The headline in today's The Oklahoman reads, "Federal Law Bars Rx Marijuana Users From Legally Owning Guns."
Oops.
I'm not sure the breaking news would have changed the outcome of the vote on medical marijuana the other day, but I can guarantee the proponents of the measure are exhaling a long sigh of relief this morning. It is one thing to go up against Christian Fundamentalists, the Chamber of Commerce, and crazy politicians who do their bidding in this state, but when you fuck with gun ownership in any way, shape, or form you are asking for real trouble.
The authors of the measure knew it too. That's why there is a provision in the bill which specifically says, "No person holding a medical marijuana license may unduly be withheld from holding a state issued license by virtue of their being a medical marijuana license holder. This would include such things as a concealed carry permit."
The only question at the moment is, did the framers of the new law know about the federal statute before hand, or not? I like to think they were cagey enough to realize they needed to include that useless wording to cut off another, extremely potent, avenue of attack by the anti SB788 forces.
You can almost hear the conversation. For God's sake tell them they can carry their fucking guns somewhere in there, then pray no one actually reads the federal law until it passes.
Come on, one must assume the people who came up with the law did their due diligence and knew the ramifications of a medicinal marijuana law when it came to federal gun prohibitions. They also had to know large swaths of Oklahoma would vote against it no matter what--in fact the question carried less than 50% of the state's counties--so they couldn't afford to take any chances Indeed, one shudders to think what would have happened if The Oklahoman and others had started screeching about second amendment rights. Caterwauling like that might have even dragged the NRA and all their cash into the fray.
Luckily for the pro crowd nobody, including the crack investigative staff at the incessantly anti SB788 publication, thought to look into the connection. At least not until it was too late.
As it stands now the ATF form which must be filled out prior to purchasing a gun--any gun--asks, "Are you an unlawful user, or addicted to marijuana, or any depressant, stimulant narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?" That is followed by a warning: "The use, or possession of marijuana remains unlawful under federal law regardless of whether it has been legalized, or decriminalized for medicinal, or recreational purposes in the state where you reside."
If you choose to lie about the issue, well, you've just committed a federal felony. In today's paper, Oklahoman staff writer, Randy Ellis quoted ATF spokesperson Meredith Davis as saying, "If you have a license to use marijuana for medical use, there's no exception for that prohibition under federal law." She went on to tell Ellis, "If you possess a medicinal marijuana card it's presumed you are a user. So you cannot possess, you can't transfer, you can't ship firearms, or ammunition if you hold that license."
That's right. Even if you already have a legally purchased gun and ammo, you've got to get rid of it all before you obtain that permit to fire up a joint, or down a magical chocolate chip cookie. Ms. Davis suggested gun owners contact a lawyer, or the ATF to find legal ways of disposing their arsenals before applying for a medicinal weed license.
Oh yeah, that's going to happen.
The truth is there are so many weapons out there right now it is doubtful ATF agents are going to swoop down on everyone who owns one and applies for a marijuana license in Oklahoma. Let's face it, they're awful busy investigating mass shootings, especially during the school year. However, there is hope the law might slow down new gun sales by a small percentage.
Hey, when you're up against those beasts at the NRA any victory, no matter how minuscule, is worth celebrating.
So there it is. You now have a choice Oklahoma. Get rid of your guns so you can score some legal grass, or break the law.
I, for one, can't wait to see how it shakes out.
6-29-18
Friday, June 29, 2018
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
Don't Light Up Just Yet, Oklahoma
The headline writers at OKC's daily paper, The Oklahoman just went all cute on us. After voters overwhelmingly passed a bill legalizing the sale and use of marijuana for medical purposes yesterday, the bold print this morning proclaimed, "High Turnout."
Get it? I tell you they're a bunch of real wits down at, The Oklahoman. This journalistic bon mot came after the paper spent feet, not inches, of copy telling everyone how awful the passage of State Question 788 would be for Oklahoma, it's children, and more importantly the way businesses keep tabs on their employees personal lives.
Those of us who have spent most of our existence in this state and are of a certain age watched the campaign unfold rather like a Franz Kafka short story. Oh sure the polls said the measure was in the lead from nearly day one, but deep down there was a part of us which kept whispering in our ear, It will never pass, not here.
Personally I was going to vote for it from the beginning, but in truth I was only lukewarm about the issue. I will admit to an affinity for cannabis laced edibles, but I'm not an avid consumer and I don't go out of my way to purchase them--unless we are someplace where they are legally sold to the adult public. And I certainly wasn't planning on jumping into a conspiracy to commit medical fraud with an iffy physician in order to score some here.
That being said, the anti SB788 campaign took a nasty turn in the two weeks, or so prior to last night's election. OKC cable TV--and presumably every other market in the state--was inundated with ads spewing the most vicious and outlandish lies about the bill imaginable. The breathtaking scope of the misinformation was so epic it sounded as if it came straight out of a Donald J. Trump political rally.
That's right ladies and gentlemen, this bill has nothing to do with medical marijuana. It is meant to legalize recreational weed. Stoners will be allowed to fire up joints at tables next to you in restaurants where you're eating with your kids. Anyone will be able to get a two year license without a doctor's approval to not only buy and smoke pot, but cultivate it in quantities so huge it will dwarf what they're able to do in Colorado. College freshman will even be able to grow it in their dorm rooms for God's sake.
Just to make sure Oklahoma's sea of ultra conservative loons got the message, words ran across the screen at the end of each spot saying, "This will be the most LIBERAL marijuana law in the country." Then below those words, "Let's do this the right way by voting No!"
The Oklahoman trotted out print ads and op-ed pieces only slightly less frantic and hysterical. Everyone from U.S. Senator and Opie Taylor impersonator, Jim Lankford to medical professionals and Better Business Bureau poohbahs showed up on the pages of the daily telling everyone education, health, and industry is doomed, fucking doomed I tell you, if the dope fiends get their way.
Suddenly people like myself who had actually read the bill, but remained taciturn about it became energized--not because we were going to immediately go out and find some quack to give us a license, (although some of us might now, solely out of spite) but simply because of the crude and terrible lies being spread about the law.
It became so weird social media rumors started to swirl yesterday afternoon that dark forces at some polling sites were attempting to withhold the separate ballot which contained the measure from voters. It speaks to the age we're in that many of us thought these tales might be true. Luckily for the electoral process, as of now, the rumors remain completely unconfirmed and more than likely are just another instance of internet bullshit.
When the smoke, so to speak, cleared the tally was 497,164, or 56.8% pro vs. 377,995, or 43.2% against with less than 30 precincts left to be counted. The totals matched what the last pre election polls had predicted almost perfectly.
