Come Heller high water …
- None of the Democrats did well at Wednesday’s debate. If they were Snow White & the Six Dwarfs, Warren have been Snappy, Buttigieg would have been Snippy, Klobuchar would have been Defensive, Biden would have been Sleepy, Bloomberg would have been Annoyed, and Bernie would have been (of course) Cranky. And you know what? It doesn’t matter to me. I would happily vote for any of them over Trump because they are just better human beings. To be
honest, though, I would vote for an empty bottle of ranch dressing over Trump. - The New York Times says intelligence officials warned the House last week that Russia was helping the 2020 Trump campaign. Seriously, why don’t we just cut out the middle man and put Putin in the Oval Office? The effect would be the same.
- You know what worries me more than Putin or any of the Democrats? After he’s done with his post-acquittal temper tantrum, I fear that Trump will start to act – and I do mean act – nice up until the election, and that will be enough to fool people into either voting for him or staying home because, see, he’s changed.
- So, let me get this straight. We’re outraged that Michael Bloomberg is spending his own money to run for president but we’re OK with: 1) Trump spending his millions to run in 2016; 2) Trump encouraging and accepting the help of the Russian government; and 3) Trump using $2.82 million from a fundraiser for veterans for his campaign. Gotcha. We live in the Upside Down, to quote “Stranger Things.”
- The endless “the Astros cheated” coverage has more to do with bored baseball writers having little to do until spring training really gets than about real outrage. Yes, the Astros cheated. But baseball players have always cheated. Cheating is baked into the game’s DNA. Corked bats, spitballs, pine tar, steroids, throwing games, pretending to catch the ball etc. Even the league itself cheated last year by using a juiced ball to increase home runs and drive up interest. And teams like the Tigers cheat fans by not even trying. Sure, the league should have taken away their 2017 World Series crown. But all the fake outrage from players is hypocritical bunk. Would anyone have cared so much if the Astros weren’t good? Doubt it. Time to move on.
- It was great to see 2,000 prosecutors send a letter to Bill Barr, Trump’s personal attorney … er, I mean Attorney General … demanding he resign. It proved to me that not everyone has given up and given in to Trumpery. Chances of Barr resigning? Zero. Why? Because shame died a long time ago in the Republican Party.
- I’m going to really stretch for an analogy here to make a point, but what the heck. Our nation’s principles and institutions are like a sweater, and the Orange Nightmare is stretching them beyond all recognition. He’s stretched the bounds of executive power to the point that he now has precedent on his side, which future presidents will no doubt invoke when they want to do something. He controls one branch of Congress, and in a bicameral body that’s all you need to frolic unchecked. He controls the Judiciary, which now passively does his bidding. The Justice Dept.? Yup, he says he’s proclaimed himself the nation’s top law enforcement official. (I’m picturing Barney Fife here.) It’s getting scary. Oliver Wendell Holmes said: “Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.” The same goes for government. And sweaters.
- I do wish political pundits and the Democratic candidates for president would stop with the expression “circular firing squad.” Five thousand times is enough, folks.
- And I will keep saying this until local TV people stop saying it: Lost human beings and dogs do not “go missing.” They’re just missing, OK?
- Did you watch the Oscars a couple weeks ago? Or the Emmys? Or the Golden Globes? Or the Grammys? Or the Grampys (sorry, couldn’t resist – if there’s a Grammys there has to be a Grampys, right?) If so, why? I’d really like to know. Cuz I don’t get it.
- MLive, my former newspaper chain, has decided to do away with online comments. You won’t hear me mourning the loss. Has there ever been a polite, substantive debate in comment sections? They’re where ids go to roam free. A few journalists I know are decrying the loss, saying dropping comments is limiting free speech. Baloney. When papers were print-only, there weren’t comments beneath each story. People could write letters to the editor, and have them printed if they wanted to say something. But those letters were carefully screened. Trolls wouldn’t have been tolerated. People have the right to free speech but they don’t have the right to a platform that isn’t theirs.
- “Lost time is never found again.” – Benjamin Franklin
And I will keep saying this until local TV people stop saying it: Lost human beings and dogs do not “go missing.” They’re just missing, OK?
I hear that. Kind if like score the basketball. You don’t score the basketball, you just score
While we’re at it, how about gifted. When the hell did gift become a verb? What is wrong with the word we have always used? Gave. He didn’t gift me something, he GAVE me something. He gave me a gift. he didn’t gift me a gift.
Why?
Exactly. We KNOW it’s a damned basketball. Everything is turned into a verb today. It annoyings me.
Stealing signs has been a part of baseball for a long time. Yes, the Astros cheated and they were caught. But the Yankees can blame only themselves for their dismal performance in the four games they lost in the 2017 ALCS. Keuchel, Verlander (twice), and Morton and McCullers combined held the Yankees to three runs on 19 hits while recording 42 strikeouts. Verlander gave up one run in 16 innings in his MVP performance. In the seven game series, the Yankees scored two more runs than the Astros and had five more hits. They also committed six errors. The Yankees lost to great pitching and defense, not stolen signs. They need to quit whining.
