I’ve pointed out numerous times here – where I spend MOST of my time and energy trying to expose individual 1’s incompetence and CORRUPTION – that the ONE thing he’s REALLY good at is manipulating the media. He’s been doing it since he walked down the stairs of his New York (former) home calling Mexicans “murderers and rapists” up until, well, right now. Yesterday, he was at a Ford plant in Michigan stirring up more controversy about whether he’s going to wear a mask or not and LYING about accomplishments which he didn’t achieve. But, sure as “shootin” our so-called “liberal media” is following along as a puppy follows his master.

I remember, back in 2016, how individual 1 dominated the air time coming from MSNBC, the so-called “liberal” alternative to Fox “news” (AKA individual 1 TV), and how MSNBC either wittingly or unwittingly worked as one of individual 1’s “useful idiots.” I still remember Chris Matthews, essentially – or that’s how it seemed to me at the time, trying to normalize individual 1 and his campaign. (Fortunately, Matthews can’t do this again) At the time individual 1 was trailing badly and I thought MSNBC was attempting to make the election more competitive in order for them to make more MONEY. There was rarely much more than a passing mention of Hillary Clinton and there seemed to be a conscious effort by MSNBC to create a false equivalency between the two candidates.

Well, individual 1, I’m sure, was very happy for the untold MILLIONS in free campaign advertising and he’s continuing to dominate MSNBC’s airwaves to this date. (Of course, I’m sure MSNBC was very happy with the ad revenue they received) Rarely, do we hear from Joe Biden (which may be a good thing due to his propensity to stick both feet in his mouth) but, more importantly, during this pandemic – while the economy is stuck in “neutral” we RARELY, if ever, hear about what our Congress is attempting to do to prevent “we the people” from falling into another economic “great depression.” In fact, it appears to me the democrats are trying as hard as they can to help individual 1 save this economy – but, their work is “flying under the radar.” For example, the ONLY time I’ve heard any real reference to the so-called “HEROES Act” has been about two or three interviews Nancy Pelosi has given on various MSNBC shows.

Not once have I heard anyone who would be an expert explaining the details of what is in this bill so that people could understand to what degree they should be supporting or opposing what the democrats are proposing. The republicans, of course, are reflexively opposing the bill, but if enough of “we the people” understand it’s a “good thing” the support generated could have an effect on whether the bill ends up getting passed. From the few interviews I’ve seen with Speaker Pelosi this bill, for the most part, should be considered essential – even by individual 1 who wants to run on a strong economy. It appears to me the HEROES Act would go a long way to protect our economy from the “ravages” of this virus.

I’ve been pointing out the disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street for some time now and, from what I can tell, the HEROES Act is aimed directly at “Main Street” which SHOULD be something republicans, at this point in time, would be wanting to support. I started this a few days ago and I’m convinced republicans SHOULD agree to the HEROES Act – it appears there is, at least, some negotiating going on and even republicans KNOW they won’t be looking that great as states are forced to start furloughing police officers, firemen, garbage workers, doctors, nurses, teachers, and a whole lot more of “essential workers.” Republicans want to destroy the Postal Service and they certainly don’t want “vote by mail.” We’ll see if democrats have the guts to stand up against them and FORCE these really important pieces into the legislation.

Today, according to John’s Hopkins the U.S.A went over 100,000 deaths from Covid-19. According to the “Worldometer.info” we went over that terrible “milestone” yesterday. Regardless, there’s going to be thousands more people dying from this pandemic and based on what i saw from people who went to various places where there seemed to be water – in large crowds with people close together and refusing to wear masks – if the scientists know what they’re talking about there should be some increased “numbers” of Covid-19 cases in the next two weeks. The report I saw at a lake in Missouri indicated the people crammed together came from many different states and then dispersed once the holiday weekend was over all across the country.

For people like this who clearly are not concerned about the virus they are the ones who have the possibility of being the “super spreaders.” They very well could infect many other people with no idea they’re doing so. We’re looking at the reality there really does seem to be “two America’s.” The cult members are fed up with the idea of “sheltering in place,” “social distancing,” and even “wearing masks.” Some of them are angry enough to participate in the demonstrations at various state capitals, some showing their manhood by carrying automatic weapons, and in the demonstration in Michigan’s Capitol building I saw protesters SPITTING in the faces of the Capitol policemen who created a barrier so the protesters were unable to break into the Capitol’s Rotunda.

I look back on that protest – and, others including the one which happened in the Capital of my state, Washington – and, so far, I haven’t seen one African American among the protesters (although, that does not suggest there weren’t any) – most if not all of the protesters were white. After, yesterday, watching ANOTHER Black American MURDERED by a white policeman I couldn’t help wondering what the reaction of the authorities would have been had those protesters carrying those AK-47’s (or whatever they were) with ammunition belts around their torsos and SPITTING in the faces of the white Capitol police officers were Black?

What will happen if a group of African Americans grab their weapons and protest like these “militia” groups at Minnesota’s Capitol building? I’m pretty sure you know where I’m going with this. I’ll just say, I wouldn’t expect the police officers to just stand there getting someone’s spit in their faces and doing NOTHING. So, now, in the middle of this pandemic, “we the people” have yet another person dying because of being Black which SHOULD get everyone’s attention, but, of course, there’s this pandemic which has had NO organized federal response and there WON’T be one, PLUS it’s the beginning of the HURRICANE season with predictions of an ACTIVE hurricane season.

I’ve written about the DAMAGE individual 1 is causing to this nation on numerous occasions and have suggested MUCH of the DAMAGE is “behind the scenes.” I still remember Steve Bannon suggesting their goal was to “deconstruct the administrative state” – which, essentially, means to destroy our government from within. Well, we’re seeing more and more evidence they’ve been doing a good job of this while MOST of us (including me) are “chasing our tails” in regard to the “scandal a day” administration of our IMPEACHED so-called president. More and more of the DAMAGE is going to be evident as we struggle as a nation to get through the rest of this year – individual 1 will be our IMPEACHED so-called president until next January 20 thanks to the republicans who had the chance to end this nightmare courtesy of the democrats IMPEACHING individual 1. Only ONE had the guts to do the right thing and now we’re all paying for it.

I’ve suggested there is no provision in the constitution which would prevent a second IMPEACHMENT, but, of course, that aint gonna happen at this point, so people need to prepare to VOTE – and, in some instance that is going to require some extra energy because republicans are attempting to prevent as many likely democratic voters from voting as they can. “We the people” need to respond to this CORRUPT, immoral, disgusting IMPEACHED so-called president with an OVERWHELMING turnout at the polls so his whining about a “rigged” election will fall on deaf ears. He’s already setting his cult up for his likely defeat – and, he’ll blame it on illegal aliens voting by the MILLIONS. Count on it!

Individual 1 is working hard to continue his manipulation of “we the people” with his obscene use of social media, but apparently it’s backfiring, at least to some extent because he’s threatening an “executive order” giving himself power I DON’T believe he has – just like cutting aid to the WHO, I believe, must be done in concert with Congress, so his dictatorial instincts are working in high gear. Apparently, he’s angry with Twitter and he thinks social media isn’t being fair to “conservatives.” I’m guessing what is happening (I don’t do social media) is “we the people” are starting to wise up to the REAL “fake news” – which is a hallmark of Russian cyberwarfare and, subsequently, individual 1’s campaign apparatus – and, people very well may be responding to posts with factual rebuttals! (I’ve been lamenting for years the republicans use of the “Big Lie Theory” of the Third Reich to spew their misinformation and, maybe, “the secret’s out))

Clearly, the TV networks – well, I mostly watch MSNBC – are infatuated with individual 1. Lately, on MSNBC, our IMPEACHED so-called president is the subject of a lot of derision, but he still seems to be attempting to force himself onto the main segments of their programming with one scandal worthy action after another – causing him to get airtime and the rest of us to get numb to stuff that at any other time in my lifetime would be disqualifying. He’s got a cult which doesn’t seem to care as long as he continues with all the judges – apparently, that is enough to make these four years worth it to them. I’ll just add the last 9 months of his term could be the most consequential 9 months of any administration in this country’s history. I hope I’m wrong, but, stay tuned……………

Final Thought: I suggested this a couple years ago and, obviously, NO one who matters heard me or cared (or both); my suggestion was take the airtime away. Leave the cameras and report on anything he says which is important – like, for example, people SHOULD know he suggested drinking or injecting Lysol or Clorox as a way to fight the virus – when an IMPEACHED so-called president has gone off the “deep end” “we the people” should be aware.

When this all started I predicted, correctly, that the only way individual 1 would be removed from office would be when republicans realized he was going to cause them to lose their jobs as well. I think that day is fast approaching if it’s not already here. Of course it’s early, but when I look at the polls at Five Thirty Eight (They average ALL the polling) there are more and more republican Senators who are looking vulnerable. This would include Lindsay Graham and, even, Moscow Mitch. They’re in a real “pickle” because if they’re not totally subservient to individual 1 the “tweets” are going to flow and things will get even uglier. This next five months should be very interesting – historical times!

As usual of late: I didn’t post this the other day and since then the Minneapolis police have MURDERED another Black man – George Floyd – this time in broad daylight with multiple video cameras “witnessing” the act. It was deplorable just like all the other MURDERS of unarmed Black Americans by police or white racists (ie Ahmaud Arbery ) which led Colin Kaepernick to, essentially, give up his career as a NFL quarterback in protest to these continued outrages. The FACT Kaepernick is no longer “working” in the NFL was the reason I gave up fantasy football and stopped watching the NFL on TV. Individual 1 referred to the athlete’s protesting the FACT African Americans are being killed for being Black as “Sons of Bitches” and suggested they should be “fired.” Well, obviously, Kaepernick has been “fired” despite having the ABILITY to take an NFL team to the Super Bowl. Kaepernick, obviously, deserves credit for his courage and leadership.

I’m white and all I can say is I support Black Americans in their fight for equality and equal justice in the country. This needs to be of paramount importance to the incoming administration of Joe Biden. This country needs healing and that is where it should start. The MURDER of Mr. Floyd was, hopefully, the “straw that broke the camel’s back.” The man had his hands cuffed behind his back (likely for committing no crime – he was unarmed, of course) and they threw him on his stomach and one of the officers pressed his knee onto Mr. Floyd’s neck until, well, he was DEAD. I can’t even believe I’m writing this AGAIN!

I just mentioned the importance of Joe Biden’s administration addressing the issue of inequality as of “paramount importance.” So, I will add one more thing to that thought. It is also of “paramount importance” that if Biden was actually considering Amy Klobuchar as a VP candidate (which I hope is NOT true) that he would end that consideration as of RIGHT NOW! At this point I believe that’s the ONLY way he can lose. (Although, he me try to find other ways as well)

Covid-19 is continuing to “rage” – and, will likely be picking up steam as “we the people” open our economy too soon – and, way too many people continue to act as if it’s just another “flu.” We’re potentially looking at a depression. Individual 1 continues to believe he’s a dictator – he’s pulling the U.S. out of the WHO (World Health Organization) ??? (can he really do that without Congress?) and he’s creating an even worse situation with China (maybe as a way to blame them for his ineptitude in the pandemic) and now we’re looking right in the face of an active hurricane season and a disastrous wild fire season. Is there really anyone who’s confident in America’s leadership (outside of the cult, of course)? Stay tuned……………..

I’ve pondered the thought many times here, “how can individual 1’s supporters be so STUPID?” And, of course, I know that what many of them are supporting is their long standing belief the republican party is the party for “pro lifers.” (They think I’m stupid) So, they’re happy because individual 1 is simply funneling potential judges who are selected by the Federalist Society to Moscow Mitch, who in turn, is able to get them confirmed. Obviously, they want Roe v Wade overturned. It’s true the lasting legacy of individual 1 (for “conservatives”) will be the right wing judges he’s nominated who will tilt the courts to the “right” for, at least, a generation. I just have to wonder if it’s worth it to them due to what comes with their “marriage.” For me, as a Christian (obviously, not part of the “conservative Christian” movement), the worst part in all of this is how individual 1 is using the “evangelical Christians” in his desperate attempt to remain in POWER as the November election sits on the “horizon.” (To me, not a good “witness”)

Our IMPEACHED so-called president has more to worry about than simply losing an election as he could be facing multiple indictments once he’s no longer protected by that OLC “memo” written after Watergate suggesting a sitting president can NOT be indicted. That is what protected individual 1 from the Mueller investigation – despite William Barr’s shameful manipulation of the TRUTH of what was really in Mueller’s report – “cutting it off at the knees” with his “summary” where he suggested there was no OBSTRUCTION of Justice charges warranted from Mueller’s report – which was, essentially, the OPPOSITE of what was in the report. I was, for maybe the only time in my life, part of the “1%” as I actually read the entire Mueller report (TWICE) and, clearly, the ONLY reason Mueller didn’t seek an indictment of individual 1 was that memo. Barr expertly (from individual 1’s perspective) cut off any IMPEACHMENT resulting from the report – which (Impeachment) was the implied remedy for the OBSRUCTIVE behavior suggested by Mueller.

So, how is individual 1 trying to overcome the odds of him losing his re-election bid – which, according to every poll I’ve seen (and, there are many polls) paint a grim picture for November? Well, how does he approach EVERYTHING? He’s LYING, he’s lashing out at his perceived “enemies,” and, of course, he’s manipulating those in his “base” – as if he really cares about them. For example, and, to me, this one says it all – this past week he was all about churches being open for Memorial Day weekend – so that worshipers could “flock” to their church gatherings while this pandemic he’s so egregiously mismanaged is still raging. He tried to make it look as if this issue was “dear to his heart.” Naturally, you would assume that’s where he’d be on Sunday after his proclamation that all churches would be open, right? Nope, of course not, he was out playing golf instead of going to church. “What else is new?”

In fact, as he’s been pandering to Christians since it became apparent to him he needed their support to “win” the election (with three MILLION fewer votes than his opponent/enemy) I looked online for evidence of his church attendance. What do you think I found? Yep, NOTHING! He’s exposed many of the “mega Christians” for exactly what they stand for over these past three years. I’ve only read through the Bible twice (along with re-reading many of the books several times) and, honestly, I can’t find a good Biblical reason for supporting what individual 1 stands for. I mean his infidelity and his pathological LYING along with his demeaning of “the least of these” would seem to indicate a problem for a Christian. Think the “Ten Commandments” for starters. Just sayin……….

His base is a curious combination of the aforementioned “conservative/evangelical Christians” and the white nationalist movement in America – which includes those affiliated with the neo-Nazi movement, the KKK, and other right wing militia movements in America that seem to be tied together with their racist beliefs and their automatic weapons. To me, this is almost like deja vu all over again as I think back to reading books like “Bonhoeffer” by Eric Metaxas and other readings I’ve had over the years about the Germans of the 1930’s. I’ve written many times (with frustration toward our so-called “liberal media” for ignoring this) about how America’s “right wing” adopted the “Big Lie Theory” of the Nazi’s back in the days of Ronald Reagan. There are way too many parallels between Germany back then and individual 1’s administration right now.

