January 14, 2021

I feel like I have gone down this rabbit hole before, but congratulations to the PGA of America for moving its signature championship away from Trump National Bedminster. This hurt the “Commander in Cheat” where it hurts, in his pocketbook and his ego. Doral was put on the “Do Not Play” list a few years ago after Trump made his vile comments about Mexicans, which, I assume, includes PGA tour pros Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz. The R&A was already on record for banning Trump Turnberry from The Open rota. Fortunately, I had the great pleasure of playing Turnberry a few times before Trump took over. I urge all golfers with a conscience to do like Twitter and ban all trips to Trump golf facilities. Most of them are overrated anyway despite Trump’s braying that they are like nothing you have seen before. Trust me. You have seen them before. None of his courses rank in Golf Digest’s Top 100 Best list. Trump famously browbeat the editor of GolfWeek magazine because he didn’t like the rating one of his courses received from GolfWeek raters. If you have a Trump course on your bucket list, delete it. Play your local muni course, and spend the difference on something nice.

January 13, 2021

Dear Bruce,

Magnanimous is not exactly my middle name, but I too wrestle with the conundrum posed by friends, who are Trump supporters. I will try to provide my perspective, but the reality is I will never look at these people in the same way again. They may be saying the same thing about me. I am not a confrontational type of person so I will most likely let things pass as I struggle with trying to understand what the fuck they were thinking. These are reasonably intelligent and successful people, who would never have considered hiring Donald Trump for even a menial job in their places of employment. Yet, they hired him as President of the United States and then rehired him after his job evaluation.

I think one group belongs to the Republicans for life camp. They were probably raised in deeply Republican families, and can’t conceive of any situation where voting for a Democrat is even a remote possiblity. I was raised in a Democratic household. My parents were Roosevelt Democrats. I don’t know if they ever voted for Eisenhower, but I am confident that they had voted for Republican John Volpe for Governor just as I had voted for Republican Charlie Baker. These people can almost be forgiven. They don’t know anything else. They would vote for Attila the Hun if he was Republican, and they apparently did. I believe many of these people are genuinely embarrassed, and will not defend him.

Then there is the “Anyone but Hillary” group. I don’t believe these people liked Trump, but their hate for Hillary Clinton was so deep that they couldn’t see or reason straight. There were a lot of reasons for these feelings, some real, but many imagined. I have a problem with these people because their basic argument was that there was just something about her that they just didn’t like. Because of that puerile analysis, they were okay selling the rest of us down the river. These people suck. They are not embarrassed because they still believe he was the better alternative.

Lastly, there is the “All in for Trump” group. These are the ones that are truly dangerous and heinous. They bought the whole racist, nationalist, and misogynist story, and had no problem with it. These are the people, who attacked the Capitol. They didn’t care about tax cuts and judges. They just wanted to get even.

The first two groups suffer from what the psychologists would call cognitive dissonance. They made a bad decision, and it is now too uncomfortable to consider any alternatives. I worked for Smith Barney and predecessor firms for over thirty years. One of the hardest things to do is to sell a stock on the way down. You made a mistake, but you convince yourself despite all the evidence to the contrary that things will get better. They rarely do, and you hold on until it’s a total loss. For a lot of people, Trump is a bad stock. The initial analysis was flawed, and subsequent evidence to the contrary is inconvenient.

I am okay with my friends who are real Republicans and/or Conservatives. They made a mistake, and they are sick about what happened to their party. I have little patience, however, for the other knuckleheads, who are guilty of either voter malpractice or sedition.

January 4, 2020

I read Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book titled Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream to get some insights into what lies ahead for Joe Biden. Both men came from modest backgrounds, and did not attend Ivy League schools. They built their reputations in the U.S. Senate, and served as Vice Presidents under younger, less-experienced men. Through very different avenues, they ascended to the Presidency. What else do they have in common?

They both have extremely high interpersonal and emotional intelligence. Johnson prided himself in being able to assess fellow politicians quickly, and craft arguments uniquely suited to them. He believed that if he could get in front of anyone, whether it be a Congressman or a world leader, he could reach an agreement. He was able to reach across the aisle, and make deals. At his core, he liked people, and wanted to help them.

Joe Biden is known for his ability to connect with people. He feels their pain because he has experienced it himself. He works rope lines enthusiastically. He says that he wants to reach across the aisle and find common ground, but his success remains to be seen. The times are different. Johnson’s Great Society was successful because of huge Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate. Ultimately, it was derailed by the Vietnam War. The question then is Joe Biden already facing his own Vietnam as he addresses the pandemic and a fragile economy, which he needs to do before he can deal with climate change, infrastructure, immigration, income inequality, voting rights, gun safety, the Supreme Court, China/Russia/Iran/Cuba/NATO/WHO/Paris Accords/North Korea/, college debt and more.

