Trump's Legacy

While I didn't vote for President Trump in 2016, I probably should have. As much of a jackass as he's been -- and that was no surprise to me -- he's been rather effective as a president. Not perfect, not by a long shot. But he's been darn good, and a heckuva lot better than I imagined.

Now, there's an election coming up in just a few days. I'm concerned about it, because while I'm still not a fan of Donald Trump as a person, I absolutely detest Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. And, as I said, Trump has been a very good president. Biden would be a disaster on the Carter-Obama scale.

But, even if the election goes poorly, there is a saving grace, and that's Donald Trump's legacy. The media will try to make his legacy out to be his impeachment or his acting the fool on Twitter. What his legacy actually will be is the stopping and even reversing the left-turn of the courts.

The confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett, following the 2017 confirmation of Neil Gorsuch and the 2018 confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh, is a very good thing. And the judges appointed on lower courts over the past four years bodes very well for the country.

I hope this is not the end of the Trump administration. I'd really like to see four more years of his presidential actions. He could use some polish, but I'll take a great jackass to a useless show horse any day.

Maybe She Has The Right Idea

Everybody on the right is getting their panties in a wad about Nancy Pelosi ripping up her copy of Trump's State of the Union address. Well, not everybody. I'm not.

You see, I think this should become a trend.

Think about it. Somebody stands up in Congress and gives some papers to the Speaker of the House. The person reads it, then the Speaker of the House rips it up.

Imagine if that was a bill.

"Madame Speaker, I present to you my proposal that the government get involved with the regulation of the color of vacuum cleaner bags. We cannot allow this plethora of colors of vacuum cleaner bags to continue to cause confusion among the American consumer when having to choose between beige, taupe, off-white, and light grey. My proposal would allow for the creation of the Department of Vacuum Cleaner Bags with oversight authority on all such items manufactured in or imported into the United States and offered for sale to consumers.

I also present my accompanying proposal that covers industrial vacuum cleaner bags and ensures they conform with the standards set forth by the E.P.A. and the United Nations Climate Neutral Strategy.

I also present my accompanying proposal to increase funding to the United Nations specifically for its Climate Neutral Strategy."

Tell me, would you be upset if the Speaker then ripped it to shreds?

It should be the duty of the Speaker of the House to rip up everything handed to her (or him, once things right themselves). If that means a presidential speech or two gets ripped up in the process, that's the price we have to pay.

Iowa Stubborn

With apologies to no one (although the late Meredith Willson might not care for this)...

Oh, there's nothing to say
About the Iowa way to caucus,
When we caucus
Which we can’t get right at all.

There's an Iowa kind of special
Chip and software attitude.
We've never been without.
That we recall.

We can be down
As your falling poll numbers in the backrooms
If you ask to get the vote results on time.
And we're so by God stubborn
We won't admit that there's a problem
For a week or more.
Want the results? You can kiss our ass.

But what the heck, we'll tell ya,
What we think we want to tell ya
You can throw a fit
But really keep it to yourself.
You really shoulda give Iowa a pass.

But we'll give you a kick
And a smack to go with it
If your polls should happen to crash.

So, what the heck, you're welcome,
Glad to have you with us.
Even though you may not ever want to come again.

You really ought to give Iowa
Hawkeye Iowa
Buttigieg,
Sanders,
Warren,
Biden,
Klobuchar,
Yang,
Steyer,
Bloomberg,
Gabbard

Ought to give Iowa a pass!

The smoke-filled room

Sir, thank you for taking time from your busy schedule to settle a dispute. The year 2020 is upon us. We are to choose the servants that shall be the standard bearers for the top offices.


And what say you?


Sir, I want to go on record as saying that Elizabeth Warren is our best chance to defeat Trump.


No, no. Corey Booker. That's who we need to run.


You're both crazy. Kamala Harris is those two put together.


What about Bernie?


Beto O'Rourke! He's unstoppable!


You mean unless he runs against Ted Cruz?


I've had it up to here with you! I'll...


Still your tongues or I shall remove them!


If I might, sir. How did we ever find ourselves in this situation? Surely the ... um, shall I say Forces of Light ... did not intervene. The current officeholder is not one that would be chosen by ... Him. Is he?


