Tag Archives: Border wall

A Handful of Mini-Rants

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2022, Environmental Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Rants, Social commentary, voting rights

If we thought that with President Biden’s inauguration our troubles would disappear and peace would reign, we were dead wrong.  It appears to me that every Republican in any position of power, be it local, state, or federal, has taken an oath to make our lives a living hell and to destroy as much as possible of the nation.  If I could afford it, I would file a lawsuit against the Republican Party for costing me sleep, health, appetite and more!  As you read today’s snippets, you might conclude that I’m just a wee bit angry, but you’d be wrong.  I’m not a wee bit angry, I am livid.

I wonder if we could sell Texas to Mexico?

Republican Governor Greg Abbott of Texas is planning to spend the hard-earned tax dollars of the people of Texas and solicit donations from racists in order to ‘build that wall’ that the former guy kept touting but only actually built a few miles of.  Abbott learned from the earlier fiasco that there is no way in hell Mexico is going to pay for the wall, so instead he is going to commandeer taxpayer dollars to attempt to keep refugees out of his sorry state.  He said he would take $250 million from the state’s general revenue fund for a ‘down payment’ on his wall.  He also plans to coerce landowners on the border to allow the state to begin ‘immediate construction’ on their property.  In addition, he is asking for donations of both land and cash.  There are probably a few fools who will write him a check, but they’ll be throwing their money away, because Abbott’s wall isn’t going to happen (I hope).

Most people in the know say that Abbott’s proposed wall will meet its destiny, likely in the courts.  According to David Donatti, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas …

“If the governor wants to blow hot air on TV, he can do that. I truly don’t think he has thought this through. The governor is not a king. We have checks and balances in the state of Texas.”

As it happens, the governor does not have jurisdiction to enforce immigration laws, which are the sole responsibility of the federal government.  Apparently, Mr. Abbott needs to study the U.S. Constitution and his job description a bit longer.  He is up for re-election next year and … I would like to see him toppled, for he is an ass, but his likely primary opponent, Don Huffines, is just as big of an ass who also supports the idea of a wall, saying …

“The Biden Administration won’t secure our border, so Texas will.”

Sheesh, Republicans … do you not have anybody in your party with at least half a brain and a conscience???

Meanwhile …

Unlike the former guy, President Biden understands the seriousness of climate change and part of his campaign promise was to cut carbon emissions, cut back on fossil fuels, and expand renewable energy sources.  In way of keeping that promise, one of Biden’s first actions, his first week in office, was to issue a series of executive orders, one of which was to put a temporary ban on new oil and gas leasing on federal land.  Thumbs up, I say, for I ascribe to the mantra “Leave it in the ground”, even if it makes life a bit inconvenient for some, or … GASP … reduces the profits of the big oil, gas and coal companies.

But, alas, if something makes sense and is good for the environment, good for the people, you can count on the damn republicans to nix it.  In this case, Jeff Landry, the Republican attorney general of Louisiana and attorneys general from 12 other states, all Republicans, filed suit in March to lift the White House executive order.

Judge Doughty

On Tuesday, Judge Terry Alvin Doughty of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana – a Trump appointee –  granted a preliminary injunction claiming that that the power to pause offshore oil and gas leases “lies solely with Congress” because it was the legislative branch that originally made federal lands and waters available for leasing.

DAMMIT Republicans!!!  The future of the human and many other species depends on switching to renewable energy, on leaving the damn fossil fuels where they belong … in the ground!  I don’t want your damned oil and frankly I don’t care if the CEOs of every fossil fuel corporation, who have been robbing us blind for decades now, all fall off of Wall Street and end up without a penny!  We have, for the first time in over four years, a president who cares about the future of the planet, who cares about We the People, our children and grandchildren, more than you the Rich Bastards!

As for Judge Terry Alvin Doughty … I wonder if he called the former guy to ask his advice on this one, for it reeks of trumpism.

Manchin’s “Compromise”

Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia … you know, that state that has no economy and thrives on ignorance … already said he would not support the For the People Act that would ensure our voting rights, among other things.  Our right to vote … our only voice in our lives, our future … and Manchin doesn’t care enough to support it.  But wait …

Just this week, Manchin drafted a memo stating that he would be willing to compromise.  He would support at least two weeks of federally mandated early voting and to eliminate partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts.  Well, that’s a good start, though not nearly enough.  But wait …

Manchin has conditions!  Manchin’s compromise would require an ID requirement for all voters and the ability of local election officials to purge voter rolls using other government records.  NO NO NO NO NO!!!

One thing that keeps many poor people, Blacks and Hispanics away from the polls is that ID requirement and it is grossly unfair!  My granddaughter does not have a photo ID, she does not drive, and I don’t have the means to take her to obtain a state issued ID.  She is 26 years old and has been voting by mail since she was 18.  Under Manchin’s version of this bill, she would not be able to vote.  I know numerous Black people here in my own neighborhood who do not have a photo ID, but they pay taxes, they are citizens, and they have the right to vote, dammit!

