Liberty In Peril

                                                                                              formerly,

                                                                                       The Llano Ledger

10-20-17

The Sessions nazi grows impatient.  So does his fuhrer, the Trump nazi.  The Washington Times reports:

"The Justice Department has issued a final warning to five of the 10 jurisdictions it accused of having “sanctuary” policies that defy federal immigration laws, saying they have until Oct. 27 to submit additional evidence proving compliance or risk losing grant money.  Letters conveying the Justice Department’s preliminary assessment of the jurisdictions’ local laws and policies were sent Wednesday. Cook County, Illinois; Chicago; New Orleans; New York City; and Philadelphia were all warned that the Justice Department believes these cities have laws or policies that run afoul of federal immigration law."

This will quickly be challenged in court.

"Jurisdictions that adopt so-called ‘sanctuary policies’ also adopt the view that the protection of criminal aliens is more important than the protection of law-abiding citizens and of the rule of law,” Mr. Sessions said."

Deliberate perverse distortion of reality by the Sessions nazi.  Adolf and Benito?  High-fiving from their fiery perches.  Outrageously unconstitutional federal statutes and/or executive orders endanger law-abiding citizens as well  as the undocumented by effectively forcing the undocumented not to report violent crime perpetrated against them.  To say nothing of not reporting crime the undocumented witness perpetrated against American citizens.

"The jurisdictions accused of violating federal immigration statutes had previously defended their local policies, saying they were compliant and should not lose grant funding.  Philadelphia officials struck a defiant note, writing in a letter to the Justice Department that a local policy banning city officials from inquiring about residents’ immigration status does not violate federal law because if the city doesn’t have the information, its officials can’t be required to share it.  “The federal statute does not require cities to inquire about or collect immigration status information, but only prohibits cities from restricting the sharing of that information if they have it,” wrote City Solicitor Sozi Pedro Tulante."

Sue the living shit out of the Trump nazi and his henchmen.

NBC News reports:

"Critics say the move could hurt efforts by cities to persuade immigrants to cooperate with state and local law enforcement."

This is a threat not only to the undocumented, but the entire citizenry.  Stands in the way of law enforcement doing its job to combat crime:

"Mayors of major U.S. cities, including Chicago and New York, have vowed to protect their respective immigrant populations from federal enforcement, saying immigrants are crucial in working with local law enforcement to solve crimes.  “We are reviewing DOJ’s response, and are prepared to fight to protect critical public safety funding," Seth Stein, a mayoral spokesman for New York, told NBC News."

Again, sue the living shit out of Trump and his henchmen.

"Chicago sued the Justice Department in August, accusing it of forcing the city to police undocumented immigrants in a way that would violate peoples' rights, damage public trust and make the city less safe.  At the heart of the dispute are detainer requests, issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement asking local law enforcement to hold suspected criminals believed to be in the country illegally for up to 48 hours after they are scheduled to be released."

Outrageously, unconstitutional.  No more than false imprisonment.

"Sessions ratcheted up the administration's tough talk on illegal immigration at a news conference Thursday morning in Falls Church, Virginia, where he discussed how the government is working to overhaul the immigration system and asylum application process.  "This is a compassionate country and lawfully admits more immigrants than any country in the world," Sessions said, "but we must recognize that our generous system is being terribly abused."

The Sessions nazi is either hopelessly delusional or a congenital liar.  Our formerly great country is no longer compassionate.  Has not been for decades.  Worse, became a de facto fascist police-state after the 9/11 catastrophe.  USA 'Patriot' Act, Homeland 'Security' Act, 'Real' ID Act.  List can certainly go on and on.

Now, Trump and his henchmen are determined to transform this goddamned fascist police-state to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich.  We've been sold out by both major political parties on behalf of their corporate masters who've lined their pockets.

Subsequent to writing the above and in a related matter, Trump and his henchmen got their asses figuratively kicked hard in court.  Two different courts.  NPR reports:

"A federal judge in Maryland has blocked parts of President Trump's most recent attempt to impose broad limits on who can enter the U.S., granting a motion for a preliminary injunction that was filed by plaintiffs led by the International Refugee Assistance Project.  The plaintiffs "have established that they are likely to succeed on the merits," District Judge Theodore Chuang wrote in the Tuesday order in dealing another setback to the Trump administration's attempt to ban travel to the U.S. by citizens of certain countries.  In his ruling, Chuang wrote that President's own Tweets helped convince him that the latest policy is a "inextricable re-animation of the twice-enjoined Muslim ban" that Trump called for on the campaign trail, and is therefore likely to be found unconstitutional."

You think?

"Chuang said the plaintiffs "are likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of injunctive relief, and that the balance of the equities and the public interest favor an injunction."  The judge's order was filed one day before Trump's ban was set to take effect. It follows a similar order Tuesday from a federal judge in Hawaii in a related case."

"In both Maryland and Hawaii, the judges limited their latest rulings to travelers from the six Muslim-majority countries on the list. North Korea and Venezuela are not affected by these rulings; the restrictions on travel from those countries can go into effect."

Both rulings will be appealed by the Sessions nazi.

10-20-17

In follow up to earlier editions of this publication here and elsewhere, NPR reports:

"Free-agent NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick has filed a grievance against the NFL and team owners alleging that they colluded to keep him out of the league following his pregame protests during the National Anthem.  Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who took a knee during the playing of the national anthem before games last season to protest police treatment of blacks, alleges that the NFL and team owners violated anti-collusion provisions in the league's collective bargaining agreement with its players.  "If the NFL (as well as all professional sports teams) is to remain a meritocracy, then principled and peaceful protest — which the owners themselves made great theater imitating weeks ago — should not be punished and athletes should not be denied employment based on partisan political provocation by the Executive Branch of our government," Kaepernick's attorney, Mark Geragos said in a statement, according to ESPN.  "Such a precedent threatens all patriotic Americans and harkens back to our darkest days as a nation. Protecting all athletes from such collusive conduct is what compelled Mr. Kaepernick to file his grievance," Geragos said."

Good for him.  About time.  Most importantly?  Good for the First Amendment.

While Trump ripped into the NFL vis a vis player exercise of the right to protest during the National Anthem, the Trump nazi, himself, demonstrated callous regard for the Stars and Stripes.  The Washington Post reports:

"After he had repeatedly railed against professional athletes over perceived slights to the American flag and military, President Trump joked on Wednesday about a bugle call that is part of the armed forces’ time-honored tradition of showing respect for the Stars and Stripes.  The bugle call occurred during Trump’s interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, conducted in an airplane hangar used by the Pennsylvania Air National Guard in Harrisburg and before the president’s address on tax revision.  “What a nice sound that is. Are they playing that for you or for me?” Trump said before turning to the audience. “They’re playing that in honor of his ratings,” he added, referencing the popularity of Hannity’s news program."

Jesus Christ.  Give me a break.  Gets worse, far worse.  Get this:

"Trump went back to speaking about economic growth as several audience members behind him stood up. The bugle call was “Retreat,” which signifies the lowering of the American flag on a military installation. Although Trump attended a military high school, the commander in chief appeared unaware of the music’s meaning.  The White House did not respond to questions seeking to understand Trump’s familiarity with this military tradition."

Why would they?  How could they?  How do you explain boorish behavior by a president who went to a military high school?  How?

"One of the first subjects taught to new members of the armed forces is customs and courtesies, including respect for the flag. Service members are required to stand at attention and salute when they are outside and “Retreat” plays.  Most military bases have loudspeakers to play “To The Color” when the flag is raised in the morning and “Retreat” when it is lowered in the evening. Regardless of whether a service member can see the flag being raised or lowered, they will stop and face in the direction of the music to salute. All outdoor activity on a military base stops when this bugle call sounds. Service members talking or exercising will stop. It they are driving a vehicle, they will pull over."

Think Trump doesn't know this?  Despite attending a military school?  Give me a break.

The following?  Exceptionally poignant:

"In 2007, comedian Robin Williams was performing for service members at an American base in Kuwait when his show was interrupted by “Retreat.” The entire audience stood to salute, while Williams removed his hat and stood quietly. “I’m not going to forget that,” Williams said after the ceremony was over.  Footage of Williams’s solemn reaction was captured by a soldier and later featured on “Late Night with David Letterman.” It’s since been viewed millions of times on YouTube."

Hat's off to the soldiers and the late, great Robin Williams.  Any questions?

Subsequent to writing the above, the Trump nazi did not get his way.  The Washington Times reports:

"President Trump blasted the NFL Wednesday over its decision to “not force” players to stand for the national anthem.  “The NFL has decided that it will not force players to stand for the playing of our National Anthem,” Mr. Trump tweeted. “Total disrespect for our great country!”  He was referring to a statement issued by the NFL Tuesday saying that owners and players agreed to work together to “promote positive social change and address inequality in our communities.”  The statement did not indicate any change in league policy that would require players to stand during the playing of the Star-Spangled Banner, despite Mr. Trump’s urging of such a rule."

Tough, isn't it?  The petulant nazi didn't get his way.  Doesn't your heart bleed?  The protest has nothing to do with respect for the Flag, Anthem, the military, the country itself, police who do their jobs lawfully, constitutionally, non-abusively.  Rather, it has to do with the abusive, inept, criminal jackbooted bastards in blue who murder innocent unarmed civilians on the job with impunity.

10-20-17

Republicans will now likely own the demise of Obamacare.  The Washington Post reports:

"President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday intended to circumvent the Affordable Care Act by making it easier for individuals and small business to buy different types of health plans with lower prices but also fewer benefits and protections."

Think Republicans will be returned to office?  When voters finally experience full impact of this carefully engineered royal f--king of the bottom of the food chain and middle class?

"The White House and allies portray the president’s move as wielding administrative powers to accomplish what congressional Republicans have failed to achieve: tearing down the law’s insurance marketplaces. The order represents Trump’s biggest step to carry out a broad but ill-defined directive he issued his first night in office for agencies to lessen ACA regulations from the Obama administration."

Republicans will indeed pay a price for not allowing Obamacare to fail, -- fall of its own weight.  Instead, Trump and his fellow nazis in the Republican Party have done all they could to deliberately ensure its failure.  In the case of Trump, by not executing his oath of office to enforce the law.  Not cherry pick those he approves of.

"Critics, who include state insurance commissioners, most of the health-insurance industry and mainstream policy specialists, predict that a proliferation of other types of coverage would have damaging ripple effects: driving up costs for consumers with serious medical conditions and prompting more insurers to flee the law’s marketplaces. Part of Trump’s action, they say, will spark court challenges over its legality."

Without question, there will be litigation.  -- Lawsuits will likely tie this up for years.  Not only that, bureaucratically, will take time to fully implement, slowing the Trump nazi and his henchmen down:

"In a late-morning signing ceremony in the White House’s Roosevelt Room, surrounded by supportive small business owners and a few Republicans from Capitol Hill, the president spoke in his characteristic superlatives about the effects of his action and what he called “the Obamacare nightmare.”  Trump said that Thursday’s move, which will initiate months of regulatory work by federal agencies, “is only the beginning.” He promised “even more relief and more freedom” from ACA rules. And while leading GOP lawmakers are eager to move on from their unsuccessful attempts this year to abolish central facets of the law, he said: “We are going to pressure Congress very strongly to finish the repeal and replace of Obamacare.”

The Trump nazi is clearly sabotaging Obamacare, deliberately refusing to enforce the law.  Too impatient to let it fall of its own weight.  NPR reports:

"The Trump administration said Thursday that it would end the Affordable Care Act's cost-sharing reduction payments designed to help low-income Americans get health care. Not paying the subsidies, health care experts have warned, could send the health insurance exchanges into turmoil.  The payments, which started under the Obama administration, had been continued by President Trump, despite his strong opposition to the ACA. But the subsidies had never been funded by Congress, and the White House on Thursday said since there was no appropriation for it, "the Government cannot lawfully make the cost-sharing reduction payments."

Convenient, isn't it?  No more than direct sabotage of the Affordable Care Act, that is, Obamacare.

"The bailout of insurance companies through these unlawful payments is yet another example of how the previous administration abused taxpayer dollars and skirted the law to prop up a broken system," the White House said in a statement. "Congress needs to repeal and replace the disastrous Obamacare law and provide real relief to the American people."

Disingenuous bullshit at best, at worst, outright deception.  Readers are reminded Republicans dragged their feet every step of the way.  Were repeatedly unsuccessful repealing Obamacare right from inception up to the present.  Failed repeatedly.  Even after taking office, the Trump nazi and his fellow Republicans were unable to replace and repeal for one reason and one reason only.  Had nothing better to offer.  Still don't.

"The decision ends speculation about whether the Trump administration would continue making the monthly payments to insurers. That money particularly helps people earning between 100 percent and 250 percent of the poverty level pay for the insurance and health care they get through the exchanges set up by the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare."

Trump falsely swore an oath of office to uphold the law he's deliberately abrogated to sabotage, Obamacare.  A law already doomed to failure due to Republican intransigence and refusal to pass a single-payer system that's worked remarkably well in Canada and throughout Europe.  The bottom line is remarkably simple.

They get theirs, you get f--ked.  Any questions?  This was deliberately done to doom a law that had already been failing due to GOP intransigence and a 'Let 'em eat cake' attitude ubiquitous in Republican circles.  Precisely, why the bastards refuse to rein in the bottomless greed of providers and anyone doing business in the healthcare arena.  Cash cow.  Golden Goose.

"Ending the payments could cause premiums to spike, push insurers out of the marketplace, and even cost the government $2.3 billion more in 2018 than it would otherwise spend, according to one analysis.  It was not clear when the payments, known as CSRs, would end."

Apparently, intended to throw as much confusion into the mix as possible to accelerate failure of the exchanges.

"The news was not received well by Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill. In a joint statement, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called the move "a spiteful act of vast, pointless sabotage."

Not pointless.  Trump and his henchmen know precisely what they're doing.  Abrogating a law to line the pockets of the top 1% of the foodchain including the corporate management suite.  Stick it to the bottom and middle class.  Now, the American Way.

NBC News reports:

"With Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare stalled, President Donald Trump issued a new executive order on Thursday that could undermine the law without Congress."

Direct abrogation of his oath of office to enforce the law, all laws.

"Seven years ago, congressional Democrats broke the American health care system by forcing the Obamacare nightmare onto the American people. And it has been a nightmare," Trump said at the White House, adding that the order represented the first step "to providing millions of Americans with Obamacare relief."

When Obamacare fails directly due to actions taken by Trump and his henchmen, millions lose coverage, think Republicans will be returned to office?

"Experts say it has the potential to upend the current health care system for small businesses and individuals by opening up cheaper options for some customers, while spiking costs for others and encouraging more insurers to flee Obamacare’s exchanges."

Deliberate sabotage of a failing law Republican nazis will now own.  Doesn't your heart bleed?

"Healthier consumers will likely be able to enroll in plans with lower insurance rates, while more medically complex consumers may be subject to significant rate increases," Dave Dillon, a fellow at the Society of Actuaries, said in a statement."

Conveniently, forget?  The purpose of insurance is to share risk to lower premium cost for the majority of the population, not cherry pick policyholders to lower premiums for a select, privileged few.  The Trump nazi is no more than a snake oil salesman, shameless charlatan.

While the Trump nazi disingenuously claims he's cutting off money to the insurance companies, guess who ultimately pays?  NPR reports:

"President Trump's decision Thursday to end subsidy payments to health insurance companies is expected to raise premiums for middle-class families and cost the federal government hundreds of billions of dollars.  The administration said it would stop reimbursing insurers for discounts on co-payments and deductibles that they are required by law to offer to low-income consumers. The reimbursements are known as cost-sharing reduction payments, or CSRs.  Insurance companies still have to give the discounts to low-income customers. So if the government doesn't reimburse  for the insurers, they'll make up the money by charging higher premiums for coverage."

Consumers are already egregiously gouged by the insurance companies.  With no CSRs for the poor and the consequent skyrocketing of premiums for the middle class, the middle class will likely simply walk away.  Precisely, the intention of the Trump nazi and his henchmen.  Think carefully.  Very carefully.  When someone gets sick or injured, has no insurance, guess who ultimately pays?

"The subsidy cut was the second swipe the White House took at the Affordable Care Act insurance markets Thursday in what many critics say is a deliberate campaign to destabilize them in hopes of forcing Congress to repeal the law."

Not likely to happen.  Republicans wish to be returned to office.  When the impact becomes clear and their constituents raise hell, think they won't quickly capitulate?  Especially, with midterms right around the corner.  The best Trump can hope for is the sabotage works, that is, Obamacare immediately fails as a result of his actions.  Likely, won't since lawsuits from state attorneys general are about to hit the fan.

"Ending the CSR payments is another sign that President Trump is doing what he can to undermine the stability of the individual market under the ACA," wrote Tim Jost, professor emeritus of law at Washington and Lee University who contributes to the Health Affairs blog."

Refusing to enforce the law he falsely swore to uphold.  Like every nazi dictator in history, cherry picking what to enforce, what to abrogate.

"The decision will most directly affect middle-class families who buy their own insurance without financial help from the government. Consumers who earn more than 400 percent of the federal poverty level — an individual with income of about $48,000 or a family of four that makes more than $98,400 — will likely see their costs for coverage rise next year by an average of about 20 percent nationwide."

Most will likely walk away since the coverage stinks and is getting worse.

"People with lower incomes will be unaffected since the ACA, also known as Obamacare, provides government subsidies — in the form of tax credits — that ensure their out-of-pocket insurance costs remain stable. So when premiums rise, those tax credits rise in tandem."

To a point, for only a segment of the population.  Here's the kicker:

"Ironically, the decision to end the $7 billion-a-year cost-sharing payments is likely to cost the federal government more than making them — nearly $200 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.  That is because the ACA requires that premiums don't exceed a set percentage of a person's income. So as premiums set by insurance companies rise over time, the government has to boost its tax credits so the cost to the consumer remains the same.  Last year, about 85 percent of people who bought Obamacare insurance got a tax credit, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services."

How is it a law can get passed without being funded?  How is that possible when program implementation costs billions?  Much more than a routine unfunded mandate:

"The cost-sharing payments have been at the center of a political battle over the Affordable Care Act since before Trump took office.  House Republicans opposed to the health law sued then-President Barack Obama, saying the payments were illegal because Congress hadn't appropriated money for them. A judge agreed but allowed the administration to continue making the payments during an appeal.  The president has been threatening all year to cut off the payments, which he refers to as a bailout. He repeated that characterization on Twitter on Friday.

"The Democrats ObamaCare is imploding. Massive subsidy payments to their pet insurance companies has stopped. Dems should call me to fix!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 13, 2017"

Trump is delusional.  Why would Democrats do anything to help him resolve a disaster of his own making, that he now owns and so does the GOP?  How is it Republicans have no problem funding defense spending, but refuse to fund an equally important national security issue, healthcare?

"Insurers have been left to wonder, month to month, whether they will receive them."

Not a problem.  They've already raised premiums in anticipation.  The f--king, already begun.

"The White House cited that legal dispute when it announced the end of the payments late Thursday."

Disingenuous bullshit at best.  At worst, another con by the Trump charlatan.  Height of hypocrisy, epitome of delusion?  Re-write of reality?  Get this:

"The bailout of insurance companies through these unlawful payments is yet another example of how the previous administration abused taxpayer dollars and skirted the law to prop up a broken system," the White House statement said."

Day is night, night is day, and shit smells sweet in the perverse world of the Trump nazi.

"We now know what Trumpcare looks like, and it's pretty ugly," said Ezekiel Emanuel, an oncologist who chairs the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania."

Think Trump isn't delusional?  NPR reports:

"The competition will be staggering," Trump said. "Insurance companies will be fighting to get every single person signed up. And you will be, hopefully, negotiating, negotiating, negotiating. And you will get such low prices for such great care."

Alice In Wonderland.  This sick, ignorant son of a bitch does not live on the same planet as the rest of us.

NPR reports:

"The reaction has been swift since President Trump announced late Thursday that he was cutting off Affordable Care Act subsidies to insurance companies."

So too, the litigation:

"New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says he is joining peers in California and several other states in filing a lawsuit to protect the subsidies. Schneiderman says the lawsuit will argue that the subsidies are codified under the ACA, and therefore, they must be paid as long as the health care law remains in force.  Eliminating the subsidies is "breathtakingly reckless," he said. "This move is unacceptable, it's cruel, and it is unlawful."

NPR also reports:

"That is not all the Trump administration has done that could pull the rug out from under the ACA — it has also shortened the sign-up period for health care; closed the federal exchange on Sundays; and cut the budget for marketing efforts, including ending advertising to urge sign-ups."

Sabotage.  Failure of the Trump nazi to uphold his oath of office to uphold the law.  Doesn't get to pick and choose which federal laws he enforces.

Contradictory behavior and statements by the Trump nazi remain appalling.  NBC News reports:

"President Donald Trump disavowed a bipartisan health care agreement on Wednesday, delivering it a likely fatal blow only a day after he praised its approach and said he had personally encouraged its negotiation.  Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., had spent weeks working on the bill, which was designed to stabilize insurance markets under Obamacare by guaranteeing cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments that Trump had recently cut off. In exchange for Republican cooperation, Democrats would agree to modest measures loosening Obamacare regulations and allowing insurers to sell less comprehensive plans to more customers."

In direct contradiction of an earlier statement made by the Trump nazi, get this:

"In a tweet Wednesday, Trump thanked Alexander and Murray for their efforts, but said he "can never support bailing out [insurance companies]."

    "I am supportive of Lamar as a person & also of the process, but I can never support bailing out ins co's who have made a fortune w/ O'Care.
    — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 18, 2017

"It was a confusing shift from Tuesday when Trump, while criticizing the CSR payments, praised the emerging agreement as a "short-term deal" that would calm insurance markets until Republicans could pass a full Obamacare replacement later on.

"The solution will be for about a year or two years, and it will get us over this intermediate hump," Trump said at the time, adding he had been "involved" in the talks himself."

This man is a lunatic.  Egregiously unfit for office.

Republicans are aware of what's at stake:

"A memo circulating among Republican Senate offices Wednesday warned there would be "chaos without cost-sharing," citing Congressional Budget Office estimates that a failure to authorize the payments would raise premiums, leave millions with no insurance options, and increase federal deficits. The memo also suggested Democrats would use the resulting upheaval as a "four-lane highway to [a] single payer solution."

10-20-17

The catastrophe continues in Puerto Rico while the Trump nazi shamelessly threatens to cut the island off.  American citizens.  CNN reports:

"Nearly three weeks after Hurricane Maria pummeled Puerto Rico, the vast majority of the island remains without power and the death toll from the storm has risen to 45, authorities said.  At least 113 people remain unaccounted for, according to Karixia Ortiz, a spokeswoman for Puerto Rico's Department of Public Safety.  The recovery has moved slowly since Maria struck the US territory on September 20, leaving most of the island without basic services such as power and running water, according to residents, relief workers and local elected officials."

It's appalling how poorly recovery efforts are proceeding.

"In the town of Caguas, in the central mountain range, some patients -- including one breathing with the aid of a ventilator -- had to be evacuated to the Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort near San Juan after a generator failed, Dr. Christian Rodriguez said this week.  At least two people have died from leptospirosis, which spreads when the urine of infected animals gets into drinking water, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz told CNN Wednesday. People have been drinking water from creeks contaminated by dead animals, she said.  "We're not out of the woods yet," she said. "We are now starting to see a lot of health issues. ... So we are in a great effort, a great humanitarian effort."

... An effort the Trump nazi is threatening to withdraw.

"As of Wednesday 89% of the island was without electricity and almost 47% had no phone service, according to a website set up by the Puerto Rican government. Some 43% of the island's 313 bank branches remained closed, it said."

Think there isn't a problem?

ABC News reports:

"President Donald Trump said Thursday the federal government cannot keep the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Puerto Rico "forever," even as the U.S. territory continues to reel from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria in September.

"We cannot keep FEMA, the Military, the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!" Trump tweeted.

    "Puerto Rico survived the Hurricanes, now a financial crisis looms largely of their own making." says Sharyl Attkisson. A total lack of.....
    — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 12, 2017

    " ...accountability say the Governor. Electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes. Congress to decide how much to spend....
    — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 12, 2017

    "...We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!
    — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 12, 2017"

Think Trump would have taken the very same tact in any of the fifty states?  The San Juan Mayor certainly figuratively unloaded on the Trump nazi:

"San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz slammed Trump's tweets as "adding insult to injury" and "unbecoming."  "Your tweets and comments just show desperation and underscore the inadequacy of your government's response to this humanitarian crisis. It is not that you do not get it, it is that you are incapable of empathy and frankly simply cannot get the job done," Cruz said in a statement.

"Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello also responded to Trump's tweets Thursday morning by arguing that Puerto Rico is simply asking for the "support that any of our fellow citizens would receive."

Apparently, the Trump nazi has forgotten Puerto Ricans are indeed American citizens.

CNN also reports:

"Meanwhile, Texas and Florida -- two states Trump won during last year's presidential election -- also were struck by severe hurricanes recently, but the President has made no public indication that the federal government is pulling back on its response there."

Strange, isn't it?

"The recovery has moved slowly since Maria struck the US territory on September 20, leaving most of the island without basic services such as power and running water, according to residents, relief workers and local elected officials. Hospitals throughout the cash-strapped island of 3.4 million people have been running low on medicine and fuel, and residents and local elected officials have said they expect the death toll to rise.  The water situation is so dire, the Environmental Protection Agency said in a news release Wednesday, that residents on the island have reportedly been trying to obtain water from Superfund sites -- which are bodies of water contaminated by hazardous waste. The EPA advised against "tampering with sealed and locked wells or drinking from these wells, as it may be dangerous to people's health."

Yet, the Trump nazi couldn't care less.

"Democrats, however, pounced on Trump's tweets.  "Puerto Ricans are Americans, and we don't abandon each other. The federal government should stay in Puerto Rico as long as necessary," Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, tweeted.  Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren tweeted, "Puerto Rico is still facing a humanitarian crisis. @realDonaldTrump seems more worried about blaming hurricane victims than helping them."  And San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, who has feuded publicly with the President over the federal response, said on Twitter that Trump was incapable of fulfilling the moral imperative to help the people of PR. Shame on you.!"

Indeed.  Unbecoming of the Trump nazi and his henchmen.

Apparently, the lunatic in the Oval Office has faced quite a backlash.  ABC News reports:

"A day after suggesting he would pull federal aid from hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, President Donald Trump tried Friday to provide assurance that he will "always be with" the Puerto Rican people."

Gets worse:

"The wonderful people of Puerto Rico, with their unmatched spirit, know how bad things were before the H's. I will always be with them!
    — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 13, 2017"

Give me a break.  This lunatic remains out of control.

10-20-17

Think the White House isn't an adult day care center?  The Washington Post reports:

"During the campaign, when President Trump’s advisers wanted him to stop talking about a certain issue — such as when he attacked a Gold Star military family — they sometimes presented him with polls demonstrating how the controversy was harming his candidacy.  During the transition, when aides needed Trump to decide on a looming issue or appointment, they often limited him to a shortlist of two or three options and urged him to choose one.  And now in the White House, when advisers hope to prevent Trump from making what they think is an unwise decision, they frequently try to delay his final verdict — hoping he may reconsider after having time to calm down."

Sad, isn't it?

"Some Trump aides spend a significant part of their time devising ways to rein in and control the impetuous president, angling to avoid outbursts that might work against him, according to interviews with 18 aides, confidants and outside advisers, most of whom insisted on anonymity to speak candidly.  “If you visit the White House today, you see aides running around with red faces, shuffling paper and trying to keep up with this president,” said one Republican in frequent contact with the administration. “That’s what the scene is.”

Think they can keep Trump's lunatic finger off the nuclear button?

"One defining feature of managing Trump is frequent praise, which can leave his team in what seems to be a state of perpetual compliments. The White House pushes out news releases overflowing with top officials heaping flattery on Trump; in one particularly memorable Cabinet meeting this year, each member went around the room lavishing the president with accolades.  Senior administration officials call this speaking to an “audience of one.”

Pathetic.  Worse?

"One regular practitioner is Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who praised Trump’s controversial statements made after white supremacists had a violent rally in Charlottesville and also said he agreed with Trump that professional football players should stand during the national anthem. Neither issue has anything to do with the Treasury Department."

Imagine that.

"Former treasury secretary Larry Summers wrote in a Twitter post that “Mnuchin may be the greatest sycophant in Cabinet history.”

Carefully, consider the above quote.  Think any other president, either party, in the last fifty years would have put up with that?  Wouldn't have gotten his sad, ingratiating ass out the door?  Not the Trump lunatic.  Laps it up.

"Especially in the early days of his presidency, aides delivered the president daily packages of news stories filled with positive coverage and Trump began meetings by boasting about his performance, either as president or in winning the White House, according to one person who attended several Oval Office gatherings with him."

We're not talking about an asshole, out of control corporate management suite jackass his gutless subordinates are terrified of.  We're talking about the president of the United States.  One individual, on whose sole authority, can launch a preemptive nuclear attack.  Since 1945, until now, we could trust the judgment of the incumbent to do the right thing.  No longer.

10-20-17

Think Trump's not a congenital liar?  The Washington Post reports:

"Four U.S. Special Forces soldiers were killed earlier this month while on patrol in Niger. President Trump’s silence on their deaths has been notable, with 10 days having passed without any comment from the White House — 10 days during which Trump visited his golf club in Sterling, Va., five times.  During an impromptu news conference in the White House Rose Garden on Monday afternoon, Trump was asked why he hadn’t yet made a public comment on the fatalities.  “I’ve written [the soldiers’ families] personal letters,” Trump replied. “They’ve been sent — or they’re going out tonight but they were written during the weekend.”

“I will at some point during the period of time call the parents and the families because I have done that traditionally. I felt very, very badly about that; I always feel bad. The toughest calls I have to make are the calls where this happens, soldiers are killed. It’s a very difficult thing. Now, it gets to a point where you make four or five of them in one day, it’s a very, very tough day. For me that’s by far the toughest.”

“So, the traditional way, if you look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls, a lot of them didn’t make calls. I like to call when it’s appropriate, when I think I’m able to do it. They have made the ultimate sacrifice. So generally I would say that I like to call. I’m going to be calling them — I want a little time to pass — I’m going to be calling them. I have, as you know, since I’ve been president I have. But in addition I actually wrote letters individually to the soldiers we’re talking about and they’re going to be going out either today or tomorrow.”

Outrageously, untrue.  Devoid of reality.  Re-write of history:

"These comments were immediately criticized by veterans of the Obama administration and members of the media who had covered it.  “That’s a f—ing lie,” replied Alyssa Mastromonaco on Twitter. Mastromonaco served as deputy chief of staff for operations under Trump’s predecessor. “To say President Obama (or past presidents) didn’t call the family members of soldiers ” killed in action suggested, she said, that Trump was a “deranged animal.”

Let it rip.  Someone has to.  This bastard lies with impunity.  His sick sycophants ignore the prevarication.

"Trump says other presidents didn't call families of soldiers KIA. Obama did https://t.co/OD0N3MPa8v

— Julie Davis (@juliehdavis) October 16, 2017"

Trump wouldn't know truth if it figuratively bit him hard on the ass.

"Trump’s allegation that Obama hadn’t made calls was the subject of another question later in the news conference. “How can you make that claim?” NBC News’s Peter Alexander asked about Trump’s phone-call assertion.  The president admitted that Obama may very well have made calls after all."

Jesus Christ.  This guy constantly talks out his ass.  Needs to be rhetorically challenged every time this happens.

“I don’t know if he did. No no no. I was told that he didn’t often,” Trump replied. “A lot of presidents don’t; they write letters. I do a combination of both. Sometimes — it’s a very difficult thing to do, but I do a combination of both. President Obama I think probably did sometimes and maybe sometimes he didn’t. I don’t know. That’s what I was told. All I can do is ask my generals. Other presidents did not call. They’d write letters. And some presidents didn’t do anything. But I like, I like the combination of — I like, when I can, the combination of a call and also a letter.”  Former Obama staffer Dan Pfeiffer: “Now he’s lying about his own lie.”

No shit.  Precisely, why each lie needs to be immediately challenged rhetorically.

Gets worse.  NPR reports:

"Trump was asked on Monday why he had not yet commented on the deaths of four U.S. soldiers who were ambushed during a mission in Niger on Oct. 4. In his answer, Trump turned attention to the policies of past presidents and their contact with families of service members who have died.  On Tuesday, he followed his initial comments with more assertions, offering a specific example. That prompted further rebuttal from staff of previous administrations.  Meanwhile, a congresswoman said Trump told the widow of one of the soldiers killed in Niger that he "must have known what he signed up for."  Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., tells NBC6 that she overheard the call to Myeshia Johnson on Tuesday on a car speakerphone, as the two women were heading to Miami International Airport to meet the body of Johnson's husband, Sgt. La David Johnson.  In a tweet Wednesday morning, Trump denied he said that, calling Wilson's account "fabricated," and adding, "I have proof." He did not say what proof he has."

Here's the tweet:

"Democrat Congresswoman totally fabricated what I said to the wife of a soldier who died in action (and I have proof). Sad!
    — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 18, 2017"

Here's the truth:

"But by mid-day Wednesday, the soldier's mother, Cowanda Jones-Johnson, backed up Wilson's account. She said she was also in the car listening to the call and told The Washington Post, "President Trump did disrespect my son and my daughter and also me and my husband," Jones-Johnson said."

Any questions?

CBS News reports:

"White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said the White House does not have a recording of President Trump's call with the widow of fallen U.S. soldier Sgt. La David Johnson, after Mr. Trump claimed he had "proof" of the conversation.

"The call has become a point of intense controversy, after Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Florida, said Mr. Trump told Johnson's widow, Myeshia Johnson, her husband "knew what he signed up for." During Wednesday's press briefing, Sanders did not dispute the details of Wilson's account, although she said she would not divulge the details of the president's private conversation.  Mr. Trump tweeted early Wednesday that he had "proof" to disprove Wilson's claim, but Sanders on Wednesday said the White House doesn't have a recording of the call. Sanders said others, including White House chief of staff John Kelly, were on the call."

