’s the thing, folks. Trump said during his 2016 campaign that he could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue in New York and shoot somebody, and he would get by with it. When he said it, we all rolled our eyes and said, “Yeah, right, Bozo.” But today, it is no laughing matter, for he has declared himself above the law and his lackeys, including the United States Department of Justice, will support him. And now, that privilege extends to his entire staff, all the way down to his paid mouthpiece.

But let me tell you something. If I stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue in New York, or my street in Podunk USA and shoot someone, I will be immediately put to death by police who shoot first and ask questions later. If I am issued a subpoena by a federal agency and I defy that subpoena, I will be shot dead by police who will claim I was resisting arrest (because I would be resisting, but that’s a minor detail).

If the likes of Trump and Conway are not held accountable to the very laws that they have sworn to uphold, then is there any law & justice in the United States? Trump has stated that Article II of the United States Constitution gives him the authority to do “whatever I want”. It doesn’t, but somebody has to draw the line. Typically, that would fall to the Attorney General and Congress, but we cannot count on either. So, if Kellyanne is immune, and William Barr is immune, then it must follow that any and all of Trump’s cabinet members are immune from being held accountable … for anything.

If that isn’t enough, coupled with Trump’s atrocious racist running commentary against four members of the House of Representatives for the past 48 hours on Twitter, and coupled with Robert Mueller’s citation of no less than ten incidences of obstruction of justice by Trump … if all that isn’t enough for the House of Representatives to open an impeachment inquiry, then I don’t know why we even have a Congress! To the members of the House, I say: Off your asses, folks … it’s showtime! It’s now or never! Use it or lose it!!!

And, to add a bit of humour to the topic, if that’s possible, I have invited Mr. Seth Meyers to contribute his take on the topic.

A Fresh Batch Of Snarky Snippets

Posted on July 9, 2019 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Rants

Some days just seem to be meant for a fresh batch of cookies snarky snippets, and today is such a day. The stranger times and people get, the snarkier I seem to feel. So, fasten your seat belts … or leave them off so you can run away quickly if needs be.

Da Book of Trump???

You may want to get your sick-bags for this one. Remember Miriam Adelson? She and her husband Sheldon are friends (aka donors) of Donald Trump and during his 2016 campaign they donated millions to assist in the potential destruction of the United States. It is estimated that the Adelson’s gave more than $110 million to the GOP during the 2016 election campaign, most going to Trump. In return, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom last November, for … well … assisting in the destruction of the nation.But all of that is water either under the bridge, or over the dam, whichever expression you prefer, for today, Miriam Adelson is back in the news, praising Trump and taking it one step further. She wrote an OpEd piece that was published in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, in which she praises Trump …

“We are now at platinum — a miracle of preciousness, radiance, and endurance. And the man who most deserves credit for this is President Donald J. Trump.”

🤢

Adelson cited many reasons why she credited Trump with improving relations with Israel, including formally recognizing Jerusalem as the nation’s capital, and declaring the Golan Heights to be Israeli territory, in his view. The withdrawal by the U.S. from a nuclear agreement with Iran was also brought up by Adelson as to why Trump was the best president for Israel. It should be noted that the withdrawal from the Iran nuclear agreement has every likelihood of leading to World War III, but … oh well, as long as Trump and the Adelson’s are happy, right? But the crowning absurdity of her piece was …

“Would it be too much to pray for a day when the Bible gets a ‘Book of Trump,’ much like it has a ‘Book of Esther’ celebrating the deliverance of the Jews from ancient Persia?”

A ‘Book of Trump’ addendum to the bible. Think about that one. Now, I don’t know much at all about the bible, and I realize that it is written by many different men at various times, but … a ‘Book of Trump’??? Surely even the evangelicals must be incensed over that one, right? Right? Sigh. It matters not to me who puts what into the bible, but it does matter to me, should matter to all of us, that this would give Trump the acclaim he seeks to call himself ‘Supreme Leader’, and we would be doomed for the rest of our lifetimes, ‘til somebody knocked him off his golden pedestal.

Some people just got no sense!

He lies … and lies … and lies some more

You’d think I would be used to it by now, wouldn’t you? But no, I’m not, for I still shook my fist at my laptop’s screen as I looked around for something to throw, all the while feeling rather ill. Yes, of course this has to do with Donald Trump … was there ever any question? Well, happens that some of his advisors have determined one area he is not polling high in is the environment. Sooooo … determined to fix that, Trump gave an hour-long speech on … what a wonderful steward of the environment he has been, and what a great job … nobody has ever …

🤢

Trump called himself a protector of public land. Does a ‘protector’, open up public lands to drilling? Does a protector sign off on the largest rollback of federal land protection in the nation’s history? He repeatedly cited his desire for clean water, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is rolling back an Obama-era clean-water regulation of pollution in streams and wetlands.