I first noticed this (the organized LYING) when I happened to listen (for a while) to Rush Limbaugh back in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s when he had just started his misinformation assault on unsuspecting Americans. Of course, I chose NOT to be a “ditto head” – just the idea he calls his loyal listeners by that moniker pretty much suggests his audience isn’t made up of “free thinkers.” At the time I started to notice ALL the “conservative” pundits were LYING about the same things with the same key terms – over and over again. That they would adopt the propaganda strategy of the Nazi’s repulsed me. I’ve watched this evolve ever since and, it seemed to me, the election of Barack Obama caused those behind Limbaugh, who were on the fringes, to create a very sophisticated response – starting with the so-called “Tea Party.” But, they were still in the fringes – looking for a place to “land.” The GOP seemed to have “open arms.” When I heard individual 1 was giving the “medal of freedom” to Limbaugh I almost gagged!

The republican party has been steadfast over the years to be, essentially, the party in American politics which was dominated by white people, without overtly being the party of white people. There always seemed to be kind of a half-hearted effort to become more inclusive – that is, until Obama came along. And, while republican party leaders understood the election of Obama SHOULD have caused their rank and file to realize the need to be more inclusive – we are, after all, a nation of IMMIGRANTS – they seemed to “double down” as they welcomed those in the “Tea Party” into their midst. Of course, we’ve seen, since 2010, the “Tea Party” faction of the republican party pretty much drive out the “establishment” members of the party and now you have individual 1, who very well could be leading the “Grand Old Party” to the “graveyard.”

Without doubt, we’ve seen this before. George W Bush and Dick Cheney (from my perspective, mostly Cheney – but that’s a story for another day) took the republican party to the precipice after LYING America into the disastrous fiasco of Iraq, mismanaging the fiasco in Afghanistan, and leaving office with the country headed into the Great Recession, shedding 800 THOUSAND jobs per month and leaving Obama with an annual deficit of $1.5 TRILLION. This got a lot of people’s attention. I will say this about GW Bush, however – there was a lot I didn’t like about him, but I NEVER considered him a “white nationalist.” In fact, as I look back, I don’t believe I ever even considered him a racist – despite my feelings the republican party was dominated by whites protective of their “privilege.” Obviously, the issue facing African Americans in our country has permeated presidents of both parties for the entirety of this nation’s history. Yes, it’s gotten better at times, but this pandemic is exposing how far we have to go as a nation to deal with issues of inequality – whether in the Black community or elsewhere.

And, sadly, thinking about what Bush/Cheney left as they “snuck” out of town, it looks almost good at this point in time. As they left office it appeared the republican party would be on the “outs” for years to come – but, the “Tea Party” – along with the realization America’s racist past (Can you say “birther movement?”) was far from purged as certainly I had foolishly believed – revived the party turning it farther to the “right.” And, their brazen willingness to OBSTRUCT virtually everything President Obama attempted to accomplish was greeted as “business as usual” by our so-called “liberal media” and now, well, here we are. The “birther movement” not only empowered individual 1 but it exposed our media to being, essentially, numb to all the racist rhetoric which surfaced after Obama’s election, gaining only sporadic attention.

At the time Obama was elected I was aware of the Koch brothers I just didn’t know much about them, like how much wealth they possessed, and how much they were spending to turn America toward their John Birch Society viewpoint. From what I could tell they were the money behind the “Tea Party” and, for longer than I’ve been paying attention to them, they’ve been funding right wing, libertarian like republicans. I remember David Koch running for Vice President in 1980 as part of the Libertarian party ticket. Their platform pretty much says it all as far as where the Koch’s are coming from – if you’re interested here’s an article which lays out their priorities – and, remember, they’re the main funders of today’s republican party. (Of course, the Koch brothers are now the Koch “brother” as David Koch has died)

If you haven’t figured out what effect money has on politics just keep in mind the Libertarian ticket Koch was on back in 1980 got about 1% of the vote. Now, along with all the other right wing organizations which have come together to form today’s republican party with their funding, they’ve got around 40 – 45% support among “we the people.” To me, that in itself, is a sad state of affairs. But, it also suggests those, like myself, who are claiming this election coming up is the MOST important election in our lifetimes (I’ve been voting since the 1960’s), are not just “blowing smoke.” Yes, at the time, I did say the 2018 election was the most important election (up to that time) in my lifetime, and it was. Thankfully, Americans showed up in great numbers to repudiate what individual 1 stands for, not just what he’s been doing. Just try to imagine what would have happened had democrats not gained a check on individual 1!

Without the results of the 2018 election things would be extremely dire – far more so than they are – in America today. The 2018 election brought that desperately needed check to individual 1 – leading, of course, to his IMPEACHMENT – although, the republicans, for some reason, continue to cower from their leader as if they are collectively devoid of conscience – except, of course, Mitt Romney who had the courage to vote to convict in the IMPEACHMENT trial – a vote which will put him above all other republicans in the history books of this era, but I digress. (again) Yet, the 2020 election is the real “test” of the American people as to whether our constitutional republic is worth keeping. Obviously, if we believe it is, then individual 1 has got to go!

Not only should we be VOTING him out of office, but we SHOULD be targeting as many republican Senators as possible and democrats should continue attempting to turn as many seats in the House blue as they can. In other words, don’t back down anywhere. Challenge people like Mike Bloomberg and Tom Steyer to put their money to good use in an attempt to win elections all the way from the White House down to dog catcher. Send a message to the republican party that their surge to the “right” is going to push them into the history books. And, this is coming from someone (me) who’s been a lifelong independent voter and believes we need two vibrant parties in order to represent some kind of a coalition of ideas in our nation.

The combination of individual 1’s incompetence, the republican party’s willingness to accept it, and the novel coronavirus which has infected likely close to 5% of our population and resulted in the deaths of well over 100,000 Americans has exposed weaknesses in our nation which MUST be addressed and. likely will only be addressed if “we the people” do what I’m suggesting and vote individual 1 plus a LOT of republican Senators out of office – because, it seems almost as if they would do the opposite of what seems obvious to people like me that we MUST do!

So, what is it that seems so obvious to me? OMG, where to start? I’ll start with health care, because it affects EVERYONE. If Bernie Sanders’ push for “Medicare for all” hasn’t sunk in as imperative – or at least some comparable alternative – then you must have your head in the sand. Our government has come up with something in the order of $10 TRILLION to combat Covid-19 (the disease caused by the coronavirus) in the space of two to three months. Of course, MOST of that money has been provided to the Fed to prop up Wall Street, but as far as I’m concerned our people are more important than Wall Street. It seems as if EVERY republican administration creates HUGE amounts of national debt and, I can guarantee you, they’ll be blaming this debt on Joe Biden as early as next January if he wins the November election! Yikes!! But, my point is the idea we can’t afford “Medicare for all” should ring preposterous at this point when you look at the money which magically appeared to save Wall Street.

The increase in the debt during individual 1’s regime could be near incalculable, but I’m not one to say any more than I hope “Main Street” is propped up first and foremost. So, aside from health care, the next OBVIOUS issue which needs to (finally) be addressed is the issue of income inequality along with the issue of addressing the needs of people of color in this nation. Of course, there are many Americans who are “white” who fall into the category of “left behind” by our economy so this issue (income inequality) is a complex issue which MUST be addressed with the goal of eliminating poverty in our nation.

We have been slipping toward something resembling a third world nation for several years and, in my view, that started with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 when I, personally, started thinking America was becoming a “me” society as oppose to the “we” society in which I grew up. Shareholders started to become more important than workers – which has evolved to almost unimaginable levels to someone like me who grew up in the 50’s and 60’s. Unions have nearly been eliminated and companies finding ways to avoid providing “benefits” beyond wages to workers has become acceptable. Part time jobs are what is available to millions of low wage workers in America. The idea of monopolies – which were broken up since the days of Teddy Roosevelt have become acceptable – like Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple (off the top of my head) – all of this is creating a very dangerous risk to our fundamental society.

When I was young, business people and entrepreneurs were taxed at 90% of earnings over (what would be in today’s dollars) $1 MILLION per year. The idea was to encourage them to re-invest in their business or to donate to charity (with the deduction reducing their tax liability) with their EXCESS income. To frame my disdain for what is happening in today’s economy, I read the other day Jeff Bezos has “earned” $32 BILLION during this pandemic and Mark Zuckerberg “only” $25 BILLION (keep in mind, that’s in three months) while the country is likely headed to a depression. To me, this is obscene.

In fact, it appears to me, the only thing which will cause our economy to avoid a depression is the government BORROWING well over the $10 TRILLION I’ve already mentioned. Yet, these digital entrepreneurs are raking in the BILLIONS – I guess that just seems like something which is OBVIOUSLY wrong – with Americans lined up in food lines all across the country and unemployment approaching 20%! And, reports I’ve read suggest people like Bezos and Zuckerberg find ways to rake in this money without paying ANY taxes – certainly, at a time when “we the people” need corporate interests to be paying taxes to support our government in a real crisis. This all is reminding me of some of Elizabeth Warren’s proposals. VP????

OK, I do seem to get sidetracked – if I haven’t shared this here – I am most certainly ADD. I’m sure when I was in school in the 50’s and 60’s it was full blown ADHD, but they didn’t diagnose kids for that, as far as I know, back then. Anyway, another key area which has become even MORE obvious to me which needs to be addressed is it’s TIME for America to rebuild her infrastructure. And, we need to do it as if we’re aware it’s actually the 21st century and that should guide our thinking. If we can funnel almost $7 TRILLION to Jerome Powell in order to make the stock market look as if there’s “nothing wrong” while we’re headed toward a depression then we can come up with maybe something like $3 TRILLION to INVEST in America’s future by building a 21st century infrastructure.

Here’s some things I SHOULD have been aware of, but I have to admit I was not. There are many rural places in America which have no broadband – which I wouldn’t have given a second thought to until I’m realizing many critical issues today REQUIRE a broadband connection. I’m trying to picture in my mind are their hospitals in these areas operating without a broadband connection? Or, do they even have hospitals? I suppose it can be done via satellite, but, to me, that SHOULDN’T be necessary. Also, as I’m listening to issues regarding Native Americans and the Navajo reservation, there are many Native Americans living without electricity and running water. I hope I heard that one wrong, but if not, that should be part of the plan. Our government should function from the “bottom up” instead of from the “top down.” “Trickle down” economics has just been a sneaky way for businesses and wealthy elites to pilfer taxpayer dollars!

Obviously, our roads are falling farther and farther into disrepair and not much seems to be getting done to address that issue. I remember staying in Pittsburgh with my brother-in-law and telling him how bad the roads in Pittsburgh are, and then when I got home, I realized when I get to parts of the area around where I live that have needed road repairs I’m seeing the same thing – and, in the last couple of years it’s gotten worse. These types of investments, obviously, benefit almost everyone. They are INVESTMENTS in our future! I still remember when I was very young hearing adults talking about Eisenhower’s plan to build roads across America – The “Interstate Highway System” – a project which took over 30 years to complete.

We need to invest in our children – their schools and their schooling, right up through 4 years of college. It’ a national disgrace, from my vantage point, that students who want to go to college in our country and don’t have parents who are well off end up owing enough to pay for a home mortgage when they get out of school. And, then many are unable to find the type of employment they thought was “promised” when they began. I agree with Elizabeth Warren that all school debt should be forgiven and I agree with Bernie Sanders state universities should be tuition free. This all is INVESTING in our future – our young people. (Although, many older people would return to school if it was affordable!) Oh yes, there should be a plan in place to retrain workers who are displaced. (That is how I became a sixth grade school teacher)

Individual 1 (and his republican sycophants) are doing everything they can to destroy the Postal Service. If you read the Libertarian Party platform of the Koch brothers (which I linked to above) you saw that, even back as far as 1980 these right wing wackos were attempting to destroy the Postal Service – to me, a national treasure. The Postal service has been here since the beginning of this country. Talk about undermining our culture! These are the same people who want NO taxes, they want Medicare and Medicaid abolished along with, obviously, Social Security. The list goes on and on, but, in my view, “we the people” need to support a rebuilding of our infrastructure which accomplishes almost the opposite of what today’s republicans stand for and that includes shoring up the Postal Service.

In reality, most of what I’m suggesting here would be beneficial to the rank and file republicans who continue to support individual 1 and will likely continue supporting whoever the republicans put forward in 2024 and beyond. This is why “we the people” must remain diligent in our efforts to push forward a progressive 21st century agenda which works for ALL Americans. It’s also why Joe Biden’s choice for a running mate is so important – because, I don’t believe he’ll be a candidate in 2024. His purpose is to take out Trump from office via the 2020 election. His running mate, we know it’s going to be a woman, will likely be the “front runner” for the nomination come 2024. And, I’ll just say, if he chooses Amy Klobachar, he very well could lose in November. I agree with those who believe he should choose an African American woman as his running mate.

It appears individual 1 has decided to begin his attacks on Biden’s potential running mates already. I don’t do social media but, today, I read reports where our IMPEACHED so-called president attacked, among others, Stacy Abrams on Twitter. I didn’t see the “tweet” but, from what I read he disparaged Ms. Abrams for her weight. This just reminded me of how I’ve wondered why someone as disgusting as individual 1 could feel so enabled to attach derogatory memes on various people, especially women, when he’s an overweight disgusting human being himself. To me, the classic “Throwing stones from a glass house.” If he wasn’t causing so much DAMAGE to this country I believe I would pity him for his apparent mental illness. Does he ever look in a mirror? Are judges worth all of this?

Final Thought: I’ve been saying this for weeks now that as I watch the statistics closely regarding Covid-19 I’m more convinced than ever there are republican governors around the country continuing to LIE about the affects of this disease. It’s as if they would love to pretend this isn’t really happening, but the reality is it is and it’s NOT going away because governors have decided to LIE about what is happening in their states. I originally was suspecting South Dakota, Georgia, and Florida. Since then there have been “whistleblowers” from both Florida and Georgia to confirm my suspicions. Now the governors of Iowa and Nebraska are on my list and I’m sure there are others. The reality is the virus is still here and as people begin acting as if it isn’t we’re going to be seeing hospitals bulging at the seems again.