January 11, 2021

Trump’s atrocities are piling up faster than deaths from coronavirus. We just reached the 400 mark. It is hard to fathom that these are all very real. Only a true sociopath could wreak so much destruction in just four years. Ten more days to go.

1. Misrepresenting the size of his inauguration crowd

2. Claiming Barack Obama wiretapped his office

3. Trying to institute a Muslim ban

4. Attacking a Gold Star family

5. Characterizing Mexicans as rapists, etc.

6. Making false claims about Obama’s citizenship

7. Saying about the riots in Charlottesville, “There are good people on both sides.”

8. Encouraging campaign crowds to chant “Lock her up”

9. Describing the press as an enemy of the people

10. Using personal insults against political opponents like Low IQ, Pocahontas, etc.

11. Saying “I am a Nationalist”

12. Withdrawing from NAFTA, TPP, Paris Accords, WTO, and Iran deals

13. Asserting that climate change is unsettled science

14. Sending troops to the border to stop the caravan

15. Trying to eliminate DACA

16. Pushing through a tax cut for the wealthy and corporations

17. Denigrating a victim of sexual assault

18. Making secret payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen MacDougal

19. Complaining constantly about no collusion and no obstruction

20. Moving Israeli embassy to Jerusalem

21. Trying to redefine gender identity

22. Banning transgenders from military service

23. Calling out Colin Kaepernick and the NFL players taking a knee

24. Allowing Kanye West to drop F bombs in the Oval Office

25. Promoting George Soros conspiracy theories

26. Cozying up to despots: Putin, Un, Duterte and more

27. Maligning allies: EU, Mexico, Canada

28. Instituting tariffs

29. Attacking the Federal Reserve

30. Attacking the Justice Department, FBI, CIA

31. Firing FBI Director Comey; firing of Sally Yates

32. Disclosing intelligence, using an unsecure cell phone

33. Not providing tax returns

34. Not addressing conflicts of interest at hotels, clubs, developments, product lines

35. Not draining the swamp e.g. Flynn, Manafort, Zinke, Pruitt, et. al.

36. Lying at record levels

37. Traveling and golfing excessively at taxpayer expense

38. Issuing false health reports

39. Number of aids calling him a moron

40. Claiming a historic deal with North Korea

41. Skipping a dedication to the WWI dead in France because it was raining

42. Insulting three female, black journalists in a press conference

43. Alleging fraud in mid-term elections

44. Being lectured by the president of France

45. Threatening to withhold aid to California fire victims

46. Attacking Admiral McCraven for not killing Osama bin Laden earlier

47. Using private e-mail servers

48. Rescinding John Brennan’s security clearance

49. Appointing Mark Whitaker as acting AG

50. Endorsing accused pedophile for senator of Alabama

51. Attacking John McCain for being captured

52. Appointing Judge Kavanagh to the Supreme Court because of his views on presidential authority

53. Having record turnover in the Executive wing

54. Trying to repeal the ACA

55. Seeking prosecutions against Hillary Clinton and James Comey

56. Siding with the Saudis in the Khashoggi assassination

57. Wearing a red hat

58. Throwing paper towels at Puerto Ricans

59. Criticizing the Chairman of the Federal Reserve

60. Being rebuked by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court

61. Authorizing lethal force at the border.

62. Interfering in free markets by targeting corporations.

63. Accusing Amazon of scamming the post office.

64. Having a Secretary of Labor tainted by the Epstein scandal.

65. Misusing contributions to the inauguration committee.

66. Having his personal attorney guilt of a felony, and going to jail.

67. Being the subject of a scathing letter to the Washington Post by 44 former Republican senators.

68. Using the Trump Foundation as a personal piggy bank.

69. Threatening to shut down the government over the border wall.

70. Having a National Security Advisor who “sold out his country.”

71. Pulling troops out of Syria.

72. Telling a seven year girl that believing in Santa Claus at her age was marginal

73. Avoiding military service in Vietnam by fraudulently claiming bone spurs

74. Telling the troops in Syria they are suckers, and lying to them about a 10% pay raise.

75. Threatening to declare a national emergency to build a wall.

76. Being the subject of an FBI counterintelligence investigation.

77. Setting the record for the longest government shutdown and claiming he can relate to the furloughed workers.

78. Insulting 551 persons, places, and things on Twitter

79. Discussing pulling the U.S. out of NATO

80. Concealing five private conversations with Vladimir Putin from American officials and the public.

81. Serving cold fast food to the Clemson football team.

82. Disclosing a secret trip to a war zone by the Speaker of the House and others.

83. Threatening Michael Cohen’s Father-in-Law.

84. Creating false polling data.

85. Continuing Trump Tower Moscow negotiations through the election, and allegedly told Michael Cohen to lie about it to Congress.

