Snarky @#$%& Snippets

Posted on December 6, 2020 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

If you live outside the United States, count your blessings. This nation has lost its collective marbles! I would damn near kill for just one day with no mention of anyone whose last name is Trump in the news. I would absolutely do a happy dance if all the republicans in the nation suddenly developed laryngitis and had to go 24 hours without opening their nasty mouths! We can’t even get weekend breaks from the chaos and craziness! In keeping with the chaos, I now have news overload which has given me a severe case of mind bounce (not to mention high blood pressure), so this morning you get a bunch of unrelated tiny snippets with an abundance of snark … I think.

You’re Fired (by form letter via email)

Trump fired the Pentagon business advisory board … all nine of them. Members of the board received a brief email from Joshua Whitehouse, the White House liaison to the Department of Defense, that simply said, “if you are receiving this e-mail, your membership on the Defense Business Board has expired or is coming to an end.” What a way to find out you’re ousted, eh?

But wait … that’s not even the worst part. Two of the people Trump named to the board to replace the fired members are none other than Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie, his former campaign manager and deputy campaign manager, neither of whom have served a single day in the military or have a hair on their head’s worth of experience in the defense industry! My damn cat has as much to qualify him for a seat on that board as those two ass-lickers have. Former Defense Secretary William Cohen called the move, “… an obscene gesture to the Biden supporters and to at least the majority of the American people.”

Idiot Extraordinaire

Former Republican congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who made a brief and unsuccessful attempt to gain the republican nomination for president in 2012, just can’t seem to sit down and shut up. Her latest is a short video whereby she pleads with god to “deliver Donald Trump a second term”. I don’t need to add my snark to that one, for it speaks for itself.

Gaetz banned from New Jersey!

I’ve written so many times about the punk republican representative Matt Gaetz that I can even spell his name without looking it up. He was arrested for Driving Under the Influence in 2008, and two years later elected to the Florida House of Representatives. Since 2017, he’s been making a fool of himself in the U.S. House of Representatives. He’s a punk who thinks his antics are cute … he reminds me of a teenage boy, but he is in fact 38 years of age.

The latest? He doesn’t seem to understand that rules apply to him, too. He attended a ‘secret party’ held by the Young Republicans club in Jersey City, New Jersey, with at least 150 other people in attendance. Right smack in the middle of a new surge of the coronavirus in that area, and where such large gatherings were expressly forbidden by order of Governor Phil Murphy. Nobody wore a mask at the gathering.

While not officially banned, Governor Murphy said, “You are not welcome in New Jersey, and frankly I don’t ever want you back in this state.” Two thumbs up to Governor Murphy for having the courage to speak up and speak out. As for Gaetz … Floridians apparently think he’s cool, for he was re-elected again last month. Way to go, Florida … here, have another drink of Kool Aid.

Isn’t coercion illegal?

I seriously long for the day Trump is naught but a bad memory … I would love not to see his name ever again. The latest? He’s once again trying to coerce Georgia Governor Brian Kemp to convene an emergency session of the Georgia State Legislature so it can name its own electors, who would in turn vote for him instead of President-Elect Joe Biden. This, my friends, is how leaders of banana republics deport themselves, not the ‘leader’ of a democratic republic of 330 million people!!! WE THE PEOPLE spoke on November 3^rd! Donald F***ing Trump has no right whatsoever to attempt to override our voices!

In case you can’t tell, I am livid. Donald Trump should be arrested right now and kept in a jail cell, given only bread and water until the evening of January 20^th. He has broken just about every law I can think of, and this is beyond unconscionable … it is criminal! He is a crook, worse than President Richard M. Nixon ever thought about being. He is as bad as Jeffrey Dahmer!

Kemp, for whom I have zero respect, to his credit refused Trump’s ‘request’. Georgia has had two full recounts and an audit and certified the election for Joe Biden not just once, but twice. No evidence of any notable fraud has been found. Why oh why hasn’t Melania held a pillow over his head some night?

Ol’ Two-Faced Lindsey is at it again

Speaking of men with no conscience … Lindsey Graham is in the news again. You remember Lindsey … the ‘man’ who claimed to be Senator John McCain’s ‘best friend’ and then stabbed him in the back? Lindsey made an appearance on Fox ‘News’ the other day. When Sean Hannity asked him about the possibility of Donald Trump facing a Federal investigation for crimes he’s accused of committing in office and during his campaign, Lindsey replied, falsely claiming that Robert Mueller’s investigation “found nothing,” and promising that if both Republicans win the two special elections coming up in January in Georgia, “the Attorney General nominee…will come before the judiciary committee…there’s no way in hell anyone’s gonna get confirmed …”

Tell you what, folks … I think it’s time for a mass impeachment of every damn republican in Congress, for as best I can tell they are every one a bunch of crooks who are determined to further rip apart what little is left of our trust in government.

