Let's Fight This - TOGETHER!

A Special Message from

the Twice-Impeached 

45th President of the 

United States

They've got it all wrong, the Lame Stream Media, the liars on CNN and MSDNC and the failing New York Times and the Bezos Washington Post and all the rest... they've got it All Wrong. 

Let me give you the Truth about what's happening here. 

First of all, I didn't lose the election. 

I didn't lose the election, so there was no reason for me to pack anything, so I didn't pack anything, because I won and wasn't going to be leaving. And I'd still be your President, Right Now, and there wouldn't have been a problem if only Georgia had found those 11,780 votes like I asked them to, and like Lindsey asked them to, and like Rudy asked them to, and like everyone else asked them to. 

Or Arizona, too, if they had done the right thing. Or Michigan, or Nevada, or  Pennsylvania, or Wisconsin. So if they had just done the right thing, none of this would be happening right now, and all my documents would be safe and the Country would be safe, our Borders and our Stock Market and our Taxes - everything would be safe, if they had just done the right thing. 

But they didn't and when that wimp, that un-American, un-Patriotic traitor Mike Pence refused to do the right thing and send it back to the states like he was supposed to, I was stuck. I swear, my Secret Service guys should have just grabbed him and stuffed him in the SUV. Worthless. 

Anyway, Melania was so frazzled that we were leaving - she had more decorating to do, and stuff to document just like she was doing on January 6th and didn't know anything about what was happening, she really didn't - she was upset, she loved it here - she just started throwing stuff in Tupperware bowls and tubs and stuff, even the jewelry I gave her, the ungrateful wench. 

And there I was, alone. Jared was, I don't know, showering all day long or counting his Saudi money with his crook of a father - why did I pardon him again? 

Those worthless sons of mine were probably out golfing or something, or maybe Donny Jr was home waiting for what's her name, the "The Best is Yet To Come!" girl I paid $60,000 to for introducing Don Jr. to the crowd at the Ellipse on January 6th - what a waste of money she is! And how on earth was she married to that incompetent commie nutjob in California, Gavin Newsom? And now she's my son's fiancé? What did I do to deserve this?

And my beloved Ivanka was home with those Beautiful grandchildren of mine, aren't they Beautiful? They are the most beautiful grandchildren a man could have, right? Just Beautiful, through and through.

So the staff people, the ones that I hadn't scared off,  the staff came running up to the residence with boxes every day, packing, packing, boxing up everything they could get their hands on, I don't even know what they put in all the boxes, the stuff was just thrown in, all willy-nilly, and then the boxes were stuffed in the truck and off everything went to my Beautiful, Historic, Important Mar-a-Lago, the most Famous house in all the world.

I barely managed to get my hands on the compromising photo books, and my pictures of Vlad - it was crazy.

And then, when they reached out to me last year, I had no idea there was anything being stored at my beloved Mar-a-Lago that I wasn't supposed to have. I thought I had taken care of most of the stuff anyone would worry about; that was ripped up and disposed of at the White House. 

And what about that Crooked Hillary flunky, Maggie Haberman, the third-rate NY Times reporter - half the kid her parents were, for sure, sharing those pictures... who takes pictures of other peoples' toilets?

And remember when I complained about having to flush and flush and flush? Yeah, well now you understand right? Damn 'green' toilets. You gotta flush and flush and flush them, it's a mess. Horrible.

And in January when I gave them boxes, they were boxes I had never even seen before, maybe someone found them in the back of Melania's closet, that's why I didn't know anything about them. And so, they took the boxes and I thought that was it. They even got back that meteorological map of Dorian - just like I told you, Alabama was in danger the whole time! 

And then they said other stuff was missing.

And so I let the lawyers handle everything, and they all said we gave everything back, and that's what they told them, so I just assumed that there was nothing left. They even signed something, saying they had given everything back, I didn't even know we had anything, I didn't pack anything.

And then we heard from them again - good lord, don't these people have anything do to other than pester me about boxes of stuff I know nothing about? Why aren't they trying to put Crooked Hillary in jail? Why the hell aren't they publishing all the stuff off Hunter's laptop, all the Biden Crime Family stuff, instead of trying to pretend there's a Trump Crime Family? What a lie! Everything I have, I've earned the hard way, ever since I was a kid. Even my bone spurs, hard-fought battle but I got them.

'Put a new lock on the door', they said - 'it's not secure enough,' they said. So we did, and even that wasn't good enough, they wanted the camera footage and they sent a subpoena, and still we were cooperating with them, just like from the beginning when the White House Staff filled the boxes and put them in the truck and then they came and picked stuff up. 

Just like I've said all along, if they wanted the boxes back, I would have given them back, but they never asked. And once they sent the subpoena, why should I give them back the boxes? Just because they sent me a subpoena? 

I've gotten hundreds of subpoenas in my life, and I never just do what they ask me to, that's ridiculous, especially when Trump is under attack, all the time, my entire life. I've been sued more times than anyone in history! My legal files are the biggest you've never seen! They're massive, way bigger than Obama's! I can show you - mine are bigger, no question about it.

And it doesn't matter anyway, because I declassified everything - every single piece of paper, photo, post-it note, article, white paper, briefing book, eyes only piece of paper they shoved under my nose - I declassified it ALL - all at the same time. They must know that, everyone knows that - I can do it, and I did it, and all of this is stupid. Nothing is classified anymore, I declassified all of it, I stood right there over the boxes. 