And Manchin’s notion of allowing election officials to purge voter rolls is far too vague.  I can understand purging voters who have died or moved out of the state, but to give state and local election officials carte blanche to purge voter rolls at will?  Surely you jest!  Said Manchin …

“I’ve been sharing everything that I support and things I can support and vote with and things that I think is in the bill that doesn’t need to be in the bill, that doesn’t really interact with what we’re doing in West Virginia. We’ll have to see what changes are made.”

West Virginia is only one of fifty states, Manchin!  The rest of us matter too!  The bottom line, though, is it doesn’t make one damn bit of difference if Manchin supports the bill or not, for it will be subjected to the senate filibuster and we all know there are not ten republicans in the United States Senate who have a conscience.  Hell, I’m not sure there are ten republicans in the United States who have a conscience!  As far as I’m concerned, Joe Manchin can stick his ‘compromise’ where the sun doesn’t shine.

A Little Bit Of Snark In Da Snippets

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, cartoons, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

I still haven’t run out of things to be snarky about and it isn’t looking like I will anytime soon!  I am greatly relieved to have a real president, one whose tweets are few and are always positive, never whiny or ranty.  I am happy to wake in the morning knowing that we haven’t likely started a war somewhere.  And I’m pleased with Joe Biden’s performance as president these past 30+ days.  However, the racists still exist and many of the loudest ones languish in Congress, so yes, I still have my snarky cap on!

Oust DeJoy!

louis-dejoyThe United States Postal Service (USPS) is in the news again this week as Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is testifying before Congress about the dire failures of the postal service to meet the nation’s needs.  The mail … at least important mail … has been so slow that the Pony Express could have delivered it faster (funny how the junk mail and advertisements always get through, though), but then DeJoy was hired for one reason only:  to slow the mail to a snail’s pace prior to last November’s election in order to interfere with our mail-in ballots arriving in a timely manner.  He succeeded in slowing the mail, but we managed to get our ballots in on time despite his efforts to lose or delay them.

Democrats in Congress have called for his resignation, his ouster, and I fully agree.  He did not come to the job with any relevant experience, and he did not come with the intention of helping us, only of harming us.  But DeJoy says he has a plan that he will unveil soon, to restore the USPS.  Details of his plan thus far are sketchy, but what we do know is that he plans to slow the mail (what, it isn’t already slow enough???), while charging us more (what, $80 to mail a bloomin’ package isn’t already too high???) to mail letters and packages.  This, in and of itself, is unacceptable, but add to it the fact that with higher postal rates, the Consumer Price Index will leap skyward as companies are forced to pay more for the shipping of materials and finished products, and will naturally pass their increased cost on to We the Consumers.

It’s a lose/lose situation for We the People, and the only winner would be Mr. DeJoy himself who would get to keep his job … not that he needs it, with a net worth of $110 million.  Unfortunately, as I have written before, President Biden does not have the ability to directly fire Mr. DeJoy, but he can fill the vacant seats on the Board of Governors that does have the ability to fire DeJoy.  The USPS needs a strong leader who understands the workings of the organization and whose goal would be to restructure it for maximum efficiency while restoring customer service.  DeJoy ain’t that person!

Stephen Miller rears his ugly head … again

I’m told that I shouldn’t consider republicans to be racists, but I go by the old adage if it walks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck.  That said, I do know a few republicans who aren’t racist, so I stop short of saying “all”.  I’ve long said that the biggest appeal of the former guy to republicans was the fact that he created in their minds a supreme danger of all immigrants and promised that ‘he alone’ could and would fix the problem.  As a result, thousands of children were taken from their parents, put in cages, denied basic healthcare and hygiene, and often were abused in a variety of ways by those in charge of their welfare.  As a result, those seeking asylum from life-threatening situations were denied entry into the country.  As a result, billions of taxpayer dollars were wasted constructing a few miles of a hideous ‘wall’ at the southern border that would serve no purpose.

President Trump Speaks On Immigration With 'Angel Families'

Stephen Miller

President Biden is attempting to repair the U.S. immigration policy, but the GOP is not onboard with his vision.  Thus, they have hired America’s chief racist, Stephen Miller, along with two other supreme racists, Tom Homan and Mark Morgan, to advise the conservative House members as they organize their opposition to Biden’s planned changes as laid out in his recently unveiled blueprint for comprehensive immigration reform legislation.  Miller, you may remember, was largely the architect for the hateful separation policy that brought so much grief to so many, especially children.

The meeting between Miller, Homan, Morgan, and House Republicans was organized by the 147-member Republican Study Committee, a group of traditionalist conservative lawmakers that also has met recently with other officials from the former administration, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Fox News host Tucker Carlson.  WTF does Tucker Carlson have to do with any of this, other than he is a racist to the very core?

