Snarky Snippets or Mini Rants?

Posted on September 29, 2020 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary

I’m not sure whether these are snarky snippets or mini rants, but either way, the fingers are flying across the keyboard tonight and the steam is coming in short bursts from my ears! If this year doesn’t give me a heart attack, then nothing will!

Oh poor Bradley …

On Sunday, it was announced that Trump’s former campaign manager, Brad Parscale, had been hospitalized because he had threatened to harm himself. Now, I felt no empathy toward ol’ Brad, for he is a grade-A Nazi, a man without a conscience, not a person the world would much miss. But then yesterday morning, the ignoble republicans started blaming “poor Brad’s depression” on … who else … the democrats. Holy MFS, people … does every single thing that happens in this country have to spark a battle between democrats and republicans??? Have we really sunk that low? Or, let me re-phrase … have republicans really sunk so low that they cannot accept that sometimes shit happens that the democrats had nothing … NOTHING to do with???

But then, yesterday afternoon, some facts came out. Hopefully the republicans can find a bar of soap big enough to wash the egg off their faces. Turns out ol’ Brad wasn’t out to hurt himself, but his wife! A police report showed that Parscale’s wife called police when he loaded a gun, then she fled the house. Arriving at the scene, police saw she was was badly bruised and scratched, and she “stated Brad Parscale hits her.” After a three-hour standoff, police wrestled Parscale to the ground and handcuffed him, then took him to the hospital. Why they didn’t take him to jail is beyond me. Or, perhaps in Florida it is legal to beat your wife? They also removed at least 10 firearms from the home. Yo, republicans! Still feel sorry for this jerk?

Thoughts on tonight’s debate …

Tonight is the first debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. I rarely watch the debates, because I cannot hear them well and the captioning, if there even is captioning, is never quite accurate or timely. However, I did plan to watch this one, for it is important … this is the single most important election in my lifetime, maybe ever, in the U.S. I’m re-thinking my plan, though, for I find that it takes little to make me very angry and that anger is taking a toll on me, physically and mentally. So, I’ll have to wait and see, but most likely I will wait for the analyses to start hitting the media and get my information from those.

The one thing that disgusts me is Trump planning to attack Joe Biden’s family. Joe Biden has lost a wife and daughter to an automobile accident, and more recently a son to cancer. His family is not running for the office of president … Joe is. Joe is a decent, caring, and honest man of integrity. Why the Sam Hell should his family be put through the ringer just because Donald Trump had some wet dream of finding dirt on Joe’s son, Hunter?

Now, if we want to talk about the families of the candidates, Trump is sitting pretty as the pot who called the kettle black! His two oldest sons and oldest daughter are every bit as corrupt as he is, and his daughter is a ‘woman’ of low IQ who has been milking his role as president for nearly four years now. And then there’s her husband, Jared, who couldn’t find his kneecaps in the shower if his life depended on it, but WE THE PEOPLE have been paying him an exorbitant salary to do … absolutely nothing.

Oh yeah … and Trump claims he will ‘force’ Joe Biden to take a drug test! Good luck, Donnie … your power does have its limits, y’know. I do so want to see the backside of the entire Trump clan as they leave the White House and head to the federal penitentiary!

And speaking of taxes …

In 1931 Al Capone was sentenced to 11 years in prison for tax evasion totaling $215,000.
In 1992 Leona Helmsley was sentenced to 16 years in prison for tax evasion totaling $1.2 million
O.J. Simpson was already serving a prison term for armed robbery and kidnapping in 2012 when the IRS foreclosed on his home and other property over a $1.4 million tax debt

And the list goes on. Today, it is widely known that the so-called ‘president’ of the United States is a member of that elite club of tax dodgers. (Since he is also a draft dodger, I’m thinking his new nickname should be Donnie Dodger) After Sunday’s release of information by the New York Times from a couple of decades worth of Donald Trump’s tax returns, most of us were … angry, but not surprised in the least. After all, when he was campaigning in 2016, Trump had claimed that cheating on his taxes “makes me smart”. No, it doesn’t make him smart — it makes him a bloody crook. Okay, so Trump’s an asshole and we all know it. We all knew that if he had nothing to hide, he would have done the right thing and released his tax returns in 2016, rather than fighting tooth and nail to keep them out of the public eye. But what I don’t understand is how many people are defending his cheating.