10-20-17

Gets worse.  Get this.  CBS News reports:

"President Trump, with Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell standing by his side, declared that the relationship between the two of them is "very good" and they are "closer than ever before."

Think so?  After all his recent tweets figuratively targeting ole Mitch "The Bitch" McConnell?

"The president also said that he and McConnell have been "friends for a long time." "My relationship with this gentleman is outstanding," he declared, and said the two are "working very hard" on tax cuts for Americans."

Wishful thinking?  Especially in light of the following:

"The lunch meeting took place shortly after former White House adviser Steve Bannon directly called for the removal of McConnell as speaker [Senate Majority Leader].  Bannon said conservative voters, like those in his audience at the Values Voters Summit on Saturday, would be dropping their funding for McConnell's establishment candidates.  "We've cut your oxygen off, Mitch," Bannon said."

Couldn't be, could it?  LOL.

"Mr. Trump, who addressed the tensions at the cabinet meeting earlier on Monday, said "Steve is doing what Steve thinks is the right thing."  He added that the Republican party was in fact "very, very unified" despite the fact that "we have no Democratic support, we have nobody."

Non sequitur.

"McConnell responded to questions of Bannon's criticisms, saying "the goal here is to win elections in November," adding "winners make policies and losers go home."

Another non-sequitur.  From two jackasses, growing long in the tooth.

"While he spoke warmly of his relationship with McConnell, Mr. Trump was more dismissive of Democrats, who, he said "are doing nothing but obstructing. He said he hopes that he can have a relationship with Minority Leaders Sen. Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, "but if we don't, we don't."

Weren't you figuratively recently in bed with them when GOP nazis in Congress wouldn't goose step along with you, Mr. 'President?

NBC News reports:

"President Donald Trump said Monday he can understand why his "friend" and former chief White House strategist Steve Bannon has declared war on the Republican establishment.   "I can understand where Steve Bannon is coming from," Trump said during remarks before a Cabinet meeting.  Praising his former adviser's commitment "to getting things done," Trump added, "I know how he feels."

Say what?  Look in the mirror, Mr. 'President.'  Bannon is as delusional as you, sir.  Two peas in a pod.  Both of you remain an exigent threat to all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.  Both have disgraced yourselves.  Remain in the mold of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini.

"Bannon is backing several insurgent conservatives in Congressional races across the country, and has repeatedly targeted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for failing to properly support the president's agenda — at one point likening him to Julius Caesar in need of a Brutus."

Remarkably:

"Trump's comments came just an hour before the president was scheduled to have lunch with McConnell.  In addition to sympathizing with Bannon's efforts, the president took aim at lawmakers who he says are "not getting the job done" on key issues like health care."

That's happened because Republicans have no replacement that's better than Obamacare, a program that's clearly failing.  The following's the clincher.  The mark of a delusional narcissist who cannot under any circumstances admit or accept responsibility for any personal failure:

"I'm not going to blame myself," Trump said, pointing the finger instead at Republicans in the Senate like Sen. John McCain, who voted against GOP efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare over the summer."

Jesus Christ.  Had McCain not voted against Trumpcare, Republicans would not have been returned to office.

10-20-17

The following is appalling.  A portend of what's to come as our formerly great country transforms from a fascist police-state to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich.  An egregious violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.  NPR reports:

"Attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union are asking a federal court in Washington, D.C., to force the Trump administration to allow a young, undocumented immigrant woman in Texas to obtain an abortion.  The ACLU said the 17-year-old unaccompanied minor from Central America is being held at a private shelter that contracts with the federal Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement, and federal officials will not release her to obtain the procedure. The suit seeks an emergency order asking the court to block the federal government from obstructing the girl's access to abortion."

Clearly, the Trump nazi, his henchmen, and the Republican Party are intent on creating a theocracy.  Trump is forcing his outrageously perverse religious and ideological views on all in direct violation of his falsely sworn oath of office.

"Brigitte Amiri, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, calls the government's action "outrageous" and "unprecedented."  "The government is completely out of bounds by banning abortion for this young woman," Amiri said. "It is blatantly unconstitutional and it is inhumane."  Under Texas law, minors need parental consent or a judge's permission to obtain an abortion. In a previous legal filing, the ACLU said the girl, known as Jane Doe in the case to protect her privacy, has obtained that permission, but the government has blocked her from leaving the shelter for that purpose.  The ACLU said federal officials required the girl to undergo counseling and an ultrasound at a crisis pregnancy center, an anti-abortion organization that does not provide abortion services."

An outrageous abrogation of his oath of office to protect and defend the United States Constitution.  Sadly, treasonously, the 'President' and his henchmen present an exigent threat to all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.

Moreover, the Nazi Right is truly insane, hell-bent on imposing its outrageously perverse religious and ideological views on all in direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause:

"Anti-abortion-rights groups have praised the Trump administration's action in the case. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the anti-abortion-rights group Susan B. Anthony List, said in a statement: "This young girl deserves compassion and quality health care. Abortion is not health care and the ACLU is taking advantage of a young woman in a desperate situation." She called the suit a "ploy" to turn Texas into a "sanctuary state for abortion."

Jesus Christ.  This woman has lost her mind.  She and those who think like her are a direct threat to all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.  These achingly sick nazis are traitors.

"In an amicus brief earlier this week, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asked a federal judge in San Francisco to deny the young woman's request. Paxton argued that allowing the girl to obtain an abortion would have "far-reaching and dire consequences."

So does an indicted Texas Attorney General doing all he can to delay going to trial on felony charges.

"For example, Paxton argued that allowing an abortion could open the door to other rights for undocumented immigrants, writing, "it is hard to imagine why she could be denied any other constitutional rights — such as the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms."

Anyone under U.S. jurisdiction, no matter their immigration status, should be afforded the protections of the United States Constitution.  The Nazi Right does not believe so.  Bought and paid for Republicans in the judiciary certainly don't think so.  The Constitution has been concertedly bastardized since ratification by those determined to abrogate its protections.

"The San Francisco judge said on Wednesday that the government cannot block the girl from getting the procedure. But the judge declined to issue an order requiring the government to allow her to leave the facility in Texas, saying that the suit was not filed in the right court. That decision prompted the latest filing by the ACLU."

Someone has to challenge our nazi oppressors in court.  Only alternative?  Unthinkable.  An unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looming.  As the revolution doomsday clock strikes ever closer to midnight.

"Amiri, with the ACLU, declined to say how far along the undocumented teenager in Texas is in her pregnancy but noted that delays bring increased health risks and legal barriers to obtaining the abortion as the pregnancy progresses.  Amiri said the case could have implications for other undocumented immigrant women.  "Since the Trump administration has taken over, we have seen a pattern of this happening to other women, and we are fearful that it will happen to other women in the future if the court does not intervene," Amiri said."

Nazi America.  A fascist police-state.  The Fourth Reich.

In follow up, The Washington Post reports:

"A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the U.S. government to allow an undocumented teenager in its custody to have an abortion, after saying she was “astounded” the Trump administration was trying to prevent the procedure."

Direct violation of Roe v. Wade.

"Lawyers for Attorney General Jeff Sessions signaled to U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan in Washington that the 17-year-old, who crossed the border from Mexico illegally last month, did not have a constitutional right to an elective abortion in federal custody, unless it was a medical emergency."

Jesus Christ.  These callous sons of bitches bastardize a Supreme Court decision to impose the Trump nazi's perverse religious views.

"Chutkan, an Obama administration nominee, said the government appeared to be presenting the teenager identified in court papers as “Jane Doe” with two options: Voluntarily return to a nation she fled to procure an abortion, or carry an unwanted pregnancy to term.  “I am astounded by that position,” Chutkan said in a 40-minute hearing that was mostly consumed by a back-and-forth between the judge and Scott Stewart, a deputy assistant attorney general."

Indeed.

"She ordered the government to transport the teenager to have the procedure — or allow her guardian to transport her — “promptly and without delay.”  Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the girl, asked Chutkan for an emergency restraining order to prevent the government from blocking the girl’s plan to have an abortion. They also sought a preliminary injunction to protect others seeking abortions.  The judge said she would issue a ruling by 5 p.m."

Unbelievable this shit could be going on almost 45 years after Roe v. Wade.

"ACLU lawyer Brigitte Amiri argued that it was “out of any sort of constitutional bounds” for the U.S. government to block the teenager’s legal right to an abortion, which is preserved in the 1973 Supreme Court Roe v. Wade ruling. A federal magistrate judge in California agreed with the ACLU earlier this month but said she could not rule in the case because the girl is detained in South Texas.  But Stewart told the judge that pregnant undocumented minors from other countries are not entitled to abortions, and said in court records that opening the door to that right “would significantly infringe on the government’s interests in preserving life and protecting national boundaries.”

A crock of shit.  No more than a blatant attempt by the Trump nazi and his henchmen to impose their perverse religious views on all in direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.

“I respectfully disagree that she’s entitled to an abortion” facilitated by the government, he said, noting that the girl’s case was not a medical emergency. In court filings, the government said it has “strong and constitutionally legitimate interests in promoting childbirth, in refusing to facilitate abortion, and in not providing incentives for pregnant minors to illegally cross the border to obtain elective abortions while in federal custody.”

Unf--king believable.  Direct violation of Roe v. Wade.

"Chutkan countered that the teenager does not need a medical emergency to exercise her right to an abortion. She said the girl had followed state and federal rules: She obtained permission from a state judge in Texas to have an abortion and would cover the expenses herself or with help through her court-appointed guardian.  All the government had to do, the judge said, is process the paperwork to let the girl visit the clinic, just as they would if she needed to have her tonsils removed.  Stewart said the girl could also voluntarily leave the United States and find another way to have an abortion, and said the girl had chosen to remain in federal custody instead of returning home.  That claim appeared to irk the judge, who pointed out that the federal workers took the girl, against her wishes, to a Christian pregnancy facility for counseling and also informed her mother about the abortion. Both steps potentially violated the girl’s constitutional right to privacy and other protections, Chutkan said.  “The government certainly had no problem taking her against her will to receive pregnancy counseling, which was designed to change her mind,” Chutkan said. “The government didn’t seem to have any problem facilitating that.”

Nothing quite like hypocrisy, is there?

"The judge and Stewart also sparred over whether some aspects of the law remain undisputed.  Chutkan asked Stewart if he thought illegal immigrants had constitutional rights and if he believed that Roe v. Wade, which guarantees a woman’s right to an abortion, is still the “law of the land.”  Stewart acknowledged the Supreme Court’s ruling but said the government views this case differently because the teenager is an undocumented immigrant in federal custody.  He also said undocumented immigrants have “minimal” protections in this country.  “I’m not going to give you a concession on that your honor,” he said.  The judge laughed. “This is remarkable,” she said."  During the hearing, Chutkan also answered her own questions, saying the girl’s legal status was “irrelevant” and that “despite the fact that she’s in this country illegally, she still has constitutional rights.”

No question.

... Subsequent to the above, an appeals court has temporarily stayed the order.  More in the next edition.

10-20-17

The Trump nazi continues to bastardize religion to score political points.  NPR reports:

"President Trump spoke to one of the most faithful blocs of his base on Friday, telling attendees at this year's Values Voter Summit that in America "we don't worship government, we worship God."

Non-sequitur.  Who the hell worships government other than the Trump nazi and his fellow henchmen?  Seem to have conveniently forgotten they've abused power, neglected to uphold the Constitution, their oaths of office.  To say nothing of having bastardized the Constitution.  For political, ideological, and religious purposes.

"Trump was the first sitting president to address the annual gathering of Christian conservatives, and while he's had trouble enacting some of his campaign promises legislatively so far in his term, he has ticked off many boxes with the evangelical voters that helped propel him to the Oval Office."

They're not conservatives.  They're fascists with a diabolical nazi agenda.  Determinedly denying all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.  Imposing their outrageously perverse ideological and religious views by unconstitutional statutes, and/or executive fiat.

"We know that it's the family and the church — not government officials — who know best how to create strong and loving communities," Trump said."

Crock of shit.  What they know how to do is dictate, then force their outrageously perverse religious and ideological views on others in direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause.  Church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.

"He got a standing ovation when he talked of appointing Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. Trump noted he signed a religious liberty order on the National Day of Prayer that eased enforcement of the Johnson Amendment, which regulated political activity of churches. And he reminded the crowd that last week he also weakened the contraception mandate in the Affordable Care Act, which some religious groups like the Little Sisters of the Poor opposed."

In direct violation of his oath of office to uphold the Constitution, specifically, the First Amendment Establishment Clause.  Trump is a delusional traitor.

"As long as we have pride in our country, confidence in our future and faith in our God, then America will prevail," Trump said."

Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini couldn't have said it better.  A raucous boot clicking, goose stepping, treasonous, treacherous, traitorous Sieg Heil!, Mr. 'President?'

Despite being laden with Republican nazis, the Supreme Court, on occasion, does get it right. The Washington Times reports:

"The Supreme Court declined Monday to take up a case on whether a statue of the Ten Commandments could be placed alongside other historical monuments on public property in New Mexico.  Two residents in Bloomfield, in the state’s northwestern corner, successfully sued in 2012 to have the statue removed, but religious-rights advocates had been seeking to get it restored, arguing the city had created a public space for historical monuments on government and law.  The Ten Commandments was erected by citizens as part of that display, along with the Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg Address and the Bill of Rights.  The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the city, holding that even a “passive” religious display such as the Ten Commandments, posted among other memorials, could be seen by an observer to be an endorsement of religion.  The Supreme Court’s refusal to take the case leaves that lower ruling in place."

The First Amendment Establishment Clause prescribes church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.  Precisely, why a religious display on public property is outrageously unconstitutional.

Here's what's so dangerous about imposition of religious dogma on the unwilling.  The Washington Post reports:

"Cady Mansell has always had a strong sense of fashion. At 9 years old, she likes trying on makeup and painting her nails. She likes shopping trips to Chicago with her fashion-conscious mother. And since she asked for her first bow tie during one of those trips to the mall when she was just 4 years old, Cady has had a thing for snazzy suits.  When it came time for her First Communion, a major event for Cady, she naturally started thinking early about what she wanted to wear on the big day. She settled on a brand-new all-white suit.  “It kind of sparkles in the sunlight,” she enthused when she tried it on."

Can't have that, can we?  Certainly, not if you're a nine-year-old girl.  What might fellow parishioners think?  You might be a lesbian, transgender?

"But then word got out at her Catholic school about Cady’s planned attire. School officials told Cady’s parents that she couldn’t participate in First Communion with the rest of her class unless she wore a skirt or dress. When the Mansells dug in their heels, insisting that their daughter should wear the outfit she had picked out for her special day, the argument escalated quickly — to the point that the Mansells pulled their daughters out of the school and the church altogether.  “It made me sad and mad,” Cady said. “We should all be equal and wear what we would like.”

While the Catholic Church has indeed come a long way since Vatican II nearly sixty years ago, they've got a long, long way to go.  Apparently, still demand kids mindlessly goose step in unison.

"The Rev. Sammie Maletta, the priest at St. John the Evangelist, told the Mansells that a deacon at the church could administer Cady’s First Communion privately, but that she couldn’t attend the ceremony with the rest of her classmates unless she wore a dress or skirt. Cady was upset by that; she wanted to sit with her friends. Maletta declined to comment on this story, according to a school official.  “We couldn’t go to the real Communion Mass,” Cady’s mother, Chris Mansell, said. “We would have to wait until all the kids left the building, then come in like a secret. No picture, no anything, like we were ashamed of her. I said, ‘That’s not an option.’ ”

Surprising this crap still goes on.  Especially, with a Jesuit Pope.  While this attire issue has nothing to do with sexuality and/or gender identification, readers are reminded this Pope opined who was he to judge when asked a question regarding the LGBTQ community.  Indeed.  Think the Head Honcho would have denied Cady her First Communion with her classmates?  Think so?

10-20-17

Trump is not a happy camper.  Certainly, not vis a vis NBC.  Tough, isn't it?  The 'president' seems to have forgotten there is indeed a First Amendment.  Delusionally, wants the network to lose its broadcast license.  Sadly, so ignorant apparently doesn't know broadcast licenses are not issued to the network, only affiliate stations.  The Washington Post reports:

"Legal experts called the president's threats against NBC empty, noting that licenses are not granted to networks but rather to individual stations across the country. Furthermore, they said, it is rare for those licenses to be stripped.  "Not how it works," Jessica Rosenworcel, a member of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, wrote on Twitter, liking to an FCC report on how stations are regulated.  "Obviously, when a public official, much less the president, threatens media outlets with any kind of legal proceedings, it is a cause for grave concern as a First Amendment matter," said Andrew Schwartzman, a media law specialist at the Georgetown University Law Center. "But as a practical matter there is no possible legal jeopardy for Comcast television licenses."  Comcast, the cable giant, owns NBC."

The First Amendment is abundantly clear.  Apparently, Trump has never taken time to read it.  ... Or, simply, doesn't care.  What fuhrer would?

Equally to the point:

"Schwartzman noted the historical precedent when allies to President Nixon challenged the television licenses of The Washington Post Co. in 1973 during the Post's ongoing investigation into the Watergate scandal. The challenges were baseless and were unsuccessful, Schwartzman said.  "The Post was never under serious legal threat," he said."

Not all Republicans are supportive of Trump's attack on the First Amendment.  ABC News reports:

"House Speaker Paul Ryan affirms his support for the First Amendment amid the president's threats to yank NBC's broadcast license.  Ryan told journalists Thursday, "I'm a constitutional conservative, I'm for the First Amendment."  The First Amendment to the Constitution protects the freedom of the press.  Ryan added, "I don't always agree and like what you guys write, but you have a right to do it, and I'm a constitutional conservative and I'm just going to leave it at that."

10-20-17

Trump is hopelessly delusional.  NPR reports:

"The Trump administration has announced that the U.S. will withdraw from UNESCO, the United Nations' chief cultural and educational agency. In a statement released Thursday, the State Department said the move won't take effect for more than a year, noting the withdrawal will be as of Dec. 31, 2018."

Why not leave immediately, Mr. 'President?'  Especially, since the United States owes this agency over a half billion bucks according to the State Department.

"This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects U.S. concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO," department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in the announcement."

This agency has taken a stand against the Israeli aggressor, who's had its boot heel on the throat of Palestinians since 1948.  Can't have that, can we?

"Still, she noted the Trump administration wants the U.S. to remain engaged with the U.N. agency "as a non-member observer state in order to contribute U.S. views, perspectives and expertise on some of the important issues undertaken by the organization, including the protection of world heritage, advocating for press freedoms, and promoting scientific collaboration and education."

Disingenuous bullshit.  Forget?  The U.S. wishes to play but not pay since it's wishes are not being followed.  This agency has courageously stood tall, challenged the oppression of the Israelis perpetrated against their Palestinian victims.

"The cultural aid agency — which seeks to coordinate international efforts in education, science and heritage remembrance — has been at odds with the U.S. since 2011, when it voted overwhelmingly to offer full membership to a state of Palestine. Just hours after that vote, the U.S. decided to cut its payments to UNESCO, while still maintaining its membership."

Sadly, rightfully, the U.S. should have immediately gotten the boot.  No longer is willing to stand up to outrageous aggression and abuse perpetrated by its ally, -- who stole Palestinian land back in 1948, has been killing, abusing, bulldozing Palestinian houses, stealing additional territory ever since.

"As of this year, the U.S. government owes the agency about $550 million, according to the State Department."

When it doesn't get its way, our country does not pay its bills.  Imagine that.

"Secretary of State Rex Tillerson delivered official notification of the plans for withdrawal to UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, who expressed "profound regret" at the move.  "At the time when conflicts continue to tear apart societies across the world, it is deeply regrettable for the United States to withdraw from the United Nations agency promoting education for peace and protecting culture under attack," she said in an extensive statement Thursday."

Indeed, all due to justified criticism of the Israeli aggressor.

"This is a loss to UNESCO," she added. "This is a loss to the United Nations family. This is a loss for multilateralism."

Most of all, this is a loss to, and a black mark on the United States.  We continue to figuratively shoot ourselves in the ass, driven by the rise of nazism in our formerly great country.

"Israel, for its part, is likely to follow U.S. out the door. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has "instructed the Israeli Foreign Ministry to prepare for Israel to leave UNESCO in parallel with the U.S.," according to his office."

To be expected from the Netanyahu nazi, -- who is sadly, at least partially, emulating German Nazi oppression of the Jewish people during the Second World War.

"This is a brave and moral decision," Netanyahu said in a statement, "because UNESCO has become a theatre of the absurd and because instead of preserving history, it distorts it."

It is you, Mr. Prime Minister who do the same.  While nowhere near as ruthless and murderous as Hitler's Nazis, you're well on your way.  Precisely and sadly, why there will be no peace in the Middle East for quite some time to come.  Clearly, the Palestinians will not roll over and acquiesce.

10-20-17

A nazi fuhrer has no ability to think things through.  Will come back to figuratively bite the Trump nazi hard on the ass.  NPR reports:

"President Trump has recently taken a series of what appear to be bold executive actions to reverse Obama-era policies: declining to re-certify the Iran nuclear deal, halting subsidy payments to insurance companies and setting an expiration date for the DACA immigration program. But, in so doing, he's dumping thorny problems on a GOP-controlled Congress already struggling to rack up significant legislative accomplishments.  This did not go unnoticed by one of the top Democrats in Congress. Trump "throws destructive bones to his base then tells Congress to fix it: Iran, Health care, Puerto Rico," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., tweeted Saturday.

    ".@POTUS’ M.O.: failure to lead. Throws destructive bones to his base, then tells Congress to fix it: Iran, Health care, Puerto Rico
    — Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) October 14, 2017"

Will certainly lead to further division between the Republican Congress and the Trump nazi.  Republicans wish to be returned to office.  Many face re-election shortly in highly-contested areas of the country that could lead to Republicans losing the House.

"And all of these items come on top of what was supposed to be the top priority for congressional Republicans this fall: passing a tax system overhaul. In the midst of everything else, Trump has been campaigning for tax cuts and other changes to the tax code. He suggested maybe it could be a "Christmas gift" to Americans.  A more likely Christmas gift could well be a shutdown showdown over must-pass government funding legislation. The current funding expires Dec. 8, and at least some of these issues could get wrapped up in negotiations.  On Friday, Schumer did express optimism that at least the health care subsidies could pass that way.  "I think we're going to have a very good opportunity in the omnibus to get this done in a bipartisan way, if we can't get it done sooner," he said."

Think loss of the House isn't a real concern for Republicans?

CNN reports:

"Top White House aides, lawmakers, donors and political consultants are privately asking whether President Donald Trump realizes that losing the House next year could put his presidency in peril.  In more than a dozen interviews, Republicans inside and outside the White House told CNN conversations are ramping up behind the scenes about whether Trump fully grasps that his feuds with members of his own party and shortage of legislative achievements could soon put the fate of his presidency at risk."

If the House is lost, Trump likely faces impeachment.

"If Republicans forfeit the House, Democrats will almost certainly create a spectacle that will derail conservatives' agenda and the remainder of Trump's first term -- a spectacle complete with a raft of new subpoenas, a spotlight on the Russia investigation and, many are convinced, impeachment proceedings.  "When Democrats take control of the House they will absolutely move for articles of impeachment," one Trump confidant predicted."

Be careful what you wish for.  While Trump is indeed insane, Pence is not.

10-20-17

Trump won't be confused with the truth.  Precisely, why he doesn't want a scientist in charge at NOAA.  The Washington Post reports:

"Barry Myers, the chief executive of the private weather forecasting company AccuWeather, is President Trump’s pick to run the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.  The appointment of Myers, a businessman and lawyer, breaks from the recent precedent of scientists leading the agency tasked with a large, complex and technically demanding portfolio.  The agency oversees the National Weather Service, conducts and funds weather and climate research, and operates a constellation of weather satellites as well as a climate data center. It also has critical responsibilities in monitoring and protecting the nation’s coasts, oceans and fisheries."

Precisely, why a scientist needs to run this agency.  ... Not a guy who has a personal financial interest at stake:

"As NOAA administrator, Myers would be in charge of the Weather Service whose data are heavily used by his family business, based in State College, Pa."

Convenient, isn't it?

"AccuWeather has, in the past, supported measures to limit the extent to which the Weather Service can release information to the public, so that private companies could generate their own value-added products using this same information. In 2005, for example, Myers and his brother Joel gave money to then-Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), who introduced legislation aimed at curtailing government competition with private weather services."

Jesus Christ.  Nothing quite like owning your bought and paid for government lackeys, is there?

“Barry Myers defines ‘conflict of interest,'” said Ciaran Clayton, who was communications director at NOAA in the Obama administration. “He actively lobbied to privatize the National Weather Service, which works day in and day out to protect the lives and livelihoods of millions of Americans, to benefit his own company’s bottom line.”

Out of control, laissez-faire corporate ownership of its bought and paid for government lackeys.

"Myers’s appointment is strongly opposed by the labor union for the National Weather Service, the NWS Employees Organization, for this same reason. “As NOAA administrator, he would be in a position to fundamentally alter the nature of weather services that NOAA provides the nation, to the benefit of his family-owned business,” said Richard Hirn, a spokesperson for the union."

You think?

10-20-17

Once again, Sen. John McCain stood tall.  Bucked the Trump nazi.  Another example of uncommon valor.  NPR reports:

"In what appeared to be a thinly veiled reference to politics in the Age of Trump, Sen. John McCain on Monday warned Americans against "half-baked, spurious nationalism," calling the abandonment of U.S. global leadership "unpatriotic."  Speaking in Philadelphia, where he was being honored with the Liberty Medal by the National Constitution Center, McCain did not mention the president by name, but his words appeared to be aimed at Trump and his administration."

Were they ever.

"To abandon the ideals we have advanced around the globe, to refuse the obligations of international leadership for the sake of some half-baked, spurious nationalism cooked up by people who would rather find scapegoats than solve problems," he said, "is as unpatriotic as an attachment to any other tired dogma of the past that Americans consigned to the ash heap of history."

Raw nazism.  Hitler's Third Reich transformed to Trump's Fourth:

"In an apparent reference to white supremacists who sparked violence in Charlottesville, Va., in August, McCain said: "We live in a land of ideals, not blood and soil."  The Nazi slogan "blood and soil" was shouted by tiki-torch-wielding white supremacists in Charlottesville."

Chilling repeat of history that will not be tolerated, never stand.

"We are the custodians of those ideals at home and their champion abroad," he said. "We have done great good in the world. That leadership has had its costs, but we have become incomparably powerful and wealthy as we did."

Costs that continue to bite us hard on the ass figuratively, as out of control laissez-faire capitalism practiced by the corporate management suite now owns its bought and paid for government lackeys.  Did this to ourselves.  Drank the Kool Aide.  Bought the bullshit as the select few consolidated power, accumulated nearly all the wealth, as the middle class that built this country took it hard in the ass.  Without the Vaseline.

"We have a moral obligation to continue in our just cause, and we would bring more than shame on ourselves if we don't," McCain continued. "We will not thrive in a world where our leadership and ideals are absent. We wouldn't deserve to."

Precisely, why the United States has lost status, trust, is not believed, increasingly scorned.  We did this to ourselves.

In response to McCain's speech, the gutless Trump nazi came out swinging.  CBS News reports:

"President Trump threatened Arizona Sen. John McCain, a former POW with a terminal brain cancer diagnosis, over his comments at an awards ceremony Monday night which were critical of U.S. leadership. Mr. Trump was asked whether he had heard McCain's remarks.  "People have to be careful because at some point I fight back," Mr. Trump told WMAL radio talk show host Chris Plante in an interview Tuesday morning. "You know, I'm being very nice. I'm being very, very nice. But at some point I fight back and it won't be pretty."

Jesus Christ.  This gutless panty waist lunatic nazi puts John McCain on notice?  Readers are reminded the Senator was shot down in his Navy fighter jet over North Vietnam fifty years ago.  Endured five and a half years of torture and abuse at the 'Hanoi Hilton' as a prisoner of war.  Stood tall under the very worst of conditions.  Served his country in uniform.  Unlike the Trump nazi who did all he could to avoid the same.

McCain, despite his age and health issues, runs circles around Trump.  Had the guts to repeatedly challenge the nazi who now occupies the Oval Office.  Has class Trump cannot, and will not ever have or be able to courageously display:

"McCain told CBS News' Alan He that he doesn't comment on what the president says. "I comment on what he does," he said. "And I will say I have faced some pretty tough adversaries in the past. I'm not interested in confronting the president, I'm interested in working with the president."

Figuratively, however, kicked Trump's ass:

"The Arizona senator, who on Monday received the Liberty Medal for his lifetime of service and sacrifice, delivered a harsh critique of the direction the country has taken, although he did not mention the president's name in his remarks."

Here is the take of The Washington Times:

"President Donald Trump on Tuesday issued a warning shot after Republican Sen. John McCain questioned “half-baked, spurious nationalism” in America’s foreign policy.  Trump said in a radio interview with WMAL in Washington that “people have to be careful because at some point I fight back.” The president added “I’m being very, very nice but at some point I fight back and it won’t be pretty.”  McCain, a former Navy pilot who spent 5½ years in a Vietnam prisoner of war camp and is battling brain cancer, offered a simple response to Trump: “I have faced tougher adversaries.”

You think?

Must not be forgotten:

"Pressed on Trump’s threat Tuesday, McCain told reporters he has had tougher fights, and then smiled.  Trump said in the radio interview that McCain voted against Republican efforts to dismantle Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. He says the vote was a “shocker.”  McCain and Trump have long been at odds. During the campaign, Trump suggested McCain was not a war hero because he was captured in Vietnam."

As stated previously, McCain's vote against Trumpcare likely ensured at least some Republicans will be returned to office after the Trump debacle.  Trump's suggestion McCain is not a hero because he was captured after being shot down remains proof positive the Trump nazi is a lunatic.

10-20-17

Despite the fact fifty years have passed since the height of the Vietnam debacle, we seem to have learned nothing.  Continue to make the same mistakes over and over and over again.  NPR reports:

"Gen. John W. "Mick" Nicholson settles into his wood-paneled office inside the American-led military headquarters in Kabul. It's lined with plaques, pictures and ceremonial swords.  He has spent more time in Afghanistan, in various jobs, than any other senior American officer — a total of 5 1/2 years. The commander of NATO's Resolute Support mission and U.S. forces in Afghanistan since March 2016, Nicholson is a genial West Point graduate with salt-and-pepper hair — and a renewed confidence.  That is because the White House has given him more authority to attack the Taliban, more warplanes and drones to mount punishing airstrikes — and a few thousand more American troops to advise the Afghans.  Just eight months ago, Nicholson told Congress that the Afghan fight was at a stalemate."

Where have we heard this very same shit before?  Where?  Will we ever smarten up?

"Now, he tells NPR, "With the policy decision announced by President Trump, the Taliban can't win. It sets the conditions to get to a peaceful resolution of this conflict."

Jesus Christ.  General, do you really delusionally believe it?  With what amounts to a handful of advisers compared to the number of combat troops at the height of the war?  Get this:

"At the height of the war in 2010 and 2011, some 140,000 U.S. and NATO troops were fighting, but they could still not seal a victory against the Taliban.  Nicholson has a ready explanation.  "We only had 140,000 troops for a period of about 18 months in a 16-year war," he says. And — in a view shared by a number of senior officers who served in Afghanistan — the troops left too soon.  "As a military commander, we drew down too far, too fast," Nicholson says. "And that led to many challenges we faced the last couple of years. We pulled off the Afghan units too soon. And now we're fixing that."

We heard a variation of the very same bullshit during Vietnam.  This fiasco has gone on 17 years and you estimate it will take another five?  Alice In Wonderland.

Here's what's so incredibly delusional:

"Nicholson says the goal is to get Afghanistan to "a manageable level of violence."  The key, he says, is not to eliminate all violence, but to bring it to a level at which it can be finally controlled by Afghan government forces.  When will that level be achieved? Nicholson says it will take about five years."

Readers are reminded no one has beaten the Afghans on their own turf for centuries.  Like the Vietnamese, the Afghans are willing to pay any price, suffer the insufferable, never give up under any circumstances.

10-20-17

Further proof Trump remains achingly incapable of effectively managing the Oval Office.  NPR reports:

"Rep. Tom Marino, R-Pa., has withdrawn his name from consideration as America's drug czar, President Trump said Tuesday. Marino is stepping back days after reports that legislation he sponsored hindered the Drug Enforcement Administration in its fight against the U.S. opioid crisis.

    "Rep.Tom Marino has informed me that he is withdrawing his name from consideration as drug czar. Tom is a fine man and a great Congressman!
    — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 17, 2017"

Jesus Christ, Mr. 'President,' you and your henchmen failed to properly vet him:

"A joint report by The Washington Post and 60 Minutes found that Marino's measure "helped pump more painkillers into parts of the country that were already in the middle of the opioid crisis," as NPR's Kelly McEvers said earlier this week. The bill had been opposed by the DEA and embraced by companies in the drug industry."

Why not?  The corporate management suite gets to handsomely line its pockets at the expense of an addicted public.

"As NPR's White House Correspondent Tamara Keith notes, Marino's withdrawal leaves the Trump administration without nominees for several important domestic roles, including drug czar, the director of the DEA, and secretary of Health and Human Services."

Is this incompetence, no one of stature willing to serve, -- both?

"Marino was a main backer of the Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act; among other things, the measure changed the standard for identifying dangers to local communities, from "imminent" threats to "immediate" threats. That change cramped the DEA's authority to go after drug companies that didn't report suspicious — and often very large — orders for narcotics."

How about that?  Isn't that called drug trafficking?

"After the Post and 60 Minutes report, several members of Congress called for the White House to pull Marino's nomination as drug czar."

Why didn't Congress already know the history of this nominee?

"Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said he was "horrified" by the story, adding that he "cannot believe the last administration did not sound the alarm on how harmful that bill would be for our efforts to effectively fight the opioid epidemic."

Blaming the former president?  Hasn't this crisis exponentially increased recently?  How about figuratively holding the feet of the incumbent and his henchmen to the fire?