The recently unveiled Biden bill would provide a pathway to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants, and incorporates many provisions supported by Republicans in the past as well as by business groups today.  The chief argument by republicans seems to be that it leaves out funding to complete the ridiculous ‘wall’ at the southern border … a wall which has been proven unworkable and uber-costly by numerous experts.  The U.S. is currently in debt to the tune of some $27.9 trillion, and people around the nation are starving, are in danger of losing their homes, so we damn sure don’t need to spend billions of dollars on a white elephant that benefits nobody!

Republicans who would consult and listen to Stephen Miller cannot deny their racism, for Miller is the very definition of the term white supremacist.  But, it seems they are determined to attempt to block anything and everything that President Biden tries to do, simply because … because he isn’t a republican.  Not much other reason, when you peel away the layers of excuses.

liz-cheneyInterestingly, Representative Liz Cheney, one of ten republicans in the House who voted to impeach the former guy and who has taken considerable flack from the Republican Party as a result, gave a speech yesterday at the Reagan Institute in Washington, where she said …

“It’s very important, especially for us as Republicans, to make clear that we aren’t the party of white supremacy. You certainly saw anti-Semitism, you saw the symbols of Holocaust denial, for example, at the Capitol that day. You saw a Confederate flag being carried through the Rotunda. And I think we as Republicans in particular have a duty and an obligation to stand against that, to stand against insurrection.”

I would hope that most people in the Republican Party would listen to Ms. Cheney rather than Mr. Miller and Tucker Carlson, but … sigh … I know the reality is not what I would wish.  The GOP is greatly diminished, and it’s due to the racism and people like the former guy and Stephen Miller, among others.

toon-1

They Walk Among Us …

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2018, Political commentary

I stopped doing my Idiot of the Week feature around the end of 2017, for a few reasons.  It was fun, but rather irrelevant.  There were so many idiots that it was difficult to keep up.  And a few people felt it was in poor taste, an insult to idiots everywhere.  But I have to say that looking at the news every day, I’m thinking about starting it back up!  They are everywhere you turn!  Three in particular stand out today, and if I were still doing the IotW feature, these would be the first three I would choose.

Da Godfather wannabe?Matt-GaetzIt really does seem that Representative Matt Gaetz from Florida has a problem.  I wrote about him just a few weeks ago (February 7th) for making an utter fool of himself at a House Judiciary Committee meeting on gun regulation whereby he piped up and said we need to build a wall.  This left most of us scratching our heads.  And now, he has opened himself to an investigation by the Florida State Bar Association.  Is he begging for an Idiot of the Week award or what???

What did he do this time, you ask?  He tweeted the following to Michael Cohen on the day before Mr. Cohen was scheduled to begin his testimony before Congress …

“Hey @MichaelCohen212 — Do your wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends?  Maybe tonight would be a good time for that chat. I wonder if she’ll remain faithful when you’re in prison. She’s about to learn a lot.”

I’m beginning to think Mr. Gaetz works for Don Corleone!  Sounds like “tough mob” talk, except from an amateur.  His excuse was … wait for it … he was “witness testing”.  Where I come from, it is called witness intimidation and witness tampering, both of which are quite illegal.  But then, as I wrote earlier this month, Mr. Gaetz has, like his hero in the White House, never been particularly a fan of the law and follows it only when it suits him, hence the picture on the right (above) in prison orange!

Wah wah wah …

kellyanneIf Kellyanne whines as much at home as she does in the media, it’s a thousand wonders that George (Conway) hasn’t sent her packing already.  All she ever does, it seems, is complain and point her knobby finger of blame … most always toward people who have a bit of good sense.

“There’s no question the Republican House failed, and they failed us in securing the border, but they also failed to make good on the promise to him that we would get that money for the wall They completely lied about that.”

Can’t you just hear that nasal whine in her voice?

No, Kellyanne, the republicans who did not support the building of Trump’s ego-wall, finally realized that for once they better listen to the people of this nation.  The people of this nation … at least the large majority of the people in this nation, do not want a stupid wall on the southern border that would be inhumane and also interfere greatly with the economies of the border states.  You, madam, need to study a bit and learn some facts before opening that mouth of yours!  Ask your husband … he can enlighten you!

From bad to worse …

Earlier this week, in light of election fraud committed by a member of Mark Harris’ campaign staff who went about the ninth district of North Carolina collecting people’s absentee ballots, destroying the ones that weren’t for Mr. Harris, Mark Harris removed himself from the upcoming repeat election.  At first, I was pleased by this, but then I started wondering who would replace him as the republican candidate.

Remember Georgia’s own idiot, Brian Kemp, who liked posing for campaign ads with a gun, and in one case with a rifle pointed at his daughter’s boyfriend?  Well … I guess that in the South, every state, by law, must have at least one such idiot!

