The Aftermath of the AfterBash.

I have been concerned that Mr. Trump has a distorted view of what this office means.

I don't gloat when we win and I don't whine when we lose. But damn.

I tried to be gracious. I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. Can’t be worse than President Bush 43, I told myself. And then Mr. Trump’s first appointment is a White Supremacist. Who will be his special advisor. This is followed by, his illegally refusing to put his businesses interest into a trust while he’s in office. He’s got a better idea than the law. Then he vows to defund NASA’s research into climate change. He appoints a local girl Betsy DeVos (of the Amway DeVos’) who has made a name for herself locally by trying to dismantle public education for years. Of course she is to be Secretary of Education. And now, that ugly pipeline out west that nobody wants to trip over in their state and has protesters by the thousands, turns out Mr. Trump holds stock and will make money off this pipeline. Can you say conflict of interest? But apparently, now that he’s going to be Prez, laws don’t apply to him anymore.

Thankfully he doesn’t have the muscle in the Senate to do many of the radical things he’s promised to do. But maybe he does.

But let us not despair. Let us instead hunker down and be determined in four years. Bernie will be too old in 8 years but not 4. And if my choice Martin O’Malley is the candidate we are a shoo-in. Let us try and make hope where there is none.

Thoughts on the Election

Last Tuesday night was a tough pill to swallow. Not as tough as in 2000, but tough nonetheless. 

But here’s something to consider. Ten months or a year ago Trump was a Democrat. His kids couldn’t even vote for him in the Primaries because they’re registered Democrats. So I say, let’s wait and see how he acts before we start complaining. He may give us lots of reasons to complain, and at that time complain. Maybe I’m deluded in my thinking, but for crying out loud, we got through President George W. Bush (barely, on the brink of depression, it can’t get worse than that), so we’ll find a way to deal with it. We might make it. And perhaps if all these protesters will get vigorously behind the next Democrat and dedicate themselves to them, and cough up the bucks, and make sure it happens for him/her the results might be different next time. 

I don’t understand the protests. Suck it ups Buttercups. I never boast when we win and I never whine when we don’t. It’s just crazy. And I can’t help but wonder, how many of the people in the silly protests didn’t bother to vote? How many were just horrified when Mr. Trump stated if he lost he may protest the outcome? Well, then….sheesh. Get over yourselves. And if you live in America, dummies, like it or not, he is your President. 

The Democrats have to shoulder most of responsibility for this for insisting from the beginning they knew best, and for being patronizing and patting us on the head and being so damn smug and condescending. They insisted who the candidate would be the day after she announced, instead of listening to the electorate, and looking seriously at the Bernie phenom. Bernie wins big in Wisconsin and Hillary never even visited there. Smug. She wouldn’t have come back to Michigan if Trump hadn’t made a play. Some people think Bernie would have won this Presidential election. We will never know. I heard someone on the radio today say that it’s like saying “The Boston Red Sox would have beaten the Cubs in the World Series. We’ll never know, it would have been a different ballgame.” But I truly believe that my candidate, Martin O’Malley would have won in a landslide. He was the most Presidential guy in the entire field of 23 in the beginning. But here’s the irony, although the Republican establishment didn’t like it, they ran their version of Bernie and he won. 

What I think lots of people don’t understand is that the other side has felt just this sad and bitter for the last 8 years, yet they didn’t take to the streets. Like I say, President George W. Bush was a harder pill to swallow than this. He didn’t win, they stole it, and the final Florida numbers confirm it. And then with absolutely no Constitutional authority or anywhere else the 9 people on the Supreme Court get to decide who the next President will be. None of the rest of us. So that was one thing. But Trump won this hands down. So, the sun will continue to come up, the planet will still spin and get warmer, and the 4 or 8 years will pass. They stuck with "their Bernie" and they won. We should take a lesson. 

By the way the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, when in the late 70s early 80’s Trump declare he was reinventing casinos (basically he was going to make casinos great again) was boarded up a couple of months ago. 

And when President Obama was elected the second time, Texas made noise about seceding from the country. That’s expected; there are lots of rednecks down there. But now California is making the same noise. And they claim to be somehow smarter. Hey cereal land, (land of fruits, nuts, and flakes), good luck with that. Mexico would own you in two hours. With no military to protect you, because we Americans would begin to instantly withdraw all military bases, university and school funding, Social security benefits, sports franchises (those are American after all), on and on and on. They would collapse in an hour and Mexico would take over in two. In less time if Japan could get there first. 

