This Is Where Hate Brought Us

The State of Georgia announced more indictments against the former president and roughly 18 of his cohorts. These indictments are all felonies including racketeering. In all the former guy has been indicted on roughly 100 felony crimes this year.

A lot of people are happy over all of this. Some people are angry over all of this. Personally, I am of a double mindset on it. On one hand, I am happy that he may finally be held accountable for his misbehavior. On the other hand, it is troubling that we need to go to these lengths to save our democracy from a demagogue.

As all of these indictments come out, almost everyone is talking about them and what should or should not happen to trump and his cronies. What no one is talking about is just how did we get to this point in our history where we need to look into possible crimes committed by a president.

We haven’t had this problem since Watergate. And, then Richard Nixon resigned his position and left office quietly. We have had almost 250 years of democracy and we have never seen anything like this. We have never had anyone claim that he won an election he obviously lost by over 3 million votes.

So, it is appropriate to ask how the hell did we get here? Well, I believe that we got here because one of our political parties determined that in order to win elections they needed to cheat and foster hate among our people. They went out of their way to demonize the poor, the elderly, women, immigrants, young people and LGBTQ.

This turn towards hate did not start with trump. It has been going on for almost 40 years. It started slowly and then turned into a steamroller determined to ensure power, not governance. Things that were rule of law were overturned by state legislatures and a conservative supreme court. Voting rights were and still are under attack. Roe was overturned and states started passing restrictive abortion laws without any regards to the health of the woman.

The LGBTQ community has been under increasing attacks. Transgenders are now the favorite target of so-called conservatives around the country. The party that says they “won’t get between a patient and their doctor” is doing exactly that. They are passing laws making certain medical procedures illegal not on any medical science, but on personal opinions about certain groups of people.

The poster child for all of this hate and bigotry is donald trump. From the day he rode down that escalator to announce his campaign for president back in 2015, the hate spewed out of his mouth time after time. And, his followers lapped it all up like some rabid dogs looking for a treat.

White supremacy raised its ugly head again because he made it “legitimate” to hate others and say whites are better than everyone else. Violent attacks against Asians, immigrants, women and LGBTQ increased dramatically during his presidency and has risen even more since he lost the election.

When he lost his reelection bid, it wasn’t because the people did not want him, it was because of some phantom “rigging” of the election. And, what everyone seems to ignore, is that the states that supposedly “rigged” the election were all controlled by Republicans. So, what he and Republicans are saying is that Republicans rigged the election against their own candidate.

The hate has not stopped since he left office, it has gotten worse. Every single right we are supposed to have under our constitution is under attack. Education is under attack. Voting rights are under attack. The right to live our lives as we deem appropriate is under attack. We are under threat from right wing fascists who want to rule over us and tell us what we can and cannot do.

These indictments are the result of a man who does not love America. Rather he hates America unless it is based on the imaginary power he believes he should be anointed with having. He is not interested in helping the average American, he is interested in destroying our great nation and making it his private domain where he can get richer off of our backs and help his rich cronies get richer by not paying their fair share of taxes.

He has placed himself above the law for personal power grabbing reasons. He has no sense of decency. He has absolutely no integrity. He has no morality. He is only interested in pretending to be god to rule over us like the old Greed Gods. In other words, he is a destroyer not a builder.

This can be proven by his supposed “defense funds” he is setting up to grift off of his followers. Just how can someone who claims to have $10 billion need help in defending himself against crimes he is accused of committing? Why would anyone with a brain keep giving him money for these phony defense funds when most of it goes directly into his own pockets? It is because the culture and the cult of hate is huge among his followers and the Republican party.

The concept of “conservativism” in the Republican party has no definition anymore. The party has morphed into a fascist party only interested in ruling. The whole idea of conservativism has been trashed by this party and made a complete joke among real conservatives. That is why so many conservatives have abandoned the party.

The new cry is “Christian Nationalism”. However it is clear there is no Christianity in anything they are proposing. The turning to hate has made a huge difference in many aspects of life. Attendance at church services has declined dramatically. Mostly because of the hate these so-called Christians propose as the “real christianity”.

The party that hailed itself as the party of business and patriotism and for equal rights for all citizens has turned itself into a party of hate, anti-rights and white supremacy. They want only white people to have rights. Except not all white people can have those rights, only those who follow their perverted doctrine of hate and bigotry.

One of the most stupid defenses of trump over the latest indictments came from that moron Lindsey Graham. He said that “this should be decided by the voters”. How rich. This is all the result of the voters deciding they no longer wanted trump as president so he and his cohorts, including Graham himself, tried to overthrow our government. The real sad part is Graham said that with a straight face.

You can love or hate all of the indictments against our former president. You can hope he gets off or goes to jail for a very long time. But, don’t forget just how we got to this point in our history. We have allowed right-wing nut jobs led by trump take over a branch of our government. They then determined they were the “rightful power” in the nation. When they got beat, they refused to acknowledge that defeat and tried to tear down our nation. They are part of the white supremacy movement that wants the old Jim Crow laws brought back an put non-whites in their “place”.

The Republicans brought all of this down on us with their desire for power and their desire for total control over our lives. They have used hate, bigotry, victimization, and vitriol in order to bring the white supremacists out from the woodwork and vote them into office.

Once they got there, they refused to leave peaceful like everyone before them and tied to overthrow our government. Now we see the real fruits of their attempts. The good news is that the system seems to be working, even if it is slow.

These indictments hopefully will keep another demagogue from trying the same things to destroy our nation. If guilty, the accused must spend a long time in prison. That is where traitors belong.

This is proof that those who refuse to learn from history is doomed to repeat it.

The Right Wing Makes It Hard To Eat Pretzels Anymore

I just don’t get it. Every time a damning audio or video tape emerges with the former president admitting that he broke the law in the classified documents case, Republicans and right wing media twist themselves into pretzels in order to “defend” the criminal.

CNN released an audio of a tape where the former guy actually admitting that he had classified documents in his possession after he left the White House. In the tape, he is heard saying: “See, as president I could have declassified it. Now I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret.”

This tape is two minutes long and trump is talking to people working on Gen. Milley’s memoir. During the meeting, he tried to prove that he was not the one who wanted to invade Iran to stay in power, but it was Milley who wanted to go to war.