Meet Mr. Stony Rushing, the new republican candidate replacing Mark Harris …Stony-Rushing

Mr. Rushing is, as you might guess from the above campaign poster from when he was running for Country Commissioner, yet another gun nut.  Even better, he has fashioned himself after Boss Hogg from that ol’ television show, The Dukes of Hazzard!

See the resemblance?  Note the white costume and the cigar?

Rushing owns a gun store and shooting range, and is an advocate for keeping the Confederate flag flying.  It is likely that ol’ Stony will have to share the stage with at least two other republican candidates, and let us hope that at least one of them is sane!  Think about it … this guy could be sitting in the House of Representatives on Capitol Hill in just a month or two!  {shudder}

Where do all these people come from? I’m not sure, but there is one common denominator, in case you haven’t picked up on it yet – they are all members of the Republican Party. Need I say more?

Against All Advice …

Posted on by under Political commentary

What happens when you are ignorant of a certain situation, yet you make a decision that will impact the lives of millions, and nearly 100 well-informed, well-educated, highly-knowledgeable people tell you that you are wrong?  Do you listen to what they say and perhaps alter your decision?  Or do you tell them to sit down and shut up, and proceed down a destructive path?  Depends on who you are.  If you are a wise person, a thinker, you listen, and you ask questions and you re-evaluate your position.  If, however, you are Donald Trump, you throw the wizards overboard and give the order for “full steam ahead!”, even though the iceberg looms larger and larger.

Ten days ago, Don Trump declared a “state of national emergency”, even as he admitted that there is no emergency, that he could have attempted to go through legal channels, but he wanted to do it faster. He. Wanted. And now, he intends to divert funds that are needed for the safety and well being of the people of this nation to build a wall that wiser men know is not necessary and that almost nobody in the country wants.

Today, a group of 25 former republican members of Congress published an open letter appealing to Congress to block Trump’s intent to act against the Constitution and against the people of this nation.

Also today, a bipartisan group of 58 former senior national security officials issued a statement saying that “there is no factual basis” for President Trump’s proclamation of a national emergency to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.  There is no factual basis.  It is a figment of Trump’s imagination.  It is a waste of our precious resources.  It is an ego trip.

Last Monday, a coalition of sixteen states filed a lawsuit to block Trump’s plan to build a border wall without permission from Congress, arguing that the president’s decision to declare a national emergency is unconstitutional.  The states that are participating in the lawsuit are:

  • California
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Hawaii
  • Illinois
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Nevada
  • New Jersey
  • New Mexico
  • New York
  • Oregon
  • Virginia

If your state isn’t listed here, you need to get in touch with your governor and let him know in no uncertain terms that he needs to take this seriously and join this coalition.

Tomorrow, the House will vote on a resolution to block Trump’s declaration.  The vote is almost certain to pass the House, which will force the Senate to bring it to a vote within 18 days.  If the Senate fails to vote to block the declaration, then shame on the Senate and every senator who votes ‘nay’ must be voted out of office at the earliest possible date.  Trump has forcefully declared that he will veto the measure, but with a 2/3 majority, any veto can be overridden.  At the very least, it sends a message that his decision is NOT what the people of this nation need or want.

But back to the statement by the 58 former national security officials.

“Under no plausible assessment of the evidence is there a national emergency today that entitles the president to tap into funds appropriated for other purposes to build a wall at the southern border.”

These are people who know what they are talking about.  They are people who have been responsible for the safety and well-being of the nation.  They are people educated and with experience in the area of national security.  And they see no reason to declare a state of emergency.  The little boy, Donnie, has cried “Wolf!” one time too many.

In addition to Madeline Albright, other signers include such highly respected dignitaries as Eliot A. Cohen, State Department counselor under President George W. Bush; Thomas R. Pickering, President George H.W. Bush’s ambassador to the United Nations; John F. Kerry, Obama’s second secretary of state; Susan E. Rice, Obama’s national security adviser; Leon E. Panetta, Obama’s CIA director and defense secretary; as well as former intelligence and security officials who served under both Republican and Democratic administrations.

Among other things, they said, illegal border crossings are at nearly 40-year lows. Undetected unlawful entries at the U.S.-Mexico border decreased from 851,000 to nearly 62,000 between 2006 and 2016, they said, citing Department of Homeland Security statistics.  They also argue that redirecting money pursuant to the national emergency declaration “will undermine U.S. national security and foreign policy interests.”

Donald Trump’s background is in television and building hotels and casinos.  Nothing … nothing in his experience has prepared him to make the decisions he is making as he sits in the Oval Office.  He has not the background, the knowledge, nor the understanding to make such decisions.  Further, he has chased off the advisors who did have the ability to advise him wisely and replaced them with people who pander to his ego.  It has been repeatedly reported that he does not read and he does not listen to those with more knowledge than he.