86. Not participating in any MLK Day events, and referencing Martin Luther King, Jr. in the wall debate.

87. Suggesting that federal employees not being paid should “eat cake”

88. Having one of his top advisor’s arrested on seven counts of perjury, obstruction, and witness tampering.

89. Spending the majority of his day in “Executive Time.”

90. Shutting down the government for a record 35 days.

91. Colluding with AMI and the Saudis to extort and blackmail Jeff Bezos.

92. Having a Secretary of Labor who is complicit in Jeffrey Epstein’s plea deal.

93. Declaring a national emergency, and then leaving for Mar-a-Lago to play golf.

94. Telling a child Santa Clause did not exist.

95. Tweeting about Michael Cohen during a nuclear summit with North Korea, and then predictably walking away with nothing.

96. Accepting Kim Jong-un’s denial about Otto Warmbier’s death.

97. Granting a security clearance to his son-in-law over the objections of the intelligence community, and then lying about it.

98. Declaring that ISIS has been “100% defeated.”

99. Hugging the American flag.

100. Pressuring advisors to block the AT&T merger to punish CNN for bad coverage

101. Cutting domestic spending to pay for his wall.

102. Being cited by the New Zealand mass murderer, calling him “a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose.”

103. Using his first veto to end run Congress, and create a dangerous precedent.

104. Being photographed with and supported by the former owner of a string of Florida massage parlors.

105. Threatening the left with physical violence by the police, the military, and bikers.

106. Sending out 50 unhinged Tweets over a weekend attacking McCain, Mueller and others.

107. Ceding the Golan Heights to Israel.

108. Threatening to defund the Special Olympics, threatening to cut off all further aid to Puerto Rico, and vowing to kill the Affordable Care Act.

109. Providing nuclear capabilities to Saudi Arabia.

110. Inflating his net worth to lenders and investors.

111. Threatening to close the Mexican border.

112. Promising great healthcare after the 2020 election.

113. Humiliating a worker with disabilities for blowing the whistle on the issue of granting over 25 security clearances despite recommendations against doing so.

114. Either lying about or not knowing where his father was born.

115. Cheating at golf.

116. Claiming that wind turbines cause cancer.

117. Saying that the United States is “full.”

118. Nominating Herman Cain for the Federal Reserve.

119. Scolding a non-existent “Judge Flores” about immigration.

120. Claiming that Barack Obama started the family separation policy, and that he stopped it.

121. Accusing Mueller of committing treason and attempting a political coup.

122. Threatening to send asylum seekers to sanctuary cities.

123. Tweeting out a picture of Rep. Omar with a reference to 9/11.

124. Having his attorney, Rudy Giuliani, maintain that it is appropriate to accept help in an election from a foreign adversary.

125. Having his son-in-law say that the Mueller Report did more harm to democracy than “a couple of Facebook ads.”

126. Setting the record for the longest period of time without holding a news media briefing.

127. Ordering aides to not comply with lawful subpoenas from Congress.

128. Dispatching Rudy Giuliani to the Ukraine to dig up dirt on Joe Biden, Jr. among others.

129. Laying the groundwork for regime change in Iran.

130. Accusing the head of the FBI of being part of a coup to overthrow the government.

131. Claiming that doctors and mothers conspire to execute babies.

132. Having nothing to say about Alabama’s abortion law.

133. Being out-prepared by Vladimir Putin in a key meeting, per Rex Tillerson

134. Complaining he can’t legislate while be investigated

135. Retweeting a doctored video about Speaker Nancy Pelosi

136. Taking sides with a murderous dictator in criticizing a former Vice President of the United States from foreign soil.

137. Having the USS John McCain hidden from his view.

138. Threatening to slap a 5% tariff on Mexico.

139. Claiming to have a secret trade deal with Mexico.

140. Having a Secretary of Transportation funneling Chinese money to her husband’s state.

141. Stating that he was willing to accept opposition research from hostile governments.

142. Allowing Kelley Ann Conway to violate the Hatch Act.

143. Denying that he failed to answer questions about obstruction of justice under oath.

144. Firing his own pollsters for bad poll numbers, and lying about it.

145. Having the intelligence agencies cyberattacking Russia without informing the President for fear of security breaches.