Oh, wait that's not how I did it, I had no idea what was in the boxes, the staff took care of that. But I declassified everything, everything in the residence was declassified, even if it wasn't classified in the first place. 

And even if I didn't, it doesn't matter, because all of this is old stuff now, since they kicked me out of my White House in January 2021, that bastard Mike Pence, we should have hung him, just like I said. So how can something a year-and-a-half old be a threat to Our Great Country? 

Well, it was Great once, now it's a Third World Country with the libs and Sleepy Joe and Carmella and Drunk Nancy and Cryin' Chuck and the Radical Left Squad and the Woke Mob in charge - what a Mess they have made of our Beautiful Country, right? Antifa and BLM and all the rest...

And now that we've got this NEW Witch Hunt, after the Fake Russia Russia Russia and Impeachment#1 and Impeachment #2 and Mueller's Fake Witch Hunt, now we've got another one to deal with and I tell you, real Americans are just not going to stand for this anymore! We must FIGHT to get Our Great Country back again. And that's exactly what I'm going to do.

Because these documents that I never took and didn't know I had and they could have had back at any time just by asking for them and they're not top secret any longer because it's old stuff on old paper, and besides, I declassified EVERYTHING, and this RAID on my Beautiful Home, the most Beautiful, Famous home in the world, ask anyone, this Raid and this Unlawful Search - they touched Melania's clothes, can you believe that? I think one of them even put on her I Don't Care Do U? jacket, we saw that on the camera, I'm sure we did.

These are just the tip of the iceberg that's going to hit Our Country if we don't stop the woke mob, the lazy liberals who are trying to turn us into a Fourth World Country and if there weren't any of those last week, we're the first and best Country ever to become one. And don't believe any of that Climate Change crap; if it was so warm, why do we still have icebergs? And that iceberg aiming for America right now? 

Civil war, I tell you. Some people are saying we're on the verge of a civil war.

I even called Merrick Garland - and have you ever heard anyone so wimpy? His mother Judy, boy could she sing, right? He sounds like a little kid up there, trying to convince his parents he wasn't out drinking with what's her name, that Renate person... oh wait, that's a different judge, never mind. 

Anyway, Garland, I called him, asked him what I could do to calm things down after HE raided MY house, SEIZED my documents that I never had and even if I did have them, it doesn't matter because there's nothing wrong with it, and besides, I declassified everything back in January before I left Washington so I wouldn't have to be there for the Fake Inauguration of the Fake President. 

Here I am, trying to help, and what do I get? NOTHING! Merrick Garland, he didn't even take my call. We get nothing, Patriots - you and I, we get nothing. But that's all going to change. 

With your help, and your prayers, and your donations, we will Fight this Together! We Love You. You are all Beautiful, Special people. Stand back and stand by, and if you do that near an FBI office, that's even better. 

We Love You. 

And we will fight this together.

Rush your Generous Donation to the

Protect Melania's Wardrobe and Keep The "Justice" Department 

and the Liars at the FBI from Ruining Our Great Country PAC

right away (you can just ignore the highlighted box

making this a daily contribution - that's just a joke). 

We love you. And together We. Will. Save. America.

And if you donate within the next 45 minutes, we'll make sure

the President sees your name at the top of the list of America-loving Patriots.

And if yours is the lucky name he circles with his Presidential Sharpie,

you could win tickets to his next rally. 

And remember to vote against

Liz Cheney. Even if you don't live in Wyoming. 

Thank you for your support. 

You're a helluva Patriot.

Wondering on Wednesday 7/13/22

 

Ready... Set... Wonder!

So, we had another January 6th Committee hearing this week. I'd love to know if folks are still watching, or if everyone's over it by now? 

I'm not over it yet - not by a long shot, although I was multi-tasking a bit yesterday and missed the part about the "unhinged" meeting with Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani, Mike "The Traitor" Flynn, and Patrick Byrne, the Overstock.com guy -who, according to something I read today, 'overstocked' on meatballs at the meeting. 

After watching replays today, I can't help wondering how much worse things would have been on January 6th if there hadn't have been any adults in the room on December 18th. 

Another thing I can't stop wondering about is if the Committee's going to do anything about the comments from Rep. Debbie Lasko (R- I Didn't Mean to Say I'd Kill My Grandkids). I don't think it was fully explained how the Committee got hold of the tape, but here's what Lasko said "on the eve of January 6th." 

I also asked leadership to come up with a safety plan for members. I'm actually very concerned about this because we have who knows how many hundreds of thousands of people coming here. We have Antifa. We also have, quite honestly, Trump supporters who actually believe that we are going to overturn the election. And when that doesn't happen, most likely will not happen, they are going to go nuts.

First, I'm wondering who Lasko spoke to. If I had to guess, I'd think it was Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Rep. Steve Scalise, and/or  Rep. Elise Stefanik - they're the top three Republican 'leaders' in the House; but what if it was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, or anyone on her leadership team? 

Second, I'm wondering what response she got from whomever she spoke with, and whether the Committee's spoken with anyone involved in those conversations. 

And finally, I'm definitely wondering about her saying "most likely will not happen." Did she actually think there was a chance all of this nonsense would work??

Much of my wondering is centered on the horrific story about the ten-year-old Ohio girl who had to travel to Indiana to have an abortion because she was a few days too pregnant to get one at home; this was a hot topic  in last week's Sunday School. 