I’ve already heard reports that hospitals in Alabama are filling up as the stay at home restrictions are being softened. I’m guessing this is just one of many reports we’ll be hearing in the weeks to come. I “get” that, without a vaccine – which may NEVER be made – this virus is going to run its course through our country (and countries around the world). Additionally, we can’t expect people to stay in their homes indefinitely. It appears to me, the challenge is to protect our health care system from surges which overwhelm them and do the best we can to “test, trace, and treat” in an attempt to minimize the spread of the disease. The next few weeks should be interesting as we’ll see the results of many places where “social distancing” has been considered, well, I don’t think it was considered. Let’s hope hot weather gives us all a “break.” Stay tuned…………………

A couple months ago I purchased a bluetooth connected thermometer from a company called Kinsa. The thermometer is connected to a research facility at Oregon State University which records the data when people check their temperatures. Kinsa publishes what they call their “health weather map” which shows where “atypical” indications of elevated temperatures are occurring. This map has a record of identifying illness around two weeks before the CDC recognizes what is happening. Every once in a while I check the “map” and today is one of those days – we’re in the early stages of “unlocking” the country. Looking at this map my response is – YIKES!

The levels of temperatures are labeled from “none” to low to mild to moderate to high – the places which are labeled as “high” show up in red. Well, I’ve looked at this map about six times since I purchased the thermometer and, today, the amount of “red” is – ALARMING! Previously, Florida has consistently had more “red” than anyplace else not named New York, and, today, they actually have MORE red than what I’ve seen previously. However, the number of places which are in the “red” category have expanded a LOT! Arizona, Maricopa County does not look good, Texas – in several places- are bright red, New York and New Jersey – which surprised me because their “numbers” have been coming down – bright red, and there’s more.

All three West Coast states appear to be on the upswing regarding their amounts of red along with a lot of orange – which would indicate “moderate” increases in people showing high temperatures. All across the Midwest there are patches of red and significant patches of orange – Arizona, to me, looks bad – as far as what may lie ahead if these spikes in people with temperatures indicate increases in Covid-19. The upper Midwest, meaning Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania all look to be on the upswing in the next two weeks. The Northeast still looks bad and it appears it’s moving up toward Maine and the Southeast has red spots all over the place.

I certainly don’t know what this means but the first time I looked at the map Florida was clearly the “reddest” place in the entire country and their number of Covid-19 cases was just a couple hundred a day. Withing two weeks, Florida’s numbers were close to or over a thousand per day. So, what this appears to mean is that, within a couple weeks of all these states “opening up” there could be some kind of outbreak – this time I would think it would be increases in the number of people who have Covid-19. The scientists have been warning there’s going to be a “second wave” and, while we’re all anxious to be “opened up” and most states, to some degree are doing so, it appears the “second wave” could come while we’re still in the “first wave.”

I mean, I personally don’t believe we’ve outlasted the first wave. Over the past couple of weeks I believe there have been over 1500 deaths per day and over 20,000 NEW cases of the virus confirmed per day. And, of course, most scientists are suggesting the number of infected people is likely 5 to 10 times those identified due to the lack of testing and Dr. Fauci said he believed the number of deaths to be anywhere from 15% to 50% HIGHER than what has been reported. So, it doesn’t appear to be a good time to “re-open” and Kinsa’s map appears to be confirming this. I’m sure republicans will figure a way around the TRUTH of what is actually happening – because, like it or not, individual 1 and his sycophants are going to PUSH our economy back toward “business as usual.” Essentially, pushing the “herd immunity” solution to the Covid-19 pandemic.

As an aside: A couple weeks back, because I’ve been following the Covid-19 statistics very closely, I pointed out it looked to me like there were some “shenanigans” going on in some states with republican governors. My obvious concerns were South Dakota, Georgia, and Florida – three states either with no “shelter in place” order (South Dakota) or hurrying to “open up” despite hardly “closing” for even a week or two (Florida and Georgia). Well, so far, since then, I’ve read reports coming from both Florida and Georgia that they HAVE been LYING about the statistics in order to make their states look as if Covid-19 was going away – as in the wishes of individual 1. To me, these governors are CHEATING their own people and eventually the truth is going to come out – so, in a matter as serious as this pandemic, I would highly recommend against that type of behavior. But, they likely watch Fox “news” and you can’t talk to people who are part of the CULT!

My original concern about the CHEATING was states where the governors are republicans – you can call me a cynic, you’re probably correct – and, now, tonight I’m hearing about Arizona. They’re NOT testing (or reporting testing if they’re doing it) in nursing homes and, apparently they’re NOT testing in a meat processing plant. Of course, these are two of the areas which are susceptible to major outbreaks if there isn’t sufficient testing. I also surmise they’re not testing in their jails or prisons – another potential place for a “hot spot.” Why, you might ask, would they do this? – it IS dishonest. I believe one of the motivations might be that Major League Baseball is trying to figure out how they can start their season and one of the potential states where that could happen is Arizona. I’m sure their governor is trying to make it look as if it’s safe for all those baseball players to come to their state.

Of course, as I’ve said here numerous time, I’m a baseball fan and I’m hoping they can manage to have a season. Arizona does have several sites where teams play their spring training games and, in my mind, it’s likely safer to play games there than in most “home” stadiums – for lots of teams – but, it makes no sense to LIE about the actual Covid-19 infections. If they would start the season and then have an outbreak, that would NOT be good. In my mind, don’t LIE about the actual situation so it can be brought under control with the idea of stopping future outbreaks – sadly, LYING about the actual danger of the virus is likely based on what is happening around the country in similar situations by other republican governors.

It’s now “tomorrow” and now I’m learning that the (republican) governors of Nebraska AND Iowa are also CHEATING – by blocking any reporting of Covid-19 cases coming out of meat packing plants or nursing homes there as well. After all, many of these workers are Latinx “immigrants” so, apparently, it doesn’t count (or matter?) when they’re sick. I’m guessing they’re CHEATING about the actual statistics in prisons and jails too because, well, they’re all prisoners – apparently they shouldn’t count either. (I believe it was the governor of Iowa who actually suggested these workers shouldn’t count in the statistics – on camera!) These governors are attempting to make this TERRIBLE outbreak look better than it is and they must think no one is going to notice if there’s another spike in the number of people who are sick. It’s like EVERY politician who “hitches their wagon” to individual 1 is “all in” on LYING – because, make no mistake, all of this is LYING! Nancy Pelosi was correct when she suggested it’s like they have “doggydoo on their shoes.”

Republicans believe “we the people” are STUPID and I can only hope we prove them wrong come November. Lying about this pandemic by leaders is “as low as you can go” – people are dying from this. My friend who supports individual 1 believes it’s “just old people” as if they don’t matter (although, clearly, it’s well more than old people and, by the way, if I haven’t already said this, old people VOTE). From my vantage-point once it was clear people over 60 and Black and Brown people are disproportionately taking the “brunt” of the disease which results from the coronavirus republicans became in a hurry to “open the economy.” As I’ve said, I hope we’re back to normal ASAP, but “jumping the gun” is a huge gamble. (Unless, of course, republicans have no intention of “turning back” if this “opening” proves to be premature.) Yikes!!!

One more thing: Individual 1 is threatening to pull America out of the World Health Organization and he’s supposedly pulled the funding of the U.S. to that group which consists of something like 190 countries. Without getting into the absurdity of what I’ve read so far regarding the complaints of our IMPEACHED so-called president my first thought was “Isn’t this what he got him IMPEACHED?” Can he unilaterally withhold funding for something like this? Was it individual 1 who originally authorized the funding? I thought funding which comes from America originates in the Congress and they would have to be involved in blocking the dispersal of this funding? I’m probably wrong, but those are the thoughts which came to my mind when I heard of what looks to me like Ukraine all over again.

What’s clear about this temper tantrum is it’s just another of individual 1’s attempts to cause “we the people” to forget about the “missing 70 days” or to fail to notice “we the people” are much more likely to be affected by the coronavirus than ANYONE in the WORLD (although Brazil may be interested in, well, taking the “mantle”) and our IMPEACHED so-called president STILL does not have a plan. In America we have OVER 50 different “plans” because individual 1 has left the response to Covid-19 up to our governors and, in some instances, various mayors. I’m beginning to think America has become the laughing stalk of the people around the world.

OMG: I was listening to individual 1 today as he was responding to a question about the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19. He claimed the reason we have so many cases is because we’ve had over 12 MILLION people tested. He said, “If we hadn’t tested so many people we wouldn’t have so many cases.” My response as I listened to that was “what an idiot?” Of course if we had fewer people tested we wouldn’t have fewer cases – that comment was just absurd. The reality is we simply wouldn’t know about them (So, in effect, we’d likely have even MORE cases). Clearly we have MANY more cases than those which have been identified – because experts say we should be doing even MORE testing if we want to “re-open” the economy. I wish he’d stop with all the STUPID remarks.

Of course his comments about the testing weren’t the only STUPID comments coming out of his mouth today. When questioned about his support for and use of hydroxychloroquine despite evidence suggesting it’s NOT safe he referred to the VA hospital as “anti-Trump” and suggested the people being tested were old people ready to DIE. All of these VETERANS who took part in the trial for this drug to see if it works to help fight Covid-19 are/were, well, VETERANS! Why would any president, even an IMPEACHED so-called president, disrespect VETERANS who are in the VA hospital. Now you have members of his CULT panic buying this drug and even some of them, apparently, are brewing their own versions of the drug. (He could be losing some voters)

Finally, I pointed this out several weeks ago when individual 1 decided he would have NO federal response to this pandemic and he put all the responsibility on the governors of the various states that he was planning to avoid any responsibility for what lies ahead. He basically was “throwing in the towel” at the time, but setting up the nations governors to be the “fall guys” when things blow up after he’s PUSHING a “way too early” re-opening of the states. I predict he will claim victory in any place where the re-opening works and he’ll be blaming the governors in the places where it doesn’t go so well. This is all so obvious it’s really hard to imagine why individual 1’s supporters just don’t “get it.” It really is SHAMEFUL!

I have to add: This won’t be the first time I’ve said this, but it appears LYING is a requirement for anyone who wants to be a stalwart in individual 1’s administration. This also won’t be the first time I’ve pointed out Mike Pompeo, who was a top member of his West Point class – where telling the TRUTH is a key part of the HONOR code – seems to be totally comfortable in spinning what appear to be out and out LIES. So, the other day individual 1 fired the Inspector General (IG) of the State Department apparently at the request of Secretary Pompeo. Today, I saw a clip of Pompeo (apparently) LYING about this IG being fired saying, “I have no idea what investigations he was doing” – when it’s public knowledge he actually answered questions about a potentially Iran/Contra like situation where he went around Congress to send arms to the Saudi’s AND, he’s been hosting some “Madison dinners” at the State Department which, apparently, are under investigation for using taxpayer dollars for political ends.

Apparently, that he refused to be interviewed in the investigation makes him think “we the people” will actually believe he “had no idea” this investigation was going on AND wasn’t the reason he requested the IG be fired. Nonsense! The saying “Birds of a feather flock together” comes to mind as I think of the near 20,000 LIES individual 1 has thrust upon “we the people.” Yes, our IMPEACHED so-called president has a CULT who believe virtually every word coming from his mouth – or the online stuff people twist to make him look better (to them) – but, I can guarantee you the SECOND Pompeo appears to be a distraction he’s “under the bus.” And, it appears that time is on the horizon – Pompeo’s LYING is not open for debate – it is what it is!

The polls are looking worse for individual 1 – the one I saw today by Quinnipiac University – has Biden at 50% and individual 1 at 39%. I saw a prognostication by the Oxford Economic Forum which is predicting a LANDSLIDE – which is also the prediction of my friend I write about here, only he’s predicting it will be individual 1 on the winning side and “liberals will be violently protesting in the streets” – Oxford, on the other hand, is predicting Biden is going to win in a landslide. The reality of all this polling is likely what is causing the desperation tactics we’re seeing coming from individual 1’s supporters – well, more desperate than usual. Of course, picture what they’d have been saying if, during the Ebola outbreak, if hundreds of thousands of Americans had died on President Obama’s “watch” along with depression level unemployment. Do you actually think republicans would have looked the other way?

There’s a saying MOST people are familiar with: “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Well, I listened to an interview Eric Trump gave on Fox “news” (ie individual 1 TV) the other night and I almost hurt my neck as I was shaking my head. Here’s what he said, Once we get to November 3rd (That’s election day) the democrats are going to turn off the Covid-19 crisis which they’ve concocted in order to win the election by blocking my father’s huge rallies (my paraphrasing). OMG! (Of course, he predicted his father would still win the election – so, you’d have to wonder why he’d say something as, well, ABSURD as that – but………. Of course his daddy called the virus “just another democrat hoax” so what should we expect??????????

These people are nuts. The world is watching all of this and it’s not making “we the people” look as if we’re very “bright.” Like, how could America elect a Carnival barker as it’s (IMPEACHED) so-called president? I am imaging Vladimir Putin is chuckling in his vodka as I’m typing this. Of course, Putin has been busy undermining Western democracies in more places than America – like Brexit, France, Germany, Hungary, and more. The Russian cyber warriors are busy – and they’re still picking things up in the U.S.A. Why wouldn’t they, there’s an incompetent boob in the White House who works to their benefit and they’ve succeeded in virtually neutering America’s Justice Department and Intelligence Community and they know there’ll be no repercussions.

If you’ve read many of my postings you know I’m anxious for the November election with the HOPE that individual 1 will get voted back to his role as pseudo mob boss in his fake real estate empire, which I’m guessing will be in danger due to the damage he’s done to his “brand” while in the “White House.” I can imagine the complaining and lashing out as he’s facing accountability for the (alleged) illegal behavior which permeated his organization prior to him “winning” the 2016 election. I won’t allow myself to imagine the DAMAGE to this nation if, somehow, he manages to “win” another four years. I don’t think America will recover from that, certainly, in my lifetime – I just fear for that because of my children, grand children, and the thousands of students I taught who, the oldest would still be in their upper 30’s and the youngest would be near voting age.

Speaking of students this weekend former President Obama gave the graduation speech, digitally of course, to the high school class of 2020 and, indirectly, he suggested “some adults are incompetent” (or words to that affect) – with many suggesting it was a reference to individual 1. Of course, individual 1’s response was that President Obama was an “incompetent president.” Boy, I keep referring to our IMPEACHED so-called president as being the champion of “projection” when I’m not comparing him to my sixth grade students from when I was still teaching – and, this was a prime example. (“Same to you but more of it”) As I think of individual 1 and his sycophants I’m reminded of the saying “They’re throwing ‘stuff’ against the wall to see if any of it sticks.” The BLAME game is foundational to individual 1’s administration, we’ll see what “sticks.”