And on that note, I must stop for tonight for if I don’t take a bit of time to wind down, I’ll lie awake cussing ‘til the sun comes up … if it even bothers. Have a wonderful Sunday … if you live outside the U.S., that might be possible.

This is my coffee mug, gifted to me one Christmas many years ago by my girls. It suits me to a T.

Trump’s ‘War Room’ ???

Posted on May 27, 2017 by jilldennison under Political commentary

This afternoon, a story in Reuters caught my eye. The title read, “In shakeup, Trump to set up ‘war room’ to repel attacks over Russia probe”. Here are a few highlights from the story:

“Once U.S. President Donald Trump returns from his overseas trip, the White House plans to launch its most aggressive effort yet to push back against allegations involving Russia and his presidential campaign, tackling head-on a scandal that has threatened to consume his young presidency.

Trump’s advisers are planning to establish a “war room” to combat mounting questions about communication between Russia and his presidential campaign before and after November’s presidential election …

Upon Trump’s return, the administration will add experienced political professionals, including Trump’s former campaign manager, and possibly more lawyers to handle the Russia probe, which has gained new urgency since the Justice Department appointed a special counsel to head the investigation.

A White House official confirmed plans to hold more rallies.

Jared Kushner, a senior adviser to Trump, will be involved in the new strategic messaging operation, as will Steve Bannon, another top adviser who specializes in managing Trump’s populist appeal and shaping his political image. Bannon and Trump’s chief of staff, Reince Priebus, have been laying the groundwork for the plan this week.

Kushner, who held several meetings with Russian officials following the election, is a focus of the probe.

Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s former campaign manager, is also expected to be part of the effort.

“The goal of the White House is to try and contain the crisis and media coverage of the special counsel.”

Christopher Ruddy, chief executive of Newsmax Media and a Trump friend, said he expects the president will travel more when he returns from overseas and encouraged the White House to focus on issues that pump up his base voters.

“From my perspective, I think the president should be doing the stuff that he does best, which is talking about his agenda: jobs, trade and security,” Ruddy said. Trump has scheduled a political rally for next week in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The White House said other similar events are in the planning stages.

I don’t wish to spend 1,000 words on this, as it is uncertain quite exactly what is meant by “set up ‘war room’ to repel attacks over Russia probe”. But a few points may be worth thinking about.

A ‘war room’ was probably a poor choice of words, and ‘to repel attacks over Russia probe’ an even worse choice. Trump & Co need to keep their noses clean here, as their actions and speech to date have given them the appearance of having something to hide. When Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, then admitted that he did so because of the investigation into Trump, his advisors and their ties to Russia, he blundered. At that point, he began to look guilty as heck. If he wants anybody to believe he is innocent, he needs to back off, take the criticisms with grace, and speak to the FBI and the special prosecutor only when spoken to.

Jared Kushner has now been implicated in the tangled Russian-US web and has, like Trump, no business interfering in any capacity. He, too, is giving off smoke signals that look an awful lot like guilt.

I get nervous when I hear that part of their goal is to “contain the crisis and media coverage of the special counsel.” To contain the media coverage would be to stifle or tie the press’ hands, and this is not acceptable under any foreseeable circumstances.

Trump’s plan to travel more, hold more political, campaign-style rallies is absurd, despite what Mr. Ruddy may think. Ruddy says the job of the president is to “pump up the voters”, but it is not an election year and Trump needs to focus on doing the job, rather than campaigning for an election that he will never see! The job of the president is NOT to go about the country drumming up fans, inciting the masses, and bragging about his efforts, most of which are disastrous. The job of the president is to govern the nation. Trump is a showman, not a leader. He needs to realize very quickly that holding rallies are not in his job description. Personally, if he has that much time on his hands, I would prefer he spend it reading and studying the U.S. Constitution and learning about both our allies and our adversaries, as he seems to have the two confused. And, since I am one of his employers, my opinion should count for something!

And as for Corey Lewandowski … where to start? Trump fired him as his campaign manager in June 2016 and replaced him with bloomin’ idiot Kellyanne Conway. Lewandowski went to work for CNN immediately after leaving Trump’s team. In November, 3 days after the election, Lewandowski resigned his position as a CNN commentator and the following month started a political consulting firm, Avenue Strategies. “I will always be Presidnt-elect Trump’s biggest supporter,” Lewandowski said. Pass the ginger ale, please … or the wine. Then earlier this month, Lewandowski also quit the firm he had founded, leaving it for his partner, Barry Bennett, another former trumpidian, to run on his own.