Asshat conspiracy theorist Rush Limbaugh nearly stumbled over his feet praising Trump …

“The main thing that Trump did — looking at this, the main thing that Trump is doing is putting more money into his businesses than he’s taking out. And who knows. It may be wise or legal, he’s chosen to do it this way. One thing, he’s an expert at moving money around to avoid paying taxes, and he’s really an expert at making those who loan him money as vulnerable as he is. They can’t call the loans on him. They’d go down the tubes if he does. So he’s a master at this.”

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, a so-called ‘Christian’, said on Fox News …

“But let me give you this. So what? In a big business operation like he runs, there is a good likelihood that with all of the various business losses that he had from running for president when he wasn’t overseeing his business, maybe that’s so. I don’t know. Frankly, I don’t care.”

And one of my own readers said …

“I don’t judge Trump for avoiding taxes. In fact, I applaud him for it.”

And this, my friends, is why I am a Socialist at heart. Those who praise and applaud Trump for screwing the system do not realize that in so doing they are applauding a ‘man’ who is robbing the less fortunate of such basic necessities as food, shelter, clothing, health care, and … basically a life. Meanwhile, the rest of us, believing in a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people”, believing that “the people” includes every single person, regardless of race, religion, social standing, or gender, fund the biggest portion of the nation’s budget. We pay our effing taxes with only small grumbles, because we believe it is the right thing to do. Name a single time Donald Trump did “the right thing”. Betcha can’t.

Do The Right Thing!!!!

Posted on April 30, 2020 by jilldennison under Election 2020, Law and justice, Political commentary, Trump's Staff Picks

It is interesting to make note of a memo issued on April 17^th by a top Republican strategist advising GOP candidates on how to address the coronavirus crisis, or rather how to work around Trump’s inept bungling of the entire scenario since January. The memo includes advice to Republican candidates in the 2020 election on everything from how to tie Democratic candidates to the Chinese government to how to deal with accusations of racism. It stresses three main lines of assault: That China caused the virus “by covering it up,” that Democrats are “soft on China,” and that Republicans will “push for sanctions on China for its role in spreading this pandemic.”

The short version, a primer for GOP candidates, reads …

China caused this pandemic by covering it up, lying, and hoarding the world’s supply of medical equipment.

- China is an adversary that has stolen millions of American jobs, sent fentanyl to the United States, and they send religious minorities to concentration camps.

My opponent is soft on China, fails to stand up to the Chinese Communist Party, and can’t betrusted to take them on.

I will stand up to China, bring our manufacturing jobs back home, and push for sanctions on China for its role in spreading this pandemic.

It’s a script, basically, for candidates who might be asked about the coronavirus, or Trump’s unconscionable response, for how they can divert attention and obfuscate, finding a way to blame … who else? … Democrats for everything. Funny, isn’t it, how the strategists can spin almost anything? But it is in the long version that the most interesting part, a single sentence, occurs:

“Don’t defend Trump, other than the China Travel Ban — attack China.”

So, while the memo … all 57 pages of it … basically contains a roadmap for navigating around Trump’s faux pas, just one sentence caused the you-know-what to hit the fan!

On Monday, Trump political adviser Justin Clark told NRSC executive director Kevin McLaughlin that any Republican candidate who followed the memo’s advice shouldn’t expect the active support of the reelection campaign and risked losing the support of Republican voters. Hmmmm … seems to me that the GOP is a bit dictatorial. Perhaps this explains why, when Republican senators had the chance to convict the madman in the Oval Office of the high crimes and misdemeanors of which he had already been proven guilty, and remove him from office, they reneged on their duty to the people of this nation. Perhaps they had been threatened.

Clark issued the following statement:

“Candidates will listen to the bad advice in this memo at their own peril. President Trump enjoys unprecedented support among Republican voters and everyone on the ballot in November will want to tap into that enthusiasm. The president’s campaign, the RNC, and the NRSC are firmly on the same page here.”

Fast forward to yesterday, when Trump’s approval rating had dropped from 45.8% in late March to 42.6% and still likely to drop further. Not to mention that Trump is now trailing Biden, who has had 110% less media coverage than Trump, in many states. So, “da ‘man’” went off his rocker, as he is wont to do when the consequences of his own actions come home to roost. Usually, he takes it out on the staff nearest at hand, or the media, or democrats, or Obama. This time, though, he took it out on his ignoble campaign manager Brad Parscale.