In response to their incompetence in the beginning of this pandemic the BLAMING is reaching epic proportions. This weekend they were BLAMING the CDC for a failed test early on (they didn’t mention their refusal to use tests from other countries which were known to be effective and that the CDC is part of the Executive branch – that’s them), they were blaming African Americans for, apparently, living in low socio economic conditions – thereby having more “comorbidities” and being more susceptible to Covid-19 (This is where I believe individual 1 is planning to contest the number of Covid-19 deaths in the statistics – Yikes!), they were BLAMING former President Obama and, of course, by extension former Vice President Biden, they’ve been BLAMING the Chinese and the WHO (World Health Organization) and they’ll BLAME whoever is convenient to BLAME for the foreseeable future if they think it will be an effective DEFLECTION from the truth.

As an aside, while all this is going on they’re supposed to be actually running our government. Quite naturally, the incredible CORRUPTION there continues. Just the other day ANOTHER Inspector General was FIRED because of, well, doing his job. I believe this is the FOURTH Inspector General FIRED in the space of about a month “and change.” (5 weeks?) This Inspector General was overseeing the State Department and, according to reports I’ve read, he was “inspecting” Mike Pompeo – the Secretary of State. Individual 1 fired the Inspector General who oversaw the Intelligence Community because he blames him for the IMPEACHMENT (ie for doing his job honestly) and he fired the Inspector General who was over the HHS for reporting the shortage of PPE for our hospital workers. There are reports Mr. Pompeo requested the FIRING of the person investigating his behavior as Secretary of State because he couldn’t legally fire him himself – plus Obama appointed him. It should surprise no one that Pompeo is LYING about how this all came about. (My first thought when I read about what Pompeo was doing was “Iran/Contra” all over again?) Before individual 1, I don’t remember EVER hearing of an inspector general being fired – they are the result of Watergate and they’re supposed to be independent. These FIRINGS are brazen and shameless!

Just like everything else which has evolved into American politics since the emergence of individual 1 we’re seeing republicans cowering on the sidelines as if they have the problem of “lockjaw.” Republicans who would have been apoplectic had President Obama been FIRING any inspectors general who might be investigating his actions or those of his surrogates are saying, well, NOTHING. This is all going to be in the rear view mirror and, if nowhere else, the History books will remember what is transpiring while we’re all helplessly watching. As I interpret individual 1’s response to Covid-19 I believe the word which comes to mind is INCOMPETENCE – when I think about the rest of the government the word is CORRUPTION. And, yet his cult still apparently believes he’s “draining the swamp.” OMG!

Let’s get back to my original thought – responding to Eric Trump suggesting Covid-19 will end on November 4 because it’s simply been concocted by democrats as a way to defeat his father in the election by preventing him from having his rallies with “50,000 people.” My first thought was: “If this is a democrat “hoax” that they will end on November 4th why not simply just go ahead with the rallies? If the 50,000 people will show up, why not do it? Unless, mainly it’s NOT a “hoax.” I guess it’s nothing new to hear ABSURD and STUPID comments coming from the mouth of one of individual 1’s sons. I heard his other son was making STUPID remarks this weekend on Fox as well, accusing Biden of being a pedophile, I just didn’t have the energy to find out exactly what he said, but remember these people are experts at projection. Eric’s comments were enough for one weekend!

I have to say, I actually hope he’s correct about the virus going away on November 4th, but, in reality, as I just said, I have to wonder how STUPID can one person be? Did he make this up or is there actually a conspiracy of this sort roaming around somewhere on the internet? Maybe my problem is I believe it makes sense to listen to the scientists who, up until this point in time, have been correct. I do believe the “shelter in place” orders have caused MOST people to be cautious as America “opens up” so, hopefully, as the weather gets warmer the number of cases will go down. I REALLY miss baseball and would love to be able to go to a game once again. But……. from my standpoint, Eric Trump is wacko!

Oh yes, as the commentators on Fox continue to find ways to convince their (foolish) audience Covid-19 is a “hoax,” and they continue to allow people like Eric Trump to have a platform for his nonsense, it’s interesting to note the Fox commentators are “reporting” from their homes. If it’s not “real” why aren’t they working in the studio as normal? Just sayin……….. I’ll end by saying the Fox viewers are part of a “CULT” and the BRAINWASHING continues day by day. I’m great with dialogue with people with differing viewpoints it’s just more invigorating when the person I’m talking do is defending his/her position with actual factual information.

Sometimes I feel like I need to have all the books I’ve read put into a database I can draw on when I’m talking to someone who’s saying something I know to be inaccurate – but, I realize my own points are of no value without being defensible via facts as well. Clearly, I have strong opinions, but I am constantly reading books written by academically accepted authors who base their points of view with factual data in order to better educate myself. Yes, all of us have our biases, but if you read about a topic from multiple points of view, in my view, you can then form more pragmatic points of view. The over-driving motive from my perspective is my responsibility to do what I taught my students was their responsibility as an American citizen and that is to become an informed voter. And, I believe in respecting the vote of the people WITHOUT feeling the need to brandish a firearm to make myself look like some kind of inauthentic patriot!

Final thought: I continue to marvel at the difference between Wall Street and “Main Street” as this crisis with the virus continues. Today, the stock market took another big jump upward although the unemployment numbers are likely close to 25% and virtually every statistic representing economic activity seems to be disastrously dropping – I believe “retail sales” dropped almost 20% in April for example. Today, there was a report that a vaccine showed promise in stage 1 trials and that seemed to be enough, along with more comments coming from Jerome Powell of the Fed suggesting he’s got more stimulus (remember, he’s got around $7 TRILLION to “work” with) to push the market up, and today it responded by going up over 3%.

At the same time there are reports of more shenanigans in the financial sector about mortgage back securities being bundled together, something reminding people of the 2008 crisis. This time it’s coming from Commercial mortgages which are being bundled together and sold to investors in amounts, apparently, in the Billions of $’s. The suggestion was some of the mortgages were made based on questionable terms – maybe lenders failing to follow acceptable guidelines in the approval process for the loans – making these securities toxic. That, of course, would compound the issues affecting the economy beyond the virus.

And, of course, people aren’t spending money as usual at restaurants, going to the movies is happening in people’s living rooms, pro sports have been canceled and their re-opening is likely to be witnessed in living rooms as well, airplanes are very likely close to empty (I don’t know for sure because I hate flying), places which rely on tourism are likely facing an extended period of extremely reduced income, and I could go on – of course, most of the businesses I’ve referenced rely on WORKERS ultimately for their success and these WORKERS are “making it” economically due to the unemployment benefits which were in the CARES Act – benefits that republicans are determined to end.

My point, again, is I just am curious about the disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street. I believe it will become an “issue” once again in the not too distant future. Obviously, our IMPEACHED so-called president views the health of the economy to be based on Wall Street as opposed to Main Street. Personally, I would be cautious in buying stocks right now but with Powell continuing to prop up the market maybe I’m wrong. However, if I was in the market and I thought the vaccine mentioned today as being possibly effective I might buy that one – I just don’t see how the market, overall, can be strong in the face of a possible depression. (FYI – it’s another day and apparently the vaccine isn’t as popular today as yesterday so the market took a bit of a dive today. I’ll say it again: Wall Street = House built on sand!

Eventually, WORKERS are going to understand there’s plenty of money for large corporations but “not so much” for the rest of “us” – “us” meaning the small businesses who are struggling to get PPP money and some unwilling to do so because of all the “rules,” plus MILLIONS of workers. Sadly, it feels to me these small businesses are being set up to be “usurped” by the big businesses once this is all in the “rear view mirror.” To me, it’s almost as if all the “free market” politicians are being unmasked during this crisis. TRILLIONS of dollars to Wall Street and supporting a “plan” likely to result in EVEN less competition going forward. I know people who tell me they’re “conservatives” yet vote for people who create policies which create LESS competition. I always thought competition was the foundation of a “free market” system. Just sayin…………

Individual 1 appears to be single minded and that is he’s focused on somehow “winning” the election come November and, as you look at things caving in all around him, you can see why he comes across as if he’s desperate. Yes, he’s got a pretty solid (white nationalist) base which I don’t believe is going to abandon him – it’s definitely like a cult – but, there are some glaring issues which are getting worse instead of better in regard to his re-election. First and foremost his plan was to run on “The greatest economy in the history of the country” – which, was just another LIE, but…… Now it appears he’s going to provide whoever “wins” the election with quite possibly the WORST economy in the history of the country.

I said when he was first elected he INHERITED the economy at the time, whatever you think of it, from President Obama and, like every president before him, it’s not his economy until after the first year – the president doesn’t come in and change everything on day one. So in individual 1’s first year ALL his BRAGGING should have been aimed at thanking Obama. The ONLY significant “accomplishment” individual 1 and the republican Congress (remember BOTH houses were controlled by republicans for his first two years) was another of the republican “tax cuts for the rich” – which, this time, didn’t fool anyone. The result of those first two years was an overwhelming democratic landslide in the 2018 election leading to individual 1’s IMPEACHMENT, but I digress. (Yes, there were many executive orders repealing environmental regulations – which actually helped the 2018 “Blue wave”)

I should have added above, the tax cut (I call it usually a “tax scam”) added a couple TRILLION $ to the national debt – which has raised a few eyebrows now, during the Covid-19 pandemic when the debt is going up for actually necessary reasons. And, right now, all eyes are on the pandemic because, well, it’s everywhere – and, in much of America it’s still getting worse. But, our IMPEACHED so-called president has his focus on the economy because he views that as his “road to victory” in November. I have to add that it’s still hard for me to understand how he can’t comprehend the real road to victory would be focusing on this virus and leading a federal response that got it under control – but, it appears, “that aint happenin.”

So, he’s still focused on “fixing” the economy which has shed almost 40,000 jobs and is soon to have GDP, likely, at depression era levels. Here’s the problem as I see it for our IMPEACHED so-called president; he inherited close to half a BILLION from his daddy and managed to squander most of it to the tune of something like a half dozen BANKRUPTCIES so his record of building up something he inherited is, well, pitiful. What he inherited from President Obama was an economy which was on an upward “swing” for the previous 7 years and it was gaining momentum. That SAME upward trajectory continued for individual 1’s first three years, but…….. I will concede the upswing was in jeopardy when we learned about the “incoming” virus, however, it didn’t have to be this bad. Bottom line: another bankruptcy for individual 1. #7?

Originally, individual 1 was envisioning a “V” shape recovery, meaning it would go back up as rapidly as it came down. When I heard him making that assertion, to me, that was simply further evidence he bases his view of the health of our economy via Wall Street and his “happy thoughts.” To me, the “disconnect” between Wall Street and Main Street has never been more evident than it is right now. Wall Street has actually gained ground recently as the news continues to get worse. I’m not sure that’s sustainable? I’ve heard talk that thousands of “small businesses” have already “thrown in the towel” and won’t be reopening once we get past this pandemic. Jerome Powell, it appears to me, has done a good job of stabilizing Wall Street but I’ve heard him warning that Main Street needs more “stimulus” money – and soon. I believe he’s trying to fend off another “great depression.” (And, I have to add, I hope he’s successful)

As usual I started this post a couple days ago, and in the interim the democrats in the House passed another $3 TRILLION relief package which includes money for state and local governments – keeping “first responders” to the pandemic paid and on the job (states are losing a LOT of revenue with things shut down) plus money for unemployed workers – “Main Street” in none other than Mr. Powell’s words, needs this stimulus, plus various other issues the democrats MUST go to the “wall” for are in the bill (which, naturally, republicans say is “dead on arrival”) – like saving the Post Office – no matter what! Additionally, there’s money in the bill for vote by mail and, combined with keeping the post office open these two issues are worth FIGHTING for – and, NOT giving in – basically to Moscow Mitch and individual 1. It simply takes a two thirds majority of Congress to over ride a VETO – so, democrats need to be working with republicans to get these two parts of the bill agreed to – while they have leverage! These two issues are fundamental to the future of this nation! OK, I’ve digressed again! And, Oh by the way, this bill is intended to stabilize our economy which works to the benefit of our IMPEACHED so-called president! You’d think he’d be for it.

Based on what I’ve read so far, we’ll have a good idea of how all the “opening up” of the economy is working out in two to four weeks. supposedly, that’s how long it takes from when you’re exposed to the virus until you’re feeling the symptoms of the virus – although, I listened to a person today who suggested it only took 3 days to feel the symptoms – this person was interviewed in the semi ICU at a hospital (I think) in New York. Every person who I listen to who seems to know what they’re talking about regarding Covid-19 say the key to re-opening the economy is expanded testing and contact tracing with isolation for those who are infected. The only part of that scenario which appeals to individual 1 is the re-opening of the economy. Yikes!

I’ve been writing about the DAMAGE being caused to this country and this country’s interests by individual 1 for over three years now and it’s getting worse – almost exponentially. I pointed out lately I just finished reading “Rising from Hatred” by Eli Saslow and I’ve come to the conclusion our IMPEACHED so-called president feels backed into a corner so he’s reaching out to all those “very fine people” who hang out at Stormfront.com and marched on Charlottesville carrying Tiki Torches, confederate and Nazi flags, wearing swastikas, and chanting “Jews will not replace us.” The way to get the attention of this group and keep their “loyalty” is simply to mention the name of our previous president, which he’s doing once again, and it’s not clear to me how far he’s willing to push this group, but as I’ve said previously, he’s the vehicle which “carried” them into the mainstream of politics and I don’t think it makes them happy to see him losing ground in the polls. Individual 1 accomplished what David Duke was unable to do.

And, Oh, by the way, the DAMAGE I’m referring to often here goes well beyond the incompetent response to Covid-19, which, I’m concerned people will totally forget about as we near the upcoming election. Lately, in his desperation coming from the bad polling data individual 1’s projection (he’s the champion of projection) has gone into overdrive as he’s constantly attempting to find ways to attack Joe Biden. While all of that is happening and that is the focus of our so-called “liberal media,” remember our IMPEACHED so-called president has filled the government with his cronies and one institution after another is being undermined.

The obvious one would be the Justice Department with William Barr turning it into a weapon of our IMPEACHED so-called president – but, the State Department has been undermined, the CDC has been turned into a “tool” of individual 1, and I could go on. Remember, for example, Rick Perry was the head of the Energy Department with a focus on destroying it – Betsy DeVoss in Education, and on and on. It’s really bad – it’s CORRUPTION in its worst form. But, individual 1’s mastery of manipulating the media leaves most of this DAMAGE “under the rug.” Individual 1’s latest version of projection is aimed at someone who people like me would like to see in the fray! Even Lindsey Graham remembers this saying, “Be careful what you wish for.”

So, it appears our IMPEACHED so-called president is determined to take on Barack Obama as he’s desperately trying to turn the polls around. There’s another saying which comes to mind: I would use it back when I was working and would do something foolish: “I might be dumb but I’m not stupid.” That’s what I thought of, for individual 1, when it became clear he’s serious about taking on Obama. This would fall into the STUPID category, however. It’s almost as if he hasn’t pissed off enough people yet, so how can he really up the “ante.” Apparently he doesn’t believe Obama is WAY more popular than him – and, by going after Obama he’s going to make our former president even more popular. Additionally, I’m not sure if he should be encouraging more public appearances by Obama – who presents a clear alternative to our IMPEACHED so-called president.