But you wanna know what decided this? It wasn’t the people that showed up at the polls. It was the people who didn’t. Do you realize that neither of the two candidates got nearly as many votes as Mitt Romney did in the last election? And he was soundly defeated by President Obama. There wasn’t even a Latino swell! White women voted for Trump overwhelmingly! Are you kidding me? It was we lazy ass Democrats, listening to the smug DNC and assuring us that no matter what, we have this - so you don’t have to even bother going to the polls. Further, Michael Moore, our practical homeboy, stated today he’s learned that between 100,000, and 110,000 Michigan voters made selections in every other category on the ballot but left the Presidential section blank, not being able to vote for either one. Add that in with third party voters and there you go. I also heard a statistic from CBS that 8 out of 10 voters were not voting for a candidate, they were voting against one. I know it weighed heavy on their hearts. My wife stood in that booth for the longest time. A really long time. Searching her soul. I have never asked how she voted, I’d prefer not to know, but I have strong suspicions she voted for Hillary. [We are big believers that your vote is your business and your’s only, so we never ask each other, and never put signs in our yard.] It's none of our neighbor’s business who we are voting for. Because someday it might require two signs!

And now there is some introspective trepidation from the other side. Many of the Republican voters are expressing that they just wanted to flip the bird to the Washington establishment, but they never thought he’d actually win. And they seem a little nervous. The on-the-ground military were being interviewed today and they are very nervous. 

Many voted for Trump because “maybe the Country should be run like a business.” What they don’t understand, is that it can’t be run like a business. Imagine you’re the CEO. You call in your number two man in the company and you say I want to do that like this. And that number two man, Mr. Congress, tells you to go screw yourself and walks out. You have no recourse. You can’t fire him. So you call in your number 3 guy in the business and explain that you want to do that like this. And Mr. Supreme Court says, “Kiss my ass.” And walks out and you have no recourse. Heck of a way to run a business. 

I predict Trump’s first move will be to repackage President Obama’s Job’s Bill, basically just give it a new name, and get it passed. Then it will put more people to work and they will all be thinking “Wow, what a great guy that Trump is!” 

I detest how the Republicans have openly moved to rig the Supreme Court. Here’s the deal. In the year of Rowe v Wade, the Court was 5 liberals and 4 conservatives. The final vote was 7-2. And if memory serves the two were a conservative and a liberal. So don’t get your panties in a bunch about the Supreme Court nominee. You never know where that will go. The last conservative Court okayed Gay Marriage. And when President Obama’s recent candidate for the court was up to be confirmed for the Federal Court system, he was voted in unanimously! Both sides love him. The Senate are just are being crybaby asses. Like the protesters on the streets tonight. 

So now we have a Republican House, Senate, President, and most Governorships. But always remember, we hate Russia because they only have one Party running things there. We are so much better, eh?

But what the hell do I know? I was written in for President and for Town Council. I think I’ll find out how to run for Town Council and try that sometime. Seek comfort tonight and hug your loved ones. 

PS. The Second most powerful person in the world is someone that we rarely ever know their name. They are usually virtually a “Co-President.” We need to know who the Chief of Staff is. 

The Eve of the Election

This is the eve of one of the most bizarre elections in the history of the United States. Tomorrow we will vote for President of the United States. Admittedly, our school board elections affect our everyday life more, but we place great importance on the Presidential election.

One candidate is automatically the underdog, because she is a woman, and the other candidate comes with so much baggage he requires his own railroad car.

One candidate refuses to release his taxes, admitted he hasn't paid any in 20 years, has openly made fun of handicapped people, has made horrible statements about sexually abusing women, is openly racist, is an Islamaphobe, denies climate change, and has suddenly become pro-life, because he was told to, he's openly swore onstage including dropping the F bomb. And his offering for a First Lady has posed nude for magazines.

This candidate also offered in the late 70's or early 80's that his casino, the Trump Taj Mahal was going to be the greatest thing in casinos ever. Basically he was going to "Make Casinos Great Again." They boarded it up last month.

The other candidate asked for additional security for our embassies ten times and was turned down by the Republican Congress because they didn't want to spend the money. And then when an embassy is attacked and people are killed, it was her fault. She took advice from a very respected former Republican Secretary of State and used her own server from home. Classified documents weren't clearly labeled as such. Some documents weren't classified at the time but became classified much later. And twice now it was proven by the Republican FBI director, who must be very pissed at the three Trump supporter FBI folks who broke FBI protocol and release this last week.

FBI protocol has always been, nothing controversial gets released 60 days before an election. Those are the rules. To his credit the FBI director showed no criminal intent before the election.