Now, mind you I have no love of Mr. Parscale, for he both looks and acts like a Nazi. However, fair is fair and he did not deserve the reaming he got from his boss yesterday. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that Trump’s declining approval rating and drop in the polls is a direct result of his own actions and ineptitude. It is a cumulative effect of him saying there would be only 15 cases of coronavirus in the U.S., “nothing to worry about, folks”, up to and including his suggestion that he knew more than all the experts and he thought that injecting humans with disinfectant would cure the virus. It is the fact that he has shown himself incompetent and uncaring that has driven his numbers down, not anything Mr. Parscale did or did not do.

Reportedly, he told Parscale that he “would not” lose to Biden, insisted the data was wrong and blamed Parscale for the fact that he is down in the polls. But, the utter idiocy doesn’t stop there. He also made a threat to sue Mr. Parscale for the salary he has earned working for Trump! Oh, wouldn’t you just love to see him try that? It is no different than the owner of any business telling an employee, after three years, that he is now displeased with her service and wants her salary back for the past three years! Fat chance, Bucko!

Parscale, it is said, replied, “I love you, too”, and the call ended.

We can laugh all we want, but there is a bigger point here … a couple of them, but I’ll stick with one for the purpose of brevity. Donald Trump is not sane. He is not fit for office, never was. In the middle of the worst crisis this nation has seen since World War II, he is not concerned for the lives of the people of this nation but is only concerned about his election campaign. He does not think logically but lashes out at anyone in the line of fire when angered. He expects fealty from all who surround him, though he has done absolutely nothing to deserve loyalty. His own ego matters more than your life or mine.

There are sixteen people in this country who, collectively, could save this nation from the evil that resides in the White House. They are:

Vice President Mike Pence

Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue

Attorney General William Barr

Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Gina Haspel

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur L. Ross, Jr.

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper

Secretary of Education Elisabeth Prince DeVos

Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette

Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Andrew Wheeler

Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar

Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Benjamin S. Carson, Sr.

Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt

Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia

Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russ Vought

Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell

Administrator of the Small Business Administration Jovita Carranza

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao

Secretary of the Treasury Steven T. Mnuchin

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie

Acting White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows

These are the people who comprise Trump’s hand-picked cabinet. Most are highly un-qualified for their position, and I’ve always believed this was done with purpose, perhaps to follow Steve Bannon’s desire to “dismantle the administrative state”. However, these people are in the unique position of seeing on a day-to-day basis the utter lunacy of the ‘man’ in charge of the nation’s well-being, and having the ability to remove him, to render him unfit to serve.

Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution states that if, for whatever reason, the vice president and a majority of sitting Cabinet secretaries decide that the president is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,” they can simply put that down in writing and send it to two people — the speaker of the House and the Senate’s president pro tempore. Then the vice president would immediately become “acting president,” and take over all the president’s powers.

If Pence and eight of the fifteen cabinet members saw their loyalty as being to the nation and its people instead of the madman named Trump, this nation could be Trump-free within a matter of hours. Will they? No, they will not. Why? Because their fortunes and futures are so closely linked with Trump’s, and because the GOP has resolved to threaten, browbeat and bully any who speak against Trump, that they are cowards … they are scared to death to speak against him, scared to death to do the right thing for the people of this country. I plan to write to each and every one of the people on that list, including Mike Pence, and let them know that their responsibility is to We the People, not a hateful, corrupt, sorry excuse for a president. Will it do any good? Doubtful, but … there are times when a person simply has to speak up. This is one of those times.

Snarky … Really Snarky … Snippets

Posted on October 3, 2019 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry

It’s happened again, my friends! The angst has built up to the boiling-over point, and I simply must release some snarky snippets to minimize the damage!

Wait just one minute …

This isn’t supposed to be how it works! The headline reads …

Bolstered By Impeachment Inquiry, Trump Campaign And RNC Raise $125 Million

Impeachment is a stigma, not an honour!!! Where are these people’s brains??? Who in their right mind would donate money to a ‘man’ who is proven many times over to be corrupt, who has rigged an election once and is attempting to do so a second time, who … oh heck, the list is so long that I don’t know where to start.