Lewandowski himself may actually come under the cloud of suspicion in the Russian ties investigation, if he isn’t already, as he approved foreign policy adviser Carter Page’s now-infamous trip to Moscow last summer. The trip is now a focus of congressional and FBI investigations into Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election. Lewandowski told POLITICO he did not recall the email exchange with Page, but he did not deny that it occurred. The plot thickens and the web becomes ever more tangled.

As I said, I do not want to spend too much time dwelling on this ‘war room’ story until we see what comes of it and what the true intent is. However these were just a few things that raised red flags and I think bear watching. But then, anything involving Trump and his minions bears watching, for I do not trust a single one of them.

On Double Speak and Post-Truth

Posted on December 4, 2016 by jilldennison under Political commentary, Social commentary

Every year Oxford Dictionaries selects a word or expression that has attracted a great deal of interest during the year to date: the Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year. Over the years, the UK and US dictionary teams have often chosen different Words of the Year. Each country’s vocabulary develops in different ways according to what is happening culturally and in the news and, as such, the strongest contender for Word of the Year can be different.

In 2015, for the first time ever, the Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year is a pictograph, officially called the ‘Face with Tears of Joy’ emoji.

This year, the Oxford Word of the Year is … {drumroll} … POST-TRUTH. Post-truth is defined as a condition “in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Why? According to Oxford’s website, “The concept of post-truth has been in existence for the past decade, but Oxford Dictionaries has seen a spike in frequency this year in the context of the EU referendum in the United Kingdom and the presidential election in the United States. It has also become associated with a particular noun, in the phrase post-truth politics.”

What it boils down to is that facts and hard data have become far less persuasive in today’s political environment than lies or perceptions of truth. Ronald Reagan often confused his former career in Hollywood with the reality of his presidency, and thus was known for telling a few tall tales. Reagan’s Press Secretary, Larry Speakes, once said, “If you tell the same story five times it’s true.”

Hannah Arendt, writing in 1967, presciently explained the basis for this phenomenon: “Since the liar is free to fashion his ‘facts’ to fit the profit and pleasure, or even the mere expectations, of his audience, the chances are that he will be more persuasive than the truth teller.”

In the past few weeks, threatened and angered by the fact that Hillary Clinton actually won 1.5% more of the popular vote than he, Donald Trump tweeted:

“In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally”. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

While there is absolutely no basis in fact for such a claim, when questioned by CNN’s Jake Tapper, Trump advisor, Kellyanne Conway said, “He’s the president-elect, so that’s presidential behavior. When the president does it, that means that it’s not illegal.” But, president-elect or not, it is still a lie. But, in the world of post-truth, if enough people believe it, it is as good as a fact, right? Not that it would have ever worked for President Obama, but …

Along those lines, Trump’s former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, during the “post-mortem” at Harvard University that I mentioned in a previous post, said “You guys took everything that Donald Trump said so literally. The American people didn’t. They understood it. They understood that sometimes — when you have a conversation with people, whether it’s around the dinner table or at a bar — you’re going to say things, and sometimes you don’t have all the facts to back it up.” So, now there is no difference from tales told after a few drinks at the local pub, and what the president of a nation tells the citizens? Welcome to the new world, folks!

So, facts have become meaningless? Or can be ‘altered’ to fit what a given person wants the facts to be, rather than what they actually are? One analyst argues that “What matters now is not whether his fraud claim is true. No, what matters is who believes it.”

I have referenced George Orwell’s iconic novel, 1984, written in 1949, but apparently I am not alone in seeing parallels between today’s political climate and the world of which Orwell wrote. The Washington Post writer Margaret Sullivan says, “It’s time to dust off your old copy of “1984” by George Orwell and recall this passage: “The Ministry of Peace concerns itself with war, the Ministry of Truth with lies, the Ministry of Love with torture and the Ministry of Plenty with starvation. These contradictions are not accidental, nor do they result from ordinary hypocrisy: they are deliberate exercises in doublethink.”” In the novel, Orwell casts a world in which the state is daily changing historic records to fit its propaganda goals of the day. I suspect we will see plenty of this in months to come.

Given the post-truth politics of the next administration, it is more important than ever that people think before believing, research the facts before blindly following. And it is imperative that the mainstream media learn from the lessons of the past year and a half, assess their own behaviours and motives, and do a much better job of fact-checking and constantly calling out the lies, or post-truths. A seemingly vast majority of citizens, it has been proven, will not take the time and trouble to question those in power, or to verify what is said, but will blindly believe whatever comes out of the mouth of their chosen leader, at least as long as he tells them what they want to hear.