"In a letter to the president, Manchin wrote about the ability of wholesale drug distributors to send millions of pills into small communities:

"As the report notes, one such company shipped 20 million doses of oxycodone and hydrocodone to pharmacies in West Virginia between 2007 and 2012. This included 11 million doses in one small county with only 25,000 people in the southern part of the state: Mingo County. As the number of pills in my state increased, so did the death toll in our communities, including Mingo County."

Called drug trafficking.  Isn't that already illegal?

"After Marino's name was withdrawn, Manchin tweeted to Trump, "thanks for recognizing we need a drug czar who has seen the devastating effects of the problem."

Too little, too late.  Where has Congress been all these years?  Out to lunch?  Getting its pockets lined by the pharmaceutical community?  Forget?  Money talks, bullshit walks.  ... Right, Senator?

Consider the following.  Offers great insight into how the corporate management suite is able to work its magic:

"In an interview with NPR, here's how Post reporter Scott Higham described the way in which Marino's bill became law:

    "We've obtained internal memos, emails, other documents from the DEA and from the Justice Department that show that the DEA and the Department of Justice for many years was opposed to this. They had written memos. They had written emails saying this is going to upend our ability to go after these companies. Why are you doing this? And Marino had introduced this legislation in 2014, and the DEA got it killed; and in 2015, and the DEA got it killed.

    "And then there was a change in leadership. Eric Holder stepped down. Loretta Lynch took over the AG's office. And then there was a new DEA administrator who came in who said that, I think that we need to work with these people. And there was also enormous amounts of pressure being placed on the DEA by Capitol Hill to pass this bill. And it was at the behest of the pharmaceutical industry. In fact, the bill was written by a pharmaceutical industry attorney [D. Linden Barber] who used to be a DEA attorney ... a senior DEA attorney. So it's, you know, the classic kind of revolving door in Washington."

Clever, isn't it?  Achingly diabolical, as well.  The American Way.  The corporate management suite rules, runs and owns it all.  Any questions?

Coup de grace?  Get this:

"The president had nominated Marino to lead the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. In his tweet announcing Marino's decision to withdraw Tuesday morning, Trump added, "Tom is a fine man and a great Congressman!"  The opioid story was revealed by whistleblower Joe Rannazzisi, a former high-ranking DEA official, who told 60 Minutes, "This is an industry that allowed millions and millions of drugs to go into bad pharmacies and doctors' offices, that distributed them out to people who had no legitimate need for those drugs."  Rannazzisi said he was in "total disbelief" when the White House announced that Trump had chosen to nominate Marino, adding, "The bill was bad. Him being the drug czar is a lot worse."

Bottom line?  If the corporate management suite is not reined in, this country will not survive.  At least, not as we knew it.

10-20-17

In follow up to earlier editions of this publication, new information has come out vis a vis Roy Moore, disgraced former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court now running for the seat in the Senate vacated by the Sessions nazi when he became U.S. Attorney General.  The Washington Post reports:

"Former Alabama judge Roy Moore, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, once said publicly that he did not take a “regular salary” from the small charity he founded to promote Christian values because he did not want to be a financial burden."

The son of a bitch lied:

"But privately, Moore had arranged to receive a salary of $180,000 a year for part-time work at the Foundation for Moral Law, internal charity documents show. He collected more than $1 million as president from 2007 to 2012, compensation that far surpassed what the group disclosed in its public tax filings most of those years."

How about that?  Couldn't be, could it?  This the very same nazi who was removed from the bench for refusing a court order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from courthouse property.

"When the charity couldn’t afford the full amount, Moore in 2012 was given a promissory note for back pay eventually worth $540,000 or an equal stake of the charity’s most valuable asset, a historic building in Montgomery, Ala., mortgage records show. He holds that note even now, a charity official said."

No problem with that?

"A Washington Post review of public and internal charity documents found that errors and gaps in the group’s federal tax filings obscured until now the compensation paid to Moore, whose defeat last month of President Trump’s choice for Republican nominee in the Senate race will likely embolden far-right challengers to the party’s mainstream incumbents. Moore is the front-runner in the race to fill the seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions."

This entire fiasco is an exceptionally fine example of how religion has been bastardized for political, financial, self-aggrandizement purposes.  Called fascism. Fascism, nazism, national socialism defined as the pernicious blend of government, business, and religion.  'Justified' by perversion and bastardization of the latter.

"The charity helped Moore thrive - financially and otherwise - after his ouster from the state’s Supreme Court in 2003 for refusing to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the courthouse. The group has filed scores of legal briefs in cases involving conservative Christian issues, but it was in many ways built around Moore himself."

To line his pockets.  Feather his nest.  Accumulate, then consolidate power.

"At a time when Moore was running for other public offices in Alabama, the charity kept him in the public eye and helped establish a nationwide network of donors while he took on controversial positions against same-sex marriage, Islam and the separation of church and state. Over the years, it has provided him with health-care benefits, travel expenses and a bodyguard, documents show."

Pernicious, self-serving.  Worse?  Used to eviscerate all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.  Ironically, the antithesis of Christianity.  Yet, the public bought his bullshit.  Cheered him on.  While he took a raucous hard dump on all the Head Honcho of his religion stood for.

"The Foundation for Moral Law’s website routinely promoted Moore’s speaking engagements and his book, “So Help Me God: The Ten Commandments, Judicial Tyranny, and the Battle for Religious Freedom.” In his last two years as president, as fundraising dwindled, Moore’s compensation amounted to about a third of the contributions to the group, tax filings show."

If true, why isn't this racist, nazi son of a bitch in prison?

Gets worse.  This has been a family affair:

"The charity has employed at least two of Moore’s children, although their compensation is not reflected in tax filings. Moore’s wife, Kayla, who is now president, was paid a total of $195,000 over three years through 2015."

All in the family.  -- His family.

Get this:

"An Internal Revenue Service audit of the Foundation for Moral Law’s 2013 finances, provided by the charity, concluded that it left out information about fundraising and other activities on its public tax filings and also identified discrepancies between those filings and its internal books. The IRS wrote that the issues “could jeopardize your exempt status.”

Why isn't this crap criminally prosecuted?

This is quite a detailed investigation conducted by Shawn Boburg and Robert O'Harrow Jr. of The Washington Post.  Only a small fraction of which was presented here.  The question to be asked is why has Moore not been criminally investigated?  Allowed to skate?

10-20-17

In follow up to earlier editions here and elsewhere vis a vis Equifax, CBS News reports:

"Indeed, that massive data breach was possibly one of the worst things that could happen to this global data-sensitive company. And then last Thursday, some more unpleasant news emerged: The IRS said it was temporarily suspending its $7.1 million data security contract with Equifax after malware was detected on some pages of the credit bureau's website."

Taxpayers and consumers are indeed double f--ked.   Not only by IRS, but one of its corporate masters.  Repeatedly.  Ferociously.

Insult to injury?  Get this:

"We believe Equifax's long-term financial model remains intact," said William A. Warmington, senior analyst at Wells Fargo Securities, in a recent report to clients. He said he was reiterating his "outperform" rating on Equifax following the three-day Congressional testimony by former CEO Richard Smith. "We expect investor focus to now turn to preliminary 2018 guidance on Equifax's third-quarter earnings call," he said."

One outrageously criminal corporation evaluating another.  ... Right, Amanda?

"Warmington noted that his 2018 estimates were below consensus because many investors expected 2018 to be a "transition year," with revenues and costs predictably affected by the breach. The challenge to management, he added, is to provide insight into the breach's impact, such as which costs are transitory versus fixed.  But he reiterated that Equifax's long-term growth model remains viable, and so he has now introduced above-consensus estimates for 2019 revenue of $3.77 billion and earnings per share of $6.80."

Warms the cockles of the heart, doesn't it?

Insult to injury?

"Some analysts believe the Congressional hearings were a win for Equifax. Afterward, said George Mihalos, equity analyst at investment firm Cowen, "we see little long-term risk to Equifax's B2B [business-to-business] business and its role in the consumer lending ecosystem."

Hear the rumble?  An unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looming.  ... As the revolution doomsday clock strikes ever closer to midnight.

10-20-17

The Sessions nazi again did what he does best.  Obfuscate, bullshit, egregiously fail to answer questions during a Senate hearing.  Sen. Al Franken would have none of it.  Figuratively, kicked the lying bastard hard in the ass.   Fox News reports:

"Attorney General Jeff Sessions publicly and repeatedly clashed with Democratic Sen. Al Franken on Wednesday after being pressed over the accuracy of past testimony regarding his communications with the Russians during the 2016 presidential campaign.  In one of several testy exchanges Sessions had with Democratic senators during testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Franken, D-Minn., grilled the attorney general and suggested his explanations have changed.  “The goal post has been moved. First it was ‘I did not have communications with Russians’ – which was not true. Then it was ‘I never met with Russians to discuss any political campaign’ –  which may or may not be true. Now it is ‘I did not discuss interference in the campaign’ which further narrows your initial blanket denial about meeting with the Russians,” Franken said."

This is precisely the kind of treatment a hostile witness before Congress needs to be subjected to when the lying son of a bitch won't responsively, honestly answer questions.

"A visibly frustrated Sessions responded that, “Without hesitation, I conducted no improper discussions with Russians at any time regarding a campaign or any other item facing this country.”

Jesus Christ.  This man, like his fuhrer the Trump nazi, cannot or will not tell the truth.  Responsively, honestly answer questions.

"Franken attempted to begin a second round of questioning before Sessions could respond in full to the first, but Sessions fired back.  “Mr. Chairman, I do not have to sit in here and listen to his charges without having a chance to respond. Give me a break,” Sessions said, noting that Franken’s “lead in” to his questioning was “very, very troubling,” and that he needed more time to respond."

Jesus Christ.  This son of a bitch is stonewalling.  Refusing to honestly responsively answer questions.  Worse?  Lying.  Then, gets angry when a United States Senator holds his feet proverbially to the fire?  Give me a f--king break.  This is a tactic a recalcitrant witness uses to obfuscate, waste time so nothing gets answered during the time allotted the questioner.  Called bullshit.  To his credit, Franken continued to stick it to the bastard:

"But Franken pressed on—even sparring, briefly, with committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, over the amount of time Sessions had to respond in relation to the time he was given for questioning."

Continuing to stonewall:

"Sessions slammed Franken for having “10 minutes” of “improperly framing” the situation and his responses.  “I have committed myself to a high level of public service to reach the highest level of ethics and decency in my service,” Sessions said. “You have now gone through this long talk that I believe is totally unfair to me.”

Jesus Christ, Jeff.  You obfuscate, bullshit, lie your way through testimony, then claim the questioning is unfair to you?  Give me a f--king break.  Worse?  Far worse?  You repeatedly fail to honor the oath of office you falsely swore to uphold the United States Constitution.  You've continually disgraced yourself, demonstrated your egregious unfitness for office, displayed your racist, fascist embrace of national socialism a la Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini.  Refuse to hold the abusive, violent, thieving, murderous, criminal jackbooted bastards in blue accountable for their crimes.

10-20-17

Continuing with the theme above, Republicans are indeed getting antsy.  Know the midterms are quickly approaching.  Precisely, why they want to wrap up all these hearings this year.  CNN reports:

"A growing number of key Republicans are sending this message to the leaders of the congressional committees investigating potential Trump campaign collusion with the Russians: Wrap it up soon."

Before the truth comes out?

"In the House and Senate, several Republicans who sit on key committees are starting to grumble that the investigations have spanned the better part of the past nine months, contending that the Democratic push to extend the investigation well into next year could amount to a fishing expedition. The concerns are in line with ones raised by President Donald Trump, who has publicly and privately insisted he's the subject of a "witch hunt" on Capitol Hill and by special counsel Robert Mueller."

If there's nothing to hide, no collusion, no criminal activity, what is the problem?

"Democrats, meanwhile, are raising their own concerns that the congressional Russia probes are rushing witnesses -- including the testimony of President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner -- as well as stalling appearances of other key Trump associates."

Republicans are protecting their own and the Trump nazi:

"The comments come as the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, raised fresh concerns in a recent Washington Post op-ed about GOP efforts to "halt the congressional investigations rather than allow the evidence to dictate the pace and breadth of our inquiry." He said that some witnesses were being "rushed" before Congress before the committee had received the relevant documents, and other key witnesses have yet to be called before the panel."

Obfuscation. Stonewalling.

10-13-17

In stark contrast to Llano County Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider how the Governor of California has at least partially stood up to the Trump nazi and his fascist henchmen.

California Gov. Jerry Brown stood partially tall.  Nowhere near uncommon valor, however. Partially, stood up to Trump, the Sessions nazi, and the criminal jackbooted bastards in ICE and the Border Patrol.  NPR reports:

"California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill that places sharp limits on how state and local law enforcement agencies can cooperate with federal immigration authorities, placing California squarely and provocatively in conflict with President Trump and his calls to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.  "These are uncertain times for undocumented Californians and their families," the governor said in a signing statement that laid out what the measure will – and will not – do. "This bill strikes a balance that will protect public safety while bringing a measure of comfort to those families who are now living in fear every day."

While the law is indeed an undue compromise with the Nazi Right and outrageously corrupt and abusive law enforcement, be interesting to see if the 'Justice' Department challenges it in court nonetheless.

"The bill, SB 54 by California Senate President pro tem Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles), takes effect on January 1st, 2018. In broad terms, it extends local "sanctuary city" protections for immigrants living in California without legal documentation. (The governor, De León and some of the bill's backers prefer not to use the term "sanctuary state" because they argue it has become politically loaded and there is confusion over its precise meaning.)  Specifically, it bans state and local agencies, excluding the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, from enforcing "holds" on people in custody. It blocks the deputization of police as immigration agents and bars state and local law enforcement agencies from inquiring into an individual's immigration status."

About time.  Too bad, however, the law does not go into effect until the first of next year, as well as the fact it remains an undue compromise with outrageously corrupt, abusive law enforcement and the Nazi Right.

"It also prohibits new or expanded contracts with federal agencies to use California law enforcement facilities as detention centers, although it does not force the termination of existing contracts – including Orange County's $22 million annual contract with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE)."

A step in the right direction, however.  But nowhere near enough:

"The California Values Act won't stop ICE from trolling our streets. It will not provide full sanctuary. But it will put a kink – a large kink – in Trump's perverse and inhumane deportation machine," De León said at a news conference Thursday after Governor Brown signed the bill. "California is building a wall – a wall of justice – against President Trump's xenophobic, racist and ignorant immigration policies."

More importantly, offers at least some resistance to the Trump nazi and his henchmen.  Partially, does what it can to resist Trump's transformation of the goddamned de facto fascist police-state we already live in to the Fourth Reich. A step in the right direction, but nowhere near enough.

There are major problems with this legislation:

"But under a deal struck between De León and Brown, an originally wide-ranging bill was narrowed down to address law enforcement concerns."

Why?  The corrupt, abusive, murderous, criminal jackbooted bastards in law enforcement remain the greatest threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.  Bar none.

Compared to previous versions, the final measure expands the list of crimes for which law enforcement can choose to notify and transfer someone to immigration authorities.  The agreement allows federal agents to interview people in custody, and state and local agencies can continue to participate in joint task forces with ICE and other federal agencies."

A major flaw, an egregious problem.  In effect, they'll continue to get in bed with federal jackbooted nazi storm troopers.

Worse?  Far worse?  Get this:

"The final legislation also drops an earlier provision that would have banned California law enforcement from sharing their databases for immigration enforcement."

Jesus Christ.  How aggressively stupid can you clueless bastards be?  You're facilitating ICE and the Border Patrol to continue oppressing not only the undocumented, but innocent American citizens as well who are being harassed by these achingly abusive, outrageously corrupt, criminal sons of bitches.

You stupidly, gutlessly made a pact with the devil, compromised principle.  For the sake of political expediency?  To satisfy the Nazi Right?  Get this:

"The bill that is in print now is significantly better than what was there," Santa Barbara County Sheriff and California State Sheriffs' Association president Bill Brown told Capital Public Radio last month after the deal with the governor was struck. But Sheriff Brown said, as a result of the new law, "People who are chronic or serial criminals that just haven't risen to a particular level of crime yet are going to go back out into the community, and people are going to be victimized."

Crock of shit.  A disingenuous jackbooted nazi crying wolf.  The sheriff would be better advised to rein in his jackbooted minions who present a far, far greater threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.

"The Trump administration also slammed the bill signing."

Any surprise?

"The State of California has now codified a commitment to returning criminal aliens back onto our streets, which undermines public safety, national security, and law enforcement," Justice Department spokesman Devin O'Malley said in a statement. "Given the multiple high-profile incidents that have occurred in California in recent years, it is especially disappointing that state leaders have made it law to limit cooperation between local jurisdictions and immigration authorities attempting to keep Californians safe."

Achingly clueless, fascist assholes in the Trump regime are caustically reminded the greatest threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties is no foreign power, no terrorist organization, not even the criminal element.  Rather, it is, and remains, all levels and branches of government.  To say nothing of the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue who enforce its will.  Regardless, of the law and U.S. Constitution.  ... Right, Sheriff?

"SB 54 passed both chambers of the California Legislature last month on the final day of session. All but three Democrats supported the bill, while no Republican voted for it."

What nazi would, right, Sheriff?

Response from the jackbooted bastards at ICE to the California bill signing?  Fox News reports:

"The nation’s top Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official said Friday that his agency had “no choice” but to arrest illegal immigrants in California’s neighborhoods and worksites despite newly signed sanctuary city legislation.  Those arrested would also likely placed in out-of-state detention centers, ICE Acting Director Thomas Homan said in a statement.  Homan’s comments came a day after Gov. Jerry Brown D-Calif. signed bill SB54, or sanctuary state legislation."

Anything that makes it more difficult for these jackbooted bastards to egregiously oppress is a good thing.  A positive.

The race to transform the fascist police-state we already live in to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich is well underway.  NBC News reports:

"The White House is preparing to send a list of immigration proposals to Capitol Hill in the coming days, including backing for a bill that would make it easier for local police to question people they stop about their immigration status, according to four people familiar with the conversations.  One source described the package as the "wish list" of Stephen Miller, senior policy adviser to President Trump and a known immigration hardliner.  A senior administration official and three other sources familiar with the deliberations say the proposal includes part of the Davis-Oliver Act, which has been criticized by Democrats and some Republicans. The bill requires police to report to the Department of Homeland Security all identifying information on anyone they encounter who is suspected to be in the country illegally."

Trump's Fourth Reich.

"It's a controversial piece of a plan intended to delineate the administration's immigration priorities as Congress considers how to handle the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program, created by President Barack Obama to allow immigrants who were brought into the U.S. illegally as children to remain."

Nazi America.

Trump certainly has a national socialist agenda a la Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini.  Think not?  Wake up.  Get this.  NBC News reports:

"The White House is preparing to send a list of immigration proposals to Capitol Hill in the coming days, including backing for a bill that would make it easier for local police to question people they stop about their immigration status, according to four people familiar with the conversations.  One source described the package as the "wish list" of Stephen Miller, senior policy adviser to President Trump and a known immigration hardliner."

Adolf and Benito?  Grinning ear-to-ear on their fiery perches.

"A senior administration official and three other sources familiar with the deliberations say the proposal includes part of the Davis-Oliver Act, which has been criticized by Democrats and some Republicans. The bill requires police to report to the Department of Homeland Security all identifying information on anyone they encounter who is suspected to be in the country illegally."

A goddamned fascist police-state, soon to be the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich.

"Another potentially divisive piece of the White House plan is expected to include support for the RAISE Act, which would put new limits on the number of people who can enter the United States legally through work permits. The administration is also expected to seek more funding for more immigration agents, border patrol and judges, said the four sources."

A continuing non-issue driven by Republican nazis with an achingly fascist, national socialist agenda.

"Stephen Miller is driving the deliberations, which have been underway for several weeks. Miller, who worked for Jeff Sessions when the Attorney General was a senator from Alabama, is leading negotiations with some Republican senators to move any deal to address the legal status of Dreamers to the right, one senior Republican Senate aide said.  "I don't expect what they put forth to go over very well," one of the sources said."

Think Democrats won't fight tooth and nail?

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk?  Get what you truly deserve.

10-13-17

In follow up to the last edition, more trouble in paradise.  NBC News reports:

"The mayor of Flint, Michigan, still enduring a polluted-water crisis, sent a letter of solidarity to the mayor of hurricane-battered San Juan, Puerto Rico, this week in which she commiserated over their treatment by the government and bashed President Donald Trump.  "I am utterly disappointed and outraged by the lack of active engagement and support from this administration during the recent visit," Flint Mayor Karen Weaver wrote to San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz on Wednesday.   Weaver said she felt a "special sisterhood" with Yulin Cruz because both women felt forced to publicly challenge the federal government to do more to help their communities."

Hat's off to both women.

10-13-17

In follow up to the last edition, GOP Rep. Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania has announced he will resign.  Had an affair with a woman other than his wife, impregnated her, then offered to pay for an abortion.  Think Republican nazis don't have their panties in a wad?

10-13-17

Think there isn't big trouble in paradise?  NPR reports:

[Tennessee Sen. Bob] "Corker announced last week that he plans to retire at the end of this Congress. He has never been slow to voice his opinions — even ones that go against the party line — but he seems to be speaking even more freely since he announced he won't run for re-election.

"Corker drew a lot of attention this week with his critical comments about the "chaos" in the Trump administration on foreign policy and tensions inside the State Department.  But Republicans concerned about the party's scorecard for legislative victories this year should be more focused on Corker's fresh warning signals that he is not fully on board for the GOP's early outline of tax legislation.  At committee hearings, to party leaders, at private Senate lunch meetings and to the media this week, Corker has laid bare his concerns about a tax bill that threatens to add to the federal budget deficit.  "Unless it reduces deficits — let me say that one more time — unless it reduces deficits and does not add to deficits with reasonable and responsible growth models, and unless we can make it permanent, I don't have any interest in it," Corker said at the Budget Committee hearing."

Still think the rats aren't jumping ship?

Getting increasingly nasty. The Washington Times reports:

"President Trump on Sunday morning launched a Twitter attack against retiring Sen. Bob Corker, saying he “didn’t have the guts” to seek re-election.  The Tennessee Republican quickly fired back, calling Mr. Trump’s White House “an adult day care center.”

No question.  LOL.

"In his tweets, the president said Mr. Corker — who previously had questioned Mr. Trump’s competence — wanted his endorsement for reelection, but he refused.  The president also said Mr. Corker is partly to blame for the Iran nuclear deal, which Mr. Trump may scrap.  “Senator Bob Corker ‘begged’ me to endorse him for re-election in Tennessee. I said ‘NO’ and he dropped out (said he could not win without my endorsement),” Mr. Trump tweeted. “He also wanted to be Secretary of State, I said ‘NO THANKS.’ He is also largely responsible for the horrendous Iran Deal!”  In the last of his three tweets Sunday, Mr. Trump said the senator would be an obstacle to the administration’s legislative goals.  “Hence, I would fully expect Corker to be a negative voice and stand in the way of our great agenda. Didn’t have the guts to run!” the president tweeted.  Mr. Corker responded shortly afterward, taking to his own Twitter account to cast the president and his administration as juvenile.  “It’s a shame the White House has become an adult day care center. Someone obviously missed their shift this morning,” the senator tweeted."

Think Trump fit?

The Washington Times reports:

"Sen. Bob Corker accused President Trump of treating the presidency like “a reality show” and said his actions could put the U.S. “on the path to World War III,” according to an interview in Sunday’s New York Times.  “He concerns me,” Mr. Corker, Tennessee Republican, said in a lengthy interview Sunday night. “He would have to concern anyone who cares about our nation.”  Mr. Corker, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the president’s actions in international affairs has “hurt” the country in negotiations with other nations.  “I know for a fact that every single day at the White House, it’s a situation of trying to contain him,” Mr. Corker said to the newspaper.  The interview comes after a heated Twitter exchange between Mr. Trump and Mr. Corker earlier in the day. Mr. Trump said Mr. Corker “didn’t have the guts” to run for re-election. The Tennessee Republican shot back that “someone missed their shift” to babysit the president."

Have to give Corker credit for standing up to the lunatic.  About time Republicans all stood up to the growing insanity.

CBS News reports:

"Following a day of trading twitter barbs, Senator Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, is firing back at President Trump again, calling into question Mr. Trump's leadership ability and his turbulent running of the White House in a New York Times report.  In an interview with the Times on Sunday, Corker said Mr. Trump was treating his office like "a reality show," with threats toward other countries that could set the U.S. "on the path to World War III."  Corker said Mr. Trump was running the West Wing "like he's doing 'The Apprentice' or something."  "He concerns me," Corker added. "He would have to concern anyone who cares about our nation."

Time for Republicans to wake up.  Trump remains an exigent threat to all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.  His growing instability makes him a threat to world peace.  The fact he has sole authority to launch a nuclear attack is of great concern.

"According to CBS News' Margaret Brennan, Corker's chief of staff, Todd Womack, says the president's tweets paint a very different picture than what actually happened.  "The president called Senator Corker on Monday afternoon and asked him to reconsider his decision not to seek reelection and reaffirmed that he would have endorsed him, as he has said many times," Womack told Brennan in a statement on Sunday.  "I don't know why the president tweets out things that are not true," Corker told the Times. "You know he does it, everyone knows he does it, but he does."  Corker also questioned Mr. Trump's diplomacy practices, saying,"I know he has hurt, in several instances, he's hurt us as it relates to negotiations that were underway by tweeting things out."  He claimed that Mr. Trump's unpredictable leadership style has forced many senior administration officials to be on the defensive.   "I know for a fact that every single day at the White House, it's a situation of trying to contain him," Corker said."

Time for Republicans to step up.  Rise to the occasion.

10-13-17

Think Trump isn't growing increasingly delusional, dangerous?  The Washington Times reports:

"President Trump told senior military leaders Thursday night that he wants them to give him military options “at a much faster pace” when national-security emergencies erupt around the world.  “I know that government bureaucracy is slow, but I am depending on you to overcome the obstacles of bureaucracy,” Mr. Trump said at a White House meeting with Defense Secretary James Mattis, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. and others.  The president, gesturing to the military chiefs around a table, told reporters, “Maybe it’s the calm before the storm.”  He didn’t elaborate."

Wouldn't you have loved to have been a fly on the wall?  Imagine what these generals must have been thinking.

Here is the take of CBS News:

"President Trump offered some confusing comments in front of reporters Thursday night, when at an event for military officials and their spouses he suggested the moment represented "the calm before the storm."  Mr. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, flanked by military spouses for a photo op at the White House, said, "You guys know what this represents? Maybe it's the calm before the storm," the president said.   Pressed on what he meant, Mr. Trump said "we have the world's great military people" in the room.  Asked yet again for an answer, Mr. Trump said "you'll find out."

Delusionally planning a nuclear catastrophe, Mr. 'President?'

"The president then bid everyone a good night, without clarifying his comments."

Jesus Christ.  This man has apparently lost his mind:

NBC News reports:

"President Donald Trump said he wanted what amounted to a nearly tenfold increase in the U.S. nuclear arsenal during a gathering this past summer of the nation’s highest-ranking national security leaders, according to three officials who were in the room.  Trump’s comments, the officials said, came in response to a briefing slide he was shown that charted the steady reduction of U.S. nuclear weapons since the late 1960s. Trump indicated he wanted a bigger stockpile, not the bottom position on that downward-sloping curve.  According to the officials present, Trump’s advisers, among them the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, were surprised. Officials briefly explained the legal and practical impediments to a nuclear buildup and how the current military posture is stronger than it was at the height of the buildup. In interviews, they told NBC News that no such expansion is planned."

Think Trump fit to be commander-in-chief, finger on the nuclear button?

"The July 20 meeting was described as a lengthy and sometimes tense review of worldwide U.S. forces and operations. It was soon after the meeting broke up that officials who remained behind heard Tillerson say that Trump is a “moron.”

Trump is a moron.  Worse?  Remains an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.  ... As well as world peace.

"Two officials present said that at multiple points in the discussion, the president expressed a desire not just for more nuclear weapons, but for additional U.S. troops and military equipment.  Any increase in America’s nuclear arsenal would not only break with decades of U.S. nuclear doctrine but also violate international disarmament treaties signed by every president since Ronald Reagan. Nonproliferation experts warned that such a move could set off a global arms race.  “If he were to increase the numbers, the Russians would match him, and the Chinese” would ramp up their nuclear ambitions, Joe Cirincione, a nuclear expert and an MSNBC contributor, said, referring to the president.  “There hasn’t been a military mission that’s required a nuclear weapon in 71 years,” Cirincione said."

Think this man isn't delusional?  Unfit for office?  Consider the following:

"Details of the July 20 meeting, which have not been previously reported, shed additional light on tensions among the commander in chief, members of his Cabinet and the uniformed leadership of the Pentagon stemming from vastly different world views, experiences and knowledge bases.  Moreover, the president’s comments reveal that Trump, who suggested before his inauguration that the U.S. “must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability,” voiced that desire as commander in chief directly to the military leadership in the heart of the Pentagon this summer.  Some officials in the Pentagon meeting were rattled by the president’s desire for more nuclear weapons and his understanding of other national security issues from the Korean Peninsula to Iraq and Afghanistan, the officials said."

Gets worse:

"That meeting followed one held a day earlier in the White House Situation Room focused on Afghanistan in which the president stunned some of his national security team. At that July 19 meeting, according to senior administration officials, Trump asked military leaders to fire the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan and compared their advice to that of a New York restaurant consultant whose poor judgment cost a business valuable time and money.  Two people familiar with the discussion said the Situation Room meeting, in which the president’s advisers anticipated he would sign off on a new Afghanistan strategy, was so unproductive that the advisers decided to continue the discussion at the Pentagon the next day in a smaller setting where the president could perhaps be more focused. “It wasn’t just the number of people. It was the idea of focus,” according to one person familiar with the discussion. The thinking was: “Maybe we need to slow down a little and explain the whole world” from a big-picture perspective, this person said."

None of this disturbs his equally insane base, moreover.

Apparently, nearly the entire menagerie attended the Pentagon meeting the next day:

"The Pentagon meeting was also attended by Vice President Mike Pence; Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin; Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Gen. Paul Selva, the vice chairman; Defense Secretary James Mattis; Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan; Stephen Bannon, then Trump’s chief strategist; Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior adviser; and Reince Preibus, then chief of staff. Sean Spicer, then the White House spokesman, and Keith Schiller, who was director of Oval Office operations at the time, also accompanied Trump to the Pentagon that day."

Fascinating, isn't it?  Yet, no one will talk.  Apparently, place loyalty to the Trump nazi ahead of the best interests of the country.

10-13-17

In follow up to the last edition, NBC News is not letting up on the Tillerson-Trump "moron" story.  LOL.  Get this:

"John Kelly, the White House chief of staff, abruptly scrapped plans to travel with President Donald Trump on Wednesday so he could try to contain his boss’s fury and manage the fallout from new revelations about tensions between the president and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, according to six senior administration officials."

Got to love it.  A temper tantrum thrown by what is in effect a two-year-old.  LOL.  Comic relief at its very best.  LOL.

"Kelly summoned Tillerson, and their ally Defense Secretary James Mattis, to the White House, where the three of them huddled to discuss a path forward, according to three administration officials. The White House downplayed Kelly's decision to stay in Washington, saying he did so to manage day-to-day operations."

That right?  Think so?  LOL.

"Vice President Mike Pence, meanwhile, was fuming in Phoenix, where he was traveling, seven officials told NBC News. He and Tillerson spoke on the phone before the secretary’s public appearance on Wednesday morning."

Don't you love it?  Sounds like a real-life soap opera.

"Pence was incensed upon learning from the NBC report that Tillerson’s top spokesman had said he once privately questioned the value of Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Officials said the spokesman, R.C. Hammond, fabricated an anecdote that Pence had asked Tillerson in a meeting whether Haley, who is seen as a possible successor to Tillerson, is helpful or harmful to the administration."

Got to love it.  Achingly, but comically convoluted, isn't it?  LOL.

Readers are amusingly reminded:

"NBC reported Wednesday that Tillerson had threatened to resign in July after a series of clashes with the president, at one point venting his frustrations among his colleagues by calling the president a "moron," according to multiple senior administration officials who were aware of the matter at the time."

... If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, guess what?  It's a f--king duck.  LOL.

"Four senior administration officials said Trump first learned on Wednesday that Tillerson had disparaged him after a July 20 national security meeting at the Pentagon. Trump vented to Kelly Wednesday morning, leading Kelly to scrap plans to travel with the president to Las Vegas to meet with victims and first responders in Sunday’s mass shooting."

Doesn't your heart bleed for the Trump nazi?  Any other president would have laughed it off. Not Trump:

"Trump was furious when he saw the NBC News report, which was published shortly before 6 a.m. Wednesday.   For the next two hours the president fumed inside the White House, venting to Kelly, officials said.  He left for Las Vegas shortly after 8 a.m., 20 minutes behind schedule."

Sound like a man fit to be president?  Finger on the nuclear button?

"Tillerson scrambled to pull together a statement, while his spokesman publicly apologized for his comments about Pence and Haley, saying he “spoke out of line about conversations I wasn’t privy to.”

Quickly kissed ass.  Don't you love it?  LOL.

"Tillerson delivered a statement praising Trump and insisting he never considered resigning, but it’s what he didn’t say that further enraged Trump, officials said."

Did it ever.  LOL.

"The secretary’s refusal to deny that he had called the president a “moron” in his opening statement and in his responses to questions from reporters stoked Trump’s anger and widened the rift between the two men, officials said."

What did Trump expect Tillerson to do?  Follow the 'President's' example?  Lie?  LOL.

"After watching the secretary’s response Wednesday, one White House official said, “When Tillerson didn’t deny it, I assumed it was true.”

You think?  LOL.

10-13-17

The insanity continues.  CBS News reports:

"As the island nation of Puerto Rico continues to grapple with the devastation left by Hurricane Maria, President Trump said he was "having fun" during his day-long visit to survey damage and meet with local officials on the ground."

Fun?  As Puerto Rico continues to struggle to survive?

"In a wide-ranging interview with Mike Huckabee that aired Saturday on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, Mr. Trump recalled throwing paper towels and other goods into a crowd of citizens in need of supplies.  "I mean, one example, they had these beautiful soft towels, very good towels, and I came in and there was a crowd of a lot of people and they were screaming and they were loving everything."