Don't light up just yet though. Lame Duck governor Mary Fallin is promising to fill the loopholes and reign in loose strings with a special session of the legislature. The people may have spoken, but by God that doesn't mean they know what is good for them. We, however, do and before we're done we'll have restrictions and penalties in place so draconian it will make your head spin.
Also, don't think this begins some tectonic shift to the left in Oklahoma politics. When added together the top three republicans in a 10 man field running for the gubernatorial nomination pulled in more votes than the outright winner on the democratic side and he won with over 61% of his party's support.
Yes, the victory was significant in ways, but for the cynical it feels as if nothing has really changed. Come November we're still going to end up being stuck with a bunch of rabid ultra-right wing werewolves in the legislature and a governor who thinks Don Trump is a really swell guy.
Trust me that's the way things roll around here.
sic vita est
6-27-18
Get it? I tell you they're a bunch of real wits down at, The Oklahoman. This journalistic bon mot came after the paper spent feet, not inches, of copy telling everyone how awful the passage of State Question 788 would be for Oklahoma, it's children, and more importantly the way businesses keep tabs on their employees personal lives.
Those of us who have spent most of our existence in this state and are of a certain age watched the campaign unfold rather like a Franz Kafka short story. Oh sure the polls said the measure was in the lead from nearly day one, but deep down there was a part of us which kept whispering in our ear, It will never pass, not here.
Personally I was going to vote for it from the beginning, but in truth I was only lukewarm about the issue. I will admit to an affinity for cannabis laced edibles, but I'm not an avid consumer and I don't go out of my way to purchase them--unless we are someplace where they are legally sold to the adult public. And I certainly wasn't planning on jumping into a conspiracy to commit medical fraud with an iffy physician in order to score some here.
That being said, the anti SB788 campaign took a nasty turn in the two weeks, or so prior to last night's election. OKC cable TV--and presumably every other market in the state--was inundated with ads spewing the most vicious and outlandish lies about the bill imaginable. The breathtaking scope of the misinformation was so epic it sounded as if it came straight out of a Donald J. Trump political rally.
That's right ladies and gentlemen, this bill has nothing to do with medical marijuana. It is meant to legalize recreational weed. Stoners will be allowed to fire up joints at tables next to you in restaurants where you're eating with your kids. Anyone will be able to get a two year license without a doctor's approval to not only buy and smoke pot, but cultivate it in quantities so huge it will dwarf what they're able to do in Colorado. College freshman will even be able to grow it in their dorm rooms for God's sake.
Just to make sure Oklahoma's sea of ultra conservative loons got the message, words ran across the screen at the end of each spot saying, "This will be the most LIBERAL marijuana law in the country." Then below those words, "Let's do this the right way by voting No!"
The Oklahoman trotted out print ads and op-ed pieces only slightly less frantic and hysterical. Everyone from U.S. Senator and Opie Taylor impersonator, Jim Lankford to medical professionals and Better Business Bureau poohbahs showed up on the pages of the daily telling everyone education, health, and industry is doomed, fucking doomed I tell you, if the dope fiends get their way.
Suddenly people like myself who had actually read the bill, but remained taciturn about it became energized--not because we were going to immediately go out and find some quack to give us a license, (although some of us might now, solely out of spite) but simply because of the crude and terrible lies being spread about the law.
It became so weird social media rumors started to swirl yesterday afternoon that dark forces at some polling sites were attempting to withhold the separate ballot which contained the measure from voters. It speaks to the age we're in that many of us thought these tales might be true. Luckily for the electoral process, as of now, the rumors remain completely unconfirmed and more than likely are just another instance of internet bullshit.
When the smoke, so to speak, cleared the tally was 497,164, or 56.8% pro vs. 377,995, or 43.2% against with less than 30 precincts left to be counted. The totals matched what the last pre election polls had predicted almost perfectly.
Don't light up just yet though. Lame Duck governor Mary Fallin is promising to fill the loopholes and reign in loose strings with a special session of the legislature. The people may have spoken, but by God that doesn't mean they know what is good for them. We, however, do and before we're done we'll have restrictions and penalties in place so draconian it will make your head spin.
Also, don't think this begins some tectonic shift to the left in Oklahoma politics. When added together the top three republicans in a 10 man field running for the gubernatorial nomination pulled in more votes than the outright winner on the democratic side and he won with over 61% of his party's support.
Yes, the victory was significant in ways, but for the cynical it feels as if nothing has really changed. Come November we're still going to end up being stuck with a bunch of rabid ultra-right wing werewolves in the legislature and a governor who thinks Don Trump is a really swell guy.
Trust me that's the way things roll around here.
sic vita est
6-27-18
Thursday, June 21, 2018
The Line Up For Governor of Oklahoma
Because of term limits, Oklahoma will elect a new governor this fall. The state's primary falls on next Tuesday, June 26th and the line up of republican candidates for the office is as weird and gruesome as you might guess. The message all of those running are attempting to sell is they and they alone, are the only one who can, "Turn Oklahoma around."
Of course, the party of Steve Bannon, FOX News, and Don Trump has had complete control of the legislature for nine full years and the governor's mansion for the past eight, so the immediate questions which come to mind are, first, turn the state around from what? Second, you mean the budgetary disaster local GOP hacks have driven us into over the past decade?
Indeed, republican domination is so complete in Oklahoma the party holds 73 of 101 state house seats and 39 of 48 state senate seats. In addition there isn't a single state wide office held by a democrat, independent, or libertarian. In other words, the right wing in Oklahoma gets everything they want. And still, the capitalist utopia party bosses continue to promise the people has never materialized.
Well, let's not dwell on the ironic, yet obvious, but rather take a look at the list of GOP candidates who will be on the ballot Tuesday.
First is Chris Barnett. His background, noted by Politics1, is, "a businessman." Well, why not? Even though his business is carpet cleaning rather than laundering money for the Russian mob, he has the right attitude for Oklahoma politics. On his site he says, "Plain and simple. I am against raising taxes period." He also claims he is going to cut the salaries of government employees because, "...they are only looking out for themselves."
Then there is Mick Cornett who is a heavy weight in this crowd. He is a former TV sportscaster/journalist and four term mayor of Oklahoma City. While in office, the city's downtown experienced a massive makeover and the NBA relocated Seattle's team to OKC. He pledges, "To fix the mess and put our state on a new path to success." He remains mum on who made the mess in the first place and is a tad vague on how he's going to fix it, but at this point who cares about details. In current polls he is running with either a slight lead, or places a close second.
Dan Fisher is a former state house representative and a Baptist preacher in El Reno. His site begs the questions, "Have you had enough of republicans who campaign as conservatives, but then govern from the left? Have you had enough of republicans who call themselves pro-life, but then stand by as the abortion holocaust continues?" That's the ticket, Dan. Run the RINOs out. Let only the pure of heart rule!