To end with a bit of humour, here are the other words that made the shortlist for Oxford’s 2016 Word of the Year:

adulting, n. [mass noun] informal the practice of behaving in a way characteristic of a responsible adult, especially the accomplishment of mundane but necessary tasks.

alt-right, n. (in the US) an ideological grouping associated with extreme conservative or reactionary viewpoints, characterized by a rejection of mainstream politics and by the use of online media to disseminate deliberately controversial content. Find out more about the word’s rise.

Brexiteer, n. British informal a person who is in favour of the United Kingdom withdrawing from the European Union.

chatbot, n. a computer program designed to simulate conversation with human users, especially over the Internet.

coulrophobia, n. [mass noun] rare extreme or irrational fear of clowns.

glass cliff, n. used with reference to a situation in which a woman or member of a minority group ascends to a leadership position in challenging circumstances where the risk of failure is high. Explore the word’s history from one of the inventors of the term, Alex Haslam.

hygge, n. [mass noun] a quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being (regarded as a defining characteristic of Danish culture):

Latinx, n. (plural Latinxs or same) and adj. a person of Latin American origin or descent (used as a gender-neutral or non-binary alternative to Latino or Latina); relating to people of Latin American origin or descent (used as a gender-neutral or non-binary alternative to Latino or Latina).

woke, adj. (woker, wokest) US informal alert to injustice in society, especially racism.

TRAIN WRECK AHEAD … !!!

Posted on August 2, 2016 by jilldennison under Political commentary, Social commentary

Where to begin? Last week I mentioned that in my opinion, Donald Trump is heading for a complete meltdown of epic proportions. This week’s news (note that as I write this, it is only Monday!) would seem to support that theory. What should have been a non-issue is spiraling out of control and appears to be headed into uncharted territory that even I cannot imagine. I refer, of course, to Donald Trump vs. Khizr Khan. I think a time-line of events is in order.

It all started last week, when the father of an American-Muslim soldier killed in Iraq gave a moving speech at the Democratic National Convention (DNC). It was a short speech, completely extemporaneous, using neither teleprompter nor notes:

“Tonight we are honoured to stand here as parents of Captain Humayun Khan and as patriotic American Muslims – with undivided loyalty to our country.

Like many immigrants, we came to this country empty-handed. We believed in American democracy; that with hard work and goodness of this country, we could share in and contribute to its blessings.

We are blessed to raise our three sons in a nation where they were free to be themselves and follow their dreams.

Our son, Humayun, had dreams too, of being a military lawyer, but he put those dreams aside the day he sacrificed his life to save the lives of his fellow soldiers. Hillary Clinton was right when she called my son ‘the best of America’.

If it was up to Donald Trump, he never would have been in America. Donald Trump consistently smears the character of Muslims. He disrespects other minorities; women; judges; even his own party leadership.

He vows to build walls, and ban us from this country. Donald Trump, you’re asking Americans to trust you with their future.

Let me ask you: have you even read the United States constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy. [he pulls it out] In this document, look for the words ‘liberty’ and ‘equal protection of law’.

Have you ever been to Arlington Cemetery? Go look at the graves of brave patriots who died defending the United States of America.

You will see all faiths, genders and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing and no one.

We cannot solve our problems by building walls, sowing division. We are stronger together. And we will keep getting stronger when Hillary Clinton becomes our President.

In conclusion, I ask every patriot American, all Muslim immigrants, and all immigrants to not take this election lightly.

This is a historic election, and I request to honour the sacrifice of my son – and on election day, take the time to get out and vote.

And vote for the healer. vote for the strongest, most qualified candidate, Hillary Clinton, not the divider. God bless you, thank you.”

Now, a smart man would have left it alone, but as I may have mentioned more than once, Trump is not necessarily a smart man. So, in an interview the next day, he said “If you look at his wife, she was standing there. She had nothing to say. She probably, maybe she wasn’t allowed to have anything to say. I think I’ve made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard. I’ve created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs, built great structures. I’ve done, I’ve had tremendous success.” Here we have a grieving immigrant father whose son, a U.S. Army Captain, was killed in Iraq while heroically protecting his men from an attack on their compound, calling Trump out for proposing a ban on Muslims entering the country. Trump’s response was to make a snarky remark and then to claim, incredibly, that having a ‘successful’ business career was somewhat an equivalent sacrifice to having a son die in combat. A train wreck just looking for a place to happen ….

