The Kabuki King...

 Kabuki Theatre presents 

"The Lil King Who Couldn't"

You will hear him lie and cheat.  He will prance around the stage and disrupt the debate.  He will try to annoy his opponent by sneaking up behind him and mugging for the crowd.  He will proclaim everything his opponent says is "fake news."  He will act as a buffoon to interrupt the topics at hand. He will, in the end, entertain only his base of support and no one else.

Kabuki Theatre is a form of traditional Japanese drama with highly stylized song, mime, and dance, using exaggerated gestures and body movements to express emotions.  Donald J. Trump's version will also  include tap dancing around hard questions from the moderator.  He will, of course, be in his vintage orangey-gold face paint and familiar long red tie. 

There will definitely be a performance for those who will have the stomach to watch and listen.  

Former Vice-President Joe Biden, candidate for President of the United States, is in a very tough spot.  He will be the proverbial straight man to the clown prince of Kabuki Theatre, and that is a role I wouldn't wish on anyone. 

Worst of all, not one minute of it will be of any importance to a nation that is as divided as this one.  I doubt one single vote will be swayed and we will all go to bed tonight with visions of demons hounding us in a fitful sleep.

God help us, every one.

Coup d'etat of the Elephant Herd??

The present condition of the Grand Old Party is a puzzle.  It had been moving toward oblivion for several years, but it appears the Trump Administration has performed an exquisite coup d'etat of the entire elephant herd.

The current ownership of the GOP - namely the Trump Stormtroopers -  will soon disappear and then the real mystery will be what happens to Republicans left holding the bag. Will they resort to a retreat position and consider their options or will they try to carry on with the Trump Flag and fall headlong into further muck and mire? 

Both Trump and the GOP have overlooked one very important part of political history:  Other countries have tried to let the rich and powerful run things and absolutely none have succeeded.  It is an idea that is doomed to failure and the modern day Republicans should have seen that coming.

Perhaps a modest capitalist mentality was good for America at one time. Perhaps at one time even the people thought so.  But like all ideas that were incubated in greed and became the lifestyles of money and power, they knew not when to ease up and enjoy the fruits of their zealous ways.  This was, and still is, the errant ways of the Grand Old Party.  Only for the last four years they have been playing backup music for the even more errant Donald J. Trump and his cronies.  The conservative people of America quickly found what all others always knew -  that the money and power never got down to their level of enjoyment.

So, what is the answer?  Where do Republicans go from here?  They still have a National Committee Office.  They still have GOP Officials wandering around somewhere.  I'll bet they even have some old musty-smelling Party Platforms hidden somewhere.  There are probably still some card-carrying Republicans still hunkered down in the hinterlands, too, just waiting for the "perfect storm" of Trumpism to subside.

Maybe they'll make a comeback and maybe they won't. We'll know better at the next election cycle.

Of course, there are still those feisty, mule-headed elephants in the U.S. House and Senate that have completely lost their way and will soon be wandering in the deep dark wilderness of the congressional swamp. There may be no hope for any of them.

We can always hope, anyway.

A Clear and Present Danger...

   At the risk of sounding like one of those little voices screaming in the deep, dark woods at who-knows-what and no one paying one lick of attention,  I will give one more of my rants-for-the-day. During a political discussion last night on television, a dastardly scheme was presented regarding the "probable" outcome of our upcoming election.  It was suggested that if the final tally on the Biden win was within 3.5 points, Trump would put his machinery into motion,   consider the election was  fraudulent, and throw it to the U.S. Supreme Court for a ruling on who won.

   We can all understand political maneuvering, but this has gone far beyond that.  This represents a coup d'etat on our justice system that will harm our nation for decades.  If it had been done in the light of day and ethically above board, we would have no complaints.  But, because it was done by a corrupt and dishonest president and his administration, we have a great deal to complain about. Perhaps the most egregious is their intent.  They are under the impression that if they take away a woman's right to decide what she can do with her own body, we will be a better country.  They believe if they take away healthcare insurance from millions of our middle class people, they will satisfy everyone by eliminating the dreaded "Obamacare" system that they so hate.  (It was legally named "The Affordable Healthcare Act" but they decided to call it "Obamacare," which is what they hate about it the most.)  And, they believe if we could just keep those minorities and immigrants in line and reduced in numbers and ability to vote, we would be a better country.  I guess they forgot how all of us originally got here.

   Credit the president and attorney general for kicking our concerns into the ditch regarding what used to be illegal activity and is now just something they can wiggle around, through, or under. 

   You see, they have been busy little beavers, working in the dark, and stacking our Federal Courts with insanely biased conservative judges who will be ready, willing, and able to pave the road of evil for their worst intentions. In recent months, they have added more than 250 such federal judges.  Their lopsided work on unethically stacking the U.S. Supreme Court is even more reprehensible.

   No, their ideas are wrong and their pursuit of those wrong ideas are evil in practice. 

  Their assault on our democracy is a clear and present danger to America's future for our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.  