In or around 2000 I told my son there were three things I regretted that I would never live to see. They were: A black President, and Woman President, and the Cubs win the World Series. And an mere 16 years later......

Tomorrow night, Bill Clinton becomes the First Gentleman.

The October Surprise.

Well, tonight the Hillary campaign got their October Surprise. The FBI is re-opening their investigation on her unhacked server. Any sensitive material should have been on government servers so that it could be routinely hacked. But I’ll tell you what, I admire how she isn’t giving Colin Powell up. He’s the one that advised her to use her own stuff at home. He said, “we all do it.” But she won’t mention his name, won’t give him up. He basically has told on himself, but not in so many words. But what most people don’t realize, she’s willing to just take the heat. 

And guess what? We don’t get any real answers until after the election! Wow. There’s a surprise. But maybe that’s a blessing. They can’t indict a sitting President, but they can impeach. Then once she’s no longer President indict, I guess. Not sure. But projections are that the Democrats are going to gain enough inroads in both houses that they won’t pull off an Impeachment. But here's the question of the day: Can you indict a sitting President for something they did when they weren't President? But 2 to 1 anyway says the findings are the same, and they’ll just close it declaring they can find no criminal intent. 

Folks are still scratching their heads at the leaked tape several days ago of Trump bragging about groping and exploiting women. People are still wondering was this Donald’s October surprise? Because if it was it was released a little early. Usually about now is when they happen. Ala tonight’s FBI investigation re-opening a closed case. 

For those of you who don't know it, an October surprise is a part of every Presidential campaign. It's a standard feature. This should be taken as just part of the election cycle. 

Perhaps the real Trump October Surprise will come out in the next few days, but if the tape was it, it was good, but the timing sucked. 

But there's always Ted Cruz declaring yesterday that they may refuse to hold hearings on any Clinton nominee to the Supreme Court for 8 years. So our court gets to be broken for 9 years thanks to Constitution haters like Ted Cruz. I guess we are tossing out the Constitution and the Bill of Rights as we watch the Cruz fascist take-over. 

Have a pleasant evening outside the beltway.

Republicans Dump Trump

The ironic thing about watching Trump crash and burn is how he steadfastly denies any responsibility. Because for so long he was given a free pass. He could make outlandish remarks about Latinos being rapists, or banning Muslims, and his fans cried, “Right On!” And I also amazed by his hatred of women in authority, or any women that disagrees with him. He goes after them with a vengeance. And including blaming Hillary for Bill’s indiscretions. (Kind of like Pat Robertson telling women if their husbands cheat, it’s the woman’s fault because she wasn’t being sexy enough for her husband). Hillary didn’t do these indiscretions. And Bill’s not running for President. And if he was he would kick Trump’s ass. 

Can you imagine what the Republicans would be screaming if a Democrat had said those things? Yeah, I know not much. But they would be having a huge fit if the Democratic Candidate’s wife had posed for nude photos for magazines, refused to release his tax records, and claimed to be a great businessman and in the late 70’s opened the John Democrat Taj Mahal that was going to be the ‘new look for Casinos’ (essentially, he was going to make Casinos great again), and then they boarded it up last month. They’d be going nuts. 

Earlier in the week the RNC pulled all it’s funding for Trump, and today Paul Ryan is refusing to campaign for him, and has asked other Republicans to do the same. But you know what? Paul Ryan will still vote for Trump. McCain has said publicly that he won’t vote for either one, but he’ll vote for Trump. That's just how they're cut. But alas, all for naught. 

I’ve said many times, the Republicans can have the Tea Party or they can have the White House but they can’t have both. And even I, a Democrat to my bones, am actually starting to long for the days when the word Republican didn’t equate to buffoon. There was a time when they could engage in reasonable discourse and although one might not agree, at least it was an informed counterpoint. But the Republicans have brought this on themselves and now it has come to this. For the last eight years any wing nut that came down the Pike could just claim to be a Republican and they were allowed to jump on the coat-tails of a party that for around 200 years had established some sort of credibility. Some Tea Party reps have no education. Some have criminal records. Did the party do anything? No. Did they say, “Who says you’re a Republican?” No. Until their numbers were such in Congress that they had the Party by the throat. And could shut the government down. And be such idiots that even John Boehner finally had to throw his hands in the air, and quit. 