Khizr Khan’s wife, Ghazala, responded to Trump’s remarks with a letter to the editor of The Washington Post, which reads, in part:

“Donald Trump has asked why I did not speak at the Democratic convention. He said he would like to hear from me. Here is my answer to Donald Trump: Because without saying a thing, all the world, all America, felt my pain. Donald Trump said that maybe I wasn’t allowed to say anything. That is not true. My husband asked me if I wanted to speak, but I told him I could not. Donald Trump said he has made a lot of sacrifices. He doesn’t know what the word sacrifice means.”

(To read Ms. Khan’s letter in its entirety, click here)

During the course of the weekend, Trump & Co. gave several interviews, some attempting to clean up the disastrous mess Trump made, others continuing to escalate the attack against the Khans. Vice-presidential hopeful Mike Pence issued the following statement via Facebook:

STATEMENT FROM REPUBLICAN VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, GOVERNOR MIKE PENCE

Donald Trump and I believe that Captain Humayun Khan is an American hero and his family, like all Gold Star families, should be cherished by every American.

Captain Khan gave his life to defend our country in the global war on terror. Due to the disastrous decisions of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, a once stable Middle East has now been overrun by ISIS. This must not stand.

By suspending immigration from countries that have been compromised by terrorism, rebuilding our military, defeating ISIS at its source and projecting strength on the global stage, we will reduce the likelihood that other American families will face the enduring heartbreak of the Khan family.

Donald Trump will support our military and their families and we will defeat the enemies of our freedom.

– Governor Mike Pence

It is worth noting that the Khan’s son was killed in Iraq in 2004 — 12 years ago, four years before Obama became president!

Trump uses his favourite means of communication to tweet: “While I feel deeply for the loss of his son, Mr. Khan who has never met me, has no right to stand in front of millions of people and claim I have never read the Constitution, (which is false) and say many other inaccurate things.” Excuse me, Mr. Trump, but if you read that Constitution that Mr. Khan offered to lend you, you will see that right there in the 1^st Amendment it says that Mr. Khan, as well as all the rest of us, have the right to criticize you. By the way, you will also see that there are only seven Articles! This information may come in handy for you someday.

Well, needless to say there were more tweets ‘n twitters, but then came this:

Trump Veterans Adviser Attacks Khizr Khan As A ‘Muslim Brotherhood Agent’

Trump advisor and New Hampshire State Representative Al Baldasaro tweeted a link to an article from Shoebat.com, a fringe anti-Islam conspiracy website. The article suggests (without any evidence) that Khizr Khan’s son, Humayun Khan, who was awarded a Purple Heart and Bronze, was a jihadist who joined the military to kill Americans. Then Roger Stone, whom you may remember from a previous Idiot of the Week post jumped on the train with his own tweet: “Mr. Khan more than an aggrieved father of a Muslim son- he’s Muslim Brotherhood agent helping Hillary.”

I believe the Trump Train has now crossed the line of slander, but they are not yet done … there’s still more. Next to board the train is none other than Trump’s former campaign manager, now a CNN political commentator, Corey Lewandowski, with this statement “We’ve had 7,000 soldiers who have died, $6 trillion wasted overseas that if Donald Trump was president, we would never have had, and Captain Khan would be alive today. If Donald Trump was the president, Captain Khan would be alive today, because he would’ve never engaged in a war that didn’t directly benefit this country. Captain Khan would be alive today, as would 7,000 other U.S. soldiers.” The problem with that statement is that just a year before Captain Khan was killed, Howard Stern asked Trump “Are you for invading Iraq?” To which Trump replied “Yeah, I guess so.” There is no evidence that Trump opposed the Iraq war prior to it beginning.

Democrats and Republicans alike are taking Mr. Trump to task for his and his minions’ callous and untrue remarks. I suspect that at this point, Mr. Trump needs to listen to his legal advisors who, I am certain, are telling him to stop talking! Since when have facts or lawsuits ever stood in the way of da trumpeter? I am left to wonder where this goes next and if it might be the beginning of the end for the Trump campaign, although to judge by the comments I received on Facebook today, his supporters are still adamant. What does it take for them to wake up and smell the diesel fuel burning?

“How many times can a man turn his head, and pretend that he just doesn’t see? How many ears must one man have before he can hear people cry? The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.”

Partial lyrics from Blowing In The Wind – Bob Dylan

Lewandowski – A Trump Plant?

Posted on July 10, 2016 by jilldennison under Political commentary

So, Donald Trump fires his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski on Monday, June 20^th, and CNN hires Lewandowski to be a political commentator on Thursday, June 23^rd. Why? This move makes absolutely no sense and is proving to be a terrible mistake, at least in the eyes of the viewing public.

