The Irony Board: I Hereby Proclaim

There are many things Donald Trump is without: ethics... compassion... empathy... kindness... humility... courtesy... and irony - don't forget irony.

We've long celebrated November as Native American Heritage Month, under President George W. Bush, President Obama and even president Trump.

This year, in addition to celebrating our Native American heritage, we are celebrating several other things, including National Veterans and Military Families Month, with a proclamation noting that

Each warrior who fights for our Nation, along with their families, has earned our eternal gratitude, and I ask that all Americans thank and support them.  Together, we remain committed to fostering a national community of support for these brave heroes and their families.

This president signed this proclamation? This president, the guy who mocked a Gold Star family for speaking out against him; who assaulted the life and memory of John McCain; who deports  immigrant veterans despite the promise of citizenship for their patriotic service or the immigrant families of our veterans and soldiers; and who most recently has turned his "eternal gratitude" on Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman? This is the guy who proclaims

I encourage all communities, all sectors of society, and all Americans to acknowledge and honor the service, sacrifices, and contributions of veterans and military families for what they have done and for what they do every day to support our great Nation.

I can't even.

We're also celebrating, for the first time, National American History and Founders Month, a time for us all to remember that

...the United States will always remain steadfast in our dedication to promoting liberty and justice over the evil forces of oppression and indignity.  This same truth fuels us in our efforts to confront the challenges that face our citizens here at home, including protecting precious religious liberties, securing our Nation’s borders, and combating the opioid crisis.

Unless, of course, you're a Muslim, a person legitimately seeking asylum, a thoroughly vetted refugee, LGBTQ, a person with Temporary Protected Status, a political opponent born in the US or a naturalized citizen, and so on.

But let's include the opioid crisis as an "evil force of oppression and indignity," while we try to strip health insurance away from millions...  Also,

This month, we acknowledge the tremendous strides we have made as a people and recognize that our democracy’s survival is dependent upon a well-informed electorate.  To ensure the success of our future generations, we pledge to continue to build a more educated citizenry. We heed the warning of President Ronald Reagan that “freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.”

This is laughable, really, coming from a guy who lies in press conferences, lies in rallies, lies in Cabinet meetings, lies in tweets -- who lies about everything! All of his minions also lie, constantly, boldly, like clockwork, in lockstep with him, as if hearing themselves repeat something false will miraculously make it true. And knowing that if they are hearing themselves repeat something false, the president is hearing them, too, and that is good. For them. Not so much for us, but very good for them. And his supporters? Some of them believe the lies, all the lies, lie the lies right along with him, and call others liars for not agreeing with the lies. And no, 13,435 false and misleading statements do not a truth make... But,

To continue safeguarding our freedom, we must develop a deeper understanding of our American story.  Studying our country’s founding documents and exploring our unique history — both the achievements and challenges — is indispensable to the future success of our great Nation.  For more than two centuries, the American experiment in self-government has been the antithesis to tyranny, and our Constitution has secured the blessings of liberty.

This president doesn't give two hoots about the Constitution - it's just another thing about which he can uneducate the citizenry. His actions fly in the face of our founding documents, except the parts that serve his purpose-of-the-day, and he pretends the parts that don't serve him don't exist - you know, like the oversight stuff, or the Congress appropriates the money stuff, and more.

He proudly and officially compliments dictators, wishing that he had what they have -- an obedient press, subservient women, obscene military parades, and threatening people who don't agree with him. And he's got that last part, in spades.

Emoluments...government spending at Trump properties... promoting his children's personal financial interests... members of his administration doing the same...

As we sit today, he's obstructing Congress in an impeachment inquiry, he has his lawyers on a path of obstruction in ways the likes of which have never been seen before, even to the point of arguing that Trump could in fact kill someone in the middle of 5th Avenue and not even be investigated, much less indicted, while he's in office. (The president just loves that "the likes of which have never been seen before" stuff, so I thought I'd give it a whirl.)

