Living Large In Carson City: Of Libturds, demented Democrats and Go Butt A Stump Radicals Edition

Posted on by technoscribe50: Gary Brady-Herndon

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Okay, I confess. Sometimes when I get tired of picking fuzz out of my navel, I go on conservative websites and spar with the jolly good people who inhabit that darkly, sinister, conspiracy world. Don’t get me wrong, I usually have a reason for doing such a hollow and unsatisfying endeavor, but normally my actions are prompted by an article or image that I run across that gets my hackles up, and I can’t stop myself.

Today, it was on the conservative website American Update. By chance, a couple of weeks ago, I came across this site and on a whim signed up for their newsletter. I know; I’m a glutton for punishment, but really, I felt like I was living in a liberal bubble where everyone agreed with me. I decided in the spirit of expanding my understanding of the issues I should hear what some of the opposition has to say. Honestly, I didn’t understand Trump supporters, and what they professed. It ain’t pretty.

The story that caught my attention came from American Update with the headline Meghan McCain Slams Roseanne and Trump Fans in One Swift Blow. Now, you would think that the discussion would take into consideration Barr’s ugly racist tweet she made a few weeks ago, and the discussion would center around the fact that in a polite society one takes a civil approach to debate on the merits of the topic. Think again.

One post stated that Meghan and John were not really Republicans and neither should claim they are part of the Republican Party. The post went on to say that John was irrelevant and did not speak for the righteous of the Republican Party and hoped that John would soon be six feet under.

Not quite the civil discourse I expected, but hey, this is America and everybody has their First Amendment rights, yes? This post came at the beginning of the queue and marked the spot were things went south . . . way south. Soon, the tenor of the debate went full metal jacket with most of the respondents calling the McCains RHINOs and painting them, especially John, as a traitor and a “songbird”, a term I assumes comes from the fact McCain confessed to high crimes while being tortured by his Vietnamese jailers.

To be clear, I have never had much love or affinity for McCain, but the spewing of hatred and derision for him as he faces an agonizing  death shocked me. I never served in the military, but my dad, my father-in-law, and even my brother did, and I have a naive belief if someone gave up time in their life to protect our national interests their service qualifies them as heroes in my book. Okay, so Vietnam was not exactly our country’s high water mark ethically, but it still qualifies. I think for me McCain became a hero when he gave a thumbs down on the floor of the Senate in a bitch slap to Trump and his harebrained scheme of the “skinny repeal” of Obamacare.

As you might expect, I was the only liberal posting today, and I learned a lot about myself that I didn’t know. One woman wanted to know if I had been smoking “that stuff” and ended by calling me “the blind one”.  Later in the thread, she called me “backward” and that I should “go butt a stump”. For all of its incomprehensibility, I kind of liked the idea although I am still not sure if she knows I am not a goat. Maybe goats and liberals are the same in the world of the Tea Party. Another post accused me of spewing liberal propaganda which demonstrated my lack of intelligence. Irony is wasted on these people.

My favorite beyond being called a libturd, anti-American and a demented Democrat was this jewel, “Go smoke your blunt you hype. Or a pole if you’d like.” I would have loved to have had that one explained to me, but by this time, the gig was up and most of the respondents simply questioned my sanity or equated my existence to the spawn of Satan. One poster said he served in the Navy and met many Navy pilots who he deeply respected, “. . . more so than another disgusting whiny pontificating liberal that “claims” to know about members of the Republican Party.”

True, but I have to say, I know a lot more about the Republican Party now than I did this morning. The vitriol and hatred that permeates the responses was frankly quite shocking. The tenor of most posts was vile and ruthless in their condemnation of McCain and his daughter. To her credit, I think Meghan was referring to the “basket of deplorables” that Clinton pointed to in the run up to the election. It’s alive.

This is the real issue about American politics today. We are so polarized that parts of the Republican Party are so disassociated with reality that they actually believe that Trump is good for America, and he is making America great again. In a fit of false “patriotism” , they are willing to overlook the Orange One’s kowtowing to Putin and the Russians and think it is a good thing. I wonder what they will say if and when Mueller reveals Trump colluded with the Russians to tweak the election results. Or that his financial statements link him to the Mafia, Russian oligarchs and/or money laundering or any number of other counts of larceny, deceit, philandering, or collusion. I worry about this. From the vile statements posted on conservative websites, I do not think these people will go quietly into the night.