   Don't let them get away with it.  You have the numbers to go to your ballot boxes and stop them.

   It's that simple!

An Opinion By John Watson

Turn Off the Trouble Machine

 Donald J. Trump has been President of the United States for 3 years, 244 days, 22 hours, 42 minutes, and 21 seconds (give or take a minute or two) according to the countdown on my online "clipboard clock."  I know, it seems like an eternity, doesn't it?

No worries, he says...and then he gives himself an A+ for his efforts

Time is a funny thing.  We can't go back and change anything and it appears we can't even change much about today or tomorrow. There are so many catastrophic evils we wake up to each morning and not one damn person is capable of resolving any of them.  The coronavirus pandemic is killing Americans at the rate of about 1,000 a day.  We have a presidential administration that simply cannot stop filling our heads with lies literally every hour.  We watch thousands of homes burning to the ground and  millions of acres of precious forest lands and the animals that call it their home burning up in America's west and northwest.  We watch hurricanes destroy homes and personal property.  We have people marching in our streets - both peacefully and destructively.  We have people of color living in fear of their lives.

And we have a president and his administration that is oblivious to it all!  He has his mind on one thing and one thing only:  Getting re-elected!

This morning, he gave himself an A+ on national television for the work he has done on battling covid-19.  Appalling!  This, he announced on the day the death toll reached 200,000!  

The man doesn't know.  The man doesn't care.  The man has no empathy for anyone or anything.  He thinks of himself first, last, and always!  He is one for the history books and they will not be kind to him.  He will be seen as America's worst president. And, he will be remembered as America's biggest election mistake!

We will all shoulder the blame of his corruption and carnage that brought our "shining city on the hill" to a "blight on our democracy" because many of us have been complicit,  sat idly by, and did nothing.

Nothing! Not one damn thing.

 

Have You No Sense of Decency, Senators?

Ol' Mitch McConnell

Ol' Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in 2016 that any U.S. Supreme Court Justice lost during a Presidential Election Year would be replaced by the new president.

Ol' Senator Graham said the same thing, and Ol' Senator Cruz also said the same thing.  Can you believe it?  Well, as it turns out, nobody else can believe it either.  These fine Southern Gentlemen were just shuckin' us, folks.  They have switched from  hyperbole to hypocrisy in a southern boy minute.

Hypocrisy is the trademark of these three senators, and in due time we will see how many more are lurking in the right-wing ranks of the U.S. Senate, as well.

Literally moments after the passing of  Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Ol' Mitch fired off a tweet that read "there will soon be a nomination on the floor of the U.S. Senate for Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court to replace U. S. Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg."

That was quickly followed by a tweet from the president that read, "We are obligated to confirm a replacement as soon as possible."

HYPOCRISY!  

There is no other word to describe it.  And there are no lower low-lifes than the Republicans in the U.S. Senate who decide to go along with this travesty of justice.  

Joseph N. Welch, Chief Counsel for the U.S. Army when it was under investigation for communist activities by Sen. Joseph McCarthy, said to McCarthy, "Have you no sense of decency, Senator?"  The U.S. Senate needs someone to step up and utter those words to the Senate Majority Leader today!

The year 2020 has witnessed a presidential impeachment in the U.S. House,  an outrageous vote of "not guilty" in the Senate by the GOP Members who closed their eyes and ears to the evidence, a deadly coronavirus pandemic that has killed nearly 200,000 Americans due to the negligence and lies of our president, and now this:  a complete lack of ethics and rule of law as they gear up for a Supreme Court nomination and confirmation that they, themselves, vowed not to do during an election year.

Where does one go when they are already "in the darkest place and time?"  What has happened to "the greatest nation on earth?"

And most important:  Are you supporting this carnage?

Have We Really Sunk This Low?

Once upon election dreary, while we waited, weak and weary,

As I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As of someone gently rapping, rappin at my office door.

"Tis some vote results," he muttered -  tapping at my office door.

Only this and nothing more."

But the sound of someone crying, then the gasp of others sighing. 
Distinctly, as I heard him roar, "He has won it! Nothing more!"

With the words I've heard before, it's over now - and nothing more.

Could it be the one most evil, brings again a great upheaval,

Trump, the Liar - won four more!

Such a feeling - mad and teary, I must ponder now more clearly.

Trump, the Liar - really won it?  Lies and treason helped him get it.

Awful howls of indignation, fights will breakout 'round the nation.

Comes the evil one to plunder, lightning bolts and claps of thunder.

Trump, the Liar - to plow us under.

With apologies to Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven"

Is this to be our fate?  Are we really to suffer four more years of his madness?  Surely we deserve better...don't we?

Perhaps we don't.

We have been like spoiled brats on the schoolyard grounds during recess.  We have chosen sides and staked out our turf.  We are going to send our biggest, meanest, toughest, and most foul-mouthed kid on our turf to show those "losers" how it's done.  We could care less about rules.  Truthfulness has been kicked into the ditch.  Honesty means nothing anymore. This is a fight to the finish.  The other side has been on the losing side for far too long and they want back in control - and at any cost!  