Eric Foutch doesn't have any background info listed on Politics1 and his Facebook bio only shows his education and membership in a Harrah, OK Baptist church. He does state he believes life begins at conception and notes his opinion is backed up, "scientifically."
Barry Gowdy is a nurse and failed candidate for the Beckham County Sheriff's office. He is far and away the most liberal republican in the field--actually a complete heretic when it comes to this bunch. How else would you describe a guy who wants to increase the minimum wage in OK to $10.50 an hour and says, when it comes to the LGBTQ community, "The discrimination will stop starting at the state level, period. " He is doomed. Other than his own, he might not get a single vote next Tuesday.
Like Cornett, Gary Jones wants to, "Get Oklahoma back on the right track." He's the current State Auditor and Inspector. You know, the guy who is supposed to reign in and eliminate all the fat and corruption the rest of the candidates claim exists. Thanks to being ex-chair of the State GOP, he ranks as the ultimate party insider of the group.
Todd Lamb is the Lt. Governor. He's also a pro politician and as such spews much of same bland, not to mention, foggy pap professional pols do when they're in a campaign. To be kind though, he has to, because he, more than even Jones, has played a large part in creating, "the mess," the rest of the candidates are promising to exorcise. Despite his complicity in that mess making, thanks to some big buck backers and state wide name recognition, he's the odds on favorite to face Cornett in a late August runoff election for the nomination.
Blake, Cowboy, Stephens is often pictured holding a pitchfork festooned with a home made sign which says, "This real cowboy says, get real Oklahoma." He also says, "I believe the marriage union is between one man and one woman." In addition he posted on Facebook he could, "...feel the Lord's presence," at an Oklahoma Press Association Forum for the candidates.
Kevin Stitt is a mortgage banker who wants to audit all agencies (looking at you, Gary Jones) and fire under performing agency heads who are appointed, not elected. He also doesn't think a whole lot of the election process. According to today's The Oklahoman, Stitt has voted in only three of the last 10 general elections and cast a mere five ballots total between 2008 and 2016. His response to the paper was some gibberish about, "...keeping his head down, raising my six kids..." and building his business from scratch. He did reassure everyone he is a lifelong republican who voted for Donald Trump. It would be easy to write him off, but he's poured at least $1.3 million of his own cash into his campaign and as we all know, in American politics, money talks; everything else walks.
The democrats have two people running, Drew Edmondson, the last of his party to hold a statewide office and Connie Johnson, a former state senator and candidate for the U.S. Senate. The libertarians have three highly credible hopefuls. One, Joseph Exotic is a petting zoo owner, actor, and musician who ran for president of these United States in 2016. The others are Rex Lawhorn, a telecommunications technician and ex-machinist and, Chris Powell who is described as a writer.
None of them stand a chance come November.
No, the next governor of Oklahoma will emerge from that gaggle of true believers and ultra rock ribbed conservatives who have spent the last few months trying to convince the republican hoi polloi they are the most conservative son of a bitch on the planet. (The sadly delusional Gowdy doesn't count. In fact party leaders may chuck him into the nearest available mental institute before it is all is said and done.)
Yes, welcome to the world of Oklahoma politics. Unlike NASCAR events, in order to win this race drivers have to always keep turning right.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why the bar remains open.
6-21-18
Of course, the party of Steve Bannon, FOX News, and Don Trump has had complete control of the legislature for nine full years and the governor's mansion for the past eight, so the immediate questions which come to mind are, first, turn the state around from what? Second, you mean the budgetary disaster local GOP hacks have driven us into over the past decade?
Indeed, republican domination is so complete in Oklahoma the party holds 73 of 101 state house seats and 39 of 48 state senate seats. In addition there isn't a single state wide office held by a democrat, independent, or libertarian. In other words, the right wing in Oklahoma gets everything they want. And still, the capitalist utopia party bosses continue to promise the people has never materialized.
Well, let's not dwell on the ironic, yet obvious, but rather take a look at the list of GOP candidates who will be on the ballot Tuesday.
First is Chris Barnett. His background, noted by Politics1, is, "a businessman." Well, why not? Even though his business is carpet cleaning rather than laundering money for the Russian mob, he has the right attitude for Oklahoma politics. On his site he says, "Plain and simple. I am against raising taxes period." He also claims he is going to cut the salaries of government employees because, "...they are only looking out for themselves."
Then there is Mick Cornett who is a heavy weight in this crowd. He is a former TV sportscaster/journalist and four term mayor of Oklahoma City. While in office, the city's downtown experienced a massive makeover and the NBA relocated Seattle's team to OKC. He pledges, "To fix the mess and put our state on a new path to success." He remains mum on who made the mess in the first place and is a tad vague on how he's going to fix it, but at this point who cares about details. In current polls he is running with either a slight lead, or places a close second.
Dan Fisher is a former state house representative and a Baptist preacher in El Reno. His site begs the questions, "Have you had enough of republicans who campaign as conservatives, but then govern from the left? Have you had enough of republicans who call themselves pro-life, but then stand by as the abortion holocaust continues?" That's the ticket, Dan. Run the RINOs out. Let only the pure of heart rule!
Eric Foutch doesn't have any background info listed on Politics1 and his Facebook bio only shows his education and membership in a Harrah, OK Baptist church. He does state he believes life begins at conception and notes his opinion is backed up, "scientifically."
Barry Gowdy is a nurse and failed candidate for the Beckham County Sheriff's office. He is far and away the most liberal republican in the field--actually a complete heretic when it comes to this bunch. How else would you describe a guy who wants to increase the minimum wage in OK to $10.50 an hour and says, when it comes to the LGBTQ community, "The discrimination will stop starting at the state level, period. " He is doomed. Other than his own, he might not get a single vote next Tuesday.
Like Cornett, Gary Jones wants to, "Get Oklahoma back on the right track." He's the current State Auditor and Inspector. You know, the guy who is supposed to reign in and eliminate all the fat and corruption the rest of the candidates claim exists. Thanks to being ex-chair of the State GOP, he ranks as the ultimate party insider of the group.
Todd Lamb is the Lt. Governor. He's also a pro politician and as such spews much of same bland, not to mention, foggy pap professional pols do when they're in a campaign. To be kind though, he has to, because he, more than even Jones, has played a large part in creating, "the mess," the rest of the candidates are promising to exorcise. Despite his complicity in that mess making, thanks to some big buck backers and state wide name recognition, he's the odds on favorite to face Cornett in a late August runoff election for the nomination.
Blake, Cowboy, Stephens is often pictured holding a pitchfork festooned with a home made sign which says, "This real cowboy says, get real Oklahoma." He also says, "I believe the marriage union is between one man and one woman." In addition he posted on Facebook he could, "...feel the Lord's presence," at an Oklahoma Press Association Forum for the candidates.