If 58 chefs tell a novice cook not to use rotten milk else it will spoil the pudding, the cook darn well better listen!  This ‘chef’ is blind, deaf and dumb, yet he is making decisions that will affect the lives of over 300 million people!  It is past time for Congress to act to stop this madness!

Dodging Bullets …

Posted on by under Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

“I am dreaming of a way to kill almost every last person on the earth.”

Hasson-wife-son

Christopher Hasson (left) with wife and son

Those are the words of Christopher Paul Hasson, a U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant and white supremacist who was arrested after federal investigators uncovered a cache of weapons and ammunition in his Maryland home last Friday.  Authorities say he intended to launch a widespread domestic terrorist attack targeting politicians and journalists.

But WAIT!  Weren’t we told that the “national emergency”, the threat to our well-being, our lives and safety was at the southern border, and that the terrorists were Latinos crossing the border from Mexico and Central America?  And before that, weren’t we told that all terrorists were people who came here from the Middle East?  Wait, wait, wait … I need some answers here!  Somebody has obviously lied to us!

The authorities said Mr. Hasson had been amassing supplies and weapons since at least 2017, developed a spreadsheet of targets that included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and searched the Internet using phrases such as “best place in dc to see congress people” and “are supreme court justices protected.”Hasson-spreadsheetMr. Hasson served in the Marine Corps from 1988 to 1993. He was then on active duty with the Army National Guard for approximately two years. He began working for the Coast Guard in 2016.  But … we are supposed to be afraid of our Muslim and Hispanic neighbors???  Can somebody find a logical explanation, for I have scratched my head until it bleeds!

Here is a partial list of some of the people Mr. Hasson had in his crosshairs …

  • Richard Blumenthal
  • Cory Booker
  • Chris Cuomo
  • Kirsten Gillibrand
  • Kamala Harris
  • Chris Hayes
  • Van Jones
  • Tim Kaine
  • Sheila Jackson Lee
  • Don Lemon
  • Ari Melber
  • Ilhan Omar
  • Beto O’Rourke
  • Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
  • Nancy Pelosi
  • John Podesta
  • Joe Scarborough
  • Chuck Schumer
  • Elizabeth Warren
  • Maxine Waters
  • Angela Davis

At least five of those names are democratic candidates for president in 2020.  At least four are well-respected, notable journalists.  Others are members of Congress.  This man planned to completely eradicate the most prominent democrats in our government and turn Washington D.C. into total chaos.  And what, I wonder, would Donald Trump or his mouthpiece Sarah Huckabee Sanders have said if he had succeeded in his plot?  What would Wayne LaPierre of the National Rifle Association have had to say?

Hasson-stash

Part of the stash found in Hasson’s home

Hasson was also planning to use biological weapons such as the Spanish flu, botulism, and anthrax to “kill almost every last person on the earth” followed by attacks on the food supply.  An email found on his computer said …

“Liberalist/globalist ideology is destroying traditional peoples esp white. No way to counteract without violence. It should push for more crack down bringing more people to our side. Much blood will have to be spilled to get whitey off the couch. Looking to Russia with hopeful eyes or any land that despises the west’s liberalism. Excluding of course the muslim scum. Who rightfully despise the west’s liberal degeneracy.”

Chilled yet?  See, here’s the thing: They caught Christopher Hasson before he could put his plan into action, but how many more are out there?  Yes, sure, he’s a lunatic, a mentally unstable person.  But folks … he was a Lieutenant in the Coast Guard!  He had served in the USMC!  And nobody realized that he was unstable, that he was dangerous, even lethal.  He lived with his wife.  Surely she saw his growing stash of weapons, surely a woman to whom he had been married for decades saw something in his behaviour!

On November 9 2018, just two weeks after the October 27th Pittsburgh Synagogue shooting, police in Washington, D.C. arrested Jeffrey Clark.  Jeffrey and his brother Edward were believed to have ties to the Pittsburgh shooter and Edward had killed himself on the day of the Pittsburgh shooting. When they entered the Clark’s home they found hollow-point bullets, “ballistic vests and helmets,” a “marijuana grow” operation and a Nazi flag. A noose dangled from a bunk bed, a small toy hung by its neck, and a flyer was found promoting the neo-Nazi organization known as Atomwaffen Division.

Jeffrey Clark, according to federal prosecutors, had saluted the killings and had fantasized about killing blacks and Jews himself.  Here is a flyer that was found in Clark’s home …Jeffrey-Clark-flyerAnd let us not forget that last October a Florida man, Cesar Sayoc Jr., sent mail bombs to thirteen democrats including Senator Cory Booker, former Vice-President Joe Biden, actor Robert De Niro, Senator Kamala Harris and former DNI James Clapper.