I get so annoyed with people whining about their freedom of speech being suppressed because their comment was deleted. People, the U.S. Constitution is a contract that the GOVERNMENT must abide by in regards to how they treat citizens. It does not apply to private companies.
People get outraged over everything. Just last night I was in a guitar forum and someone had the gall to type “Only perfection comes out of the Gibson factory”. The Fender crowd wasn’t too pleased with that and the insults started flying. I was just watching and thinking, this looks a lot like a Trump supporter vs Liberal conflict.
Some forums forbid discussing politics or religion in order to keep the peace. They need to update those rules to no discussing guitar or automobile manufactures. Have you have ever seen a Chevy vs Ford argument? It’s ridiculous.
Americans, we just have to fight about everything, don’t we? However, there might be a positive to that. We might be at each other’s throats politically until we find out that we are in the same tribe when it comes to cars, guitars, sports, etc…
The Republican Party is no more, it has morphed into the party of trump.
We are in a state of disarray in American politics.
Every GOP lawmaker is out for themselves and try the best they can to retain their seat.
This means the act of selling their soul to trump and his well oiled machine.
The GOP lawmakers only need to look around and see what happens to anyone that fails to be loyal to trump.
If trump gets re-elected in November it will only get worse.
In the old Soviet Union the Supreme Soviet was their version of Congress and in theory had great lawmaking powers. In practice, however, it did little more than approve decisions made already by the Communist Party. Elections were set up in a way that guaranteed the Communist Party maintained control. Their name for this system was “democratic centralism”. It is my view that we are headed for this new version of democracy.
Most of the comments on mlive were either insults or so juvenile that they weren’t worth reading. People hide behind a computer and say things they would never say to your face. Best thing mlive did.
Our government has become a two ring circus. Red clowns in one ring and Blue clowns in the other ring, with the ringmaster a big orange headed clown.
1. Just recently, Trump has ramped up his preposterous pronouncements and deeds. He just might cross enough lines to get himself unelected.
2. M-Live always has been a silly organization. They torpedoed our Andrew Heller. They destroyed the Grand Rapids Press. M-Live is extremely hard to use. To heck with them.
Agree on all counts. I lasted longer than most. I’d still write for them if they asked.
If Trump loses the election, but refuses to leave, where does that leave SCOTUS? Do they convene an emergency session to render judgement concerning the constitutionality of his actions? What is the responsibility of the chief justice? I forsee a potential, dangerous situation.
When Trump refuses to leave, that will be the moment he learns that the Secret Service works for the American people, not for him. They will drag him out and toss him in the street if they have to. I would pay a lot to see that and I fully expect some variation of it to happen. This is why it is important that he is crushed in the polls and does not lose by a slim margin. We cannot give him legitimate reason to challenge it.
2016: The CIA, the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and over ten other U.S. intelligence agencies determined that the Russians were working to hack servers (which they did, see the DNC email hack) and exert influence through social media (which they did, see the Pizzagate stories your uncle forwarded on Facebook from RT) Each of them arrived at the conclusion that this was done with the intent of helping Donald Trump win the White House.
2016: Donald Trump wins the U.S. Presidential election.
2017: Nikki Haley, Trump’s own selected ambassador the UN agrees that the Russians were very actively involved in the election that resulted in Donald Trump being elected President.
2019: The Mueller investigation finds: “In sum, the investigation established multiple links between Trump Campaign officials and individuals tied to the Russian government. Those links included Russia offers of assistance to the Campaign. In some instances, the Campaign was receptive to the offer, while in other instances the Campaign officials shied away,”
These links include over two hundred contacts between Russian agents and the Trump campaign, among them notable members of the campaign, including National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and presidential son Donald Trump Jr who actually said “I love it!” when offered damaging information on Hillary from people specifically identified as representatives of the Russian government.
Most tellingly, each of these notable individuals, when asked about their contacts with the Russians lied their asses off about having it… Some, such as Jeff Sessions actually did so under sworn testimony.
2019 Helsinki: Vladimir Putin says that, yes, the Russian government had a preference that Donal Trump won the U.S. presidency in 2016. Interestingly, that statement, documented on multiple reporters’ cameras and voice recorders, was not present in the Russian government’s official transcript of the event or the U.S.’s official transcript of the event…
2020: Joseph Maguire, Trump’s own selected acting Director of National intelligence, in a classified briefing to congress, said that the Russians are currently working to interfere with the 2020 election with the intent of bringing about the reelection of Donald Trump. The President quickly leapt into action at the report of a foreign government interfering in U.S. elections and had Joseph Maguire fired.
2020: Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders is briefed by U.S. intelligence agencies that the Russians are working to help his primary campaign to win the nomination as the Democratic candidate to run against President Trump in 2020.
Note to “patriotic” Republican supporters of President Trump: Nothing to see here. Don’t worry, everything is fine.
As allways- you are appreciated- you and many of your followers are the voice of reason in these insane times.your writing efforts are never wasted- thank you!!