Kevin Stitt is a mortgage banker who wants to audit all agencies (looking at you, Gary Jones) and fire under performing agency heads who are appointed, not elected. He also doesn't think a whole lot of the election process. According to today's The Oklahoman, Stitt has voted in only three of the last 10 general elections and cast a mere five ballots total between 2008 and 2016. His response to the paper was some gibberish about, "...keeping his head down, raising my six kids..." and building his business from scratch. He did reassure everyone he is a lifelong republican who voted for Donald Trump. It would be easy to write him off, but he's poured at least $1.3 million of his own cash into his campaign and as we all know, in American politics, money talks; everything else walks.
The democrats have two people running, Drew Edmondson, the last of his party to hold a statewide office and Connie Johnson, a former state senator and candidate for the U.S. Senate. The libertarians have three highly credible hopefuls. One, Joseph Exotic is a petting zoo owner, actor, and musician who ran for president of these United States in 2016. The others are Rex Lawhorn, a telecommunications technician and ex-machinist and, Chris Powell who is described as a writer.
None of them stand a chance come November.
No, the next governor of Oklahoma will emerge from that gaggle of true believers and ultra rock ribbed conservatives who have spent the last few months trying to convince the republican hoi polloi they are the most conservative son of a bitch on the planet. (The sadly delusional Gowdy doesn't count. In fact party leaders may chuck him into the nearest available mental institute before it is all is said and done.)
Yes, welcome to the world of Oklahoma politics. Unlike NASCAR events, in order to win this race drivers have to always keep turning right.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why the bar remains open.
6-21-18
Monday, June 18, 2018
Truth Justice and the New American Way
The numbers, while not particularly surprising in this age of devout Trumpism, remain a shocking testament to how cruel and unusual the Grand Old Party has become.
According to a Quinnipiac University poll, 55% of the republican party supports the forcible separation of immigrant children, some still in diapers, from their parents at the southern border. In addition, 77% support building El Donald's wall along the entire 1,954 miles of the U.S. Mexico frontier, even though that fantasy about making the Mexicans pay for it has gone the way of the Dodo.
Steve Bannon probably saw those numbers. It's why he issued a statement warning his former boss that he risks alienating the great white, beer bellied, GOP base if he compromises on immigration with anyone left of presidential aid and resident forehead, Stephen Miller.
Bannon's fears are probably unfounded. Trump can afford to take the risk since there is no one else who can drive fascist mobs into a frenzy like he can. And, there is no one else who the trailer park Nazis will trust. That's why he is happy to play the same card used by torturers throughout history when he blames the continuing horror of state sponsored kidnapping, not on himself, but someone else. If the democrats just give me what I want all the emotional pain and suffering of those innocent kids will stop. If they don't, then the onus is on them.
Of course when another large part of your base considers themselves to be evangelical Christian it behooves you to break out some good ol' boy to quote scripture just in case they get a bit queasy at the goings on in places like, McAllen, TX. Indeed, it has been proven most hyper religious born again rubes will put up with all manner of sin and depravity so long as it isn't committed by a democrat. However, when it comes to ripping babies from their mother's arms, then sending them off to some new age concentration camp--well, even their hypocrisy has some limits.
Which is why we saw the oft maligned AG, Jeff Sessions do The Leader a solid by cherry picking a quote from an epistle of St. Paul the other day. The words concerned obeying the government, because the government was put there by God to keep order. In the 19th century the same quote was used by antebellum southern preachers to justify slavery.
Yes, it is the old Trump strategy. Never stay in once place too long--never become a standing target. The counter attacks to any criticism must come in a mind spinning blur from all directions, filled with outright lies, half truths, and gross exaggerations. The Germans are being overwhelmed with crime and are on the verge of political chaos because of Angela Merkel's lax immigration policies. The half truth--her governing coalition has become contentious because of immigration. The lie--according to the Germans themselves, the crime rate in their country is the lowest it has been in over 30 years.
Then, finally back up all this shit with soulless shills like Tucker Carlson, who the other night told his viewers to believe just the opposite of what every news outlet in the nation reports, except FOX. This after Donald Trump said, "Fake News," (ie. any news he doesn't like) is, "The true enemy of the American people."
Homeland Security officials denied they are herding families into the McAllen processing center, then telling parents their children are being taken away to bathe, when in reality they are being shipped off to parts unknown. The Texas Civil Rights Project has documented several cases of them doing just that.
At least American authorities haven't stooped to a pre Merkel German policy. That would be the showers option, like select SS men practiced in places such as Buchenwald. Although, to be honest, given the monster in the White House and his howling fans, such a solution to The Immigrant Question doesn't seem so far fetched any more.
The LA Times reports between the middle of April and the end of May this year 1,995 children were taken from 1,940 parents, or legal guardians. The Department of Human Services now houses 11,432 immigrant children in 100 shelters spread across 17 states.
For those of you conservatives who worry about such things, the mass detention of those kids and their parents comes on the taxpayer's dime. That's right. Instead of working their way into the economy by taking jobs those of us already here would rather not touch--paying for rent, groceries, and transportation; sending their children to school to learn stuff like English and math--they are all, thanks to Donald J. Trump and his band of bellicose xenophobes, incarcerated at our expense.
Ah yes, truth, justice, and The New American Way.
6-18-18
According to a Quinnipiac University poll, 55% of the republican party supports the forcible separation of immigrant children, some still in diapers, from their parents at the southern border. In addition, 77% support building El Donald's wall along the entire 1,954 miles of the U.S. Mexico frontier, even though that fantasy about making the Mexicans pay for it has gone the way of the Dodo.
Steve Bannon probably saw those numbers. It's why he issued a statement warning his former boss that he risks alienating the great white, beer bellied, GOP base if he compromises on immigration with anyone left of presidential aid and resident forehead, Stephen Miller.
Bannon's fears are probably unfounded. Trump can afford to take the risk since there is no one else who can drive fascist mobs into a frenzy like he can. And, there is no one else who the trailer park Nazis will trust. That's why he is happy to play the same card used by torturers throughout history when he blames the continuing horror of state sponsored kidnapping, not on himself, but someone else. If the democrats just give me what I want all the emotional pain and suffering of those innocent kids will stop. If they don't, then the onus is on them.
Of course when another large part of your base considers themselves to be evangelical Christian it behooves you to break out some good ol' boy to quote scripture just in case they get a bit queasy at the goings on in places like, McAllen, TX. Indeed, it has been proven most hyper religious born again rubes will put up with all manner of sin and depravity so long as it isn't committed by a democrat. However, when it comes to ripping babies from their mother's arms, then sending them off to some new age concentration camp--well, even their hypocrisy has some limits.