Since the story first hit the headlines, many have suggested it was a fake, something someone made up to get people all riled up for the primaries and the mid-term elections, or just riled up in general. Among the folks saying it was a made-up story? The editorial board of the Wall Street Journal.

Here's a tweet with more information from the editorial. 

Reporters at the National Review questioned it. The Washington Post tried to fact-check it, and failed. 

And none other than Ohio's own Rep. Jim Jordan, who also controls the House Judiciary GOP Twitter account, determined it to be fake. Jordan's comment is below. 

I wonder how shocking it must have been for them to find out that, this morning, a man was charged for raping the little girl? And I wonder, too, what would have happened if the media had identified the girl or found our where she lived? Would they have staked out her home? Attacked any males in the house as potential rapists?  Would they have followed her to Indiana? 

I also find myself wondering if we've become so jaded by things like the Jussie Smollett case, and fake Go Fund Me accounts and all the rest, that the first thought when something horrible is reported is that it's not true? 

And if that's the case, I wonder how we recover from that level of distrust?

What are you wondering about tonight?

Wondering on Wednesday 6/29/22

Ready... Set... Wonder!

The wondering is wandering today. 

I wonder why so many people think that a House committee investigation is a trial, and that a hearing room at the Capitol is the same as a courtroom? 

And why would anyone who managed the House Judiciary Committee GOP cabal's Twitter feed would think that everything Cassidy Hutchinson said yesterday - the entirety of her testimony - was hearsay? I wonder if it's because Rep. Jim (Who's Going to Play Me in Clooney's Documentary?) Jordan is the goofball behind the keyboard?

Hutchinson seemed very clear, to anyone who actually watched the hearings (other than the aforementioned Twitter user, who said no one was watching) about what things she was personally involved in, and what things were told to her by others. 

So, for example, when she said she texted Kevin McCarthy, one could surmise that those text messages were made available to the January 6th Committee. And I wonder why so many people who obviously didn't watch are so dead-certain about the veracity of her testimony...

Happily, I'm able to report that Andrew Giuliani was not successful in his bid to become the Republican nominee for governor of NY, not that I wondered a whole lot about the possibility of him winning the primary. Truth be told, I spent zero time on that. 

Although, now that I think about it, I do sort of wonder how Andrew, son of Rudy (My Back Hurts, but Otherwise I'm Able to Walk and Stuff Like That) Giuliani would be able to withstand the rigors of being a politician. After all, male pols are frequently given a sturdy handshake and countless bicep grips and backslaps. If he's got a glass back like his daddy, he'd be in big trouble, so it's probably good he didn't win.

Incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul, who took over after the Sonofa Gov's fall from grace last year, easily won the Democratic primary. Hochul won every county in the state, most of them easily, over runner-up Jumaane Williams and Tom Suozzi, who finished a distant third. 

On the Republican side, Rep. Lee Zeldin cruised to victory over Giuliani, 2014 nominee Rob Astorino, and 'turn-around expert' Harry Wilson. I don't think any of the Rs ran a good race, really - and we never heard much at all from Williams and Suozzi. It almost felt like the Rs ran upstate and the Ds ran downstate. 

So, what's the wondering on our election results? Now that the campaign will start in earnest, how bad are things going to get, advertising-wise? Hochul's raised over $34M so far, with a goal of raising $50M-$70M by Election Day. That's a whole lot of money for a whole lot of ads, to go along with a whole lot of bill-signing still to come, I'm sure. And Zeldin? He claims over $11.5M in 'pre-primary' fundraising, so we'll be seeing a lot of him I'm sure, too. He certainly wasn't shy with his ads during the primary, and I don't think that'll change. 

Early voting turnout was "anemic" in New York City, with fewer than 90,000 people taking advantage of the opportunity, out of some 3,600,000 registered voters. Not sure how that amount of apathy will impact what happens in August, or November, but it does make me wonder if we really needed to have several days of early voting in New York.

In New York, R Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his decades of sexual trafficking and racketeering; he faces additional charges in Illinois and Minnesota. My only wondering here is if any of his victims will ever feel safe and whole again. 

And finally, I'm going to drop a blanket wondering: what the heck's going on with the Supreme Court and their recent decisions, and did anyone really see all of these coming?

What's on your wondering minds tonight?

Happy 50th Anniversary, Watergate

Today is the 50th anniversary of Watergate, the scandal that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. 

And I can't help drawing comparisons between that crisis and the one in which our most recent former president finds himself knee deep.

 For example, 

• Richard Nixon had a CREEP - the Committee for the Re-Election of the President; Donald Trump is a creep. 

• Nixon had criminals acting on his behalf; Trump had hundreds of criminals acting on his behalf.

• Nixon's scandal came to light with a break-in at the Watergate Hotel, a building in DC; Trump's came to light with the break-in at the US Capitol, a building in DC. 

• The Watergate scandal had Deep Throat, the long-anonymous source who fed reporters information they published in real time; the Trump scandal has deep voices: the dozens of reporters and former staffers who have written about his administration. 

• Nixon had the Saturday Night Massacre, in which DOJ folks quit so they wouldn't have to fire the special prosecutor investigating the scandal; Trump conspired to fire DOJ staff, and had a legion of people threaten to quit. 

• Nixon's secretary, Rosemary Woods, destroyed White House documents; Donald Trump has allegedly destroyed White House documents. 

• Nixon had the 'plumbers'; Trump was full of crap with his ideas of a stolen election.

• Nixon was overwhelmingly re-elected after the scandal; Trump continues to maintain that he overwhelmingly won an election he overwhelmingly lost. 

