. . . YOUR president???? (unfortunately, this is a real news story)
". . . Trump said in a disapproving tone. “The baby is born, the mother meets with the doctor, they take care of the baby, they wrap the baby beautifully, and then the doctor and the mother determine whether or not they will execute the baby.” Trump then put on an incredulous tone. “You hear late term, but this is where the baby is born, it’s there, it’s wrapped, that’s it,” Trump said as he made a guillotine motion with his hand, as if he were implying that the baby’s head would be sliced off. . . These are living, feeling, beautiful, babies who will never get the chance to share their love and dreams with the world,” he said. The claims, of course, are false. . ."
(Trump recently stated that) ". . . Robert E. Lee was a great “American” general, who attended West Point, led American soldiers to victory as a commander in the Mexican War and was beloved by his men . . . Until 1862, that is, when he turned traitor and gave up his commission in the US Army for a stint as commanding general of the “Confederate States of America” after South Carolina fired on Fort Sumter, South Carolina in April 1861, as an act of war. A devoted son of Virginia, Lee returned home and took up arms against the United States of America whose Constitution he had sworn to protect and defend. . . What Trump does not get is that but for the grace of President Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and their whole posse should have been hanged for treason. . ."
(from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/us/politics/andy-mckean-iowa-trump.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&fbclid=IwAR3nnDuxyeZNNm6ywlFnrzjlK8BAhuhvzF2JNeGJ5ssTT3dgaSfAPyPtJX0)
". . . The longest-serving Republican in the Iowa legislature announced that he would become a Democrat, warning that his party of many decades would soon pay “a heavy price” for its support of President Trump. . .The lawmaker, Representative Andy McKean, served a combined 24 years in the Iowa House and Senate between 1979 and 2003 and then returned to the legislature in 2017. At a news conference on Tuesday, he said he could not support Mr. Trump moving forward, in part because he found the president’s spending to be “reckless,” his foreign policy “erratic” and “destabilizing” and his disregard for the environment concerning. . ."
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(from Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson by Gordon S. Wood)
". . . This American aristocracy, however, was very different from that of Europe. European nobles, said Adams, had more pride, "that kind of pride which looks down on commerce and manufacturing as degrading." Perhaps this contempt for commerce, he said, played a useful role in Europ. Maybe it helped prevent the European nobility from becoming too rich and inhibited its acquiring too large a proportion of landed property. Or the aristocracy's valuing honor over money might have saved the European nations from being completely consumed by avarice. . . The American aristocracy's preoccupation with money distinguished it from the European aristocracy and was one of its weaknesses. . . "
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It’s a fine line I walk
Between here and insanity
It’s a fine line
Like a good wine some care
And some love must be taken and given
Like a good wine
I don’t know where it’s gonna come from
I only know that when it gets here
I may care or I may not
It just depends upon which side
Of the line that I’m on
When it’s my time I want
To be free of these cares and these worries
When it’s my time
I don’t when that’s gonna happen
Not really sure I want it happening
Any time real soon
It just depends upon which seat
That I take in the room
Do I really know what I’m asking?
You tell me I’m thinking too much
How can someone question the feelings
You haven’t allowed them to touch?
When will I find the things
That I’ve searched all this valuable time for?
When will I find
Just a thin dime will I take
For a glimpse of the depths of my soul
Just a thin dime
It’s not exorbitant to ask for
It’s one small price to have to pay
To get a piece of someone’s life
A good investment I can say
Because I know that it’s mine
It’s a fine line
Larry looked me up one lazy afternoon
Like a lizard leaps, we rushed into the room
In a visual yet venatic spectacle
Cream of the crop
Lying like a lonely loser; languishing
Can’t seem to stop down from the top
How will we kill the time
We’re tired of all these rhymes
You’ll find me feigning folly
Laughing with the ladies in the lobby
Willy knew his worth they watched him with chagrin
Any chance they could, they’d try to do him in
Willy wonders what his world will wreak on him
When will it stop when will it stop
Only one thing did he want to help him win
Time on his hands freedom of man
Where did the good times go?
