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Saturday, August 31, 2024

Cemeterygate

Click here for a Robert Reich entry on Substack entitled "Trump's Cemeterygate," subtitled "It was Trump on full display," from August 30.

Trump took an entourage, complete with film crew, to Arlington National Cemetery to take part in a three-year anniversary of the messy U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in another of his many attacks on Biden for this (despite the fact that Biden was adhering to the terms of an arrangement that had been agreed to by Trump in an effort to leave Biden, succeeding him in the White House, with as messy a military situation as he could).

They were confronted by a female cemetery employee who tried to stop them, since using the National Cemetery for political purposes is a federal criminal offense. After arguing with her, the Trump group physically pushed her aside and entered anyway, and photos of Trump at a soldier's graveside, grinning and giving a thumbs-up sign (clueless, as always) were subsequently posted online. This is Reich's take on the incident.

The entire incident is also a microcosm of Trump’s utter disdain for morality, honor, and patriotism — the public virtues, the common good. The cemetery is a sacred, hallowed ground. It is considered to be a national shrine. Trump sullied it to achieve his personal goal of the moment: to get a news clip in which he could bash Biden and, indirectly, Kamala Harris.

Thursday, August 29, 2024

Partisanship: The Achilles' Heel of the American Political System

Click here for Heather Cox Richardson's entry for August 27 in her diary, Letters from an American.

Remember Traitor Trump's Attack on the Capitol!

This is copy-and-pasted from a question on Quora answered by Henry R. Greenfield:

It is August 28, 2024, new videos have been released as part of a documentary focusing on Nancy Pelosi Speaker of the House and the attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters on Jan 6, 2021, who he told to go down and take back your country after a rally on the Mall in an attempt to block the certification of Biden’s decisive victory over Trump and so that Trump could overturn the election and end democracy in America.

He failed, but just barely and he is still trying to do it to this very day denying still that he lost.

She added, ‘he’s got to pay a price for this’.

Trump did not pay a price for it as the Republicans chickened out in the Senate and not enough voted to convict him at his 2nd impeachment and those who did like Mitt Romney were ostracized and eventually forced out of the Senate and the GOP.

Trump paid nothing, nothing at all. After a short shock where Kevin McCarthy, Mitch McConnell among others blamed him for the insurrection, they now have not just ‘kissed the ring’ but McConnell even stood up at the roll call at the RNC and cast Kentucky’s votes for Trump.

The reality is while Mike Pence did the obvious right thing and simply certified what was already a foregone proven conclusion, that Biden had soundly beaten Trump in the popular vote and in the electoral college, most of the Republicans ran. Eventually they ran back and cowered in front of the ‘domestic enemy in the White House’ Donald Trump and now are completely beholden to them.

Remember this comic scene a couple of months ago:

Marco Rubio so taken with Trump’s return to the Capitol for the 1st time since Jan 6, ‘we got the team back together again’.

I watch the apologists on Fox and the never ending pundits who make excuses for Trump saying versions of, everyone knows him, or what you see is what you get. And then immediately launch into attacks on Harris for something she said 5 years ago like it is the gospel while Trump trying to overthrow the government is just passed off as oh well, shit happens.

The is the travesty of the GOP today. They not only have no spine, they have come to worship their little anti-christ. He stands there in the US capitol which his minions were told to go down and take back your country and they tried, stands there, all of them mocking their oath to the constitution of the USA.

Laughing at these fools while they suck up to him as the ‘team is back together’.

What team Little Marco? Are you on the team that tried to overthrow the government? Are you declaring yourself to be a traitor to your oath of office. Is Mitch McConnell not had enough with his manipulation, lies and stuffing the Supreme Court changing and rechanging the rules so that women can have their constitutional rights taken away. So that Trump can now be a little king if he is elected as he has been made immune, like some kind of alien who no one can get rid of.

Watch the videos with Pelosi. What is absolutely amazing is how calm she is. 80 years old at the time, totally together. Lamenting where is the National Guard, admitting that she should have seen this coming. Asking why do we put people in charge who do not protect the capitol. Concluding that there is a domestic enemy in the White House.

All as she is walking away to a waiting car to take her to safety while her office was trashed and someone literally took a ‘shit’ on her desk.