According to NPR …

Three days after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the House was launching an impeachment inquiry into Trump, Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale crowed about new donors pouring into the campaign.

Parscale claims in a tweet that the campaign received donations from 50,000 new donors in the two-day period following Pelosi’s announcement. Are there truly so many people in this nation who are actually proud of Donald Trump for committing crimes against his competitors, for attempting to rig an election, for breaking the law he swore to uphold? I would suggest those who donated stand up for a moment, look under their derrieres to see if they have been sitting on their brains all this time. Any who would donate to Trump because he is being investigated for criminal activity, qualifies as being among the most ignorant people on the earth.

So, I guess if he really does stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, he would increase his donations a few thousand-fold?

Say WHAT???

Frank Nucera was the chief of police for Bordentown Township, New Jersey, until one day in September 2016 when he slammed a black teenager’s head into a doorjamb. It wasn’t the first time Nucera had displayed racist behaviour … in the past, he had referred to African Americans with the n-word, compared them with the Islamic State, said he’d like to shoot them on a firing squad and tried to use police dogs to intimidate them. Fellow officers had recorded Nucera using the n-word no less than 81 times over the past years. This last, however, cost Mr. Nucera his job, and may cost him his freedom, as his trial ended yesterday and the jury is still deliberating.But, what really iced the cake, at least for me, was something that came out in a transcript presented at trial.

“I’m telling you, you know what, Donald Trump is the last hope for white people, cause Hillary will give it to all the minorities to get a vote. That’s the truth! I’m telling you.”

This sorry excuse for a man was on the police force for 34 years, the last 10 as chief of police. His transgressions were many, and complaints had been made against him, but he was a law unto himself. When one officer wrote an anonymous letter to the local paper, Nucera had it seized and tested for fingerprints. When he didn’t like an online comment, Nucera reportedly wanted to subpoena the IP address to identify the commentor. And the list of his abuses of power is practically endless.

You might be interested to know that Nucera, who resigned his position in February 2017 while being investigated by the FBI, is currently receiving an annual pension of $106,000 per year. And, while he faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted, Nucera’s lawyer, Rocco Cipparone, says his client used “ugly and embarrassing” words but urged the jury not to use social justice against his client!

The jury returns to further deliberate this morning, and I will provide an update when I have one.

Finally, justice is served

Just over a year ago, in September 2018, I reported on a police officer, Amber Guyger who, while off-duty, entered the apartment of a neighbor, supposedly thinking it was her own, and believing the neighbor was an intruder (he was sitting in front of the television eating ice cream), shot and killed him. Guyger, by the way, is white, and the neighbor, Botham Jean, was black.

On Tuesday, a jury in Dallas, Texas, found Ms. Guyger guilty of murder, and she was sentenced to 10 years in prison. It is my hope that this sends a message across this nation that We the People are not only tired of the racism that has run rampant in recent years, but that there will be zero tolerance for members of the law enforcement community acting with impunity against people of colour. We the People are every colour, and it is the duty of law enforcement to protect and defend every single person in their community, regardless of race or skin colour.

Ms. Guyger claimed that “This is not about hate, it’s about being scared”. However, according to text messages by Guyger that were introduced by prosecutors, she has a history of making racist remarks, including mocking the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, as well as her black colleagues. She didn’t even bother to speak, to look around at the apartment and notice that it was not her own, but just pulled out her gun and fired. Again, let this send a powerful message to all.

Another casualty of (trade) war

Bayou Steel Group in LaPlace, Louisiana, abruptly closed its doors this week. Workers were given no notice, but the 376 employees of Bayou were simply told on Monday that they no longer have jobs. Bayou was the single largest employer in the parish, and this is a huge loss to the people. Per Governor John Bel Edwards’ press release …

“While Bayou Steel has not given any specific reason for the closure, we know that this company, which uses recycled scrap metal that is largely imported, is particularly vulnerable to tariffs. Louisiana is among the most dependent states on tariffed metals, which is why we continue to be hopeful for a speedy resolution to the uncertainty of the future of tariffs.”

Another casualty of Trump’s trade war. I wonder who he’ll blame for this one? Hillary? Adam Schiff? Me?