Which is why we saw the oft maligned AG, Jeff Sessions do The Leader a solid by cherry picking a quote from an epistle of St. Paul the other day. The words concerned obeying the government, because the government was put there by God to keep order. In the 19th century the same quote was used by antebellum southern preachers to justify slavery.
Yes, it is the old Trump strategy. Never stay in once place too long--never become a standing target. The counter attacks to any criticism must come in a mind spinning blur from all directions, filled with outright lies, half truths, and gross exaggerations. The Germans are being overwhelmed with crime and are on the verge of political chaos because of Angela Merkel's lax immigration policies. The half truth--her governing coalition has become contentious because of immigration. The lie--according to the Germans themselves, the crime rate in their country is the lowest it has been in over 30 years.
Then, finally back up all this shit with soulless shills like Tucker Carlson, who the other night told his viewers to believe just the opposite of what every news outlet in the nation reports, except FOX. This after Donald Trump said, "Fake News," (ie. any news he doesn't like) is, "The true enemy of the American people."
Homeland Security officials denied they are herding families into the McAllen processing center, then telling parents their children are being taken away to bathe, when in reality they are being shipped off to parts unknown. The Texas Civil Rights Project has documented several cases of them doing just that.
At least American authorities haven't stooped to a pre Merkel German policy. That would be the showers option, like select SS men practiced in places such as Buchenwald. Although, to be honest, given the monster in the White House and his howling fans, such a solution to The Immigrant Question doesn't seem so far fetched any more.
The LA Times reports between the middle of April and the end of May this year 1,995 children were taken from 1,940 parents, or legal guardians. The Department of Human Services now houses 11,432 immigrant children in 100 shelters spread across 17 states.
For those of you conservatives who worry about such things, the mass detention of those kids and their parents comes on the taxpayer's dime. That's right. Instead of working their way into the economy by taking jobs those of us already here would rather not touch--paying for rent, groceries, and transportation; sending their children to school to learn stuff like English and math--they are all, thanks to Donald J. Trump and his band of bellicose xenophobes, incarcerated at our expense.
Ah yes, truth, justice, and The New American Way.
6-18-18
Friday, June 15, 2018
Sleep Well America, Donald Trump Just Made a Deal: North Korea is Our New Great Pal and the Only Thing We Have to Fear is a Free Press
I believe it is peace for our time. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Go home and get a nice quiet sleep.
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain speaking in front of 10 Downing St. on September 30th 1938 after signing an agreement with, Adolf Hitler, Der Fuehrer of Germany
~
President Obama said that North Korea was our biggest and most dangerous problem. No longer--sleep well tonight.
American President Donald J. Trump via Twitter after his meeting with, Kim Jong-un, the Supreme Leader of The Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Chamberlain said those words in front of about 5,000 supporters that day. What wasn't mentioned in most British news releases--because Chamberlain had almost complete control over what the BBC reported--was, at around the same moment, 15,000 protesters were raising hell about the agreement in Trafalgar Square.
Don Trump doesn't have that luxury when it comes to the press, at least not yet. So he has to say things like, "The country's biggest enemy is fake news. NBC and CNN are fighting to down play the deal with North Korea."
Actually it isn't hard to down play an agreement which is woefully vague on North Korea's commitment to denuclearize the peninsula in exchange for Trump's promises to stop scheduled, "war games," (as opposed to what has always been referred to as military exercises). That's in addition to halting U.S air patrols in the area, and vowing to bring American troops home from South Korea.
All without letting the South Koreans and our own military commanders in on the concessions before hand. Well, you know, too many cooks in the kitchen and all that. Besides, loose lips sink ships and more importantly, Nobel Prize aspirations.
Thanks to Trump's sudden rush to friendship with the former, "Little Rocket Man," it would seem, Mr. Kim, just like Herr Hitler in 1938, got pretty much everything he wanted while Trump, as did Chamberlain, got a cloud full of promises.
To this day, Chamberlain is routinely mis-quoted as saying, "peace in our time." No matter how he put it, 11 months after Germany signed the paper, its troops poured into Poland, kicking off that melee known as World War II. Before it was over, approximately 60 million people on all sides had died. The number Includes 449,816 British soldiers and civilians--another 359,267 were wounded. Chamberlain himself was gone a little over a year into it, claimed, not by Nazi bombs, but cancer.
Ever since then anytime an American leader, especially a democrat, has sought an accord with some antagonistic despot, members of the republican party in particular, but really both political sides in this country, have cited the strange and awful case of Neville Chamberlain.
Given that, imagine the reaction of the American right wing if Barack H. Obama had said this about, Kim Jong-un, "He's a tough guy. Hey, when you take over a country, tough country, with tough people and you take it over from your father--I don't care who you are, how much of an advantage you have. If you can do that at 27 years old, I mean that's one in 10,000 that can do that. So he's a very smart guy. He's a great negotiator, but I think we understand each other."
Tragically The Big Orange Guy is probably right. After he responded to a question about Kim's human rights record this way, "A lot of other people have done really bad things," it became clear Kim recognized a kindred spirit across the table in Singapore. Just ask all those Hispanic mothers who've had their kids pulled out of their arms by American immigration authorities and chucked into what amounts to a concentration camp in Texas.
The, "historic agreement," and subsequent statements came immediately after El Donald publicly called Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, "Very weak and dishonest." At the same time one of his aides told a cable news outlet there was a special place in hell for people like Trudeau who screw with Donald J. Trump.
Obviously we now know, without question, what type of national leader Brother Trump likes and admires. That's right, Fuck all those weenies like Trudeau, Macron, Merkel, and May. Give me Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and Kim Jong-un any day. They know how to run things!
And, although a tad little less subtle than Chamberlain, those guys also know how to handle dissident journalists and publications. Hey, it is easy to imagine the envy and longing the current resident of the White House has for those who not only don't have to worry about any media criticism, but, in fact, expect and receive nothing, but gushing praise from the local news outlets. .
Indeed, when it comes to stifling the media, you have to believe DJT, after he downs a breakfast of Red Bull, orange juice, Frosted Flakes, and ultra pure Colombian blow, is thinking, Ah, maybe someday, sooner than they all think, I'll own the bastards here..
Yes, sleep well tonight, America. Donald Trump just made a deal. North Korea is now our great pal and the only thing we have to fear is a free press.
sic vita est
6-15-18
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain speaking in front of 10 Downing St. on September 30th 1938 after signing an agreement with, Adolf Hitler, Der Fuehrer of Germany
~
President Obama said that North Korea was our biggest and most dangerous problem. No longer--sleep well tonight.
American President Donald J. Trump via Twitter after his meeting with, Kim Jong-un, the Supreme Leader of The Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Chamberlain said those words in front of about 5,000 supporters that day. What wasn't mentioned in most British news releases--because Chamberlain had almost complete control over what the BBC reported--was, at around the same moment, 15,000 protesters were raising hell about the agreement in Trafalgar Square.