146. Ignoring aid requests from the 911 responders.

147. Awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to discredited economist Arthur Laffer

148. Saying that it was lucky the drone shot down by Iran wasn’t manned.

149. Being accused (again) of attempted rape in the 90’s, saying the accuser was not my type

150. Making conflicting statements about whether he had read the Mueller Report

151. Commiserating with Putin about fake news, and joking about Russian meddling in our elections.

152. Empowering Don Jr. to retweet a racist post about Kamala Harris.

153. Not understanding a question about the decline of western liberalism.

154. Hijacking the Washington DC Fourth of July celebration.

155. Asserting that the homelessness problem began two years ago.

156. Being called “diplomatically clumsy and inept” by the U.K. ambassador.

157. Saying of Jeffrey Epstein years ago, “It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”

158. Telling four Congresswomen of color to go back to where they came from, and breaking federal anti-discrimination guidelines in the process.

159. Saying that “I was there with you” as he addressed 9/11 first responders.

160. Going on a racially charged screed against Elijah Cummings and the city of Baltimore.

161. Fomenting hate which led directly to a mass shooting in El Paso.

162. Bragging about crowd size while visiting victims of a mass shooting, and criticizing political opponents during a people of mourning.

163. Retweeting a conspiracy theory linking the Clintons to Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide.

164. Rolling back the Endangered Species Act

165. Taking issue with the Statue of Liberty

166. Blaming the Fed for stock market losses.

167. Urging a foreign government to ban duly-elected representatives.

168. Buying Greenland.

169. Drumming up a conspiracy theory about who is responsible for a possible recession.

170. Saying that Jews who vote Democratic are “disloyal.”

171. Calling himself The Chosen One.

172. Ordering companies to move away from China, and saying that the Chairman of the Federal Reserve was more evil than the President of China.

173. Recommending that we set off nuclear bombs inside of hurricanes.

174. Creating a media “enemies list.”

175. Promoting his bed-bug infested Doral resort as the location for the 2020 G-7.

176. Offering to pardon aides who would seize property illegally to build his wall.

177. Having Attorney General Bill Barr contract with a Trump hotel for his holiday party.

178. Announcing that Hurricane Dorian would hit Alabama, and then falsifieing a weather report with a Sharpie to prove his point.

179. “Congratulating” Poland on the marking of its 80th anniversary of the Nazi invasion.

180. Insisting that Mike Pence stay at Doonbeg, a Trump property in Ireland, which is 180 miles from his meetings with the Irish PM.

181. Diverting $3.5B from defense projects to build his wall.

182. Diverting military aircraft to a Scottish airport and having military personnel stay at his Turnberry golf resort.

183. Refusing to give Ukraine authorized defense funds unless it digs up dirt on Joe Biden.

184. Refusing entry into the US for Bahamian refugees.

185. Denying that he offered to meet with the Iranians with no preconditions.

186. Ceding American foreign policy to the Saudis.

187. Appointing more lobbyists in three years than either Bush or Obama did in eight.

188. Being the subject of a whistle-blower complaint for promising defense funds to the president of Ukraine if he investigated the Biden family, and admitting that he did it.

189. Lying about Europe not giving military aid to the Ukraine.

190. Accusing the whistleblower of being a spy, and threatening him with physical harm.

191. Telling Putin he wasn’t concerned about Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

192. Predicting a civil war if he is replaced, and accusing Democrats of treason.

193. Proposing building a moat at the border stocked with alligators and snakes.

194. Calling on China to investigate the Biden’s.

195. Withdrawing support from the Kurds, and ceding JSyria to Assad, Putin, Iran, and ISIS.

196. Having a video shown by his supporters at one of his resorts showing him murdering members of the media.

197. Suggesting that Napoleon Bonaparte protect the Kurds.

198. Having the President of Turkey refuse to meet with the VP, Secretary State, and National Security Advisor of the United States.

199. Calling former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis the “most overrated general of all time,” and Nancy Pelosi a “third-rate politician.”

200. Comparing the impeachment inquiry to a lynching.

201. Giving his approval to a group of Republican Congressmen to illegally break into the impeachment inquiry in a SCIF.

202. Being compared to Neville Chamberlain by Pat Robertson.

203. Jeopardizing the killing of an ISIS leader, calling him a dog, and saying he died like a coward with no proof.

204. Encouraging his followers to denigrate the service record of Col. Vindman, a decorated war hero, for testifying in the impeachment inquiry.

205. Falsely claiming that the memo released by the White House about the Ukrainian call was an “exact” copy.

206. Shaking down the Brits for dirt on our own intelligence agencies.

207. Not removing troops from the Middle East to “protect” Syrian oil fields.

208. Bribing Senators with campaign cash.

209. Threatening the former Ambassador to Ukraine with physical harm.

210. Considering firing the intelligence community’s Inspector General.

211. Claiming that he and the President of Turkey had good relations with the Kurds.

212. Claiming at a campaign rally that the wall is going up faster than anyone thought imaginable when the reality is not a mile has been built.

