Excuse Me

January 25, 2021

It’s “moot.” It’s “stupid.” It’s “unconstitutional.” It’s “divisive.” “There is blame on both sides.” “We still need to investigate election results.” These are the words and phrases that Republicans are using to deny what happened on January 6th. To push back on Mario Rubio, “It’s not stupid, you’re stupid.” Paraphrasing a popular ad on television, “We all saw it.”

Republicans are trying to parse the Constitution to make their argument. It depends on what the meaning of “sedition” is. Again, as it was with the first impeachment, they lean on process rather than rely on the facts. They say that you can’t impeach Trump because he is no longer the President. Therefore, the issue is moot. However, there is nothing in the Constitution that says you cannot impeach a former President. He is being impeached for egregious acts he committed while President. Losing an election is not a “get out of jail free” card.

There is not blame on both sides. Republicans complain about how Trump was treated from day one. I don’t remember anyone attacking the Capitol or the White House before or after Trump’s inauguration. I do remember the free press and multiple governmental security agencies raising legitimate issues about the integrity of the election and Russian interference. I don’t think this rises to the level of sedition.

And the beat goes on. Senators like Hawley, Rand, Johnson and Cruz continue to insist that we need to investigate the election because, mirabile dictu, people actually believed what they were told to believe. These are all just lame excuses. In the words of Steve Martin, “Excuse me.”

Anti-Social Media

January 24, 2021

Here come the rantings of an older person, but is social media really sociable? More and more, it looks like that social media is actually anti-social. It has morphed from social media to political media. It has become addictive for many people, who can’t exist without a cell phone in their hands. We are like Pavlov’s dogs. When our phones ding, buzz, or ring, we start salivating. For some, it is actually dangerous as they cross the street and drive their cars. It is a time waster. Social media is not rife with trivia. It is rife with triviality. And now, it is used for an anti-democratic call to arms. Donald Trump lost his Twitter account. Maybe it is time to lose yours.

Twitter is for birdbrains. Try writing something longer than 280 characters. 280 characters might make an epic novel, but it does nothing to advance the conversation. Start with 280 words, and build from there. Write a letter, start a blog, or start the novel you have promised yourself you would write. Start your memoirs. Write your obituary. Submit a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. Take a creative writing class.

Facebook is not a book. Read a book. A book has a beginning, an end, and something of value in the middle. Reading a book will force you to deal with your cell phone-induced attention deficit disorder. Doomscrolling on Facebook is staring into an infinitesimal abyss. You will have plenty of time to read a book once you get off of Facebook. Join a book club, and the book group does not need a Facebook page.

Pinterest is for pinheads. Better dead than Reddit. Instagram is as satisfying as instant coffee. The internet and social media are terrific tools, but they have become ends in themselves. Take charge of your social media accounts, and your life.

Hank Aaron

January 22, 2021

I grew up in a time and place where we had to find our own sources of entertainment during summer vacation. Computer and sports camps were not on the horizon. We spent more hours than I care to think about playing an indoor baseball game using baseball cards and dice. Similar to fantasy leagues today, we would initiate each season with a draft. There were only three of us, but we all wanted either the first or second pick. That would mean picking either Willie Mays or Hank Aaron first, and then “settling” for the other. It was a toss up between Roberto Clemente, Mickey Mantle, and Frank Robinson for the third pick. I, like everyone else, looked forward every year to the All-Star game because that was the only time you got to see these great players in action.

One of my first memories of baseball was of the 1957 World Series between the Milwaukee Braves starring Hank Aaron and the New York Yankees with Mickey Mantle. World Series games were played during the day, and I would conveniently get “sick” every October so I could stay home and watch the games. Milwaukee beat New York in seven games on the strength of Hank Aaron’s bat and Lew Burdette’s three complete games. This followed Aaron’s MVP season. Everyone remembers watching TV when Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s home run record. An era is passing.

Bulls, Bears and Pigs

January 21, 2021

There is an old Wall Street axiom that goes, “Bulls make money, bears make money, and pigs gets slaughtered.” Republicans and the Conservative movement is in danger of getting slaughtered. They keep railing against the radical, socialist, communist agenda of the left. Really? The right has gotten everything that it has wanted over the last few decades, but it still wants more.

Income taxes have been going down steadily for years, culminating in the ill-conceived and misrepresented tax cuts in 2017 by the Trump administration. Capital gains tax rates and estate tax rates are at historic lows. Despite a crumbling infrastructure and global warming, Republicans will fight any tax increases, especially a carbon tax.