• Gerald Ford declared "our long national nightmare" to be over when Nixon resigned; Mike Pence prevented a constitutional crisis when he refused to follow Trump's directive that he not certify the election. 

• Nixon dealt with shady characters in support of his winning re-election effort; Trump had Rudy Giuliani, Steven Bannon, and countless others helping him try to steal back an election he lost. 

• It took a long time for Republicans to turn against Nixon; it's taking Republicans a long time to turn against Trump.

• Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon; Trump pardoned just about everyone.

• Richard Nixon famously said he was not a crook; Donald Trump said "No way we lost this election!"

Let's all raise a glass to the Republican who had the good sense to quit, shall we? 

Wondering on Wednesday 4/28/21

Ready... Set... Wonder!

In no particular order, here's tonight's wondering.

The police bodycam videos in the shooting of Andrew Brown, Jr. in Elizabeth City, NC won't be shared with the public right now, although edited versions will be shared with Brown's family, supplementing the 20 seconds they've already seen. According to judge Jeffery Foster, the media organizations which had requested the video "did not have standing to petition for release, and that the public release could harm the reputation or safety of the deputies depicted in it and affect the state's investigation."  

I wonder then, if releasing the videos would "affect the state's investigation," why is the district attorney releasing details of the investigation himself, to counter comments made by the family's attorney?  

I wonder why they are not allowing all members of the House and Senate to attend the president's address tonight?  I would certainly allow anyone who's been fully vaccinated (meaning, two weeks past their final shot, whether it's a two-shot regimen or the one-shot version).  And, I wonder how they decided who gets to be among the 200 or so who attend? And finally, I wonder, will Fox have a camera glued to Speaker Nancy Pelosi's face, to see what she thinks of Biden's speech?

I wonder, who are the people who particpate in the surveys on Family Feud?

Andrew Giuliani, former Special Assistant Because of His Last Name to Former Guy, was getting all kinds of hot and bothered talking to the press about the search warrants executed at his father Rudy's home and office. Among his comments? "If this can happen to the president's lawyer, this can happen to any of us." I wonder if he realizes how silly he sounds? Honestly, if this can happen to any of us, it can happen to the president's lawyer, too. That's the way it's supposed to work in America. 

California Governor Gavin Newsom will face a recall, barring a miracle that results in the tossing of a whole boatload of signatures on the petition. Among the candidates hoping to replace him? A police officer-turned-insurance broker, a familiar sight on billboards, a former adult film star, a senior pastor, and former Olympian and reality TV star. 

There's a former mayor, too - but sadly, not a sonofa former mayor. I'm wondering if we could send them Andrew Giuliani, to keep him out of the race here in NY?

Beyond this, I'm wondering about the Biden speech, and Sen. Tim Scott's response, and the punditry jibberjabber, which we can talk about later.

Wondering on Wednesday 4/7/21

 

Ready... Set... Wonder!

Former Vice President Mike Pence has signed a multi-million-dollar deal to write not one but two books. I'm wondering when the second book begins; maybe it's after all 50 states certified the election, and the guy who occupies The Office of the45th President started trying to rally the troops for the insurrection? I'm also wondering if Trump will offer some kind words for the book jacket? You know, something along the lines of 

Mike? Where's Mike? I heard he wrote a book, probably not as good as my books, and it won't sell as many copies, but he was a nice guy, for the most part. But he could have solved all the problems if he had just done his job and overturned the election. I hope he writes about that part - the worst decision he ever made, and me too.

Rudy "Gee, Your Hair Dye Looks Terrific" Giuliani's son Andrew, has announced he's going to run for governor of New York. And after I stopped laughing - seriously, he has zero qualifications, other than a resemblance to a younger Eric Trump, and a "job" as a "special assistant" to Former Guy - I had to wonder what he's smoking, or what kind of mirror he looks into in the morning that gives him this level of confidence. 

Outside of anybody named Trump, I think I have the best chance to win and take the state back, and I think there's an opportunity in 2022 with a wounded Democratic candidate, whether it's going to be Gov. [Andrew] Cuomo, whether it's going to be a radical [Attorney General] Letitia James, whether it's going to be a no-name lieutenant governor, I think there's a very, very real chance to win. I believe I can win the race. I think I'm the right candidate, and this is the right time to help change New York State, and we've got a playbook that works.

I wonder, will the NYS GOP disavow Junior G-man's candidacy, right now? Do they have the cannolis to do it, I wonder?

Matt Gaetz? Yeah, I wonder about him. And I wonder about Women for America First, a pro-Former Guy group, who will have Gaetz as a speaker at an event held, of course, at a Trump-owned property. Gaetz, you'll recall, is under federal investigation for alleged child sex trafficking - an investigation started under Snitty Snitty Bill Barr's term as Attorney General. And not for nothing, the women know he's under investigation, but it doesn't matter. And you know what else? The woman behind the group hosting Gaetz this week was behind the rally at the Capitol on January 6th. 

I also wonder about Mitch McConnell, who on Monday told CEOs to stay out of politics, and accused companies of acting like a "woke alternative government" and yes, he threatened them, he did. 

Corporations will invite serious consequences if they become a vehicle for far-left mobs to hijack our country from outside the constitutional order. 

The wondering part was, has he lost his mind? But it's OK - we subsequently learned that he didn't really mean that, he didn't. He thinks corporations should be involved and CEOs should continue donating millions of dollars to Republicans, but he doesn't want them getting involved in, you know, acting like good citizens and stuff. That's woke, and woke is bad. Because the more woke they are, they less money they'll donate to people like Mitch McConnell - and we surely can't have that, can we?