And, speaking of that IMPEACHMENT (and, remember, the republicans chose to essentially enable EXTORTION coming from a U.S. president as OK) I keep reminding myself, based on my reading of our constitution, there’s no limit to the number of times a president, even a “so-called” president, can be IMPEACHED. You have to wonder what it will take to get republicans to understand what they’ve “hitched their wagon” to. I’m thinking this attack on President Obama and Vice President Biden – Biden, of course, is presumed to be individual 1’s opponent this November – is going to be a “bridge too far” for even some of those who’ve continued to support individual 1 up until this time. If you haven’t been paying attention, this is the way Vladimir Putin deals with his political rivals – especially anyone who poses any significant opposition to him – he simply has them arrested on “trumped up” (pun intended) charges and thrown in prison.

Are there a significant number of Americans who actually want our nation to devolve to that place? I have a friend who’s a supporter of individual 1 (I continue in my failing to understand why, but that’s a story for another day) and he occasionally has referred to a “civil war” to me when we’re having our dialogue regarding individual 1. The more I learn about the white nationalist world and read about some of these extremists who have been caught planning to try starting a “civil war” by murdering police officers – the last one considered himself (I think) a “boogaloo boi” – which is apparently an online and underground group of right wing white nationalist extremists – the more I wonder (and worry) about what my friend is reading when he’s online. He’s mentioned the “Proud Boys” to me as if they’re “patriots” – I’ve discovered they’re another right wing white nationalist group of potentially violent troublemakers. Yikes!!! These people are “armed and dangerous.”

I had never visited Stormfront.com until after I read “Rising out of Hatred” and have only done so once – just to confirm it is a website which clearly is pandering to a significant audience of white people who believe they are the oppressed. It is! The more I learn about all this and realize our IMPEACHED so-called president is “connected” to this group and they have unfettered loyalty to him the more I realize the importance of this next election. These people, like individual 1, picture THEMSELVES as the victims! (All while Black Americans continue to be MURDERED for things like “jogging” or “sleeping” – it’s a sad state of affairs) William Barr, as individual 1’s so-called “Roy Cohn,” is also proving himself to be extremely dangerous to the foundation of our republic and I have to wonder if he’s a white nationalist? If he actually attempts to carry out individual 1’s threats to “imprison” President Obama and Vice President Biden, well – BOTH he and individual 1 need to be IMPEACHED!

Adam Schiff put things in clear perspective during the IMPEACHMENT trial of individual 1 when he clearly explained individual 1 has “CHEATED before and he’s going to do it again.” He’s (individual 1) going to do whatever it takes to “win” re-election and his actions are getting more and more overt in their similarities to his apparent hero Putin. I’m actually not sure if his hero is Putin or Hitler, but the reality is he SHOULD be “persona no grata” as a politician in this country. Joe Biden was asked in a “digital town hall” the other night whether he will pardon individual 1 if he’s elected – as Gerald Ford did for Richard Nixon – the very question I would have asked had I had the opportunity and Biden gave what to me was the CORRECT answer – and that is NO! Biden promised that in his administration the Justice Department would be independent and he agreed “no one is above the law.” I believe both individual 1 and Barr, if not others, should be considering that statement as the polls turn farther and farther away from individual 1 and we get near November. My advice to them would be stop acting as if you’re “above the law.” Eventually, there will be accountability!

And, of course, as I’ve been saying – virtually EVERYTHING individual 1 does – and, it appears to be all instinctual – bringing out the mob boss in him – is making things worse – for HIM. As I’ve said, at the beginning of this Covid-19 crisis he actually had the opportunity to act like a president and turn the nation’s focus to minimizing the effect of the virus. Naturally, he was unable to do that because, from the beginning, he considered the virus as just another attack on him by the democrats “trying to take him down.” He referred to it as another “democrat hoax” at a rally back in early March – while he SHOULD have been busy attempting to take the necessary steps to block the spread of the virus. If you don’t think that would have been possible, look at the countries around the world that did just that. The reality is the death toll in America is significantly higher than it should have been and, sadly, based on what is happening as I’m writing this, it appears we’re headed toward a massive resurgence of the virus by, certainly, the election – and, likely sooner. With individual 1 in the “White House” there’s not much “we the people” can do to prevent this – other than KEEP contacting our Representatives and Senators. (And, praying)

From my vantage point it appears individual 1 already is picturing himself as America’s dictator – he’s already purged the Justice Department and the Intelligence Communities (think about that while KNOWING the Russian “attack” is ongoing) and, I expect, he will soon be finding a “justification” to fire Christopher Wray as the head of the FBI because he’s not compliant enough. He will do everything he can to destroy the Postal Service, to fight efforts making it easier for people to VOTE – including blocking vote by mail efforts in Congress, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he attempted to declare some kind of emergency to stop the election in November all together. I’ve been saying this for over three years now, the answer to all the illegal activity and the corruption coming from individual 1’s “White House” is a republican party which finally says “enough already.” According to dictator 101, once he gets rid of Wray, he’ll be going after the media – count on it!

Democrats are mostly “rule followers” and individual 1 and the republicans consider that a weakness. I’m not sure what lies ahead if my predictions prove to be prescient because I believe there becomes a point where “we the people” will have had “enough” ourselves – and if our representatives won’t step up, well, OMG – I hate to think what might happen. But, don’t lose track of the reality individual 1 is connected to the white nationalist movement to a degree “we the people” don’t fully understand at this point. The evidence would lead, at least me, to believe it is a pretty strong “connection.” And, certainly, I have no idea how large that white nationalist movement actually is – but, I suspect we’re going to find out in the coming months. (My brief visit to “Stormfront.com” would suggest it’s significant) They will be working diligently to keep their fuehrer in office. (Sorry, I can’t help with the Nazi references when I see his supporters wearing their swastikas to rallies. Just trying to “tell it like it is!”)

Final Thought: Since the day the republicans voted to enable individual 1’s EXTORTION by refusing to convict him at the end of the IMPEACHMENT trial, our IMPEACHED so-called president has increased his norm breaking, rule breaking, and law breaking. The more the polls look bad for him the worse his behavior becomes – with what is now evolving to just open moves toward Putin type authoritarianism – ie fascism. There may be some Americans who are OK with that – personally, my father fought in WW II to prevent fascism from overtaking our republic and there’s NO WAY I’m giving in to ANY thoughts along those lines. That being said, if individual 1 fails to come to some kind of agreement with the House on a relief bill and actually follows through on efforts to fabricate crimes against President Obama and Vice President Biden, I believe it’s time for IMPEACHMENT number two! There’s nothing in the constitution which says the republicans shouldn’t have a “second chance” to do the right thing.

And, as I said above, while they’re at it, they should include William Barr. They would find no shortage of former Justice department officials – appointees of BOTH parties – who would testify in any IMPEACHMENT trial of Mr. Barr. I don’t see why “we the people” should allow both of these men to be “off the hook” simply because there’s an election looming. We’re seeing first hand, right now, how much DAMAGE they are doing and, trust me, it’s likely to get a “whole lot worse” before it gets better. Stay tuned………………

I hope to keep this posting rather short. (If you’ve been around here, that probably sounds impossible) Lately I’ve been reading more and more about the Michael Flynn case and William Barr’s “intrusion” on the case which smacks of “prosecutorial impropriety” similar to Barr’s actions in the Roger Stone case. Today I read two articles in the Washington Post, one suggesting Judge Sullivan should have simply dismissed Flynn’s case at the request of Barr’s appointed sycophant and the other praising Sullivan for appointing a former judge to “present the other side” – essentially, the legal reasons why Judge Sullivan should deny the “government’s” request and proceed with sentencing of Mr. Flynn.

I’ve also read several other articles from several different sources in regard to what is happening in this case and a couple things are clear. First, there is MOUNTING evidence, coming from MULTIPLE former prosecutors that William Barr is as dangerous as people like me believe him to be. He appears to be brazenly and shamelessly doing individual 1’s “bidding” with the belief of “what are you going to do about it?” to “we the people.” Well, Judge Sullivan, at least for the moment, is giving me a sense of peace in that he’s not “caving” to Barr and, hopefully, he’ll follow through on what he said to Flynn at the first sentencing hearing.

The thing NO ONE in any of the articles are mentioning would be the FACT Flynn’s original “guilty plea” was based on a “plea agreement” which allowed a plethora of OTHER charges to be “forgiven.” (dropped?) Not being a lawyer I don’t know the correct term, but the bottom line is Flynn was allegedly GUILTY of MUCH more than LYING to the FBI. Remember, Flynn’s plea agreement caused him to have to “cooperate” with the Mueller investigation and, at the time – to me – seemed to be a “sweetheart deal.” That’s because myself, and anyone else paying attention, knew what else Flynn was “up to.”

For example, while working as individual 1’s de facto National Security Adviser Flynn was also working as an UNREGISTERED foreign agent for Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president (ie dictator) to the tune of close to $500.000 in payment. Additionally, he was alleged to be part of a scheme to kidnap a Turkish Cleric, living in Pennsylvania, in order to send him back to Turkey to face certain death at the hands of Erdogan. And, none of that mentions Flynn’s strange connection to Vladimir Putin where he was Putin’s guest at some kind of dinner in Moscow and included payment of close to $50,000 from the Russians which, apparently, was in direct violation of his military retirement regulations. I’m bringing all this up from my (old person’s not so great) memory – but, my point is, Flynn pled guilty – from what I could tell at the time – to prevent facing charges on these other issues – all of which seem to be forgotten – except, maybe by Judge Sullivan.

I say that about Judge Sullivan because, if my memory serves me correctly, he admonished Flynn for much more than LYING to the FBI when Flynn was trying to get off with no jail time. I believe he used the term treason or traitor or something of that magnitude and suggested he needed to see more evidence of “cooperation” in order to agree to no jail time. And, then to add to all that, keep in mind Flynn’s son was involved in ALL of his misdeeds. I always believed his GUILTY plea was made to protect his son from all the OTHER charges Flynn was forgiven for because it appeared the two were working together. I’m not sure if Judge Sullivan is in such a forgiving mood?

All of this has been the part of this fiasco which has bothered me the most. For example, I never for an instant believe Flynn “LIED” to the Vice President. I never thought Flynn was making his overtures to the Russian ambassador without the full knowledge of individual 1 – which would indicate, if I’m correct in that assumption, that Flynn NEVER had a plan to “cooperate” with Mueller – his pure motivation for the GUILTY plea was to save his son from prosecution and himself from more serious charges. I believe Flynn, Barr, and anyone else involved in helping him “get off” for his crimes think no one will remember all of this – and, so far, from what I’ve been reading, they may end up being correct.

Except, it’s possible Judge Sullivan remembers and he very likely could be placing himself in the “good” section of our History books – the opposite section of individual 1, Barr, Flynn, and the other sycophants who are enabling dear leader who are headed to the section currently led by Benedict Arnold! Stay tuned!

OMG – I keep saying this and, well, I have to say it again. The next stage of individual 1’s LYING “tour” appears to be another in the “can it get any worse” reality “we the people” face AT LEAST until January 20, 2021. Today it was reported individual 1, who’s struggling with the reality he’s responsible for many of the 85,000+ Americans who have died so far in the Covid-19 pandemic, is now planning to LIE about how many people have actually DIED from this virus. As I’ve said in my previous few posts, our IMPEACHED so-called president is getting more and more desperate each day as the reality of his political future is becoming clearer and clearer. I’m beginning to think the main reason he’s pushing so hard for the “re-opening” of our economy – meaning getting people back to work who are unemployed – is to get them away from being in front of their TV’s all day. They’re watching him in action and it’s NOT working for him.

MILLIONS of Americans watched him in real time as he postulated about the possibility of people ingesting disinfectant to “clean their lungs” or to somehow get UV rays internally into their systems because they “kill the virus in less than a minute.” Every day individual 1 marches out in front of the cameras Americans, by the MILLIONS, witness they have an incompetent boob as their IMPEACHED so-called president. The other day he was going after President Obama, AGAIN, and, now, LYING about those who have died??? I broached the topic of his utter lack of empathy the other day and, sure enough, today – as if he’s reading my posts – he’s making me look like a prophet. LYING about the people who have died is, well, really LOW. I’ve written about republican governors who appear to be “cheating” with the statistics.

For heaven’s sake, in this environment, people aren’t even allowed to be with their “loved ones” as they’re lying in the hospital on a respirator and, now, individual 1 appears to be planning to find ways to LIE about their deaths. I can only guess on how he’s going to go about this – but, let me suggest it will be “aimed” at the “old” people who have died. My guess (and, it’s only a guess) is he will suggest many of these people in nursing homes who’ve been dying from the virus their deaths “shouldn’t count.” For example, I can hear him now suggesting these people were going to die in the near future anyway so it’s unfair to count their deaths as the result of the virus – despite the REALITY their deaths are the result of the virus. Why? Because he thinks it makes him look bad!

I did hear Bill O’Reilly a few weeks ago suggesting, as he was lobbying for the economy to be re-opened, that a large segment of the people who are dying from the pandemic are people who were/are going to die pretty soon anyway – ie “old people.” So, instead of trying to prevent these people from dying “sooner rather than later” they’re trying, I’m guessing, to figure out how to say their deaths shouldn’t count in the statistics. Honestly, I hope I’m wrong on this one – individual 1 supposedly represents the “pro life” Americans – so, I’ve already been a bit curious as to their cavalier willingness to subject “we the people” to the “herd immunity” solution to this virus – meaning sacrificing 6 – 10 MILLION Americans in order to “save” the stock market – as if that “plan” would actually save the market.

I would remind individual 1 and his (white nationalist) followers the reason he’s feeling a sense of desperation is because more and more Americans are becoming totally turned off to his idiocy. His plan to sacrifice us old people already seems to be backfiring on him because it appears not many of us old fellers think the same way as the Texas Lt. Governor who famously said, “There’s worse things than living” as he was lobbying for the sacrifice of our old people (and, I might add, although he didn’t mention this – maybe this is the real motivation – large numbers of “Black and Brown people”) to the virus in order to save Wall Street. The latest reports I’ve read is the old white males are no longer a safe voting “block” for individual 1 – in fact, I’ve read reports he’s “underwater” with that group. That would be really bad for our IMPEACHED so-called president’s chances come November 3rd. We can hope!