These are isolated incidents and fortunately thus far none have succeeded in their goal to create chaos, murder and mayhem.  But consider this … all it takes is for one of these people with hate in their heart to succeed.  Sooner or later, if we don’t squelch the hate levels in this nation, if we don’t find ways to unite rather than divide, one of these plots will succeed.  Terrorism?  Yes, this is terrorism at its worst, and the perpetrators are not Muslim immigrants from the Middle-East.  The terrorists are not Latinos fleeing violence in Central America.  The terrorists are U.S.-born citizens with bigotry and hate as their driving force.

Two weeks ago, Donald Trump over-stepped his power and declared a “state of national emergency” as a political ploy to build a wall along our southern border to keep what he refers to as ‘terrorists’ from entering the country.  I’ve got news for him … the real terrorists are already here … they have always been here.cropped-pogo.jpg

*Additional information about Hasson and the charges against him

Trump Has Gone Off His Rocker By Declaring A National Emergency Over Funding His Wall

Posted on by under Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs

Gronda has said this as well as I could have, so I ask you to read her timely post. Thank you, Gronda.

Gronda Morin

Image result for images of the president declaring a national emergency PRESIDENT TRUMP

The republican President Donald Trump has gone and done it. On the 15th of February 2019, President Trump has agreed to sign off on the budget agreed to by the US Congress avoiding another US government shutdown but he has decided to declare a ‘National Emergency’ to use reallocated taxpayer monies to fund his SW border wall to the tune of an additional $6.5 billion for something that is a non emergency. He even started off this announcement with the words “I didn’t have to do it, but…

It’s the US House which appropriates taxpayer monies which the president has acted to usurp. Of course this action will be challenged in the US courts, but this high risk tactic should have been avoided as it sets a dangerous precedent.

See: Presidents have declared emergencies 59 times since 1976 – ...

See: What exactly is a national emergency

View original post 830 more words

#$%&*@ 👿

Posted on by under Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

I try not to use foul language on this blog, try to keep it professional, but tonight, the title of this blog seems to fit as no other would.  In an attempt to circumvent the United States Congress, and to defy the will and best interest of We the People, Donald Trump has announced his intention to declare a state of ‘national emergency’ today at the same time he signs the budget bill.

Allow me, please, to begin by making one thing perfectly clear …

THERE IS NO DAMN NATIONAL EMERGENCY AT THE SOUTHERN BORDER OR ELSEWHERE IN THE UNITED STATES!!!

There is no emergency, but this is King Trump using the ‘power’ of his office to spend our money on a wall that the majority in the U.S. do not want and that, if built, would damage both the U.S. and Mexico far more than it would help anybody or anything.   The cost of his wall would be astronomical and would deny food and housing to millions of people.  I fully agree with the joint statement issued by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi …

“Declaring a national emergency would be a lawless act, a gross abuse of the power of the presidency and a desperate attempt to distract from the fact that President Trump broke his core promise to have Mexico pay for his wall.”

Since I am livid and sputtering with rage, my rant is far too likely to turn into an expletive-laden diatribe, so I have decided to let Eugene Robinson, writer for The Washington Post, and a much more professional writer than I, finish this post for me …

We have a national emergency, all right. Its name is Donald Trump.

Eugene-RobinsonBy Eugene Robinson

February 14 at 6:50 PM

We have a national emergency, all right. Its name is Donald Trump, and it is a force of mindless, pointless disruption.

The president’s decision to officially declare an emergency — to pretend to build an unbuildable border wall — is not only an act of constitutional vandalism. It is also an act of cowardice, a way to avoid the wrath of Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh and the rest of the far-right commentariat.

It is an end run around Congress and, as such, constitutes a violation of his oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States” — which gives Congress, not the president, the authority to decide how public money is spent. It does not give Trump the right to fund projects that Congress will not approve. Authoritarian leaders do that sort of thing. The puffed-up wannabe strongman now living in the White House is giving it a try.

Let’s be clear: There is no emergency. Arrests for illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border peaked in 2000, nearly two decades ago, at more than 1.5 million a year. They declined sharply under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and, in 2017, were at their lowest point since 1971. In 2018, apprehensions ticked up slightly — but still barely climbed above 400,000.

There has indeed been an increase in families presenting themselves at legal points of entry to seek asylum — those groups of bedraggled Central Americans that Trump calls “caravans.” Under U.S. and international law, these people have an undisputed right to ask for asylum and have their cases evaluated. Again, they come to legal border crossings to seek admission. Only a handful try to navigate the forbidding rural terrain where Trump says he wants to build a wall.

What the administration really needs to do is expand and improve facilities for processing, caring for and, when necessary, housing these asylum seekers. But Trump doesn’t care about doing the right thing, or even the necessary thing. He cares only about being able to claim he is following through on his vicious anti-immigration rhetoric, which brands Mexican would-be migrants as “rapists” and Central Americans as members of the MS-13 street gang.