Hopelessly, delusional.  Losing ground.

"He added, "I was having fun, they were having fun, they said 'throw them to me, throw them to me, Mr. President,' and so I'm doing some of them, so the next day they said, 'oh it was so disrespectful to the people.' It was just a made-up thing and also when they had, when I walked in the cheering was incredible."  Mr. Trump said the cheering from the crowd was "deafening" but called negative reports of his trip "horrible unfair publicity", even taking credit with coining the term "fake news."

Jesus Christ.  This guy has lost his mind.

10-13-17

The charade continues.  NPR reports:

"President Trump on Monday defended Vice President Mike Pence's decision to walk out of Sunday's NFL game between the Indianapolis Colts and the San Francisco 49ers in Indianapolis.  Trump tweeted, "The trip by @VP Pence was long planned. He is receiving great praise for leaving game after the players showed such disrespect for country!"

A crock of shit.  A ruse:

"The president's response comes amid suggestions by some media outlets and on social media that Pence's protest was a publicity stunt engineered by Trump."

That's all it was.  A ruse.  Charade.  Trump and his fellow nazis know full well such protest has nothing to do with disrespect for the Flag, the military, or police who properly do their jobs lawfully, constitutionally, non-abusively.  Has everything to do with the assholes in blue who murder innocent unarmed victims while on duty.  Do so with virtual impunity.

"I left today's Colts game because President Trump and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem," Pence, a former governor of Indiana, said in a statement."

A ruse.  Charade.  A nazi has no dignity, zero credibility.  Pence again disgraced himself, the Flag, the United States Constitution:

"While everyone is entitled to their own opinions, I don't think it's too much to ask NFL players to respect the Flag and our National Anthem," the statement opposing the protest continued. "I stand with President Trump, I stand with our soldiers, and I will always stand for our Flag and our National Anthem."

A raucous boot clicking, goose stepping, treasonous, treacherous, traitorous Sieg Heil!, Mr. Vice President?  Height of hypocrisy?  Get this:

"But first, the moment was commemorated with a photo of himself and second lady Karen Pence while they stood, hand over hearts, for the anthem."

Jesus Christ.  Pathetic.  Appalling.  Aryan arrogant.  A ruse.  Charade.  To score political points at expense of the First Amendment.  Egregiously un-American.  Coup de grace?  Get this:

"It appears the choice to leave did not belong to Pence or his wife alone. According to Trump, it was his idea.  "I asked @VP Pence to leave stadium if any players kneeled, disrespecting our country," Trump tweeted, adding that he was proud of the couple."

Nauseating, sickeningly pathetic.  Galling.  A deliberately staged, appalling salute from a nazi fuhrer to his equally fascist underling.

Fox News reports:

"Cowboys owner insists his players will stand for the national anthem or they won't play.  Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Sunday any player who disrespects the flag will not play.  Jones’ comments, the strongest made on the anthem controversy, came after he was asked about Vice President Mike Pence leaving the game in Indianapolis early after several San Francisco 49ers players took a knee during the national anthem.  "I know this, we cannot ... in the NFL in any way give the implication that we tolerate disrespecting the flag," he said following the Cowboys’ 35-31 loss to the Green Bay Packers. "We know that there is a serious debate in this country about those issues, but there is no question in my mind that the National Football League and the Dallas Cowboys are going to stand up for the flag. So we're clear."  Jones and the rest of the team kneeled arm-in-arm before the national anthem before a game against the Arizona Cardinals two weeks ago, days after President Trump reignited the anthem-protest controversy."

The only principle Jones apparently stands for is clearly the corporate bottom line.  Anything that interferes with his ability to line his pockets remains intolerable. Every member of the team should drop to one knee during the Anthem next time.  Force the achingly gutless, clueless bastard to replace the entire roster.

Interestingly, the NFL is not marching in goose step with Jones or the Trump nazi.   At least, not yet.  Be interesting to see if that lasts.  Especially, since this matter will likely wind up being litigated by the players.  NPR reports:

"The players' union responded on Monday, with executive director DeMaurice Smith saying Jones' comments contradicted those of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.  "I look forward to the day when everyone in management can unite and truly embrace and articulate what the flag stands for, liberty and justice for all, instead of some of them just talking about standing. We look forward to continuing our talks with them on this very issue."

If you get nowhere, sue the living shit out of the bastards.

Fallout continues.  So does the bullshit coming from the Trump nazi:

"On Monday night, Trump tweeted support for Jones:

    "A big salute to Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, who will BENCH players who disrespect our Flag."Stand for Anthem or sit for game!"
    — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 10, 2017"

Jones, like the Trump nazi, is achingly clueless, worse, gutless.

"ESPN's Jemele Hill responded to Jones' statement with several tweets suggesting fans boycott the team's advertisers.

    "Don't ask Dak, Dez & other Cowboys players to protest. A more powerful statement is if you stop watching and buying their merchandise.
    — Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) October 9, 2017"

Have to applaud her courage.  Willingness to stand up for the right to protest guarantied by the First Amendment.  -- Paid a price for her boldness, however, imposed by her corporate masters:

"The sports network responded with a two-week suspension for Hill, calling it the second violation of the company's social media guidelines. Last month the network said that tweets Hill made calling Trump a white supremacist were inappropriate."

Called the goddamned truth.  ... A truth, her corporate masters certainly did not want to hear.

While the owner of the Cowboys will likely prevail in the short term, will certainly come at a price.  NBC News reports:

"Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones took the NFL's battle over the national anthem to a new level this week when he suggested that players who are "disrespectful" to the U.S. flag shouldn't be allowed to play.  But can Jones bench a player for such a reason?  The short answer, according to experts, is that Jones - arguably the most powerful owner in the world's richest sport - can do what he wants, at least in the short term. But he'd probably thrust himself into a high-profile legal fight that may ending up costing him, and the NFL."

Those who believe in the right to protest certainly hope so.

"On Monday morning, DeMaurice Smith, the executive director of the NFL Players Association, pointed out that NFL owners and Commissioner Roger Goodell had promised in a meeting last week "that they would respect the constitutional rights of our members without retribution."  Smith urged the owners to stand — so to speak — with their players, who he said have shown "bravery and courage."

A portend of far worse to come as the Trump nazi and his henchmen transform the de facto fascist police-state we already live in to Trump's Fourth Reich.

"Matthew Mitten, executive director at the National Sports Law Institute at Marquette University, said it was hard to tell precisely what action Jones was suggesting, but any move would have to adhere to the NFL's collective bargaining agreement.  Jones may be able to find a provision in the agreement to use as grounds for punishing a player. But that would also allow the player to file a grievance, which could go before a neutral arbitrator.  That alone could be costly, as the owner risks a public relations backlash or an unfavorable ruling.  "Could he really bench a player for protesting? There's no doubt in my mind that he could do it," said Kenneth Shropshire, a professor of global sport at Arizona State University. "But would it appear in violation of the rules among the parties? That's the question."

Players need to do all they can to stick it to the bastards if their right to take a knee during the Anthem is abrogated by these nazis.

"Jamie Dukes, a former NFL lineman and NFL network analyst, said he would be surprised if Jones did anything that wasn't in lockstep with the league and other owners, who rarely move without slow consideration of the impact on the sport's standing in America.  "It’s the machine," Dukes said. "The move he’d make would not be outside the rules every other team would adhere to."  Longtime sports agent Jack Mills said the NFL has placed itself in a difficult spot: choosing not to interfere with the protests, and opposing the president. “But this could change at either the NFL level or the local level at any time,” Mills wrote in an email.  The owners, Mills said, have the “superior legal position if they choose to take advantage.” But the NFL “missed its chance as a league back when the Kaepernick thing started, and now it’s grown to a full-blown conflict and we shall see where it ends.”

Players need to continue to stand on principle, so to speak.  Be willing to pay the price.  Should they get benched or receive the boot, one thing for damned sure: viewership would drop more precipitously than it already has as their replacements will deliver nowhere near the same level of performance.

The achingly gutless NFL now advises players should stand for the Anthem.  Has not ordered it, however.  Not yet.

10-13-17

Transition from the de facto fascist police-state we now live in to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich is well underway.  The Washington Times reports:

"Determined to finally solve illegal immigration, the White House submitted a 70-point enforcement plan to Congress Sunday proposing the stiffest reforms ever offered by an administration — including a massive rewrite of the law in order to eliminate loopholes illegal immigrants have exploited to gain a foothold in the U.S.  The plans, seen by The Washington Times, include President Trump’s calls for a border wall, more deportation agents, a crackdown on sanctuary cities and stricter limits to chain migration — all issues the White House says need to be part of any bill Congress passes to legalize illegal immigrant “Dreamers” currently protected by the Obama-era deportation amnesty known as DACA.  But the plans break serious new ground on the legal front, giving federal agents more leeway to deny illegal immigrants at the border, to arrest and hold them when they’re spotted in the interior, and to deport them more speedily. The goal, the White House said, is to ensure major changes to border security, interior enforcement and the legal immigration system."

Raw nazism.  Determined, willful, concerted ignorance of the United States Constitution.

The fight is on.  Will be fought tooth and nail.  The Washington Post reports:

"The Trump administration released a list of hard-line immigration principles late Sunday that threaten to derail a deal in Congress to allow hundreds of thousands of younger undocumented immigrants to remain in the country legally.  The administration's wish list includes the funding of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, a crackdown on the influx of Central American minors and curbs on federal grants to “sanctuary cities,” according to a document distributed to Congress and obtained by The Washington Post.  The demands were quickly denounced by Democratic leaders in Congress who had hoped to forge a deal with President Trump to protect younger immigrants, known as “dreamers,” who were brought to the United States illegally as children. Trump announced plans last month to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, an Obama-era program that had provided two-year work permits to the dreamers that Trump called “unconstitutional.”

Trump unsurprisingly appears to be reneging on his earlier tentative agreement with Democrats:

"The list released by the administration, however, would represent a major tightening of immigration laws. Cuts to legal immigration also are included. And, while Democrats have called for a path to citizenship for all dreamers, a group estimated at more than 1.5 million, a White House aide said Sunday night the administration is "not interested in granting a path to citizenship" in a deal to preserve the DACA program."

Democrats quickly reacted:

“The administration can't be serious about compromise or helping the Dreamers if they begin with a list that is anathema to the Dreamers, to the immigrant community and to the vast majority of Americans,” Schumer and Pelosi said in a joint statement Sunday evening. “We told the President at our meeting that we were open to reasonable border security measures ... but this list goes so far beyond what is reasonable. This proposal fails to represent any attempt at compromise.”

There is no compromise with an insane nazi fuhrer:

"Democrats had hoped that Trump, who had equivocated over the DACA program before deciding to terminate it in the face of a legal challenge from Texas, would be open to crafting a narrow legislative deal to protect the dreamers. But White House aides emphasized that they expect Congress to include the principles released Sunday in any package deal, a nonstarter for Democrats and some moderate Republicans."

Stand tall.  Resist.  Sue.

10-13-17

Trump and his henchmen continue to fill the swamp.  The Washington Post reports:

"The Trump administration, one of the wealthiest in modern U.S. history, is facing widening criticism over travel expenditures among some of the billionaires, budget hawks and business executives who head federal agencies."

Clearly, the hopelessly greedy can never get enough.

"Inspectors general have opened at least five investigations into charter or military flights by Cabinet officials amounting to millions in federal spending. Their decisions to veer away from cheaper commercial flights have led to criticism from Democrats in Congress and government accountability groups about a culture of entitlement in Trump’s administration."

A rampant ubiquitous issue with the top 1% of the food chain.

"New examples of questioned expenditures include those of Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who on Friday turned over his travel records under pressure from House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) and the panel’s top Democrat, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (Md.). Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt faces an expanding investigation into his travel by private jet.  The drumbeat of controversy over Cabinet travel threatens to undermine a core pillar of Trump’s relationship with his base — his promise to “drain the swamp” of elite Washington, rein in waste and represent the working class."

A ruse.  Charade.  The bastards are filling the swamp.

10-13-17

The Trump nazi once again displayed his true colors.  Profound misogyny, egregious indifference to the First Amendment Establishment Clause.  NPR reports:

"The Trump administration is rolling back the Obama-era requirement that employer-provided health insurance policies cover birth control methods at no cost to women.  According to senior officials with the Department of Health and Human Services, the goal of the new rule is to allow any company or nonprofit group to exclude the coverage for contraception if it has a religious or moral objection."

This no more than legalization of discrimination against women.  Direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.  The corporate management suite now only has to falsely claim it's against its corporate religious beliefs, -- to deny women their right to a benefit they've more than earned through poorly-compensated labor at behest of their corporate masters.

The Washington Times reports:

"It took just minutes for the first lawsuit to be announced last week after the Trump administration said it was rolling back Obamacare’s contraceptive coverage mandate, creating an exemption for faith-based organizations that said paying for employees’ birth control violated their faiths.  The American Civil Liberties Union accused President Trump of discrimination by allowing employers to put religious beliefs before the needs of female workers who had come to expect birth control coverage as part of their health care benefits.  Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said she would go to court in Boston “as soon as possible” to try to block the rule, announced Friday.  “The Trump administration is forcing women to pay for their boss’ religious beliefs,” ACLU senior staff attorney Brigitte Amiri said. “We’re filing this lawsuit because the federal government cannot authorize discrimination against women in the name of religion or otherwise.”

NBC News reports:

"The Trump administration's moves this week to cut back on free birth control and tighten abortion restrictions could add up to an unintended consequence, according to experts: Women may end up having more abortions.  On Friday, the administration rolled back a key Obamacare requirement for most employers to provide free birth control as part of health insurance coverage. The new rules it issued would allow just about any employer to opt out of the birth control requirement, provided they show a “sincerely held” religious or moral objection.  The new rules will also more strictly enforce a requirement that health insurance companies tell patients if their policies provide abortion services and, if they do, to pay for them out of a separate fund."

Will certainly backfire on the Nazi Right:

"Officials said the goal is to protect religious freedom. But research done at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests the two moves conflict with the goal of reducing the number of abortions.  A 2012 study of more than 9,000 women found that when women got no-cost birth control, the number of unplanned pregnancies and abortions fell by between 62 and 78 percent.  "This study shows that by removing barriers to highly effective contraceptive methods such as IUDs and implants, we can reduce unintended pregnancies and the need for abortions," Washington University professor Dr. Jeff Peipert said in a statement.  "The results of this study demonstrate that we can reduce the rate of unintended pregnancy, and this is key to reducing abortions in this country."  Other studies have shown similar results. Close to half of all U.S. pregnancies are unplanned, and nearly all elective abortions involve unplanned pregnancies."

Clearly, the Right is too stupid to be confused with the truth.

"All across the executive branch, they are using their power to remove the protection for women to access the care they need when they need it," Eisenberg said.  "What about the religious freedom of women who want not to have a child until they are ready or the religious freedom of men who want to practice responsible behavior?" he asked.  "I am 100 percent certain that there is no medical, public health, scientific or other reason to prohibit women having access to the contraceptive care they need. It is a politically motivated kind of move."

Dr. David Eisenberg is associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Washington University.

Equally ominous?  ABC News reports:

"Attorney General Jeff Sessions consulted Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal advocacy group that champions conservative Christian causes, ahead of issuing controversial guidance to government agencies and departments on Friday about how to interpret federal religious liberty protections."

Unbelievable.  Direct abrogation of the Sessions nazi's oath to protect and defend the United States Constitution.  First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.

"Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a group whose stated mission is to “keep the doors open for the Gospel by advocating for religious liberty, the sanctity of life, and marriage and family,” hailed Sessions’ announcement, while a number of leading LGBT advocacy groups condemned the move for effectively offering a religious exemption for sexual orientation discrimination."

Bet they did.  No more than the Trump nazi's transition of the de facto fascist police-state we already live in to the Fourth Reich.  All civil and constitutional rights and liberties are, and remain, in jeopardy.  Legalized discrimination, courtesy of the Nazi Right.

"In a call with reporters, ADF CEO Michael Farris confirmed to ABC News that Sessions met with the group during a series of so-called “listening sessions” convened by the Attorney General, who says he was “seeking suggestions regarding the areas of federal protection for religious liberty most in need of clarification or guidance.”

Sessions betrayed his oath of office.  Remains an exigent threat to all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.

“I commend the president for taking another step to honor his campaign promise to make religious liberty his ‘first priority’ by directing the Department of Justice to issue this guidance, which simply directs the federal government to adhere to its legal and constitutional obligation to respect existing religious freedom protections,” wrote Farris in a statement."

What this does is legalize discrimination against the LGBTQ community, women who seek to do as they please with their uterus, etc..  List can sadly go on and on.  Dangerous times in our formerly great country.

"The Department of Justice did not respond to requests to release a list of the individuals and groups Sessions met with during his “listening sessions.”

Why not?  If there's nothing to hide, why no transparency?

"ADF was founded in 1994 by a group of leading Christian evangelical leaders, including James Dobson of Focus on the Family, Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ and Larry Burkett of Crown Financial Ministries. Since then, ADF has established itself as a leading litigation and appellate advocacy group for Christian right causes, including opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage, and social conservatives hail the group as champions of religious freedom."

Freedom to discriminate.  What they're doing is imposing their perverse religious and ideological views on others.  Through force of law, egregious bastardization of the U.S Constitution.

"ADF lawyers have argued several cases before the Supreme Court and are currently representing Colorado baker Jack Phillips, who is challenging the state’s nondiscrimination protections after he was found in violation of the law for refusing to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple in 2012. The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to review the Phillips case. In a recent appearance on ABC’s “The View,” Phillips defended his actions: “I don’t believe that Jesus would have made a cake, if he would have been the baker,” he said."

This haughty nazi bastard truly believes he speaks for the Head Honcho of his religion.  Seems to have conveniently forgotten his Head Honcho poignantly admonished assholes like him not to judge lest he be judged.

"The progressive Southern Poverty Law Center added ADF in 2016 to its “designated hate group” list, which includes a number of right-wing evangelical organizations, for what SPLC calls its “anti-LGBT ideology.” The SPLC said ADF “works to develop ‘religious liberty’ legislation and case law that will allow the denial of goods and services to LGBT people on the basis of religion” and “has supported the recriminalization of homosexuality in the U.S. and criminalization abroad.”

Raw nazism.  This is whom the Sessions nazi seeks legal counsel from?  Hear the rumble?  An unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looming.

"On Friday, Sessions outlined 20 broad “principles” designed to ensure that “to the greatest extent practicable and permitted by law, religious observance and practice should be accommodated in all government activity,” including a decree that “a governmental action substantially burdens an exercise of religion … if it compels an act inconsistent with that observance or practice, or substantially pressures the adherent to modify such observance or practice.”

This man is dangerous.  A traitor.  An exigent threat to all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.

"For several leading LGBT advocates, the new guidance was an alarming effort to undermine sexual orientation discrimination protections, under the guise of affirming religious liberty, that could have far-reaching implications."

Not only for the LGBTQ community, but the rest of us who refuse to goose step in unison with these goddamned nazis.

"According to Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin, the new guidance makes millions of Americans vulnerable to discrimination.  “Today the Trump-Pence administration launched an all-out assault on LGBTQ people, women and other minority communities by unleashing a sweeping license to discriminate,” said Griffin in a statement. “This blatant attempt to further Donald Trump’s cynical and hateful agenda will enable systematic, government-wide discrimination that will have a devastating impact on LGBTQ people and their families.”

Worse?  Far worse?  The revolution doomsday clock strikes ever closer to midnight.  ... As the Nazi Right desperately attempts to transform the de facto fascist police-state we already live in to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich.

"Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, argued that the new guidance rests on a misinterpretation of religious liberty.  “Today’s guidance by Jeff Sessions proves this Administration will do anything possible to categorize LGBTQ Americans as second-class citizens who are not equal under the law,” said Ellis in a statement. “Freedom of religion is paramount to our nation’s success, but doesn't give people the right to impose their beliefs on others, to harm other, or to discriminate. Nothing could be more un-American and unholy than using religion to justify harm and discrimination to others.”

The nazi element couldn't care less.  Goose step in unison with their forebears, Adolf and Benito.

"For David Dinielli, the deputy legal director for the Southern Poverty Law Center’s LGBT Rights Project, the ADF’s apparent relationship with Sessions is a troubling sign of the group’s growing influence in the new administration."

Raw nazism.

“The fact that the ADF has confirmed it has participated in a listening session is further proof that extremists have infiltrated the highest echelons of power in this administration, even the Attorney General who is tasked with protecting the civil rights of all Americans,” Dinielli told ABC News. “I’m not certain who came up with the invitation list to these listening sessions, but I can assure you it did not include groups who provide services to those who will be directly affected by this new guidance.”

Traitors.  As the fascist police-state we already live in transforms to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich.

Gets worse.  Get this.  The Washington Times reports:

"Attorney General Jeff Sessions has rolled back an Obama-era Justice Department policy that extended protections to transgender workers under a 1964 civil rights law banning sex discrimination.  In a memo sent to federal prosecutors this week, Mr. Sessions said discrimination protections offered by Title VII do not extend to gender identity and that interpretations otherwise went beyond the scope of the laws adopted by Congress.  “Title VII’s prohibition on sex discrimination encompasses discrimination between men and women but does not encompass discrimination based on gender identity per se, including transgender status,” Mr. Sessions wrote."

Spoken as the nazi he truly is.

"The decision roiled gay rights activists, who saw the memo as a direct attack on transgender individuals.  “Today marks another low point for a Department of Justice, which has been cruelly consistent in its hostility towards the LGBT community and in particular its inability to treat transgender people with basic dignity and respect,” said James Esseks, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBT and HIV Project.  “This Department of Justice under Jeff Sessions has time and time again made it clear that its explicit agenda is to attack and undermine the civil rights of our most vulnerable communities, rather than standing up for them as they should be doing.”

This cancer is deeply entrenched.  Systemic.  CBS News reports:

"Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, introduced the "The Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act" to the Senate Thursday after its passage in the House Tuesday.  "At the end of the day what we are trying to do is stop the practice of abortion on-demand at 20 weeks, and believe it or not, it is a problem," Graham said at a press conference Thursday.  The House voted 237-189 to pass the measure. The proposed legislation would make performing or attempting to perform an abortion illegal after 20 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions for life-threatening circumstances for the mother as well as cases of rape, which Graham qualified as being "rare." Twenty states have similar bans in place.  Under the measure, abortion providers would face penalties including a potential fine, up to five years in prison, or both."

Goddamned Republican nazis.  Wouldn't know freedom, liberty if it figuratively bit them hard on their national socialist, achingly fascist asses.

Texas Rep. Mike Conaway opines in his latest newsletter:

"There is no life more vulnerable than the life of an unborn child. Medical professionals have reached a consensus that at 20 weeks, a child in utero can feel pain and physical suffering. This week, the House passed The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which ensures that no child capable of feeling pain will be subjected to the cruelty of an abortion."

It's nazis on the Right like you Congressman who dictate to doctors what they can and cannot do vis a vis how abortions are performed and what medications are used.  Your claim is achingly disingenuous since doctors are not allowed to administer a lethal injection to the fetus which would eliminate any possibility of pain.  Nazis like you dictate by statute medical procedures to impose your achingly perverse religious and ideological views on all.

"The majority of Americans support a ban on abortions after 20 weeks, yet the United States is one of just seven countries that allows elective abortions after 20 weeks- along with countries like North Korea and China who are known to dispose of babies with defects. It's time we stand as a country in support of the unborn children who are counting on our protection."

Outrageously haughty of you and other nazis who think like you to impose your outrageously perverse religious and ideological views by statute on those who strongly disagree with them.  Achingly, un-American.  Worse?  Traitorous.  Nazi.

Abortion care continues to be denied in our formerly great country.  NPR reports:

"Dr. Graham Chilies has delivered hundreds of babies. But when a woman comes into his family medicine practice in Waive, Hawaii, seeking an abortion, he can only advise her to buy a plane ticket.  "There are no abortion providers on our island," Chelius said, "so if one of my patients wants to end her pregnancy, she has to fly to a different island 150 miles away to get this care."

Nazi America.  Determined abrogation of a constitutional right.

"Chelius is a plaintiff in a new lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union that's seeking to expand access to medication abortions, which can be used during the first 10 weeks of a pregnancy.  The suit, filed Tuesday in federal court in Hawaii, challenges a longstanding U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulation allowing the abortion pill, Mifeprex, to be dispensed only at a medical facility under the care of a certified provider. Among other requirements, those providers must pre-register with the drug manufacturer, keep the medication in stock, and be capable of providing a surgical abortion if complications arise.  Chelius argues those rules are unnecessary and cumbersome. Hawaii has one of the nation's highest poverty rates, and the delays and expenses are sometimes insurmountable barriers, Chelius said. The case could have implications beyond Hawaii."

Hopefully.

"The FDA restrictions create delays that often push medication abortion out of reach of my patients," he said. "And some of my patients are simply unable to make this trip and instead have been forced to carry a pregnancy to term against their will."

Precisely, the will of the Nazi Right to deny women their constitutional right to abort.

"Julia Kaye, a staff attorney with ACLU's Reproductive Freedom Project, argues that it's time for the FDA to allow women to fill those prescriptions at pharmacies – a move that could substantially expand access to medication abortions. She notes that the abortion pill is considered safe by most medical professionals, and many women prefer it.  "It feels more natural to them, like a miscarriage. It allows them to pass the pregnancy in the privacy and comfort of their homes surrounded by their loved ones," Kaye said. "It allows a woman to end her pregnancy on her own terms."

Can't have that in a fascist police-state soon to be the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich:

"Anti-abortion groups have long opposed the abortion pill, along with other methods of ending pregnancy."

To impose their outrageously perverse religious and ideological views on all by statute.

10-13-17

Two outrageously corrupt abusive corporations got their ass kicked hard figuratively in the Senate by both Democrats and Republicans recently.  NPR reports:

"When corporate chief executives appear before Congress, they come braced for battle, but hope for gentle treatment.  Tender handling is not what they got on Tuesday. Not from Republicans. Not from Democrats."

About time.  Tough shit.  Doesn't your heart bleed?

"Not when they were representing Wells Fargo and Equifax — two huge companies that recently have harmed Americans.  "At best, you were incompetent. At worst, you were complicit. And either way you should be fired," Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., told Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan."

Not good enough.  Nowhere near.  What this son of a bitch and his cronies desperately need is criminal prosecution.  ... Right, Amanda?

"Sloan was testifying before the Senate Banking Committee, trying to explain the scandals that continue to plague his company."

Explain what?  Criminal activity?  Egregious violation of privacy?  Unbridled greed?  Gross incompetence?  Legalized theft?  What?  The inexcusable?

"In another hearing at the same time, the former CEO of Equifax, Richard Smith, was telling a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee about how his company managed to expose the sensitive, private information involving more than 145 million Americans."

This son a bitch and his cronies also desperately need criminal prosecution:

"The scope of Equifax's failure to protect people's privacy was "unprecedented," subcommittee chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, said. The breach was "also unique because of the sensitivity of the information stolen — including full nine-digit Social Security numbers," Latta said."

Height of galling hypocrisy?  Get this:

"Smith, who stepped down last week from Equifax, started by saying: "I'm truly and deeply sorry for what happened."

Like the Trump nazi, failed to take personal responsibility:

"He then blamed the massive breach on two factors: "human error and technology errors."  Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said Congress should pass legislation to protect consumers whose personal data gets stolen in such security failures. "Of course, breaches will continue to occur, but they occur more often when there is no accountability and when no preventative measures are in place," he said."

Precisely, why these pieces of crap need to be aggressively prosecuted every goddamned time this shit happens.

"Equifax executives were notified of the security breach in July, but waited until August to disclose it.  "Consumers do not have any say in whether or not Equifax collects and shares their data," Pallone said. "And that's what makes this breach so concerning. This is unlike any other breaches at stores like Target and Michael's where consumers could make a choice and change their shopping habits if they were upset with how the companies protected data. That's simply not the case with Equifax."

No regulation.  Do as they please.  Refuse to correct erroneous reports.  Since the government is bought and paid for by its corporate masters, abjectly refuses to effectively regulate them, credit reporting agencies need to be abolished.  These agencies are no more than a ruse, an unmitigated fraud.

Regarding Wells Fargo:

"The banking giant, which is an NPR sponsor, has been in trouble for more than a year – ever since it revealed that its aggressive sales culture had led to the creation of millions of potentially fake accounts. Since then, other scandals have erupted, mostly involving excessive fees."

Yet, no criminal prosecution.  Protected and coddled.  ... Right, Amanda?

Insult to injury?  Galling Aryan arrogance?

"Like Smith, Sloan showed remorse.  "I am deeply sorry for letting down our customers and team members," he said. "I apologize for the damage done to all the people who work and bank at this important American institution. When the challenges at Wells Fargo demanded decisive action, the bank's leaders acted too slowly and too incrementally. That was unacceptable."

You bastards in the corporate management suite were the goddamned ring leaders.  The peasants don't fart without permission, authorization of their corporate masters.  Yet, you refuse to take responsibility for your crimes, you nazi son of a bitch?  Give me a break.

"But senators thought it was worse than unacceptable. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., asked Sloan: "What in God's name were you thinking?"  And Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, was having none of it. "The changes Mr. Sloan and his team have made are not sufficient to reform a corporate culture that is willing to abuse its customers and employees in an effort to pad its numbers and increase executive compensation," Brown said."

Precisely, why clawbacks, restitution, and criminal prosecution are desperately needed.  While directly responsible for this outrageous criminal activity, the attitude of this fascist son of a bitch remains 'hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.'  An egregious crock of shit.  ... Right, Amanda?

Here's what makes these achingly duplicitous, unregulated credit reporting agencies so goddamned dangerous.  The AP reports:

"It's also incredibly difficult to opt out of the system. You could live an all-cash lifestyle, never requesting credit from any bank, but still wind up with your information in the hands of the credit companies through less-obvious sources like cable or phone companies, property tax bills, or doctors' offices.  Customers like this are known as "thin file" borrowers, because of the lack of information, but that doesn't stop Equifax, Experian and TransUnion from building files on you. In these cases, the companies might only have a name, address, maybe a Social Security number — but that data could still be enough to start the process of identity theft."

The public has been sold out.  By both major political parties.  Bought and paid for.  By their corporate masters.  Hear the rumble?  An unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looming.  As the doomsday revolution clock strikes ever closer to midnight.

Insult to injury?  The Senate remains achingly clueless.  NPR reports:

"Former Equifax CEO Richard Smith, who stepped down just last week, faced a roomful of angry senators and some tough questions at a hearing Wednesday. It was the second of three congressional hearings he is testifying in front of this week.  Republicans and Democrats alike are upset about the massive hack of Social Security numbers and other sensitive information at the consumer credit reporting company.  "This simply is not a company that deserves to be trusted with Americans' personal data," said Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, the Senate Banking Committee's ranking member. "Your actions have exposed over half the country's adults to financial harm."

Congress gave these bastards authority to collect this data.  Why?  To line your pockets, Senator?  Forget?  You bastards are bought and paid for.

"The whole thing is staggering," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. "Equifax and this whole industry should be completely transformed."

Since Congress is bought and paid for, refuses to rein in its corporate masters, this entire industry needs to be outlawed.  Remains a public scourge.  A threat to every American.

"Warren, who has already introduced legislation related to the Equifax breach, told Smith: "When companies like Equifax mess up, senior executives like you should be held personally accountable and the company should pay mandatory and severe financial penalties for every consumer record that is stolen."

These bastards need to be criminally prosecuted as well.

"One cybersecurity expert who spoke to NPR said he is getting calls from both Democrats and Republicans interested in creating new rules for the industry. And at the hearing Wednesday, Republicans were landing some verbal blows on Smith too."

Too little, much too late.

"Republican John Kennedy of Louisiana raised a series of questions about Equifax's basic business model and noted that the company also has a premium data monitoring service that it charges consumers for. "You can't run your business without me," he said. "My data is the product that you sell."  So Kennedy said it seems "incongruent" that Equifax charges people to make sure that the information it is collecting is accurate. "I mean I don't pay extra in a restaurant to prevent the waiter from spittin' in my food," the senator said."

Where have you bought and paid for bastards in Congress been all these decades this bullshit has gone on?  Congress is directly responsible.  Granted them carte blanche.  To line your pockets.

"Warren zeroed in on another way Equifax makes money. She said Equifax has some of the "worst" cybersecurity around because it actually has no incentive to protect people's data from being stolen and used for identity theft."

You know this bullshit has gone on for decades.  Yet, nothing was done since you bastards in Congress remain bought and paid for.

"Warren said that while Equifax is offering free "credit monitoring" for a year, after that consumers will have to pay if they want to keep getting that protection. More than 7 million people have signed up for the free monitoring through Equifax since the breach, Warren said.  "If just 1 million of them buy just one more year of monitoring through Equifax at the standard rate of $17 a month, that's more than $200 million in revenue for Equifax because of this breach," she added."

Precisely, why these agencies need to be put out of business.  Cannot be trusted.

"Warren detailed other ways Equifax is already making more money as a result of the breach. For example, she said a company called LifeLock has seen a tenfold surge in enrollment since the breach. According to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, LifeLock purchases credit monitoring services from Equifax — so more money for LifeLock means more money for Equifax.  "You've got three different ways that Equifax is making millions of dollars off its own screw-up," Warren said. (LifeLock is among NPR's financial supporters.)"

Forget?  Get this:

"In the days after the breach, some Equifax executives made money another way — by selling millions of dollars' worth of the company's stock. Smith said "to the best of my knowledge" the executives didn't know of the breach at the time of the stock sales. "These are honorable men," he said.  But such explanations didn't seem to satisfy Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. "This really stinks," he said. "[T]he bottom line here is you had a hack that you found out about on [July] 29, you told the FBI about the breach and on that same day some high-level executives sell $2 million worth of stock."

Yet, no criminal prosecution.

Insult to injury?  Abject obscenity?

"Lawmakers also raised questions about the compensation Smith stands to get as he retires. "You leave with your base salary, unvested options and a pension, roughly valued at $90 million. Help me to understand why that's fair?" Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, asked."

He lines his pockets, you got f--ked.  Any questions?