While individual 1 is likely attempting to LIE about the number of Americans succumbing to this virus due to his determination to “open” the economy much sooner than most scientists are suggesting makes sense, he’s really suggesting he’s more concerned with getting re-elected than saving lives. And, even in this regard there’s another “catch 22” making things difficult for him. This “push” to open up the economy is causing the scientists to predict the American death toll will double by the day individual 1 is officially nominated for the November election – meaning 170,000 by August! Yikes!!! He wants to LIE about the number of people who’ve died and, at the same time, he’s pushing for a plan which will cause, you guessed it, MORE people who will die – apparently, which he can LIE about. “Par for the course?”

I’ve been pointing out for some time my personal opinion our economy was like a house built on sand – and, this was before the pandemic – so, I suppose, it would make sense I’m a bit skeptical about the recent “resurgence” of Wall Street – apparently in response to the TRILLIONS Jerome Powell, at the Fed, is able to funnel to those entities which need funding – entities people like me don’t even understand what they are. Like the “financial” sector of the Market, or “Manufacturing” or ?????? All I know is he’s got access to something like $7 TRILLION. Now, even Mr. Powell is suggesting Congress needs to send even MORE money toward “Main Street.”

I’ve always believed for Wall Street to really be on solid ground the requirement should be that “Main Street” is healthy. America has been inching away from that philosophy, in my view, since the day Ronald Reagan took the oath of office. To me, that was when I came to the conclusion there was a concerted propaganda plan designed to get Americans to believe shareholders are more important than workers. It’s when I began to believe we were evolving into a “me” society from a “we” society. This all appears to be an “issue” for our IMPEACHED so-called president.

He just can’t bring himself, by what I’ve been observing, to keep his focus on defeating the effects of this virus as the challenge allowing our economy to recover. He seems to be intent on simply just pretending the virus “will just go away” and forging ahead with opening businesses, schools, and organizations like sports leagues, etc. It’s as if he’s put his “eggs” in the “basket” that he’s correct the virus is just going to go away – he doesn’t seem to have the capacity to understand what an incredible gamble he’s making – for ALL of us. I call it putting “the cart before the horse.” Like it or not, we’re all tied to his “bandwagon” – until next January there’s not much “we the people” can do about his decision making. I even believe he will attempt to put people into venues for his rallies prior to the election – no matter the risk to their health.

One thing we know about individual 1 is that there will be diversions virtually every day in his never ending attempt to deflect BLAME from his bungling initial response to the virus – what is mostly referred to as the “missing 70 days.” It seems the only plan he has is no plan at all. For example, ALL the experts I’ve listened to are suggesting the way to get to the point where we can safely re-open the economy would be to expand testing with a commitment to “contact tracing” – exactly what SHOULD have been the “plan” back in February when we all became aware this was coming. He STILL can’t bring himself to do what is necessary and, sadly, things are just going to keep getting worse. When you look at the charts showing the difference caused by even just a few days of inaction it’s alarming – let alone 70 days! And, of course, individual 1 is back in denial stage – so this could get unbelievably bad.

Our IMPEACHED so-called president apparently is aiming his most recent BLAME back at Barack Obama – you’d think he would have learned that one doesn’t work by now and, as I mentioned above, a new focus with his LYING. Now, I’ve always maintained his LYING is pathological, but it appears the LYING about President Obama and/or the number of Covid-19 deaths is all going to be premeditated. Whether that would qualify as “pathological” I’ll leave for an argument for another day – to me, the bottom line is the same – he’s AGAIN trying to LIE his way out of his own incompetence and I just don’t believe enough of “we the people” will believe him.

I just finished reading “Rising out of Hatred” by Eli Saslow a book which “walks” the reader through the process of transformation that caused Derek Black, the son of the former Grand Wizard of the KKK and the person who created and manages the white nationalist website “Stromfront.com,” to renounce his commitment to the white nationalist cause. I really recommend this book to anyone who wants to better understand what’s going on “behind the scenes” in America. As I’ve said previously, individual 1 was mentioned numerous times in the book and it became clear to me by the end of the book our IMPEACHED so-called president’s connection to white nationalism goes much deeper than I had thought. I believe his attacks on President Obama, at this point in time, is simply more “dog whistle” to the “heart” of his base.

Clearly, those in America who believe white Americans are the ones being oppressed were alarmed when President Obama was elected, leading to the “Tea Party” which has kind of morphed into the republican party and individual 1 was connected to those who hang around “Stormfront” to a degree most of “we the people” don’t understand. In reading this book it’s clear the white nationalist movement believes individual 1 is the “vehicle” pulling them into the “mainstream” of American politics. Now you have what’s left of what I call the “real” republican party – most of them are estranged – the tea party, and individual 1ism. To me, going after Obama is simply individual 1’s way of reminding those who are left in the republican party why they have been supporting him. It’s just more “dog whistling.”

None of this is going to work for him – it’s all coming across, at least to me, as acts of desperation. I keep pointing this out to our IMPEACHED so-called president that he’s putting one blunder on top of another blunder and, sadly, this is making things worse for all of us. And, of course, he’s not listening to me – probably a surprise to no one. The next month or two should be interesting, to say the least, as states “open up” and we find out whether the scientists are correct about the potential of this virus going forward. Individual 1 says “it will just go away.” Scientists are saying the amount of deaths could double in the next couple of months. Stay tuned…………..

Final Thought: If you’re questioning my suggestion individual 1 is “connected” to those who hang out at the “Stormfront.com” white nationalist “world,” you may need to look no further than one of his “senior advisors,” Stephen Miller. Miller is mentioned in “Rising out of Hatred” as being connected (in some kind of way) with Richard Spencer, a strong individual 1 supporter and, apparently, the person who “coined” the phrase “alt right.” Spencer and Miller were associated together when they attended Duke University. Also, there’s a “trove” of emails from Miller to Breitbart.com which further suggest Miller is a believer in the message coming from Stormfront. The reason I point this out is because I believe individual 1 and Miller want it “both ways.” They want to send their “dog whistles” to the white nationalist movement while, at the same time, suggesting to “we the people” they’re “not racists.” I just don’t believe you can have it both ways. I believe this issue should be front and center in the next election. Believe what you want, just don’t LIE about it to “we the people.” Personally,

I’m looking forward to the day when the “white nationalists” stop viewing themselves as “victims” and realize those of us who are white in this country have had built in advantages since the beginning of this nation. And, suggesting this is a “white country” is a bit ludicrous when you think about the European genocide of the Native Americans and, in reality, most African Americans have a heritage going back well before most of those people who are leading the racist attacks on the “Black and Brown” communities in America. None of that is debatable.

It just keeps getting more absurd! Today, what individual 1 said reminded me of a couple sayings I think our IMPEACHED so-called president should pay attention to. I know most who read what I write would not expect me to be giving individual 1 good advice, but, I’m giving it my best, here are the sayings: First, “what goes around comes around” and, second, “be careful what you wish for.” My memory was jogged as Individual 1 claimed, today, Barack Obama committed “the worst crime” (“Obamagate”) ever. He called it “disgraceful,” and when a reporter asked him “What crime?” our IMPEACHED so-called president responded by saying, “You know what it is.” OK???

So, I have to wonder if William Barr is going to be continuing his attempt at becoming the 21st century version of Roy Cohn and is going to be instigating some kind of McCarthyite “investigation” of our former president – the one who’s much more popular than the one we have today – probably looking to individual 1 like a terrifying majority of Americans. Apparently, last week, on what was supposed to be a private call former president Obama took part in, he gave an accurate description of individual 1’s response to this coronavirus pandemic. Supposedly, that is what prompted our IMPEACHED so-called president to “Tweet” over 120 times on Mother’s day – with nary even one “tweet” referencing any mothers – other than a generic “HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY.”

It’s been no secret former president Obama gets under individual 1’s skin pretty easily. It has seemed, if there is one focused plan in his administration, undoing anything attributed to “Obama” has been the “order of the day” for our IMPEACHED so-called president. I mean, individual 1 gained his white nationalist following by leading the “birther” movement questioning whether President Obama was born in America or not. What do you think was the motivation behind that movement? Race?? I suppose, when it gets right down to it, other than Vladimir Putin, individual 1 has President Obama to thank for him being our IMPEACHED so-called president – the white nationalists revere him for the “birther” movement and they make up a significant part of his “base.”

Getting back to individual 1 suggesting President Obama committed a “disgraceful crime” which “began long before I (he) took office” I absolutely think whatever Obama did should be investigated. I thought the GW Bush/Cheney regime SHOULD have been investigated and I can guarantee you if I had one question to ask Joe Biden as he’s running to replace individual 1 as our “leader” it would be “are you going to allow the Justice Department (obviously, with a new Attorney General) to investigate individual 1 after you’ve taken the oath to defend our constitution? Are all the other investigations going to be allowed to go forward? For example, I’m not convinced the “collusion” with Russia has EVER stopped. No one knows what is discussed when individual 1 talks with or meets with Vladimir Putin. And, by all accounts, the Russian “interference” not only has not subsided, but has intensified and has become much more sophisticated – stealth cyber warfare.

So, yes, investigate President Obama and, as I said above, “be careful what you wish for!” Those of us who loathe the idea of individual 1 having another four years in the “White House” want our IMPEACHED so-called president to keep making the commercials for Biden’s campaign. Every time individual 1 suggests President Obama needs to be investigated – there’s another campaign ad for Biden. The best strategy for Biden right now is, well, NOTHING! Do NOTHING! Just continue recording every word that comes from individual 1’s mouth. Of course, having President Obama do an occasional campaign rally would likely be very helpful – especially, in the response it would generate from individual 1. Honestly, our IMPEACHED so-called president seems more deranged by the day. I’m not sure if that’s more scary or sad??

I’m just finishing a very interesting read titled “Rising Out of Hatred – the awakening of a former white nationalist” by eli saslow and I highly recommend the book. In the book, there is a repeated reference to the website “Stormfront.com” (Google it) and individual 1 is mentioned in passing several times in the book – which simply suggested he was the candidate of those who associate with the KKK, like David Duke, Don Black, and other committed white nationalists. (Black, the father of the young man on who the book is focused, came across to me as a loving Dad with a messed up ideology – but, I digress) My point is there’s a reason all those people protesting the “shutdown” are wearing individual 1 hats and carrying confederate flags and/or wearing swastikas, etc. There’s a disturbing connection.

If you’re wondering why, despite all the blundering, all the incompetence, all the LYING, etc. coming from our IMPEACHED so-called president, individual 1’s support remains solid at between 40% and 45% – read this book. There is a significant number of Americans who believe the “oppressed” class of Americans are the white Americans – not those in the minorities – despite the OVERWHELMING evidence to the contrary. It’s really interesting, at least to me, reading about how a group of students at a small college in Florida – one student in particular – caused the heir apparent to the “Stormfront” community to admit he was wrong in his belief system and to publicly acknowledge it – to an incredible backlash from “his” (former) community. (He is Don Black’s son)

What is apparent to me is that individual 1 HASN’T changed his own beliefs since taking office – it becomes crystal clear as he responds to words coming from Obama – and, I guess this is the bottom line why I believe individual 1 has serious mental health issues! It’s not just the overt racism he can’t “hide,” but it’s also his “thin skinned” response to virtually any criticism coming at him. He likes to come across as the “tough guy” but, yesterday, he just “whimpered” away after a couple female reporters challenged him at a press briefing. This was shortly after he had made his obscure accusation against his reviled predecessor.

It appears individual 1’s new campaign strategy will be “sicking” William Barr onto President Obama and, by extension, Joe Biden as a way to tarnish Biden after the failed attempt to get the Ukrainians to do it for him. Virtually every decision coming from individual 1 makes things worse for him and I don’t believe this will be any different. MOST of the American people will become even more turned off to our IMPEACHED so-called president and, I believe, this will cause even more republican Senators to go down with him. Individual 1’s constant threat to “jail” his opponents – as I said above – is likely to come back to “bite” him. He’s the one who ACTUALLY should be concerned about presidents being investigated once out of office!

Michael Cohen is sitting in jail, on a three year sentence, for work he did as individual 1’s attorney. If you’ve wondered why our IMPEACHED so-called president still managed to get elected despite his admission in the Access Hollywood tape that he’s a sexual predator you need to read the book I mentioned above. They don’t care about his sexual prowess – the white nationalist movement has been searching for a way into “mainstream politics” for over 40 years and he’s their vehicle. And, they don’t care about the payments to a porn star which got Cohen thrown into jail – but, I believe, there are MILLIONS of Americans who do care. And, after out of office, individual 1 will likely have to deal with why I refer to him as “individual 1” – thanks to the prosecutors in New York who put Mr. Cohen in jail. (I suggested a couple years ago individual 1 would come to rue the day he decided to run for president – maybe that day’s getting closer)

I have to believe that, despite his public attempts to convince “we the people” he’s “doing a great job” in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, he has to be having some sleepless nights. Even someone who comes across as completely lacking ANY capacity for empathy, when they are constantly seeing references to their own failings at the beginning of a crisis such as this, which has claimed over 80,000 lives and counting, there has to be moments of regret, don’t you think? – maybe? The evidence of sleepless nights for individual 1 would be the late night “tweet storms” which sometimes appear to go on for many hours – hundreds of “tweets.” Of course, from what I’ve been able to “tell,” – I don’t do “Twitter” – the “tweets” don’t demonstrate any “regret.” (The ones I’ve seen, anyway)

Here’s the sad reality for anyone who is thinking of defending the performance of individual 1 during this pandemic. The United States represents about 5% of the world’s population and, based on the data at worldometer.info the United States represents about one third of all the coronavirus cases worldwide. Based on what I’ve read during this pandemic the time to “defeat” the virus is at the beginning – which makes individual 1’s “missing 70 days” so egregiously bad. This appears to be what allowed the virus to gain such a “stranglehold” in America. And, it appears, once it has made that “stranglehold” it’s going to run its course – period. So, the virus is going to be with us for the foreseeable future.

The challenge has been – after the initial blunders of the “missing 70 days” – to be “mitigation.” Mitigation, if I understand it correctly – based on the explanation of people like Anthony Fauci – is the process of the “shelter in place” orders coming from most of the governors and the other ways of controlling the intensity of the disease – Covid-19 – which results from the virus. For example, “testing, contact tracing, and isolation” should be the strategy for opening the economy back up – but, it should be a NATIONAL strategy. Apparently, individual 1 is just not able to “impose” any kind of a national response to this virus. (Well, actually, he did break one out, but he basically trashed his own plan within 24 hours) It appears he fears responsibility.

So, I’m pointing this out in response to individual 1’s threats to investigate “Obamagate” – which appears to be him blaming President Obama for the Russians attempting (and succeeding) to help him win the 2016 election. He still doesn’t seem to understand the original “Russia investigation” would have ended much quicker had he simply allowed it to proceed – and, it would have verified what the other investigations verified – that the Russians did it. Of course, his son and son-in-law should NOT have met with the Russians to get “dirt” on Hillary Clinton – but, that was not determined to be a crime. Virtually everything in the Mueller report which could be considered “criminal” resulted from individual 1’s own behavior, his reaction to the investigation. And, like in every thing else which doesn’t go “his way,” individual 1 looks for who to BLAME, and his actions make things worse – for HIM!

