Come Heller high water …
- Trump today retweeted a hate-monger who was banned from Instagram and Facebook. He’s also deeply upset that Facebook is finally banning idiots like Alex Jones, Louis Farrakhan and others. I smell a “fine people on both sides” comment coming.
- He also says he’s “monitoring” what he calls censorship of the social media against conservatives. None exists, of course. You can find conservative thought everywhere on the Internet. Unless he’s telling us that Republicans and conservatives (they used to be the same thing but these days, not so much) now actually count Alex Jones and other hate-peddlers as members. Is that what’s he’s saying? I think he is because I think he does.
- Here’s the thing: Social media platforms aren’t public utilities. There’s no inherent right to use their platform to say, for instance, that little kids were slaughtered in their classroom. They can say whatever they want – freedom of speech – but they don’t get to use Facebook’s bullhorn to do it if that’s not what Facebook wants.
- I think social media is heading toward a left/right split like media. You’ll have Facebook and you’ll have Hatebook. You’ll have Twitter and you’ll have Blather, the Fox News version of Twitter. You’ll officially have separate webs – the light web and the dark web. I’ll choose the light web, thank you very much. If I’m wrong about some of my political views, I’d rather go down swinging for the kinds of beliefs presented on the left than the right. I wonder if righties can say that? If so, tell us what those beliefs are – white nationalism, 1 percenterism, destroying the environment? Aren’t you proud. Explain that to your kids.
- Years after Watergate, President Nixon shocked the world when he told interviewer David Frost that “When the president does it that means that it is not illegal.” The idea is ludicrous, right? If true, that would mean we live in a kingdom not a democracy. At the time, the comment was taken as further evidence of Nixon’s dark soul. And now here we are again. Attorney General Bill Barr just testified before Congress that the president can end any investigation of him if he thinks he’s innocent. Think about that for a second. The jails would be empty if the rest of us had that power. No kid would ever be responsible for breaking a lamp. The entire legal system is based on us being accountable to others. And yet here was the land’s top lawyer asserting pretty much the same thing as Nixon – that the president is the sole and final arbiter of what he can do and what he cannot. Doesn’t that mean he could, quite literally, do anything, including declaring himself president for life? Couldn’t he, as Trump has said, “stand In the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody”? Why, yes it does. If Congress doesn’t fight back, what you just witnessed is the passing of the American torch from one form of government to another. And here we sit. Is outrage really this dead?
- A Popular Mechanics story this week had this stunning headline: “60 years ago, a pilot flew a B-47 nuclear bomber under Michigan’s Mackinac Bridge.” What the what? I’d never heard about that before. Had you?
- I just saw a photo of a young woman doing the duck lip thing. I thought that most stupid of fads died about a year ago. Clearly, not everyone has gotten the memo.
- Speaking of lips, have you ever once looked at a person who has had lip enhancement surgery and thought, “That looks good”?
- Last week, I used a Harriet Tubman quote pulled from the internet that said, “Every great dream begins with a dreamer.” The Harriet Tubman Boosters of Auburn, N.Y., wrote to say, the quote is “frequently misattributed to Tubman. Historians have found no reference to this quote before the 1990s. If you consider that she was illiterate (yet brilliant) and remember what she accomplished in spite of so many obstacles, you would have to recognize that she would never have spoken in such flowery language.” So, now I know. And so do you. Someone should do a book of great quotes attributed to people who never said them.
- It seems right to close with an actual Tubman quote because she was an amazing human being. So, let’s try this, also pulled from the internet, but from the Harriet Tubman Historical Society (and if they’re wrong, well, talk to them): “I was the conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can’t say — I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger.”
Kathleen A Kelso says
I had heard of the pilot flying under the bridge. If you get a chance, attend a presentation on the bridge by Mike Fornes from Mackinaw City. He worked for the Cheboygan paper and has great stories about the bridge.
Love your writings.
jbcsfl says
The only way for us all to regain some sort of normalcy in our great country is to rid the fibber in chief and his minions of the stranglehold they currently hold over our government.
Something is not right when the president and all his political party support outlandish policies and relationships with vile individuals.
We have become more like a kingdom instead of a democracy.
Partisan politics have created a government of blind mice who for whatever reason votes and supports whatever their leader says or does.
They are all scared and afraid of the current leader, no one in the party ever objects to his mistruths which he spews in large numbers on a daily basis.
By staying silent and not making any attempt to correct these countless fibs, the party followers are complicit in their behavior and as a result agree with what has been misconstrued.
Unfortunately today, we have the orangeman, who yields such power and fear of reprisal over the lawmakers of his party.
The only way to assist in getting us all back to normalcy is to vote everyone of these minions out of office by voting 100% for democratic candidates in every race across the nation.
Jim Walworth says
Andy; I just noticed the ad on your blog for Attractive Russian Ladies. Are you trying to get Trump to read your column?
Andrew Heller says
It’s Trump asking them to put them on there. I’m the enemy!
Fred says
Trump either has some very incrimination information on Barr, or he promised him a large share of his businesses. I cannot think of any other reason why this once otherwise perfectly honorable servant to the country has deflected so far from what is right. I am sure looking forward to Mueller’s testimony.
I try to not mix up Conservatives and Right-wingers. Even though they both vote or run as Republicans, they are not the same thing. One has ideas of what is best for the country as a whole that simply contradict with my own beliefs. The other panders in hate and divisive politics and is perfectly content with dragging our country down into a state of hateful despair if it means sticking it to the “libbies”.
I have heard the B-47 under the bridge story before. The pilot had a “what the hell, let’s just do it.” moment. I think he got just a stern lecture from his superiors, but I might be remembering that part wrong.