By the way these are the people Trump will honor on his Jan 6′er dinner at where else, his golf club of course. Where he plans to raise millions for himself in September. Yes, this traitor is actually raising money ostensibly for the defense of the traitors who attacked the capitol and then of course he will grift it and steal it all.

ARE YOU NOT SICK OF THIS HORRIBLE CLOWN AND STAIN ON AMERICA!!

I wish I could remain as calm as Pelosi. Maybe we should be listening to the 200 former Trump staffers who signed a letter today supporting Kamala Harris.

Maybe we should remember that 40 of the 44 cabinet members of Trump refused to endorse him.

Maybe just maybe, someone on the Republican side that is in power will stop kissing Trump’s fat ass and say, he is a traitor because that is what he was and is and always will be.

He is telling you all exactly who he is all the time. Dictator for a day, deportation for 15 million, Muslim ban, pro Christian Nationalism, pro white racists like in Charlottesville where there were ‘good people on both sides’. Yeh like this:

Unite the right rally which is why Biden ran for President and beat Trump.

You cannot let this mini wannabe dictator back in.

Otherwise the domestic enemy in the White House will make sure there will be no more democracy in America.

That my friends is what you have to contemplate as you prepare to go to the polls starting in less than a month on early voting.

Trump and fascism or America and democracy. That’s what’s on the table yet again.

Once and for all bury this guy in a landslide for Harris/Walz and continue to restore some dignity to the country and hopefully give the Republicans the will to excise this cancer from their party.

Or do you want Trump’s NAZI and racist followers tramping through the halls of Congress again, this time owning it and taking it away from you, the people of America.

You have a choice, make the right one and make sure you vote BLUE.



Friday, August 23, 2024

A man of his word -- oh, wait ...

 RFK Jr., who just withdrew from his presidential campaign and pledged his support to Donald Trump, wrote this on May 26 -- just under three months ago:

President Trump scammed American workers. He promised to bring back manufacturing, raise wages, fix trade deals, close the carried interest loophole, and help small farmers. But everything President Trump achieved were things the Republican machine wanted. We got a tax cut for Jeff Bezos, deregulation for special interests, and giveaways to agriculture conglomerates. 

President Trump let the Bush wing of the GOP run all his agencies. His Interior Secretary was an oil & gas lobbyist. His Defense Secretary was a Raytheon lobbyist. His EPA Administrator was a coal lobbyist. His HHS Secretary was a pharmaceutical lobbyist. And his Labor Secretary was a lawyer for mega corporations. 

President Trump’s supposed support for farmers ($28 billion) all went to Big Ag conglomerates.  

We had the worst rioting and looting this country had seen since the 60s under President Trump. He inflamed racial tensions and didn’t keep us safe. Instead of using federal law enforcement to stop the rioting, Trump thought it was good optics to let Democrat-run cities burn.

President Trump bragged about arming Ukraine more than Obama did. He also walked away unilaterally from the intermediate range nuclear missile treaty with Russia, destabilizing our relationship. He also exacerbated tensions between Ukraine and Russia that ultimately caused a war. 

Trump appointed the worst neocons to the highest positions of power in his administration: John Bolton, HR McMaster, and Robert O’Brien. Now, Lindsey Graham is one of his top advisors and likely to be his Secretary of State. 

President Trump bombed Syria, killed an Iranian general, and failed to fulfill his promise of ending the war in Afghanistan. President Trump invented lockdowns. He shut down millions of small businesses and facilitated the greatest wealth transfer to billionaires in this country’s history. 

President Trump did nothing to solve the opioid crisis. It got far worse under his tenure while his appointees running HHS were in the pocket of big pharma. 

If you think a second Trump term would be any different, you are engaging in wishful thinking.


 

Thursday, August 22, 2024

Fathers and sons.

"Get that blood cleaned up -- it's disgusting."

Words of wisdom.

I don't think this lady likes Ann Coulter.

Childless monkey woman for Trump -- I love it! (Language)

Wednesday, August 21, 2024

Tuesday, August 20, 2024

"What happened to inflation?" - an explanation by Paul Krugman

Click here for an article in The New York Times by Paul Krugman entitled "What happened to inflation?"