Trying to blame Obama for the investigation or any part of it is absurd on its face – It wasn’t President Obama who discovered the Russians were involved in the “intrusion.” It was our CIA and other agencies in the DNI – along with our allied intelligence agencies who were witnessing the same thing – I believe it was the Australian Intelligence Agency who alerted the FBI of George Papadopoulus’ claim the Russians had hacked the DNC – which, of course, turned out to be true and was the “trigger” for the “Russia thing.” Honestly, I would EXPECT the FBI to investigate that. The bottom line is individual 1 will NOT be able to “wish away” all the contact people in his campaign had with Russians and, additionally, his “request” to the Russians that they “Find the missing 30,000 emails” was made on national TV. None of this is disputable!

William Barr masterfully managed to divert the reality of what was in the Mueller report by his public statements (LIES) which came out prior to the release of the redacted report – as I’ve said here numerous times, I read it cover to cover TWICE – but, I don’t think there’s any way he’ll succeed in “twisting” the TRUTH in that report and somehow “aiming” it back at former President Obama – Obamagate???? Yikes! Actually, if that’s the plan, maybe that would get more attention back onto Mueller’s report and might even cause more people to actually read it. I don’t think you can read that report and not come to the conclusion that, at a minimum, individual 1 is GUILTY of multiple acts of OBSTRUCTION of Justice. In his report Mueller even goes out of his way to explain why OBSTRUCTION is such a serious CRIME – as he’s listing the evidence of about 10 instances where individual 1 committed OBSTRUCTION. Mueller honored the OLC memo and didn’t consider and indictment – instead leaving it to Congress to consider IMPEACHMENT – the option Barr “cut the legs out from” with his absurd “summary.”

There’s another old saying and that is “when you’re digging, if it’s not getting you where you want to go, STOP digging.” (I think that’s an old saying – if not – well, I made it up) That would be more of my advice to our IMPEACHED so-called president – I just don’t think he’ll listen to me. His total focus SHOULD be on doing the best he can to minimize the DAMAGE of this pandemic on “we the people,” but he just can’t bring himself to do that. Clearly his focus is on somehow finding a way to “win” the election in November and as the polling gets worse for him he gets more desperate and resorts to the kind of actions which have made the polling continue to get worse for him. Is that what you call the vicious cycle?

Final Thought(s): No matter what (unless he would resign) “we the people” are stuck with individual 1 as our IMPEACHED so-called president until January 20, 2021. I’ve been comparing him to a mob boss for over two years now – it took me a while to figure this out via observation and reading a few books – and we’re really seeing more evidence of this as reality begins to close in on him. Keep in mind, he must think about what happens once he’s no longer protected by that Office of Legal Counsel memo “suggesting” a president can NOT be indicted while in office as mentioned above on a daily basis. There’s the two felony charges which garnered him the name “individual 1” awaiting his removal from office via the Southern District of New York (SDNY) and, Mueller was clear when he said the evidence in his report was “memorialized” so it could be pursued once he was out of office should a prosecutor desire. Of course, there’s a multitude of other legal “issues” which are awaiting his return to being a “civilian.” He was in the Supreme Court this week fighting to keep his taxes secret, which he seems to consider of paramount importance.

This is why I find it so curious as to his obsession with going after his political opponents. It appears he’s unable to see them as opponents in a process where voters get to decide an “outcome” – in regard to an election. He views anyone who’s a political “opponent” as an “enemy” and his instinct seems to be that he/she needs to be destroyed. His obsession with all of this has caused many others – who are ALL much smarter than me – to suggest he’s mentally ill. And, watching him at his press briefing yesterday, that’s all I could think about. I started to feel a sense of pity for him – which is strange, because I loathe what he stands for. He came across to me as pathetic.

I keep seeing him as the sixth grade bully who goes home from school and is never admonished. Being raised in a family where if anyone criticizes their “child” the “onus” is put back on the teacher or whoever is responsible for the criticism. I believe the pathological LYING begins at an early age and, in his case, has, obviously, never been addressed. As I’ve said, I think he believes his own LIES as they roll off his tongue – which is dangerous when you consider the position he holds. And, of course, he believes in REVENGE – which, I believe is going to become more and more apparent as we approach January of next year. I truly hope I’m wrong, but I anticipate some ugly times between now and then.

His reference to the “very fine people” after Charlottesville followed by calling the armed protesters spitting in the faces of the Capitol police in Michigan’s Capitol building as they were attempting to push their way into the Capitol chamber “very good people” were, in both instances, coded (“dog whistle”) messages to the group hanging out at Stormfront.com. Most Americans (including me) missed the connection just as they kind of glossed over the LIE when he claimed he didn’t know who David Duke is during the 2016 campaign. For me, reading “Rising out of Hatred” was a real “eye opener. I had connected individual 1 with the white nationalist movement simply via inference, but I had never checked out “Stormfront,” nor did I really have a clue about how involved the white nationalist movement actually is.

If individual 1 can find a way to STEAL another election he’ll do whatever it takes – but, if “we the people” prevail it will be these “very fine (good) people” who will lead the way in the “revenge tour.” The transition period should be really interesting. (And, of course, I hope it’s peaceful – one way or the other) I have written about the disturbing similarities between individual 1’s administration and Germany of the 1930’s. I had seen the video of individual 1 encouraging the “Heil” salute at a campaign rally and similarly at a rally for one of his white nationalist supporters, Richard Spencer – it just makes it more serious to me when I read about some of his supporters wearing shirts with pictures of Hitler and individual 1 emblazoned on the front.

Oh yes, one more thing: I’m not the best to report on what’s going on with Facebook because I don’t do, nor will I do, Facebook. However, from what I hear, the political misinformation is flowing hot and heavy already as the individual 1 desperation mounts. And, the reality is both the individual 1 campaign and the Russians have the info which worked for them back in 2016 – information on hundreds of millions of unsuspecting Americans who are susceptible to their LYING er “misinformation.” If “we the people” are determined to cause individual 1 to be a one term president there shouldn’t be a day of complacency between now and November 3rd.

Of course, the solution to the misinformation coming from individual 1 and his supporters isn’t misinformation coming from those who oppose him. Somehow, “we the people” should be able to expect some kind of information which is factual. How do you do that? I really don’t know because FREE SPEECH is a foundational part of our nation. Maybe the tech whizzes who have created the platforms like Facebook and Twitter can figure out how to prevent their internet portals from becoming political cess pools. To me, people like Mark Zuckerberg have too much potential for political manipulation. My hope would be our leaders in Congress would recognize there are some behemoth monopolies being created with these tech companies and that these monopolies are dangerous. More on this later…………………..

I’m watching all this Covid-19 stuff pretty closely and I’ve come to the conclusion individual 1 simply is unable to deal with this crisis – and “we the people” are simply forced to just go into the abyss with him. He’s the (IMPEACHED so-called) president and there’s nothing we can do about that until November’s election – and, of course, it could get even worse with individual 1 in office for almost three months during the transition period – he could get even more deranged, if that’s possible. I keep telling myself he’s going to realize he’s got to come up with a plan and then………. more of the same. He says one thing one day and almost the opposite the next. It’s as if he still doesn’t really understand what is happening.

Sadly, his focus has been on getting re-elected and he’s got what appears to be a serious level of paranoia based on his “ratings.” He’s either a mob boss or he’s a pseudo mob boss and he takes out revenge on ANYONE who even suggests he’s NOT a “stable genius.” His incompetence and/or his corrupt behavior goes way beyond what is happening with the coronavirus – although, obviously, the virus is in the headlines every day – we’re stuck in our homes and people are dying by the thousands every day so you’d expect that to be where “we the people” have our focus.

However, there’s a whole bunch of other stuff going on which will be in the “pile” of lasting “DAMAGE” individual 1 is going to be leaving behind once he’s out of office – this is why many people who are “in the know” are suggesting it will take at least 10 years to recover from what our IMPEACHED so-called president leaves behind. Of course, his plan is to “win” re-election apparently so he can make all this “DAMAGE” worse. And, of course, if you don’t understand he will CHEAT in any way he can in order to “win” the election you’ve had your “head in the sand.”

How might he do this CHEATING? Well, we know the Russians are still busy trying to keep individual 1 in office although they have a rapidly increasing Covid-19 crisis of their own so maybe they will be a little less focused – but, at least we know they’re here. We know he tried to enlist the Ukrainians to help him CHEAT and that’s what led to his IMPEACHMENT – and, I might add one more time, republicans had the opportunity to end this nightmare last January – but, I digress. Well, now he’s getting much more sophisticated in his attack on our voting system. While democrats all over the country are fighting for a “vote by mail” election this November, individual 1 and his sycophants are surreptitiously working to either eliminate the Postal Service or to put cronies in place who might…………….????? I don’t know what they might do, but……

Just the thought of what could happen with the Post Office and how that might effect the upcoming election I couldn’t help thinking about a group of disaffected republicans who’ve formed an anti- individual 1 group called the “Lincoln Project.” This group is a bunch of republican operatives who, to a degree, are the reason individual 1 is in office and they’ve realized what a mistake that has become. The members include Kelley-Anne Conway’s husband George, Bill Crystal, Steve Schmidt, and Rick Wilson (who wrote “Everything (individual 1 Touches dies).” This group’s first anti-individual 1 ad caused individual 1 to have a 24 hour “tweet storm” calling all of the members derogatory names, of course. That is something which our IMPEACHED so-called president has a lot of practice.

I bring this up because these former republicans know how to forge a campaign for national office – they get right to the point and they know what they’re doing. Democrats would be wise to unite with this group and LEARN something. As I’ve said over and over here, this is a WAR for the heart and soul of America. And republicans, well, they’re going to be republicans and they believe “The end justifies the means” – hence, CHEATING = OK. And, the democrats just continue to get “played” by the republicans and they need help – from where? Yep, from these former republicans. I just listened to Chuck Schumer complaining about how Wall Street is doing “just fine” and the republican donors are doing well. The reason Wall Street is doing well is because democrats have allowed TRILLIONS, for Wall Street, to be part of the CARES Act. When that “act” was being negotiated democrats had leverage. Not as much now.

I pointed out when all these “CARES Acts” were being proposed that democrats needed to take advantage of the leverage they had at the time. Of course, the democrats were focused on getting as much money to the working people as they could as quickly as they could – which was honorable, but a week or two wouldn’t have caused any more of a bottleneck than what happened anyway – but, democrats “saved” things like the Post Office, Vote by Mail, money for State and Local governments, and money for hospitals – for some of the critical needs “for the next bill.” I pointed out what a HUGE mistake that was. It’s a rare time when democrats have had “leverage” on republicans and, hopefully, that opportunity has not passed, but……

Here’s the deal, when Schumer was pointing out how well Wall Street is doing – which, of course, is the focus of republicans – that was because democrats “gave” republicans something on the lines of $7 TRILLION to be used by either Jerome Powell or Steve Mnuchin to bail out the markets and, now? Well, what more do republicans need? Clearly, they don’t care what “we the people” think – that their support of Wall Street is SHAMELESS. Of course, there was a need to provide some money for Wall Street, it’s just a bit awkward to see the stock market respond to unemployment numbers at depression era levels with an upswing on the DOW. Reports that Billionaires have increased their wealth by almost $200 BILLION during this crisis is going to, at a minimum, raise a few eyebrows.

So, now, as democrats are going to be proposing the relief for the Post Office, the money for “Vote by Mail,” the money to keep police officers, firefighters, and other public sector workers on the jobs around the country they’re getting a “shrug” from republicans. They’ve given up their leverage – maybe for a “promise” from Mnuchin or individual 1 or Moscow Mitch. You’d think they’d learn. That’s exactly why I believe democrats would be wise to enlist the services of people who understand how the republicans are going to attempt to STEAL this next election. And, as an aside, just imagine individual 1 dealing with the climate crisis which very well could be at the “you can’t ignore me anymore” stage once “we the people” are on the other side of this Covid-19 crisis.

Well, this is where the “Lincoln Project” could come in handy. They know how the republicans work because, well, up until individual 1 came along, they were all republicans. And, they’re not so worried about offending the “other side” in this WAR which is why I believe democrats need to join forces with them and LEARN from them. There’s an old saying, “You fight fire with fire” whereas many people say democrats go to a duel with a “butter knife.” It really is time to take the “gloves off” – if it’s not too late. I guarantee you, republicans will attempt to pin the blame on democrats for any issues with legislation helping the republican donors, so the democrats might as well earn the “blame.”

So, there can be NO more help for Wall Street or any of the other things on the republican “wish list” unless democrats are able to take full advantage of ANY leverage they still have. (There must be “red” states who need funding, don’t you think? Like, for example, Kentucky? or South Carolina? or Texas?) If democrats are unwilling to draw a “line in the sand” over the Post Office and the Vote by Mail at this point in time, for example, their chances for “winning” in November go way down. (And, by the way, democrats MUST absolutely refuse to relax the payroll tax – but, that’s a story for another day) And, as I said, republicans are going to be blaming democrats for all the cops who lose their jobs without a “swift” passage of the next bill – and, they had better NOT fall for it! Many wonder: Can things get any worse? Answer = Yes!

Another, maybe even more serious abuse individual 1 will either leave behind or, somewhat more unnerving, boost him going forward should he manage to “win” the November election can be summed up in two words: William Barr. Individual 1 constantly lamented for his “Roy Cohn” as he was lashing out at his first Attorney General Jeff Sessions and, it appears, he’s happy now because Mr. Barr fills that role. And, if you’re not aware, Cohn was a disgraced Mob lawyer who defended the infamous Joe McCarthy back in the 50’s and, apparently, individual 1 during the early days of individual 1’s business failures. Based on what I’ve read it was Cohn who taught our IMPEACHED so-called president to NEVER admit a mistake and ALWAYS “hit back 10 times harder” when you feel attacked. Which, as (our IMPEACHED so-called) president you have to expect you’re going to be criticized. Yikes!!! This is a dangerous situation!

So, today, Mr. Barr said the Justice Department is dropping ALL the charges against Michael Flynn who actually pled GUILTY to the charge of LYING to the FBI early in the “Russia thing.” Still, not many of the people on TV commenting on this travesty are reminding us all of the other “stuff” Flynn was alleged to have committed, which amount to much more serious crimes than LYING to the FBI and VP Pense. For example, I never for a minute thought what Flynn said to the Russian Ambassador was unknown to those in the “White House” – and I always felt the reason individual 1 wanted James Comey to “let Flynn go” was for reasons we still likely don’t understand. However, what we should all understand is that Flynn was working as an unregistered lobbyist for Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president (dictator) of Turkey.

