What Is It? An Imposter Or Madness?

I Am Not A Liar!

In June of 2017, at the start of Donald Trump's first term, Sean Spicer, then the White House Press Secretary, said that Donald Trump's tweets "are considered official statements by the President of the United States."  I did a search and could find no policy change from the White House that retracted or disavowed that statement.  

I just read that the actor Kelsey Grammer said he liked President Trump, adding "I've never seen a more transparent presidency in my life".  I'm not sure that publicly and continuously lying qualifies as transparent, but what are we to make of the recent racist post picturing President Obama and his wife?

Was that post and picture an "official statement" from the President of the United States?

Trump now claims that he didn't make the racist post.  It was posted on his account by some unnamed staff member and the post has now been taken down.  Is this follow-up statement a transparent clarification or just another lie?

So which is it?  Are his posts still supposed to be taken as policy?  Trump clearly intends them to be taken seriously.  Or, are there staff members who are free to make official presidential announcements without Trump's knowledge?  Or, are these posts just the ramblings of a seriously damaged mind?

Finally, should Trump still be in control of the nuclear codes?  I wonder if some un-named staff member also has the codes.

I'm The President! Get Off My Yard Or I'll Nuke You!

Hey you kids, get off my yard!

When I first saw Trump's mug shot I started laughing.  My first thought was he looked like some grumpy old man yelling at the neighbor kids who were walking on his grass again.  

I'm sure he spent a lot of time thinking about what image he wanted to project and then practicing that glare until he got it just right.  He wanted to make sure that his first mug shot looked presidential.  

What a clown.

Trump, Stay Healthy

It recently occurred to me that I didn't want anything bad to happen to former president Donald Trump. No cancer, no heart attack and certainly no death. It's not because I'm a supporter of his or I'm such a good person that I'm above evil thoughts.

I wouldn't mind at all if Putin soon met his maker.

I think Donald Trump was certainly the worst president in my lifetime.  He has done immense and possibly lasting harm to this country. I think he is despicable and I would be happy to see him gone.  Except that if anything does go wrong with him (other than his current incurable mental illness) his cult following will amaze us all with the astounding conspiracy theories they will concoct.

All the usual suspects will be accused of somehow causing him harm. The fact that they can't find any evidence that would prove that Democrats caused his heart attack will just convince them there was foul play. Probably some some deep state cabal used the most sophisticated science to clog Trump's arteries. Remember, Trump's world class doctor said Trump was so healthy he could live to be 200 years old.

I'm sure we'll hear that there is proof that Democrats promised aliens from outer space they could use earth as a second home for as long as they like if they would just find an untraceable way to get rid of Trump. Possibly by putting small doses of something in the greasy hamburgers he eats. And that may be one of the saner theories.

If the MAGA cult can work themselves into such a rage that they attack the Capital based on Trump's fake hissy fit over a lost election, what will they do when they are convinced the Dear Leader has been physically harmed?

What we need is for Trump to lead a long, healthy, quiet life at Mara-a-Lago reading his Kim Jung Un love letters. Once the MAGA crowd has moved on to the next autocrat, Trump is also free to move on.

 

Save Our Democracy, STOP THE BIG LIE

Republican Elephant Shit

It is clear the violent insurrectionists who attacked the Capital on January 6th were hoping to prevent the certification of the election of Joe Biden to the presidency and have Donald Trump reinstated as president.  It is becoming clear that former president Donald Trump and his allies (including some elected officials) were also trying to use quasi-constitutional schemes to prevent the certification of the election of Joe Biden and instead certify that Donald Trump had won.  How closely these two groups were working together to complete an insurrection is still being investigated.

These subversive actions were planned even though Joe Biden won the election by roughly seven million popular votes and 76 electoral college votes.  There were various recounts, court cases and certification by all states which affirmed that there was very little if any voter fraud and Joe Biden was the winner.

Yet Donald Trump and most Republicans keep spreading the Big Lie that there was widespread fraud and the election was stolen.  This lie is ominous because it seems to be setting the stage for future manipulation of election results.

The courts and congress will have the final say on how the insurrectionists should be punished and what changes are required to defend our constitution, but I have a different question.

What did the insurrectionists and the people who support them think would happen if they had been successful on January 6th?

Do conservatives think the Democrats would just say something like "Aw shucks, lost again", give up and walk away?

In 2000, Al Gore and the Democrats used all the legal actions at their disposal to get an accurate count of votes in Florida which they believed would show Al Gore won and would be the next President of the United States.  Yet when the Supreme Court (on a purely political split) stopped the Florida count and therefore gave the state to George W. Bush by a roughly 800 vote margin, Gore graciously conceded and Democrats reluctantly accepted the result.

If today's conservatives were on the losing end of a vote count like 2000, what would they do? Keep in mind former President Trump has no intention of ever conceding the 2020 presidential election.  He has made it clear that he does not believe in the peaceful transition of power.  More upsetting are the number of his supporters who agree with his actions.

Now we see Republicans in many areas trying to change state laws to make it easier to manipulate election results in the future to favor them and possibly override election results.  

Speaking for myself, if Republicans someday succeed in overruling voters and changing the results of elections, I, and I expect many other Democrats and independents, will not calmly walk away.

I would prefer that we put in laws and rules that prevent the subversion of our democracy.  If there are differences in how our democracy should be run, I would prefer that those differences be settled in the courts and legislatures, but if those processes fail to defend our democratic principles and processes, extraordinary remedies may be required.  Once a democracy is lost it is difficult to bring it back because the insurrections are even more emboldened to use their illegally won power to retain their positions.

I beg all voters, especially Republicans, who understand how radical and dangerous the Big Lie is to help defend our constitution and country.  Do not support politicians that are willing to damage our democracy to retain their political power.  Don't accept changes to election laws that are claimed to be needed to stop future election fraud.  If a politician won't publicly and clearly state there was no wide spread fraud and Joe Biden is the properly elected president, don't vote for them.  Don't accept a mealy mouthed, elephant shit answer that there were irregularities or state laws were not followed.  Politicians need to say that the states all certified their votes and Biden won. Any other answer damages our democracy.