He described himself as a champion of the oceans. Does the champion of the oceans open up the entire United States coastline to offshore oil and gas drilling?

Does a protector pull out of the Paris Climate Accords that every single nation on the globe has signed, only so that he can de-regulate industries in the U.S., increase carbon emissions, and be accountable to nobody? Does a person who gives even a little damn about the environment, threaten punishment to those who are attempting to cut back on fossil fuels and turn to renewable energy sources?

Does this fool on the hill realize that the United States is THE LARGEST EMITTER per capita of CO2, the main pollutant that is destroying the air we breath, causing global temperatures to rise, sea temperatures to rise to the point that the arctic ice is melting, causing extreme weather everywhere, and ultimately causing the planet to no longer be inhabitable by any lifeform that requires clean air and potable water. Donald Trump did not create the current crisis … and make no mistake, it IS a crisis … but he is singlehandedly working to ensure the destruction of the environment such that the Earth will no longer sustain life. And he brags about his environmental record? How. Dare. He??? Noted presidential historian, Douglas Brinkley said …

“It is an utter farce for the president to talk about America’s environmental leadership, when he has been a champion of the polluters.”

Damn straight.

Baby Trump on Amazon?

It came to my attention yesterday afternoon that Amazon carries mini-versions of the baby Trump blimp, so of course I had to check it out, right? ‘Tis true! They have a variety of the blimps in sizes ranging from 21 inches and upward. They even had one filled with catnip, so the furry babes can have fun shredding his face! They have coffee cups, t-shirts, and all sorts of toys and novelties based on the baby trump blimp! Here are a couple of my favourites …

While that is not all the snarky I have built up, it is all I have time for right now. However, never fear, I shall return! A promise or a threat? It’s all in the perception.

Just Don’t Answer …

Posted on July 7, 2019 by jilldennison under Free Press Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Rants, Social commentary

Last week, the Supreme Court did its job. It told the Trump administration that it would not approve of Trump’s ignominious citizenship question on the 2020 census form, for it is basically a poorly-disguised attempt to discriminate against Hispanics for political gain. I agreed with that assessment and the Court’s decision, though I did not agree with Chief Justice John Roberts giving Trump lawyers an opportunity to come up with a better ‘rationale’. In other words, “go think up a more credible lie”.The Justice Department appeared ready to give up the ghost and sent word that they were conceding and would abide by the decision of the Supreme Court. But then, apparently Trump threw a royal tantrum, and within hours, the Justice Department was back in the news saying that no, they decided to pursue the matter, and that all lawyers would be required to cancel their Fourth of July plans to spend the day ‘brainstorming’ to come up with that ‘better rationale’.

Apparently, all the king’s lawyers and all the king’s men couldn’t put together a plausible excuse as to why they want to add the loaded citizenship question to the census. Now here comes the part that should sent chills down your spine. Trump announced that he is considering an executive order to circumvent the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, the final authority on all legal questions and disputes. He is considering an executive order to add the citizenship question. He is considering an executive order, in essence, to say that he, Donald J. Trump, is the only and final law, and that no other laws apply to him.

Think about that one for a minute.

I said long ago that his use of executive orders was not only excessive, but bordered on being illegal. But, if he chooses to go this route, there is one last option: Congress can overturn an executive order by passing legislation that invalidates it. But, of course, there’s the rub. The Senate is having a “let’s sit on our asses and not pass a damn thing” session, and even in the House, it is doubtful that any such legislation could attain a veto-proof (2/3) majority because the House Freedom Caucus would no doubt vote against any such legislation.

And so, I say to you, my friends … if Trump signs an executive order demanding that a citizenship question be included in next year’s census, then there is no law that applies to Donald Trump.

Think about that one for another minute.

What do you have when a person at the head of government is not constrained one bit by anything … not the legislature, not the highest court in the land? What you have is not a president, nor a prime minister, what you have is a dictator or a king. Since Trump has no royal blood, he cannot be a king, and so … Heil Herr Trump.