Trump had two years in which Republicans controlled both the House and the Senate — and could not persuade Congress to give him funding for a wall. He decided to make it an issue only after Democrats won the power to say no. The president’s negotiating strategy — pitching tantrums, walking away from the table, venting on Twitter, provoking the longest partial government shutdown in history — was never going to work. You might think he would have learned something about how Washington works by now, but you would be wrong.

Because there obviously is no legitimate emergency, Trump’s declaration — and the shifting of resources from duly authorized projects to the wall — will surely be challenged in court. It is possible, if not likely, that any actual construction will be held up indefinitely.

Indeed, legal briefs arguing against Trump’s action practically write themselves. An emergency, by definition, is urgent. The 9/11 terrorist attacks, for example, clearly qualified as a national emergency. But Trump has been talking about issuing an emergency declaration to build the wall for a couple of months. If such action wasn’t necessary in December, some judge will surely ask, then why now?

Money for the wall will have to be taken from other projects, all of which have constituencies in Congress and among the public. Ranchers and others whose land would have to be taken by eminent domain for the wall will be up in arms.

Politically, Trump carelessly put Republican senators in a tough spot. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) may have the House pass a resolution of disapproval, which the Senate would be compelled to take up. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and his caucus would have to decide whether to support a presidential power grab they know is unwise — or oppose Trump and risk the ire of the GOP base.

One of the most strident Republican criticisms of Obama was that he took executive actions that should have been the purview of Congress. But this action by Trump goes much further and sets a dangerous precedent.

What would keep the next Democratic president from declaring an emergency, in the wake of some mass shooting, and imposing a ban on assault weapons? Is that what McConnell wants as his legacy?

Trump cares only that his base is mollified. And that nobody remembers how Mexico was supposed to foot the bill.

The United States of Chaos

Posted on by under Political commentary, Rants

I don’t know about you folks, but personally I am beginning to feel very irrelevant, inconsequential when it comes to the current administration and the republicans in Congress.  You will notice, those of you who are employed, that during the 35-day shutdown, federal income taxes continued to be withheld from your paycheck.  Every pay, like clockwork, we pay our taxes, and most of us don’t grumble about it, for we understand that it is our taxes that are used to build roads, maintain the military, provide food and shelter for those less fortunate, and pay the salaries of those who serve in our government.  It is as it should be.  BUT …

I don’t think there is a single person reading this blog who appreciates Donald Trump spending $50,000 for a toy to keep him entertained on rainy afternoons, during his 60% “Executive Time”.  What, you ask, am I prattling on about?  This …

Trump plays a lot of golf, as we all know.  When he was on the campaign trail in 2016, he criticized President Obama for the amount of time he spent playing golf, and said this …

“I’m going to be working for you. I’m not going to have time to go play golf.” – Donald J. Trump, August 2016

And yet, absorb this:  President Obama played 306 rounds of golf during the entire 8 years he was in office, which averages to approximately 38 rounds of golf per year.  But Donald Trump, the ‘man’ who said he would be working so hard that he wouldn’t have time for golf, has averaged 70 rounds of golf per year for his first two years!  Where’s all that hard work, eh?  But back to his latest toy …

During the 35-day government shutdown when nearly a million federal workers were either furloughed sans pay, or were expected to work without being paid, Trump’s advisors were apparently able to convince him that it would look really bad if he were out playing golf instead of working to come to an agreement to re-open the government and pay our people.  And thus, he went … wait for it … 69 days without playing golf!  And thus, the above toy … a room-sized golf simulator game at the cost of what, for most of us, is an entire year’s salary or more.  It is said by an anonymous White House staffer that Trump paid for the toy with his own money, but frankly, until I see a canceled check drawn on his personal checking account, I am skeptical.

It was recently reported that Trump spends 60% of his time doing ‘executive time’ … time that he spends watching television, tweeting and talking on the phone, and that he doesn’t leave his residence to begin work until around 11:00 a.m.  Now, you can add another hour to his ‘executive time’, for that is the time it takes to play a round of golf on the new toy.  I wonder … will he get all hot & sweaty and have to take another 20 minutes for a shower after he plays?

trump-golfing

And in other news … again on the campaign trail, Trump promised this …

  • In his official campaign launch address, Trump promised to “reduce our $18 trillion in debt,” which will not happen if annual deficits hit $1 trillion in two years.
  • On the campaign trail, Trump said he would “freeze the budget,” which has certainly not happened.
  • Shortly before his inauguration, he told Fox News host Sean Hannity that he would “balance the budget very quickly… I think over a five-year period. And I don’t know, maybe I could even surprise you.”
  • Previous to that, in March 2016, he told Bob Woodward that he could get rid of the debt “fairly quickly.” When pressed, he said, “Well, I would say over a period of eight years.” Since Trump took office, his own budget director called that promise “hyperbole.”
  • Trump asserted during the second presidential debate that he would bring back energy companies, which would make so much money that they could pay off the national debt. This has not happened.