Don Trump doesn't have that luxury when it comes to the press, at least not yet. So he has to say things like, "The country's biggest enemy is fake news. NBC and CNN are fighting to down play the deal with North Korea."
Actually it isn't hard to down play an agreement which is woefully vague on North Korea's commitment to denuclearize the peninsula in exchange for Trump's promises to stop scheduled, "war games," (as opposed to what has always been referred to as military exercises). That's in addition to halting U.S air patrols in the area, and vowing to bring American troops home from South Korea.
All without letting the South Koreans and our own military commanders in on the concessions before hand. Well, you know, too many cooks in the kitchen and all that. Besides, loose lips sink ships and more importantly, Nobel Prize aspirations.
Thanks to Trump's sudden rush to friendship with the former, "Little Rocket Man," it would seem, Mr. Kim, just like Herr Hitler in 1938, got pretty much everything he wanted while Trump, as did Chamberlain, got a cloud full of promises.
To this day, Chamberlain is routinely mis-quoted as saying, "peace in our time." No matter how he put it, 11 months after Germany signed the paper, its troops poured into Poland, kicking off that melee known as World War II. Before it was over, approximately 60 million people on all sides had died. The number Includes 449,816 British soldiers and civilians--another 359,267 were wounded. Chamberlain himself was gone a little over a year into it, claimed, not by Nazi bombs, but cancer.
Ever since then anytime an American leader, especially a democrat, has sought an accord with some antagonistic despot, members of the republican party in particular, but really both political sides in this country, have cited the strange and awful case of Neville Chamberlain.
Given that, imagine the reaction of the American right wing if Barack H. Obama had said this about, Kim Jong-un, "He's a tough guy. Hey, when you take over a country, tough country, with tough people and you take it over from your father--I don't care who you are, how much of an advantage you have. If you can do that at 27 years old, I mean that's one in 10,000 that can do that. So he's a very smart guy. He's a great negotiator, but I think we understand each other."
Tragically The Big Orange Guy is probably right. After he responded to a question about Kim's human rights record this way, "A lot of other people have done really bad things," it became clear Kim recognized a kindred spirit across the table in Singapore. Just ask all those Hispanic mothers who've had their kids pulled out of their arms by American immigration authorities and chucked into what amounts to a concentration camp in Texas.
The, "historic agreement," and subsequent statements came immediately after El Donald publicly called Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, "Very weak and dishonest." At the same time one of his aides told a cable news outlet there was a special place in hell for people like Trudeau who screw with Donald J. Trump.
Obviously we now know, without question, what type of national leader Brother Trump likes and admires. That's right, Fuck all those weenies like Trudeau, Macron, Merkel, and May. Give me Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and Kim Jong-un any day. They know how to run things!
And, although a tad little less subtle than Chamberlain, those guys also know how to handle dissident journalists and publications. Hey, it is easy to imagine the envy and longing the current resident of the White House has for those who not only don't have to worry about any media criticism, but, in fact, expect and receive nothing, but gushing praise from the local news outlets. .
Indeed, when it comes to stifling the media, you have to believe DJT, after he downs a breakfast of Red Bull, orange juice, Frosted Flakes, and ultra pure Colombian blow, is thinking, Ah, maybe someday, sooner than they all think, I'll own the bastards here..
Yes, sleep well tonight, America. Donald Trump just made a deal. North Korea is now our great pal and the only thing we have to fear is a free press.
sic vita est
6-15-18
Monday, June 11, 2018
Anthony Bourdain Takes His Final Trip
I'm not going to treat my body like a temple. I'm going to treat it like a fun house.
Anthony Bourdain
Yes, but eventually the fun turns stale, the exotic becomes routine, and the act, goes strangely mechanical, performed only by soul numbing rote.
I'm just guessing of course, since I have no idea what went through Anthony Bourdain's mind right before he hung himself in a French hotel room last Friday. I do know, that by killing himself he joined an ever expanding circle of people I've admired, known, or was related to who have committed suicide.
Right now the count includes one grandfather, one uncle, and four high school classmates.
Two of those among the admired are Ernest Hemingway and Hunter S. Thompson. During his adventures, Bourdain made a crude speculation about the size of Hemingway's genitals and ripped off--rather poorly--Thompson's book, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," on an episode of his Travel Channel show, "No Reservations." So if I can claim any sort of connection to the man, it would be an extremely tenuous one. Apparently we, along with millions of others, read some of the same authors.
That and I had a tendency to binge watch, "No Reservations," whenever I could, like I did yesterday afternoon, less than 48 hours after learning of his death.
There was much to like about Anthony Bourdain, who in 2013 moved to CNN with a show called, "Parts Unknown." He went to places I've dreamed of and others I've never given a thought to. He was absolutely fearless when it came to trying local cuisine, sometimes stepping over a line I wouldn't even go near--like that moment in western Africa when he consumed an Ostrich egg baked in dirt, as an appetizer, then for the entree ate a Wart Hog's rectum.
His snarky wit was entertaining and usually spot on and even though he was obviously well read and intelligent, he traveled completely without pretense. He might have been the smartest guy in the room, but he never talked down to anyone. At least not on any of his shows. And, even though he became a star, he was always acutely aware he was a guest in some one's country, or home and behaved accordingly. He was never the boorish American tourist.
That being said, he didn't mind telling the camera that sometimes a meal sucked: The Wart Hog's ass? "The worst meal I've ever had." Or that a particular spot was uninspiring. Like the time he visited a place in Italy which packaged sea salt--the process involved watching pools of sea water evaporate.
On the dark side when he spoke of the grueling work in the world's kitchens, he tended to romanticize the outlaw drugs and alcohol abuse which he led us to believe is rampant among workers in the industry. I suspect it isn't a coincidence, Hemingway did the same with heavy drinking and Thompson did it with narcotics both real and fictional.
Well, shit happens when you live on the edge and sometimes it doesn't take much to tip you over into the abyss. Bourdain's death came on the heels of designer Kate Spade's suicide. It seems like nearly every piece I've seen regarding both of them on the net has ended with a generic plea to get help coupled with a phone number to a crisis center.
Unfortunately, those who have truly heard the reaper's whisper know it always includes the admonishment to ignore such entreaties. Listen you hopeless fuck, there's no reason to involve strangers. Just get on with it!
Some heed the words, others step back. However, whichever ends up being the resolution, most of the time, as illustrated in both Spade's and Bourdain's cases, loved ones and friends rarely have a clue just how close the void has really come.
Indeed, sometimes the urge to go is so overwhelming that logic, reason, and the knowledge you will cause pain to those who love you by doing it exit the building and you're left standing in a gigantic hollowed out structure with gun, rope, or pills in hand. The shadows and echoes close in and the dive into nothingness seems, not only completely inevitable, but intensely preferable.