Fred says
A headline today : “Pelosi worries Trump won’t give up power if he loses close election.”
“Close election”?
He won’t willingly give up power if he loses by a landslide. He thinks he is entitled to it. What the hell is with Democrats trying to minimize the threat to democracy that Trump is?
I will bet a lot that every Trump fan will be cheering him on when he refuses to cede power after his loss. The only part in the Constitution that means anything to them is the part about guns.
Jims says
Putin obviously has something illegal and embarrassing on Trump. Trump said he fell in love and had a love affair with Kim. How can any idiot support this fool is beyond me. All I can say is the 89% of people that support him are just as nuts. Democrats will screw this up and get him re-elected if they try to impeach him. They need to concentrate of defeating him not impeaching him.
Andrew Heller says
I keep going back and forth on that question. Their job is to protect and defend the Constitution. Is putting the party’s best interests before that what Dems should be doing?
Don says
Pull up that story re: pilot flying under the Mac. Good follow up stories, interviews with him…He was from Muskegeon!
Andrew Heller says
Can you imagine if he misjudged?
Matt Wyneken says
We have a serious problem with academic dishonesty in our schools and colleges, and as our schools reflect our society I worry about eroding integrity in general. Elected or appointed officials who consistently make false or misleading statements are not the role models we need and should be removed from office by the systems in place to do so. To not do so rewards and reinforces bad behavior.
For an excellent resource please see:
https://academicintegrity.org/
BrendaBee says
I absolutely LOVE your columns!! Great insight! I also cannot understand people STILL supporting Tumpet when he has made it clear at times, he loves and approves of dictators and, in my opinion, would LOVE being one himself! I might understand why ppl voted him in, but seeing him lie and lie and create his own reality along with his narcissistic mental illness, how does one STILL support him? My belief is that bigots have elected “their” leader and those bigots have come out of the woodwork and still support an unintelligent moron who does NOT have the best interest of the United States in mind. He is all about himself and his family just like any NYC mobster! I wish our Congress would wake up. I used to wonder how did Hitler ever come to power but seeing people follow around Trumpet allows me to understand Hitlers rise and America has better wake up!!
Andrew Heller says
Thank you, Brenda. This is the first time in my life it feels justifiable to compare what happened in 1930s Germany and the U.S. today.
BrendaBee says
Excuse the typo, I meant America had better wake up!
linda says
And here we sit…….and sit…….and sit…….and sit…….and sit…….
Is outrage really this dead, you ask?
Mass shootings, lying, cheating, greed, The President of the United States on Twitter, complacency, stealing, violence, racial issues, murder, immigration, building walls, corrupt government and on and on..
Is outrage really this dead?
Well, if we continue to sit…….and sit…….and sit…….and sit……. and point out the problems, and not do anything about them (like voting out the wimpy willow puppets in Washington), our freedom to express outrage at the condition of the country may soon be gone, because the President can do anything he wants!
We need to get up and move! This is our country, let’s clean it up!
Matthew says
We used to have many military aircraft over Lake Michigan. Sixty years ago, or so, we used to see B-57s, and we used to hear sonic booms. The booms probably came from F-100s or F-104s. I do not recall seeing a B-47, but they were there apparently. Here is a link to the article about the B-47 under the bridge:
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a27312158/bomber-mackinac-bridge/
Matthew says
Did you see that darn Trump decided to tweet about the result of the Kentucky Derby? He thinks Maximum Security should not have been disqualified. Anybody who saw the race on TV saw that Maximum Security interfered, and deserved to be disqualified. But Trump seems to believe Maximum Security won in the Electoral College. Trump is wrong. Why did he even weigh in on this topic?
LuAnn says
Because he probably bet on him and lost😅
Shirley says
Remember what Mark Twain said, “Diapers and politicians should be changed often and for the same reasons.” Still true today.
NativeOfMichigan says
Choose Your Poison
My take on the 2020 election:
1. If Trump loses, he declares there was widespread voter fraud and refuses to hand over power by declaring a state of emergency, then uses this to enact numerous executive orders to prevent any transition.
2. If Trump wins, he declares that the people have spoken and that he will be a powerful and great president, the best of all time. Of course, what this really means is that his first term in office was only a precursor to events to follow, and it isn’t going to be pretty. As they say, “You ain’t seen nothing yet!”.
Matthew says
Are we doomed to repeat history? Two current parallels to bad old history:
1. in the 1920s and 30s, the USA tried to erect TARIFF barriers, as Trump is doing now. It did not work back then. It was a disaster. Does the expression Great Depression ring a bell?
2. In the 1930s and 40s, the USA turned away REFUGEES from Germany’s barbarism, just as Trump turns away refugees from barbarous regimes in Central America and the Middle East and the rest of the world. An awful disaster, back in the day. Does the expression Holocaust sound familiar? We sent people back to Auschwitz. We are sending people back now, to something similar.
Matthew says
Effects of Global Climate Change… All over the globe, we have awful, brutal governments emerging: USA, Venezuela, Syria, Hungary, Philippines, Italy, many more.
I believe this is a yet-to-be-recognized effect of climate change. Climate change somehow affects human brains and souls toward irrational nastiness. Try to prove me wrong.
Matthew says
[Come on, Andrew. New post, please] Now, it looks as if our leaders are thinking about invading Iran. Bad idea. Iran is as big as Alaska, huge, bigger than two Texases or three Frances. There are 81 million Iranians. We cannot conquer Iran.
Total US military = 1.3 million, plus 800,00 reserves. Not enough.
Alexander the Great beat Iran in the 300s BCE, and the Muslims took over about 700 CE, but nobody else ever has conquered Iran. They are tough, mean, proud. Trump will not win.