The idea that the Republican Party is representative of all America is hard for me to believe. If there are respectable Republicans out there, they have their work cut out for them. The Tea Party movement and the Freedom Caucus seem hell bent on destroying this nation, or maybe, remaking it in their own image to assuage their angst and fear of losing their white privilege. They tend to cherry pick the Constitution to fit their current bitch about what they think is wrong for America. I fear that if Mueller does come back with illegal acts and/or condemnation of Trump in some form these people aren’t going to take it lying down. That would certainly be the constitutional crisis so many believe is coming.

Living Large In Carson City: Oh, The First Amendment Says What? Edition

Posted on by technoscribe50: Gary Brady-Herndon

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Freedom of the press is not an end in itself but a means to the end of achieving a free society.

Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter

Donald Trump and his minions are at it again. It’s not enough to cozy up to one of the world’s most notorious dictators in the person of Vlad Putin. Or continuously spout lie after lie after lie. Or alienate some of America’s most loyal allies as he did at the G7 then later at the NATO summit. Or allow himself to be used like a sock puppet by that spunky little guy with a funny haircut in North Korea. Or belittle Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation as a witch hunt, the FBI, the CIA . . . hell the entire intelligence gathering community. Now, he and his staff have ratcheted up the pressure on the media.

Of course, in the near past since Trump first began running for office and the last two years of his despotic reign, Trump has been anything but cozy with the Fourth Estate. From the very beginning, the corporate media (anyone who disagrees with his line of thinking except for Fox News) was dubbed by Trump as “Fake News” singling out CNN, MSNBC and others. In a natural progression (of sorts), the media in Trump’s Orwellian world has become “The Enemy of the American People”, “Our Country’s Biggest Enemy, or simply “the enemy”. He frequently calls media professionals “scum”, “disgusting” and other names meant to denigrate the professional qualifications of journalists.

Trump for his part is a master propagandist. He knows that repetition is a powerful tool when used to further his agenda. His use of the above pejoratives were never meant to be a one off comment, but a pattern that he beats like a tired horse every time he addresses his base. One might wonder if the are a particularly dense lot, which on some levels they have to be, and his repetitive media bashing is simply meant to ensure all of the wrong people get his message loud and clear. There are, however, disturbing outcomes of his negative attacks on journalists and the outlets they work for in real time.

Joel Simon is executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists. He was quoted in the Colombia Journalism Review stating,

“When [Trump] belittles, attacks, and undermines journalists, that creates a new norm that has global repercussions as well as local ones. His rhetoric normalizes press freedom abuses at the state and local levels.”

Political commentator, author, and professor, Robert Reich, served under three presidents including Gearld Ford, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. An article on his website, robertreich.org, titled Trump’s Attack on the Freedom of the Press spells out how Trump undermines the media to his own despotic ends. Below is Reich’s abbreviated list of the “tools” despots use to sway public opinion.

Historically, tyrants have tried to control the press using 4 techniques that, worryingly, Donald Trump is already using.

1. Berate the media and turn the public against it.

2. Limit media access.

3. Threaten the media.

4. Bypass the media and communicate with the public directly.

The word “media” comes from “intermediate” between the powerful and the public. The media hold the powerful accountable by correcting their misstatements, asking them hard questions, and reporting on what they do. Apparently Trump wants to eliminate such intermediaries. robertreich.org

On one hand it would be easy to simply write off Trump’s disparaging of the media as a crass act of a petty, little bully man who cannot stand criticism and strikes out like a spoiled brat to save face when threatened. However, Trump’s rants have consequences in the real world. Late last month,  Jarrod W. Ramos entered the Capital Gazette in Annapolis with a shotgun and gunned down five journalists as they sat at their desks. We may never know if Ramos felt emboldened to take drastic steps to assuage his caustic feelings about numerous run-ins he had with the newspaper, but the climate of hate spewed out by Trump would not have helped.