In one episode of, "No Reservations," filmed in Stockholm, Anthony Bourdain railed about the Swedish pop group ABBA through out the show. At the end of it--in one of those stabs at Thompson-esque gonzo humor--he was convicted of disrespecting the singers and sentenced to a jail cell where he was constantly subjected to ABBA tunes. As the credits rolled, rather than have to listen to the music for years on end, he fashioned a noose from his bedding and hung himself.
Then, as we watched his life supposedly ebb away, the screen faded to black and the show ended. Little did we know we were watching what amounted to a deeply twisted and ironic rehearsal of what was to come.
Forsan Miseros Meliora Sequentur
Virgil
6-11-18
Anthony Bourdain
Yes, but eventually the fun turns stale, the exotic becomes routine, and the act, goes strangely mechanical, performed only by soul numbing rote.
I'm just guessing of course, since I have no idea what went through Anthony Bourdain's mind right before he hung himself in a French hotel room last Friday. I do know, that by killing himself he joined an ever expanding circle of people I've admired, known, or was related to who have committed suicide.
Right now the count includes one grandfather, one uncle, and four high school classmates.
Two of those among the admired are Ernest Hemingway and Hunter S. Thompson. During his adventures, Bourdain made a crude speculation about the size of Hemingway's genitals and ripped off--rather poorly--Thompson's book, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," on an episode of his Travel Channel show, "No Reservations." So if I can claim any sort of connection to the man, it would be an extremely tenuous one. Apparently we, along with millions of others, read some of the same authors.
That and I had a tendency to binge watch, "No Reservations," whenever I could, like I did yesterday afternoon, less than 48 hours after learning of his death.
There was much to like about Anthony Bourdain, who in 2013 moved to CNN with a show called, "Parts Unknown." He went to places I've dreamed of and others I've never given a thought to. He was absolutely fearless when it came to trying local cuisine, sometimes stepping over a line I wouldn't even go near--like that moment in western Africa when he consumed an Ostrich egg baked in dirt, as an appetizer, then for the entree ate a Wart Hog's rectum.
His snarky wit was entertaining and usually spot on and even though he was obviously well read and intelligent, he traveled completely without pretense. He might have been the smartest guy in the room, but he never talked down to anyone. At least not on any of his shows. And, even though he became a star, he was always acutely aware he was a guest in some one's country, or home and behaved accordingly. He was never the boorish American tourist.
That being said, he didn't mind telling the camera that sometimes a meal sucked: The Wart Hog's ass? "The worst meal I've ever had." Or that a particular spot was uninspiring. Like the time he visited a place in Italy which packaged sea salt--the process involved watching pools of sea water evaporate.
On the dark side when he spoke of the grueling work in the world's kitchens, he tended to romanticize the outlaw drugs and alcohol abuse which he led us to believe is rampant among workers in the industry. I suspect it isn't a coincidence, Hemingway did the same with heavy drinking and Thompson did it with narcotics both real and fictional.
Well, shit happens when you live on the edge and sometimes it doesn't take much to tip you over into the abyss. Bourdain's death came on the heels of designer Kate Spade's suicide. It seems like nearly every piece I've seen regarding both of them on the net has ended with a generic plea to get help coupled with a phone number to a crisis center.
Unfortunately, those who have truly heard the reaper's whisper know it always includes the admonishment to ignore such entreaties. Listen you hopeless fuck, there's no reason to involve strangers. Just get on with it!
Some heed the words, others step back. However, whichever ends up being the resolution, most of the time, as illustrated in both Spade's and Bourdain's cases, loved ones and friends rarely have a clue just how close the void has really come.
Indeed, sometimes the urge to go is so overwhelming that logic, reason, and the knowledge you will cause pain to those who love you by doing it exit the building and you're left standing in a gigantic hollowed out structure with gun, rope, or pills in hand. The shadows and echoes close in and the dive into nothingness seems, not only completely inevitable, but intensely preferable.
In one episode of, "No Reservations," filmed in Stockholm, Anthony Bourdain railed about the Swedish pop group ABBA through out the show. At the end of it--in one of those stabs at Thompson-esque gonzo humor--he was convicted of disrespecting the singers and sentenced to a jail cell where he was constantly subjected to ABBA tunes. As the credits rolled, rather than have to listen to the music for years on end, he fashioned a noose from his bedding and hung himself.
Then, as we watched his life supposedly ebb away, the screen faded to black and the show ended. Little did we know we were watching what amounted to a deeply twisted and ironic rehearsal of what was to come.
Forsan Miseros Meliora Sequentur
Virgil
6-11-18
Wednesday, June 6, 2018
Sliding Down the Rabbit Hole With, The Leader
That slide down the rabbit hole just keeps gaining momentum.
During a May, 25th phone call things got a tad testy between Canada's Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau and Donald Trump, the American strong man wannabe. The purpose of the call was a, "discussion," between the two gentlemen regarding punitive tariffs The Big Orange Guy slapped on aluminum and steel imports coming from Canada, Mexico, and just about everyone else we used to call friends.
CNN is reporting that when Trudeau questioned Trump's excuse for the tariffs--it's a national security issue--El Donald snapped at the Canadian PM, "Didn't you guys burn down the White House?"
Well, two hundred plus years ago, they sort of, kind of, but not really did. On August 24th, 1814 British troops entered Washington D.C. and burned part of the city, along with the White House. At the time, Canada was a large chunk of the British Empire. However, as far as anyone can tell, there weren't any actual Canadians who took part in the sacking.
Of course, details such as these never really bother Trump, or the trailer park fascists he caters to. Neither do facts. Like the one which explains why the British came to town in the first place. The en masse raid was retaliation for an American attack on York, Upper Canada in April of the previous year.
York was Upper Canada's capitol and later the town was renamed Toronto, and the province, Ontario. United States troops, led by General Zebulon Pike, won that battle, took the city, then for fun and profit looted it. Afterward our guys burned down large portions of the burg and its dock area. Pike was killed during the campaign and years later a mountain in Colorado he never climbed was renamed in his honor.
There you go. Cite some two hundred year old faux grievance while defending questionable, not to mention hostile, 21st century policy to the leader of a country which has fought with us in a series of wars beginning in 1917.
Trudeau told NBC's Meet the Press, "The idea that we are somehow a national security threat to the United States is, quite frankly, insulting and unacceptable." Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, spoke on CNN's State of the Union and said, "And I would just say to all of Canada's American friends--and there are so many--seriously? Do you really believe that Canada, that your NATO allies, represent a national security threat to you?"
Indeed, this national security bullshit is straight out of the playbook used by two bit dictators around the globe. When pushing insane nonsense they invariably howl about looming threats to the national well being perpetrated by foreign powers. Just ask Kim Jong-un and Nicolas Maduro. Or, hey, you can ask Donald Trump himself when it comes that wall he insists on building.