I also wonder about FEMA and its plan to provide up to $9,000 towards funeral expenses to folks who lost a loved one to COVID. I sort of understand wanting to help, but I just wonder if there is a limit to our collective generosity here. And, of course, there are already scammers trying to get in front of this - and that's before applications even get submitted. 

Finally, and I'll take the hit if you think this is premature, since the Derek Chauvin trial is still going on, but I wonder this: would George Floyd have died on that street, next to that patrol car, on that day last May, had Chauvin not had held him down? The answer is no. 

What are you wondering about?

TGIF 2/5/21

What's on tap in today's good week - bad week recap? It's kind of a mixed bag, I'd say. 

Last night, or maybe it was early this morning, the plan to increase the federal minimum wage to $15 that had been included in the Biden administration COVID relief plan was scrapped by the Senate. It happened via voice vote after Iowa's Sen. Joni Ernst (of the 'make them squeal' campaign commercial) put forward a proposal to hold off any increases during the pandemic. That Guy from Vermont, Sen. Bernie Sanders, was OK with the vote, saying he had never sought to raise it during the pandemic anyway. This will undoubtedly make progressives unhappy, which is a hit for the Biden team, but to me it makes sense. 

We got some jobs numbers this week. First, we learned that there were 779,000 new unemployment claims  filed  last week, below projections and more than 30K fewer than the week before, and the lowest week since November. There are now 17.8M people collecting benefits. We also learned that the economy added 49,000 jobs in January, and that the unemployment rate fell to 6.3%, a four-tenths-of-a-percent decrease. These numbers are always tough, and a decoder ring is often necessary to figure out whether it's good news or bad news. I'm choosing to think it's better than bad, and better than December, but less than stellar. 

In the 'who's suing who?' category this week, we've got voting machine technology company Smartmatic dropping a $2.7B lawsuit on Fox News, squawkers Lou Dobbs, Maria "I used to be a respected reporter" Bartiromo, and Judge Jeanine Pirro, as well as Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell. Like the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit (but twice as big), it's all about defamation and lies and unbridled support and promotion of twice impeached former president Donald Trump's claims about the 'stolen' 2020 election. Good week for Smartmatic, maybe, but surely not for the rest of them.

Let's see, what else... Oh, this was eye-opening, and worth giving some attention. Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips took to the floor of the House to apologize to people of color - his colleagues, and everyone else - for never really having understood white privilege until the attack on the Capitol last month. I know, that sounds kind of odd, but I encourage you to spend fewer than two minutes listening to what he said, and as much time as needed to contemplate what he said, and to check your own understanding of white privilege.

Moving on to some indisputably good news, how about the ten-year-old Rhode Island boy who, with help from a friend, cleared snow off some 70 cars in the parking lot of the local hospital - because the folks who work there are helping people, so why not help them? Why not, indeed?

Or, how about the 92-year-old Vassar alum who has written her first novella? Sue (Fruchtbaum) Buyer entered college during the polio epidemic, spent her first year in quarantine, and later, after attending journalism school, spent 25 years at the Buffalo News. She started writing after giving up skiing - at age 85!

And, since it's Super Bowl Weekend, I want to leave you with a funny commercial, courtesy of T-Mobile and former-now-current teammates Rob Gronkowski and the GOAT, Tom Brady, 'explaining' how Brady (and Gronk) came to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Now, before you get all snarky with me, I'm a Joe Montana fan from way, way back and the Niners are still 'my' team. Last year, they lost to that Mahomes kid and the KC Chiefs, after being outscored 21-0 in the 4th quarter. There's no way I'm going to root for them, no matter who they were playing! 

I d0 have a soft spot for Brady - long story - and I've got to say, I'm incredibly impressed that he's going to be playing in his 10th Super Bowl, and with a whole new team. Sunday, we've got two great quarterbacks, one old enough to be the other one's dad. I'm rooting for the old guy, I am - and for a game as good as this one looks like it could be. We can talk on Monday and see if I'm smiling or not.

TGIF, everyone - hope your week was a good one!

Trump in Transition (v48)

Watching people argue on Twitter about which presidential candidate won more counties - not more votes, more counties - is both comical and disheartening.

The self-proclaimed "proud supporters of the Constitution" seem to believe that counties vote...? And, without irony, they also believe that counties - particularly counties in red states - cheat, make up ballots, and round up dead people to vote against Trump.

The same people believe that wearing a Black Lives Matter t-shirt when observing ballot-counting is both a crime against humanity and indicative of cheating, while wearing a MAGA hat is indicative of patriotism and truthfulness, which is itself untruthful, if the judges who've reviewed the 'evidence' from said 'red heads' are correct.

And, it would seem, many of them apparently think that a mythological Scandinavian sea monster is going to save the Trump presidency. That would appear to be a completely un-American approach, don't you think? An illegal immigrant from a country governed by a monarch swimming in to save the American republic? Stop it.

Donald Trump feeds off the people who idolize him and can't imagine that someone wouldn't; it's impossible for him to believe he is unlikeable. Even in the face of evidence that people dislike him, he denies the possibility.

To sit where he sits - he acts like he's in a booth in the back in the corner in the dark, except he's in the White House, and we can see him - and repeatedly tell us and the world that he won, that he got more votes than Obama!! and more votes than any sitting president ever!!!, and that there's no way anyone could have gotten more votes than him since he got more than anyone before him!!!!! is insane. It's delusional. It's narcissistic.