I urge you, if the question is on the census form next year, to skip over it … DO NOT ANSWER IT! Most people in the U.S. who are reading this blog are citizens, most born in the U.S., but it doesn’t matter … DO NOT ANSWER THAT QUESTION! I definitely will not answer it. I have skipped questions in prior year’s census that I felt were invasive or just flat out none of their damn business, and I absolutely will not answer this one!

Shared Words … Shared Feelings

Posted on July 6, 2019 by jilldennison under Election 2020, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Rants, Social commentary

I wasn’t going to have an afternoon post today, for I have an overwhelming amount of things I must get done today, but then my friend Herb tagged me on something on Facebook this morning, and as I read it, I realized it sums up what the majority of people in the U.S. are feeling these days.

A Message to Trump Supporters
by Mike Miller

‘A message to all tRump supporters:

When this national nightmare is over….and it WILL be over, hopefully sooner rather than later….and the country is returned to normalcy, order is restored, and patriotism and common sense replaces bigotry, hate and stupidity, don’t expect to regain the stature you once enjoyed as a citizen and return to the society you ransomed to placate your hate. Everything this country once stood for….everything better men and women than you sacrificed their lives to protect and preserve….everything we held dear to our hearts, was cast aside, thrown away, denigrated, defiled, stepped on, ridiculed, and despised by you in order to support the most corrupt, dishonest, fascist traitor to every occupy the people’s house.

When our free press told you the truth about him, you rallied behind his cries of “fake news” and supported his attack on our free press.

When fake “chrisitan” religious frauds attempted to hijack religious freedom in order to force feed their own deluded brand of bigotry and hate disguised as “christian values” you stood by and let them stoke your inbred prejudices.

When the same mindset that turned Germany into Nazi Germany in the 1930’s tried to establish a foothold here, you again showed your true colors and instead of quashing it in its tracks, you abandoned the spirit of this country, forgot history, and allowed its hatred and division to seep into our society.

When healthcare was taken away from the most at-risk of our society, you allowed it to happen.

When children were denied food and healthcare, you supported it.

When innocent African-Americans were murdered by law enforcement, you remained silent, only to finally raise your voices in disgust and hatred when they knelt in protest.

When children were murdered in schools and sane gun legislation was called for, you sided with the gun lobby and decided that the murder of school children was more favorable than sensible gun laws.

When hard-working, law-abiding, tax-paying citizens were denied their constitutional and human rights simply because of who they chose to love, you allowed discrimination and hate to overtake your sensibility and relegated them to second-class citizenry, using YOUR “religious freedom” as the rationalization for the hatred you hid behind.

When environmental policies that demanded clean water and clean air were thrown aside in order to coddle to the monetary interests of the polluters, you remained silent.

When policies that assisted the homeless, the elderly, the needy, the hungry, the veterans, the retired, and the sick were systematically nullified and terminated in order to transfer that tax money into the pockets of billionaires, you turned a blind eye to their struggles.

When children seeking refuge were taken from their parents and housed in cages, instead of outrage you supported the victimization and maltreatment of refugees seeking asylum.

When the reputation of this country and our commitment to our steadfast allies were trashed in order to appease our most rabid enemies, you supported the traitors who betrayed the country and everything we once stood for.

In every instance where compassion, civility, sympathy, acceptance, inclusion, humanity, fairness, justice, and respectability were needed, you supported the policies and the people who showed no compassion, no civility, no sympathy, no acceptance, no inclusion, no humanity, no fairness, no justice, and no respectability to anyone whose very existence they disregarded and refused to legitimize.

So again, when this is finally over, don’t expect to be accepted back into the society of the REAL Americans you stabbed in the back simply to legitimize your own prejudices.

At every turn….at every chance….at every opportunity, when you were called on to support the foundation and pillars that this country was built on, you looked the other way and were willing to support those who were tearing down those pillars and destroying that foundation. You had no qualms about sacrificing this country to justify your own intolerance. When the choice was to support your country and its constitutional guarantees for everyone, or support the traitor who has worked tirelessly to destroy those constitutional guarantees, you chose the corrupt wannabe dictator over the constitution. Please know that there are many of us, this person especially, who truly love this country, and are intelligent enough to see the damage your misguided support of this administration has reaped. I, for one, will NEVER FORGET and NEVER FORGIVE you for the choice you made and what that choice did to this country.’