10-13-17

While Republican nazis are desperate to abolish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to spare the corporate management suite any regulation, this writer has repeatedly skewered CFPB for ignoring a complaint filed against Wells Fargo for deceptive trade practices.

GOP nazis have their panties in a wad over recent action by CFPB to rein in the terror of payday lenders.  Doesn't your heart bleed?  Think Republicans aren't shitting in their pants appalled these legal loan sharks may finally face some small measure of regulation?

CBS News reports:

"Payday and auto title lenders will have to adhere to stricter rules that could significantly curtail their business under rules finalized Thursday by a federal regulator. But the first nationwide regulation of the industry is still likely [to] face resistance from Congress."

Why wouldn't it?  Republicans own all three branches of government.  Will do nothing to prevent the corporate management suite from ripping off the long-suffering public.  It's how both major political parties line their pockets, -- Republicans being the far greater offender, however.

"The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's rules largely reflect what the agency proposed last year for an industry where the annual interest rate on a payday loan can soar to more than 1,000 percent. The cornerstone is that lenders must determine before giving a loan whether a borrower can afford to repay it in full with interest within 30 days."

No more than legalized loansharking finally confronted with some small measure of regulation.

"A key goal is to prove that borrowers, who are often in dire situations, are able to pay without having to renew the loan repeatedly. The rules would set limits on the number of times a borrower could renew the loan. Because studies by the CFPB have found that about 60 percent of all loans are renewed at least once, this cap is likely to severely wound the industry's business model. In California, the largest payday loan market, repeat borrowers made up 83 percent of the industry's loan volume."

Sounds reasonable, doesn't it?  Snowball's chance Republican nazis will agree.

"Too often, borrowers who need quick cash end up trapped in loans they can't afford. The rule's common-sense ability-to-repay protections prevent lenders from succeeding by setting up borrowers to fail," CFPB Director Richard Cordray said in a statement."

Can't have that, can we?  Legalized loansharks will scream bloody murder.  How more easily can these hopelessly greedy bastards fleece the bottom of the food chain?

"Every year, some 12 million people borrow a total of $50 billion, spending some $7 billion on interest and fees alone, according to The Pew Charitable Trusts. An estimated 16,000 payday loan stores operate in the U.S. across 35 states, with hundreds more such lenders operating online."

Precisely, why Republicans will likely do all they can to stonewall.

"The CFPB estimated that loan volume in the payday lending industry could fall by 66 percent under the new rules. The industry will likely see thousands of payday lending store closures nationwide. Regulation of the sector has been largely left to the states, 15 of which effectively ban payday lending or auto title lending due to the caps on interest rates."

Time for the federal government to outlaw legalized loansharking.  Force banks to take up the slack:

"While the industry may garner little sympathy from the public, there is an economic need for small dollar, short-term loans, and people who use payday loans now might turn to other high-cost ways of making ends meet, like using pawn shops. The payday lending industry has a significant lobbying presence in Washington, and Republicans tend to be hostile toward any regulations proposed by the CFPB, which was created by the Obama administration.  Yet some experts think banks and credit unions could pick up the slack in offering short-term installment loans, and at far lower cost than what payday lenders offer."

Can't have that, can we?

"Bank and credit union regulators must now create the clear guidelines these lenders need in order to make small installment loans safely and profitably," Nick Bourke, director of The Pew Charitable Trusts' consumer finance project, said in a statement. "If they do, millions of consumers can save billions of dollars by gaining access to lower-cost credit."

Why would Congress agree?  Forget?  They're bought and paid for.

10-13-17

Think you should forfeit constitutional rights and liberties as a condition of employment?  The corporate management suite certainly thinks so.  NPR reports:

"Suing one's employer can be scary enough, but it's even scarier doing it alone.  Many employers are increasingly requiring workers to sign agreements requiring them to resolve workplace disputes about anything from harassment to discrimination to wage theft through individual arbitration. In other words, the language does not permit them to join forces with colleagues who might have similar complaints.  Whether such prohibitions on collective arbitration are legal is at issue in a trio of cases heard by the Supreme Court this week. With Trump-appointed Justice Neil Gorsuch on the bench, many experts say a ruling against the workers in these cases could result in massive changes in how nearly all workplace disputes will be resolved, and how labor laws are enforced."

What that means is employers will have near total freedom to abuse, require forfeiture of all civil and constitutional rights as a condition of employment, rule the roost accountable to no one.  Forget?  Arbitrators are bought and paid for by the corporate management suite.  To do their bidding.

Think this isn't a problem?  Consider the following:

"Nearly a decade ago, 15 women who worked for Sterling started complaining that they'd been denied pay and promotions given to male counterparts. At the time, they weren't aware of each other's complaints, because at the time of their hiring, they'd all signed paperwork agreeing such complaints could only be heard in private arbitration."

Forced forfeiture of a constitutional right by the hopelessly greedy corporate management suite.

"Most of them had no way of knowing that the others had similar disputes, because that was all kept confidential" in the arbitration process, says Joe Sellers, the women's attorney.  A key turning point in that case, he says, came when the women were permitted to consolidate their case into a class action. They were able to do so because their employment agreements did not explicitly prevent them from joining forces. That meant they could pool resources, hire experts and retain attorneys they couldn't have secured on their own."

Can't have that, can we?  How else could the corporate management suite so easily line its pockets and those of shareholders?  Off the backs of egregiously f--ked over employees.

"Their class-action case now covers 69,000 current and former female Sterling employees, and will be heard next spring. Sellers says if the Supreme Court allows employers to block workers from collectively arbitrating, it would hurt clients like his trying to bring claims in the future.  "They will have no benefit of being able to work together, to collect evidence together, see that there's evidence of a pattern of conduct, which was very important to them in being able to prove their claims, and in leading a number of them to realize they were not alone," Sellers says. "Without it, I think many of them would have simply abandoned their claims because it was either too risky or too expensive or too hard."

-- Exactly as intended by the corporate management suite.  The outrageously national socialist Supreme Court, led by Republican nazis on the Court, routinely legislates its outrageously perverse ideological and religious views from the bench.  Should they wind up f--king over these employees in favor of the corporate management suite, guess what?

Will certainly be a boon to organized labor, that is, unions.  Time for labor to bring these bastards in the corporate management suite and shareholders to their knees financially.  Rein in the bottomless greed.  Time for the bottom of the food chain and middle class to reassert itself.  Before too late.  Hear the rumble?

"Employment arbitration agreements are similar in nature to the fine-print consumer arbitration agreements found in anything from credit card to cellphone contracts, which effectively waive consumers' rights to bring claims to court. After the Supreme Court upheld those arbitration agreements in 2011 and in a subsequent case, employers started adding similar language in employment agreements."

With unions in decline, no one was available and willing to fight these bastards.  Time for desperately needed change.

"Now, many large employers — from tech giants to retail and restaurant chains — include prohibitions on collective workplace arbitrations. The left-leaning Economic Policy Institute estimates that about 60 million American workers are covered by such agreements, and as many as 25 million of them cannot arbitrate collectively."

Appalling.  Precisely, why the middle class is an endangered species, under vicious attack.  F--ked over by the corporate management suite.  To date, with virtual impunity.

"Most workers in the United States aren't even aware of what arbitration is, never mind that they've signed this kind of agreement, maybe on their first day at work in a stack of papers, or maybe through clicking a box through their orientation materials," says Ceilidh Gao, an attorney for the National Employment Law Project, a workers' rights group."

Called legalized deception.

Here's the bottom line:

"Gao and others say collective action, whether it's union organizing or class-action lawsuits, are a key tenet of labor law, with a long history of government protection. They argue employers should not be able to nullify that by inserting a clause in some paperwork."

Goddamned right.  The Constitution has been bastardized by the corporate management suite and its bought and paid for lackeys in the judiciary.

"Gao says most workers drop their cases, instead of going it alone, which means employers aren't forced to correct systemic workplace violations."

Precisely, the intention of the corporate management suite.  Time to rise up.

10-13-17

The hacking continues unabated.  NPR reports:

"Russian hackers stole top secret cybertools from a National Security Agency contractor in yet another embarrassing compromise for U.S. spy agencies, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.  The NSA contractor is believed to have taken highly sensitive official software home to a personal computer in 2015. His machine was running a Russian security program made by Kaspersky Labs, which can be exploited by Russia's intelligence agencies, the Journal reported.  The NSA declined to comment."

Why would they?  Do as they please.  Remain unanswerable to the public they allegedly serve.

"Members of Congress, however, slammed the spy agency for the latest in a series of breaches blamed not on its own employees but on the vendors it uses in place of or in addition to them.  At least three other contractors — Reality Winner, Hal Martin and Edward Snowden — also have been accused of hoarding or releasing NSA's secrets. An online entity called the "Shadow Brokers" also has tried to auction what it called software stolen from the NSA."

No one in position of high authority is ever held accountable.  Why wouldn't these breaches continue?

10-13-17

The United States Supreme Court has again disgraced itself.  The Washington Post reports:

"The appeal of one of Osama bin Laden’s top aides ended Tuesday, as the Supreme Court declined to review whether his conviction by a military tribunal exceeded that body’s authority.  Without comment, the justices turned down an appeal by Ali Hamza Ahmad Suliman al Bahlul, a propagandist for al-Qaeda and a former media secretary for bin Laden. In 2008, he was convicted of conspiracy by a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and sentenced to life in prison."

In a kangaroo 'trial.'  No due process.  A charade, sham.

"Attorneys for Bahlul claimed that the Yemeni man’s conviction violated a constitutional requirement that most criminal prosecutions take place in federal courts. The charge against Bahlul was a domestic one, not a violation of international law.  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has debated the powers of the military tribunal system ever since the Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that those held at Guantanamo Bay have some rights in federal courts to challenge their detention."

The government tries these bastards in military tribunals specifically to deny them constitutional rights, hoping to secure a conviction in what amounts to a kangaroo trial.

"Constitutional and international law experts and civil rights groups had joined Bahlul’s attorneys in urging the justices to take the case, saying it raised constitutional questions only the Supreme Court could answer.  But the court has steadfastly refused requests to take a case that would amplify its ruling in Boumediene v. Bush."

Clearly, to enhance Executive power vis a vis military tribunals.  Figuratively, wash its hands of judicial responsibility.

"Bahlul, who has been held at Guantanamo Bay since 2002, was originally convicted of conspiracy to commit war crimes, solicitation of others to commit crimes and providing material support for terrorism.  Only the conspiracy charge remained, however, and the circuit court split in upholding that conviction."

More proof the judiciary is in the pocket of the president at least when it comes to treatment of 'enemy combatants' who have been deliberately denied prisoner of war status to avoid having to implement the Geneva Conventions.  Nazi justice.

10-6-17

Highly reminiscent of Llano County Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following.  It's appalling.  Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for.  No longer.

Think asset forfeiture isn't legalized theft?  CBS News reports:

"A Kentucky man is suing the government over a program that seizes the property of suspects of a crime. The federal government took nearly $29 billion worth of money and property between 2001 and 2014. Most of it was seized without charging anyone with a crime."

Legalized theft by the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue.

"Civil forfeiture was meant to help law enforcement break the backs of drug cartels when tying money or assets to a cartel boss can be difficult. Now, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are vowing to look into cases where property was seized from individuals for crimes they didn't commit, reports CBS News correspondent Jan Crawford."

A no-brainer.  Why wasn't this done years ago?

"In 2015, rancher Gerardo Serrano drove from his home in rural Kentucky to visit his cousin in Mexico. As he crossed the border in Eagle Pass, Texas, Serrano snapped a picture, drawing the attention of agents who pulled him out of his truck and started searching his vehicle.  "The next thing I know, one of the agents say, 'We got 'em!'" Serrano said. Then an agent showed him a magazine with five bullets in it, he said.  "I have a conceal-and-carry license," Serrano said.  "Was there a gun with them?" Crawford asked.  "No," Serrano said."

Gets worse:

"Serrano, a U.S. citizen, was detained for hours before agents informed him they would be seizing his new Ford pickup, accusing him of transporting "munitions of war" across a U.S. border.  The seizure was authorized under a program that empowers law enforcement to take money or property suspected of being linked to a crime. Even without a conviction, agencies often use the money, or auction off the property, and keep the proceeds."

Legalized theft in Nazi America.  A fascist police-state soon to be the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich.

"The federal government's forfeiture fund increased from roughly $1 billion in 2007 to $4.5 billion in 2014, and in 26 states where records are public, more than $250 million was seized in 2012 alone."

Think this a free country?  Under rule of law and the United States Constitution?

"After assuming office, President Trump vowed to roll back Obama-era restrictions on the program. In July, Attorney General Jeff Sessions followed through but promised more Justice Department oversight."

The nazi son of a bitch lied.  Get this:

"I love that program," Sessions said Sept. 1 at a law enforcement conference in Alabama."

What nazi wouldn't?

"Since then, Sessions has trumpeted the program's successes.  "Taking drug dealers' money and passing it out to people trying to put drug dealers in jail. What's wrong with that?" Sessions said."

Readers are caustically reminded there is no due process, no conviction required, no court order.  The criminal jackbooted bastards in blue do it on their own authority.  Most of those shamelessly looted, stolen from by these criminal law enforcement gangsters are innocent civilians.  The Sessions nazi praises what is no more than legalized theft perpetrated by police.

"Officers like Montgomery County Police Chief Tom Manger argue the program shouldn't be eliminated because of a few bad actors.  "We cannot just allow people who have earned hundreds of thousands -- millions of dollars -- through criminal activity, to keep that money," Manger said, adding, "So let's find a way to do this right."

Why are you seizing money and other assets from people who have been convicted of no crime?  No court order by a judge?  You bastards are no more than thieving criminals.  ... Right, Sheriff?

"Twenty-five states have passed reforms in recent years to protect citizens from forfeiture abuse, but the Institute for Justice still grades most protections as below average, giving the federal government a D-."

Means squat shit, right, Bill?  The criminal bastards in uniform do as they please with impunity.  ... Right, Sheriff?

"Robert Johnson is a lawyer with the institute who has taken on Serrano's case pro bono. He said the current federal policy provides a big loophole.  "You could still be pulled over by a state police officer who says, 'Oh, gosh. You have cash in your car. I wanna take it.' And instead of forfeiting it under state law, I'm gonna transfer it to the federal government," Johnson said."

Cleverly criminal, isn't it, Bill?  Your criminal jackbooted bastards in black do the same, Sheriff?  ... What's that, Bill?  You'll never tell?

"While many individuals admit guilt just to get their property back, Serrano, who relies on his truck for work, has paid nearly $20,000 while waiting for his day in court.  "I wanted the judge to see this. And I want them at some point to stop this policy," Serrano said."

Apparently, they won't.  -- Short of an unwanted dreaded second American revolution.  Certainly, not with Republican jackbooted nazis running the show.  Right, Sheriff?

"Do you ever think, 'I'm an American. I'm an American citizen —'" Crawford started.  "Look, if they changed my government, I wanna know," Serrano said. "I need the Bill of Rights. If we don't have my rights, what have we got?"

Currently?  Shit squat.  Right, Sheriff?  A bastardized Constitution, including an eviscerated Bill of Rights.  Right, Sheriff?  ... Hey, Bill?  Your criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black are egregiously out of uniform.  No swastika armbands.

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk?  Get what you truly deserve.

10-6-17

Highly reminiscent of Llano County Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following.  It's appalling.  Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for.  No longer.

The criminal jackbooted bastards in ICE have been busy little f--kers lately.  The Washington Times reports:

"Federal deportation officers swarmed sanctuary cities this week, netting nearly 500 immigrants in a series of targeted operations designed to go after people that counties and cities were shielding through their noncooperation policies.  U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it netted more than 100 migrants in Los Angeles and Philadelphia each, and dozens more in Baltimore, Chicago, Denver and New York, among other jurisdictions."

Adolf and Benito would have been proud of these criminal jackbooted bastards.  Likely high-fiving on their fiery perches.

“Sanctuary jurisdictions that do not honor detainers or allow us access to jails and prisons are shielding criminal aliens from immigration enforcement and creating a magnet for illegal immigration,” said Tom Homan, acting director of ICE. “As a result, ICE is forced to dedicate more resources to conduct at-large arrests in these communities.”

Good to see resistance to these jackbooted nazi storm troopers remains persistent.  No foreign power, no terrorist organization, not even the criminal element present a greater threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties than all levels and branches of government including the criminal jackbooted bastards in law enforcement who enforce their will.

"ICE specifically said that it didn’t target anyone who is currently protected by DACA, the Obama-era deportation amnesty for Dreamers."

Big of the nazi storm trooper bastards, isn't it?

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk?  Get what you truly deserve.

10-6-17

Highly reminiscent of Llano County Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following.  It's appalling.  Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for.  No longer.

Hypocrisy and deception run rampant in the highly convoluted world of the Trump nazi and his henchmen.  ABC News reports:

"President Donald Trump said he is "not happy" with Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price, as revelations continue to emerge about his use of private planes for government travel.  "I will tell you, personally, I'm not happy about it," Trump told reporters Wednesday outside the White House as he prepared to depart for a trip to Indiana.  "I'm going to look at it. I'm not happy about it, and I will let him know it," Trump continued.  Asked if he will fire Price, Trump responded, "We'll see."

No more than unadulterated bullshit.  The son of a bitch should have been immediately fired, then criminally investigated.  Get this:

"Price has taken as many as 24 private flights in the past few months, costing the government an estimated $300,000. The HHS Office of Inspector General said last week that it has opened an investigation into his travel."

NBC News reports:

"Price, a former Republican House member from Georgia, has been under intense scrutiny for chartering several private flights to functions around the country in his official cabinet role.  In one case, he took a private jet to a resort in Maine where he was part of a discussion with a health care industry CEO.  He also chartered flights to community health centers in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania."

Think the Trump nazi and his henchmen are 'draining the swamp?'  Or, filling it.  Readers are reminded the Trump nazi loots taxpayers millions of dollars on his weekend jaunts.

In follow up, Price has resigned.  The Washington Post reports:

"Tom Price, President Trump’s embattled health and human services secretary, resigned Friday amid sharp criticism of his extensive use of taxpayer-funded charter flights, the White House said.  The announcement came shortly after Trump told reporters he considered Price a “fine man” but that he “didn't like the optics” and planned to make a decision by the end of the day.  “I'm not happy, I can tell you that. I'm not happy,” Trump said as prepared to leave the White House en route to his private golf club in Bedminster, N.J."

Doesn't your heart bleed?

NPR reports:

"Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price resigned Friday in the face of multiple investigations into his use of private charter and military jets to travel around the country at taxpayer expense.  A statement released by the White House Friday afternoon said that Price had "offered his resignation earlier today and the president accepted."  President Trump had said multiple times this week that he was "not happy" about the optics of Price's travel."

The total amount of money wasted is stunning:

"The work-related travel, which was first reported Sept. 19 by Politico, cost taxpayers nearly $1 million, or about $400,000 for private charters and $500,000 in military airplane costs. Most of the trips were between cities where inexpensive commercial flights were also available."

CBS News reports:

"President Trump indicated he might fire Price Friday afternoon, when he told reporters he would make a decision "tonight" about the secretary's fate, and said he was "not happy" with the "optics" of the situation. Mr. Trump at the time called Price a "very fine person."   The trouble began last week, when Politico reported Price had billed the government for at least $400,000 in private charter planes. On Thursday night, Politico reported Price also used at least $500,000 worth of military jet travel abroad for him and his wife, Betty."

Readers are reminded Price in effect followed the example of his fuhrer, the Trump nazi.  Ole Donny Boy has squandered millions of looted taxpayer dollars to spend weekends at his getaways.

The following is the text of Price's letter of resignation:

"Dear Mr. President:

It is an honor and privilege to serve you as the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Under your leadership, the department is working aggressively to improve the health and well-being of all Americans. This includes working to reform a broken health care system, empower patients, reduce regulatory burdens, ensure global health security, and tackle clinical priorities such as the opioids epidemic, serious mental illness and childhood obesity.

I have spent forty years both as a doctor and public servant putting people first. I regret that the recent events have created a distraction from these important objectives.

Success on these issues is more important than any one person. In order for you to move forward without further disruption, I am officially tendering my resignation as the Secretary of Health and Human Services effective 11:59 PM on Friday, September 29, 2017.

You may rest assured that I  will continue to support your critical priorities going ahead because failure is not an option for the American people.

Yours truly,

Thomas E. Price, M.D."

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk?  Get what you truly deserve.

10-6-17

Highly reminiscent of Llano County Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following.  It's appalling.  Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for.  No longer.

Think others in the Trump regime are doing all they can to 'drain the swamp?'  The Washington Post reports:

"The Environmental Protection Agency is spending nearly $25,000 to construct a secure, soundproof communications booth in the office of Administrator Scott Pruitt, according to government contracting records.  The agency signed a $24,570 contract earlier this summer with Acoustical Solutions, a Richmond-based company, for a “privacy booth for the administrator.” The company sells and installs an array of sound-dampening and privacy products, from ceiling baffles to full-scale enclosures like the one purchased by the EPA. The project’s scheduled completion date is Oct. 9, according to the contract."

Why does this nazi son of a bitch need a 'privacy booth?'  EPA engage in any national security issues requiring such?  Aren't they an agency supposedly dealing in domestic environmental issues?  Does this achingly fascist bastard, who in the past as Oklahoma Attorney General repeatedly sued this agency, now intend to cover his ass as he rolls back environmental protections to line the pockets of his corporate masters?

"No previous EPA administrators had such a setup."

Fascinating, isn't it?

“What you are referring to is a secured communication area in the administrator’s office so secured calls can be received and made,” EPA spokeswoman Liz Bowman said in a statement. “Federal agencies need to have one of these so that secured communications, not subject to hacking from the outside, can be held. It’s called a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF). This is something which a number, if not all, Cabinet offices have and EPA needs to have updated.”  But according to former agency employees, the EPA has long maintained a SCIF on a separate floor from the administrator’s office, where officials with proper clearances can go to share information classified as secret. The agency did not specify what aspects of that facility were outdated, or whether the unit inside Pruitt’s office would meet the physical and technical specifications a SCIF generally is required to have."

All this reeks.  Gets worse:

"In recent months, Pruitt and his top deputies have taken other steps aimed at heightening security. Some EPA employees have been asked to surrender their cellphones and other digital devices before meetings in the administrator’s office, in much the same way visitors do when visiting the president in the Oval Office."

Why the need for all this security?  Pruitt, clearly, is covering his ass:

"Pruitt also has shied away from using email at EPA, often preferring to deliver instructions verbally and hold face-to-face meetings. The shift stems in part from public disclosure by the New York Times in 2014 — following an open-records request of emails — of how Pruitt and other attorneys general had worked closely with the oil and gas industry to oppose Obama administration environmental safeguards."

Like all government officials, this bastard clearly wishes to operate in private.  No transparency.  No accountability.  A nazi fuhrer.  Did he receive any kickbacks from the energy industry as Oklahoma Attorney General?

"Thousands more pages of emails from his time as Oklahoma’s attorney general, released earlier this year after the Center for Media and Democracy sued for them to be made public, detailed an often-chummy relationship between Pruitt’s office and Devon Energy, a major oil and gas exploration and production company based in Oklahoma City."

Was he ever criminally investigated?  Especially, in light of the following.  Get this:

"In addition, Pruitt has largely avoided the agency’s decades-long practice of publicly posting the administrator’s appointment calendars. Only last week were details on months worth of meetings released after media outlets filed repeated Freedom of Information Act requests for that information; they showed he has met regularly with corporate executives from the automobile, mining and fossil fuel industries — in several instances shortly before making decisions favorable to those interest groups."

More disturbing?

"Pruitt, who has become a polarizing and high-profile figure as he seeks to roll back Obama-era policies and shrink the EPA’s footprint, has essentially tripled the personal security detail that served past administrators. The detail now includes about 18 people to cover round-the-clock needs and his frequent travel schedule. Such 24/7 coverage has prompted officials to rotate in special agents from around the country who otherwise would be investigating environmental crimes."

Is that the intention, Mr. Pruitt?  Divert attention so your corporate masters can continue to line their pockets?  Yours, as well?

In follow up, The Washington Post reports:

"During his seven months in office, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has filled his days meeting with executives from many of the companies he regulates, while all but sidestepping environmental and public health groups. But the face time with industry representatives has extended well beyond his Washington office."

Clearly has.  Have they lined your pockets, Mr. Pruitt?

"On April 26, for example, Pruitt had lunch with executives from Southern, one of the nation’s biggest coal-burning utilities. They dined at Equinox, a restaurant near the White House, where the baby-carrot-and-red-beet salad with shrimp runs $28. Later that day, Pruitt met with senior leaders at Alliance Resource Partners, a major coal-mining operation, for a dinner at BLT Prime, a steakhouse in the Trump International Hotel, just across from EPA headquarters."

Pay your own way, Mr. Pruitt?

"On other occasions, Pruitt traveled to a Ritz-Carlton golf resort in Naples, Fla., for a National Mining Association meeting; to another golf resort in Arizona to speak at a board meeting for the National Association of Manufacturers; and to a resort in Colorado to speak at an event organized by the conservative Heritage Foundation."

On the taxpayer dime, Mr. Pruitt?

"The meals with company executives and other evidence of Pruitt’s close ties to industries his agency regulates were laid out in a detailed copy of Pruitt’s calendar obtained by the liberal nonprofit group American Oversight. The New York Times on Tuesday reported details from American Oversight’s Freedom of Information Act request."

Were you bribed, Mr. Pruitt?

"The latest calendars show other meetings with industry executives, many of whom have regulatory issues, involving large sums of money in potential costs, before the agency. They include representatives from Shell and chemical maker Chemours and lobbyists from the chemical industry, the egg-producers lobby and the farm bureau."

Taking good care of your cronies in the industry, Mr. Pruitt?

"In an email Tuesday, EPA strategic-communications adviser Jahan Wilcox detailed a long list of “environmental, consumer protection and public health groups that the EPA has met with,” though it appears that most of the meetings involved officials other than Pruitt."

Fascinating, isn't it?  Why not personally meet with both sides, Mr. Pruitt?  Is it because only your corporate cronies will line your bottomless pockets, sir?

Think taxpayers aren't being f--ked over?

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk?  Get what you truly deserve.

10-6-17

The Trump nazi again revised his travel ban.  Not surprisingly, the ACLU quickly challenged the changes.  The Washington Times reports:

"Civil rights groups announced a new legal challenge to President Trump’s revised travel ban, saying that his attempt to add non-Muslim countries does little to change the underlying policy.  The American Civil Liberties Union, which was already fighting in court to block the travel ban, said it sent a notice to the judge asking that the case be shifted to cover the updated policy the president announced this weekend.  “President Trump’s newest travel ban is still a Muslim ban at its core, and it certainly engages in discrimination based on national origin, which is unlawful. Adding a few North Koreans and a tiny group of Venezuelan officials doesn’t paper over the original sin of the Muslim ban,” said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero said. “We’ll see President Trump in court — again.”

Remains amazing this issue has not been settled:

"The ACLU had won a halt to much of the president’s original travel policy in an appeals court ruling, but the Supreme Court in June revived the ban, in a limited fashion.  Courts are now trying to figure out how to deal with the latest updates. Briefs are due to the Supreme Court next week.  Mr. Trump dropped Sudan from his last travel ban and added Chad, North Korea and Venezuela, and kept Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.  The changes came after a months-long review that found those countries didn’t provide enough information or cooperation for the U.S. to be comfortable with immigrants or visitors from there.  Anti-Trump opponents, though, say the entire exercise is colored by the president’s harsh rhetoric toward Muslims in the campaign."

Sadly, the bottom line.  Precisely, why this issue should have long since been settled, yet rages on.  The Trump nazi and his henchmen continue to disingenuously, falsely move the goal posts to obfuscate, impede court action.  ... Easy to do since the judiciary remains owned and operated by the Nazi Right Republican Party.

10-6-17

The Trump nazi and his henchmen appear to be miserably failing vis a vis desperately-needed assistance to Puerto Rico after the hurricane.  So much so, Trump has again made a jackass of himself criticizing the mayor of San Juan.  Seems the major problem is the fact authorities have no way of distributing supplies already delivered to the port to those who desperately need them.  The following is appalling.  Truly indicative Trump lacks the temperament to be president.  Remains hopelessly delusional, detached from reality.

NPR reports:

"President Trump heads to storm-ravaged Puerto Rico on Tuesday and in a series of tweets early Saturday morning, defended his administration's handling of the recovery effort while hitting back at Carmen Yulín Cruz, the mayor of San Juan.

    ...Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help. They....
    — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2017

"The Mayor of San Juan, who was very complimentary only a few days ago, has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump," he wrote.

"Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help. They ... want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort. 10,000 Federal workers now on Island doing a fantastic job."

    ...want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort. 10,000 Federal workers now on Island doing a fantastic job.
    — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2017"

Trump remains unable to take personal responsibility for anything:

"Trump went on to blame the media, tweeting, "The Fake News Networks are working overtime in Puerto Rico doing their best to take the spirit away from our soldiers and first R's. Shame!"

The shame is on the Trump nazi.  His inability to withstand criticism.  The mayor did not take it lying down:

"Cruz took to twitter Saturday after Trump made his remarks. "The goal is one: saving lives. This is the time to show our 'true colors'. We cannot be distracted by anything else," Cruz wrote alongside photographs of relief work on the island."

Clearly, Trump has no idea of the scope of the ongoing tragedy, -- or simply, doesn't care.  ... 'Let 'em eat cake,' right, Mr. 'President?'

"Tensions over Washington's handling of the recovery effort boiled over Friday as a tearful Cruz said at a press conference, "We are dying here" and called on President Trump to put someone in charge of the relief effort who "is up to the task of saving lives."

Trump isn't the only federal government official determinedly out of touch with reality:

"Cruz's comments came after Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke told reporters at the White House on Thursday that the administration's response so far "is a good-news story in terms of our ability to reach people." She also said the death toll had been low for a storm the size of Hurricane Maria."

The mayor would have none of it:

"She said that?" asked an incredulous Cruz during an interview with CNN.  "Maybe from where she's standing it's a good news story. When you're drinking from a creek, it's not a good news story. When you don't have food for a baby, it's not a good news story. ... I'm sorry but that really upsets me and frustrates me," Cruz said.  "Dammit, this is not a good-news story. This is a 'people are dying' story. This is a life or death story," she added.  At the news conference on Friday, Cruz said, "I am done being polite. I am done being politically correct. I am mad as hell."  "If we don't get the food and the water into people's hands what we are going to see is something close to a genocide," she said."

Wouldn't want to confuse the Trump nazi and his henchmen with the truth, would we?

"Puerto Rico, home to more than 3 million U.S. citizens, has had limited food, bottled water and medical supplies since Hurricane Maria struck nine days ago. Few buildings have generator-supplied electricity, which is dependent on scarce fuel.  As NPR's Greg Allen and Marisa Penaloza have reported, many hospitals are still shut down. Those that are open are operating on just emergency generator power and can offer very limited services. Some communities are still flooded in parts. The distribution of much needed diesel fuel is hampered by a lack of truck drivers.  So far at least 16 have died, according to The Associated Press."

Who better, more qualified to deliver logistical support than the U.S. military?  Why has Trump dragged his feet?  Despite the fact they live on a U.S territory, Puerto Ricans are American citizens.

"Trump, in a tweet earlier this week, first linked the expense of the recovery effort with Puerto Rico's inability to repay more than $70 billion in debt owed to Wall Street.  Still, Cruz, in her CNN appearance, left little doubt that she is looking to the White House for help.  "Mr. Trump, I beg you to take charge and save lives," she said.  NPR's Mandalit del Barco spoke to 8-year-old Yan Anthony Hernandez, who is staying at a shelter in the city of Aguadilla on Puerto Rico's northwestern coast. The boy had a message for Trump.  "Stop tweeting and come help the people."

The problem appears to originate with a psychotic, out of control, petulant 'president.' The Washington Times reports:

"President Trump on Saturday blasted the news media for attacking the administration’s response to the hurricane disaster in Puerto Rico, saying the negative coverage was undermining the effort.  “The Fake News Networks are working overtime in Puerto Rico doing their best to take the spirit away from our soldiers and first R’s. Shame!” the president wrote on Twitter, referring to first responders.  “Fake News CNN and NBC are going out of their way to disparage our great First Responders as a way to “get Trump.” Not fair to FR or effort!” he said."

What they're doing is reporting the truth, you clueless jackass.  Your failure.  An inconvenient truth you have no ability to comprehend, Mr. 'President.'

"Many news outlets have been criticizing the Trump administration’s response to the devastation in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria, which wiped out electric power, communications and transportation systems across the island."

With damned good reason.  Called the truth.  Reality.

"The president has been accused of not showing empathy and not doing enough to rush aid to victims."

'Let 'em eat cake,' right, Donny Boy?

NBC News reports:

"Initially, the Trump administration named a one-star general to run U.S. military operations, then upgraded the command to three-star Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, who headed to Puerto Rico on Thursday.  Yulín Cruz told MSNBC on Saturday that she wasn't saying anything "nasty" about Trump. “Gen. Buchanan, a three-star general, has said that he doesn’t have enough troops and he doesn't have enough equipment," the mayor said, adding, "So who am I? I'm just a little mayor from the capital of San Juan. This is a three-star general saying he doesn't have the appropriate amount of tools."

Apparently, much, much more needs to be done.

"An Army spokesperson said that as of 4 p.m. ET Friday the Army had more than 4,900 soldiers and Army Corps of Engineers civilian personnel in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, which were also hit by the hurricane. Thirty aircraft and more than 500 trucks are committed to relief efforts, the spokesperson said. The National Guard said it projects 1,400 guard forces will be sent to Puerto Rico over the next four days.

"Yulín Cruz said help has not been reaching residents quickly enough. She said FEMA "has collapsed" in Puerto Rico.  "I cannot fathom the thought that the greatest nation in the world cannot figure out logistics for a small island of 100 miles by 35 miles," she said. "If we don't get the food and the water into people's hands, we are going to see something close to a genocide," she said later.  "I am asking the president of the United States to make sure somebody is in charge that is up to the task of saving lives," Yulín Cruz said."