Well, folks, I guess I’ve snarked enough for now, but I leave you with something from another great snarkster, our friend Don Lemon.

Jaw-Dropping Snarky Snippets …

Posted on September 10, 2019 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Global Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary

The radar is busy tonight, so many different things on the screen that have me gritting my teeth and wearing the scowl that seems to be permanently etched on my face. The first snippet is one that will give you nightmares.

He can’t keep a secret …

Just yesterday evening, CNN reported that a Russian spy who was operating in a high-level capacity within Putin’s government, was extracted by the U.S. in mid-2017, in part because high-ranking intelligence officials feared that Trump’s inability to keep his mouth shut would put the spy’s life in danger. Believe it or not, Trump sycophant Mike Pompeo, who was then the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), was behind the move.

The decision was made shortly after the May 2017 meeting in which Trump discussed highly classified intelligence with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and then-Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak, much to the horror of the intelligence community.

There were other reasons the intelligence community felt the “asset” might be compromised, but think about this one for just a minute, folks. The ‘man’ who holds the highest position in the government of a nation of some 330 million people, a ‘man’ who is privy to nearly every bit of classified information in the nation, is not trusted by his own intelligence people, cannot be trusted to keep a secret, to keep his mouth shut. He needs a keeper … make that a tag-team of keepers … lest he give his buddy Putin the nuclear codes! Ponder on that one as you drift off to sleep tonight.

Irresponsible to the nth degree …

I wanted to laugh, I wanted to cry … instead I held my head and let forth a string of language that is not appropriate for this blog. Former Goldman Sachs executive and current Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin announced that there will likely be more tax cuts in 2020! What made me laugh about the whole thing was remembering 1988 when George Bush, Sr., said repeatedly – “Read my lips: no new taxes”, and now I would applaud a president who promised “No new tax cuts”! My how times change.

“I think there’s no question the U.S. economy is in very good shape. As we look around the world, there’s no question that China is slowing, Europe is slowing — the U.S. is the bright spot of the world. And regards to a middle-class tax cut, you know, we’ll be looking at tax cuts 2.0, something that will be something we’ll consider next year. But right now, the economy is in very, very good shape.”

Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of Treasury

Trump and Mnuchin obviously need lessons in how budgets and economies work. Our national debt is spiraling out of control, currently at $22 trillion and growing every day, and they want to give another tax cut? Crazy! Why? Because, my friends, next November 3^rd we will all go vote for either Trump or a democrat … and Trump figures if he can tout another tax cut that won’t help any but his rich friends, we will all fall to our knees and kiss his feet and then go to the polls and vote for him. This, my friends, is madness. Just about the very last thing this nation needs is another tax cut.

To further cut taxes is the height of fiscal irresponsibility, yet those who are easily fooled will applaud, will believe that they are getting something … never mind that their grocery bills have increased by $40 per month as a result of Trump’s tariffs, and never mind that the cost of a gallon of gasoline has increased by 43% since 2016. Meanwhile, the companies to whom you give your hard-earned dollars like Exxon, Amazon, Netflix, Delta, IBM, etc., will happily pay no taxes at all. Don’t be fooled, folks … sooner or later, the economy will reflect the perfidy of cutting income by removing taxes from the ones who can most afford it.

Dynasty??? I think not …

Trump’s creepy re-election campaign manager, Brad Parscale, has a plan …

Brad Parscale, Trump campaign manager

“The Trumps will be a dynasty that will last for decades, propelling the Republican Party into a new party. One that will adapt to changing cultures. One must continue to adapt while keeping the conservative values that we believe in. I think they’re all amazing people, with amazing capabilities. I think you see that from Don Jr. I think you see that from Ivanka. You see it from Jared.”

I think that Mr. Parscale defines the word ‘amazing’ much differently than the rest of us. I find them all a bit ignorant and a whole lot ugly, both inside and out. One Trump is more than enough, thank you Brad. If I believed his prediction for a single minute, I wouldn’t be sitting here writing this post, but would be headed to the nearest point of exit from this country.