This week, Trump staffers, Bill Shine, White House communications director, and press secretary, Sarah Sanders, climbed on the bandwagon and called CNN White House correspondent, Kaitlan Collins, on the carpet for questions she tried to ask Trump at an earlier meeting on the Hill. Tagging her questions as “inappropriate”, she was banned from a later press conference in the White House Rose Garden as retribution for her doing her job. To their credit, all of the major news outlets, including Fox News, condemned the act as a grave misstep that could not be condoned. CNN tweeted,

Statement regarding CNN press access at today’s White House event. We demand better.

Maybe Trump has lived in his rarefied  little world so long that he is out of touch with the foundation this country was built upon. When one lives in a gilded mansion, it can skew one’s view of the real world. Or he may simply not understand the importance of the press for a free and robust national discourse. Fortunately, our Founding Fathers had the insight to know that jackasses will rear their ugly little heads regardless of the fact that they can be easily proven to be jackasses. Here is their thoughts on the topic:

The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prevents Congress from making any law respecting an establishment of religion, prohibiting the free exercise of religion, or abridging the freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, the right to peaceably assemble, or to petition for a governmental …

Whether Trump “gets it” is on a matter that time will tell.

Living Large In Carson City: The Sins Of Our Fathers Edition

Posted on by technoscribe50: Gary Brady-Herndon

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Out of Many, One

Were he alive today, my dad would have been a Trump supporter. While he was not a political animal, indeed, as far as I know, he never voted or cared for the political arena in any part of his life. He was, however, a lifelong Southern Baptist,  a deacon, somewhat of an evangelical and simply a hard-working man who was raised in the South and reflected all the good and bad things that go along with that equation for a man of his age. His support of Trump would not have been ideological, but rather, an emotional choice that would have come from frustration and the lure of a charlatan able to manipulate people through their fears, ignorance and distrust of the status quo.

To be clear, my dad was not a bad man. He was a beloved member of his community; a community that reflected his mindset, beliefs and an almost pathological compulsion not to make waves or call attention to himself. He minded his own business and expected others to do the same. His generation fought WWII and came home to a prosperous America that he loved and cared for deeply. That he held objectionable beliefs is an unfortunate whim of fate that affected most of the people from the south of his generation.

I mention this only to point out that many, if not a majority, of Trump supporters are very similar to my dad.  White, Christian, hard working and dedicated to  family and accepting of their station in life. My dad, like many Trump supporters, was also a racist, a bigot and frightened by the speed in which the world was changing around him. Those who were not raised in the south cannot understand the the social, economic and racial tension that is imparted to children from their parents. It was and is pervasive taking over one’s mental faculties and general outlook on how one lives their life.

The sixties blind sided my parents like it did so many others of their age and social background. To see his progeny flee the nest he so patiently and rigorously constructed over the years was both baffling and hurtful in ways I will never understand. I don’t think he  resented these turn of events, but rather, it shook him to his core, and in the end, confused him like nothing else had in his lifetime. He saw the country he fought for in World War II changing into a multi-cultured, radical world that was dismissive of so many things he held dear to his heart. The experience changed him like it did me. I have to say that it was not a change he would have chosen.

For all his faults, he followed his heart and his God, but being a white man raised and living all his life in rural East Texas, he was a segregationist at heart. With the Civil Rights Movement, he like others of his age felt the sting of change as an imposition on his right to carry on as he always had without the government telling him what to believe. Our first major confrontation of many was over race and the treatment of people of color with contempt and dismissal of their rights as Americans. He would have had no problem transferring that disdain to brown people, Asians or non-Christians.

Trump has figured this out and has made it his modus opernadi. Most of his supporters are good people albeit with leanings towards racism, bigotry, and a healthy dose of white privilege that is both corrosive and destructive to the American democratic way of life. Ultimately, they have become the worst kind of patsy. They have partaken of the snake oil and believe the man who is spoon feeding it to them. This feeds directly into Trump’s narcissistic personality and has become the drug that he too has now become addicted to like his followers. They have developed a symbiotic relationship based on fear of the “other” which colors their worlds in an us versus them mentality.