Trump and his henchmen seem to have been caught with their pants down.  -- Attention diverted to a weekend getaway, a campaign-style rally with his base, the Korean fiasco, etc., -- while the Puerto Rican catastrophe was effectively ignored.  Then, unable to withstand justified criticism, the Trump nazi lashed out in frustration against the San Juan mayor.

ABC News reports:

"But after facing criticism over his attacks of the mayor, Trump tweeted praise for several other officials involved in the recovery, including the governors of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. He also praised Puerto Rico’s representative in Congress.  "We must all be united in offering assistance to everyone suffering in Puerto Rico and elsewhere in the wake of this terrible disaster," the president tweeted."

Pathetic.  Galling.  Hypocrisy, cowardice reek.

Gets worse:

The Washington Post reports:

"President Trump on Tuesday told Puerto Rican officials they should feel “very proud” they haven’t lost hundreds of lives like in “a real catastrophe like Katrina,” while adding that the devastated island territory has thrown the nation’s budget “a little out of whack.”  Trump’s remarks came as he touched down in San Juan for his first visit to Puerto Rico since the storm ravaged the island nearly two weeks ago. He has faced criticism for the slow federal response to the natural disaster, although he praised himself earlier in the day for his administration’s “great job” and “A-plus” response to Hurricane Maria."

Veritable jackass.

“Every death is a horror, but if you look at a real catastrophe like Katrina, and you look at the tremendous — hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people that died, and you look at what happened here, with really a storm that was just totally overpowering, nobody’s ever seen anything like this,” Trump said, before turning to a local official to ask how many people had died in storm. “What is your death count as of this moment? 17? 16 people certified, 16 people versus in the thousands.”  Trump then praised officials in the room over the death toll.  “You can be very proud of all of your people, all of our people working together,” he said."

This man is an embarrassment not only to himself, but the rest of the country.

"Trump’s mixed reviews for his response so far, however, did not stop him from lavishing praise on himself and his administration. As the president, clad in a black Windbreaker and khakis, departed the White House, he said Cruz has “come back a long way,” before returning to one his favorite topics — himself and his own performance.  “I think it’s now acknowledged what a great job we’ve done, and people are looking at that,” he said. “And in Texas and in Florida, we get an A-plus. And I’ll tell you what, I think we’ve done just as good in Puerto Rico, and it’s actually a much tougher situation. But now the roads are cleared, communications is starting to come back. We need their truck drivers to start driving trucks.”"

This jackass remains delusional.  Cruz has continued to stand her ground.  Trump has serious mental issues, no grasp on reality.

NPR reports:

"President Trump traveled Tuesday to devastated Puerto Rico following his administration's maligned response to Hurricane Maria. But as soon as he stepped off the plane, the president was in a self-congratulatory mood.  In a hurricane briefing Trump praised his Cabinet, compared the devastation to "a real catastrophe like [Hurricane] Katrina," threw in an aside about how much Puerto Rico recovery was costing the U.S., and later was filmed throwing paper towels into a crowd as part of efforts to distribute supplies.  "Now I hate to tell you, Puerto Rico, but you've thrown our budget a little out of whack," Trump said jokingly, "because we've spent a lot of money on Puerto Rico, and that's fine. We've saved a lot of lives."

NBC News reports:

"Trump, who is accompanied on the trip by first lady Melania Trump, attended a briefing with with San Juan Mayor Yulin Cruz, who has been sharply critical of Trump, and other local officials. The president shook the mayor's hand at the briefing.  In a brief exchange Cruz, who Trump has accused of playing politics, the mayor told the president, "It's not about politics."  Later, while touring a neighborhood outside San Juan, Trump told a family, "Your governor and your mayor have done, really, a fantastic job."

Here is the bottom line:

"While the administration has mobilized federal efforts to help, there has been widespread criticism about the speed and execution of government recovery efforts in Puerto Rico — with some even likening the situation to New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina under President George W. Bush."

Can't confuse a delusional nazi fuhrer with the truth.

In follow up to the above, ABC News reports:

"San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz told President Trump Tuesday that hurricane relief efforts in Puerto Rico were "not about politics," just days after Trump sparred with Cruz over the federal government's response to the island.  "It’s all about saving lives, it’s not about politics," Cruz said to Trump as they shook hands following a briefing earlier in the day.  Trump accused Cruz of “poor leadership” and speculated that "Democrats" told her to "be nasty to Trump" in a barrage of tweets over the weekend after the mayor decried a comment by the Acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke, who said she thought the federal government's actions in Puerto Rico were "a good news story."

"It was originally unclear if Trump and Cruz would meet, but on Tuesday morning Cruz announced that she had been invited to the briefing and had accepted the invite.  "I will use this opportunity to reiterate the primary message: This is about saving lives, not about politics; this is also about giving the people of Puerto Rico the respect we deserve; and recognizing the moral imperative to do both," Cruz said in a statement prior to the meeting."

"Sixteen people certified," Trump noted. "Sixteen people versus in the thousands. You can be very proud of all of your people and all of our people working together. Sixteen versus literally thousands of people. You can be very proud."

Jesus Christ.  This man is insane.

"After the president left San Juan, Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello announced the death toll from Maria rose to 34."

Trump has no clue:

"Cruz characterized the president as having a "lack of sensibility" in an interview with CNN Tuesday afternoon. She later told the network that she felt the most productive part of the meeting was when she met with White House staffers.  "I truly believe that they finally saw the connection, or the disconnect, between what they were hearing on the one hand and the reality of what is happening on the ground," the mayor said.  But Cruz denounced Trump's visit as a public relations stunt and criticized how he handed out supplies at Calvary Chapel.  "His terrible and abominable view of him throwing paper towels and throwing provisions at people, it's really -- it does not embody the spirit of the American nation," Cruz said in an interview with MSNBC Tuesday night."

This guy remains achingly unfit for office:

"Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he heard zero criticism during the visit and described the day as "terrific" and "great."

For whom, Mr. 'President?'  A delusional nazi, achingly detached from reality?

"They were so thankful for what we’ve done,” he said. “We only heard 'thank yous' from the people of Puerto Rico ... I enjoyed very much being with them.”

10-6-17

Insult to injury?  Proof positive 'can fix ignorant, can't fix stupid?'  Get this.  Fox reports:

"The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has awarded a $7.25 million contract to Equifax (EFX) in exchange for its help preventing fraud at the government agency.  The no-bid contract, first reported by Politico, appears to have been finalized last week – at a time when Equifax is still reeling from a massive hack that compromised the personal information of more than 145 million Americans. According to the filing, Equifax will “verify taxpayer identity” and assist in the “ongoing identity verification and validations needs of the [IRS].”

10-6-17

Not surprisingly, the GOP tax plan favors the top 1%.  Despite Trump's claims to the contrary. The Washington Post reports:

"The Republican tax plan would deliver a major benefit to the top 1 percent of Americans, according to a new analysis by a leading group of nonpartisan tax experts that challenges the White House's portrayal of its effects.  The plan would deliver far-more-modest tax cuts to most other households — an average cut of $1,700 for households in 2027, according to the report. But the results would be unevenly spread, with 1 in 4 households paying more in taxes."

Surprised?

"Despite repeated promises from Republican lawmakers that the plan is designed to provide relief to the middle class, nearly 30 percent of taxpayers with incomes between $50,000 and $150,000 would see a tax increase, according to the study by the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. The majority of households that made between $150,000 and $300,000 would see a tax increase.  Meanwhile, the study found that 80 percent of the tax benefits would accrue to those in the top 1 percent. Households making more than about $900,000 a year would see their taxes drop by more than $200,000 on average."

Trump's GOP supporters dismiss the above as fiction:

“This analysis is based on guesswork and biased assumptions designed to promote the authors’ point of view rather actual detail from a bill that has not yet been written by the committees,” said Antonia Ferrier, spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). McConnell was one of the group of “Big Six” Republican lawmakers and White House officials who crafted the plan."

Can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, baffle 'em with bullshit.  Far more interesting?  Get this:

"But the report could also highlight divisions in the Republican Party.  “That does not reflect the hopes and aspirations of Main Street Republicans around the country,” said John Weaver, a veteran Republican strategist for Ohio Gov. John Kasich and before that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). “Rewarding the 1 percent, at a time when the gap between the haves and have-nots is at a record high, isn’t wise economically and certainly not wise politically.”

Prime directive trumps all, GOP partisans wish to be returned to office.

"The prediction that the plan would have uneven effects, particularly for people making between $150,000 and $300,000, was credited to the loss of itemized deductions, particularly the ability to deduct state and local property taxes from income.  The loss of the personal exemption, which shields $4,050 of income from federal taxes for every household member, also would play a major role in increasing taxes for some households, the analysis found — an effect that would get worse over time because the amount of the personal exemption kept pace with inflation."

Yet, Trump won't be confused with the truth:

"This week at a speech in Indianapolis, Trump described the effects of the tax plan very differently: “We're doing everything we can to reduce the tax burden on you and your family. By eliminating tax breaks and loopholes, we will ensure that the benefits are focused on the middle class, the working men and women, not the highest-income earners.”

The lack of specifics is a critical issue:

"The Tax Policy Center study was based on a number of assumptions that could change, because Republicans haven't filled in many of the key details of their tax bill. For example, they haven't said what tax rate will be levied against specific income levels or what the expanded child tax credit will look like. The analysis used tax brackets that were the same as in a 2016 proposal by the House GOP and assumed the child credit was increased to $1,500.  Kyle Pomerleau, director of federal projects at the Tax Foundation, said that the results were not surprising given the assumptions, but he noted that the effect on income groups could change as details are hammered out. For example, the plan allows Congress to add a fourth, higher tax bracket above 35 percent that could be used to decrease the tax benefit to the wealthiest households."

Precisely, why Trump's claims hold no water.

"The analysis also found the plan would provide disproportionately large benefits for businesses compared with what the middle class and low-income Americans would receive.  “A major feature is tax collections would shift dramatically, from businesses to individuals,” said Eric Toder, a co-director of the Tax Policy Center."

That comes as no surprise since the Republican Party is the party of the corporate management suite with extremely rare exception.

The deficit and consequently the national debt would steeply increase:

"The tax plan would increase the deficit by $2.4 trillion over the first decade, the center found. Ed Kleinbard, a law professor at the University of Southern California, said that could pose a major problem, since it is larger than the $1.5 trillion revenue loss that Senate Republicans agreed to earlier this month.  Len Burman, a fellow at the Urban Institute who formerly worked at the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, said, “One thing I find troubling about big, deficit-financed tax cuts is it kind of looks like a free lunch.” Burman pointed out that the burden of the postponed taxes could fall on lower- and middle-income people in the future, through tax increases or cuts to programs that benefit those groups. What was surprising, he added, was that even in that context, there were groups that did not appreciate the benefits of that free lunch."

What else is new?

"White House officials have given conflicting accounts of the impact of the tax cuts on the wealthy. Trump has said they would receive no benefit, while National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn has said it is irrelevant whether they benefit, because all taxpayers should benefit. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said some upper-income Americans will benefit while others won't. Meanwhile, the nine-page framework released Wednesday predicted the wealthy would benefit but stipulated that they shouldn't benefit more than anyone else."

Think so?  Since when have they ever paid their fair share?  Conveniently forget?  Loot their fortunes off the backs of the bottom and middle class.  Make 'their' money the old fashioned way.  Steal it.  Non-livable wages.  Shoddy, overpriced products not worth a shit, etc..  The list can go on and on.  Has been repeatedly covered in this publication since launch.

10-6-17

More fallout from the Trump NFL fiasco.  Take of the Senate's only black Republican?  CBS News reports:

"Sen. Tim Scott said Wednesday that while he thinks all Americans should stand and respect the U.S. flag, Americans should explore the issues that are causing people in the NFL to kneel."

Has nothing to do with the Flag, everything to do with murderous police officers not held criminally liable for these murders.

"I think we all should stand for the flag so I think that's what's without any question a strong position to be in...at the same time, we should ask ourselves, 'Why are people kneeling instead of standing?' We should support our flag and delve into the social and cultural issues that are driving folks to their knees," the South Carolina Republican said in an interview with CBS News' Nancy Cordes."

Sounds like the Senator is cowardly talking out both sides the ass.  Gets worse:

"Asked if he's reached out to the president, Scott told Cordes, "I have not because I think every time that there is a new iteration to the conversation on race doesn't mean it's necessarily the time to reach out to the White House."

Mealy-mouthed response to an issue of what in effect has become legalized murder.

"I think that this discussion needs to be had by we, as the American family. Every single facet and community needs to participate in this process," he added."

Say what?  Means nothing.  Squat shit.  Sounds like the Senator is gutlessly ignoring the issue to stay in good graces with the Trump nazi and the rest of the Republican Party.

The military is remarkably adept dealing with racism.  Far better handling intolerance than the civilian community.  Consider the following.

NPR reports:

"After racial slurs were scrawled outside black students' doors at the U.S. Air Force Academy's preparatory school, Superintendent Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria gathered all 4,000 cadets in a hall Thursday so they could hear one message: Treat people with dignity and respect — or get out.  "That kind of behavior has no place at the prep school, it has no place at USAFA, and it has no place in the United States Air Force," Silveria said, in a speech that has found an enthusiastic reception after it was recorded and published online. "You should be outraged not only as an airman, but as a human being."

No question.

"Speaking to a crowd of some 5,500 people that included faculty, coaches, airstrip personnel and senior officers and staff of the 10th Air Base Wing that includes the academy, Silveria urged them not to let their institution be taken away from them.  "The appropriate response for horrible language and horrible ideas — the appropriate response is a better idea," Silveria said. "So that's why I'm here. That's why all these people are here."

The military seems to quickly, aggressively handle instances of such bigotry.

"The academy is investigating an incident involving the N-word from earlier this week, when, as local newspaper The Gazette reports, "five black students woke up Tuesday to find 'Go Home' followed by the epithet scrawled on message boards outside their rooms."  The Gazette, based in Colorado Springs, Colo., south of the school's base, adds, "Sources at the academy said there appeared to be a single vandal involved, judging by the handwriting."

The General certainly did all he could to effectively and quickly address the issue.

"While acknowledging that the academy isn't a perfect institution, Silveria said it would be naive not to speak about racism — and that it would be tone-deaf not to do so in the current climate in America, including racist demonstrations in Charlottesville, Va., and elsewhere.  The Air Force Academy draws people from all races, the superintendent said, and from all walks of life, all parts of the country, all genders and upbringings.  "The power of that diversity comes together and makes us that much more powerful," Silveria said. "That's a much better idea than small thinking and horrible ideas."

The same can be said in the civilian world, throughout the entire community.

Consider the following:

"Toward the end of his address, Silveria said:

"Just in case you're unclear on where I stand on this topic, I'm going to leave you my most important thought today: If you can't treat someone with dignity and respect, then you need to get out. If you can't treat someone from another gender, whether that's a man or a woman, with dignity and respect, then you need to get out. If you demean someone in any way, then you need to get out. And if you can't treat someone from another race, or different color skin, with dignity and respect, then you need to get out."

"Those in the room listened in silence. To make sure his message was received and taken away, Silveria told cadets and others present to get out their phones and record it. Citing the need for the group to have moral courage and protect their institution's values, he then repeated his message: "If you can't treat someone with dignity and respect, then get out."

Hat's off, General.

Consider the following exceptionally poignant story from NPR's StoryCorps:

"William Lynn Weaver was one of the first black football players on the team at his Knoxville, Tenn., high school when it integrated in 1964.   The mascot for the West High School Rebels back then was a Confederate colonel.  "At football games, when you came out on the field, the crowd would be hollering and the 'Dixie' would be playing and they'd hold the paper flag up and the team would burst out through the Confederate flag," he tells StoryCorps in Fayetteville, N.C. "The black players made a decision to run around the flag."  Weaver remembers there were teams that refused to play the Rebels because it had been integrated. "There were always racial comments, banners with the n-word, and, at one point in time, there was even a dummy with a noose around its neck hanging from the goal posts," he says."

Those were indeed the days of overt racism, blatant bigotry.  As frightening as it was then, easier to combat than what is happening today when racism has gutlessly reverted to the closet.

Yet, the terror back then was more than palpable:

"He remembers an incident playing an all-white school.  "The game was maybe only in the second quarter. My brother tackled their tight end and broke his collarbone," Weaver says. "And when they had to take him off the field with his arm in a sling, that's when the crowd really got ugly."  His team was on the visitors' sideline, he says, and the opposing team came toward them from across the field. "So we backed up against the fence. I remember the coach saying, 'Keep your helmet on.' So I was pretty afraid," he says. "And then a hand reaches through the fence and grabs my shoulder pads. I look around and it's my father. And I turned to my brother, I said, 'It's OK; Dad's here.'"

Imagine being a kid and having to live and deal with that.

"The state police came and escorted the team to its buses, he remembers, as the crowd chanted and threw things at the bus.  "As the bus drives off, I look back, and I see my father standing there and all these angry white people and I said to my brother, 'How's Daddy going to get out of here? They might kill him.'"  Weaver got back to the high school, and then his father walked through the locker room door and said, " 'Are you ready to go?' – as if nothing had happened," he says. "And I wanted to tell him, 'Dad, don't come to any more games,' but selfishly I couldn't. I needed him there for me to feel safe."

A haunting example of uncommon valor displayed by Dad.

Consider the following very carefully.  As true then, even more relevant today when racism has gutlessly retreated to the closet:

"Normally when you're with a team, you feel like everybody's going to stand together, and I never got that feeling that the team would stand with me if things got bad," Weaver says. "I think a number of the white students who were there with me would say now, If I could have did something different, I would've said something. But that's what evil depends on, good people to be quiet."

Think not?  Deluded yourself into believing racism is no longer an issue?  No longer prevalent?  No longer a problem?  No longer a divisive curse destroying our formerly great country?

There will finally be some closure for Dr. Weaver:

"Weaver has never been back to West High School since graduating 50 years ago. After hearing a StoryCorps interview that aired on NPR last month, the current principal reached out, and Weaver says he will return to the school in early 2018 to talk to the students about his experiences with integrating the school."

Who better?  More qualified?

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk?  Get what you truly deserve.

10-6-17

Things are often not what they appear to be.  Often an illusion.  Sometimes a delusion perpetrated by the top of the food chain.  Then again, the very top could not care less about the bottom and middle class.  Texas Standard reports:

"The idea of the Texas Miracle is firmly entrenched as a part of the state’s identity. Regardless of what is going on with the nation’s economy as a whole, the theory goes that Texas will not only weather the storm, but thrive.  But for some, the Texas Miracle isn’t feeling so miraculous anymore. That’s the case made by journalist Richard Parker, who wrote the best-selling book, “Lone Star Nation: How Texas Will Transform America,” a couple of years ago. His recent op-ed for the New York Times takes on Texas’ reputation from a different angle. He says that not only is the miracle over, but that it was a ‘tall tale’ that never was true to begin with."

The top of the food chain here in Nazi Texas, as well as throughout the rest of the country, has done extremely well.  At expense, of course, of the bottom and middle class who have been egregiously looted to make that dream come true.  Has become an Ayn Rand Atlas Shrugged winner-take-all, zero-sum game.  That is, the rich got richer, poor poorer, middle class eviscerated.

"Parker believes three factors explain why the Texas economy is suffering. Firstly, economic growth has been flat for more than two years, Parker says we’re likely to experience continued sluggishness this year, in light of Hurricane Harvey. Second, there is continued unemployment in the oil sector, though this situation may not be as obvious to those who live in cities and suburbs. Finally, Parker says, the current Republican leadership in government has not focused enough on the economics, meaning that politicians have argued over social issues, like the so-called “bathroom bill,” creating uncertainty for companies."

Doesn't your heart bleed?  Trickle-down is bogus, voodoo economics.  A sham, no more than a ruse.  Flow of money defies gravity.  Flows up, not down.  Looted workers foot the bill.  Don't get paid a livable wage to line the pockets of shareholders and the corporate management suite elite.  Root cause of inequity and growing poverty.

"Parker says Gov. Greg Abbott has “abandoned what was the de facto industrial policy of Rick Perry to attract business to the state.”  He says the number of incentives offered to businesses via the Texas Enterprise Fund is far lower under Abbott than was true when Perry was governor."

Achingly delusional, worse?  Beside the point.  No more than corporate welfare gone awry.  Point of diminishing returns was quickly reached.  The work force paid the price.  Always does.  ... Don't think the corporate management suite and shareholders are willing to endure any pain, do you?  Always pass it on.  Until the point of no return, where circumstances become so intolerable a revolution occurs.

“When you look at the corporate values that are stowed today about diversity and acceptance, which is important to customers and employers and shareholders alike,” Parker says. “I think that’s going to be a real tough putt for any city in Texas.”

Other than squat shit, what does the last quote mean?  What lasting or effective significance does it have?

"Parker says that because Houston is the economic driver of Texas, and is also one of the most important engines of the American economy, the disaster of Hurricane Harvey has the ability to alter Texas politics."

Certainly, true.  To say nothing of state economics.  -- Which is precisely why this business model fails to consistently work for anyone other than the top of the food chain.  When it no longer does, period, that's when a revolution occurs.

“We do need some government solutions, whether it’s to drain Harris County better or put teeth into laws that provide for conservation,” he says."

Goes without saying.  Certainly, demonstrates ongoing failure of government to think ahead, instead of concentrating only on the here and now.

"Some local governments and state politicians want to invest whatever it takes to bring Houston back. Parker says this money will not come from the private sector, but rather from the state and, more importantly, from the federal government."

Precisely, the problem.  Why nothing ever truly changes.  Why those who benefit most from infrastructure and the educational system, that is, the corporate management suite and shareholders, need to pay for what they benefit most from.  Not besieged, looted workers, renters, small property owners, that is, the bottom and middle class.  The greedy bastards on the top won't share the wealth the bottom and middle class line their pockets with.  No more complicated than that.  Hear the rumble?  An unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looming.

Coup de grace?

"If the federal government isn’t pumping approximately $2 billion a year into Houston, someone will be responsible and have to take the fall, Parker says. The worst is yet to come."

Guess who pays?  Guess who ultimately foots the bill?  Gets f--ked in the ass without the Vaseline.  Any clue?

10-6-17

The 'President' once again demonstrated profound insanity, continued egregious unfitness for office.  Fox News reports:

"President Trump on Sunday sounded a war drum over North Korean leader Kim Jong Un refusing to abandon his nuclear weapons program, telling Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to stop wasting time negotiating with Kim because the U.S. “will do what needs to be done.”  “I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man,” tweeted Trump, using his mocking nickname for Kim. “Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!"

What's that, Mr. 'President?'  A nuclear conflagration that could kill millions in the Pacific Rim?

"Being nice to Rocket Man hasn't worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I won't fail.
    — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017

"On Sunday, Trump returned to Kim and his pursuit of a nuclear arsenal, despite more U.S. and international economic sanctions that reportedly are having a severe impact on the rogue nation’s economy."

Clearly, the petulant Trump nazi grows increasingly impatient.  Can't seem to do anything right, get anything done.  No major legislation passed.  Presides now over what appears to be a growing catastrophe in Puerto Rico none of his insane tweets can seem to remedy.  What we have here is, to date, a failed presidency.

10-6-17

A self aggrandizing Trump nazi shamelessly took advantage of the profound grief of a U.S. Navy SEAL widow during his first address to a joint-session of Congress.  In follow up to an earlier edition of this publication and elsewhere, NBC News reports:

"Surely the most memorable moment from President Trump's first address to a joint session of Congress, and to the nation, came in his tribute to Ryan Owens, a fallen Navy SEAL.  "Ryan died as he lived, a warrior and a hero, battling against terrorism and securing our nation," the President said on Feb. 28. The SEAL's tearful widow, Carryn Owens, sat in the place of honor above the chamber."

Trump was shameless:

"Ryan's legacy is etched into eternity," President Trump continued, turning to look up at Ryan's grieving widow.   "Thank you."  A gold star family member as guest of the White House. A presidential call out. The heartfelt applause and the raw emotions."

All a ruse, by "The Donald," to cover his sorry gutless ass, his egregious failure as commander-in-chief.  Carefully consider the following:

"The scene was a time-honored ritual, a public tribute to the price paid by a warrior and his family. What made it unusual, however, was how Ryan Owens died. His death came just days into the new administration, in a country virtually unknown to the American public, on a troubled mission approved and ordered by a team that had never worked together before, for a purpose that Owens' own father, a former special operator himself, questions.  "It was a screw-up from the start that ended badly," Bill Owens told NBC News in an exclusive broadcast interview.  The retired police officer isn't one to wear his emotions on his sleeve. He's spent his entire life serving, in the Army as a green beret, in the Navy, and as a policeman in Florida, where he's now retired.  But Bill Owens has severe doubts that his son or anyone else should have been in the line of fire that January night."

Gets worse:

"Why did they do this mission at this time?" he asked.  The father is distressed that the Trump administration has insisted the mission was an unbridled success.  He is frustrated that the White House has asserted that anyone who questions the success of the mission is doing a disservice to the memory of his son. And he particularly resents the White House using his son's death for political purposes.  In an extensive interview with NBC News, Bill Owens said as far as he is concerned there was no need for President Trump to burnish Ryan's legacy. "I know how wonderful [Ryan] is, so I don't need that reaffirmation from the president," Owens said. But more importantly, he said, "I feel that somebody has to stick up for Ryan — and find out why this happened. And — I'm his father. And I'll do it."

No one better qualified than a former special operator to do so.  This is an extremely complicated issue.  Easy to get lost in the weeds.  NBC had gone into great detail explaining what went into the decision to go ahead with an ill-conceived mission that was executed without full planning, due consideration of the possible consequences.  Where the objective was apparently to put a quick feather in the cap of the 'president' shortly after inauguration.

"Secretary Mattis supported the mission as presented to him, and the new Trump national security team met for the first time on the night of Jan. 25 to consider it. Present were the president, Vice President Pence, Mattis, then-National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford, CIA Director nominee Mike Pompeo, chief strategist to the President Steve Bannon, and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner. Absent was any representative of the State Department, a departure from common practice in past administrations of both parties.  Over dinner, they discussed an upcoming raid to occur that very weekend."

Strange, isn't it?  An extremely complicated mission, extremely complicated objectives, at best extremely difficult to successfully execute even with the best of planning.  A mission the Obama regime had been carefully considering for quite some time.

"It's certainly unusual," said NBC News consultant Sean Naylor. "You don't often hear about major combat actions being approved over a meal..."  Naylor is one of the country's leading experts on the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), the national mission force made up of SEAL Team 6 and the Army's Delta Force as well as other highly-prized counterterrorism elements.  Under the Obama administration, sources say, a mission of this sort would have been discussed and approved at multiple levels subordinate to the principals before being briefed inside the secure White House Situation Room.  Two White House sources tell NBC News that Mattis and Dunford walked the new president through the mission objectives in the dining room, offering unreserved endorsement. If AQAP leaders were present, there was a chance for a big win; if not, the presence of leadership in the past and the potential intelligence take on the ground promised at least a fruitful site exploitation that would lead off a series of follow-on raids."

Has to be remembered Trump, his family, and other close advisers were neophytes.  Had just taken office.  No experience.  Here is the problem with surrounding yourself with retired military brass:

"According to the two sources, both Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner questioned acting on what they saw as a leftover Obama plan.  President Trump was disposed to approve the mission, but the next morning, he asked Flynn what he thought before he signed the so-called execute order or EXORD.  According to two White House officials, Flynn told the President that a tip from the UAE indicated that one of the most wanted terrorists in the world, Qasim al-Rimi, the leader of AQAP, might be at the Yemen target. He had been sighted there previously.  It wasn't unusual for Mr. Trump to rely on Flynn for advice. The President had gotten to know his national security advisor over months of close quarters on the campaign trail. And he was uniquely qualified to offer judgment. Flynn had himself served as director of intelligence for the JSOC. He had reached out to his former colleagues at Ft. Bragg in North Carolina to gather his own intelligence on the upcoming mission both before and after Trump's inauguration, sources say. And, according to multiple sources, he had himself spoken to his UAE counterparts."

Gets more convoluted:

"Flynn said that capturing or killing al-Rimi would distinguish the president from Obama right out of the box, the sources said. Trump would be a risk taker where Obama was a hesitant and endless deliberator, Flynn said. And the president would honor the Gulf allies who were operating in Yemen. Multiple sources say that Flynn labeled the first week raid a "game changer."

Being a risk taker, especially when his own ass wasn't personally at stake, Trump jumped at the chance.  Apparently, ludicrously believed planning and preparations had been sufficient:

"On Jan. 26, the day after the mission was greenlighted at the dinner, Ryan Owens' team of Navy SEALs, staged from Djibouti to the ships of the USS Makin Island amphibious readiness group operating off the coast. Onboard the ships were a 2,200 strong Marine Corps battalion task force as well as fighter aircraft and attack helicopters that would serve as a Quick Reaction Force should something go wrong. The SEALs and the Marines had been practicing together since December for a possible boots on-the-ground Yemen raid. Also present, according to multiple sources, were commandos and intelligence specialists of the UAE."

What they clearly hadn't counted on was the following:

"Just after midnight on Jan. 29, the force swooped into the village. SEAL Team 6 landed five miles downhill from the objective. The SEALs would hike to the village in silence, and surprise the AQAP element there.  But as the SEALs neared the outskirts, there was trouble. Overhead drones and spy planes detected unusual activity indicating the mission might have been compromised.   "Overhead surveillance of the target revealed individuals moving to fighting positions," Naylor said.  The Special Operations Task Force headquarters in Djibouti and the command element still on board the Makin Island ships knew simultaneously that the element of surprise was lost. We may never know what the discussion was, nor who ultimately made the decision, but commanders discussed the risk versus the payoff and decided to proceed."

Sadly, with disastrous consequences:

"Entering the village, the SEALs met fierce and unexpected resistance. Land mines and defensive positions were prepared. Even women took up arms. Within the first five minutes of the firefight, Ryan Owens was mortally wounded, hit with a bullet just above his armored breast plate. A MEDEVAC element was immediately requested on the radio. In the next few minutes, at least two other SEALs were wounded.  Two Marine Corps CV-22 Osprey tilt rotor vertical take-off and landing aircraft were dispatched for the 15-minute flight from the Gulf of Aden. Additional Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier jump jets and attack helicopters followed to take on the AQAP force.  But then disaster struck again. One of the two Ospreys crashed on landing in Yemen. The Pentagon would later call it a "hard landing," but the crash was serious enough that one of Harrier fighter jets bombed the crash site to destroy the plane to avoid any sensitive equipment falling into al Qaeda hands."

The SEALS courageously did what they were trained to do:

"On the ground, the SEALs continued to battle. Though 14 AQAP fighters were killed, including what the U.S. claims were two leaders, al-Rimi was not at the target. In addition to Owens' death and multiple American injuries, the unraveling of the mission also resulted in the death of at least 16 civilians, according to U.S. intelligence sources. Ten of those civilians were children under the age of 13, NBC News has determined from official documents verified by U.S. intelligence.   Was the mission crucial? How was it compromised? What was the value of the intelligence gathered at the site?  Sources differ, and Gen. Furness demurred in talking about specifics. It's clear though,that whatever happened in Yemen might have been chalked up to the tragedy and fog of war had it not been for what happened in Washington afterward..Within hours of the Yemen mission, White House spokesman Sean Spicer was at the podium declaring the raid a great success."

That's the true obscenity of this entire fiasco.  The subsequent lies by Trump and his henchmen.  Using the widow of a dead SEAL to gutlessly cover his achingly failed ass at a joint session of Congress is the epitome of cowardice, unbridled hubris, profound hypocrisy.

Consider the following:

"This weekend we carried out a very successful raid against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula," Spicer said the morning of Jan. 30.  He doubled down the next day. "Obviously, we recovered a tremendous amount of information," said Spicer on Jan. 31."

None of it true.  None of it.  All a lie.

"Criticism mounted."

Did it ever.

"And then Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, was briefed on the mission.  He went public to challenge the administration's characterization.  "When you lose a $75 million airplane and, more importantly, an American … life is lost and [there are] wounded I don't believe that you can call it a success," the Arizona Republican told NBC News.  The White House shot back.  "I think anybody who, who undermines the success of that raid ...owes an apology and a disservice to the life of Chief Owens," Spicer offered.  Watching at home in Florida, Bill Owens grew disgusted.  "Don't hide behind the death of my son to try and justify that this raid was a success," he told NBC News. "Because it wasn't."  Little official information was forthcoming on the mission or Ryan's death.  On Monday, Feb. 27, NBC Nightly News reported that the Yemen raid had "yielded no significant intelligence."

All a lie.  A cover up.  Of an enormous failure.

The Trump nazi gutlessly failed to take responsibility:

"The next morning, President Trump appeared on Fox and Friends, offering an odd description for a mission that he as commander-in-chief had approved.  "Well this was a mission that was started before I got here. This was something that was, you know, just, they wanted to do," Trump said."

A lie.

"They explained what they wanted to do, the generals, who are very respected. My generals are the most respected that we've had in many decades, I would, I believe," he added.  "And they lost Ryan."

A crock of shit.  A gutless psychotic nazi unfit to be president.

"That's it in a nutshell," said Bill Owens, recalling the President's statement that morning, the morning of his address to Congress and tribute to Ryan. "He evidently doesn't feel responsibility, even though he's the one that signed off on it and initiated the action. So it kind of speaks for itself."  Bill Owens said that he is not "a supporter" of the President. But he also said that "it's much bigger than politics. … I want to know how [a similar disaster] can be prevented in the future."

10-6-17

Need a good laugh?  The following will more than deliver.  NBC News reports:

"Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was on the verge of resigning this past summer amid mounting policy disputes and clashes with the White House, according to senior administration officials who were aware of the situation at the time.  The tensions came to a head around the time President Donald Trump delivered a politicized speech in late July to the Boy Scouts of America, an organization Tillerson once led, the officials said.  Just days earlier, Tillerson had openly disparaged the president, referring to him as a “moron,” after a July 20 meeting at the Pentagon with members of Trump’s national security team and Cabinet officials, according to three officials familiar with the incident."

Jesus Christ.  Trump is a moron.  LOL.  -- Not a day passes, the public doesn't see more evidence of it.