They’re gone or maybe no
I want to spend some time just
Laughing with the ladies in the lobby
Trying to hang tough though I’m tiring
Treading tidal waves in the trough
Nobody knows why there is ever
One to bring us near to each other
Frank was freaking out he found the thing he feared
He fought tooth and nail ferocious head was reared
Proudly put a powerplay into the plot
Things got so hot things got
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(from Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson by Gordon S. Wood)
". . . He was skeptical about the character of his fellow Americans as well. Even before he knew of the outbreak of the French Revolution, he had worked out a chilling assessment of the moral fiber of his own countrymen, one that prepared him to see the worst of people everywhere. . . Right from the beginning of his own American Revolution, Adams had deep misgivings about whether his fellow citizens had the proper moral character needed to sustain their republican governments. "The only foundation of a free Constitution," he said on the eve of America's declaring independence, "is pure Virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our People, in a greater Measure, than they have it now, They may change their Rulers, and the forms of Government, but they will not obtain a lasting Liberty. . . "
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". . . if we cannot trust (Sarah Huckabee) Sanders to tell us the truth about things like the firing of the FBI director, how can we trust her when she’s briefing the American people about a school shooting or a hurricane or an adversarial foreign power’s efforts to undermine our elections? Why should any reporter believe any statement she gives ever again? . . . Sanders isn’t the White House press secretary as much as she is America’s main minister of propaganda. Make no mistake about it, Sanders isn’t a “complicit” bystander to the “porn star presidency,” she is a partner in it. . ."
". . . Barr, asked if Mueller intended for Congress, not the attorney general, to decide whether Trump obstructed justice: “Well, Special Counsel Mueller did not indicate that his purpose was to leave the decision to Congress. I hope that was not his view. ... I didn’t talk to him directly about the fact that we were making the decision, but I am told that his reaction to that was that it was my prerogative as attorney general to make that decision.”
THE FACTS: Mueller’s report actually does indicate that Congress could make that determination.
The report states that no person is above the law, including the president, and that the Constitution “does not categorically and permanently immunize a President for obstructing justice.”
VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: “Today’s release of the Special Counsel’s report confirms what the President and I have said since day one: there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia and there was no obstruction of justice.”
KELLYANNE CONWAY, White House counselor: “What matters is what the Department of Justice and special counsel concluded here, which is no collusion, no obstruction, and complete exoneration, as the president says.”
THE FACTS: No. The special counsel specifically leaves open the question of whether the president obstructed justice. . . “If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, however, we are unable to reach that judgment,” the report states. . . The report identifies 10 instances of possible obstruction by Trump and said he might have “had a motive” to impede the investigation because of what it could find on a multitude of personal matters, such as his proposal to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. . . “The evidence does indicate that a thorough FBI investigation would uncover facts about the campaign and the President personally that the President could have understood to be crimes or that would give rise to personal and political concerns,” the report states. . . In explaining its decision, Mueller’s team said reaching a conclusion on whether Trump committed crimes would be inappropriate because of Justice Department guidelines indicating that a sitting president should not be prosecuted. It nevertheless left open at least the theoretical possibility that Trump could be charged after he leaves office, noting that its factual investigation was conducted “in order to preserve the evidence when memories were fresh and documentary material were available.”
BARR: “These reports are not supposed to be made public.”
THE FACTS: He’s not going out on a limb for public disclosure. . . Justice Department regulations give Barr wide authority to release a special counsel’s report in situations it “would be in the public interest.” Barr had made clear during his Senate confirmation hearing in January that he believed in transparency with the report on Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference during the 2016 campaign, “consistent with regulations and the law.”
BARR, saying it was “consistent with long-standing practice” for him to share a copy of the redacted report with the White House and president’s attorneys before its release: “Earlier this week, the president’s personal counsel requested and were given the opportunity to read a final version of the redacted report before it was publicly released. That request was consistent with the practice followed under the Ethics in Government Act, which permitted individuals named in a report prepared by an independent counsel the opportunity to read the report before publication.”
THE FACTS: Actually, Barr’s decision, citing the Ethics in Government Act, is inconsistent with independent counsel Ken Starr’s handling of his report into whether President Bill Clinton obstructed and lied in Starr’s probe.