Killing Children

Posted on July 2, 2019 by jilldennison under Global Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Rants, Social commentary

There are so many horrors on my radar right now that it is literally jammed. Where to start? Okay, let’s begin somewhere …

I had seen a snippet or two, here and there, but usually while I was deep into research for another post, and I bookmarked a couple of them to look at later, then promptly forgot … predictable, when I have so many different things on such a small mind, yes? Anyway, earlier today I received an email from my dear friend Cheryl, and in it she mentioned her frustration that her church had put together many kits containing toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, and other personal care items to be donated to the migrant children being held in captivity, but that Customs and Border “Protection” would not accept them! This triggered the memory of those articles I had bookmarked, so I went back and did a bit of digging (one needs a long-handled shovel to dig through the memory banks in my head or in the file labeled ‘notes’ on my laptop!)

On June 24^th, the Texas Tribune reported …

On Sunday, Austin Savage and five of his friends huddled into an SUV and went to an El Paso Target, loading up on diapers, wipes, soaps and toys.

About $340 later, the group headed to a Border Patrol facility holding migrant children in nearby Clint with the goal of donating their goods. Savage said he and his friends had read an article from The New York Times detailing chaos, sickness and filth in the overcrowded facility, and they wanted to help.

But when they arrived, they found that the lobby was closed. The few Border Patrol agents — Savage said there were between eight and 10 of them — moving in and out of a parking facility ignored them.

For a while, the group stood there dumbfounded about what to do next. Ultimately, they decided to pack up and head home. Savage said he wasn’t completely surprised by the rejection; before he left, the group spotted a discarded plastic bag near the lobby door holding toothpaste and soap that had a note attached to it: “I heard y’all need soap + toothpaste for kids.”

A slew of other sympathetic people, advocacy groups and lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle have expressed a desire to lend a hand to the kids housed in the facilities. But after purchasing items like toys, soap, toothbrushes, diapers and medicine — especially as news reports circulate of facilities having drinking water that tastes like bleach and sick children without enough clothing — they’ve been met with a common message: No donations are being accepted.

Say WHAT???

Last week, I wrote a post titled Cruel and Inhumane about the conditions these poor children … CHILDREN … are living in. Washington Post writer Eugene Robinson wrote an opinion piece that went into even greater detail . These children are given a piece of f**king tin foil for a blanket, have no toothpaste, toothbrush, shampoo, and in some cases no diapers. They are suffering from illness, cold, and malnutrition. They are CHILDREN, and they are being treated worse than prisoners of war would be treated under the Geneva Convention!!!

Our government cannot be bothered to spend a few thousand dollars for the comfort and health of these children, but they can spend millions or more on an ego trip for Damnold Trump to “honour himself” on the Fourth of July??? And on top of it all, they will not allow those of us who have a conscience, those of us who feel compassion toward these children, who understand that they are every bit as valuable as our own children … we are not allowed to donate such necessities of life as soap to these poor children???

The friend I mentioned above writes a blog, Impromptu Promptlings, and she did an excellent rant about this last evening. Please take a minute to read it, to let her add her voice to the fury of my own.

When you go to bed tonight, ponder on something. Ask yourself what kind of country you are living in. You get up each morning, proceed through your daily routine … the view outside your window likely looks much the same as it did three years ago. But it isn’t the same. This isn’t the same country. This is a country that respects an over-bloated megalomaniac far more than it respects the lives of children. This is a nation that supports an agency of the federal government that is murdering children … yes, I said murdering. They are sick, they are not given proper hygiene, they are not given proper nutrition, and they are lacking the love of their parents that is so essential to the health and well-being, to the development of children.

Ask yourself, as you lie awake pondering this, what can we do? How can we stop this madness? Oh sure, there is an election in 16 months, and we can vote the madman out of office … maybe … but how many more children will die before then? Six children that we know of have already died of abuse or neglect in the concentration camps … and yes, they ARE concentration camps by any definition of the word. How many more must die? How can we stop this utter insanity? Think about it. Get mad. Let’s figure this out, folks, for those little kids are counting on somebody to help them.

492 Days … 🙄

Posted on June 30, 2019 by jilldennison under Election 2020, Political commentary, Rants, Social commentary

There is a slow burn starting somewhere in my gut tonight, and I think it’s only a matter of time before it becomes a full-blown rage. Thus, this morning’s post is a rant, complete with, in all likelihood, a few words not fit for the children’s ears. Why is Filosofa angry? Because, there are more than 16 months until election day 2020, and already the bullshit, the ugliness, the utter nastiness has started. I. Am. Sick. Of. It. Already … and there are still 492 days (that’s 11,808 hours) to have to listen to the trash talk. So far, it’s all on the republican side, but soon enough it will be on both, no doubt. Two episodes in yesterday’s news stand out and set my hair on edge.