"In an unscheduled statement to reporters Wednesday morning, Tillerson directly addressed that version of events, saying, "I have never considered leaving this post."

May or may not be true.  LOL.

"He praised Trump's foreign policy agenda, saying he was part of a team to "make America great again." But he did not deny calling the president a "moron," declining to address that remark directly and saying, "I'm not going to deal with petty stuff like that."

You're not?  Either you called him a moron or you didn't.  LOL.

"While it's unclear if he was aware of the incident at the Pentagon, officials said Vice President Mike Pence counseled Tillerson, who is fourth in line to the presidency, on ways to ease tensions with Trump, and other top administration officials urged him to remain in the job at least until the end of the year."

How?  By kissing his ass, Mikey?  LOL.

"Pence has since spoken to Tillerson about being respectful of the president in meetings and in public, urging that any disagreements be sorted out privately, a White House official said. The official said progress has since been made."

Has it?  Think so?  More to the point, how can anyone in their right mind have any respect for a delusional, out of control, psychotic nazi?

While NBC went into far, far more detail than just the above, certainly launched quite a firestorm.  LOL.

Fox News reports:

"Secretary of state addresses 'erroneous' media reports about tensions with President Trump.  Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and President Trump teamed up Wednesday to blast an NBC News report detailing a supposed rift between them, with the top diplomat adamantly denying that he considered resigning – and the president calling on the network to apologize.  "The @NBCNews story has just been totally refuted by Sec. Tillerson and @VP Pence. It is #FakeNews. They should issue an apology to AMERICA!" Trump tweeted after Tillerson rejected key details of the report in a rare response from the State Department.

    "The @NBCNews story has just been totally refuted by Sec. Tillerson and @VP Pence. It is #FakeNews. They should issue an apology to AMERICA!
    — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 4, 2017"

Apologize for what, Mr. 'President?'  The truth?

10-6-17

How would you like to be this Republican?  ... Get exposed for truly whom and what you are?  CBS News reports:

"Text messages suggest Rep. Tim Murphy, a Pennsylvania Republican, urged a woman with whom he was having an affair to have an abortion, according to a report by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette."

Would a pro-life Republican ever do anything like that?

"The newspaper obtained documents featuring apparent text messages between the woman, Shannon Edwards, a forensic psychologist, and Murphy from January.  "And you have zero issue posting your pro-life stance all over the place when you had no issue asking me to abort our unborn child just last week when we thought that was one of the options," Edwards wrote in a text to the congressman on Jan. 25, the report said.  A reply from Murphy's phone number said, "I get what you say about my March for life messages. I've never written them. Staff does them. I read them and winced. I told staff don't write any more. I will."  Murphy confirmed earlier this month that he had an affair."

Couldn't be, could it?

Coup de grace?  Get this:

"The report also referenced a six-page memo titled, "Office Conduct and Behavior: Harassment/Legal Compliance" from June that the congressman's chief of staff, Susan Mosychuk, seems to have written. In it, Mosychuk said Murphy created a state of "terror" in their office."

How about that?

10-6-17

Quickest way to spark an unwanted dreaded revolution?  Do what the achingly ignorant government in Spain did.  NPR reports:

"Scenes of chaos and violence unfolded in Catalonia as an independence referendum deemed illegal by Madrid devolved quickly on Sunday.  As police followed orders from the central government to put a stop to the vote, they fired rubber bullets at unarmed protesters and smashed through the glass at polling places, reports The Associated Press. Three hundred and thirty-seven people were injured, some seriously, according to Catalonia's government spokesman.  Spain's Interior Ministry said a dozen police officers were injured. NPR's Lauren Frayer reports from Barcelona that some people were throwing rocks down at officers from balconies.  Yet the violence came from all directions.  "Horrible scenes," Lauren reports. "Police dragging voters out of polling stations, some by the hair."

Think Spain a democracy governed by the rule of law?

"Scuffles erupted as riot police forcefully removed hundreds of would-be voters from polling places across Barcelona, the Catalan capitol, reports AP.  Nevertheless, many people, managed to successfully cast their ballots across the region after waiting in lines hundreds-of-people-deep, including the elderly and families with small children, says Reuters.  Sunday was a culmination of a decades-long movement in the autonomous region of Catalonia nestled in Spain's northeast corner. Pro-separatists say they deserve self-rule, pointing to their unique history, culture and language. And as a wealthy region, they say Catalans pay an outsize share of taxes to Madrid, while seeing little in return."

Think Spain a bastion of liberty?

"There will be no referendum on Oct. 1," government spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo declared on Friday.  After the highest court in Spain had ruled the referendum unconstitutional, the central government sent in thousands of police reinforcements to try to halt it, in part by dismantling needed infrastructure, reports Reuters.  The government said organizers were facing criminal charges and arrest."

What has truly changed since the death of Spain's fascist dictator Francisco Franco decades ago?

"And Catalonia's High Court ruled that Google had to delete a smartphone app that the Catalan government was using to spread information about the vote, reports the wire service. Google apparently complied."

If true, achingly gutless corporate bastards.

"The vote is largely symbolic, its results having no legal status after being blocked by Spain's constitutional court. But experts say a constitutional crisis may be looming as the rift between Madrid and Catalonia deepens."

So is the specter of revolution.

The New York Times reports:

"The leader of Catalonia insisted on Monday that Sunday’s independence referendum, though marred by clashes and rejected by the Spanish government, had earned his region the right to a separate state and that he would press ahead to make the vote binding.  Without specifying when, Carles Puigdemont, the Catalan leader, said he would submit the result for approval to the regional Parliament. That could lead to a unilateral declaration of independence and tip the country even deeper into crisis — already one of the worst since the start of Spain’s democracy in the 1970s.  Shortly after midnight on Sunday, the Catalan government announced that 90 percent of almost 2.3 million voters had cast ballots in favor of independence. But a consensus on the vote, even among Catalans, was by no means assured, despite Mr. Puigdemont’s stated determination."

Any government, no matter how truly benevolent or diabolically evil, unquestionably depends on the consent of the governed for its continued existence.  Precisely, why endless change remains the only constant.

9-29-17

What would you do?  Seatbelts on.  Carrie DeKlyen was 37 years old.  Had five kids.  The Washington Post reports:

"The headaches began in March. The couple didn’t think much of them — until Carrie DeKlyen began vomiting.  An initial scan showed a mass in her brain. More tests showed that it was a form of cancer, possibly lymphoma, but treatable. But a pathology exam revealed a more grim diagnosis. The 37-year-old mother of five from Wyoming, Mich., had glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. If lucky, she could live for five more years.  The tumor was removed during surgery in April, said her husband, Nick DeKlyen.  Then, not even a month later, the couple received two pieces of shocking news. Carrie’s tumor was back — and she was eight weeks pregnant."

Grim prognosis.  Maybe, five years.  Five young kids.  Sixth on the way.  ... Gets worse:

"They had two options: They could try to prolong Carrie’s life through chemotherapy, but that meant ending her pregnancy. Or they could keep the baby, but Carrie would not live long enough to see the child.  It was a wrenching but obvious choice for the DeKlyens: They would have the child, their sixth.  Life Lynn DeKlyen was born at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 6 — 24 weeks into Carrie DeKlyen's pregnancy. She weighed 1 pound, 4 ounces. The couple chose her name together.  Carrie DeKlyen was buried six days later."

Young father, six kids, no wife.  Achingly poignant insult to injury?

"Then Life Lynn died as well, just 14 days after she was born.  The infant's death was announced Thursday on the couple's Facebook page.  “It is with great sadness and a absolutely broken heart that I tell you Life Lynn passed away last night,” the post read. “Carrie is now rocking her baby girl. I have no explanation of why this happened, but I do know Jesus loves us and someday we will know why. The grief we feel is almost unbearable, please be praying for our family.”

"Nick DeKlyen could not be reached to comment Thursday.  But he told the Detroit News just one day earlier that Life Lynn nearly died Sept. 12, the same day Carrie DeKlyen was buried.  “I know God can turn this around,” he told the News on Wednesday. “And I am going to keep believing that Life is going to be fine.”

Wife, daughter gone.  Five kids to support:

"The 39-year-old said at the time that he was still figuring out his family’s future.  Four years ago, he said, he started a vending machine company that he later sold to his brother. And now he did not have a source of income.  “My wife’s gone. I have six kids, three are under the age of 5. I’m just going to focus on my daughter right now, [sadly, subsequently died] getting her home,” he said.   “As far as what I'm going to do after that, I can’t tell you.”  A GoFundMe page to help the family has raised more than $150,000."

9-29-17

Highly reminiscent of Llano County Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following:

Amazing how the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue continue to receive special treatment from the Trump nazi and his henchmen.  Think not?  Wake up. The Washington Times reports:

"The Trump administration renewed its defense of former Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Thursday, telling a federal judge that not only has the lawman been pardoned, but that his original conviction needs to be stripped from the record altogether."

Bullshit.

"Justice Department lawyers conceded there’s no direct precedent for a case like Mr. Arpaio’s, but they said in the cases that do come closest, circuit courts of appeals and the Supreme Court have indicated that vacating the conviction is appropriate, because his case was never completely finalized."

This is a criminal sheriff that eluded justice courtesy of the Trump nazi.

“In this case, no final judgment of conviction has been entered,” the Justice Department said. “Vacatur is appropriate given the presidential pardon.”  President Trump’s pardon last month has likely freed Mr. Arpaio from the danger of jail time — though some anti-Trump activists have said Judge Susan Bolton, overseeing the case, should even ignore the pardon and still put Mr. Arpaio behind bars."

Can't do that.  The president has the constitutional authority to pardon.  The conviction, however, needs to remain on this nazi former sheriff's record.

"Judge Bolton hasn’t tipped her hand on those demands, but she has taken a skeptical line on Mr. Arpaio’s request that his actual conviction on a criminal contempt of court charge be tossed."

Certainly, encouraging:

“U.S. Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit case law suggest that a presidential pardon leaves intact the recipient’s underlying record of conviction,” she wrote last week, challenging the Trump administration to defend its position.  She convicted Mr. Arpaio in July of contempt of court, finding he willfully ignored another judge’s order to cease a traffic-stop program that netted illegal immigrants who were then turned over to federal officers for deportation."

In a fascist police-state.

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk?  Get what you truly deserve.

9-29-17

Highly reminiscent of Llano County Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following:

Like recurrence of a hemorrhoid, former Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke is a pain in the ass that simply won't go away.  LOL.  Need a good laugh?  The Washington Times reports:

"Former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke reportedly dropped the F-bomb in an email exchange with a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist who was working on a story about the former sheriff’s security detail.  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel watchdog columnist Daniel Bice sent Mr. Clarke, an ardent President Trump supporter, a series of questions last week asking how he felt about losing his round-the-clock, taxpayer-funded security detail, which was reportedly put into place in the summer of last year after the sheriff received an onslaught of death threats. Officials last week announced that Mr. Clarke would no longer receive such protection, which reportedly cost more than $220,000 since January.  “Was this a wise use of taxpayer dollars?” Mr. Bice asked, according to screenshots he shared on Twitter, The Hill reported.  “‘F— you and the horse you rode in on.’ I’m David Clarke and I approve this message,” the sheriff responded from his private email address."

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk?  Get what you truly deserve.

9-29-17

Highly reminiscent of Llano County Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following:

The Statesman reports:

"Juan Coronilla-Guerrero's wife warned a federal judge this spring that her husband would be killed if the U.S. government followed through with his deportation."

Guess what?  He was.

"Her prediction came true last week.  Three months after the former Austin resident was taken back to central Mexico by federal authorities, his body was found on the side of a road in San Luis de la Paz, Guanajuato, near where he had been living with his wife's family."

Kicker?  Get this:

"Coronilla-Guerrero's death comes six months after federal immigration agents took the rare step of entering the Travis county criminal courthouse to detain him on charges of illegal re-entry--a move that escalated fears about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's crackdown on authorized immigrants."

Gets worse:

"I knew," said Coronilla-Guerrero's wife, who has returned to Mexico and spoke to the American-Stateman on the condition of anonymity because she fears for her family's safety.  "I knew that if he came back here, they were going to kill him, and look, that's what happened."  She suspects the 28-year-old was killed by the same gangs that had prompted the family's move to Austin in the first place."

A raucous boot clicking, goose stepping, treasonous, treacherous, traitorous Sieg Heil!, Mr. 'President?'  You're out of uniform, sir.  Where is your swastika armband?

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk?  Get what you truly deserve.

9-29-17

Highly reminiscent of Llano County Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following.  It's appalling.  Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for.  No longer.

NPR reports:

"When 2-month-old Isaac Enrique Sanchez was diagnosed with pyloric stenosis, a condition that causes vomiting, dehydration and weight loss in infants, his parents were told that their son's condition was curable. The problem was that no hospital in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas had a pediatric surgery team capable of performing the operation on his stomach.  To make Isaac well, Oscar and Irma Sanchez would need to take their infant son to Driscoll Children's Hospital, in Corpus Christi, Texas. It was just a couple of hours up the highway, but for them it was a world away.  The Sanchezes, who are undocumented, would need to pass a Border Patrol checkpoint.  "The nurse told us we had to go there," Oscar says in Spanish. "We said we couldn't go."

Didn't get that far. Were betrayed:

"While they pondered their predicament in a Harlingen, Texas, hospital, a Border Patrol agent showed up in the waiting room — Oscar Sanchez suspects a nurse turned them in — and said he could arrange for officers to escort the parents through the checkpoint to Corpus. But the agent said when they arrived, they would be arrested and put into deportation proceedings. The couple agreed."

Courtesy of the Trump nazi and his equally fascist henchmen.  When Republicans falsely claim they're the party of the family, guess what?  They're lying.  The nurse needs to be fired.  Disclosed personal information to the jackbooted bastards.  If hospitals can't be trusted not to turn over confidential information, need to close.  Don't serve the public, only corrupt, abusive, inept law enforcement.

There was no exigent threat.  No probable cause of ongoing criminal activity.  How could anyone trust the hospital?  Clearly, in bed with law enforcement.  Are they sharing all client personal information with the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue, black, green whatever the color of uniforms they choose to sport?  All, clearly out of uniform, however.  No swastika armbands.  ... Right, Bill?

"The events that followed at the Corpus Christi hospital are the latest developments in a national controversy over so-called sensitive locations. Under President Barack Obama, the Department of Homeland Security adopted a policy that immigration agents should avoid enforcement actions at hospitals, schools, churches and public demonstrations unless there are special circumstances."

No longer.  Not in a de facto goddamned fascist police-state soon to be the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich.

"The Sanchezes' 48-hour odyssey with federal agents shows the lengths to which the Trump administration will go to round up people in the country illegally, whether they have a criminal record or not."

The Republican Party is a sham.  The Democrats are no better.  Continue to egregiously fail to effectively stand up to the rise of nazism in our formerly great country.

"The Border Patrol followed the ambulance, the night of May 24, as it raced to Corpus through desolate ranchland, carrying Oscar, Irma and tiny Isaac — with an IV in his arm and a tube in his stomach. Once they arrived at Driscoll Children's Hospital, the green-uniformed agents never left the undocumented couple's side. Officers followed the father to the bathroom and the cafeteria and asked the mother to leave the door open when she breast-fed Isaac."

These goons are shameless jackbooted nazi stormtroopers.  Remain an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.  ... Right, Sheriff?

"Everywhere we went in the hospital," Oscar says, "they followed us."

Imagine that.  Guilty of nothing other than being undocumented.  So were the forebears of these bastards who arrived in this land centuries ago, shamelessly stole it from Native Americans.

"Advocates are puzzled why the Border Patrol chose to put the Sanchezes under such intense supervision, which one would expect for higher-value targets like drug traffickers or MS-13 gang members. The couple has no criminal records. They overstayed visitors visas that were issued 12 years ago. He works construction and landscaping; she stays home with their four children, all of whom are citizens."

This is the mark of our nazi fuhrer, the Trump nazi, and his AG sidekick, the Sessions nazi.  Both and their equally nazi henchmen continue to egregiously disgrace themselves, the Constitution they falsely swore to uphold, to say nothing of the American Flag.

"That's how you treat criminals that are harmful, and that's understandable for our own protection," says Ana Hinojosa, an immigrant advocate with the Mennonite Central Committee in Brownsville, who is also working on the case. "But they're a family that's just here trying to make a living, provide an education and a future for their children."

Doesn't matter in a fascist police-state.  Will worsen as the fascist police-state becomes Trump's Fourth Reich.

"Advocates are concerned that immigration enforcers are chipping away at places formerly considered safe zones. Three examples: Immigration agents detained six men after they left a church homeless shelter in Virginia; they removed a woman with a brain tumor from a Texas hospital and put her back in detention; and they arrested a father after he dropped off his daughter at school in Los Angeles."

Think these jackbooted bastards won't wind up entering a church and killing someone?  Falsely call it 'self-defense?'

"As with the Corpus hospital, the agency maintains none of the arrests were actually made inside a sensitive location. But several members of Congress, all Democrats, are troubled just the same. They have proposed the "Protecting Sensitive Locations Act," which would codify protected places in federal law. And it would expand them to include courthouses and bus stops.  "They're pushing the envelope to the point where they're trying to find out how far they can go," says Bronx Rep. Jose Serrano, one of the bill's authors. He is outraged by what happened to the Sanchez family in South Texas. "It violates human decency," he says. "You don't interrupt medical procedures."

In a fascist police-state, the SS jackbooted nazis in black reserve carte blanche to do as they please, right, Sheriff?  Constitution?  What's that?  Means shit squat, right, Bill?

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk?  Get what you truly deserve.

9-29-17

Highly reminiscent of Llano County Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following.  It's appalling.  Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for.  No longer.  Clearly, the courts are no better than the SS criminal jackbooted bastards in black, right, Sheriff?

The Washington Times reports:

"A federal appeals court revived Texas’s anti-sanctuary city law Monday, allowing key parts to take effect — including a prohibition on cities and states trying to thwart cooperation with deportation officers.  Police and sheriff’s departments also are required to comply with detainer requests when the federal government asks that illegal immigrants be held for pickup, under the 3-0 ruling by a panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.  The decision overturns an injunction by a district court judge — though the appeals court said the big arguments remain to be heard later."

Once again, nazis on this appeals court, routinely legislating their perverse ideological and religious views from the bench, once again deliberately abrogated their oaths of office to protect and defend the United States Constitution.

"Still, the decision is a watershed moment, marking the highest court to allow states to force their localities to comply with detainer requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  The court said the anti-sanctuary law, known as SB4, was drawn inartfully, and the judges did uphold some of the injunction and also struck out some words, but said overall the law does not appear to tread on the federal government’s immigration powers."

A crock of shit.  No more than national socialist 'judges' legislating from the bench, talking out both sides their ass.  Why wasn't this ruling immediately appealed to the Supreme Court?  Get the fascist bastards on the highest court of the land once again on the record.

“Enforcing immigration law helps prevent dangerous criminals from being released into Texas communities,” said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose office defended Texas’s law."

Another crock of shit coming from our criminally indicted Texas Attorney General.

"The appeals court heard oral arguments in the case on Friday, so Monday’s ruling was delivered with extraordinary speed."

Clearly, such alacrity is indication the fix was in by this goddamned nazi court.

The Washington Post reports:

"Texas can require law enforcement to honor federal immigration requests to detain people in local jails for possible deportation under a new “sanctuary cities” law supported by the Trump administration, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday.  But the unanimous ruling of a three-judge panel in New Orleans includes the caveat that not every detainer request from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement must be honored. It says local agencies must cooperate “according to existing ICE detainer practice and law.”  Lawyers for opponents of the Texas law said the caveat could limit the sweep of the ruling in a way that won’t lead to a drastic change in how local authorities deal with federal agents."

"Nina Perales, an attorney for the Mexican American Defense and Legal Education Fund who is also representing the cities of San Antonio and El Paso, said the ruling appeared to leave wiggle room for interpretation.  “I don’t read this decision as making all detainers mandatory,” she said.  ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt also said the ruling “significantly narrowed” what is allowed to take effect for now. The decision is a temporary ruling until oral arguments that are set in front of the appeals court in November.  Jose Garza, an attorney for the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, acknowledged that the state now potentially had room to pursue penalties against chiefs or sheriffs who don’t comply."

Here is one of the key issues that has not yet been resolved:

"The law’s opponents argue it violates the Fourth Amendment by requiring police to detain people suspected of illegal immigration without probable cause. They also say it illegally puts local police in the federal role of immigration enforcement officers, and is unconstitutionally vague as to exactly when a local law enforcement officer would be in violation of the law."

SB4 advances the doomsday revolution clock ever closer to midnight.  As the goddamned de facto fascist police-state we already live in becomes the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich.  Hear the rumble?  An unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looming as our formerly great country continues to nazify.

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk?  Get what you truly deserve.

9-29-17

Highly reminiscent of Llano County Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following.  It's appalling.  Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for.  No longer.  Clearly, credit reporting agencies are no better than the SS criminal jackbooted bastards in black, right, Sheriff?

The Washington Post reports:

"Equifax traces its roots to 1899, when two Atlanta grocery store owners, Cator and Guy Woolford, started what was then known as Retail Credit Co. by going door-to-door to collect information about people in their community. Their $25 book, “The Merchant’s Guide,” noted who in the neighborhood typically paid promptly or who shouldn’t be trusted with credit."

Think anything has basically changed in all these years regarding the efficacy, accuracy, etc., of these equally jackbooted bastards in the credit reporting industry?  Wake up.  You've been bamboozled.  Bought their crock of shit.

"Over time, credit bureaus, such as Retail Credit, would often align themselves with law enforcement, Lauer said. Some had desks set aside in their offices for the Internal Revenue Service or Federal Bureau of Investigation, he said. “There was no firewall, no protection for consumers at all.”

A continuing problem as these outrageously abusive jackbooted corporate nazis remain out of control to this very day.  Remain virtually unregulated, courtesy of their bought and paid for minions in both major political parties.

"By the late 1960s, the country’s thousands of credit bureaus were under scrutiny by Congress. The public was beginning to become aware of the massive amounts of data they housed, and many questioned the accuracy of the information."

Far worse today.  All these agencies have grown extremely intransigent vis a vis correction of incorrect, achingly false data.

"Retail Credit drew particular scrutiny because of its history of working with health and life insurance companies. When building reports about whether someone should be extended policies, the company would collect information from neighbors and family members about that person’s health, reputation, and sometimes note if they were homosexual, Lauer said.  “Credit worthiness was tied to character,” he said."

Greatest irony of all?  The corporate management suite ubiquitously has no character.  None at all.  By definition since bottom line remains prime directive, prime mover of all corporate activity.  Lie like hell with impunity.  No criminal culpability.  Most egregious example covered in this publication all these years since launch in 1999?  Wells Fargo.

"After a series of congressional hearings, lawmakers adopted the Fair Credit Reporting Act, giving consumers access to their reports for the first time and requiring the companies to change incorrect data."

The law has no teeth.  Is not enforced.  Certainly, was not when this writer was injured in a fire some 15 years ago.

"But even after the legislation, Retail Credit continued to see itself portrayed as a villain on Capitol Hill and in the media. In 1974, four former employees of the company told a Senate subcommittee that they were forced to falsify credit reports and meet unrealistic goals to keep their jobs, including ensuring there was adverse information about 6 percent to 10 percent of consumers to prove to their business customers that they were being thorough."

Think anything has changed? Wake up.

"That same year, a woman sued for invasion of privacy after her auto insurance company canceled her policy because Retail Credit reported that she was living with a man “without benefit of wedlock.”  In 1975, in the wake of the controversy, the company changed its name to Equifax. The change was to “better portray a company in the ‘equitable’ distribution of facts,” according to a company statement."

No more than a crock of shit.  Not just with Equifax, however, but all these goddamned corrupt, abusive, lying credit reporting agencies.  Nothing has changed for the better.  Gotten worse.

"More than 40 years later, Equifax is one of the world’s largest data providers. Instead of simply selling credit reports to the business community, it has branched into new markets, using artificial intelligence, machine learning and other tactics to unearth information, even sweeping up Facebook and Twitter data on consumers to help companies decide whom to lend money to."

Worse than that, it shares personal information with employers, landlords, and many, many others who do not lend money.  Remains a scourge that must be reined in:

“We manage massive amounts of unique data, we have data on approaching a billion people. We have data on approaching 100 million companies around the world. The data assets are so large, so unique,” Richard Smith, the company’s longtime chief executive, said in speech at the University of Georgia business school in August.  “You think about the largest library in the world ... the Library of Congress, we manage almost 1,200 times that amount of content every day, around the world.”

The Aryan arrogance of this nazi CEO remains unbridled:

"Smith “has done a lot of great things with Equifax. He took the company and made it the leader it is today,” said Snyder of CFRA Research.  That has included collecting a lot more data on people. Early in his tenure, Smith made a risky bet to jump into a new market, buying Talx, which housed the world’s largest repository of employment data.  “Every time an employee was paid, it creates 50 data attributes,” including how much a person earns and how much was comprised of a bonus, Smith said in an August talk. The company could combine that information with data it already had on customers to create new products, he said.  Equifax looked at the billions pieces of information it was collecting and decided it could use it to make money in other ways, Snyder said. “They said, hey, we have all this great data on consumers, how else can we slice and dice it and make more money from the data we already have?”

They do this at your expense.  To say nothing of your egregious loss of privacy.  Galling insult to appalling injury?  Get this:

"As part of its expansion — the company creates 50 to 75 products a year — Equifax also pitches itself to companies concerned about becoming the victim of a data breach, offering the services of the Equifax Data Breach Response Team.  “In addition to extensive experience, Equifax has the most comprehensive set of identity theft products and customer service coverage in the market,” the company says on its website. “You’ll feel safer with Equifax.”

Having just suffered one of the most catastrophic losses of personal data to hackers in history, what does this tell you?  Wake up.  They lined their pockets.  You got f--ked.  Any questions?  Still don't get it? Get this:

"Those ambitions may be derailed by the company’s handling of a massive data breach that exposed to sensitive information of millions of people. On Sept. 7, Equifax announced that hackers had gained access to the sensitive personal data — Social Security numbers, birth dates and home addresses — for up to 143 million Americans by exploiting a “website application vulnerability.”

CBS News reports:

"San Francisco on Tuesday became the first U.S. city to sue sue Equifax (EFX) over a massive data breach that exposed the personal information of about 143 million Americans.  The city filed a lawsuit against the credit reporting company in a California court. It accuses Equifax of violating state law by failing to implement reasonable security measures and not providing timely notice of the breach.  The suit seeks tens of millions of dollars in civil penalties and restitution for some consumers.  Equifax declined to comment on the pending litigation, but says it remains focused on helping its customers."

Think so?

"The state of Massachusetts has also sued Equifax over the breach, and the company is facing scrutiny from Congress.   San Francisco's lawsuit was filed on the same day that Equifax chief executive Richard Smith stepped down effective immediately."

Who'd 'a 'thunk' it?

"The executive's exit is unlikely to turn down the heat on the company, with Smith still scheduled to appear before House and Senate lawmakers next week to answer question about the breach."

You think?

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk?  Get what you truly deserve.

9-29-17

Highly reminiscent of Llano County Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following in stark contrast:

Unlike our Sheriff and his goons, there are some in law enforcement who remain principled. The Washington Post reports:

"Acting Drug Enforcement Administration head Chuck Rosenberg, a veteran attorney and law enforcement official who has found himself at odds with the Trump administration in recent months, told staff members Tuesday that he is planning to step down from his post in less than a week.  Rosenberg, a holdover from the administration of President Barack Obama, wrote that he would leave his position as the DEA’s acting administrator on October 1. In an email to his staff, Rosenberg said he was proud to have led the “remarkable agency.”

Here's what's so remarkable about this officer:

"Rosenberg’s departure is not completely surprising; Trump was always likely to have wanted to nominate someone of his own choosing to lead the nation’s premier agency on narcotics enforcement.  But the development is nonetheless important, particularly because Rosenberg, who had been running the agency in an acting capacity since 2015, had earned a reputation as someone willing to put himself at odds with his bosses in the White House and the Justice Department."

Did he ever.

"A former U.S. Attorney and senior counselor to James B. Comey when Comey was FBI director, Rosenberg garnered attention in July when he wrote an email to DEA personnel rejecting Trump’s comments suggesting criminal suspects might be treated roughly when being put into police vehicles.  “We have an obligation to speak out when something is wrong,’’ Rosenberg wrote in the email, seeming to call out the president directly."

Certainly, an example of uncommon valor.  Precisely, why this guy's departure will be a blow to DEA and law enforcement.

NBC News reports:

"The acting head of the Drug Enforcement Administration is resigning, he said in an email Tuesday, a few weeks after he complained that President Donald Trump appeared to have "condoned police misconduct."  In the email to DEA staffers, Chuck Rosenberg, who became acting administrator in 2015, gave no reason for his departure, which takes effect on Sunday."

Here's the kicker:

"A spokesperson for the DEA confirmed Rosenberg's resignation but wouldn't comment on a report in The New York Times, which quoted law enforcement officials as saying Rosenberg had become convinced that Trump "had little respect for the law."  Rosenberg, 57, was kept on by Trump, but his future with the administration came into doubt after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey — a close associate whom Rosenberg had served as chief of staff.  But Rosenberg has already publicly criticized the president, saying in a memo to the agency's employees on July 29 that Trump's remarks in a speech to law enforcement officers "condoned police misconduct."

Fascinating, isn't it?

"When you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon — you just see them thrown in, rough," Trump said July 28 in an address in Selden, New York. "I said, 'Please don't be too nice.'"  Rosenberg said in the memo: "We have an obligation to speak out when something is wrong." He listed "core values" that he said were fundamental to the agency: "Rule of Law, Respect and Compassion, Service, Devotion, Integrity, [and] Accountability."  "This is how we conduct ourselves. This is how we treat those whom we encounter in our work: victims, witnesses, subjects, and defendants. This is who we are."

This man couldn't have said it better.  This is what law enforcement is supposed to be.  Principled, measured, non-abusive, professional, constitutional, etc..  ... Right, Sheriff?

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk?  Get what you truly deserve.

9-29-17

Helen Huynh is in this country legally.  Has a medical issue that could wind up killing her.  The Trump nazi and his henchmen are effectively denying her care she desperately needs.  A transplant.  Only match?  Her sister overseas in Vietnam.  A visa has been denied three times.  This is quite a sad story.  NBC News reports:

"A Southern California woman battling leukemia has been unable to obtain a stem cell transplant from her sister in Vietnam after the U.S. thrice denied her application for a visa, according to the woman’s family."

Imagine that.  Couldn't be, could it?

"Helen Huynh, 61, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia in February and was told by doctors that a stem cell transplant would give her another two to five years to live, according to Yvonne Aivan Murray, Huynh’s daughter.  Murray said doctors told her finding a donor who was a 70-percent match would be a miracle, but in June, Huynh's family found a 100-percent match in Huynh's youngest sister, Thuy Nguyen, who lives in Vietnam."

Why would the Trump nazi and his goddamned henchmen deny this woman a visa?  Why?

"Since then, Nguyen has submitted three applications for a visa to the U.S., according to Murray, but has been denied each time. While Murray said Nguyen has property, businesses, and two children in Vietnam, she has been unable to prove that her ties would “compel her to depart the United States at the end of her temporary stay,” according to a letter dated Aug. 11 from the U.S. Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City to Rep. Alan Lowenthal, who represents the city Huynh lives in."

Doesn't the Trump nazi, his equally fascist sidekick, the Sessions nazi, as well as the rest of the Republican Party claim to be the party of the family?

"The situation is especially frustrating for the family because they believe that if their mom's match were living in Europe, Canada, or Australia, coming to the United States would not be a problem.  “For the U.S. government to not make an exception for medical reasons is ridiculous,” Murray said. “I’m not saying it’s a race thing, I’m saying it’s because of the policy we have with less developed countries. It’s a flaw in the visa process, and it needs to change.”

Not likely.  Not under an insane president and his henchmen.

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk?  Get what you truly deserve.

9-29-17

The Trump nazi again displayed his true colors, the mark of a nazi fuhrer in the mold of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini.  The Washington Times reports:

"President Trump took a veiled jab at former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick during a speech Friday and said the owners of National Football League teams should fire athletes for kneeling during the national anthem.  “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, say, ‘Get that son of a [expletive] off the field right now. Out, you’re fired!’” Mr. Trump said during an event in Huntsville, Alabama.  “You know some owner’s going to do that,” Mr. Trump added. “He’s going to say, ‘That guy who disrespects our flag, he’s fired!’”

Trump again displayed profound ignorance, utter disregard for the First Amendment and its constitutional guaranties.  Fails to understand such protest has nothing to do with respect or lack thereof of the Flag, military, or police who do their jobs honorably, constitutionally, non-abusively.  Rather, pointedly directed at the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue who abuse, shake down, and murder innocent civilians on the job.  A nazi president has no ability to grasp this fact, remains hopelessly, achingly clueless.

The NFL quickly responded to the Trump nazi's bullshit:

"Roger Goodell, the NFL’s commissioner, issued a statement Saturday responding to the president that said his “divisive comments” demonstrate a lack of respect for the sport, the league and its athletes, “and a failure to understand the overwhelming force for good our clubs and players represent in our communities.”

What the Trump nazi utterly fails to understand is the fact peaceful protest is, and remains, a constitutional right.

"The president didn’t mention Mr. Kaepernick by name, though his comments occurred on the heels of the quarterback’s controversial decision to kneel during the “Star Spangled Banner” last season as a means of protesting police brutality. Mr. Kaepernick, 29, was widely criticized for refusing to stand while the anthem played and remains a free agent after parting ways with the 49ers in March."

The NFL egregiously, gutlessly failed to step up, rise to the occasion.  Cowardly blackballed a superb quarterback for sake of political expediency.  Capitulated to the Trump nazi and others who 'think' like they do.  That may soon change, however.

"Other athletes have continued the protests in the quarterback’s absence, however, and on Saturday the president took aim at a professional basketball player who has been both a vocal supporter of Mr. Kaepernick and a critic of the Trump administration: Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry.  Mr. Trump invited the Warriors to the White House after the team won the NBA championship in June, but rescinded Mr. Curry’s invitation after the athlete said this week that he didn’t plan to attend.  “Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team,” Mr. Trump tweeted Saturday. “Stephen Curry is hesitating, therefore invitation is withdrawn!”