Before he got on the phone with Trudeau, Mr. Trump spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron about trade and immigration. One source told CNN the call was, "Just bad. It was terrible. Macron thought he'd be able to speak his mind based on their relationship, but Trump can't handle being criticized like that."
Most dictators in the making can't. And that's just what Don Trump is. How else can you describe a man who claims he can, "unquestionably," pardon himself and whose lawyers say he can't be indicted for murder while he remains President even if he guns down an innocent person in the street?
Yes, we fucked up. Many of us wrote this monster off as a wacky buffoon who didn't understand even the basics of the United States government--you know, stuff like the separation of powers. We were wrong. He understands it perfectly, he simply has no use for it and, in truth, despises it.
He ran his business for decades without advisement, or any sort of second party consent. He bent, twisted and, at times, broke the rules, while conning the rubes, and stiffing those foolish enough to invest their financial support and labor in his projects. In the process he made millions, all the while beating his chest in the media as if he was the urban Tarzan, King of the Grifters.
Given his background is it any wonder he thinks of himself as the CEO of a private corporation known as the United States of America. One who is going to run the place for long as he wants and whose decisions shouldn't be questioned by anyone? That's right, Fuck the constitution and congress. I'm in charge now. I'll decide what we do and when I leave. And in the meantime my truth is the only truth. Everything else is fake.
You betcha and every news outlet which questions that self serving axiom, is, as Big Joe Stalin used to say, "The enemy of the people."
Early in March of this year The Great and Powerful Ego spoke to a group of big buck donors down in Florida. Here is what he said about China's President, Xi Jinping--head of the country which actually does have us by the balls when it comes to trade. "He is now president for life, for life. And look, he was able to do that. I think it's great. Maybe we'll have to give that a shot someday."
Yes, the sound you hear is George Washington spinning in his grave.
That's opposed to the noise those right wing slugs made in response to his words during the dreadful get together. Despite their avowed dedication to the constitution, which explicitly prohibits such an act, they applauded and raucously cheered, The Leader, Donald John Trump's wishful thinking.
Tread carefully America. We are right on the edge with this son of a bitch. And--as we've seen all too clearly, there are millions in this country who are prepared to willingly follow him over that awful precipice whenever he decides to make the trip.
6-6-18
CM
During a May, 25th phone call things got a tad testy between Canada's Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau and Donald Trump, the American strong man wannabe. The purpose of the call was a, "discussion," between the two gentlemen regarding punitive tariffs The Big Orange Guy slapped on aluminum and steel imports coming from Canada, Mexico, and just about everyone else we used to call friends.
CNN is reporting that when Trudeau questioned Trump's excuse for the tariffs--it's a national security issue--El Donald snapped at the Canadian PM, "Didn't you guys burn down the White House?"
Well, two hundred plus years ago, they sort of, kind of, but not really did. On August 24th, 1814 British troops entered Washington D.C. and burned part of the city, along with the White House. At the time, Canada was a large chunk of the British Empire. However, as far as anyone can tell, there weren't any actual Canadians who took part in the sacking.
Of course, details such as these never really bother Trump, or the trailer park fascists he caters to. Neither do facts. Like the one which explains why the British came to town in the first place. The en masse raid was retaliation for an American attack on York, Upper Canada in April of the previous year.
York was Upper Canada's capitol and later the town was renamed Toronto, and the province, Ontario. United States troops, led by General Zebulon Pike, won that battle, took the city, then for fun and profit looted it. Afterward our guys burned down large portions of the burg and its dock area. Pike was killed during the campaign and years later a mountain in Colorado he never climbed was renamed in his honor.
There you go. Cite some two hundred year old faux grievance while defending questionable, not to mention hostile, 21st century policy to the leader of a country which has fought with us in a series of wars beginning in 1917.
Trudeau told NBC's Meet the Press, "The idea that we are somehow a national security threat to the United States is, quite frankly, insulting and unacceptable." Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, spoke on CNN's State of the Union and said, "And I would just say to all of Canada's American friends--and there are so many--seriously? Do you really believe that Canada, that your NATO allies, represent a national security threat to you?"
Indeed, this national security bullshit is straight out of the playbook used by two bit dictators around the globe. When pushing insane nonsense they invariably howl about looming threats to the national well being perpetrated by foreign powers. Just ask Kim Jong-un and Nicolas Maduro. Or, hey, you can ask Donald Trump himself when it comes that wall he insists on building.
Before he got on the phone with Trudeau, Mr. Trump spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron about trade and immigration. One source told CNN the call was, "Just bad. It was terrible. Macron thought he'd be able to speak his mind based on their relationship, but Trump can't handle being criticized like that."
Most dictators in the making can't. And that's just what Don Trump is. How else can you describe a man who claims he can, "unquestionably," pardon himself and whose lawyers say he can't be indicted for murder while he remains President even if he guns down an innocent person in the street?
Yes, we fucked up. Many of us wrote this monster off as a wacky buffoon who didn't understand even the basics of the United States government--you know, stuff like the separation of powers. We were wrong. He understands it perfectly, he simply has no use for it and, in truth, despises it.
He ran his business for decades without advisement, or any sort of second party consent. He bent, twisted and, at times, broke the rules, while conning the rubes, and stiffing those foolish enough to invest their financial support and labor in his projects. In the process he made millions, all the while beating his chest in the media as if he was the urban Tarzan, King of the Grifters.
Given his background is it any wonder he thinks of himself as the CEO of a private corporation known as the United States of America. One who is going to run the place for long as he wants and whose decisions shouldn't be questioned by anyone? That's right, Fuck the constitution and congress. I'm in charge now. I'll decide what we do and when I leave. And in the meantime my truth is the only truth. Everything else is fake.
You betcha and every news outlet which questions that self serving axiom, is, as Big Joe Stalin used to say, "The enemy of the people."
Early in March of this year The Great and Powerful Ego spoke to a group of big buck donors down in Florida. Here is what he said about China's President, Xi Jinping--head of the country which actually does have us by the balls when it comes to trade. "He is now president for life, for life. And look, he was able to do that. I think it's great. Maybe we'll have to give that a shot someday."
Yes, the sound you hear is George Washington spinning in his grave.
That's opposed to the noise those right wing slugs made in response to his words during the dreadful get together. Despite their avowed dedication to the constitution, which explicitly prohibits such an act, they applauded and raucously cheered, The Leader, Donald John Trump's wishful thinking.
Tread carefully America. We are right on the edge with this son of a bitch. And--as we've seen all too clearly, there are millions in this country who are prepared to willingly follow him over that awful precipice whenever he decides to make the trip.
6-6-18
CM
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