The Trumps are really nasty people, y’know? When I was a child, the grown-ups always cautioned, “If you can’t say anything nice about somebody, then say nothing at all”. Apparently, nobody bothered to say that to any of the Trump clan, for they are the filthiest people I know. So, it started yesterday morning with Junior, who is a chip off the block of ugly, when he re-tweeted a tweet by a right-wing commentator …

“Kamala Harris is implying she is descended from American Black Slaves. She’s not. She comes from Jamaican Slave Owners. That’s fine. She’s not an American Black. Period.”

Who the Sam Hell died and left Junior in charge of authenticating the ethnicity of anybody, let alone a woman who is far more intelligent and honest than he???

It is heartening, though, to see fellow-democrats, those against whom she is competing, come to the defense of one of their own …

“Donald Trump Jr. is a racist too. Shocker.” – Senator Bernie Sanders

“The presidential competitive field is stronger because Kamala Harris has been powerfully voicing her Black American experience. Her first-generation story embodies the American dream. It’s long past time to end these racist, birther-style attacks.” – South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg

“The attacks against @KamalaHarris are racist and ugly. We all have an obligation to speak out and say so. And it’s within the power and obligation of tech companies to stop these vile lies dead in their tracks.” – Senator Elizabeth Warren

“@KamalaHarris doesn’t have shit to prove” – Senator Cory Booker

“The coordinated smear campaign on Senator @KamalaHarris is racist and vile. The Trump family is peddling birtherism again and it’s incumbent on all of us to speak out against it.” – Washington Governor Jay Inslee

“These troll-fueled racist attacks on Senator @KamalaHarris are unacceptable. We are better than this (Russia is not) and stand united against this type of vile behavior.” – Senator Amy Klobuchar

Perhaps Junior unwittingly did the Democratic Party a favour, for this pulling together, this unity, is what we must have in order to effect change in 2020. It doesn’t, however, make me inclined to forgive him for being every bit as much of a scumbag as his father and the rest of his family. Frankly, I would ask him which side of his family was related to Adolph Hitler.

Patrick Mauldin … remember that name. He and his brother Ryan are techno-geeks working on Donald Trump’s re-election campaign. I don’t know what rubbish heap Trump found them in, but they fit perfectly with the rest of his cadre of deplorables.Mr. Mauldin makes videos and other digital content for President Trump’s re-election campaign, and along with his brother, they run a Republican political consulting firm in Austin whose website opens with the line “We Kick” followed by the image of a donkey — the Democratic Party symbol often called an ass.Mauldin created a fake Joe Biden website that looks at a glance like the real deal, but is, in fact, laden with disinformation and outright lies. In addition to some doctored photos and videos, the site proclaims Biden to be …

Against same-sex marriage
For mass incarceration
Against abortion rights
Against school busing
For the Iraq war
For the death penalty and harsh drug sentences

At the very bottom, barely noticeable, in grey-on-grey lettering, is the disclaimer …

This site is political commentary and parody of Joe Biden’s Presidential campaign website. This is not Joe Biden’s actual website.

It is intended for entertainment and political commentary only and is therefore protected under fair use.

It is not paid for by any candidate, committee, organization, or PAC. It is a project BY AN American citizen FOR American citizens. Self-Funded.

Trouble is, see, it is set up in such a way as to look like a legitimate site for Joe Biden, and the address, joebiden.info, would sound legit to those who may not be tech-savvy. And, despite the disclaimer, despite the obvious bullshit, there are those who aren’t going to question, who will blindly believe whatever they read, regardless of source. This is the danger. This was the same sort of tactics used by the Trump campaign in collusion with the Russians to trash Hillary Clinton in 2016. It is the ONLY damn reason we have a loony bird in the Oval Office today! I will not take another 4 years of Bozo the Maniacal Clown!!!

More than 16 months of this, and I am already tired … exhausted, actually. If wishes could only come true, I would ask for …

A shortened election season … no more than four months prior to the election. Until that time, no advertisements, no debates, no campaign rallies … NOTHING!
Platform-based campaigns. No, “Build that wall” and “Lock her up” do not constitute a political platform. Proposals for feeding the poor, health care, foreign policy, social issues such as discrimination in housing and employment, etc. are what comprise a political platform. I want to hear what the candidates believe, how they think, how they view We the People.
No mention of “the other side” in any advertisements … save it for the rallies. I refuse to view any political ads for that very reason. The candidates waste a golden opportunity to promote themselves, but instead they spend their time and money slamming their opponents with lies and rhetoric.