". . . Trump's administration plans to continue the U.S. government's advocacy favoring the decriminalization of homosexuality worldwide. . . the administration, pushed by U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell (who is openly gay), was "planning to launch a worldwide effort to end the criminalization of homosexuality worldwide." . . . The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBT lobbying organization that typically favors Democratic Party interests, responded with a thread of tweets about how much Trump administration policies and practices have not been in favor of LGBT folks. . . The the United States had already signed onto a United Nations declaration that called for the decriminalization of homosexuality years ago. . . Obama's administration, just months after he came into office in 2009, signed onto a United Nations statement condemning human rights violations against LGBT folks and opposing the criminalization of LGBT behavior. It had come around during President George W. Bush's administration, and he didn't sign it at the time because he was concerned that it was an attempt to override states' rights on issues like marriage recognition. Bush was widely criticized by LGBT groups for not signing onto the declaration. The U.S. was the only Western country to decline back then. . . Trump has shown himself to be a very transactional political leader. His support for policies is often tied to what he stands to gain politically from their implementation. This is hardly new for a politician—it's just that it's extremely obvious when it comes to Trump. He's not empathetic and he's not very good at pretending to care about things that he obviously cares little about. So it's probably very true that Grenell and Trump want to use this policy to try to attack Iran in some way. . ."
". . . A federal appeals court has issued a mandate confirming its order to allow enforcement of President Trump’s transgender military ban, clearing the way for the administration to implement the policy. . . A three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued the mandate Tuesday . . . The panel consists of of U.S. Circuit Judge Stephen Williams, a Reagan appointee; U.S. Circuit Judge Thomas Griffith, a George W. Bush appointee; and U.S. Circuit Judge Robert Wilkins, an Obama appointee. . .The judges had earlier sided with Trump on his transgender military policy in a January ruling. The mandate brings that ruling into effect, placing a stay on the last of four court injunctions that had once barred the administration from the implementing the transgender policy. . ."
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Want to be happy
Listen here
What would you pay to
Have no fear
Fear of the raptor
Roaming free
Fear of a captor
You or me
Do you fear having your choices
All being taken away
There was a turmoil
We could see
Under the table
Had to be
Way far beyond us
In the fray
We wore the blinders
They slipped away
So many promises made
To a misguided parade of the innocent
Circumstances pushed so many over the edge
Sideways glances directed to drive in a wedge
Want to be happy
Bet you do
Want to be happy
In the things you do
All’s not the same as it used to be
Conscious effort will help us break free
The Star is keeping track of every false claim U.S. President Donald Trump has made since his inauguration on Jan. 20, 2017. Why? Historians say there has never been such a constant liar in the Oval Office. We think dishonesty should be challenged. We think inaccurate information should be corrected. And we think the sheer frequency of Trump’s inaccuracy is a central story of his presidency.
(Considering the criticism of Rep. Ilhan Omar's recent comments. . . )
Poorly chosen words should be easily recognized and acknowledged by defenders of a president who constantly uses poorly chosen words from a coincidentally, extremely limited vocabulary.
"Even one of them recently said that President Trump made promises, but he's kept many more promises. I mean, far more than I made."
-Donald J. Trump
I swerved to miss a turtle
As he watched the traffic
Hurtle past him from the center of the street
I saw him stick his snout out
Pulled off and played the Boy Scout
And snatched him from the jaws of defeat…
It was just a single swerve
And surely didn't deserve
A hundred-dollar fine for Careless Driving
But the Highway Patrol
Said “Think of it as toll --
Now please drive on, sir, I’m advising”
Just one swerve, that's all it took to
Get written up in that little black book
Just one swerve, what can I say?
One small turtle
Made it through another day
If you’re a Hindu or a Buddhist
You know there is a karma list
Good actions always earn you more
God, always thinking green,
Will use your soul again
In some new creature, depends on your score…
Just when you think you're
Doing the right thing
Life is a bumblebee
Administering a sharp sting
So with very little drama
I’m storing up good karma
One hundred-dollar turtle at a time!
But that Patrolman’s karma’s bad
It almost seems a little sad
That he’ll come back as a bug next time. . . 2013 Roderick Deacey & Ray Jozwiak