And, sadly, it's completely consistent with what we have been forced to put up with throughout his presidency. He has not transitioned an inch, not even a hair. He is now who he was then, who he has been and will be forever, except that he was elected president. Once.

He denies my existence, and the existence of millions of people like me, over 81 million of us, who did not vote for him. He denies the existence of people who had the audacity to like someone better, or to dislike his opponent less than they dislike him.

The millions who showed our displeasure, our distaste, our dislike, he cannot or will not comprehend. Our exhaustion, he cannot comprehend. How annoyed we are, how sick we are of his constant self-promoting, the embarrassing tweets, the grifting, the cast of characters by whom he is surrounded, that he foists upon us, that he honors and celebrates, he cannot comprehend.

Equally incomprehensible is that, as he pretends all of this isn't happening, didn't happen, isn't true, he continues to roil the waters in which his devout supporters swim, working them into a frenzy of martial-law supporting, havoc-wreaking, our-country-has-been-stolen fanatics. They are insisting he will be president, he will have his second-term inauguration come January 20th, and they don't care what it takes to make that happen.

• Let's send separate slates of Trump electors. Let's have a nationwide recount - in the states he lost this time that he won last time, because that is the nation, that handful of states. That is the height of the resistance against him, and against which devout rage must be directed.

• Let's have a separate inauguration for him, at noon on January 20, 2021, an online inauguration. It'll be the biggest crowd for any online inauguration in history, it surely will - the zoomiest Zoom call EVER! We'll bring Sean Spicer back, grab him from the studios of Newsmax and have him count all the little faces on the screens to validate the count! Obama never had a zoom inauguration this big - we'll show him, that Muslim race-baiting worst president ever- we'll SHOW HIM!

• Let's fight the acceptance of the Electoral College vote! Let's dispute it on the floor during the Joint Session, and make the Vice President deal with that! (Insert Howard Dean scream here.)

And Trump sits in our house, huddling with the China-loving fraudster Steve Bannon; with the indescribable Sidney Powell, the lawyer who's not his lawyer, but who spends an awful lot of time at the White House lately; with Rudy Giuliani, the lawyer who IS his lawyer but who spends a lot of time telling people that Sidney Powell is nuts; with twice-confessed lying pardoned disgraced General Michael Flynn, and his other usual suspects - RINOS one and all - because these folks are not representative of the majority of Republicans. They cannot be.

Trump and his followers would have you believe that Republicans in charge of elections in red states are RINOS for not declaring him the winner, but they are actually Republicans, sharing their disappointment at the outcome of the election (however misplaced that disappointment is, in my opinion) and at the same time supporting the rule of law and the processes that are in place.

They are being turned on (no, not like that), the Republicans are, by the man they chose, the one they said was a lunatic, unstable, a racist, not like them, not good for the country, a con man, and more. He is turning on them, not just privately, but pitting one against the other, pitting the many against the one, whoever the one is that is drawing Trump's ire at any particular moment.

The majority of Republicans don't have the cojones to put themselves in the Stevie-Rudy-Sidney-Mikey crowd, right? They prefer to cower in the face of these folks. Complicitly, most of them silently, but still cowering, instead of using their precious microphone and camera time talking about what their constituents need, regardless of what Trump wants, or heaven forbid, talking about what the country needs.

And they surely don't have the cojones to stand up to Trump, unless it's on their way out of office. That seems to be the time when courage, and cojones, are found aplenty. (Well, a couple, maybe; not really aplenty. I mean, they're not hanging like ornaments on a tree or anything.)

All of this - the ignorance, the insistence, the convincing, the convicted, the complicit, the true believers, the treasonous - all of this creates a giant, flaming bullseye showing us exactly where we are, and how far we need to go.

We don't need a cult leader, raking in money hand over fist from the faithful. We don't need a grifter, enriching his businesses and his family off the taxpayers. We don't need a liar, a tweeter, a shouter, a screamer, a cranky two-year-old having a temper tantrum.

We surely don't need more people coming to the White House wearing their criminal convictions on their sleeves; we need people who have the courage of their convictions, their principles, their ethics, their love of country.

We don't need a person, we need a plan, for the entire country.

The 'real' transition cannot happen soon enough.

TGIF 11/20/20

Wouldn't it be fun to blog like the woman in charge of the GAO tweets?  GSA Administrator Emily Murphy's now-deleted tweet from Wednesday (you can see it here) - the first one she had sent since the election - inspired me to compose the following very important and very confusing sentence.  

Had;j aow4ith pa984ty;;o gnz;dkfn.

Maybe someone good at creating codes could make it mean something - you know, like those tattoos on Jane Doe's body on Blindspot all had some deeper meaning awaiting discovery? 

In addition to that weird tweet, Administrator Murphy has gotten attention from members of the House, some of whom sent this request. They're looking for an "immediate briefing" on Murphy's "ongoing refusal" to give the Biden-Harris team the access - and funds - they're afforded under the President Transition Act. And, they're interested in some recent actions by the president, too. 

We also have questions about last-minute actions taken by the White House related to GSA leading up to the election. On September 2, 2020, president Trump issued an executive order modifying the-longstanding order of succession within GAS to place the General Counsel as fourth-in-line to perform the duties of Administrator after you, your Deputy, and your Chief of Staff. 