Science vs Trump …

Wilbur Ross, Secretary of Commerce

Remember last week’s fiasco with Trump, the sharpie, Hurricane Dorian and Alabama? Well, today the New York Times reported that Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross actually threatened to fire top employees at NOAA, the federal scientific agency responsible for weather forecasts, for correcting Trump’s dangerous misinformation. I said last week that it is a very dangerous situation when any politician, but especially one with the power of the president, can control what scientific information the public has access to. That Trump’s minion Ross was all too willing to do his bidding, to fire scientists to assuage Trump’s ego, is horrendous.

We also found out that it was Ross himself who contacted Neil Jacobs, the acting administrator of NOAA, from Greece where Ross was traveling and instructed Dr. Jacobs to fix the agency’s perceived contradiction of the president. Fix it??? It wasn’t broken! It was accurate … it was Trump’s statement that needed fixing, that was erroneous.

So now, do all scientists need to petition Trump for permission to state their findings on every front?

Still more competition!

Mark Sanford, 2020 GOP Candidate

Yet another republican has thrown his hat in the ring for the party’s nomination for the 2020 presidential election. First there was Bill Weld, then Joe Walsh, and now Mark Sanford, the former governor of South Carolina. This one must really frighten Trump for some reason, as he became somewhat unhinged … oh wait, he was already unhinged, wasn’t he? In a series of tweets, Trump attacked Sanford …

“When the former Governor of the Great State of South Carolina, @MarkSanford, was reported missing, only to then say he was away hiking on the Appalachian Trail, then was found in Argentina with his Flaming Dancer friend, it sounded like his political career was over. It was, but then he ran for Congress and won, only to lose his re-elect after I Tweeted my endorsement, on Election Day, for his opponent. But now take heart, he is back, and running for President of the United States. The Three Stooges, all badly failed candidates, will give it a go!”

‘Twould seem Trump is running a bit scared, eh? I will have more about Sanford, but for tonight, I am out of steam!

The conclusion to this collection of snippets can only be one thing: Trump must go!

How To Build A Wall …

Posted on January 27, 2019 by jilldennison under Election 2020, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

My friend Valerie posted this on Facebook last night …

“We just got a phone call wanting us to buy a brick in Trumps wall. No, not happening.”

Say WHAT??? Surely just some new phone scam, right? Well, yes and no. Turns out that there are a couple of different ‘things’ going around, but at least one is actually a project of Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign! Yes, folks, but the bricks aren’t real, and they don’t go to build the wall! They are fake bricks that you can purchase for only $20.20 each and have them sent to either Senator Chuck Schumer or House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Campaign manager Brad Parscale issued a statement:

“The Democrats have been stonewalling President Trump for too long, as the President remains fully committed to make a deal to secure our border. Now the American people can send a message directly to Chuck and Nancy on a faux red brick that tells them to build the wall. Because they clearly don’t understand the facts about the critical need for a wall and border security, our bricks will teach them the truth about the crime, drugs, and human trafficking that result from open borders.”

A fake brick. For only $20.20. Enough to feed a family of four for a day or two, at least. Instead, some fools will throw away their money on this foolish little game. By the way … the market price of an actual brick is around $1.96 per square foot.

The campaign also set up a website called Build the Border Wall, where respondents can donate their money and choose if they want their brick to be sent to Pelosi or Schumer. They can send up to seven bricks to each with one donation.

There is also a robocall going about that may or may not be associated with the Trump campaign, where they are asking for $35. The voicemail says …

“To secure the border and stop criminal gangs, drug smugglers and human traffickers, it’s a tremendous problem. President Trump wants to send bricks to Chuck and Nancy for every donation of at least $35 right now. That’s why we need your help, now more than ever to get these bricks sent, so Chuck, Nancy and the Democrats know you’re serious about helping President Trump secure the border and fund the wall. So please press 1 now to support President Trump by donating and getting your brick sent to Chuck and Nancy. Again press 1 to donate, that’s on your keypad to donate now, press 9 to unsubscribe.”

I came across these stories in several media venues, including The Hill and Newsweek. I liked what one Newsweek reader, Philip Bergeron, suggested:

Meanwhile … remember a while back when I reported that a GoFundMe account had been set up by a man named Brian Kolfage for the purpose of financing Trump’s border wall? Kolfage was asking that every American contribute $80. Well, as of January 9^th, it was reported by MarketWatch that the account had raised $19.7 million. Now, that’s quite a bit shy of the $5.7 billion that Trump is demanding only to make a start on his blasted wall, but it is still an astounding figure! I am stunned and appalled that more than 346,000 people had no better sense than to donate an average of $56.94 to a wall that is not needed, is not wanted, and is one of the biggest hoaxes of modern times!!! Fools!!! I can actually feed my family for a week on $56.94 if I try!