We the People includes every man, woman and child in this nation, citizen and non-citizen, white and black, Latino, Muslim, Christian, gay and straight, male and female, republican or democrat or neither. We the People deserve much better than we are getting from either side. The democratic debates this past week were, in my book, garbage. Make them worthwhile, or don’t have them at all. And yes, I have better ideas for how to conduct meaningful, enlightening debates, but that is a subject for another day.

Every adult in this nation should sit down tonight and write their will. And in that document, they should write that if they die of any stress-related illness between now and 03 November 2020, their estate may and will file suit in federal court against either or both political parties for wrongful and untimely death, to the tune of $5 million. I think most of us with an ounce of intelligence, thinkers who understand what is happening to the political process in this nation, can feel the heart attack, stroke, or bleeding ulcers just waiting to strike. It isn’t fun anymore, folks … it’s dirty, it’s disgusting, and it is literally sickening. Bah Humbug. End of rant.

The Court Has Spoken

Posted on June 27, 2019 by jilldennison under Election 2020, Global Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Rants

The United States Supreme Court handed down two decisions today that will impact whether next year’s election is a fair and honest election or not. While one of those decisions was a proper decision, it is only a temporary one. The other decision basically handed next year’s election to the Republican Party.

First the (sort of) good …

The Court put on hold Wilbur Ross (Secretary of Commerce) and Donald Trump’s attempt to intimidate voters by adding a citizenship question to the 2020 U.S. Census form that every household is required to complete. The Court said that the administration had presented a ‘contrived’ reason for adding the question, but rather than strike down the measure, they merely put the ball back in the administration’s court and told them to come up with a better reason, a more defensible justification.

What happens next with this is anybody’s guess, but the Department of Commerce will begin printing the census forms this summer, so there is not much time to make a final decision. No doubt the government, such as it is, will find a way around it and make up some seemingly legitimate reason for adding the question. Stay tuned …

The second decision handed down by the Court was a travesty of justice. The issue was gerrymandering and whether the courts have the authority to order states to re-draw district maps that are currently drawn in such a way as to diminish the votes of the poor and minorities. For a simple explanation of how gerrymandering works, see my post from February 2018. Gerrymandering is a large part of how Donald Trump came to sit in the Oval Office, for in many states he lost the popular vote, but because of the way votes were apportioned, he won enough districts to nullify the votes of many.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, concluding …

“We conclude that partisan gerrymandering claims present political questions beyond the reach of the federal courts. Federal judges have no license to reallocate political power between the two major political parties, with no plausible grant of authority in the Constitution, and no legal standards to limit and direct their decisions.”

Justice Elena Kagan wrote in her dissenting opinion …

“For the first time ever, this court refuses to remedy a constitutional violation because it thinks the task beyond judicial capabilities.”

The Court understandably walks a fine line here, for it is intended to be non-partisan, and this is a highly partisan issue. But, there is no fine line when it comes to fairness! There is no grey area here! States whose citizenry is majority republican have drawn their district maps to ensure that republicans will receive the largest number of electoral votes. It isn’t debatable, it is simply WRONG!

The ramifications of this decision go beyond the obvious. Think about this. If you are a democrat in a predominantly republican state, and your state’s districts are heavily gerrymandered, skewed to ensure that minority votes are diluted, doesn’t that dim some of your enthusiasm for even voting? One of the biggest problems we have on election day is getting people out to vote. This is especially true of the poor and the minorities, for whom voting has been intentionally made more difficult than it needs to be by unfair voter I.D. laws, closing or reduction of polling places in lower-income neighborhoods, and other cheap tricks. I can easily picture the single mom who has to take an hour-long bus ride after work to reach her polling place on the other side of town just throwing her hands up and saying, “Forget it! I don’t have time for this when my vote isn’t going to count fairly anyway!”

What’s next? Will the Court find a way to rule that voter harassment is not unconstitutional, so men in white robes and hoods can stand in front of polling venues? Might just as damn well!

So much rides on next year’s election, folks. On November 3^rd next year, We the People are supposed to make a choice between turning this nation over to a madman who represents only a minority of the people for the foreseeable future, or a person who will safeguard our Constitution, who will represent ALL the people who reside in this nation, not just the chosen few. Due to outside influences in our election process, and due to lack of voter education, the odds are already stacked against sanity reigning. This is just one more blow to the possibility of having a fair and honest election … possibly a death blow.