Trump has got this American History and Founders stuff nailed, don't you think?

And the irony part? Yeah, well, that's going to have to wait for another day.

Wondering on Wednesday (v175)

Right off the bat, I'm wondering where the heck summer colds come from, and I'm wondering why they're so much worse than other colds?
Seriously, I've not been able to string together enough words to make a single sentence in four days.

More importantly, though, I want to do some wondering about the president, and women. Now, I'm not going to go back and relive the 'grab them by the pussy' stuff or the porn stars or the creepy beauty pageant owner stuff, because that's so yesterday's news.

I want to wonder about new news, as it were.  News like this, which I found in a fact sheet issued yesterday on the White House website.

Today, the Trump Administration released a Strategy on Women, Peace and Security, which aims to increase women's meaningful leadership in political and civic life. This Strategy implements the Women, Peace and Security Act signed by President Trump in 2017.

Another thing the fact sheet tells us?

The United States will promote the protection of women and support humanitarian assistance efforts that address women's economic security, safety, and dignity. The United States will work with partner countries to remove barriers, laws and regulations that impede women's access to justice and participation in the peace and security process.

So, I wonder, if we are supporting "humanitarian assistance efforts that address women's economic security, safety and dignity," why have we

• gutted funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), including not only their core family planning activities, but also specific services UNFPA is providing in humanitarian crises in Syria, Iraq and Yemen? And yes, we did that - on International Women's Day in 2018.
• expanded the Mexico City Policy to include "nearly all bilateral global health assistance" including maternal and child health, the WASH program (household-level water, sanitation and hygiene, nutrition, HIV under PEPFAR, tuberculosis, malaria, neglected tropical diseases, and global health security, and certain types of research activities?
• dramatically slashed "life-saving financial assistance" in areas of humanitarian crisis around the world?  Trump's 2018 budget, for example, included unprecedented cuts to international humanitarian funding for food, shelter, global health, maternal/child health and international peacekeeping measures, and while funding was restored by Congress, the 2019 budget came back with more cuts for refugees, disaster assistance, food aid, global health programs and more?

How can pretend we are concerned about women's "security, safety and dignity" if we are actively trying to strip away Temporary Protected Status  for folks who were allowed to come to the US from 10 countries, among them El Salvador, Haiti, and Guatemala, to avoid "disease, violence, starvation, the aftermath of natural disasters, and other life-threatening conditions" - including women with American-born children?

And more importantly still, I wonder how it is that we can not just once ($12B), but twice (another $16B), come up with billions of dollars in welfare aid to farmers, in response to a completely manufactured crisis - one caused directly by the president - but we can't figure out a way to finance a fund to take care of 9/11 first responders?

Or, how is it that we can make the United States Postal Service pre-fund decades of benefits - the only agency required to do this, by the way - but we can't figure out a way to finance a fund to take care of 9/11 first responders?

This piece has the long and winding history of getting the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act passed. Zadroga was a NYPD officer and the first whose death was attributed to his exposure to toxins at Ground Zero. The bill only included a little over $4B, and passed despite the best efforts of Republicans who thought it was "too expensive." Funding had been extended only through the end of next year, which is atrocious.

If you didn't see Jon Stewart's testimony yesterday before a congressional subcommittee, you missed a gut-wrenching 10 minutes. It's worth watching, or watching again if you've already seen it.

And it seems that Stewart and the first responders who also went to Washington to plead their case may have made a difference, according to the NY Post.

The bill that permanently authorizes the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund passed out of the House Judiciary Committee unanimously Wednesday...  At the full committee markup Wednesday, a handful of lawmakers were absent, but (Chairman Jerry) Nadler dismissed calls to make the committee vote a roll call vote. 

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), will likely need to be scored by the Congressional Budget Office before it can get a full vote in the House, but it is expected to pass, as the legislation has 313 bipartisan co-sponsors.