213. Saying he did not know Ambassador Sondland despite much evidence to the contrary.

214. Threatening the former Ambassador to the Ukraine in real time as she was testifying before the House Intelligence Committee.

215. Having campaign advisor Roger Stone convicted on seven accounts of lying, witness tampering, etc.

216. Being snubbed by North Korea and dissed by Turkey.

217. Overturning the verdicts of military trials.

218. Having the RNC pay $100,000 for Don Jr.’s book.

219. Being undercut by the Justice Dept. about the FBI spying on his campaign.

220. Faking orgasm in a campaign speech.

221. Questioning Nancy Pelosi’s faith

222. Being made fun of by world leaders at NATO

223. Gutting the World Trade Organization

224. Attacking the head of the FBI, Christopher Wray, for accepting the IG report

225. Calling FBI agents scum

226. Attacking 16 year old Greta Thunberg for being Time magazine’s person of the year.

227. Attacking deceased Congressman John Dingell at a Michigan campaign rally, saying he was in hell.

228. Being influenced directly by Putin about Ukrainian election interference.

229. Retweeting the identity of the alleged whistleblower.

230. Doing nothing about the largest number of mass killings in US history.

231. Threatening to destroy cultural sites in violation of international law.

232. Blaming President Obama for the latest Iran crisis.

233. Refusing to disclose how much money he spends on travel to his golf resorts, and how many rounds of golf he plays.

234. Assassinating the leader of a foreign nation claiming there was an imminent threat, and then lying about threats to our embassies.

235. Not making an announcement that investigations by the Justice Department into the Clinton Foundation, Uranium One, and Hillary’s e-mails found absolutely nothing.

236. Continuing to lie about his intention to end coverage for pre-existing conditions.

237. Hiring the same lawyer, who defended O.J. Simpson, Mike Tyson, Claus Von Bulow, and Jeffrey Epstein.

238. Trying to end public hearings from the intelligence community about possible threats because he didn’t want to be embarrassed.

239. Having Lara Trump mock Joe Biden’s stuttering

240. Saying that Americans companies should be allowed to bribe foreigners.

241. Removing pollution controls on streams and wetlands.

242. Dismissing traumatic brain injuries as headaches.

243. Saying he was open to cutting entitlements, and then saying he wasn’t.

244. Praising Mike Pompeo for bullying and lying about his meeting with an NPR female reporter.

245. Blocking witnesses and documents from the impeachment trial.

246. Abusing his power, obstructing Congress, and getting away with it.

247. Attacking Michael Bloomberg on his height.

248. Congratulating the Kansas City (Kansas) Chiefs on winning the Super Bowl.

249. Getting caught mocking the national anthem.

250. Refusing to shake Nancy Pelosi’s hand at the State of the Union.

251. Proposing cuts to the CDC during the coronavirus epidemic.

252. Getting the Attorney General to interfere in Roger Stone’s sentencing

253. Suggesting that Colonel Vindman should be punished.

254. Accusing Michael Bloomberg of being a racist.

255. Attacking the federal judge in charge of sentencing Roger Stone

256. Attacking the lead juror in the Stone trial.

257. Asserting that April will solve the coronavirus epidemic, and that it will disappear miraculously.

258. Issuing a quid pro quo to New York, wanting NY to drop its personal law suits against him

259. Asking why NPR should exist, and threatening to defund it.

260. Having 1100 former DOJ prosecutors asking his Attorney General to resign.

261. Going on a clemency spree for friends and supporters.

262. Offering to pardon Julian Assange if he would say that Russia had nothing to with the 2016 election.

263. Appointing an individual with no intelligence experience to be acting head of the NSC

264. Dismissing head of DNI for briefing Congress on Russian interference in 2020 elections.

265. Mocking Best Movie “Parasite” because it was South Korean

266. Having a Deep State hit list, and putting a college student in charge of administering it.

267. Suggesting Supreme Court Justices Ginsberg and Sotamayor recuse themselves from all cases involving Trump

268. Attacking the jury foreman of the Roger Stone trial

269. Blaming MSNBC and the Democrats for the coronavirus and the plunging stock market

270. Calling the coronavirus death rate “fake numbers.”

271. Lying about the availability of coronavirus test kits, and calling the Governor of Washington a “snake.”

272. Blaming the CDC and Obama for the spread of the coronavirus.

273. Saying “I don’t take responsibility at all.”

274. Trying to buy a German company working on a coronavirus vaccine for use by US citizens only.

275. Apparently being okay with famous athletes and celebrities being able to get tested for coronavirus ahead of everyone else because “that’s the way it works.”