He said: “He said that I wanted to attack Iran. Isn’t it amazing? I have a big pile of papers. This thing just came up. Look. This was him. They presented me this ― this is off the record, but ― they presented me this. This was him. This was the Defense Department and him.”

“All sorts of stuff, pages long. Let’s see here. Isn’t that amazing. This totally wins my case, you know, except that it is like highly confidential, secret, this is secret information. See, as president I could have declassified it. Now I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret.”

To anyone with a functioning brain, this shows that the former guy did in fact steal classified information and knew it was classified and was willing to show it to someone without access to classified information. In plain language, he admitted the indictment against him is correct and he is guilty at least on one count.

But, that can’t be what the right wants you to believe. Sean Hannity tried to explain things in a way that makes trump look good. Last night on his show, he twisted himself into another pretzel trying to defend the indefensible.

He went out of his way to come up with a ridiculous defense. He said: “That does not confirm for me whether or not specifically this document was declassified or not. Was that actually the real document, or was it a story he was telling?”

I guess according to the right wing, if trump admits to committing a crime, he really isn’t admitting it because “we don’t know if it is a real document” or not. According to Hannity, if you believe in the proper storage and handling of classified material, you are a moron because if trump does the opposite it is because “we don’t know if the document is real”.

The real fact here is that this is not the first time we have heard the criminal admit he broke the law and maintained classified material after leaving office. The real fact is the best prosecution witness for the prosecution in this case is trump himself. This clown just can’t keep his mouth shut and wants to brag to everyone about how important he is.

In essence, this latest audio is akin to a third grader giving a talk in class in a show and tell session. He just can’t help himself from trying to show his importance by breaking the law and the bragging about it. Have we ever had a more immature person sit in the White House before trump? I doubt it since we have survived to this point.

This has gotten so bad, I can no longer eat pretzels. Every time I look at pretzels, I see the faces of many MAGA supporters including Sean Hannity. Somehow eating pretzels makes me think it could be cannibalism. It is difficult to figure out if the pretzel before me is “real” or a right wing nut trying to defend trump.

Oh well, pretzels aren’t all that healthy anyway.

Indicted – This Time It Is Very Serious And Potentially A National Security Threat

We learned last night that the former president has been indicted for his alleged criminal behavior and mishandling of classified material. These charges are being made, as far as we know, under the Espionage Act. The actual charges are still under seal and we won’t know exactly what they are until Tuesday when trump has been ordered to appear at Federal Court in Miami.

Some people are jumping up and down. Some are “hopping mad” that the investigation revealed crimes against the former president. They call it “weaponization” of the DOJ. Others are jumping up and down with glee that this guy was indicted on the charges.

I firmly believe that this is a good day for the rule of law. But, I also realize that this is not a good day for the country. How can a former president being charged under the Espionage Act be good for the country? Then there are those who are rabid followers of trump and we don’t know what they may or may not do.

Hopefully this will go down the same as it did in New York when he was indicted in the hush money case. Very few people showed up at the court house to protest his indictment. But that was NYC. This is Florida and who knows what will happen.

We need to try to put that all aside. This is not a case of “going after” anyone. This is a case of the government indicting a man for deliberately stealing, keeping and lying about classified material. One of the charges being reported is that it deals with the “retention of defense classified material”.

The irony is that none of this had to happen. Once the National Archives told trump that they were missing documents, all he had to do was say something like “okay. Why not send someone down to look at what I have and take back anything I shouldn’t have”. But, no, trump being trump and believing he is above the law basically told the National Archives to “go pound sand”.

I worked with classified material for 20 years. So far, all of the arguments coming from his defense lawyers are total bullshit. This isn’t about the Presidential Records act. This is about the Espionage Act. That means this is a very serious matter.

It would take pages of writing to discuss all of the “arguments” he and his team are offering up as to why this isn’t a crime. But, I will try to enlighten you as to how this is all supposed to work.

First, he claimed that he “declassified” everything before he left office. He even said he could declassify things “just by thinking about it”. That is total bullshit. There is a very long process that must be followed to declassify any material. No one, including the president, can declassify anything on their own. This process is necessary to ensure the safety of our intelligence gathering methods, the people who may have helped us get that material and protect our national defense.

He has been heard on tape that “I took the documents because they are mine”. Wrong again. Those classified documents are property of the U.S. and not his personal property. He has no more right to take classified material than I do, and I don’t have any right to take any classified material.

The other night, I heard the defense lawyer who quit his job with trump just a couple of weeks ago ask “are they original or are they photo copies?” He was saying that if these documents are “photo copies” it was okay to keep them. That means he believes that photo copies are not classified. Again, wrong.

It is the information contained on a piece of paper that carries the classification, not the piece of paper. In communications centers we always made copies of classified material if it was needed. However, we and those who received the copies were required to handle, maintain and store that copy the same as if it was the original. And, all copies carried the same classification as the original. So, it doesn’t matter if it was the original or a photo copy. It was still classified and he had no right to remove it from the White House and keep it for himself.

Then we have the recording supposedly him talking about “war plans” against Iran that the DOD supposedly made up. On that tape he was heard saying “here is my proof. I cannot show it to you because it is classified”. The tape also appears to have “rustling” paper while he was talking. In this instance, he not only admitted to possessing classified defense material, but was supposedly waving it around to people who had no business being anywhere near that material. Time will tell if that is true or not. But if it is true it is really damning.

This case is not about anything political as Republicans want you to believe. It is about a single man who thinks he is above the law and can do whatever he wants with any classified material because he claims “it is mine”. These charges come from a Special Prosecutor appointed to look into the matter and determine if any crimes were committed. Apparently that Special Prosecutor convinced a jury that crimes were committed. It was the jury that brought the indictments against trump. We all need to remember that FACT.

You will hear all about how this is the Democrats trying to take down a political rival. You will hear that this is a “witch hunt” or what is now being used a “box hoax”. Those claims are untrue. According to the laws concerning Special Prosecutors, the Attorney General does not “approve” any indictments coming from that investigation. According to the law, he can void any indictments and then must report to Congress why he voided the indictments. So, the Attorney General DID NOT sign off on the indictments because he isn’t allowed to by law.