Of course not. But, as you recall, our standard bearer in 2016 reached an agreement with me personally. Her soul for the presidency.


You've agreed to that type of bargain before. What happened?


She was unable to fulfill her end of the bargain. One cannot offer what one does not possess.


That, sir, is why I suggested Bernie Sanders last time. He didn't offer anything. He has been a willing puppet for years, and would have been a wonderful addition to our lineup of former officeholders.


And do not forget, we must also select the vice presidential candidate.


I suggest Kermit Gosnell. He has proven himself.


Isn't he still in jail? Killing babies wasn't as cool then as it is now.


I suggest Hat McCullough.


He's a South Park character. He's not even real.


Neither is Elizabeth Warren's resume. He'd be perfect for her.


I have considered and I have decided. We shall not intervene.


But sir! We must select candidates who represent what we stand for.


Those in leadership of the party have proven their methods of selecting the presidential candidate meet the standards upon which we insist. They have not let us down in the past. I trust them to select candidate that will do our bidding.

Don Henley is now a tired old man

Remember the Don Henley song, "The End of the Innocence?"


Don Henley The End of Innocence by HollieMario

The lyrics at 1:59 refers to President Reagan as "the tired old man that we elected king." Now, while the song was co-written by Don Henley and Bruce Hornsby, and both sang it in concerts, the song and video were released by Henley, so he owns this, as far as I'm concerned.

Now, let's do some math.

From Ronald Reagan's birth to his inauguration was 25,551 days.

From Don Henley's birth to today is 25,551 days.

Don Henley, as of today, July 5, 2017, is now the same age Reagan was when he took office.

I wonder if he considers himself a tired old man. Maybe he should have just stuck to mentioning political references instead of trying to get personal. Because getting personal will always bite you in the ass.

How To Talk To Your Liberal Family Members At Thanksgiving

[The YouTube]

Counting the votes

January 6, 2017, 1:00 PM EST

Ladies and gentlemen, as Speaker of the House of Representatives, it gives me great pleasure to introduce the President of the Senate, the Honorable Joseph R. Biden.



Thanks, Pat.

Paul.



So, we vote now, right? I was thinking onions, mushrooms, and bacon. Oh, and extra cheese. What about you guys?



Mr. President, we're here to ...

Oh, is Barack here, too? I suppose that means no bacon.



No, I'm addressing you as president of the Senate. While the Senate is in session, as it is now with the House, you are presiding. So we call you Mr. President. And you call me Mr. Speaker.

"Paul Speaker?" That's a funny name. Anyway, are you telling me that all this time, I didn't need to worry about Barack watching me? Jeez. I wish someone had told me. So, is he here? Do we get bacon or not?



Mr. President, we're not here to vote on pizza.

It's one o'clock and it's a Friday, Mr. Speaker. I'm thinking extra-large. There are more here than I realized. How many is this? About 50?



Well, the D.C. House delegate is here, so 536.

We better get two pizzas. And bread sticks.



Joe, we're here to open the electoral votes to select the president.

You just told me I was president.



For Heaven's sake, Joe, we're picking the next president of the United States. Your term as vice president of the United States and as President of the Senate is up in two weeks, so we need to pick the next person for the job.

Didn't I do a good job? I've seen my picture all over the Internet. I must be doing something right.


Listen, Joe, it's time to open the votes and count them.

Oh, okay. I hope we get bacon. I'm tired of pepperoni. So, how do we do this?



The same way we did four years ago. You have the ballots in front of you. Open them in alphabetical order and read the total. Hand them to the tellers, who will record the totals. When all the states are counted, they'll add them up and give you those totals, and you announce the next president and vice-president.

Alphabetical? So, we start with Delaware, right? Why is Alabama on top? Delaware is the first state.



No, Joe. Alphabetically, it's Alabama, followed by Alaska. Delaware is, let's see, 8th on the list.

No, that's not right. Delaware is the first state. I know my algebra.



This is the order they want us to read them, Mr. President.

Okay then, Mr. Speaker. We'll do it that way. But I do get extra cheese?