This is the crux of what I find so confusing and disheartening. Seeing people like my dad make choices that are not meant to solve the pressing issues facing America today, and contrary to their own best outcome, following a man who seems hell bent on destroying this great nation at the expense of those whom he cares little about in reality. Trump supporters see only the empty promise of reverting back to a time that has long ago become unworkable.

I loved my dad, but not his beliefs, and I am not writing to condone his or others’ anti-social ideas. When I see Trump supporters at his rallies, I see thousands of the proverbial, loud-mouthed uncles and aunts who are prone to making caustic and uncomfortable pronouncements at the family dinner table to the chagrin of their more enlightened relatives. My dad had a seat at that table, and at this point, I think it is hypocritical for me not to acknowledge this fact.

Unfortunately, there are also hard-core white supremacists, bigots and racists of another ilk  at Trump’s rallies. They are the ones America has to be concerned about in the end. Their beliefs about how America should be run are much more caustic and based in evil. Americans saw this at Charlottesville, VA last year and at other Unite the Right rallies across the country. This pandering to neo-Nazism, overt nationalism, white supremacy and just old fashion hatred for the world changing around them is at the center of what is most dangerous for America today.

My concerns inhabit many levels. First and foremost, we are headed for a reckoning that has been long in coming. As the demographics of the United States changes, people whose voices have long been suppressed on both sides of the equation are fed up and expect change to come in their favor. However, both sides cannot fully win in this controversy. In these over-heated times where an ego-driven enabler holds the most powerful seat in the country, it’s hard not to see dark times ahead. Yet, democracy demands an airing of grievances . . . to a point. The bottom line is the preservation of our republic.

How far either side takes offense over the loss that will surely come will determine how much the America my dad loved and fought for continues into the future. However, this is my country, too. For me, there is no going back to “better times”. In reality, this is possibly the best America we can hope for or deserve. I choose not to believe that is true.

In the end, our national motto, E pluribus unum, Out of many, one, defines who we are as a people. It has never had more relevance or appeal; nor has it ever been more in jeopardy as it is in America today.

Living Large In Carson City: I Spy Something Large And Orange Edition

Posted on by technoscribe50: Gary Brady-Herndon

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Urban Dictionary: Bromance describes the complicated love and affection shared by two straight males.

Be honest. If someone had suggested two years ago that Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump were embroiled in a nefarious handler/operative relationship, the appropriate response would have been to laugh out loud and call the person a paranoid conspiracy nut job. Certainly, there were rumors of Russian tampering with the election results that resulted in a Trump surprise victory, but at that time, even that accusation would have been a serious leap of the imagination. What a difference two years makes.

Since Trump took office in January 2017, his relationship with Putin has been both problematic and unsettling for the majority of Americans except for Trump’s base of supporters who are presumably blinded by their need to promote “white supremacy” and unbridled nationalism. Of course, since Inauguration Day, Trump has assumed a friendly default position toward Russian and Putin; one that denies Russian meddling in the 2016 election and a pro-Putin stance regardless of what the former KGB officer does or says.

Despite what the Putin/Trump relationship is in reality, there has been growing concern and mounting trepidation of allies who seem as baffled by Trump’s foreign policy shenanigans as are most Americans. In recent days the Trump administration revealed that a meeting between Trump and Putin in Helsinki will be held after the NATO summit and after Trump visits England late this week. After what can only be expected to be high drama and farce, Trump heads to Scotland for a couple of days of golfing at one of his properties before meeting with one of the world’s most vicious dictators. What could go wrong?

This morning America awoke to Trump’s first interaction with our North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies. The event was a good-will breakfast photo op that was meant to be an ice breaking ceremony before the actual business of defense comes before the body. By all accounts and this video, Trump was in all-out attack mode as he castigated NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. It was also a bone-headed tirade that did nothing to uplift America’s interests in Europe or allay the concern of NATO members in light of Trump’s upcoming meeting with Putin.