And now Trump complains to his muddled masses that the Country is in ‘tatters.’ But let’s consider this: 248 seats in the 440 seats in the House are held by Republicans. 54 seats of the 100 seats in the Senate are Republican. 31 out of 50 Governors are Republican. 70 out of 99 state legislative bodies are Republican. 4 of the 8 Justices in the Supreme Court are Republican. And it was 5 to 4 Republican until the recent death. So, if the country is in tatters, I guess we can see who’s making that happen. 

And so has Trump gets “unshackled” today, by having the Party cut him off, he will continue to sink slowly into the west. Unless the Republicans have something quite spectacular for their "October surprise.” And the recent tape isn’t the Democrats “October surprise.” It’s too early. The “October Surprise” is a standard component of any competent campaign. So we’ll see. 

The Wrath of Khan

I’m starting to feel the beginning of the end for Trump. Finally imploding. He might recover, and his ardent followers don’t care what he does, but still, there seems to have been a slight shift in the wind. Hillary has an 8 point lead as of today. 

And to think, an ordinary Muslim took him down. How ironic.

The statements by Mr. Khan were powerful. The act of pulling out his copy of the Constitution was powerful. The true ‘Wrath of Khan’.  But that’s not what really made it mega-huge. It was the fact that Trump felt a need to mix it up in social media about it. And he can’t let it go. He is so juvenile, he has to have the last word. He keeps opening his mouth and stepping on his dick. But he can’t stop. He HAS to get the last word. And he looks more and more foolish. And slowly military groups start to leave, and others who were at least sympathetic are moving away from his camp.

And to endear women even less, he states that if his daughter were being sexually harassed at work she would have the integrity to just quit. This is stupid on so many levels. And tomorrow he will tell veterans in wheelchairs, that his son would just get up and walk. 

And today, Trump refused to endorse Paul Ryan and John McCain in their re-election bids. Paul Ryan. Trump would have more trouble from the House than President Obama, OR President H. Clinton. They at least have great respect for him. Did you know that President Obama and Paul Ryan speak on the phone quite a bit as you might imagine. And after the biz talk they compare notes on raising teenage daughters. 

Finally today, for the first time ever, a sitting President, (he was standing actually), is asked about Trump by the press, and while standing next to a foreign dignitary, The President decides it’s the time. Stating unequivocally that Trump is not qualified to take over the job. Just couldn’t do the job. The President went on to say that while although he disagreed with John McCain and Mitt Romney on policy, he never thought they weren’t qualified to do the job. But with Trump…. naw, he couldn’t do it. And deep in the hearts of thinking Republicans, they know it’s true. He couldn’t do that job. 

I would never be able to imagine Donald Trump in this brotherhood. And that’s what it is. A brotherhood. They all like each other. Because they know the other guys get it. What it means to do the job. And soon they might have to let a girl join the club. 

By the way, I have carried a copy of the Constitution on me for the last 6 years. It really ticks Republicans off when you can pull one out and cite something from it that flies in the face of whatever they are asserting. Repubs hate the Constitution. I mean they love it, they just don’t like what is says mostly. 

A Woman. At Last.

When women got the vote in 1920, the political landscape started to change. Child Labor Laws changed so that 5 years olds didn't have to get their little hands cut off in a coal mine, or work 14 hours a day in a garment factory. Health Care improved. Jobs got better, and so did it's benefits. I think giving women the vote was one of the greatest things our country has every done. Jefferson put in one of the early drafts of the Constitution, that "all Men and Women are created equal." But that was deemed too radical by most of the others and it was shot down.

Interestingly enough one of the delegates for Hillary is 102 years old. When she was 8 she remembers going with her mother while she voted for the first time. Her mother was so excited. And now that child is a 102 year old delegate for Hillary. I hope she gets to see a woman President.

Tonight, Hillary Clinton for the first time in American political history, has been chosen as the Presidential Candidate of a major political party.

I have been fortunate enough to have lived through so much history in my life, and it just keeps on coming.

But the Repubs have cleverly successfully painted Hillary as a criminal. There is no basis in fact, but many Dems are buying into it. Be careful what you believe brethren.

I voted for Bernie here in Michigan. But had I known how juvenile and negative other supporters were going to act at the convention, I wouldn't have.

Let it go. Our guy lost. You don't always get your way. Now it's time to pull together and defeat Trump!

Get on the bus and let's secure our nation from folks like Mr. Trump.

And in case the hate media didn't notice, during the 60 Minutes interview (and yeah Hillary actually let her Running Mate speak), he casually mentioned he's been a missionary, and then quoted scripture eloquently.

So that's my family values. Just saying. It isn't getting into bed with the Russians because they lent you money.