Many times, I have said that we must hope the one completely independent branch of our government, the courts, would stop Trump from completely destroying this nation. The Court has spoken.

The House Is Afire!!!

Posted on June 25, 2019 by jilldennison under Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Political commentary, Rants, Trump's Staff Picks

Donald Trump … he claims to have made only one mistake during his 29 months in office. Can you guess what it is?

Helsinki? Charlottesville? Family separations? Nope, nope, and nope.

Failure to ‘drain the swamp’? Nope.

Pulling out of the Paris climate accord and rolling back many important environmental regulations? No way.

Triggering the longest government shutdown in U.S. history in a futile attempt to get funding for a border wall – or subsequently declaring a national emergency to divert money from the military? Not a chance.

His quest to expel transgender service members who are willing to die in combat, his mockery of the #MeToo movement or his demonization of African American athletes? Nay, nay, nay.

Throwing paper towels at Puerto Ricans, and then trying to minimize how much federal funding these U.S. citizens get to rebuild their devastated island? Hardly.

Firing James Comey as FBI director, or the other nine cases of obstruction of justice outlined in Bob Mueller’s report? Wrong again.

Trump says his only mistake was … wait for it … hiring Jeff Sessions to serve as U.S. Attorney General, because he hired him fully believing that Sessions would protect him by putting an end to the Russian investigation led by Special Counsel Bob Mueller. When Sessions recused himself and thus could not protect Trump, he became Trump’s only mistake, at least in Trump’s mind.

When concerns were raised about the high turnover in Trump’s administration, he responded …

“Let me tell you, the one that matters is me. I’m the only one that matters, because when it comes to it, that’s what the policy is going to be.”

Sonny Perdue

And it is in this context, the “my opinion is the only one that matters” monologue, that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), under Trump appointee Sonny Perdue, has decided to bury the results of dozens of government-funded studies that carry warnings about the effects of climate change. WHY? Because … climate change is damned inconvenient. An example …

If a person is watching a really good television program (are there actually any “really good” ones these days?) and suddenly smells smoke, he has two choices: go investigate, or ignore the odour. If he ignores the odour, odds are that the house will be on fire before the next commercial break, but hey … don’t want to miss seeing the guy beat his wife, right?

The house is on fire, and our government, led by Bozo Trump, is in favour of ignoring it, for to acknowledge it means having to take action to try to put the fire out, and means missing out on the big love scene where thousands of people chant “lock her up” because they are so happy with Trump.

The studies that the USDA is refusing to make public, range from a groundbreaking discovery that rice loses vitamins in a carbon-rich environment — a potentially serious health concern for the 600 million people world-wide whose diet consists mostly of rice — to a finding that climate change could exacerbate allergy seasons to a warning to farmers about the reduction in quality of grasses important for raising cattle. All have been peer-reviewed by scientists and cleared through the non-partisan Agricultural Research Service, one of the world’s leading sources of scientific information for farmers and consumers.

Researchers at the University of Washington had collaborated with scientists at USDA, as well as others in Japan, China and Australia, for more than two years to study how rising carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could affect rice — humanity’s most important crop. They found that it not only loses protein and minerals, but is also likely to lose key vitamins as plants adapt to a changing environment.

The study had undergone intensive review, addressing questions from academic peers and within USDA itself. But after having prepared an announcement of the findings, the department abruptly decided not to publicize the study and urged the University of Washington to hold back its own release on the findings, which two of their researchers had co-authored.

The person sitting in the burning house, watching television, is also admonishing the neighbors not to call the fire department and to simply pretend they don’t see or smell the smoke either! Let the entire neighborhood burn down, but don’t arouse the man from his bloomin’ television show!

There is an election in less than 17 months that will, hopefully, remove not only Trump, but also most of his boot-lickers from office. People need to be informed in order to make smart voting choices. How can the public be well-informed if the government is withholding facts, simply because the facts don’t agree with what Trump wants??? I guess, if we are not to be told the facts, but rather only the falsehoods propagated by Trump & Co., then the best thing is to remember Trump’s own words …

“Let me tell you, the one that matters is me. I’m the only one that matters, because when it comes to it, that’s what the policy is going to be.”

Is that really the person you want at the helm of this ship? Think about it.