Joe, I've just been informed that an extra-large pizza with onions, mushroom, bacon -- and extra cheese -- has won. If you'll follow me to your car, we'll head over to ... um ... Amy's ... and introduce you.

Yay! Another job well done!

Understanding the Electoral College

A lot of people don't understand the Electoral College. It's their own fault. I mean, it's been around since 1789, so there's no reason to not know about it. But, a lot of people still don't.

Briefly, it's the group of people that actually elect the President of the United States. And, it's been that way since the Constitution was first ratified.

The thing that should really be understood is the "why." Why in the world would we have such a system. Well, you need to learn a little history.

When the Founding Fathers decided to set up a new government, there was a great disagreement about how to do it. They finally decided there would be three branches of the government: a Legislative Branch to make the laws, an Executive Branch to carry out the laws, and a a Judicial Branch to interpret questions regarding the laws. Each branch of the government would be populated by different people, all in different ways.

Before we get to the Executive Branch, let's quickly cover the Legislative Branch.

Legislative Branch

The branch that makes the laws were to be representatives of the people. But there was great disagreement over how to select the representatives and how to apportion them.

The delegation from Virginia, the most populous state at the time, wanted each state to get representatives in proportion to their population. The more populous states would get more representatives. The problem with that, though, is that four of the 13 states would be able to push through anything despite objections from the other nine states. (Actually, the four largest states were one shy of a majority, so they would need to convince one, but only one, representative of the other states to go along.) The smaller states didn't like that.

The delegation from New Jersey, one of the smaller states, wanted each state to have an equal number of representatives. That meant the concerns of New Jersey or Rhode Island carried as much weight as Massachusetts or Virginia. The problem with that was the seven smallest states, which had only one third of the population, could push through legislation that two-thirds of Americans didn't want. The larger states didn't like that.

So, the solution was to implement both plans. The Legislative Branch would consist of two bodies, representing both the people and the states.

A House of Representatives would be have members in proportion to population. It would be the representatives of the people, and chosen by the people every two years.

A Senate would provide equal representation of the states. Each state had two Senators, and they would serve six year terms. Every two years, one third of the Senate would be chosen. Since the Senate were representatives of the states, the Senators were chosen by the legislatures of the states. (More about that here.)

The Executive Branch

Of the three branches, one part of Legislative Branch was the one selected by the people to represent the people. But the Executive Branch? How to deal with that?

It was decided that each state would be granted Electors to choose the President, equal to the combined number of Representatives and Senators. Each state would determine how to select the Electors. Some were chosen by the state legislature, and some were selected by the people. In the first election (1789) of the ten states that participated, half the states voted on the Electors, and half were appointed by the state legislatures. In the second election (1792), of the 15 states, ten selected Electors by the legislature and five by votes of citizens.

One other thing. Originally, the Electors cast two votes. Whoever got the most was President and whoever came in second was Vice-President.

Judicial Branch

The Supreme Court was then filled by the other two branches of the government. The President appointed judges to the Court, but the Senate had to approve the appointments. Justices served for life.

But, The People...

There are complaints by some, or by many, about how unfair it is that they don't get to elect the President. Well, that's the whole point. The Founding Fathers gave me, you, and all citizens our voice in government through the House of Representatives. They gave the states (us collectively by state) a voice in the Senate. They gave the states the ability to choose those that would choose the President.

That's the genius of the system we have in place. The Electoral College is a combination of the voice of the people and the voice of the states.

If you think you should have the say directly, keep in mind that George Washington, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and the rest of the Founding Fathers said otherwise. Take this any way you want: I trust them more than I trust you. Or me.

Did they throw Hillary off the bus?

When I first heard about it, I was worried for Hillary.

Sure, I don't like the woman and certainly don't want her to be president, but I certainly don't want anything bad to happen to her.

What I'm talking about is a story that led me to think that one of Hillary's campaign bus had deposited her on the side of the road and she fell in a sewer. Turns out I misunderstood what actually happened.

The report from WGCL in Atlanta said

[City of Lawrenceville ]cops investigating claims that #Hillary #ForwardTogether bus dumped human waste into storm drain. Follow @cbs46 for updates.

[Tip: MoonBattery]

And the DNC confirmed it.