Seriously, all one has to do to see the effect of Trump’s words on those present are to look at Mike Pompeo and John Kelly’s reactions. Pompeo looks like a elementary school student sitting in the principal’s office after being caught backing up a bully on the school’s playground. He all but squirms in his chair as Trump unleashes and unhinged harangue that eventually focuses on Germany and a deal with Russia for construction of a pipeline. Kelly repeatedly looks down or away as his boss mouths idiotic concerns over Germany and Russia. This from the man who claims to be a skilled negotiator?

The one funny relief factor is Kay Bailey Hutchinson’s reaction to Trump’s words. Throughout the exchange, she has what can only be deemed a world-weary, cautious smile that remains etched on her face. There are times when her eyes grow large in imitation of a deer-in-the-headlights when Trump makes a particularly off the wall remark. You can almost see her mind asking, “Did he say what I think he said?” It is obvious that she is way in over her head when it comes to the Orange One’s crazy claims or how to counter them.

Trump’s main concern is that our allies are not paying their full share of the NATO budget. Stoltenberg acknowledges that in the past there have been issues of underpayment, but tries (in vain) to tell Trump that the problem is being addressed and positive changes have or are taking place. Trump, of course, is having none of it, and he launches into the Germany/Russia deal, a deal, that he has no right to criticize. It is simply none of his business. He speculates that Germany is controlled by Russia because of the money involved in the transaction.

A more positive track would have been for  Trump to reassure our NATO allies that he is not in bed with the Russians, and they have no reason to be concerned with his upcoming meeting with the former KGB spy. Trump, however, is in full blown clown mode and unable to see the hypocrisy that his words create. Remember, this encounter occurred at the summit’s opening breakfast photo op.

The question has to be asked, “What is it with Trump, Russia, and Putin by association?” NATO delegates’ concern over what Trump might discuss or concede to the Russians are legitimate. His short time as president has provided both our allies and Americans with several incidents that make the meeting suspect. For example, shortly after firing then Director of the FBI, James Comey, Trump invited two of Russia’s top diplomats, Foreign Minister Sergei Labrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, into the Oval Office for a chat and pleasantries.

Trump, unable to contain himself, proceeds to reveal classified information gleaned from an American ally about the Islamic Terrorist State. The information was from an ongoing investigation and had the potential of doing serious harm to players involved and causing long term damage to the continued trust of the ally who shared the information. For Trump, it was just another in a long series of faux pas’ that most normally intelligent people working in government would understand was a forbidden topic, especially with two Russian operatives in the Oval Office no less.

So, we can expect a week long circus of Trump acting the stooge while real life diplomats from the NATO countries worry about both his erratic behavior, and his mean spirited spiels of lies and contempt directed towards our allies that only Trump  will fully understand.

The real issue simmering below the surface is what is Trump’s connection to Putin. Is it just a harmless bromance? Or is it a deeper connection that bodes badly for both NATO and our own democracy? Jonathan Chait published an article earlier this week in New York Magazine titled, Will Trump Be Meeting With His Counterpart – Or His Handler? A plausible theory of mind-boggling collusion. Chait’s thoughts are both provocative and believable. While the article covers a lot of ground concerning this topic (and well worth an entire read), these two paragraphs sum up the salient details,

The first intimations that Trump might harbor a dark secret originated among America’s European allies, which, being situated closer to Russia, have had more experience fending off its nefarious encroachments. In 2015, Western European intelligence agencies began picking up evidence of communications between the Russian government and people in Donald Trump’s orbit. In April 2016, one of the Baltic states shared with then–CIA director John Brennan an audio recording of Russians discussing funneling money to the Trump campaign. In the summer of 2016, Robert Hannigan, head of the U.K. intelligence agency GCHQ, flew to Washington to brief Brennan on intercepted communications between the Trump campaign and Russia.

The contents of these communications have not been disclosed, but what Brennan learned obviously unsettled him profoundly. In congressional testimony on Russian election interference last year, Brennan hinted that some Americans might have betrayed their country. “Individuals who go along a treasonous path,” he warned, “do not even realize they’re along that path until it gets to be a bit too late.” In an interview this year, he put it more bluntly: “I think [Trump] is afraid of the president of Russia. The Russians may have something on him personally that they could always roll out and make his life more difficult.”