Special Counsels are designed to be as independent from DOJ as possible. In this matter two different grand juries were formed to look at the evidence. One in Washington, D.C. and one in Florida. It was the Florida Grand Jury that indicted trump for these potential crimes.

You will hear about how “others” did the same thing. But, the difference is that when the material was discovered, it was turned back without needing a subpoena to search for it all. If trump had behaved the same way, none of this would be happening right now. I actually understand how this can happen. I can understand how material can be accidently taken. Moving out of the White House is chaotic at best. So, mistakes can happen. But there is no excuse for anyone to lie about having classified material and trying to hide the fact he has it.

I am not surprised by these indictments. donald trump has always believed he was above the law. He was found guilty of sexual assault. His company was found guilty of fraud. He has been indicted in the “hush money” case. Now he has been indicted for keeping and lying about having sensitive classified material. Yet too many Republicans keep rallying around him. Why?

Instead of screaming about “weaponizing” the justice system, maybe Republicans should be asking themselves why he kept the material. Maybe they should be asking him what he planned to do with that material. He didn’t take it just because he could. He took it for some reason we don’t know about, yet.

It is going to take months for this case to actually go to trial. This is not gong to be quick. I wish it would be for the sake of the nation. If the allegations in the indictment are true, then he should be forced out of the race to become president. If these allegations in the indictment are true, how can we trust him to “defend the constitution” and to “defend our nation” from our adversaries? How can we trust anyone who believes that “I can declassify it by just thinking about it” with our nation’s most sensitive secrets?

These indictments are very serious. These are crimes that could potentially place our national security at risk. This is no laughing matter, nor is it a political dirty trick. This man has been indicted under the Espionage Act which means he is a threat to our nation by illegally possessing sensitive classified material. And, we still don’t know what he planned to do with those docuents.

Remember, most “spies” in our country betrayed their country for money. We know that trump owes hundreds of millions of dollars to various creditors. Did he plan to sell these documents and the information contained in them to clear his debt? I don’t know, but maybe that is a question Republicans should be asking themselves and him.

I don’t know anything about what is in the indictment than anyone else. I don’t know what evidence the Special Prosecutor has to prove his case beyond a reasonable doubt. I will let the system play out and see what happens. However, from what I do know from tapes of his bragging, in my opinion, he has committed very serious crimes. That opinion is based on 20 years of working in that field.

Don’t Worry It’s Just A Coincidence – GOP Insanity At Its Best

The cry about fraud and waste in our federal spending is one common thread we hear from Republicans over and over and over. Yet, somehow, that doesn’t seem to resonate with the legislation they are passing in the House.

In 2021 as part of the American Rescue Plan Democrats earmarked $2 billion to the Department of Labor. That money was used to implement an important cross-checking system to catch fraudsters who apply for unemployment in one state while receiving income in another.

One of the biggest unemployment schemes is to be paid a salary in one state and receive unemployment insurance in another state. With remote work being a growing part of our economic system, this is probably going to get worse not better.

And, it apparently has worked. Republican House member George Santos was indicted on unemployment insurance fraud for receiving a large salary from a company in Florida while collecting unemployment insurance from New York. Without this program in place, he just might have gotten away with his fraud.

So, in order to make sure we know just how serious Republicans are about waste and fraud, they passed a bill in the House to go after unemployment insurance fraud. This legislation would give prosecutors more time to bring fraud charges against bogus unemployment claimants and create stronger incentives for state workforce agencies to claw back bogus benefits.

Okay, that sounds very good. Except, as with all bills introduced by Republicans, there is a catch. This bill would take back the remaining money from the Department of Labor’s system that is working in order to “pay for” this bill.

In other words, Republicans want to pass a law that basically places everything at the feet of the states and take away money from the Federal Government which proves that intra-state fraud is real and needs to be stopped. They want the federal plan to stop and will ensure that happens by stripping it of all the money they need to continue the program.

The U.S. Labor Department said in a February letter that repealing the money would “throttle essential, ongoing efforts to strengthen and protect the UI program from fraud.” Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO) says “nonsense”. He says the bill “should incentivize states to go after more fraud,” not less. Just how that is going to happen without the aid of the federal government is anyone’s guess.

But, we must not forget that this bill was passed just two days after George Santos was indicted on 13 federal and state fraud cases including unemployment insurance fraud. And, here is the ironic part, he was actually one of the co-sponsors of the bill. I guess he figured if he stripped the feds from using money to catch intra-state fraudsters like him, he might get away with it.

And, Smith also said this about the bill and the Santos mess. “It just shows that unemployment fraud is real, and this is why we need to pass this.” That statement could be taken two ways. One way is that we will catch more fraudsters like Santos, or we will catch fewer fraudsters because the feds won’t be able to continue their fraud catching system.

Only Smith can say which way he meant that statement. I am all in favor of catching unemployment insurance fraudsters, whoever they are. These fraud cases take away money from people who really need the help and the fraudsters must be caught.

However, I cannot understand how repealing a federal program that helps states find fraudsters is going to make it easier to catch them. Republicans can’t answer that question either. I guess that is why they refuse to even acknowledge the hypocrisy in their bill.

Chalk up another insane piece of legislation from Republicans intended for headlines not actual action. Sorry, George, despite their efforts to help you, this bill passed the House too late. It probably won’t pass the Senate anyway. So, keep that Champaigne cork in the bottle. You still must face the charges against you.

There Is A Huge Difference Between “Law Abiding” And “Responsible”

One of the biggest arguments from conservatives and gun nuts is that we cannot enforce gun control because it “punishes law abiding citizens” from their second amendment rights. And, of course, people who use guns for violence are mental health cases.

But, we must remember that there is a huge difference between “law abiding” gun owners and “responsible” gun owners. The fight is not over the idea of banning all guns, it is about making sure that responsible people own guns. The idea that every law abiding citizen is also a “responsible” gun owner is being proven faulty day after day.

In just the last month, we have seen innocent people shot by “law abiding” citizens. The reason is because these “law abiding” citizens were not and are not “responsible” citizens. In Missouri, a 16 year old was shot when he accidently rang the wrong doorbell picking up his younger siblings from a friends house. The teen went up on the porch and rang the doorbell. When the owner answered the door, he open fire and shot the teen in the head.