First of all, Mr. Lewandowski signed a non-disclosure agreement that likely includes “During the term of your service and at all times thereafter, you hereby promise and agree not to demean or disparage publicly the company, Mr. Trump, any Trump company, any family member, or any family member company.” So he cannot do ‘unbiased’ reporting. Second, Mr. Lewandowski has historically shown a lack of respect bordering on volatile toward members of the press. Point in case: his manhandling of Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields at a campaign rally. Though charges were dropped, the incident happened, and he was caught on tape … a video that every news viewer saw, so there is no plausible denial. An investigation by Politico back in March reported that he was “rough with reporters and sexually suggestive with female journalists, while profanely berating conservative officials and co-workers he deemed to be challenging his authority.”

Most shook their head, on hearing that CNN had snatched up Lewandowski so quickly, and asked the same question I asked: WHY? What has he to offer us, the viewers? The answer, it turns out, is nothing, possibly even less than nothing. And what has he to offer CNN in exchange for a reportedly fat salary? Quite possibly a loss of viewers and the beginning of their fall into the pit of news network oblivion. For my part, I did not turn CNN on this morning, as I usually do, nor have I checked their website. There are a handful of CNN anchors/reporters that I respect, that I see as relatively intellectual, thought-provoking, and yet non-confrontational, including Christiane Amanpour, Peter Bergen, Wolf Blitzer, Donna Brazile, Bill Press, and Fareed Zakaria. The addition of a crass, right-wing former Trump advisor is a slap in the face to these men and women, in fact to all serious journalists.

Thus far, Lewandowski has proven to be as much of a dud as we all anticipated. Here are a few of his comments regarding his former employer’s shenanigans:

“Mr. Trump’s best speech of the presidential cycle.”
“This is a very, very strong message for him and, I think, the best speech he’s given all cycle.”
“The speech was delivered clearly, articulately, and again, the best speech of the campaign so ”
“Trump is the only person who’s going to save this country for my children.”

Oh please, shoot me now!

When asked by fellow reporter Alisyn Camerota why Donald Trump went to the UK and criticized the president, when there is an unwritten rule that this simply is not good etiquette, he deflected the question and muttered a bunch of gibberish about how wonderful it was that Trump and family built such a wonderful golf course in Scotland. More recently, he defended Trump’s use of the Star of David to attack Hillary Clinton.

Those are the facts of the matter. Now for my speculation. Lewandowski’s termination from Donald Trump’s employ seemed a bit enigmatic at the time. There appeared to be no hard feelings on either side; Lewandowski expressed no anger, disappointment, or other emotion that would be normal and expected under the circumstances, especially one with a proven volatile temperament. Within hours of his termination, Lewandowski interviewed with both MSNBC and CNN. Three days later he is hired on by CNN as a political commentator despite the fact that CNN executives had to know his history toward journalists and had to know that he was bound by a non-disclosure agreement. (In addition, the man has the personality of a dead sloth, but that is not relevant) That said, I cannot help wondering if this was a pre-conceived plan to plant a Trumpian in one of the most-viewed cable news networks in the nation.

Though most news agencies lean at least slightly toward one side or another when it comes to politics and social issues, CNN has a history for being among the least biased of the major news providers. I am not doling them stars here, as they have other faults, but overall, they have had commentators and reporters from both sides of the aisle and try to present both sides somewhat fairly. They certainly top MSNBC and Fox! However, this latest hiring is not only a push to the right, but to a specific candidate on the right. Since he emphatically defended Trumps anti-semitic tweet last week, it will be quite interesting to see if CNN has drawn any line in the sand, and if so, where that line lies. Perhaps by next year it will be called DNN … “Donnie’s News Network”.

Then there is the matter of salary. It is well-documented that Mr. Lewandowski earned $20,000 per month plus the benefit of an apartment, and I am certain other ‘benefits’ while working as Donald Trump’s campaign manager. The base salary alone comes to $240,000. But, some months Trump paid Lewandowski as much as $75,000. So, some simple math, simply averaging the two, and Mr. Lewandowski was quite possibly earning about $570,000 per year, not including his apartment. When CNN President Jeff Zucker hired Lewandowski, rumour had it that his contract was for $500,000. Zucker later denied the rumour, saying “I can assure you we are paying him nowhere near $500,000.” Really? So, Lewandowski is willing to take a huge salary cut simply to sit in front of a camera with his powdered nose and say nice things about his former boss? I don’t think so.

I believe that Lewandowski continues on the Trump payroll to this day and beyond. I believe this is a huge farce to plant Lewandowski in a major news network to toot the Trumpet in an attempt to recruit even more lemmings to walk over the cliff. No, I have no proof of this, it is strictly speculation on my part. However, there are far too many curious aspects, too many unanswered questions surrounding the entire matter. To use the tired old phrase, ‘where there’s smoke there’s fire’ … and it is getting smokier here than an old backroom pool hall!