F--k the Trump nazi.  A fascist has no honor.  Once again proven he's no more than an out of control petulant dictator, egregiously unfit to be president of the United States.

NBC News reports:

"During his campaign, Trump often expressed nostalgia for the "old days" — claiming, for example, that protesters at his rallies would have been carried out on stretchers back then. He recently suggested police officers should be rougher with criminals and shouldn't protect their heads when pushing them into squad cars.  It's also not the first time he's raised the kneeling issue. Earlier this year he took credit for the fact that Kaepernick hadn't been signed. Television ratings for the NFL have been slipping since the beginning of the 2016 season. The league and observers have blamed a combination of factors, including competing coverage of last year's presidential election, more viewers dropping cable television, fans' discomfort with the reports of head trauma and the anthem protests.  Ratings have been down even more in the early 2017 season, though broadcasters and the league have blamed the hurricanes that hit Florida and Texas. Still, the NFL remains by far the most popular televised sport in the United States."

The Trump nazi remains clearly incapable of being confused by the truth:

"Trump said the anthem protest was the top reason NFL viewership had waned.  "You know what's hurting the game?" he asked. "When people like yourselves turn on television and you see those people taking the knee when they're playing our great national anthem," he said.  Trump encouraged his supporters to pick up and leave the stadium next time they spot a player failing to stand."

Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini couldn't have said it better.

"In a statement Saturday, DeMaurice Smith, the executive director of the NFL players' union, said in a statement that demonstrations are "protected speech" that has prompted "thoughtful discussions in our locker rooms and in board rooms."  "The line that marks the balance between the rights of every citizen in our great country gets crossed when someone is told to just 'shut up and play,'" Smith added."

To be expected from a nazi dictator egregiously unfit to be president of the United States.

ABC News reports:

"The president of the NFL Players Union, which represents current and former players, also responded Saturday, saying, "The balance between the rights of every citizen in our great country gets crossed when someone is told to just 'shut up and play.'"  Union President DeMaurice Smith acknowledged in his statement that “the peaceful demonstrations by some of our players" haven't been universally supported, but "have generated a wide array of responses."  But, he added, "Those opinions are protected speech and a freedom that has been paid for by the sacrifice of men and women throughout history ... No man or woman should ever have to choose a job that forces them to surrender their rights."

Happens all the time.  Will certainly grow worse as the de facto fascist police-state we already live in transforms to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich.

The Washington Post reports:

"NFL game day dawned Sunday with a powerful display of unity by the Baltimore Ravens’ and Jacksonville Jaguars’ players and coaches, who locked arms on the sideline of London’s Wembley Stadium — some kneeling, others standing — during the singing of the United States national anthem.  Their statement without words, echoed in similar demonstrations nationwide prior to 1 p.m. games, came in response to a three-day campaign by President Trump, who at 6:44 a.m. Sunday renewed his demand that NFL owners “fire or suspend” players who kneel during the national anthem in protest and called on fans to boycott games if the practice continued."

Stood courageously up to the nazi president.

"The tenor and substance of those remarks, which Trump reiterated via social media over the weekend, triggered reactions from many players, coaches and executives of the NFL’s 32 teams. While far from universally in favor of the form of protest Kaepernick chose, many team owners issued statements defending the rights of players — and all Americans — to express themselves on matters they are passionate about."

Goddamned right.  Called the First Amendment.  The right to peacefully protest.

The following is stunning coming from one of the owners:

"By Sunday morning, nearly half the NFL’s 32 owners had issued statements. Among the more notable was New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, a staunch and vocal Trump supporter, as well as a $1 million donor to his inaugural, who wrote that he was “deeply disappointed by the tone of the comments made by the President on Friday.”  “There is no greater unifier in this country than sports and, unfortunately, nothing more divisive than politics,’ Kraft wrote in his statement. “I think our political leaders could learn a lot from the lessons of teamwork and the importance of working together toward a common goal. Our players are intelligent, thoughtful and care deeply about our community and I support their right to peacefully affect social change and raise awareness in a manner that they feel is most impactful.”

Indeed.  Hat's off, Mr. Kraft.  ... Should revenue drop as a result of your courageous stand, need to continue to stand tall no matter what.

"Seattle’s Pete Carroll was the first NFL head coach to issue a statement about the matter, posting on Facebook and Twitter that “there’s no longer a place to sit silently. It’s time to take a stand.”  Carroll’s statement followed those of Seattle owner Paul Allen and cornerback Richard Sherman.

"Wrote Carroll:“We stand for love and justice and civility. We stand for our players and their constitutional rights, just as we stand for equality for all people. We stand against divisiveness and hate and dehumanization. We are in the midst of a tremendously challenging time, a time longing for healing. Change needs to happen; we will stand for change. May we all have the courage to take a stand for our beliefs while not diminishing the rights of others, as this is the beating heart of our democracy. As a team, we are united in a mission to bring people together to help create positive change. We can no longer remain silent.”

When good men and women courageously stand up against egregious injustice, abject tyranny, there is indeed hope for this country.

ABC News reports:

"When New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft came out publicly against President Trump over the ongoing spat over NFL players kneeling during the "Star-Spangled Banner" ahead of games, the man who previously called the president a “very good friend” was not alone, as multiple owners are beginning to speak out on the issue.  "There is no greater unifier in this country than sports, and unfortunately, nothing more divisive than politics," Kraft said in a statement tweeted by the Patriots.  The champion team's CEO came out against Trump after the president made comments during a rally in Huntsville, Alabama on Friday, saying, "Wouldn’t you love to see one of the NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say 'Get that son of a b---- off the field right now?'"  "You know, some owner ... is going to say, 'That guy who disrespects our flag, he’s fired,'" the president said to thunderous applause and cheers.  Kraft made it clear on Sunday he disagrees with the 45th president. Rather, he supports players' rights "to peacefully [effect] social change."  "I think our political leaders could learn a lot from the lessons of teamwork and the importance of working together toward a common goal," the statement said. "Our players are intelligent, thoughtful, and care deeply about our community, and I support their right to peacefully affect social change and raise awareness in a manner that they feel is impactful."

That's right.  Exactly, what the Founders intended.

"Across the country and in the U.K., many NFL owners like Kraft backed their players -- including owners of the Atlanta Falcons, Detroit Lions, and Miami Dolphins.  Some were locked in arms with their team players and coaches as the "Star-Spangled Banner" performed, later expressing support to fight racial injustice and push back against the president's fiery rhetoric from Friday.  Jeffrey Lurie was one owner who on Sunday stood shoulder to shoulder with his Philadelphia Eagles players as they raised fists raised into the air as the "Star-Spangled Banner" played.   In a statement, the owner backed his players for their "courage, character, and commitment" into bettering communities and "to call attention to injustice."  "Having spoken with our players, I can attest to the great respect they have for our national anthem and all it represents," he said in the statement. "We at the Philadelphia Eagles firmly believe that in this difficult time of division and conflict, it is more important than ever for football to be a great unifier."

No question.  They weren't the only ones:

"Also locking arms with players during the protest over the U.S. national anthem was Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan.  Khan, in a statement, called Trump’s remarks "divisive and contentious," and declared his support for his players after meeting with some of the captains before the game.   Khan said he was "honored to be arm in arm with them, their teammates and our coaches during our anthem."  The owner added that the team and the NFL "reflects our nation," and said that it was personally important "to show the world that even if we may differ at times, we can and should be united in the effort to become better as people and a nation."

Stood tall.  ... Haven't forgotten, have you?  Many bled and died on the battlefields of all the wars fought by this country to guaranty all civil and constitutional rights and liberties. Certainly, a fine day to be an American when so many courageously stood tall against the tyranny of the Trump nazi and his henchmen.  Mark Cuban insightfully hit the nail on the head.  NBC News reports:

"Dallas Mavericks owner and businessman Mark Cuban has fired back at President Donald Trump’s criticism of NFL players who decline to stand during the national anthem, as well as the president’s decision to revoke a White House invitation to Golden State Warriors' star Stephen Curry.  “If the president's going to say something condemning a person, an industry, a sport, then he's got to be able to take the blowback that's going to come back,” Cuban told NBC News in an exclusive interview for “Meet the Press.”  “So LeBron [James] and Steph and any athlete, any owner, it's an open door now, and so they have every right for the same reasons to be able to say whatever’s on their mind," he said. "Now we'll be able to see if he can take it.”

NBC News reports:

"Two Chicago police officers are facing disciplinary action after they were photographed while in uniform taking a knee and thrusting a fist in the air, the Chicago Police confirmed in a statement."

How about that?

"Authorities have not released the names of the officers, who are both African-American, but a spokesman for the department said official policy prohibits officers from making political statements while in uniform.  "We are aware of the photo, and we will address it in the same way we have handled previous incidents in which officers have made political statements while in uniform, with a reprimand and a reminder of department policies," the department said in a statement."

NPR reports:

"Attorney General Jeff Sessions defended his boss' criticism of NFL players for kneeling in protest during the national anthem, saying Tuesday that President Trump has "free speech rights, too."

Jeff?  You're an idiot.  Hopelessly, ignorant.  Have no clue this has nothing to do with your fuhrer, the Trump nazi, exercising free speech rights.  "The Donald" talks out both sides the ass all the time with impunity.

"Sessions defended Trump's controversial remarks as he criticized college speech policies during an address at the Georgetown University Law Center. "Freedom of thought and speech on the American campus are under attack," he said."

They're certainly under attack on the streets of our formerly great country as you and your fuhrer refuse to rein in your criminal jackbooted bastards in blue who abuse, shake down, intimidate, assault, and murder innocent unarmed civilians while on duty.

"In this great land," Sessions also said, "the government does not get to tell you what to think or what to say."

Disingenuous, deceptive bullshit.  In effect, does.  Out of control criminal jackbooted bastards in black who assault and arrest innocent protesters peacefully protesting provides proof positive you're a goddamned liar.

"But in a question-and-answer session, Session said that he agrees with Trump and that "it's a big mistake" for NFL players to protest police brutality against African-Americans by kneeling during the national anthem."

What better way you hopelessly clueless, ignorant, racist, fascist son of a bitch?  What they're protesting is out of control, criminal, jackbooted bastards in blue, black, green, etc., who criminally assault, intimidate, harass, shake down, falsely arrest, and murder the innocent and unarmed on the job.

"Sessions said there are many ways "these players, with all the assets that they have, can express their political views other than, in effect, denigrating the symbols of our nation," which, he said, has provided them "freedom to speak and to act."

More bullshit coming from a racist nazi.  The Flag, the military, and professional officers who do their jobs properly are in no way denigrated.  It's the assholes like you, the Trump nazi, and corrupt, abusive, murderous officers who are excoriated, you clueless fool.  Too damned stupid to understand that, Mr. Attorney General?

"Sessions went on to say the freedom of every individual player is "paramount under the Constitution, is protected and we have to protect it." He then added, "it's not a contradiction.""

The hell it isn't.  That's precisely what it is.  A contradiction posited by a goddamned racist nazi talking out both sides his achingly fascist ass.

"More than 100 students and faculty members protested Sessions' speech, saying they were not allowed in to hear it, despite there being empty seats."

That's right.  The gutless attorney general couldn't, wouldn't tolerate ferocious but peaceful dissent.  A sniveling coward.

"Lauren Phillips, a second-year student and one of the organizers of the protest, said, "It's incredibly ironic that the attorney general wants to come here to talk about free speech but is excluding dissenting voices and potentially dissenting questions from his speech."

Abject cowardice.  To be expected from a clueless, ignorant, racist nazi.

The bottom line here is the fact the Trump nazi, his sidekick, the AG Sessions nazi, want us marching in jackbooted goose step.  Not going to happen.  Resistance must remain ferociously stiff, but peaceful.  Otherwise, the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue, black, green, etc., reserve carte blanche to murder on the job.

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk?  Get what you truly deserve.

9-29-17

Pressure on the Trump nazi grows.  ABC News reports:

"Special counsel Robert Mueller's team of investigators is seeking information from the White House related to Michael Flynn's stint as national security adviser and about the response to a meeting with a Russian lawyer that was attended by President Donald Trump's oldest son, The Associated Press has learned.  Mueller's office has requested a large batch of documents from the White House and is expected to interview at least a half dozen current and former aides in the coming weeks.  Though the full scope of the investigation is not clear, the information requests make clear at least some of the areas that Mueller and his team of prosecutors intend to probe surrounding White House actions in the early months of the administration."

Noose figuratively tightening.

Republicans remain concerned about being returned to office.  The Washington Times reports:

"Just as President Trump has begun easing off his attacks on special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, SenateJudiciary Committee members next week will consider two partisan-backed bills aimed at shielding the probe from the White House.  How heated the debate becomes over the president’s authority to dismiss Mr. Mueller should serve as an indicator of Capitol Hill’s appetite to check Mr. Trump’s executive powers before the midterm elections.  “I haven’t made up my mind if I’m going to be for a bill or not,” committee chairman Chuck Grassley told The Washington Times on Wednesday. “I agreed to have the hearing because of all the questions that can be raised about whether the special counsel can be fired or not.”

Eminently careful about covering their asses, aren't they?

NBC News reports:

"Shortly before Donald Trump secured the Republican nomination last summer, his campaign chairman offered to provide private briefings on the race to a Russian billionaire with Kremlin ties, his spokesman confirmed to NBC News.  The offer appeared in emails between then campaign chairman Paul Manafort and one of his employees, some of which suggested Manafort was seeking to use his role to make money, the Washington Post reported. The spokesman, Jason Maloni, said the emails, which had been turned over to congressional committees, showed nothing improper."

Think not?  Consider the following:

"The Post said the billionaire was Oleg Deripaska, an oligarch in Putin's inner circle. NBC News has reported that Manafort had business dealings with Deripaska, who was once denied entry to the United States because of alleged mafia links.  Maloni said he did not dispute that the billionaire was Deripaska.  "If he needs private briefings we can accommodate," Manafort wrote in the July 7, 2016, email, the Post reported.  Other exchanges discussed money Manafort believed he was owed by Eastern European clients, the Post said.  Just after Trump named Manafort as a campaign strategist, the Post reported, Manafort referred to his positive press and growing reputation and asked his employee in an email, "How do we use to get whole?"  Maloni told NBC News: "It is no secret Mr. Manafort was owed money by past clients after his work ended in 2014. This exchange is innocuous."

Think so?

The Washington Times reports:

"Facebook says the company will provide the contents of 3,000 ads bought by a Russian agency to congressional investigators.  The move Thursday comes as the company has faced growing pressure from members of Congress to release the content of the ads. Facebook had already released the ads to federal authorities investigating Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.  The leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee have been seeking to bring Facebook executives before their committee since the company first revealed the existence of the ads two weeks ago.  But critics say Facebook should go further. They say the company should tell its users how they might have been influenced by outside meddlers."

Indeed.

The Washington Post reports:

"Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III is clearly building a case against Paul Manafort, President Trump's former top campaign aide. The inescapable conclusion from that is that he is hoping Manafort will cut a deal — that he'll “flip” on Trump and spill whatever beans he might have to spill.  With that possibility looking increasingly real, the White House must figure out its Manafort strategy. How the administration handles the former Trump aide who might wind up being its worst enemy is perhaps the most intriguing personal subplot of the Hollywood drama that is the Russia investigation.  And if the initial response to the latest Manafort news is any indication, the White House is preparing to fight Manafort head-on."

Why wouldn't they?  To be expected.

"The Post broke a big story Wednesday, publishing some contents of the emails Mueller's investigators have obtained from Manafort. In those emails, Manafort talks about setting up a briefing with a Russian oligarch who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He also discusses his newfound high profile as a Trump strategist and asks an employee, “How do we use [this] to get whole?” — apparently referring to debts he believed he was owed but had been unable to collect."

Judge Andrew Napolitano of Fox News has an interesting take.  Fox News reports:

"The Donald Trump I know is a smart guy who often thinks a few steps ahead of those whose will he is trying to bend. But I lately wonder whether he grasps the gravity of the legal peril that is beginning to show up around him. In the past week, we learned of an unfiltered public confession of frustration and weakness among his lawyers and we learned that his former chief confidant and campaign manager is about to be indicted. This is very bad news for President Trump.  Here is the back story.  Trump has hired two experienced Washington criminal defense lawyers to represent him in dealings with Robert Mueller, the independent special counsel who is investigating what connection, if any, there was between Trump’s presidential campaign and elements of the Russian government. Mueller has apparently struck a raw nerve in the West Wing of the White House, where Trump’s criminal defense lawyers and the White House legal counsel all work."

Seems Trump may not be well-served by his legal team.  Here are the two opposing viewpoints posited by Napolitano:

"The criminal defense lawyers who represent the president as a private person are apparently of the belief that he has done no wrong and the surrendering of documents to Mueller would only confirm that. The White House legal counsel, which works for the presidency as a governmental institution, recognizes that as president, Trump enjoys many privileges, among them the right to keep certain communications secret. That is known as executive privilege. It was crafted by Trump’s predecessors and articulated by the courts to permit presidents to keep from prosecutors and Congress and the public secret communications about military, diplomatic and sensitive national security matters.

"The White House counsel worries that if he were to give Mueller everything Mueller seeks, the White House would not be able to claim the privilege should a communication it has already surrendered prove harmful to the president. Those on the criminal defense team believe that their client has done no wrong and a complete surrendering to Mueller of all the documents he seeks would accelerate the end of his investigation. One of the criminal defense lawyers even told Trump that Mueller would be off his back by Thanksgiving."

Interesting, isn't it?  Here is the kicker:

"How do we know all this?  We know it because one of the criminal defense lawyers incredibly discussed it openly at a D.C. restaurant within the hearing range of a reporter for The New York Times. When the Times ran what its reporter overheard as a front-page story, no denials came from the president’s lawyers.  This lawyer's apparently unfiltered and embarrassing public revelations of disputes within the White House over the appropriate presidential response to the special counsel’s demands are malpractice because they revealed to Mueller, as well as to the public, defects in the president’s legal strategy -- namely, the absence of a final legal decision-maker and the absence of a coherent strategy on the part of the president’s combined legal team."

Fascinating take, isn't it?

"An indictment of Manafort, which Mueller says is coming soon, will be used as an instrument to flip him into spilling whatever beans he has on his former boss. And we can expect indictments of others presently or formerly near the president as part of the prosecutorial process.  Where does this leave Trump? In the hands of incompetent lawyers, under the crosshairs of a team of very aggressive federal prosecutors and publicly indifferent to the tightening and frightening legal noose around him."

As long as the unvarnished truth ultimately comes out as a result of the investigation, who cares what the ultimate consequences to Trump, his henchmen, and family happen to be?  Justice should be the bottom line.  Why should any president be able to use executive privilege to shield himself or herself from criminal prosecution and/or removal from office?

Nixon was certainly prevented from doing so by a Supreme Court ruling vis a vis forced disclosure of his highly incriminating Oval Office tapes.  Facing certain impeachment, resigned in disgrace.  The credibility issue with Napolitano remains long-standing.  While legally brilliant in mind and perspective, remains hopelessly partisan in the pocket of the Republican Party.

9-29-17

North Korea remains quite a dilemma for Trump and his henchmen.  CBS News reports:

"Vice President Mike Pence told "CBS This Morning" on Thursday that while the Trump administration is looking for a "peaceful resolution" to the North Korean crisis, the United States has many "options" to handle the ongoing threats posed by the regime.   "What the secretaries have made clear, what the president has made clear, is we have military options but we earnestly desire a peaceable outcome that achieves what the Chinese foreign minister and I talked about yesterday. The entire world has one goal, and that is the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, we want to achieve that peaceably, but all options are on the table," said Pence."

What viable options?  Trump and Pence clearly have none.  -- None that would not have catastrophic consequences for South Korea, Japan, and the entire region.

"Pence also responded to criticism posed by former White House adviser Steve Bannon, who said in an interview that "there's no military solution" to North Korea, calling out that assessment as inaccurate.   "There was some talk two or three weeks ago, some commentators, that the most powerful military on Earth doesn't have the ability to take action to defend our people, that's wrong," said Pence."

Pence, like his fuhrer, the Trump nazi, continues to talk out the ass.  First, Pence distorts what Bannon was clearly addressing.  That is, any attack on the North, whether conventional or nuclear, would lead to immediate catastrophic loss of life in the South.  Thousands killed the first day of shelling from North Korean artillery.

-- That's if the war remained conventional, did not turn quickly nuclear as a result of danger of U.S. forces being quickly overrun by North Korean troops.  Unquestionably, any use of nuclear weaponry would result in catastrophic loss of millions of lives in the region.  While North Korea would quickly be turned into glass, the entire region would pay the consequences indefinitely.  That's what Bannon was likely addressing.

"He added, "The president desires a peaceful resolution of this confrontation with North Korea and we'll continue to pursue that, but it all begins when the Kim regime announces their willingness to abandon their nuclear and ballistic missiles program and not before."

Not going to happen.  Snowball's chance.  Even if China shut off all trade and assistance to the North.  Such a cut off might trigger the war that's supposedly unwanted by Trump and his henchmen.  North Korea would have nothing to lose.  Nothing at all.

"He said that North Korea's possession of nuclear weapons was "simply unacceptable," backing up Mr. Trump's stern warnings at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday that the U.S. could "destroy" North Korea if threatened.   "The president has wanted to make it clear and he's made it clear that in the event that North Korea takes action that threatens the United States or our allies, that our response will be overwhelming and effective," Pence said."

An empty, woefully un-thought out threat.  Of even greater concern is the lack of any response from Trump and his henchmen to North Korean threats to atmospherically test a nuclear-tipped ICBM in the Pacific.  Worse?  Deafening silence of the world community, particularly, the UN.

Trump is clearly growing increasingly desperate.  Precisely, why his rhetoric aimed at the North Korean dictator grows progressively delusional and combative.  -- Unlike any president since the dawn of the nuclear age in 1945.  His executive orders equally meaningless and ineffective.  Fox News reports:

"President Trump signed an executive order Thursday targeting North Korea’s trading partners, calling it a “powerful” new tool aimed at isolating and de-nuclearizing the regime.  The president announced the order as he met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.  He said the order would help target individuals and companies doing business with Pyongyang. Specifically, he said it enhances the Treasury Department’s authority to target those conducting significant trade with the regime, including by sanctioning foreign banks.  “It is unacceptable that others financially support this criminal rogue regime,” Trump said.  He added, “Foreign banks will face a clear choice. Do business with the United States, or facilitate trade with the lawless regime in North Korea.”

Trump made the same threat previously vis a vis China.  Accomplished nothing.  Why would this executive order be any more effective in cutting off all trade in the region and throughout the world with North Korea?

ABC News reports:

"President Donald Trump claimed on Thursday that China, North Korea's principal trading partner, has ordered its banks to stop doing business with the rogue regime.  "I'm very proud to tell you that, as you may have just heard moments ago, China, their central bank has told their other banks — that's a massive banking system — to immediately stop doing business with North Korea," he said at the United Nations alongside South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.  Trump went on, "Again, I want to just say and thank President Xi [Jinping] of China for the very bold move he made today. That was a somewhat unexpected move, and we appreciate it."  Trump spoke after signing an executive order aimed at companies and financial institutions that do business with North Korea."

Even if the Chinese follow through and cut off banking with the North, they still have not cut off oil and other trade.  Show no willingness to stiff arm their ally.  Readers are reminded cutting off trade, denying others energy and other natural resources can have significant consequences.  Proof positive?  Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941.  Certainly, no quick and easy answers to this latest dilemma.

Trump's closest henchmen remain equally delusional.  Fox News reports:

"U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley defended President Donald Trump's speech to the United Nations General Assembly and his new nickname for North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un: "Rocket Man."  On “Good Morning America?," Haley said the most important thing about Trump's "Rocket Man" remark is that "it worked."  “This is a way of getting people to talk about him,” Haley said.  ”Every other international community is now referring to him as ‘Rocket Man.'”

She's lost her mind.  Pitiful.  Achingly, clueless.

Other Republicans remain equally insane.  Fox News reports:

"Mike Huckabee ripped Hillary Clinton's criticism of President Trump's speech to the United Nations.  Huckabee said on FBN that he was "so proud of the president for going to the UN and saying to the faces of these countries what most of us know to be true."  During his speech, Trump had strong warnings for rogue regimes in Iran and North Korea, to which Clinton took issue.  Clinton told CBS' Stephen Colbert that the solution is not threats but "more diplomacy." "You were the chief diplomat of the United States. How well did that work out for us?" Huckabee said, adding that Bill Clinton made a failed deal with Kim Jong-Il in the 1990s.  To those who called Trump's speech "dark and dangerous," Huckabee said the real "dark and dangerous" issue was that "Little Kim, a.k.a. Rocket Man lighting the candle on ICBMs and firing them over Japan."

The failure indeed goes back to 1950 when our country stupidly decided to go to war in Korea.  The same pointed question Huckabee rightfully directs at Clinton can also be directed against the Trump nazi and his henchmen.  Certainly, more than enough blame to go around.  Both parties.

9-29-17

Nazism grows in Alabama.  Sessions wasn't bad enough.  Now, another psychotic, racist nazi may replace him in the Senate.  NBC News reports:

"The candidate in the driver’s seat to become Alabama’s next senator is an uncompromising evangelical conservative twice removed from the state’s Supreme Court for putting his faith above the law.  Roy Moore, the Republican who knocked out Alabama Sen. Luther Strange in Tuesday’s runoff election, has been a well-known figure among the GOP’s most conservative members for his staunch defense of religious liberties and outspoken opposition to gay marriage and abortion. And he proved to be the candidate most capable of tapping into the populist wave that swept Donald Trump into office, even without the president’s backing."

NBC certainly is overly kind to Moore.  This man represents an exigent threat to all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.  Has quite a checkered history.  Before getting into the fact he was twice removed from the bench, consider the following:

"Like Trump, Moore has a history of making controversial statements. As a judge, Moore wrote in a 2002 opinion that homosexuality is "an inherent evil," warned at a 2012 tea party rally that same-sex marriage would be “the ultimate destruction of our country.” He’s said everything from 9/11 to school shootings to high murder rates are examples of God punishing America, writing in one poem that “when abortion is no longer called murder, when sodomy is deemed a right, then good is now called evil and darkness is now called light.” He has said that he has a "personal belief" that former President Barack Obama was not born in the United States, aligning himself with the conspiracy theory Trump pushed for years as a private citizen."

A nazi can never ever be confused with the truth.

"Moore has made clear, however, that his defense of religious liberties does not extend to Islam. Earlier this year he called it a “false religion” and in 2006 wrote that Muslim Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., should not be seated in Congress for being sworn in on the Quran.  “Common sense alone dictates that in the midst of a war with Islamic terrorists we should not place someone in a position of great power who shares their doctrine,” Moore wrote. “In 1943, we would never have allowed a member of Congress to take their oath on “Mein Kampf,” or someone in the 1950s to swear allegiance to the “Communist Manifesto.”

Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, ironically, couldn't have said it better.

"Moore first gained national notoriety among conservatives when he installed a 5,280-pound sculpture of the Ten Commandments in the rotunda of the Alabama Supreme Court in 2001. His refusal to remove the two-and-a-half ton stone led to his ouster as chief justice but spurred a national tour by both Moore and the monument."

This unabashed nazi , however, wasn't anywhere near finished taking a raucous hard dump on the Constitution he falsely swore to protect and defend:

"But Moore had a comeback of sorts in 2012 when he again was elected as chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.  Again, however, Moore did not finish out his term. He controversially directed state judges in 2016 not to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, leading to his suspension and ultimate retirement earlier this year."

Democrats will likely have a rhetorical field day with this racist nazi.  Already begun.  ABC News reports:

"Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chairman Chris Van Hollen and Democratic National Committee associate chair Jaime Harrison touted Moore's opponent in the race in December, Doug Jones.  "Voters can't look past Roy Moore's fringe beliefs, habit of putting himself first and his dishonesty," Van Hollen said in a statement. "Even Republicans have said Moore is unfit to serve and spent millions to keep him out of office. Doug Jones is a man of character and integrity, who is unafraid to stand up for what's right and has a proven record of independence that will serve Alabama families in the U.S. Senate."

"Roy Moore has demonstrated time and again that he is unfit to represent Alabamians in the U.S. Senate," Harrison said in a statement. "As a judge, he raised his own taxpayer-funded salary, even though Alabama's judges were already the highest paid in the nation. Twice, he was stripped of his duties as chief justice for defying the law. And on top of that, he and his wife pocketed more than $1 million from their own charity. Alabamians deserve better. They deserve an independent leader like Doug Jones as their next senator."

In racist nazi Alabama, Moore will likely win.

NPR's take:

"After being elected to the state supreme court in 2000, Moore was removed just three years later for erecting a massive monuments of the Ten Commandments outside the state judicial building and refusing to remove it when ordered to do so by the federal courts.  Moore was re-elected to the state court in 2012, but was suspended again after he directed judges in the state to ignore the U.S. Supreme Court's 2015 decision that legalized gay marriage."

Moore's boot twice from the Alabama Supreme Court brings up another matter already addressed in earlier editions of this publication.  Requires some additional attention now, however.  Widely disparate personal experiences, to say nothing of cultural differences and race, seem to inspire widely divergent views regarding the very same issue.

Think not?  Have spoken to a number of whites in Llano County who see no reason to remove Confederate statues from government property.  Seem to think race relations have improved to the point where blacks should not be offended by statues highly symbolic of slavery, Jim Crow, and ubiquitous racism all across the country certainly right after the Civil War extending well into the 1960s and beyond.

Many seem to think racism has dramatically declined in the last several decades.  That things have improved.  Suspect this is largely due to the fact racism became politically incorrect the last several decades.  Consequently, reverted to the closet.  Largely, not obvious to the community unless one is of color and subjected to it.  This certainly changed with all the recent murders of unarmed innocent black men by law enforcement.

Furthermore, growing unwillingness of the black community to tolerate the intolerable.  At the same time, despite all the killings of blacks by officers, the majority of these killings are indeed whites as reported in this publication and elsewhere.  Yet, many whites fail to understand the killing of anyone innocent and unarmed by police is an atrocity that cannot be tolerated.

Precisely, why a growing number of whites and others are joining blacks in their protest of these ongoing murders perpetrated by police.  Are certainly paying the price for engaging in the constitutionally-protected right to peacefully protest.  Have been wrongfully arrested, beaten, etc..  This remains appallingly intolerable in what is supposed to be a democratic republic.

Local blacks have told this writer bigotry remains alive and well in Llano County.  While not anywhere near as virulent as in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, etc., still exists here.  Blacks clearly believe they remain unwanted, unvalued, second class citizens, and are careful not to step out of line.  That's intolerable.  Unbecoming of the non-black community that continues to elicit this reaction from the black community.  Intentionally, or not.

The white community remains proud of its heritage.  Argues Confederate statues should not be removed from government properties.  Does not perceive these statues symbolic of racism, Jim Crow, etc..  Also, passionately argues where the line should in fact be drawn.  Several in this community correctly state the Founders were indeed slave owners.  Ask whether their statues should be similarly removed?

Where to draw the line?  The Founders were not all slave owners.  Nor did all the Founders approve of slavery.  The Founders, far from perfect, did indeed do the very best they could to establish a democratic republic that would last.  Endure the test of time.  Had to have been appalled when the South traitorously decided to secede.

Especially, since secession was not based on abolition of slavery, but states rights.  An issue that has yet to be resolved since 1776.  Yet, we continue to have a country that continues to be splitting apart at the seams.  Exacerbated not only by ongoing, unresolved racism, bigotry, but now the transition from the de facto fascist police-state we now live in to the Fourth Reich.

Unless we quickly smarten up, the worst is yet to come.  The revolution doomsday clock strikes ever closer to midnight.  Hear the rumble?  An unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looming.  Time to wake up.  Before too late.  If there is no change, there will be no country.  Any questions?

9-29-17

GOP effort to repeal Obamacare continues.  Latest attempt may go down in flames.  NPR reports:

"Sen. John McCain may, once again, be the savior of President Barack Obama's signature domestic achievement.  The Arizona Republican announced in a statement on Friday that he opposes the latest GOP legislation to dismantle the Affordable Care Act.  "I cannot in good conscience vote for the Graham-Cassidy proposal. I believe we could do better working together, Republicans and Democrats, and have not yet really tried," McCain said in a statement posted on his website.  McCain now joins Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., as one of two Republican "no" votes on the bill. Republicans cannot lose any additional senators and still pass the legislation with 50 votes and Vice President Pence acting as the tiebreaker.  One of the bill's sponsors, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is McCain's closest friend in the Senate and said that friendship "is not based on how he votes but respect for how he's lived his life and the person he is." Graham also vowed to "press on" with his legislation."

With a deadline quickly approaching that would require more than a simple majority after deadline, the Trump nazi grows increasingly impatient.  Two more Republican Senators have come out against the bill, effectively killing it if the count stands.

It has.  NPR reports:

"Republicans are once again waving the white flag on health care.  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that he is pulling the Republican health care bill because it does not have the votes.  Rather than endure another embarrassing vote that sees his caucus come up short, the senators agreed in a closed-door meeting to shelve the bill."

9-29-17

Trump is certainly continuing to kick the family hard in the ass.  The Washington Times reports:

"The Homeland Security Department has doubled the rate of denials of Dreamers’ amnesty applications, according to numbers released Wednesday that suggest the administration had been taking a harder line even before President Trump’s announcement this month that he would phase out the DACA program altogether."

Adolf and Benito?  High-fiving from their fiery perches:

"Some 32 percent applications for DACA status that were decided from April to June were rejected. That is twice the 16 percent rate of the last months of the Obama administration and far more than the 1 percent denial rate in the early days of the program."

Transformation from the de facto fascist police-state we already live in to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich remains well underway:

"Analysts said the increase is evidence that Mr. Trump’s get-tough approach is having an effect at all levels of Homeland Security, including the officers at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services who rule on applications for legal immigration benefits such as green cards, citizenship and DACA, the Obama-era deportation amnesty."

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
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The Llano Ledger
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