In Texas, cheerleaders were shot at when one of them went to the wrong car in the parking lot by accident. They were returning from practice. It was late at night and one of the girls went to the wrong car. The owner of the car got out and shot at the girls. One of the girls was wounded.

In upstate New York a group of young people were shot at and one woman was killed after they accidently pulled into the wrong driveway looking for a friends house. This group of young people pulled into the wrong driveway and when they realized their mistake began to back out of the driveway. The owner came out and fired at the cars while they were leaving killing one of the passengers.

In Lousianna a 14 year old girl was shot in the back of her head after she and others were playing hide-n-seek. In this case, kids were playing hide-n-seek early in the morning. The owner of one property claims he saw “shadows” running from his property. He went inside the house got his gun and then opened fire.

This all happened in just two months. All of the shooters were considered “law abiding citizens” who had a right to own their guns. But, as you can see, they were not “responsible” citizens who had a right to own their guns. They acted stupidly at best and shot at unarmed people just because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Of course we don’t know how many other instances like this have happened over the years. This is not the kind case that police make a big deal about because they chalk it up to a “mistake” or one of those stupid “stand your ground” defenses.

All of these cases should never have happened. None of these cases involved any crime or any threat to anyone. They were accidents by the people who were shot or just kids playing a game. Yet, these shooters are exactly the very type of people conservatives believe have a right to own a gun because they are “law abiding” citizens.

Guns are nothing but weapons. They do have some value if you are a hunter or someone who participates is shooting sports. However, their main reason for existing is to kill people. If we are to allow people to own and carry guns, isn’t it a good idea to ensure they are “responsible” enough to own it and not use it just because it is handy?

One of the very bad parts of human nature is our tendency towards violence. It is an unfortunate part of our makeup. Conservatives also use the argument that even if we have reasonable gun control laws, they won’t stop all the violence and crime. So, why bother?

It is incidents like these that prove that we need something to be done. Violence is never the answer. Shooting someone or at someone just because they “don’t look right” or “are on my property” is not an answer either. But, that has become part of the conservative lexicon. They believe that gun violence is the answer to all of our fears. They encourage this sort of violence with their “stand your ground” and “open carry” and “concealed carry without a license” laws.

The entire conservative echo chamber is constantly telling us to be afraid of our shadow. They and the Republicans are always targeting those damn “others” as what is wrong with our country. They pass laws to make you afraid just by declaring someone as being “incorrect” or “evil”.

As a result, we have so-called “law abiding citizens” opening fire on unarmed innocent people because of the fear being fueled by the right and gun advocates. And, it doesn’t matter who is killed by these so-called “law abiding” citizens. In Texas a man was convicted of murder by a court for killing a BLM protester. He is to be sentenced today. But, Governor Abbott in his stupid “law abiding citizen with a gun” theory wants the murderer pardoned.

We have been told for decades that “more law abiding citizens with guns” will stop the crime and violence. Yet, what we have seen is that more “law abiding citizens with guns” has increased violence in our nation. And because these are all supposedly “law abiding citizens” everyone is at risk of making a mistake and being shot at or even killed.

The time to act is now. We have had too much gun violence in our nation because of stupid lax gun laws. Any moron who is considered as a “law abiding” citizen can get a gun in most of our states without any problem. Then, these “law abiding citizens” use those guns to shoot any stranger they feel afraid of or comes onto their property.

These “law abiding citizens” have proven they should not be allowed to own a gun because they are totally irresponsible. These guns are not toys. They are weapons and just because you own one does not give you the right to shoot anyone you want.

That is the total lie we have been fed by Republicans, conservatives and the NRA. As a result, our children are being murdered by these “law abiding” citizens. The answer from Republicans, conservatives and the NRA is “so what”?

Republicans Can’t Get Anything Straight

The latest mass shooting in Texas shows us exactly just how pathetic the Republican Party has become. Because of this incident, we have had a spotlight placed on the absurdity of Republican talking points about three different issues. And, we need to take this massive chaos seriously.

First the starting point. There was a mass shooting where five people were killed in their own home, including a nine year old boy. The incident happened after the residents went next door to ask the person there to “stop shooting his gun from his porch” because they were trying to get their baby to sleep.

The gun toting person went next door with an AR-15 gun and shot and killed five people including that boy. Two other children were found alive when it was discovered that two women had lain on them to protect them from the shooter. The suspect is still at large along with his AR-15.

But, this is where it gets real interesting. The first tweet sent by Governor Abbot said this was “tragic” but sort of dismissed it because the victims and the shooter were “illegal aliens”. Just exactly why he needed to add that is still not known except we know that he hates immigrants and is spending taxpayer money to actively engage in “human trafficking” by bussing immigrants against their will to “democratic” cities.

Next up is Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX). He appeared on Fox News and complained about how this is the “perfect example” of just how loose our southern border is. He claims this would not have happened if we had a “secure border” and it won’t stop until we do. He failed to mention that only about seven percent of mass shootings in our country are committed by people of Hispanic decent. And, most of those are citizens. On the other hand, over 70 percent of mass shootings are committed by white citizens.

But that isn’t the real point. Chip Roy also voted for the bill that the House just passed in order to raise the debt ceiling. In that bill, there are several cuts to federal agencies and “discretionary” spending by the Defense Department. There is a lot of arguments going on right now about what these cuts will actually mean. And, we know this bill will not be the final one.

Even with that known fact, let’s take a look at just what they are proposing. First of all they want to roll back spending to 2022 levels and only increase the budget by 1 percent per year over the next 10 years. However, they won’t touch defense spending. And, after the outcry about cuts to veteran’s benefits, they claim they won’t touch that either.

The actual cuts to various agencies varies depending on who you listen to. But, we know that if defense spending is allowed to grow at the 5.2 percent per year, like it has over the last five years, that means cuts to other agencies would be over 22 percent. If you include the “promise” by Republicans not to touch veteran benefits, those cuts to other agencies would start out at about 33 percent.