Under The BigTop …

Posted on June 14, 2019 by jilldennison under Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Rants, Social commentary

The biggest circus on earth came to town on 20 January 2017, and its cast of characters just keeps expanding. The latest to put on the clown suit and perform is none other than Steve King, U.S. Representative from Iowa. Mr. King first came under Filosofa’s watchful eye in March 2017, more than two years ago, when he was awarded the coveted Filosofa’s Idiot of the Week award. Ever since, he has remained on the radar for one thing or another, the most frequent and troublesome being his blatant and very public racism. It finally became such an embarrassment to his fellow members of Congress that this past January, Mr. King was stripped of all his committee assignments in Congress.This week, Mr. King hooked up with two other members of this circus, Lynette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson, aka Diamond and Silk. Diamond and Silk are two African-American women who are ardent and very vocal Trump supporters. Though they prefer not to be called African-Americans, as Ms. Hardaway explains …

“You ain’t gotta call me African American ’cause I ain’t never been to Africa. You can call me black.”

So, the thing that brought Mr. King and the dynamic duo together this week was King’s promotion of a new bill he has proposed in the House of Representatives. The bill, dubbed ‘The Diamond and Silk Act’, aims to punish so-called sanctuary cities by re-directing federal appropriations to homeless people and veterans. I’m not quite sure why Mr. King even bothered proposing this bill, since it stands almost zero chance of passing in the democrat-controlled House, but perhaps he thought he would win some brownie points with the head clown, Donald Trump, who has been threatening to pull funding from sanctuary cities for as long as I can remember.So, where do Diamond and Silk fit in? Apparently, Mr. King who is still fuming over being kicked off of his committees, thought it might help offset his carefully crafted image as a white supremacist if he had a couple of African-Americans by his side, showing support for his heinous legislation. It was truly more like a circus act than a news conference. As often as not, when a reporter asked Mr. King a question, Diamond and Silk literally stepped in front of him and answered for him, as he happily handed the microphone over to them. One example …

A reporter asked the question, “You’ve been stripped of your committee assignments. What makes you think Republican colleagues will even entertain this?” Diamond turned to King and asked, “Can I answer this?” King replied with delight, “Sure”. Diamond then went on a rant about members of Congress living in mansions, the attempt by environmentalists to ban plastic straws, and concluded with …

“So this ain’t about no Steve King. This is about our homeless, our veterans and Americans.”

Okay, but it didn’t even begin to answer the question, did it? Another reporter asked Diamond and Silk what they thought of King retweeting white supremacists, and the two women went into what was reminiscent of a rehearsed script …

Diamond: What is the definition of white supremacist?

Silk: You don’t know, do you?

Diamond: Why would you talk that?

Silk: I’m tired of you all playing the race card.

Diamond: Stop calling everybody a racist.

Here is the video, which is truly a circus sideshow, complete with the sound of a horse or horses snorting and snuffling in the background, and a man walking down the street with a box covering his head at approximately the 8:00 mark on the left side of the screen. The only thing missing was the peanut vendor. I recommend you turn on the Closed Captioning, for the street noises tend to drown out Mr. King’s voice, though it would take a small army to drown out Diamond and Silk’s.

It’s comical that Diamond and Silk go on a tirade, saying “We got Americans living on the streets, we got Americans living in tents okay, we have homeless people …” Diamond and Silk have a reported net worth of approximately $3 million, and yet there is no record of them donating a single penny to any charity to help the homeless, or anybody else for that matter.

Diamond and Silk are a joke. They have been in hot water more than a few times for such things as calling Hillary Clinton a ‘slave master’, saying she was responsible for Russia acquiring nuclear weapons (which happened 70 years ago when Hillary was two years old) and falsely stating under oath that they hadn’t been paid by the Trump campaign when, in fact, they had.As for Mr. King, he seemed to be more than happy to turn the Q&A over to ‘the girls’ while he rather shrunk behind them. He knows his bill is not going to see the light of day, and the only reason I can figure for this little street scene at midday is to prove that he can be seen with black people and not don his KKK hood.

Come on, people!!! Mr. King is supposed to be a government official, a lawmaker, and he resorts to publicity stunts like this? We don’t have a damned government any more, we just have one big circus in multiple acts. We have a bunch of snake oil salesmen like Steve King, Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Warren Davidson, William Barr, Betsy DeVos, and so many more! This … THIS abominable clown convention is NOT what We The People are paying hard-earned tax dollars for! Get these clowns out of office and let us hire some people who take the job seriously!

Rant over.

Filosofa's Word

Cogito Ergo Sum

Category Archives: Rants

Above The Law … Once Again!

A Fresh Batch Of Snarky Snippets

The Court Has Spoken

The House Is Afire!!!