The Putin/Trump meeting is scheduled for July 16 in Helsinki. Several things might be on the agenda. One thing that surely will be parroted by Trump is that Putin and Russia did not collude with the Trump campaign nor did they interfere in the 2016 election. This has been repeated by Trump so often and loudly his protestations sound like the drum beat of a Tiki lounge overture. What is more likely is Trump will unilaterally recognize Russia’s annexation of the Crimeria over the objections of Congress who continue to push for more sanctions on Russia. If not that, it is anyone’s guess what the Orange One will come up with to further piss off our allies and the American public.

One thing is certain; For Trump, a meeting of this importance and stature will not be a missed opportunity. Something will come out of it that might give a clue to just how far Trump has sunken into the web of the Russians and their influence. Expect stormy weather and widespread angst.

 

 

 

 

Living Large In Carson City: I Heard Him Call My Name . . . Not Edition

Posted on by technoscribe50: Gary Brady-Herndon

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Scott Pruitt’s faith guided his time in office and shielded him

He argued that God gave mankind “dominion” over the environment. Vox

Vox’s Tara Isabella Burton penned the article above in response to the news that the little dandy from Oklahoma, Scott Pruitt, had resigned as head of the Environmental Protection Agency. The news came the morning of July 5, and with it, images of Pruitt wandering the capital grounds the previous evening as crowds gathered to watch a 4th of July fireworks display. Two questions have to be asked.

One, was Pruitt so out of the loop that he had no idea his boss, Donald Trump, was about to give him the boot? Two, did he know of the coming pink slip but went to the celebration anyway knowing it would possibly be the last time he had a chance to rub shoulders with Washington’s elite, a group he was about to be booted from when the morning news cycle came to light? Knowing Pruitt’s capacity for self delusion and sycophantic, toadying nature, there is probably a bit of truth in both.

Nothing, however, is that crystal clear when it comes the actions and motivations of the former director of the EPA. Then there is talk about a new scandal that is being bandied about on cable news shows the last few days. Supposedly, several weeks ago, Pruitt let the president know that he was willing to replace Jeff Sessions if Trump fired the beleaguered Attorney General.

Pruitt argued that under the The Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 presidents have the right to appoint a “temporary” replacement if the current seat holder is for some reason removed from office. Pruitt’s ill-conceived plan would have him sitting in for 210 days as temporary director as stipulated in the 1998 act. After that time, supposedly,  a new AG would have passed through the confirmation process, at which time, Pruitt would step down and move back to Oklahoma to run for either the governorship or as a candidate for the United States Senate.

Pruitt denied the allegation, but Pruitt’s veracity is only a little better than Trump’s own rocky relationship to the truth. Had Trump been foolish enough to accept the offer, presumably, the über loyal lapdog, Pruitt, would have eliminated the pesky little investigation into the Trump campaign’s collusion with the Russians during the 2016 campaign and election, and along with it, the well-respected special prosecutor Robert Mueller.

Yet another scandal is covered in the CNN article that revealed staffers at the EPA kept a secret calendar that would be used as a template for the official calendar released to the public. Before the secret calendar came to print, problematic meetings and appointments with the names of those present would be “scrubbed” from the official version. By law, each department is required to submit an official calendar to allow the public to see what department heads were up to and why.

By keeping a secret calendar, Pruitt could meet with lobbyist and industry officials who had interest in influencing the director to support their desires to change federal regulatory law that came before the EPA. What Pruitt and his minions at the EPA were doing was possibly illegal, and something Pruitt would have to explain before Congress. Trump may have simply had it with Pruitt and wanted him gone.

Back to my original reason for writing this blog and Burton’s Vox article. She stated that Pruitt’s faith in God insulated him from condemnation and allowed him to stay in office. This despite 15 ongoing ethics violations investigations by various departments of Congress and the government currently against him. In the title of the article, Burton states,

“He argued that God gave mankind “dominion” over the environment.”

As a devout Southern Baptist christian, Pruitt is the epitome of hypocrisy. A proven liar, narcissist, and grifter, Pruitt’s claims and actions do not mesh with reality.  Maybe his God is a willful destroyer of all things that are right and holy about this planet. Maybe his God is simply an asshole who is beholden to big business and industries that rape, pillage and destroy everything that is good about the planet and the people who live here.