276. Saying he knew about the pandemic before everyone else, and that he had an innate ability about medicine better than the experts.

277. Telling people they can go back to work on Easter against the advice of medical professionals.

278. Threatening to sue TV stations playing an ad critical of his handling of the pandemic.

279. Doubting the estimates of experts for the need for ventilators, and saying that the U.S. will be able to sell its excess ventilators to other countries

280. Saying to US Governors that he had not heard anything about lack of tests for weeks.

281. Firing three Inspectors General during a pandemic.

282. Allowing the Navy captain of an aircraft carrier to be fired for defending his troops versus the coronavirus.

283. Stacking a conservative Supreme Court that would force Wisconsin to have an election in the middle of a pandemic.

284. Reposting a Twitter message that said “Time to #FireFauci” 

285. Cutting off funding to the WHO

286. Appointing Robert Kraft et. al. to a committee to get America open again.

287. Insisting that his signature appear on emergency relief checks.

288. Praising China for its transparency regarding coronavirus

289. Letting Jared and Ivanka travel to Trump Bedminster for Passover

290. Threatening to close down immigration in the middle of a pandemic.

291. Having an AG, who threatened to sue governors over shelter in place orders.

292. Demoting a doctor who questioned the use of chloroquine to fight coronavirus.

293. Recommending that Americans inject Lysol, and take light internally.

294. Ordering 1,000 cadets back to West Point to listen to a speech.

295. Allowing his VP to not a wear a mask on his visit to the Mayo Clinic.

296. Pressing intelligence agencies to confirm a conspiracy theory that the coronavirus came from labs in Wuhan, China.

297. Privately predicting the death rate will increase while allowing and encouraging the states to open.

298. Using VC and PE equity guys to mishandle distribution of health supplies to friends of Trump.

299. Dropping charges against Michael Flynn.

300. Failing to comment on the shooting of an unarmed black man in Georgia.

301. Ordering people back to work without testing and protective gear.

302. Firing the State Dept. IG (the 4th) for investigating Secretary of State Pompeo at the recommendation of Pompeo.

303. Trying to create an Obamagate conspiracy theory.

304. Taking hydroxychloroquine.

305. Making false allegations about Michigan sending out ballots, and threatening to eliminate federal funding.

306. Reposting racist slurs against black women like Senator Kamala Harris of California (“Willie’s Ho”); Stacey Abrams, the former candidate for governor of Georgia (“Shamu”); and Joy Reid, the MSNBC host (“butt ugly” and a “skank”).

307. Retweeting over Memorial Day weekend a debunked conspiracy theory that Joe Scarborough had killed a young woman years ago.

308. Getting fact-checked by Twitter, and threatening retaliation.

309. Being censured by Twitter for fomenting violence.

310. Taking shelter in the White House bunker while protests took place in D.C.

311. Breaking up a peaceful protest with tear gas and horses, and then posing for a photo op in front of a historic church holding a Bible.

312. Referring to protesters as “lowlifes and losers,” and conjuring up Nixonian images of “law and order” and the “Silent Majority.”

313. Lying about going into the White House bunker, and lying about using tear gas on peaceful protesters.

314. Being criticized by General Mattis, General Kelly, Admiral Mullins, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Milley among others.

315. Accusing a 75 year old protester, who was injured by police, of being a member of antiFa.

316. Refusing to change the name of military bases named after Confederate generals.

317. Demanding that people attending his rallies sign a waiver.

318. Blocking John Bolton from publishing his book.

319. Pleading with China to help him get re-elected.

320. Trying to repeal DACA, trying to discriminate against LGBQT individuals, claiming he made Juneteenth popular, and using a Nazi symbol in Facebook ad.

321. Trying to fire the U.S. attorney for Manhattan on a Friday night after revelations from Bolton’s book about a quid pro quo with Turkey.