Kudos to Stewart, but boy, it's hard to imagine that this needed a hard sell that generated tons of  negative media coverage for Congress as a whole.

I mean, if we can't get this right, who are we?

Wondering on Wednesday (v77)

What's on tap for tonight?

First, I was wondering if I was crazy last night when I thought I noticed that the Trump Boys on camera during the announcement of Neil Gorsuch as the pick for the Merrick Garland seat on the Supreme Court. I mean, I thought they were supposed to be out of the mix on the governmental stuff and very busy running the business, so the couldn't possibly be front and center there, right?

I could have been confused, but the boys both tweeted pictures of the announcement ceremony, so it must be true. So, now I'm wondering, will they be at every announcement at the White House? And if they're not able to stay away from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, will their Dad be able to stay away from Trump Tower? Time will tell, I guess.

Anyone remember Kim Davis, the clerk in Kentucky who not only refused to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples, but ordered her staff to do the same? Davis was sent to jail for her outright refusal to obey the law and provide the required services to the taxpaying constituency she served.

Now, I wonder, where were those conscientious Republicans when Trump fired  Acting Attorney General Sally Yates when she indicated she would not send Justice Department attorneys to defend the Executive Order approving cherry-picking of refugees based on their religious beliefs, or refusing entry to people who had risked their lives helping America fight terrorists, or stopping legal residents of the United States at the gate?  Something seems wrong about that, doesn't it?

Switching gears...

With Super Bowl IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII just around the corner, I wonder how many people will be rooting for one of the two teams, how many for the commercials, how many for the half-time show, and how many for their board numbers?  

And speaking of the Super Bowl, the commercials are already being 'previewed' on the news - both online and TV - well in advance of the game. I know about two of them so far -- one, for GNC, was refused by the NFL. Why?

Well, according to this report,

GNC is listed under 'prohibited companies' on a memo from the NFL and its players union, It warns players not to endorse or have a business relationship with GNC because it has been "associated with the production, manufacture or distribution of NFL banned substances."

It stinks, as GNC rightly notes, that they were rejected less than a week before the game, long after they had made their investment and more than a month after it was made known they planned an ad. I wonder if there's a supplement they can take for that?

The other ad we're seeing a lot about is the almost Clydesdale-less Budweiser ad, featuring the story of how Adolphus Busch ended up in St. Louis, where he meets the patriarch of the Anheuser clan. And the rest, as they say, is history. It's a great ad, on which development started early last year - and the timing couldn't be better under the circumstances.

But what I'm wondering is, will there be a backlash from Trump supporters, thinking that the ad is a commentary on his recent executive order? If Trump decides to tweet about this, similar to how he rallied his forces against Macy's, what will happen to the Bud brand?

I'm also thinking about the Super Bowl ad that isn't -- the one that Kraft Heinz could have done, would have done, except that instead, they gave all of their salaried employees the day off. Not just because they're a kind and generous company, but because they support having Super Bowl Monday be a national holiday.  The company is even backing a petition for it.

It is, after all, a huge day of wasted productivity, and a huge day of sick-calling-in, which of course the salaried KH employees won't have to worry about.  Their factory brethren? Yeah, they don't have the day off.  I wonder, is this just another example of the haves wielding it over the have nots?

And finally - on the whole day off thing: I wonder, does it make sense for America to have Super Bowl Monday an official holiday?

Or, maybe, could we think about having Election Day be our next holiday?

Just wondering.

Holocaust Remembrance Day in America

Yesterday, on Holocaust Remembrance Day, the "Greatest President for Jobs That God Ever Created" turned his attention away from #BAHA (Buying American Hiring American) and trying to figure out how to pay for The Wall, and trying to figure out who to pester to come up with bigger numbers on the size of the crowd that watched his inaugural, and set his sights on immigration and refugees.

Yesterday, on Holocaust Remembrance Day, President Trump issued an Executive Order called Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States.