Or maybe, Pruitt is exactly what he appears to be. A small-minded man with an ego the size of Texas who came to Washington with his hand out looking for as many opportunities to enrich himself and his family at the expense of the American people and the government to which he pledged allegiance. This is the kind of person that if there were a God would have long ago been struck down by a proverbial bolt of lightening. He does a poor job of spreading his “Christian values” to the masses and is the poster boy for the Republican Party has become under the Trump administration.

At the end of the day, the one redeeming note of hope to come out of Pruitt’s debacle is he is gone, not forgotten, he still has to face the ethics allegations that he unwisely used his office and position in illegal ways, but gone from the role he played in the EPA. Honestly, his temporary replacement, a former coal lobbyist, will not be much better, possibly worse. Still, I look forward to next Monday morning knowing that Pruitt and his holier-than-thou personae will be headed back to Oklahoma, but this time on his own dime.

 

 

Living Large In Carson City: The Art of Bullying Trump Style Edition

Posted on by technoscribe50: Gary Brady-Herndon

Can Trump top last week’s families in crises at the border debacle?

Image result for free images victims and bully

First, the answer to the question at the top of the page; “Can Trump top last week’s families in crises at the border debacle?” Of course he can. It’s Donald Trump. Trump is a man who lives on controversy, lies and disruption. His actions and words are those of a man with serious ego problems. Most sane Americans have a hard time watching, but still do, because it creates such a visceral reaction in our inner most psyches. Most of my closest friends feel this way. To me, it is nearly impossible to sit back and acknowledge what is going on in our country without reacting. Some of Trump’s shenanigans evoke reactions from mildly irritated to screaming monkey tantrums.

In an article published by PolitiZoom titled Trump Makes Veiled Threat to Protesters/Opponents, Hypocrisy Never Stronger, Jason Miciak discusses a sit down interview by Fox News’ reporter, Maria Bartiromo, and Trump while the ghouls that are tumbling around in Trump’s head prepare to start the week. Bartiromo is no investigative reporter with her sights on uncovering injustices or even standing up for the common American. She can be likened a lazy tennis player who would rather lob her return back to  a better player across the net. And lob she did.

When she wasn’t all but groveling at the Orange One’s feet, she made an attempt to delve into real life events that were all the rage last week. Of course, discussing the public shaming of some of his key administration officials, primarily Miller (the architect), Nielsen (the implementer), and  Sanders (the enabler), was high up on her list. Never mind the uproar at the inhumanity going on at the Texas border.  The above trio was responsible for Jefferey Beauregard Sessions’ “zero tolerance” fubar that didn’t work out as planned. Once Trump fielded that question, things kind of went south on him.

Trump’s answer was both laughable in its hypocrisy, and eerie in its slyly sinister-nature:

“I hope the other side realizes that they better just take it easy. They better just take it easy because some of the language used, some of the words used, even some of the radical ideas I really think they are very bad for the country,” PolitiZoom

I share Miciak’s surprise that Trump would threaten any American’s First Amendment Rights. True, some people found the protesters’ actions one step over the line of civility, but really? Miciak goes on to point out that “shaming, vilifying and harassing” the opposition is right out of Trump’s organizational playbook. And it is the act and words of a bully. He has said things in his “campaign rallies” that are both hurtful and dangerous in their intent. Crooked Hillary, evil Mexicans hell bent on “infesting” the United States, mocking a handicapped reporter, the list goes on and on.

One thing is certain, Trump is helping energize the rest of the country to fight back and not allow him to run rough shod over the Constitution and the rights we all share in common as Americans. Yet, the fact that he is emboldened enough to issue veiled threats on national television should give everyone pause. The only way to combat a dictator wanna’ be (bully) is to stand up to them and voice our objections. This is the critical issue facing America today. Not North Korea. Not trade tariffs. Not “zero tolerance” immigration. Not hurting people’s feelings who are trying to tear down this great country from the inside out. It is taking a stand and being willing to fight for what is right and just.