None of those things have happened but guess what DID happen.  On Tuesday, 12 February 2019, the national debt hit a record high of $22 trillion, nearly $3 trillion higher than when he took office just over two years ago.  Never before in our history has it topped $21 trillion.  For perspective, that is $22,000,000,000.  And climbing.  Why?  While there is no single reason, the biggest reason is the reduction in revenue as a result of the tax cuts for the wealthy that Congress passed, and Trump signed in December 2017.  As tax filers are finding out this month, those tax cuts were truly for the wealthy, and the average taxpayer got shafted.  And still, he presses on for his unnecessary, useless border wall.

Over the course of the last two years, we have gone from a democratic-republic to a plutocracy, a government by the wealthy.  We have ceased to matter to the current administration.  And while Trump’s supporters may crow about the low unemployment rate and the stable economy … a change is coming.  We cannot continue to exist on high deficit spending and an increasing national debt without paying the consequences which I believe are waiting just around the corner.  A rising national debt has been compared to driving your car with the emergency brake on.  Trump’s house of cards may well be about to come tumbling down around us, but he’s having fun playing with his new golf toy, so … no worries, right?

Meanwhile, the Trumptanic keeps chugging toward the iceberg …iceberg

Putting Paid To The Lie …

Posted on by under Environmental Issues, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

I think it’s pretty funny that while Trump carries on like a wild banshee about the need for a border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, while he shrieks about violent criminals “pouring” across the border, the states that are actually on that border say there is no need for the wall.  And they have just about had enough of Trump’s exaggerations and lies affecting their states.  A few examples:

In New Mexico, House Bill 287 would ban construction of a wall on state land along the Mexico border. State Representative Angelica Rubio who sponsored the legislation says she doesn’t believe a wall would solve the problems that many have raised.

“I think when investing in communities, investing in our schools are ahead of the issues that are being raised in the long term will work out, knowing that we’re making those real investments.”

In addition, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has ordered the majority of National Guard troops deployed at her state’s Southern border to withdraw, condemning what she called a “charade of border fear-mongering” by Trump.

“I reject the federal contention that there exists an overwhelming national security crisis at the Southern border.” 

She added that the area has “some of the safest communities in the country.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom is expected today to withdraw nearly 400 of his state’s National Guard troops from deployment along the border with Mexico and assign them to other duties.

The city council in Nogales, Arizona, passed a resolution unanimously last Wednesday to formally condemn the excessive razor wire, strung on Trump’s orders.Nogales razor wire.jpgThe resolution demands that it be taken down over safety concerns. Residents and business owners have told local reporters that it makes the town feel like a war zone — “an inquisition,” one said — and worry about the effect on its life and commerce downtown.  Nogales resident Allen Zale, who served with the Army, said it reminded him of his time stationed in Berlin.

Nogales Mayor Arturo Garino said he’s concerned that the wiring is more of a danger than a safety feature because of the way it is installed down to the ground. The town’s code prohibits the use of the wire, which is also known as concertina wire, except in industrial parks and storage areas. Even then, it has to be at least six feet off the ground. The wall it adorns stretches through many residential areas in the city, as close as 10 feet in some places to people’s property.razor-wire.jpgWould you want your kids walking home from school along this lethal path?  Or would you want to live in one of those houses and have to see this every time you look out your window?  It seems to me that Trump has made the town less safe.

U.S. Representative Raúl M. Grijalva who represents the district said

“The additional wire is nothing more than a spectacle by the Trump administration to reinforce his twisted narrative of rampant lawlessness at the border. Border residents know that this mischaracterization couldn’t be further from the truth, and will not stand for the lies perpetrated by the Trump administration.”

And in Texas, State Representative Roland Gutierrez filed a bill on Wednesday to determine what environmental impacts such a wall could bring to the southern part of the state.

“The Rio Grande Floodplain is home to several towns that have seen devastating damage from record breaking floods recently, something that a border wall would only make worse.  Taking thousands of acres from Texas farmers and ranchers while cutting off communities from their own water supply just doesn’t make sense. We have a chance to be the first state Legislature to stand up to the federal government’s unprecedented land grab and we should take it.”

And there you have it, folks.  All four states that share a border with Mexico object to Trump’s wall and have put paid to his lies that the area is rampant with crime and lawlessness brought in by vicious immigrants.  We all knew it was a lie, and now we have it straight from the horses’ mouths.  Further proof, if any needed it, that Trump’s demands for We the Taxpayers to spend $5.7 billion of our hard-earned money on his damn wall is nothing but an ego trip for him.  And this ego trip is likely to lead us into yet another shutdown at midnight on Friday just like the one that lasted 35 days, ending only three weeks ago.