Naturally, when I saw that a Clinton campaign bus had dumped human waste into a storm drain, I thought they were talking about Hillary.

It's an easy mistake to make.

Hillary in her own words

There's not much one can add to this.


[The YouTube / Les at Nuking Politics]

Monkey Hillary Clinton

I got an odd search result the other day. Let me explain what I'm talking about for those that aren't familiar.

Google does the stats for this little blog. That includes page views (totals and per blog post page), audience (where, what browser, etc), and search results that led to the page. And that's what I noticed as a little odd.

Google said that the third most popular search result this week that people used to find this little blog was, and I quote, "monkey hillary clinton" -- no I am not making this up.

I don't think I've ever used the phrase "Monkey Hillary Clinton" ever in my life. Until now.

I'm not sure if it refers to this image of one of Hillary's Flying Monkeys:

This one where we wonder who wore it better:

Or this (which means we can do monkey pictures of politicians again):

I'm not sure why anyonw would search for "monkey hillary clinton" or why such a search would turn up here.

But, if it's my destiny to be the one-stop shop for Monkey Hillary Clinton images and other items, so be it.

Of course, maybe they were searching for a monkey named Hillary Clinton. But why would someone name a monkey Hillary Clinton? I wouldn't. There is already a jackass with that name.

A social experiment

Over on The Facebook, one of my friends there, Rachelle Jones, had a great idea. I thought it was great, anyway. You could check it out, but you'd have to be a friend of hers on The Facebook to read her post. So I'll tell you what she wrote. I'm sure she won't mind.

Go to Donald Trump's page and see how many friends like it. Then, go to Hillary Clinton's page and see how many friends like it. Do the same for Gary Johnson.

Why I never thought of that, I have no idea. Anyway, I did it, adding Jill Stein to the mix. And here's how it came out. Some liked more than one, which complicated things. So I have two ways of showing the results:

Clinton 15%
Trump 55%
Johnson 50%
Stein 0%.

or

Clinton 5%
Trump 40%
Johnson 35%
Clinton & Trump 5%
Clinton & Johnson 5%
Trump & Johnson 10%

Now, I'm trying to imagine someone liking both Hillary and Trump ... unless they're a chronic liker. I'm not really surprised that Trump and Johnson had the most page likes of the people I know on The Facebook. The likes for Hillary, though? Yeah, I was kinda surprised when I found out who liked Hillary.

Of course, most of my friends on The Facebook didn't like any of them. They probably have the right idea.

Anyway, are you up for that? Or are you afraid you'll get a shock or two that you just don't feel like dealing with?

It doesn't matter what any other country thinks. But it is nice to hear.

In an interview with CNN, Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi talked about the Republican and Democrat nominees for U.S. president. Breitbart reports that the Egyptian president has some good things to say about Trump:

I think 90 percent of Egyptians would prefer Trump because he will not cooperate with terrorists. He [Trump] will not cooperate with Muslim Brothers and our main concern in Egypt now is terrorist attacks as you saw two days ago in the United States. We saw it daily in Egypt on the hands of Muslim Brothers so we know very well that Muslim Brothers are a terrorist group and we want to build up our democratic regime.

Full story at Breitbart

CNN was asking about remarks made by Trump that they called anti-Moslem. CNN also asked about remarks made by Clinton that were critical of Egypt's government, to which he responded:

"in Egypt there will not be a chance for any dictatorship because in Egypt there is a constitution, there is law, and there is the will of the people which will refuse to allow any leader to stay in his position for any period longer than his term which is four years."

I really don't care what another country thinks of the president, past, present, or future. I do find it interesting to know what countries think, though. I not thinking we should not insult our friends, but that's what Clinton did. The remarks by el-Sisi seem proper, though, considering the circumstances.

Tip: Wild Thing at Theodore's World.

Friends don't spam

Spammers are the lowest form of life on the Internet. And probably in real life, too.

So, guess who has been spamming me for some time now. If you guessed Democrats, you'd be correct.

I check my spam queue from time to time and keep seeing emails from Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and the rest of that band of low-lifes. They are in the spam queue because after I first began receiving emails from them, I clicked the "Unsubscribe" link. What happened? Even more.