In one analysis it was figured that would mean $2.8 billion cut from the FBI meaning 11,000 agents and staff would be cut. Along with the cuts to the FBI there would be massive losses to Customs and Boarder patrol. According to the analysis, 2,400 border patrol agents would be cut. I haven’t seen any figures about how much the U.S. Coast Guard would have to cut from its budget. The Coast Guard is not part of the Department of Defense, it is part of the Department of Homeland Security which would face the same huge cuts. Since the Coast Guard is a military branch, any major cuts to its budget and manpower would have major impacts on our national security as well as other functions the Coast Guard performs daily.

But, in context, let’s look at this. Governor Abbott says the shooter and victims were “illegal aliens”. Rep Roy says that this would not happen if the border were secure. Republicans are always trying to claim the border is not secure. Yet, in their debt ceiling bill, the number of Border Patrol Agents would be cut by about 2,400 agents.

That is not all. Republicans are constantly complaining about “illegal drugs” poring in the country. There are three agencies in our federal government who are responsible to stem this flow of illegal drugs. They are Customs and Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the U.S. Coast Guard. All three of these agencies are facing huge cuts to their budgets meaning potential loss of manpower as a result.

Are you beginning to see the obvious conflicts here? On one hand, the governor says we shouldn’t worry too much about the killings because after all they were “illegal aliens”. A Republican Representative from the state says we need to “secure the border” so this type of crime won’t happen again. And, that same Representative along with his Republican colleagues just passed a bill that would cut the number of border patrol agents at that same “loose border”.

As usual, Republicans seem to think that if you cut money and agents, they will somehow magically “strengthen the border”. Just like their idea that cutting revenue will somehow magically cut the deficit.

This is just completely NUTS! One thing neither of these two wonderful Republicans have explained is just how that “illegal alien” was able to get ahold of that AR-15 in the first place? Who sold him that gun? Was it purchased legally? Everyone knows that Texas has some of the most lax laws when it comes to gun ownership. Hell, they are an “open carry” state. And, typically, they won’t talk about how this supposed “illegal alien” managed to purchase the weapon used.

What all of this boils down to is the simple fact that Republicans can’t get anything straight. On one hand they complain about a “loose border” that needs to be “secured” and on the other hand they pass legislation that actually cuts the number of agents needed to “secure that border”.

The Republican Party shows us on a daily basis that they are completely incompetent to hold public office. The are very willing to bitch and bitch about everything, but they are too cowardly to do anything about the problems. In typical Republican failed economics, they expect to secure the border with less money and fewer border patrol agents. They expect to stop the flow of illegal drugs by cutting the budgets of the three main agencies who work to stop that illegal flow.

If you can find any logic in these beliefs, please let me know because I don’t see it. Just more reasons they need to be voted out of office next year. We cannot afford their complete stupidity anymore.

The Tale Of Two Billionaires And The Different Treatment They Receive From Republicans

One of the major hypocritical moments in our country is on full display right now. This time it is all about our justice system and what conservatives consider fodder for their cause and what they consider as respectable behavior. The thing about it is that it is more about antisemitism than it is about real justice and the rule of law.

On one hand we have the Harlan Crow and Clarence Thomas scandal of corruption. On the other hand we have the George Soros left leaning support. The issues are probably something that needs to be addressed in that Republicans are all in favor of demonizing Soros while giving Thomas a pass on his corruption.

The hatred towards Soros was evident yesterday in the sham hearing that Gym Jordan held in New York. He decided to go after Alvin Bragg for daring to indict the former president and Jordan’s dear leader. He wants to spotlight the “crime out of control” in New York City lie. Except, crime is not “out of control” and is actually falling in New York City unlike someplace like say Mansfield, OH where violent crime is on the uptick and is higher than in New York City according to federal crime statistics.

But, even leaving that aside, we can see the total hypocrisy of the Republicans on this committee when it comes to what is considered as “bad” and “acceptable’. Throughout this sham hearing, we heard more than one Republican talk about the “Soros-ization” of District Attorneys in Democrat controlled cities.

Let’s take a look at this. George Soros is a billionaire who supports Democrat and progressive matters. He donates to organizations like Color Of Change, a progressive criminal justice organization. But, and this is a big but, he never directly gave any money to Alvin Bragg. He gave to Color of Change and they decided who to support and they chose Bragg.

Then we have the other billionaire, Harlan Crow. Crow has directly donated to “conservative” Republicans running for District Attorney as well as other offices. More importantly, he is at the heart of the corruption scandal surrounding Clarence Thomas. He has provided Thomas and his wife with hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts and trips and bought a house that Thomas’ mother lives in and does not pay Crow rent while still living in the house. None of these gifts or real estate transaction were reported as they are required by law.

Additionally, Crow has had cases come before the Supreme Court or has made briefs before the court while Thomas was sitting in judgement. Thomas never said anything about his connection with Crow in any of these cases which smells of conflict of interest at the very best.

Soros has not filed any briefs with the Supreme Court as far as I can find. He has never been accused of giving expensive gifts or taking any politician on trips or buying up their property. All he does is speak his mind and donate to groups who he believes is aligned with his ideals. Remember, Soros is a holocaust survivor.

The only difference between the two that I can find is Soros is liberal and Crow is conservative. Soros is Jewish and Crow is Christian. Republicans say Soros is “evil” because he supports liberal ideals and Crow is “just a friend of Thomas”. Soros is evil, while Crow is just a “nice guy”.

The other thing we cannot forget is that the majority of the claims against Soros are antisemitic and intended to be just that. These attacks are coming from people like Matt Gaetz who I believe is an antisemite and white supremacist. They are coming from people like the Republican dear leader.

In 2018, while trump was ramping up his attacks on Soros, he received a bomb in the mail. All of the attacks are of an antisemitic nature. Why? Well, it falls in line with the Nazi belief that “Jews control money and politics”. That all falls in line with all of the other attacks on Jews and people like Soros while all the while turning a blind eye to open corruption being conducted by the Republican side of the aisle.

The Jordan committee, and I won’t give it any print by using its false name, is a pure political move to make Americans afraid of crime and the Justice System. It is a blatant attempt to lump antisemitism with conservativism in a way that they think will make people afraid of anyone else.