Da Trump Dumps Da Chief Thug!

Posted on June 21, 2016 by jilldennison under Political commentary

Yesterday morning, Donald Trump announced that he fired his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski! Now, I have no love for Lewandowski … the man is a narcissistic bully, but then so is Trump. The reason for the firing? Well, the two have reportedly been at odds for quite some time, but the main reason for the firing at this particular time appears to be because … Trump is rapidly sinking in the polls!

Trump is falling in the polls and it is his campaign manager’s fault. Hmmmm …. I would have placed the blame more squarely on the shoulders of the one who has made racist remarks about a well-respected judge, made highly inappropriate remarks congratulating himself after a tragedy that took 49 lives, and other minor faux pas like that. But nope, apparently it is all Lewandowski’s fault. Now granted, Lewandowski might have proved a serious embarrassment back in March when Lewandowski forcibly yanked Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields out of the way after Trump’s press conference in Florida. In fact, many called for Trump to dump Lewandowski at that time, but he stood by his manager, even after witnesses and a video tape confirmed the incident.

Lest you start feeling sorry for Lewandowski for being the ‘sacrificial lamb’ in the train wreck that is Trump’s campaign, wait and see what other shenanigans he has been accused of in the past:

“On the sidelines of a meeting of the group’s board in Manhattan, Lewandowski loudly berated the employee for challenging his authority, getting in her personal space and calling her a ‘c—‘ in front of a group of AFP employees…”

“Reporters told POLITICO that Lewandowski has made sexually suggestive and at times vulgar comments to ― and about ― female journalists who have covered Trump’s presidential bid. One reporter who was on the receiving end of such comments described them as ‘completely inappropriate in a professional setting.’”

“…other reporters who have covered the Trump campaign described instances in which Lewandowski was rough with journalists, using his body to push reporters away from the candidate. They described the former New Hampshire police officer as occasionally acting more like a security guard than a political operative.”

And in his previous job with Americans For Prosperity (AFP) he once boasted about threatening to “blow up” the car of the organization’s chief financial officer over a late expense reimbursement check.

So, old Corey sounds like a real sweetheart of a guy, doesn’t he? But then … think of his former employer! Donald Trump is known for being crude & rude, making inappropriate, offensive remarks to women, minorities, and the press, and being a narcissistic bully. How do you think Lewandowski got the job of campaign manager for Donnie-boy to start with? When Trump first began contemplating a run, people with campaign experience were not exactly lining up to work for him. (Read: nobody wanted da job) Lewandowski was very close to losing his job over yet another altercation with an employee at AFP, so apparently it seemed a match made in …. well, somewhere. Trump offered Lewandowski a starting salary of $20,000 per month, plus an apartment in one of Trump’s apartment buildings on the Upper East Side.

So no, Corey Lewandowski is not a nice guy and probably deserved what he got and what he got probably included a sizable severance package tied to a ‘non-compete’ clause. Still, when Donald Trump loses the election, he has nobody to blame but himself. The people are not becoming disillusioned with Trump because of his former campaign manager. The people are becoming sick and tired of Donald Trump always saying exactly the wrong thing at the wrong time. The people are getting fed up with hearing a madman rant and rave vile and disgusting things about women and minorities. The people waited … and waited … and waited for Trump to announce some achievable policy goals. The people waited for Trump to tone down his rhetoric and get serious about running a campaign, now that he was the presumptive nominee. Supposedly that was why Trump hired Paul Manafort in March … he was supposed to teach Trump to ‘act more presidential’. Well, that was certainly a failed experiment.

More heads will likely roll among the Trump campaign staff. A second one apparently occurred yesterday morning when a staffer, obviously not a fan of Lewandowski, sang “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead” upon hearing the news of Lewandowski’s firing! That staffer also got the ax, though likely without the severance package. There are many GOP leaders who are still withholding their endorsement of their contentious candidate, and Trump is making himself look less like a president and more like the clown he is every time he opens his mouth. I suspect that even the best campaign manager and staff cannot turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse.

Little Donnie vs The Big Bad Media

Posted on June 1, 2016 by jilldennison under Political commentary

A couple of old sayings come to mind today. The first is something about ‘not biting the hand that feeds you’. The second is ‘never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel’ – Mark Twain. And then there’s the one about ‘cutting off your nose to spite your face’. Any and all of these apply today to the not-very-illustrious Donald Trump. The press has, for the past 11 months, given Donald Trump hundreds, nay thousands of hours of free advertising. My own belief is the media are the very reason da trumpeter has gone from being known as a silly clown to the republican nominee for the highest office in the nation. He owes them, because he has not needed to shell out cash for advertisements … every time he opens his mouth, he gets free advertising. So what does he do?