Here are a handful of terms of the order; I've not included the ones that are designed for identification purposes, such as biometric exit /entry, modernizing the records and documentation processes and similar sections that specifically address 'security.

In order to protect Americans, the United States must ensure that those admitted to this country do not bear hostile attitudes toward it and its founding principles.  The United States cannot, and should not, admit those who do not support the Constitution or those who would place violent ideologies over American law. In addition, the Unites States should not admit those who engage in acts of bigotry or hatred (including "honor" killings, other forms of violence against women, or the persecution of those who practices religions different from their own) or those who would oppress Americans of any race, gender, or sexual orientation.

Whenever did we start presuming that a foreigner would have even read the US Constitution? Did we forget about the Statue of Liberty as the beacon of hope and freedom, the iconic personification of the American Dream? Because I think that's what foreigners are going to point to as their understanding of what we as Americans stand for. They're considerably less likely to pull out a hidden copy of the Constitution. I mean, think about it:

• How many Americans have seen or read the Constitutions of any other countries, for any reason?
• How many Americans  have read our own Constitution outside the 27 words included in the only Amendment that matters? 
• How many Americans are out there pushing legislation for the codified right to oppress Americans of race, gender and sexual orientation? 
• How many American religious leaders are out there politicizing (oops, I meant preaching, I meant to say preaching) the fight against gays?  
• How many Americans are there out there, right now, supporting 'therapies' to un-gay people? 
• How many American politicians are out there, right now, oppressing Americans by stripping away their access to medical care or to the voting booth?

How long are we going to turn a blind eye to this kind of un-American behavior (often done under the guise of Christian beliefs) committed against our neighbors, friends, and family? Or is that all OK, because it's people who profess to be Christians doing it? Never mind, don't answer me. 

Yesterday, on Holocaust Remembrance Day, the President of the United States signed an Executive Order formalizing a process which will allow us to prioritize which refugees we allow into the country based on a person's faith, once we resume allowing refugees into the country - that program, USRAP, has been suspended for 120 days as part of this order.  

Upon the resumption of USRAP admissions, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, is further directed to make changes, to the extent permitted by law, to prioritize refugee claims made by individuals on the basis of religious-based persecution, provided that the religion of the individual is a minority religion in the individual's country of nationality. Where necessary and appropriate, the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security shall recommend legislation to the President that would assist such prioritization. 

Two refugee children looking for a pathway to freedom, looking to live, and we'll leave the Muslim child behind, perhaps to die, but take the Christian child. I'm just going to leave that one right there.

But wait. There's more.

To temporarily reduce investigative burdens on relevant agencies during the review period described in subsection (a) of this section, to ensure the proper review and maximum utilization of available resources for the screening of foreign nationals, and to ensure that adequate standards are established to prevent infiltration by foreign terrorists or criminals, pursuant to section 212(f) of the INA, 8 USC 1182(f), I hereby proclaim that the immigrant and nonimmigrant entry into the United States of aliens from countries referred to in section 217(a)(12) of the INA, 8 USC 1187(a)(12), would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, and I hereby suspend entry into the United States, as immigrants and nonimmigrants, of such persons for 90 days from the date of this order (excluding those foreign nationals traveling on diplomatic visas, North Atlantic Treaty Organization visas, C-2 visas for travel to the United Nations, and G-1, G-2, G-3 and G-4 visas).

In case it's unclear, this means that people who already hold visas or green cards allowing them to be in the United States - people who live here, work here, raise their children here, pay taxes here, participate in our society, maybe save lives as doctors or volunteer as first responders, participate in neighborhood watch groups, and act as damn fine citizens, better than many of our own, will not be allowed to return home - here - if they are from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia and Libya. 

And let it be noted that, while the Executive Order began with a mention of the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, the hijackers were from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates. People from those countries? They're welcomed here. 

Yesterday, on Holocaust Remembrance Day, America did this. And today, the man who signed this Executive Order, is bitching about his coverage in the New York Times.