Yesterday’s hearing was full of antisemitic attacks against George Soros. In the meantime, Republicans were going all out to claim what Thomas did was a simple mistake and that what Crow was doing was “just supporting a friend”. And, don’t worry, since Thomas got caught in his corrupt practices he will “amend” his disclosure statement. That will make it all okay.

We have two billionaires. One is progressive and one is conservative. The progressive donates to organizations to help elect people to office, the other gives lavish gifts and trips and buys personal property of a Supreme Court Justice. One is Jewish and one is not. Republicans say the one who donates and is Jewish is the enemy and the one who tries to buy a Supreme Court Justice is on “our side”.

If you want to realize just how antisemitic and just how autocratic the Republican Party has become, all you need to do is look at how these two billionaires are treated by the Republicans.

More reasons these clowns need to be trashed at the polls next year. Your children’s freedoms and future are at stake. Republicans want to take those freedoms and future away from them. Don’t let it happen.

The Real “Carnage” Our People Face Is Courtesy Of The NRA And The Republican Party

We keep hearing about the “carnage” that America is going through from Republicans and especially their dear leader. However, there is one thing they won’t tell you. This “carnage” is the direct result of their flawed and dangerous policies over guns.

We continue to suffer with mass shootings and other gun violence. Just this past weekend we saw 4 people killed and 28 injured by a mass shooter at a sweet 16 birthday party. We saw someone open fire in a crowded park. We had a 16 year old shot when he rang the wrong doorbell going to pick up his younger siblings from a friends house.

Every single day we have people being shot and killed in our streets, our parks, our churches, our malls, our theaters and our schools. There is only one common denominator in all of this and that is easy access to guns. I have come to the conclusion that the GOP won’t be satisfied until 1 million people are shot and killed every year.

Over the weekend we also had the group I consider as the most dangerous domestic terrorist organization, the NRA, hold their convention in Indianapolis. At that convention, every person wishing to be the Republican nominee for president bowed down to their new god, the gun. They all promised to make gun ownership easier and easier. Hell, the wacko governor of South Dakota even bragged how her granddaughter who is only 2 years old “already owns two guns”. That comment alone should make everyone take notice. This crazy woman is actually bragging that a 2 year old “owns guns”. A two year old!

We must also understand that easy access to guns is not the only problem. In several states there are laws called “stand your ground”. In these laws Republicans have actually made murder legal. All one needs to say is that they were “afraid and stood my ground” after killing someone. Even if that person didn’t have a gun.

In the case of the teen shot after ringing the wrong doorbell, there is a “stand your ground” law. What happened according to all of the reports is the teen went to pickup his younger siblings from a friend’s house. He went to the wrong address and rang the doorbell.

The owner opened the door and when he saw the teen on the porch shot him in the head. After the teen fell to the ground, he shot him again. We don’t know all of the information about this case yet or if it had anything to do with the fact the teen was black, but the very idea that opening a door to someone you don’t know is a legitimate reason to shoot that person is beyond believable.

Here is a fact that most of you simply don’t know. The NRA used to be a reasonable organization that actually helped write gun control legislation. The NRA used to be a reasonable organization that was all in favor of hunting and shooting for sport, but understood that everyone carrying a gun is a “bad idea”.

Through most of the 20th Century, the NRA promoted gun safety, and gun education. They understood that having the right to have a weapon came with responsibilities and they were willing to work with the government to help ensure only responsible people were allowed to carry weapons.

For example in the 1920s it was the NRA that helped write legislation that required licensing for owning guns especially concealed guns. They even included stricter punishments for anyone who used a gun to commit a crime.

In the 1930s they helped pass legislation that placed heavy taxes and regulation requirements on firearms that were associated with crime, such as machine guns, sawed-off shotguns and silencers. Gun sellers and owners were required to register with the federal government and felons were banned from owning weapons. Karl T. Frederick, the president of the NRA at the time, testified before Congress stating, “I have never believed in the general practice of carrying weapons. I do not believe in the general promiscuous toting of guns. I think it should be sharply restricted and only under licenses.”

In essence, the NRA actually championed gun control legislation that today they consider as “unconstitutional”. They have done a complete 180 on their stances over guns. Instead of following their original motto of “Firearms Safety Education, Marksmanship Training, Shooting for Recreation”, they have morphed into an organization that disregards its original charter.

Instead of continuing to help keep Americans safe from gun violence, they have become a terrorist organization that believes they have the right to shoot and kill anyone they don’t like and if we don’t like that, tough shit. The Republican party has become partners in this terrorism.

This hasn’t been going on for all that long. It wasn’t until the 1970s that the NRA and Republicans started their myth about everyone owning guns. It didn’t start until the ATF raided the home of an NRA member who was accused of “stockpiling” weapons. In the raid, the suspect was shot and paralyzed.

Since that day, the NRA and Republicans have taken up the call of needing guns for “self defense”. It was after this incident that the NRA decided that the second amendment meant that everyone has the right to own a gun. Their tune changed completely and they started donating huge amounts of money to make sure that the very gun control legislation they championed for through most of the 20th century were overturned.

In the last few decades, we started hearing about how only a “bad guy with a gun can be stopped by a good guy with a gun”. Except, there are no definitions of just who is a “good guy” and who is a “bad guy” in their language. And, as a result of this about face by the NRA, Republicans across the country are changing laws to allow concealed weapons to be carried without a license or training.

Additionally, it is extremely rare for any of these “good guys with a gun” stopping any “bad guy with a gun”. Proving once and for all that is a total myth just like the absoluteness they claim for the second amendment.

There is a very simple fact that everyone needs to recognize. The idea that we allow anyone to own a gun and carry it on our streets in inherently dangerous to us and our families. The truth is that as gun ownership grows in our nation, deaths by guns goes up just as fast.

Today more children are killed by guns than by any other reason. How can that be? What is the justification for allowing this kind of carnage to target our children? Just about every day we have mass shootings in our country. Hundreds of thousands of people are being killed by guns just because they can be killed by them.

All it takes is for some stupid argument to break out and suddenly there is gunfire and people die. All it takes is for one nut to see someone they don’t like to pull the trigger and kill that person. If you live in a state that has gun control legislation, all you need do is drive across the state line to one where there are lax or no gun control laws to purchase your gun.