And then, less than a week before the election, Trump installed a new GSA General Counsel - imagine that! So, it would seem, there is no limit to the lengths to which he will go to interfere in, well, pretty much anything and everything. 

Speaking of interfering, it seems former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon is again more interesting in his post-White House life than when he was there. This time, the FTC is interested in hearing from him regarding the Cambridge Analytica data breach from a while back. 

The Federal Trade Commission has asked a federal court to force former Trump campaign CEO Steve Bannon to testify under oath as part of the agency's investigation into Facebook's Cambridge Analytica data breach.

Seems they want to interview Bannon as part of a probe into whether he should be found personally liable for his involvement in the breach, for which Facebook was fined $5B and two of the firm's executives settled with the FTC

And, speaking of "only the best people," there's the president's 40th 4th press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, who's made so many recent campaign appearances and 'personal' appearances on Fox News, I'm sort of shocked that she even remembered where the White House press briefing room is. But she did, and she was in full campaign mode today, seemingly trying to convince people that there wasn't an orderly transition of power in 2016. Which is a bald-faced lie, except that it can't be a lie, because she said she'd never lie. So now, I don't know what to think (OK, seriously - of course I know what to think, and you do too, right?)

Also, on the not knowing what to think front, I wonder why we're not :hearing from the folks who are always complaining about bail reform...I mean, Kyle Rittenhouse, who gave someone money to purchase what was described as an assault-style weapon, then got a ride from his home in Illinois to neighboring Wisconsin, where he used the gun to kill two and injure another man, has been released after posting a $2M cash bond.  Why is he out on bail? Why aren't people outraged by that? 

I'd put Bannon, McEnany, and Murphy on the bad week list, but Rittenhouse, with the help of the millions of dollars raised for his legal defense, definitely had a good week.

Also of note this week:

• Rudy Giuliani, who found the right place to hold his press conference, and then wilted under pressure (bad week);
• the president, who claimed (again) that he won the election, boasting of his 74 million votes; too bad he lost (bad week):
• Dolly Parton, who donated a million bucks to coronavirus efforts, and ended up helping to fund the Moderna/BioNtech vaccine (good week);
• BioNtech, the German company I've heard pronounced four or five different ways in the past several days. They've got a bit of an uphill battle on that front, I think (mixed week);
• SpaceX, and NASA, and especially the four astronauts who very smoothly went from earth to the International Space Station (great week); and
• Staff Sgt. Phillip Gray, who wrote 270 notes for his daughter - one for each day he'd be deployed - which his wife put in his daughter's lunchbox. (GREAT week!)

I hope it's easy for you to tell what kind of week you had.

TGIF, everyone.

TGIF 11/13/20

Friday the 13th...  

A great day for transitioning from something to something...  A great day for having a great day by doing the right thing...  A great day for me to keep dreaming, right?  

And that's just what I'll do, after I do a good week - bad week post for you. For the most part, I'll let you decide who goes where, although as always, some of them will be pretty obvious.

There was a report that some digging was going on outside the White House briefing room today, and of course, the Interwebs had a riot with that. Many wondered if maybe it was a moat, harkening back to conversations the president had with advisors about putting such a water feature along his beloved border wall.  

Another suggestion? It's a trench for burning the evidence - but certainly not the evidence of voter fraud or election rigging. We know that, because so far they haven't shown anything that's managed to capture the eyes of the courts.

And speaking of election fraud and losing, the president needs lawyers to help him with this fool's errand, and of course, some of the law firms were taking heat for helping with his attempts to overturn or ignore our democratic principles - and the heat was coming from within the firms, as well as from outside. 

And today, it seems, it might have gotten too hot in the kitchen for one of them, as Porter Wright "reached a mutual agreement" with the Trump team, which will find other counsel - perhaps a firm less interested in protecting its reputation?

A soon to be ex-congressman from Virginia let loose in an interview about the president and his followers, the ones who are sticking by his side (does that make them his next-to-ers, I wonder?). Rep. Denver Riggleman, a Republican who had the audacity to perform a gay marriage (gasp!) and was primaried by a self-proclaimed "biblical conservative" thinks things are getting out of hand, including the conspiracy theories Trump is spreading. 

That really, is, really, I think, the Island of the Misfit Toys at that point. You have crossed the Rubicon, you jumped on the crazy train and you're headed into the cliffs that guard the flat earth at that time, brother.

Speaking of conspiracy theories and what not, Elon Musk is making some noise about "extremely bogue" COVID-19 tests. Seems he took four of the rapid tests, which have a reported accuracy rate of 34-80%, and he had two positives and two negatives, putting him within the range for the tests. He thinks the reason why we're seeing a surge in cases is because there are so many false positives. Apparently he discounts the potential that we're actually under-reporting the surge because there are so many false negatives. 

What else do we have today?  Oh -- Four Seasons Total Landscaping is selling shirts and stickers saying "Make American Rake Again" and "Lawn and Order," capitalizing on its new-found fame after hosting Rudy Giuliani's press conference the other day. Fun stuff, for sure -and good for them. No word yet on whether Rudy will make another appearance, maybe to autograph shirts to raise money for the president's legal fund. 

And now, for real, honest-to-goodness good news, not the kind you have to debate about, I offer these stories:

• Here's a 'Florida man' headline you'll love: Florida man becomes first person with Down Syndrome to finish Ironman triathlon.

• This teenager puts on a different costume each day before logging on to his remote classes, because "to try and bring happiness to people."