Republicans got their judges and their Supreme Court nominees after years of developing Conservative judges through the Federalist Society. These judges overturned the Voting Rights Act, which led to rampant voter suppression initiatives around the country. They voted in favor of Citizens United, which has led to a deluge of dark money being funneled to Conservative causes and candidates. They got within one vote of overturning ObamaCare. Overturning Roe vs. Wade is the Holy Grail.

Republicans want to burn down everything on the way out. They are accusing Democrats of wanting to “exterminate” all Republicans. They refer to the Democratic National Guard. Hawley and Cruz are “shocked, shocked” that Democrats want to investigate their seditious activities. Kevin McCarthy, who still has not recognized that we had a fair election, is preaching unity. Republican members of Congress want to bring firearms onto the House floor. They should be happy with what they have accomplished, and move from Trump. However, I fear it will be almost impossible for them to get out of the pig sty they find them in. When pigs fly…

Trump’s Inaugural Address

January 20, 2021

Tragically, Trump almost got it right. Here are his words from his inaugural address.

For too long, a small group in our nation’s Capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost.

Washington flourished – but the people did not share in its wealth.

Politicians prospered – but the jobs left, and the factories closed.

The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country.

That accurately captured the problem facing America. Americans were hurting. However, rather than addressing the root causes of the financial malaise for many Americans and the income inequality that has been on the rise since the 1980’s, he went to the standard Republican playbook.

The first play was a handoff to wealthy individuals and corporations via a tax cut, a strategy conservatives have been flogging successfully for decades. Whether you call it the Laffer Curve or trickle down economics, it was and is voodoo economics. The resulting deficits were to be the predicate for repealing Obamacare, and cutting safety net programs like Social Security and Medicare.

The second play was a flea flicker to deflect blame for the country’s ills away from greedy individuals and corporations. Muslims, Mexicans, and people from shit hole countries were convenient targets. It also helped to make league with white supremacists, who were ready to blame blacks, Jews and immigrants for their problems.

The third play was a Hail Mary to pack to the court for the expressed purpose of overturning Roe vs. Wade. This was just a cover, and a sop to the Christian Coalition. The real purpose was to protect and codify the economic system that has made income inequality inevitable. Citizens United made it possible for corporate America to pour millions, maybe billions, of dark dollars into the political system, making it almost impossible for ordinary people to have any say in the political process. It’s pay to play, and you have to pay a lot. The repeal of Obamacare failed in the Supreme Court, but there will be other attempts.

Trump had it right as so many populist politicians often do. And, just like the cynical politicians before him, he abused and misused the faith that the unwitting put in him. While he was holding up the Bible in one hand, he had his other hand in the pockets of those already left behind. For him, it was just another grift. It was just another day at the office, but, this time, the office was Oval. He will be remembered for his inaugural address, but not in the way he had in mind.

The Banana Man

January 18, 2021

“Yes, we have no bananas.” The Banana Man entertained children back in the day on Captain Kangaroo and the Ed Sullivan Show. He had bananas coming out of everywhere. Donald Trump is the new Banana Man. He turned the United States into a banana republic. Newspapers in places like Kenya and Colombia are crowing “Who’s the banana republic now?” I wonder if these were shithole countries.

Yellow is an appropriate color for President Bonespurs even though he prefers neon orange. He is going to finish his administration with a send off that he has ordered up himself. He will be giving himself a twenty-one gun salute before he heads off into political exile at Mar-a-Lago. The banana boat is coming, and, on July 20th, you want to go home. Day-O.

Pope Donald

January 16, 2021

Papal infallibility is a dogma of the Catholic Church which states that, in virtue of the promise of Jesus to Peter, the pope when appealing to his highest authority is preserved from the possibility of error on doctrine “initially given to the apostolic Church and handed down in Scripture and tradition”. In other words, the Pope never makes a mistake. In the eyes of his followers, Donald Trump has become the Pope of the far right, lunatic fringe. Whatever dog whistles he puts out become dogma. Trump believes that he never has to apologize because he is never wrong. Trump has made it clear that there was room in town for only one Pope when he attacked the one sitting in Rome.

The Pope leads a worldwide religion where converts are free to come and go. The Pope does not use his awesome powers to lead them in a religious war. The Catholic Church is far from perfect, but you don’t see the Pope leading a group of atheists up the steps of the Vatican. Donald Trump is a cult leader. He is ready, willing, and able to lead his sycophants over a cliff. Once they hit bottom, it will be very hot and it won’t be St. Peter welcoming them into the gates of heaven.