This is not going to decline or end until the Republicans realize that there is something evil in allowing this slaughter of our people to continue. It will continue as long as the NRA stays away from its original goal and help to make reasonable gun control laws possible as they did throughout most of the 20th century.

But don’t hold your breath. The only answer these two groups have is “more guns on our streets”. The only answer to the mass killings of our children in schools is “more guns in the schools”. Their only answer to anything right now is “more guns”. This concept has become totally irrational. It actually borders on the insanity. Yet, we saw Republican candidate after Republican candidate bow down to their real “god” in Indianapolis, the gun.

Instead of encouraging the NRA to return to its roots of safety and education and even gun control, they continue to pound the insane idea that more guns to kill more people is the answer.

The Republican party has joined with the NRA to make up the most dangerous domestic terrorist group in our country. That is a very sad thing to believe, but it is the truth.

The next school shooting, the next mass shooting in a park, the next mass shooting anywhere will be the direct result of Republican and NRA policies. They all have our children’s blood on their hands. The insulting fact is that they are proud of having that blood on their hands. How pathetic can anyone get?

Disgusting – Repugnant – Corrupt – Definition Of Today’s GOP

I could have added words like homophobic and racist, but we already know that to be a certain fact. The GOP is on a mission to shred our Constitution in any way they can. They are targeting everything and everyone who they consider to be non-conservative. However, in reality, they are no where near “conservative” but rather fascist.

Several things have taken place in the last week that proves this point directly and should be taken seriously by everyone. In Tennessee, we had three Democrats join in a peaceful protest on the floor of their House seeking reasonable gun control after the deadly school shooting there. Two of the Democrats were young black men and one was a white woman.

The GOP in Tennessee, the home of the KKK, decided that they should be punished. However, they did not go through the normal channels to do so. Instead, they put on the floor a bill to expel them from the House and the State legislature.

When the dust settled, the two young black men were expelled, but the white woman was not. Note that the white woman did exactly what the two black men did, but the white legislatures on the GOP side decided that she did not need to be expelled. When asked why she wasn’t, she answered “I guess it was the color of my skin”.

Never before in the history of the State of Tennessee was any legislator been expelled for protesting. Never was anyone expelled for “rules of decorum” violations. This was a pure political and racial attack against these two young black men representing hundreds of thousands of Tennessee citizens. This was simply the super majority white GOP telling them to stop being “uppity black men”. There is no other reason that can justify this action.

The we have Justice Clarence Thomas. It was reported that he accepted thousands of dollars in gifts and trips from a billionaire Republican Donor. He never reported these gifts and trips as required by law. Plus, he sat in cases that this donor supported before the Supreme Court.

We already knew that Thomas’ ethics were in question. Not once has he recused himself from cases even if those cases involved groups supported by his wife. In several cases, she actually worked for the groups bringing the cases. But, he still sat in “judgement” of those cases.

You haven’t heard a peep about this corruption from any Republican since it broke. You haven’t heard Gym Jordan screaming for his impeachment from the court over this lawlessness by the Justice. Why? The answer is simple. His is a staunch and radical right wing Justice who does the bidding, obviously, of the super rich right wing nuts.

The nation has been reeling over the school shootings so far this year. In Tennessee that has come to a head, especially when you consider the expulsion mentioned earlier. Polls indicate that over 70 percent of the American people are in favor of stricter gun control laws. Over 70 percent are in favor of banning assault or military style weapons.

Yet, the GOP is staunchly against any such moves. They claim “it won’t do any good” so why bother. Instead, they want to make our schools “armed camps” with several “armed guards” outside each school. And, they look to a clown like Charlie Kirk from Turning Point USA, a right wing extremist group, to make their point obvious.

In a speech at his groups “faith conference” he claimed that deaths by guns is a “prudent deal” to protect his warped idea of the Second Amendment. Imagine that. It is a “prudent deal” to allow citizens, including young children at school to be killed in order to “protect” his right to own a gun.

The GOP claims to be pro-life because they oppose abortion. Yet, in their actions in favor of gun lobbies and gun manufacturers, they are willing to allow the “abortion” of living children while they attend school. So far this year alone, there have been over 11,000 deaths from gun violence with 74 of those deaths occurring in our schools.

There have been over 400 mass shooting already this year. Still the GOP sits on their hands except to take their blood money from the NRA and gun manufacturers. But, then again, they believe that children being slaughtered in our schools is a “prudent deal” to keep the status quo or make gun ownership even easier.

Then we have Gym Jordan and his fake committee called “weaponization of the government”. I bet he won’t be interested in the weaponization of the government by the Tennessee GOP for expelling two Democrat black men from office. I bet he isn’t interested in his job on the Judicial Committee to investigate the corruption of Justice Clarence Thomas.

Absolutely not. He is just way too busy trying to investigate an Attorney General in Manhattan for indicting his hero, trump. He wants that AG to show up in Washington and hand over everything about the case to him, even though he doesn’t have the authority of “oversight” of local or state government actions.

He is trying to “kill” the case against trump before it even comes to trial. He wants all of the evidence given to him so he can pick and choose what he wants to leak to the press. He will make sure that what he does leak will benefit the criminal he is so desperate to protect.

Additionally, he is looking to introduce legislation that would basically make such local and state investigations into a president or former president illegal. His idea is to isolate a president or former president from investigation or prosecution by a state or local government. In this case for example, the state or local government could not investigate or indict trump for state tax fraud and the other felonies he is charged with.

Jordan wants to take away the power of local governments and state governments from doing the jobs they were elected to do. He wants to be able to pick and choose who can and who cannot be indicted or even investigated. His idea for the law includes “candidates” as well.

We also have Rep. James Comer (R-KY) saying that he intends to have Braggs testify before congress. Again, a GOP committee chairman is using federal powers to stifle local government from prosecuting a man charged with 34 felony crimes. This comes from a man who ADMITTED that he broke the law himself when he ran for governor.

He ADMITTED that he stole emails from his opponent and then leaked them to the press to smear him. That action is a felony crime in both federal and state law. But, where is the demand for him to be investigated for his corrupt crimes?