322. Ordering his administration to slow down testing because the results were embarrassing.

323. Eliminating funding for testing in the middle of a pandemic.

324. Claiming that dealing with Democrats is tougher than dealing with Russia, China, and North Korea.

325. Denying he was briefed about Russia paying bounties to have American soldiers killed.

326. Retweeting a white power chant.

327. Threatening to pull federal funding if schools did not reopen.

328. Commuting the conviction of Roger Stone.

329. Starting a campaign to discredit Anthony Fauci.

330. Retweeting game show host, Chuck Woolery.

331. Using the Rose Garden for campaign speeches.

332. Claiming that Biden wants to do away with the suburbs.

333. Sending in unidentified federal agents in unnamed vehicles to arrest Portland protesters.

334. Asking his British ambassador to get him the British Open.

335. Jailing Michael Cohen for writing a tell-all book.

336. Lying about throwing out a first pitch at a Yankees game.

337. Retweeting a post from fraudulent doctor making wildly inaccurate claims about the coronavirus.

338. Suggesting that the 2020 elections be postponed because of voter fraud.

339. Skipping John Lewis’ funeral

340. Killing Herman Cain.

341. Cutting back on testing because the coronavirus was a blue state problem.

342. Withdrawing 12,000 troops from Germany over fees.

343. Suggesting the U.S. should get a piece of the Microsoft-Tik Tok deal.

344. Suggesting Kamala Harris is not authorized to run for Vice President aka birtherism.

345. Having illegally appointed the top two people at DHS.

346. Weaponizing the post office.

347. Suppressing intelligence about Russia’s interference in the 2020 elections.

348. Failing to condemn violence by white supremacists.

349. Flouting the Hatch Act during the Republican convention.

350. Telling people in North Carolina to vote twice.

351. Saying that Americans who died in war were losers and suckers.

352. Using campaign funds far more than any of his predecessors to cover legal bills.

353. Saying he knew how bad the coronavirus was while at the same time lying about it to the American people.

354. Having his VP attend a fund raiser supported by QAnon.

355. Calling the generals fucking pussies, and saying they were war profiteers.

356. Disclosing a secret nuclear weapons program to a reporter.

357. Comparing himself to Winston Churchill.

358. Continuing to have campaign rallies without masks and social distancing.

359. Ordering health agencies to have a vaccine before the election.

360. Having his Attorney General release the results of a Mueller Report investigation before the election.

361. Stating that scientists don’t know anything about climate change, and that it will get cold soon.

362. Installing a political appointee at DHS, who suppresses coronavirus reports and traffics in conspiracy theories about a radical left violent uprising.

363. Having an Attorney General who said that stay at home orders were the worst thing since slavery.

364. Mocking a journalist who was shot by a rubber bullet while covering a protest.

365. Refusing to commit to a peaceful transfer of power.

366. Being dependent on authoritarian governments for income, and being on the hook for $400 million in personally guaranteed loans.

367. Rushing through the Supreme Court nomination of a judge opposed to Roe vs. Wade, and the ACA.

368. Defending Kyle Rittenhouse, and directing federal agencies to do the same.

369. Refusing to condemn white supremacy, and supporting the Proud Boys.

370. Attending a fund raiser, knowing he had been in contact with Hope Hicks.

371. Going back to the White House, removing his mask, saying stupid stuff, and prohibiting contact tracing

372. Being ultimately responsible for a white supremacist attempt to kidnap the Governor of Michigan.

373. Demanding that his Attorney General arrest his political opponents and the former POTUS.

374. Getting the best healthcare in the world while trying to eliminate it for millions of Americans.

375. Threatening to have the Secretary of State release Hillary Clinton’s e-mails before the election.

376. Being warned by the CIA that Giuliani was a target of Russian misinformation, yet still having his false information published in the NY Post.

377. Urging his AG to investigate and jail his political opponents.

378. Stranding hundred of attendees in freezing temperatures at a super spreader rally in Omaha.

379. Encouraging white, armed, “militia” groups to go to the polls and watch.

380. Having Jared Kushner accuse black Americans of not wanting to be successful.

381. Declaring victory over the coronavirus.

382. Having his “Patriots” create traffic jams and threaten Biden supporters across the country.

383. Obstructing the transition of power.

384. Threatening to bomb Iran.

385. Inviting Republican election officials from Michigan to the White House.

386. Taking credit for the GSA decision to ascertain the election.

387. Refusing to concede.

388. Pardoning Michael Flynn.

389. Discussing pardons for himself, his three children, and Rudy Giuliani. Being investigated for trading pardons for campaign contributions.

390. Denying Russia hacked US computer systems.

391. Discussing invoking martial law.

392. Refusing to take the coronavirus vaccine.

393. Raising election defense funds on a fraudulent basis.

394. Blowing up the COVID stimulus package

395. Pardoning murderers and sycophants

396. Inciting a riot and takeover of Capitol Hill, leading to the deaths of five people.

397. Refusing to attend the inauguration of Joe Biden.

398. Getting kicked off of Twitter.

399. Mishandling the rollout of the coronavirus vaccination program.

400. Being “excited” and “delighted” by events at the Capitol

January 10, 2021

Now that he has been permanently barred from Twitter for life, I can only imagine Donald Trump doing his best George Floyd impersonation. “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.” Twitter has put a knee on his neck, and cut off his oxygen. This has to be excruciatingly painful. The self-styled counterpuncher has to sit on his fat ass, and just take it. The press, politicians, and social media are free to say and do what they want without worrying about a Twitter storm at the thumbs of the President. Twitter has done what Melania couldn’t with her faux anti-bullying campaign.