• In the week we celebrated Veterans Day, I found this story about a vet who's turned his farm into a healing place, so maybe other vets could feel a sense of belonging and purpose. 

And finally, one last election has been called. There's a new mayor in Rabbit Hash, Kentucky, and he walked away with the race. Wilbur Beast, a French Bulldog, took 13, 143 of the 22,985 votes cast in "the most important election that happened this year." Since 1988, the town has elected an animal as mayor; each vote costs a buck, with all of the money goes to the local historical society, which runs the town. I just know we can learn something from this story, I just know it!

That's all I've got for you tonight - TGIF, everyone.

In Case You Missed It (59)

Grab your cuppa whatever, settle down in a comfy chair somewhere, and enjoy this recap of last week's posts.

Sunday School brought us an interview with Lara Trump, the $15,000/month campaign worker, wife of Eric Trump and daughter-in-law of the president. She spoke with Jake Tapper on CNN's State of the Union, at least until he abruptly thanked her off the air.  Before that happened, she offered this explanation for the president's behavior vis a vis the domestic terrorism plot against one of his favorite targets, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Well, look, this is - he wasn't doing anything, I don't think, to provoke people to threaten this woman at all. He was having fun at a Trump rally... There are issues at hand here that are bigger than just keeping everybody locked down. So, I think people are frustrated. And look, the president was at a rally. It's a fun, light atmosphere. Of course he wasn't encouraging people to threaten this woman. That's ridiculous.

It is ridiculous, she's right about that.  She was equally ridiculous talking about Joe Biden's stutter, which is when Tapper shut her down.

Your Extra Credit task? Taking in interviews with Tom Perez, the chair of the DNC, and Reince Priebus, who was Trump's first (of four) chiefs of staff. The two talked with Margaret Brennan on CBS' Face the Nation.

Perez is hopeless, IMO - and barely quotable, which this close to an election is an offense the party should really deal with - you know, sit him at a desk opposite whatever three famous Dems will be willing to do it, and summarily dismiss him a la the Celebrity Apprentice. Or tweet his fake resignation letter, or something. 

Priebus is still relatively unlikeable, but at least he does a halfway decent interview, defends his candidate at every turn, and attacks the other guy. Here he is talking about what's left of the time on the calendar before Election Day.

I mean, you know, clearly, I think one of the things that you're going to see over the next couple of weeks is that the President's going to be pivoting, talking about the economy. I think this upcoming debate is going to be really important that the President is that, you know, likable, fun, have a good time. 

I don't think Trump had much fun at the debate, given the rules, do you? 

Midweek, I was Wondering on Wednesday about all kinds of stuff, including alleged foreign election interference, but more about the actual domestic election interference being done by the Republicans, or at least by their minions. I gave an earlier example, of the Trump-loving conservative activists were charged for making threatening robocalls, which to me is worse than Iranians making threatening robo-mails. Why? Um, because they're Americans...

I was also talking about the new Ukraine-China stuff that's being dripped out by Rudy Colludy, and the Republicans who are actively complicit in this, or passively so.

And I wonder if I'm the only one wondering if they think releasing this will make more people vote for the ethically-challenged, debt-challenged, Russia-challenged, China-challenged, taxpayer-soaking, lying, bullying, corrupt president, or if they think this will make fewer people vote for the other guy, giving the ethically-challenged, debt-challenged, Russia-challenged, China-challenged, taxpayer-soaking, lying, bullying, corrupt president a better shot at re-election?

I have my ideas on that, how about you? 

Thursday, I did a PPOD  post - that's Pet Peeve of the Day - on the damn Democrats and how horrible they are, once again, at managing PR. This time, the target of my wrath at my former party was the posters-in-chairs boycott of the Senate Judiciary Committee vote to advance the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the full Senate.

I could do a 'Dems are dumb' PPOD at least monthly, I'm sure, without having to stretch my research muscles enough to even wake up my Fitbit. I could have done a dozen just on the impeachment, for Pete's sake.  This time, my own Sen. Chuck Schumer was the focus of my wrath, for a variety of reasons, including these.

I hate to point out that this silliness, during an election where perhaps the highest priority is gaining the majority in the Senate, is not likely to be the kind of thing that's going to push an undecided voter to choose blue. Worse, it might be just the thing to embolden the red guys in the several very close Senate races that the Dems need to win to get the majority. Why feed the beast?

And, with a 17% approval rating for Congress as a whole - the lowest it's been in a year - why don't you at least show up?

And finally, I closed the week with a stranger-than-usual TGIF entry. I had planned on talking seriously about the debate but first I found myself channeling Trump in his post-presidential book, and channeling Melania, as if she was the one who had control of the president's demeanor during the debate. Those two parts were fun to write, for sure.

In summarizing the debate (and I did offer a possible explanation in the post for my take on things), I offered this.

If I were to sum up the night as simplistically as possible, it would be like this: in Donald Trump's world, we'll be kept all warm and fuzzy by surrounding ourselves with piles of really outstanding 401(k) statements and oil company stock certificates and drugs and vaccines while we sit in bars sharing food off the plates of strangers, and if we need them, we have cages for people who don't want to do that, really nice cages Obama built, while in Biden's world, we'll be kept all warm and fuzzy by masks and by surrounding ourselves with allies that trust us, and 'we' includes everyone no matter where they live, even if they were brought here as babies and toddlers from another country by their parents. 

There you have it - the full and veritable pastiche from last week.  See you later for Sunday School.