However … two days later, on January 11^th, GoFundMe announced that they would refund all donations after Kolfage made a strange change to the wording of the account. Whereas in the beginning, he claimed that ‘every single penny’ would go directly toward building the wall, he later added the following verbage …

WE EXPANDED OUR MISSION! We are no longer just funding the wall, we are now BUILDING the wall.

Eight days before Christmas I started this GoFundMe campaign because I was tired of watching the U.S. government’s inability to secure our southern border. Like most Americans, I see the porous southern border as a national security threat and I refuse to allow our broken political system to leave my family and my country vulnerable to attack.

The plan of action was simple and straightforward to raise money to construct a wall on our southern border. We have raised over $20 Million from 325,000 plus donors and we are only just getting started! I have been literally overwhelmed and inspired by the outpouring of support, calls, and emails from American citizens who support our efforts to Build the Wall. I got some hate as well but that was easy to ignore with all the positive feedback I was getting. I immediately sought out and consulted with some of our country’s leading professionals in law, politics, national security, construction, and finance. This team has spent countless hours over the holidays reviewing all issues pertaining to the construction of a southern border wall. Unanimously, we have all come to the conclusion that:

The federal government won’t be able to accept our donations anytime soon.
We are better equipped than our own government to use the donated funds to build an actual wall on the southern border.
Our highly experienced team is highly confident that we can complete significant segments of the wall in less time, and for far less money, than the federal government, while meeting or exceeding all required regulatory, engineering, and environmental specifications.
Our team strongly believes that we can complete our segments of the wall for less than half of the government’s estimated costs on a per mile basis.

It was also discovered that Kolfage has a history of running sites that promoted conspiracy theories and racist content. A BuzzFeed News investigation published Thursday found that Kolfage allegedly pocketed money donated to a previous GoFundMe account he started for wounded veterans. Nice guy, huh? Fits right in with the rest of the Trumpeters. Although GoFundMe is refunding the money of all who donated prior to January 11^th, the campaign is still open and people are still donating, for I saw no less than ten donations that had come in within the two hours before I visited the site.

I would be willing to bet that many, if not all of the people donating to any of these schemes are in the bottom half of the income scale and can ill afford the money they have thrown away. Surely it is only the under-educated and uninformed that would be so foolish? Sigh.

Free Press — Going, Going …

Posted on June 15, 2018 by jilldennison under Free Press Issues, Political commentary

The press, the media, are NOT the enemy of the people. Period.

Two news items this week have left me literally shaking with rage. The first you have likely already seen and heard multiple times, but the second was less publicized and you may have missed it.

First …It is reminiscent of February 2017 when, shortly after taking office, he called the press “the enemy of the people”. Since then, hardly a day has gone by that he didn’t refer to CNN, the New York Times or The Washington Post as “fake news”. As if all that weren’t quite enough, his 2020 campaign manager, Brad Parscale tweeted …This, folks, is intolerable. No modern American president has publicly spoken this way about the press. Is this what Trump’s followers find so admirable about him? Is this what they mean when they say he “tells it like it is”? If so, then they need to understand that what he is doing is chipping away at the very heart of the 1^st Amendment. As Jim Acosta replied, “Dictatorships take away press credentials. Not democracies.”

Second …

You may not have heard that cartoonist Rob Rogers was fired from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette after more than 25 years as the paper’s editorial cartoonist. Why? Let me show you …Turns out that the recently-hired editorial page editor, Keith Burris, and the publisher, John Robinson Block, are Trump supporters. As such, they took umbrage with Rogers’ cartoons. They began by blocking any of his cartoons that were critical of Trump, and when he was ordered to draw cartoons extolling the virtues(?) of Trump, he refused and then was fired.

Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto’s statement:

“The move today by the leadership of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to fire Rob Rogers after he drew a series of cartoons critical of President Trump is disappointing, and sends the wrong message about press freedoms in a time when they are under siege.