Democratic National Convention, Day 1 - HCR

Click here for a Substack article by Heather Cox Richardson, August 19, 2024, her diary entry in "Letters from an American."

It's a recap of Day 1 of the Democratic National Convention.

Democratic Convention: Thank you, Joe Biden

Click here for a Substack article by Robert Reich entitled "We thank you, Joe." It's a pretty good recounting of Biden's achievements.

Polite - "politically correct"; empathetic - "woke"?

This is in response to a question on Quora: Why do liberals love "wokeness"?

So here’s what happened. A couple of decades ago, some Republicans decided that being polite was interfering with their agenda. They needed to make Democrats sound like radicals, even though the Democrats were offering popular and reasonable policy proposals. So they needed a way to make politeness itself sound silly and delusional. Enter the phrase, “political correctness.

Obviously, since nearly all of us were raised to be polite, and respect politeness, it isn’t possible to attack politeness itself. But if you can relabel it first, then it is much easier to attack. So being polite to others became political correctness, and political correctness became a bad thing.

Now the same thing is happening to empathy. Basic human empathy is a good thing. Like politeness, empathy helps us survive as a society. But it also leads to governmental policies to help disadvantaged people. Obviously this is something Republicans cannot abide. But how can they attack basic, human empathy?

Well, the same way they attacked politeness; relabel it. So empathy is now called “wokeness,” and that can be attacked. When a Democrat calls for measures to help protect minority citizens from police violence, it isn’t because of empathy (a good thing), it’s because that Democrat is all “woke” (a bad thing).



Narcissistic Collapse

Click here for an article in Psychology Today by Ellnor Greenberg, Ph.D., entitled "What is Narcissistic Collapse?" 

Key points:

  • Narcissists can experience a narcissistic collapse when faced with a situation resulting in public humiliation and failure.
  • During a narcissistic collapse, the narcissistic defenses that keep them confident are no longer working.

In a narcissistic collapse, they feel extremely anxious, depressed, ashamed, and may be unable to keep functioning. 

Exhibitionist narcissists "use a simple three-part defense to create a façade of extreme self-confidence. I call this the “GOD defense.”

G – Grandiosity: They act as if they are special and entitled to do or say whatever they want. Grandiose motto: “I am special.”

O – Omnipotent: They make all sorts of unrealistic claims about how powerful and knowledgeable they are. Omnipotent motto: “I can do anything, and I know everything worth knowing,”

D – Devaluing: They feel free to attack and devalue anyone who is not clearly above them in their status hierarchy. Devaluing motto: “You are worthless, defective garbage, and are here to serve me.”

Remind you of anyone? Trump has been extremely low energy lately, dragging himself listlessly through his appearances.

Solve the border crisis? Not if it helps the Democrats!

Here' a clip showing the hard-right senator from Oklahoma, James Lankford, who helped negotiate a bill that would improve the border situation. Trump spoke out against the bill because he did not want the Democrats to score a political win; Republicans then defeated the bill on the House floor.

Monday, August 19, 2024

Four on one is not enough!

Wednesday, August 14, 2024

Night Fever! (The Musk and Trump version is toxic.)

Here's the original video:
Here's the phony, posted by Musk:

Frances Perkins! (Must Read.)

Click here for Heather Cox Richardson's August 13 entry in her Letters from an American.

Frances Perkins was FDR's secretary of labor from 1932 to 1945. Early in her life she became aware of the difficulties faced by the working class, and she witnessed the 1911 fire in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. (Click here for an article at History.com; click here for the Wikipedia entry.) 146 garment workers -- mostly immigrant teen-age girls who didn't speak English -- were killed when a fire broke out in their sweatshop factory on the 8th, 9th, and 10th floors; the doors were locked so that workers couldn't sneak outside for a cigarette. Many were burned to death; others leaped to their deaths on the sidewalk below.

Perkins had been active in volunteer organizations working to improve the life of workers, but she was galvanized by the fire into believing government must provide a safety net for its citizens. She worked toward this end through the early years of the Great Depression, and came to believe "“The people are what matter to government, and a government should aim to give all the people under its jurisdiction the best possible life.”