I am sure there is a lot of righteous indignation in the dark corners of the right wing media, but, frankly Scarlett, I don’t give a damn. I am looking forward to the day when I don’t have to see his orange face, listen to his tortured syntax, and be exposed to his embarrassing and inflammatory Tweets. He will cease to exist in the consciousness of most Americans as long as they don’t spend their days doomscrolling through conspiracy websites. We can all take a deep breath and breathe in democracy.

January 8, 2021

Thought experiment. If you get up in front of a mob, and tell it what to do, does that not make you a boss of the mob aka a mob boss? There has been a lot of talk over the last four years comparing The Don to a Don. Michael Cohen likened the way he talks to a mafioso. Much of this has been overdone. Mob bosses are much smarter than this.

At his seditious rally, Trump told the mob that he would be there with them as they stormed the Capitol. However, as anyone who has ever watched a mafia movie knows, the Capo stays as far away as possible from the scene of the crime as his henchmen do his dirty work. The Mafia knows to leave the gun and take the cannolis. This meeting of Mensa from a parallel universe posted its photos all over the internet.

The final scene I want to see in this reality TV show is, as Joe Biden is taking the oath of office, we get a split screen of FBI agents, under the direction of Merrick Garland, arresting Trump, Trump Jr., Giuliani and others because payback is a bitch best served cold.

January 7, 2021

At 41, Senator Josh Hawley certainly qualifies as a proud boy. His “white power” salute to the crowd getting ready to storm the Capitol may be the longest lasting image that comes out of this fiasco. When it comes time to write his obituary, I hope that the lead-in is this photo. He is reputed to have used this rebellion as a fund-raising opportunity. His own newspaper says he has “blood on his hands.” And he still failed to back down from his conspiracy theories.

Hawley is part of the Ivy League mafia. He claims Stanford and Yale Law on his resume. Cruz is Princeton and Harvard. I hope these institutions consider revoking their degrees for behavior unbecoming of an educated person. The standard comment about Hawley is that he knows better because he is so smart. He is probably good at absorbing information, and regurgitating it back on tests. However, both Hawley and Cruz apparently skipped ethics classes in their three years at law school. Tests certify your intelligence. Ethics training certifies that you might know what to do with the gifts that you have been given. One without the other is like having a loaded gun with no way to aim it. I went to Harvard, but that doesn’t make me a moral or ethical person. It doesn’t even make me smart.

Josh, Ted and others…make us all proud, step back, and step down.

January 6, 2021

For anyone who ever cast a vote for Donald Trump, this is on you. For anyone who ever wrote a letter to the editor supporting Donald Trump, this is on you. For anyone who made excuses for his inexcusable behavior, this is on you. For anyone who spent their day watching Fox News and getting their information from the internet, this is on you. For anyone who was willing to trade a tax cut for democracy, this is on you. For anyone who decided with no evidence that the election was rigged, this is on you. For anyone who subscribes to conspiracy theories and supports white supremacy, this is on you. If anyone dies, and they did, this is on you.

January 5, 2020

I have been having a very difficult time understanding why so many people in Georgia agree with the President that the elections have been rigged. This despite all of the evidence and court rulings to the contrary. State Republican officials have pleaded with their citizens to believe what they have been saying with very little success. How can so many people believe in such nonsense.

And then it became very obvious to me what is going on. These people have spent generations trying to deny their fellow citizens the vote. They were so evil that the United States had to pass a Voting Rights Act in 1965. Once it was overturned by the Supreme Court, they went back to their old tricks of voter suppression. So, it only natural to believe that the people they have been discriminating against all this time would do anything they had to in order to overturn a legitimate election. They are thinking that that is what they would do if they had the chance. I think the psychological term is projection.

Ironically, these claims of rigged elections motivated the other side to come out and vote. The formerly disenfranchised voters in Georgia had their revenge. When it sinks in for the other side, it is going to sting when they realize it was done legitimately.

January 5, 2020

I wish I could take credit for labeling the twelve Senators who will object to the results of the Electoral College as the “Dirty Dozen,” but I can’t. I am okay, however, with claiming Cruz’s Crazies or Hawley’s Folly. These Senators are worse than the baseball team that used to represent the District of Columbia. These guys aren’t first in anything, but they are definitely last in the American democracy. Hopefully, anytime anything is written about these clowns the moniker “Dirty Dozen” will be the lead-in to the article. As in “Ted Cruz, a member of the Dirty Dozen, lost his bid for re-election to the Senate today, losing to Beto O’Rourke.” Better yet, it should be the first line of their obituaries like the Chicago Seven.