This is precisely the time when the constitutionally-protected free press – including critics like Rob Rogers – should be celebrated and supported, and not fired for doing their jobs. This decision, just one day after the President of the United States said the news media is “Our Country’s biggest enemy,” sets a low standard in the 232-year history of the newspaper.

I’ve known Rob a long time. That has never stopped him from publishing cartoons that are critical of me, of my policy positions, or of my actions (or inactions) in office. He’s even made fun of my weight. But he is one of the best in the world at his time-honored craft, and I know people of all political persuasions stand with me in support of him, even if the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette regrettably does not.”

These two incidents are not to be taken lightly, folks. These are direct hits on our freedom of the press, and make no mistake, but a free press – one able to criticize without fear of reprisal – is our only hope of knowing what our government is doing. Without the Post, the Times, CNN, ABC, Time, and a host of others, we are in the dark and will be spoon-fed only the propaganda of Fox, Breitbart, Hannity and Jones. We will be told only what Trump & Co want us to be told. I would ask every person who still supports Donald Trump – are you okay with that? Will you be happy to live in a tunnel, in a dictatorship where you have no voice?

A few days ago I was on the phone with my friend Herb, but we kept getting cut off every few sentences. On about the 4^th attempt to continue the conversation, he jokingly said that it was probably Trump punishing me for all the things I have written about him. We laughed about it. That was 2 days ago. Today I am no longer laughing. Think about it.

On The Road Again …

Posted on February 28, 2018 by jilldennison under Political commentary

I have long said that Donald Trump never seemed to stop campaigning, even after he won the election on 08 November 2016, and not even after his inauguration on 20 January 2017. He continues to hold campaign-style rallies as if he were still running for the office that he now (temporarily) holds. Well, guess what? I was right! On the day of his inauguration, Donald Trump filed his 2020 campaign with the Federal Elections Commission! Is this not the epitome of arrogance?

Yesterday, Trump made public his 2020 campaign when he announced his intention to run, and also named Brad Parscale as his campaign manager. Parscale is closely aligned with Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who recently lost his security clearance and is at the center of an investigation into his ties with foreign agents. It is said that Trump is ‘itching’ to get back out on the campaign trail, and his favourite activity of performing for an adoring crowd. Wait … isn’t he supposed to be in the Oval Office working at the job for which he was elected? I mean, we are paying him $400,000 plus fringe benefits to do a job, and … he’d rather spend his time campaigning to get the same job in 980 days? Does anybody see a problem with this?

Brad Parscale, campaign manager

Thus far, Trump has held no less than 19 campaign rallies since his election in November 2016. The campaign has raised funds and run two nationwide advertising campaigns. Given the campaign he ran in 2015-2016, where his campaign slogans seemed to be “Crooked Hillary” and “Lock her up”, I am unclear how he can campaign this early, as he has no opponent to brutalize.

But even though there are still 980 days until the next presidential election on 06 November 2020, and even though there is not yet a clear candidate on the democratic side, there are already polls! And the good news is that Trump is trailing, on average 10-18 against almost any potential candidate, including Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren or Kirsten Gillibrand.

He already has a small campaign staff, including Brad Parscale (campaign manager), Michael Glassner (campaign committee manager), John Pence (campaign committee deputy executive director) – yes, he is related to Mike Pence – his nephew, in fact, Bradley Crate (campaign treasurer). And by the end of 2017, his campaign had already received more than $36 million in contributions. In addition to his tired old slogan of “Make America Great Again”, he has added a new one: “Promises Made, Promises Kept”. Shoot me now, please.

In 2016, I complained that nearly two years was far too long for a political campaign to go on, that it was draining and demoralizing for the public. I suggested that 3-6 months is plenty of time for a few debates, some ads, and a handful of rallies, and would allow we, the voters, to maintain at least an illusion of sanity. So, what do they do? They extend it to four bloomin’ years! Shoot me now, please.

With the scandals and chaos that define the Trump administration, and with collusion between the Trump campaign (the old one from 2016) almost certain to land squarely in Trump’s lap before this year is out, I think it highly unlikely that Donald Trump’s name will be anywhere on the ballot in 2020. If I am wrong, if he can not only run, but win in 2020, then our system will have somehow failed miserably.

Filosofa's Word

Cogito Ergo Sum

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