Everything the GOP is doing at both the state and federal levels shows the real platform of their party. The real platform is a fascist autocratic government where the minority rules over the majority. If the majority doesn’t like it, too bad.

When trump was president, you never heard Democrats talking about “retaliation” for the umpteen thousand investigations against Hillary Clinton while she was a candidate. But, since trump lost, all we have heard from Republicans is that they are going to “retaliate” against everyone who had the audacity to investigate their dear leader.

Retaliation is the providence of dictators and fascists. It is not the providence of democracies. In the few months that the GOP has controlled the House, they have done absolutely nothing for the country. They have refused to even tell us what they want to vote to increase the debt ceiling. They are playing with fire because they think the people will blame Biden.

They clamored for Biden to put forth his budget requests so they could show theirs. Biden did just that as he is supposed to, but we still have nothing from Republicans about their ideas for a budget.

All we have gotten from Republicans since they took control of the House is the usual NOTHING. We have lots of investigations. We have lots of accusations without any proof. We have lots of anger because trump is indicted. But, as usual when they have power, we have nothing that benefits us or our country.

The true definition of the Republican Party is that they are disgusting, repugnant and totally corrupt. They must be voted out in 2024. We cannot allow the fascists to take over our country. It is that simple.

INDICTED: Let It Play Out In Court As It Should

Yesterday a NY Grand Jury indicted the former president. We don’t know exactly what his supposed crimes are because the indictment is still under seal. This is not unusual. Indictments are usually kept sealed until the suspect is arraigned in court. So, we have no idea of the seriousness of the potential crimes he is accused of committing.

There are reports, all of them speculative, that says up to 34 counts of crimes are included in the indictment. If that is true, I cannot believe this just about the hush money case. I am guessing that during the grand jury investigation, other crimes committed by him and his company were uncovered. But, that is also speculative because I haven’t see the indictment.

We are hearing all of the pundits talking about how this is unprecedented in our history. We have never had a former president indicted before. Of course that is because Ford pardoned Nixon for his crimes in the Watergate scandal. But, it is not the first time a politician has been indicted for possible crimes.

Just this year alone, there have been indictments against politicians across the nation. The only thing different in this case is the indicted has the term “former president” in front of his name. Charging politicians with crimes has not been political or anything else except the rule of law.

Republicans are all crying about this indictment. They are claiming that it is a “witch hunt” propagated by a democratic Attorney General for political purposes. What they fail to tell you is that it was a Grand Jury of about 23 citizens who voted for these indictments, not the Attorney General.

They claim that it all because trump is a “dangerous” candidate to Joe Biden in the 2024 election and that this is “election interference”. Well, I have three words for them. In 2016, the entire Republican Platform settled on three simple words. They chanted “lock her up”. And, Kevin McCarthy even bragged how the umpteen investigations by his Republican House “hurt Hillary Clinton’s chances to win in 2016”. He admitted that the entire investigation process against Clinton was “political”.

But, none of that really matters here. In this case, an Attorney General took evidence he had to a Grand Jury of citizens. That Grand Jury looked at all of the evidence the Attorney General presented, they listened to witness testimony, they even questioned the witnesses directly, they got together by themselves and reviewed the evidence, then they voted to indict the suspect. That is how the system works. This indictment was handed down by citizens against another citizen.

To be honest, if it was anyone else, this would be a very boring process. It usually takes about a year before a trial begins in just about any case, but especially one as complicated as this appears to be. There would be headlines for a few weeks, then things would quiet down until the trial actually begins.

But this isn’t just anyone. This is an ego-maniac who needs to see his name in the headlines on a regular basis. This is a man who lies with every sentence that comes out of his mouth. A man who thinks that if anyone says anything against him that person is on a “witch hunt”.

This is not the first time he will have to appear in court. And, remember, this is a man who took the fifth amendment over 50 times during a divorce case! He has a very long history of breaking the law and getting away with it. He always claims he will “fight to the death” then eventually gives in and settles his cases. We only need look back to the “trump university” case. He swore that he would never settle, then he settled.

Despite what many may think, I am not overjoyed with the indictment of a former president. However, I am overjoyed with the thought that our Justice System is doing what it is supposed to do. Hold people accountable for their actions regardless of who they are.

There may be more indictments coming down the pike for trump. He is still under investigation in Georgia and by a Special Prosecutor. There are still three potential cases he may have to face. That says more about the lack of integrity and morality of the former president that it says about our justice system.

This man was raised with the idea that he is above the law. That he can do whatever he wants and get away with it because he comes from a wealthy family. He has no moral compas that is comparable to the average person. He believes he is special and therefore we are all to bow down to his magnificence. Well, he is now learning that he is not above the law and must face consequences and possible jail time if he is convicted of these crimes.

The real problem this all causes is not that a former president has been indicted. Other democracies around the world have indicted and convicted leaders and presidents for their crimes. Right now in Israel, the Prime Minister is under indictment for fraud and corruption. That is why he is trying to “take over” the courts to get out of his jam.

The real problem we face at home is what will the wackos do because of this indictment? Furthermore, how many of them will heed the call by trump and show up with violent intentions? Will we see the so-called MAGA crowd let the process play out, or will they incite violence in the misguided belief it will cause the trial to stop?

There is one thing we know will happen because it happened before. The dear leader of MAGA will grift his followers. He will beg for money to “defend myself” and then pocket the vast majority of that cash. And, his blind followers will gladly hand over their money even if they know he will pocket it for himself.

To me, this is a big deal because it is the first time a former president has been indicted. Other than that, it isn’t any different from when other politicians are indicted for crimes. This clown’s politician status gives him no special treatment or immunity from his suspected crimes.

I am going to watch what happens. I am going to let the process play out just like any other case. If the evidence is sufficient, he will be convicted of his crimes. If the evidence is not sufficient, he will probably be found not guilty. That is how it is supposed to work and hopefully, that is how it will work without violence caused by his rabid followers.

It is that potential violence by his rabid followers that is the real danger and the real threat to our country. Not the indictment. That is simply the rule of law being played out.

I suggest that everyone just watch what happens. In our country, everyone is “innocent until proven guilty”. Even cretins like trump.