No, this isn't some spoofing of Democrat Party email. It's the real thing. Sending me emails I didn't ask for and don't want. Spammers.

As I said, I check my email spam queue from time to time just to ensure something legit isn't being directed that way. Every so often, that happens, but not much. Still, I check.

I don't open the emails from Obama or Clinton or any of those ne'er-do-wells. But, I do see the subject of the email. And they have taken to calling me "Friend."

I'm reminded of Inego Montoya:

[The YouTube]

Friends don't spam. But then, again, I didn't call them friend.

Party Time

My car

Well I finally did it. For the first time in my life, I actually joined a political party.

I'm a conservative (lower case, indicating a philosophy, not upper case to indicate a proper noun, as the name of a group or party). But now, I'm also a Libertarian (upper case, as in the Libertarian Party and as in the Libertarian Party of Georgia). Let me explain why I joined the party.

In recent years, I've increased contributions to some candidates running for office. I've not always been happy with the candidate I was financially supporting. Or the party, quite honestly.

The Republican Party has shown time and again it's unwillingness to hold to conservative principles. And I've had enough. I'm done giving money to them. I'm cutting them off. Writing them out of my will. Moving on. Looking ahead. Kinda like a divorce. Some of you know what I mean.

I don't have piles of money lying around just begging to be given away. But, I do occasionally send money to help in election years. This year, I've given to two candidates, and I'm all out of candidates. Republican ones, that is.

Anyway, I sat down one day recently and went over my options.

Democrats? I have no use for them. I have refused to vote for local Democrats, who were otherwise good people, because all that does is strengthen the Democrat Party. And anyone who strengthens the Democrat Party nationally needs to be beat with a stick. Several sticks.

Republicans? Well, they talk good. They act bad. During elections, they've taken two approaches. One approach is to assume the conservative base is there and run to the left. That pisses off the conservative base. The other approach is to campaign to the right, and then govern to the left. That pisses off the conservative base.

As a pissed off conservative, I've had enough. I'm looking elsewhere. Or was. I found the Libertarian Party.

I've read the national Libertarian Party Platform. I don't agree with all of it. A lot of it, sure. But not all. However, looking at what the three major parties say and do -- don't forget about what they actually do -- the Libertarian Party is closest to me.

So, I'm still a conservative. That hasn't changed. And I'm now associating with a national (and state) political party that is closest to my beliefs and values.

I'm not urging you to join the Libertarian Party. I'm not asking you to vote Libertarian in November. I just want you to know that if you are fed up with how the Republican Party has treated you, there are options. This is the one I chose.

Dead?

I thought they said the TEA Party was dead?




Have fun storming the castle!

Wonder-ful

Guess who leans right more than the Koch Brothers?

Wonder Bread!

Actually, it's Flowers Foods, the company that makes Wonder Bread.

The details of this are that, since 1984, no company has given a higher percentage of its political donations to Republican candidates than Flowers Foods. The New York Times reports that in that time period, only three Democrats have received money from the company, and no Democrats in the last 20 years.

What about the other side of the coin? Who gives money to Democrats? Royal Bank of Scotland.

Citizens Financial Group (properly, RBS Citizens Financial Group Political Committee) has, over time, given a greater percentage to Democrats than Republicans. The gap has been closing, though. In 2008, RBS gave 84% to Democrats and 16% to Republicans. So far in 2014, it's been 56% Democrat, 44% Republican.

But, no company on either side give as much to one side as Flowers.

Will this change my eating habits? No. I've eaten Sunbeam, Durst, and Merita for years. Natures Own, Cobblestone, and Wonder Bread are all brands I've bought regularly. Well, not a lot for Cobblestone, but the others.

But, I gotta wonder. Will the left jump on this as a reason to attack Wonder Bread? Of course. It's what they do. And, the article in the New York Times focused on the right-leaning companies, while barely mentioning the left-leaning ones. Particularly the foreign-owned bank that heavily supports Democrats.

Is there a point to all this? Only that I'm glad to see that a company that I've been buying stuff from for years isn't turning around and giving it to folks that are trying to make my life a living hell. And, that when I'm buying bread, I'll do like the guy on TV used to tell people: say it with Flowers.