He bites the hand that feeds him, cuts off his nose to spite his face, insults those who buy ink by the barrel, and accuses the media of ‘making me look very bad’. WHOA … HOLD THE PRESSES … nobody, I repeat nobody, needed to make Donald Trump look very bad … he is doing a wonderful job of that all by himself! So what was the occasion this time? The media actually had the audacity to do some fact-checking and call Donnie on one of his many lies! Gasp!

The whole thing started back in January of this year, when Mr. Trump held a televised fund-raiser, the proceeds of which were, he said, going to benefit veterans. At the end of the day, he said that he had raised more than $6 million and that he himself was giving $1 million. Then just last week, the Washington Post and other media outlets asked Trump and his campaign for details about how much the fundraiser had actually raised and whether Trump had given his portion. When he refused to answer, the media went digging, as was to be expected … it is what the media do best! But alas … no evidence was found that Trump had donated a single dollar to any veterans group! After another call from the Post, Trump contacted James K. Kallstrom, chairman of Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, and pledged his $1 million. Asked why he waited so five months to make the donation, Trump said that he had to check out the charity, but in reality his foundation had donated to this particular charity in the past, and the vice-chairman of the group, coincidentally, is the managing director of one of Trump’s hotels! What a coincidence, eh?

Even the amount of the donations raised appears to be in question. Trump declared on the night of the fund-raiser that he had raised $6 million, then this week he claimed $5.5 million, while his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, says it was $4.5 million. On Tuesday, Trump denied that he ever said $6, even though it was plainly recorded for all to see. Can anybody who has run businesses, some even successful, possibly be this stupid? Never mind, don’t answer that.

Trump finally did provide a list of organizations that had received donations, saying that most had “gone out some time ago”. The Associated Press spoke or left messages with each of the organizations Trump named. Of the 30 groups that responded by Tuesday, about half said they had received checks from Trump just last week. Several said the checks were dated on or about May 24 — the date of Trump’s interview with the Post — and shipped out overnight. So, the little boy who got caught in a tangled web of his own making, scrambled to untangle himself. I just wonder, had the media not persevered, would he have ever made the donations, and if so, when?

All that aside, however, since we are, after all, accustomed by now to Donnie’s many fabrications and exaggerations, on Tuesday Mr. Trump held a press conference whereby he spent the majority of his 40 minutes lambasting those who had basically handed him the nomination just a few short weeks ago. He chomped right down on the hand that had been feeding him, and methinks he is going to live to regret that one! Until now, the media as a whole had done very little to dispute his lies, but I think that from this point forward we will be seeing a change in that attitude. Trump referred to the media as “very dishonest” … and if you can tolerate yet another old saying, I see that as the ‘pot calling the kettle ….’. Trump said: “The press should be ashamed of themselves. Veterans are calling me, and they are furious. You make me look very bad.” He referred to reporters in general as ‘dishonest’ and to a specific ABC reporter as ‘a sleaze’. Once again, the man certainly knows how to win friends and influence people, doesn’t he?

Although Trump claims that the reason behind his secrecy and reluctance to release a funds distribution list was that he preferred to make the donations anonymously, in the next breath he bemoaned the fact that he wasn’t being properly thanked for his ‘generosity’.

I forced myself to watch some 25 minutes of Trump’s press conference in preparation for this post. All I saw was a man tooting his own horn, reiterating how wonderful he is for raising all this money, and how unfairly he felt the press was treating him. By what … simply doing their job and checking his facts, holding him accountable? One thing I noticed … four of his minions were standing behind him throughout the conference, and every time he made a critical remark, all four looked and one another and snickered. Yes, they snickered like a group of high school kids. Donald Trump’s campaign is built on a foundation of lies, bigotry, and self-promotion, and it has brought politics in this nation to an all-time low level of maturity.

Trump has made an enemy of the media, and they are indeed a powerful enemy. I think, at least I hope, that the free pass he has enjoyed for the past year has finally expired, and that from this point forward he will be held accountable for the words that tumble from his mouth. Though I frequently rail at the media for their tendency toward sensationalism, and I still hold them responsible for Trump’s rise over the past year, it is times like this that I am glad our media have the freedom to do what they do, to investigate and call people on their untruths. Let us never lose sight of the value in that, and let us never make choices that will impinge upon the freedom of the press.

Filosofa's Word

Cogito Ergo Sum

Tag Archives: Corey Lewandowski

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Little Donnie vs The Big Bad Media