In his work for Erdogan Flynn was ALLEGEDLY involved in a kidnap scheme designed to return a Turkish Cleric who is a critic of Erdogan out of Pennsylvania and back to Turkey where, apparently, he could be executed. Flynn collected nearly half a MILLION dollars in his work for Turkey (without registering as an agent) all while working for individual 1 as his proposed National Security Adviser – as a three star general you’d think he’d know better, especially after leading the “Lock her up” chant at the republican convention. This money from Turkey was in addition to the $45,000 he took from the Russians for some reason after spending an evening having dinner with Vladimir Putin after being fired as America’s head of the Department of National Intelligence. Do you think he should have known better? I hope you answered – Yes!

Final Thought: Today as I logged in to “Yahoo Finance” – it’s just a habit to see how the stock market is doing – the headline read: “Futures hold gains as data show collapse in job market.” Well, if that doesn’t make it clear – the disconnect from Wall Street to Main Street – I’m not sure what it will take. At some point I believe the reality of what is happening will set in, even on Wall Street. With over 30 MILLION workers collecting unemployment benefits the market appears to be thinking there’s going to be a “V” recovery – meaning it’s going back up as sharply as it went down and that doesn’t make sense to me. Jerome Powell has access to TRILLIONS to funnel into the market which has apparently caused it to stabilize.

Of course, I believe the market being stabilized is important, I just hope republicans stop with the “free market” scam they’ve been pushing on “we the people” since the day Ronald Reagan took the oath of office. When taxpayers are called upon to bail out Wall Street periodically when there’s some kind of crisis, well, to me, that’s closer to socialism than capitalism. I keep thinking of how some people have said, on Wall Street they “capitalize the gains and socialize the losses.” Well, I certainly hope there will be oversight of the TRILLIONS which have gone into the market since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis. Individual 1 has fired virtually any inspector general who might be watching how these TRILLIONS are being dispersed and I’m assuming democrats are going to find a way to figure out where all the money is going. After all, $6 TRILLION or $7 TRILLION is a lot of money!

Republicans, for instance, seem to have no concern with how much money is going to Wall Street, BUT – they are REALLY concerned that they somehow were convinced to agree with a bill providing $600 per week for unemployed workers. My son is a minimum wage worker (works in a restaurant – where NO one works full time – except the managers – and, there are NO benefits beyond wages and tips) and his job is temporarily on “hold” based on the virus. He’s actually able to buy stuff he needs right now because the unemployment benefits finally have come through. I told him to be thankful because I’ve never seen the government providing REAL help to working class Americans – EVER!

Well, after writing that last sentence, I remembered the unemployment office providing great help for me 30 years ago after the Sawmill I was working in was shut down – it was just a different form of help. They helped me get “retrained” and that may end up being a “need” as the effects of this virus play out. I hope my son uses that $600 per week to help him get some kind of retraining – because the restaurant industry may be facing a really difficult next few years. The benefit I received came as a result of Bill Clinton signing the “Timber workers relocation act” – so “we the people” have a history of caring about each other, it has just seemed to me that every time something like this happened we’ve seen democrats fighting against republican obstruction.

In the case of this present unemployment compensation, I still remember Lindsey Graham and a group of other republicans fighting the bill until the final moment when it was passed. And, since I’ve heard many republicans complaining about “workers” receiving that kind of money – “They won’t want to come back to work.” So, as they “open” the economy at a point when MOST people believe it’s “too soon” these “workers” will have to decide between their unemployment benefits and risking their lives if they’re uneasy about, for example, going to work in a restaurant – or, like in the meat packing plants around the country where, in many cases, a majority of workers have the virus. Stay tuned……………………

Oh yes, I believe no matter what is done to re-open the economy, if it’s too soon, it’s too soon. I’m not sure how much money republicans can come up with to keep the “market” on the upswing – but, the reality is when people are dying at a rate where there’s no room for all the bodies and when close to 20% of the population is unemployed, you have to wonder why the market is going up? Should all be interesting…………………

I’d love to be a “fly on the wall” in some of the meetings between individual 1 and some of the republican governors who are “re-opening” their economies in the face of “data” which would indicate they’ve decided, like the Lt. Governor of Texas said recently, “there’s worst things than living.” I can’t help but think of all those who have pushed the theory of the only way to “beat” Covid-19 is through “herd” immunity – meaning let the virus run its course and “let the cards fall where they may.” I have to believe the strategy with these republican governors is virtually the opposite of what has been recommended by health experts whose focus is on saving as many lives as they can.

I believe their “plan” is to minimize testing and to LIE about the cause of deaths in their states. Whereas the health experts have said we should have massive testing, “contact tracing,” and capacity in the hospitals in case there’s another “surge,” these (republican) governors are doing none of that. As I’ve said, and I’ve admitted I’m cynical – I DON’T believe a word coming from individual 1’s mouth, those around him, governors like DeSantis of Florida or Kemp of Georgia and I’d love to hear how they discuss the “data” which suggests the brunt of the deaths are coming from elderly people and black and brown people. I believe these governors are willing to do whatever it takes, in their minds, to get individual 1 re-elected – with no regard to the people who are going to die due to their decisions.

Individual 1 is working full time to DEFLECT the blame away from his own disastrous actions at the beginning of this crisis and it appears our IMPEACHED so-called president is putting his focus (which is a challenge in and of itself) toward China and trying to suggest this virus was created in a lab in Wuhan (Apparently, he got that one from Fox). Scientific evidence CLEARLY has suggested it came from someone in China eating (ugh!) a bat. It makes me uncomfortable to even write that. To me, whether it came from eating a bat (ugh!) or from the lab in Wuhan, I’m not sure how that makes a bit of difference in regard to individual 1’s INCOMPETENT “leadership.” He’s NOT going to be running away from the reality of, for example, the missing 70 days. It’s all on video tape – and, we’ll be reminded of that over and over again. Plus, he’ll continue to make more tapes for Biden!

This past weekend he FIRED another Inspector General who apparently, just like the others he FIRED, had the audacity to tell the TRUTH about the issue with “PPD” in our nation’s hospitals. To individual 1 telling the TRUTH is being “disloyal.” This all reminds me of the issue with James Comey. Individual 1 denied publicly that he ever asked Comey to give him “loyalty” but now it’s clear Comey was telling the truth about our IMPEACHED so-called president – just as if he’s the mob boss many of us think he is – he instinctively continues to confirm what Comey alleged prior to him being unceremoniously exited from the FBI. And, now individual 1 has cleared out the leadership of the Justice Department (sans William Barr) and the Department of National Intelligence – presumably in order to make sure “we the people” never hear the TRUTH about what he’s doing to our government.

More and more people are beginning to see what a DANGEROUS (so-called) president we have in office at this point in time. And, he’s got enough time and this is a dangerous enough time that between now and next January we could be looking at one of the darkest times in American history. He very possibly could be leading “we the people” into another “great depression” and, I’m guessing, he’ll be blaming President Obama as he’s dragged out of the “White House” screaming the election was rigged in 2021. Of course, that’s where all those “very fine (or good) people” will come onto the scene for him. Members of the white nationalist community NEVER thought they would manage to “move into the mainstream” of American politics – and, they’re not going to be happy when that “house built on sand” slips into the “ocean.” It could get ugly.

And, speaking of ugly – the reality “we the people” are facing very likely is going to get really ugly – and, this appears to me to be the cruelest of ironies. Individual 1 is desperate to re-open the economy because he believes that’s the only way he’s going to get re-elected. (I’ll point out later why he’s so desperate to get re-elected – aside from his narcissism) And, based on what I’ve read and what I’m seeing – meaning the actions of our IMPEACHED so-called president and his sycophantic governors, in the long run (meaning, maybe a month or two), they could be making all of this worse and turning the economy into a downward spiral the likes of which only those alive in the 1930’s would have seen. I just don’t think new cases in the hundreds of thousands and deaths approaching 3,000 per day (or more) is the recipe for a vibrant economy.

The long term damage which could be the result of this short sighted approach to dealing with this pandemic very well could be the destruction of our health care system. Covid-19 patients are overwhelming our hospitals and untold Americans are failing to go to the hospital because they don’t want to be exposed to this deadly virus and/or the hospitals are full. My daughter is a RN and I’m praying every day she can do her job and avoid getting this virus and bringing it home to her family. My niece works in one of the University of Washington hospitals as an Occupational Therapist – well, now she’s a “dofficer” – as she helps doctors and nurses who are dealing with Covid-19 patients to get into and out of their PPD. The idea of making it worse for these incredible people puts me beyond “complaining” here – it ticks me off!

Individual 1 just continues to make his place in the darkest corners of America’s history books – not only the CHEATING to get “elected,” or the willingness to do it again, but worst than all of that will be the DAMAGE to this nation by the incompetence in dealing with this pandemic. If you remember the Ebola outbreak – well, maybe you don’t even remember it – because the Obama administration had a “plan” which kept the outbreak in Western Africa where it originally broke out – that virus could very well have been as bad as Covid-19 if, for example, individual 1 was our so-called president at that time. Once you allow the virus to get embedded into the society, well “Katy bar the door.” It didn’t have to be this way.

Likely, with all the air travel from China – due to all our multi-national corporations – I don’t think it was possible to protect America from this virus just as it’s in virtually every other country around the world. However, the DAMAGE to America didn’t have to be this bad. We could have instigated a massive testing, contact tracing, and quarantining “plan” like South Korea or some of the other places who kept the number of cases and the number of deaths down – addressing the issue aggressively from the beginning. For example, that would have prevented the Mardi Gras – which helped to spread this virus all around the world.

Clearly, from the beginning, individual 1 has been more concerned with his re-election – via the Stock Market – than “we the people.” And, now that they’ve discovered the bulk of those who will be the “2% to 3%” Dr. Oz mentioned on Fox “news” a week or two ago ( 6.6 to 10 MILLION Americans) – the number who would die with a “re-opening” of the economy – are going to be the elderly, prisoners, and Black and Brown people. Therefore, in the mind of our IMPEACHED so-called president, it’s time to open things up and disband the Coronavirus task force. Additionally, with any luck from individual 1’s perspective, maybe they can finally get “Obamacare” overturned during this pandemic. I’m not kidding, individual 1’s Justice Department is in court arguing for the end of “Obamacare” as I’m writing this! It’s like we’ve evolved into “la la” land.

The mistakes individual 1 continues to make are the kind you can’t retreat from – it’s as if he’s putting all his “chips” on the “table.” And, when we get to that place where the death toll spikes upward, should that be what happens, our IMPEACHED so-called president’s plan, actually lack of plan, clearly will be to BLAME the various governors around the country. Well, the eager ones are all his republican sycophants – so, is he going to be blaming Ron DeSantis for all the old people dying in Florida? Is he going to be blaming Brian Kemp for the spike in deaths in Georgia? These are places he MUST “win” if he’s to be re-elected. (Of course, if they decide not to do testing and they choose not to identify the cause of death in the cases of many of the people who die in their states in the next couple of months, well…………. then every thing will be OK, right?

Personally, the ONLY thing which has made sense to me, right from the start in all this, would have been a national “plan” coming from the “White House” so that everything is coordinated. As I just said, the mistakes being made are serious because there are immense consequences every time you screw up – because this virus is so contagious and moves so quickly. So, while, at the outset, individual 1 had the opportunity to act like an actual president and he blew it – and, now, it’s likely too late. Plus, I just don’t believe he’s even capable of doing so – but, basically, “That ship has sailed.” And, of course, our IMPEACHED so-called president continues to make it worse.

Individual 1’s failures go well beyond the BLUNDERING response to the Covid-19 pandemic. For example, farmers around the country are plowing under lush crops, dairy farmers are dumping thousands upon thousands of milk – which, easily, could be made into cheese – a great form of protein – and, at the same time, people are lining up at food banks around the country in desperate attempts to feed their families. As far as I can tell, there is NO plan in place to re-route this food to those who desperately need it and republicans in Congress are more focuses on protecting their donors from Wall Street – the latest report is Moscow Mitch is willing to block the next “CARES” act from passage unless businesses get liability relief going forward in regard to employees working in their plants. I’m not sure why that is the republican’s focus when so many people are hungry, out of work, and stuck at home. At a minimum, in my view, we SHOULD be TRYING to provide food and temporary income to help get those most affected by this virus to the other side – wherever that may be. And, of course, this is just one of the “issues” which demonstrate individual 1 is in “way over his head.”

I’ll end with today, the Doctor who was demoted for refusing to allow himself to be intimidated into giving the OK to a drug which had no scientific evidence to support its use (Hydroxychloroquine) plus Bayer (the company) which volunteered to “give” one million pills coming from India and Pakistan via manufacturers who haven’t been vetted by the FDA – published his “whistle blower” complaint – which, the parts I heard tonight, are most interesting. He’s planning to testify before the House next week and I’m predicting, right here, right now, individual 1 will do everything he can to prevent this doctor (I believe his name is Dr. Rick Bright) from testifying. Dr. Bright’s testimony is not likely to be complimentary toward our IMPEACHED so-called president.

Hydroxychloroquine is the drug right wing media outlets convinced the most vulnerable of individual 1’s cult to believe would be the “magic pill” saving people from this virus. Despite all the scientific evidence suggesting that was a bad idea they (individual 1 and his right wing media supporters) continued to BRAINWASH their supporters. Some even believed their story of someone being miraculously saved from certain death, in one day, by this “miracle drug.” All the while Dr. Bright was fighting to stop the brainwashing. Finally, the “studies” where the drug was actually administered to patients with Covid-19 showed this drug was dangerous to the hearts of those patients. Thankfully, those doctors aren’t trying disinfectant on these patients!

Final Thought: Mike Pompeo was a decorated graduate of West Point where the honor system would suggest that LYING just would not be something he’d be comfortable with. Well, if you’ve been following Pompeo at all, you know – well – apparently he never took the pledge seriously. At this point, as he’s attempting to help individual 1 DEFLECT blame from himself to China there you’ll find Pompeo these days supporting the unsubstantiated rumor that the Covid-19 pandemic started in a lab in Wuhan China – instead of what the scientists say is the virus is an animal to human virus – coming from eating that bat (ugh!) – as I’ve said many times – including above. We watched Pompeo show a willingness to LIE during the IMPEACHMENT episode and he’s been pretty quiet since – until individual 1 needed a bit of conspiracy theory support for another set of LIES! This is what you see when someone becomes desperate – meaning individual 1.

Rick Wilson wrote a book titled “Everyone Trump touches dies” and he goes through, in the book, all the people whose careers were being “sidelined” simply because they chose to defend individual 1 by taking part in this “deplorable” administration. Well, Pompeo is pushing himself right up the list of people who are putting their future “on hold” because of the taint of being part of this administration. He’s making it worse with all the easily