Shooting up Obamacare

There's a candidate for Congress over in Alabama that's getting some attention with a campaign video. Will Brooke -- NOT the guy from Montana, although you can bet some stupid liberal will try to make that connection -- is from the Birmingham area and has a business degree and a law degree from the University of Alabama, and is an executive with Harbert Management Corporation.

The sixth District is the middle of the state. It starts a little north of Montgomery and runs to above Birmingham, encompassing much of Jefferson County (where Birmingham is, but not Birmingham itself), as well as Bibb, Blount, Chilton, Coosa, and Shelby counties. It's conservative. No Democrat has received more than 30% of the vote since 1993, when current Congressman Spencer Bachus (a Republican who's retiring) unseated Democrat Ben Erdreich.

Republicans running include:

• Scott Beason, Alabama State Senator
• Paul DeMarco, Representative in the Alabama State House
• Chad Mathis, a surgeon
• Gary Palmer, Chief Development Officer of the Alabama Policy Institute
• Robert Shattuck, blogger
• Tom Vigneulle, a business owner and cattle farmer
• Will Brooke, executive at Harbert Management Corporation

I can't find any Democrats running, so whoever wins the Republican primary will likely be the next Representative for that district.

Oh, yeah. Will Brooke's video. Have you seen it?


[The YouTube]

Now, is Will Brooke the man needed in Washington? Maybe. It's not my district -- heck, it's not even my state -- so I don't have a vote in that race (unless I voted Democrat, then I could vote early, often, and everywhere).

I hope my friends in Alabama make a good decision. And, I hope that whoever is elected to Congress this fall will indeed take down Obamacare.

I'm a RINO

It's time for me to come clean. I'm a RINO.

That terrible label that's been attached to the squishes that always give in and don't hold true conservative beliefs? R-I-N-O? "Republican In Name Only?"

I think I'm actually the RINO.

I say that because I'm finding more and more that the Republicans aren't the conservatives. Being a conservative and aligning yourself with a Republican doesn't make Republicans conservative. It just means you're aligning with the least liberal, least horrible of the viable options.

I don't really want to take up the label "RINO" because of what it has represented. But, the reality is, the Republican Party isn't a bunch of conservatives. But, a bunch of conservatives vote for the Republicans.

We got two options: take over the Republican Party, or form our own party.

The problem is, we're so independent, it's hard to get together and all work the same. For instance, some conservatives have varying issues on religion. Some are atheist. Some are agnostic. Some are Catholic. Some are Baptist. Some are Jewish. Some are one of any other number of variations on Christianity, Judaism, as well as other faiths (and lack of faiths).

That, in turn, leads to varying beliefs on issues like homosexuality. I believe it's contrary to Scripture, and, therefore, a sin. But, I'm not one to yell in my homosexual friends' and family members' faces, saying they're going to hell. I don't think they are, but I think homosexuality is a sin. However, some disagree strongly with me about it, saying there's nothing wrong with it. Others disagree the other way, saying I should be getting all up in their faces. And, others disagree in varying degrees one way or another.

I'll stop there, but it shows how on those two issues, conservatives can't agree on one common response. If we try to form our own party, effectively splitting from the GOP, we'll splinter even further into varying forms of conservatism. Kinda like what happens when a Baptist church splits. A town starts with one and suddenly, there's Baptist churches everywhere. Not always because they're setting up missions that turn into full-fledged churches, but usually because somebody doesn't like the new carpet (great Aunt Gladys bought the old carpet), or the preacher's tie is too wide, or the organist shops at the wrong store, or something equally silly.

I think there's a party in place that we can take back. Goldwater put the seeds in place in '64. Reagan took control in '80. In the intervening time, we lost it. Whether its because those we put in office start playing the game of staying in power rather than doing the will of the people, or its because they were slimy weasels to begin with, the Republican Party isn't run by conservatives. We get lip service. And not the good kind.

I may actually be one of the ones who are Republican In Name Only. Because I'm actually a conservative.

We need good, young, strong, principled conservatives running for office and leading the party. Instead of a bunch of weasels who are just enjoying the Party at our expense.