HCR says: "While men like President Herbert Hoover had embraced the idea of a “rugged individualism” in which men provided for their families on their own, Perkins recognized that the vision of a hardworking man supporting his wife and children was more myth than reality: her own husband suffered from bipolar disorder, making her the family’s primary support. She understood that Americans had always supported each other."

She was the driving force behind the Social Security Act, which "established a federal system of old-age benefits; unemployment insurance; aid to homeless, dependent, and neglected children; funds to promote maternal and child welfare; and public health services. It was a sweeping reworking of the relationship of the government to its citizens, using the power of taxation to pool funds to provide a basic social safety net."

But in 2024 it is no longer guaranteed that Social Security is “safe forever.” The Republican Party has called repeatedly for cuts to the popular program. As recently as March 2024, the Republican Study Committee, which includes the Republican House leadership and about 80% of House Republicans, said it is “committed to protecting and strengthening” Social Security by raising the retirement age and cutting benefits for those who are not yet approaching retirement. The Heritage Foundation, the main organization behind Project 2025, said in June that the retirement age should be raised.   

 Click here for HCR's entry in Letters from an American of August 24 which gives a shoutout to Frances Perkins in the context of Kamala Harris's nomination at the Democratic convention, along with much more.

Tuesday, August 13, 2024

Check my PG Hospice lottery ticket.

https://tickets.hospicedreamhome.ca/status?cid=NTA1MTA0fGZlMmZlZjBkN2JkZDFhMGYzMzI1MWE4MmMwNzk3Mzgy

Saturday, August 10, 2024

This dog is seriously into gymnastics!

Friday, August 9, 2024

Why don't Canadian doctors move to the U.S. to make more money?

The following is a Quora response to the question: Why aren’t Canadian doctors moving to the U.S.? 

Why not ask an Ontario doctor here on Quora who did.

Yes, as she recounts, she was lured south by higher fees which turned out to be true. What she didn’t know was the cost of staff to manage all the insurance companies used by her patients. They liaise with the insurers to determine patient coverage, coverage for specific diagnosis or treatment, accounts receivables, and so on.

After two years in the lone star state, she went through her books and discovered in addition to the administrative staff she also had, among other delights, higher malpractice insurance premiums. Bottom line, her take-home was lower than in Ontario.

The result was she closed her practice. She returned to Ontario where she had more coin in her pocket and an even bigger bonus, she got to practice medicine with her patients rather than insurance with her patient and the insurance company.

American doctors have to have large administrative staff to look after insurance billing and other accounting function. A Canadian doctor has billing as a part-time function usually by the clinic receptionist or, with some doctors, they do the billing themselves.

Canada has single-payer universal healthcare. The U.S. has two insurance risk management systems a function of which is healthcare. Insurers may deliver some healthcare but their real function is to pay eight figure salaries to executives and healthy dividends to investors. That means hundreds of millions of dollars go to executives and investor instead of healthcare for client/patients.


 

Watergate Revisited: A Summary

Click here for Heather Cox Richardson's August 8, 2024, entry in her newsletter, Letters From an American. It begins "Fifty years ago, on August 9, 1974, Richard M. Nixon became the first president in U.S. history to resign."

What follows is a succinct summary of the events of the Watergate scandal as they unfolded starting in the summer of 1972 and culminating in Nixon's resignation more than two years later.

Elon Musk: Second Worst Person In American Public Life?

Click here for an article on August 8, 2024, by Robert Reich on Substack, entitled "The second-worst person in American public life is ..."

And it's Elon Musk, hands down, with 57% of the vote; Clarence Thomas was at 32%, while J.D. Vance and Tucker Carlson received only 3% and 4%, respectively. Reich says:

Musk is rapidly transforming his enormous wealth — he’s the richest person in the world — into a huge source of unaccountable political power that’s now backing Trump and other authoritarians around the world.


Wednesday, August 7, 2024

Tim Walz retired from the National Guard

Language: not safe for work.

Tuesday, August 6, 2024

I think this guy's serious.

Monday, August 5, 2024

Defend the right to arm bears

"Lindsey Graham is saying he strangled a goose." Love it! But who among us hasn't dumped a dead bear in Central Park after a day's falconing?