America, because of this, you've lost your standing in the world. You've lost your ability to show leadership around the world and at home.  The toughies on the block have destroyed all of our credibility and only care about what they want.  Our nation is at war with itself and the world is watching in horror.  The countries that once modeled their democracies after ours are shrinking in bewilderment.

Some say we are on the brink of another Civil War.  There is talk that if the current administration loses the election on Nov. 3, 2020, they will forge ahead with a coup and refuse to leave.  This has to be "crazy talk," doesn't it?  Or, has America really sunk to this low?

Every single one of us had better think long and hard about our choices on our ballot.  And every single one of us who is legally eligible to vote had better vote.  Now is the time for America to stand up.

Because if we don't all stand, we will certainly all fall!

Trumpsters, Get Yer Gun...

Michael Caputo, Department of Health and Human Services Communications Official promoted a wild left-wing conspiracy that tells us if President  Trump is not re-elected and you own a weapon, you had best buy lots of ammunition now, because it will be hard to find after the election.

That, coming from a mega-millionaire, right-wing lobbyist, and  self-appointed political analyst.  He is, since the Trump take-over, a typical rich, white, hate-filled, egotistical, and ruthless garden variety Republican.

Caputo is a walking, talking clone of Roger Stone and other neo-neanderthal types that have found a new home in the Trump Swamp. They have slithered into the Trump theatre of threats looking for a chance to hatch their authoritarian ideas.  Their goals are far from what a rational-thinking citizen would visualize for America, and they are neck-deep in an unquenchable thirst for money, power, and self-glorification.

BREAKING NEWS...

Even before I can finish writing this, a news update appears on CNN saying our villain-of-the-week has apologized for his hate-mongering conspiracy theory and, due to health reasons, may consider stepping down from his position in the Health and Human Services Department.  It is important to note that Caputo had absolutely no known skills for this elite position Trump handed to him.  (I'm betting it's a "mental" health reason.)

But, that is how Trump checks out these characters:  First: he is looking for absolute loyalty, second: how much money they have, third: how much money they will donate to him, and fourth: can they fake making it look like they know what to do.  Of course, it's a given that they will also be male, old, white, and mega-rich.

That is also why more than thirty of them have come, flopped, and left in less than four years.  Some just disappeared, some were booted out, and some are in the "big house."  I've heard, by the way, that these numbers set an all-time record!

So, we wait and see how Caputo gets out of this predicament, and his prediction that another Civil War will happen if Trump loses. 

It's kind of a damned-if-we-do and damned-if-we-don't kind of deal, isn't it?

 

He Says He Just Doesn't Get It

The President has called our injured and fallen soldiers "losers."

Opinion by
John Watson

As Retired General  John Kelly, who later became Trump's Chief of Staff, led the President to the grave of his son, who fell in battle, the President looked across the field of America's fallen in Arlington National Cemetery and said, "I don't get it, what was in it for them?

The President once said to his Trade Advisers, "I've got a bunch of fucking generals who are pussies."

These words are coming from the lips of a man who received six deferments (for a heel spur) from  our military draft during the Vietnam War...and became the President of the United States!

Maybe you don't get it, Mr. President, but we do.  Ask any Gold Star Family member what they get.  Ask any veteran what they get.  Ask any patriot what they get.

This goes way beyond what our president does or doesn't get.  The question needs to be put to those who still support President Donald J. Trump.  And the question to them is simple:  "Don't you see that you, as followers of this uncouth, uninformed, patriotic illiterate, and profoundly narcissistic human being become complicit in all of his human flaws, as well?"

We have gone far beyond regurgitating the evils of this man. The sins of the evil will live on simply by the supporters carrying his banner. 

 

How can anyone chose his character flaws over their country?

How can anyone follow him?

How can anyone?

 

SIGN OF DISTRESS...

Flying the American Flag upside down is a sign that there is distress and extreme anxiety with its owner. 

That would mean about seventy-five percent of the homes in this country could be flying their flags upside down right now.  America has never been under more extreme anxiety and distress than it has the last four years.  We have a president who has no moral compunction to tell the truth, he is a racist and bigot, and he is void of any empathy for others.  He is divisive to an extreme and relishes the country's chaos.

If that doesn't give us all distress, I don't know what would.

According to all that is decent, if we see a homeowner flying his Old Glory upside down, we would immediately rush to help.  Today, however, we would be running our legs off.  

America is split into two distinct ideologies.  One side sees the carnage this president and his administration has done and is just fine with it all.  They believe this disruption of a normal American life is proving - in their minds - that things needed to be shuffled and re-dealt.  They like the clutter and chaos that infuriates the "other side."  They need a distinct division between the two factions because they can then more clearly see winners and losers, and they will always be on the winning side - even if their actions brings the entire nation to its knees, they will never be the losers.

As for the other side, well...they're hiding in their homes.

...and flying their flags upside down!

 

 

TROUBLE IN THE BOZONE...

President-of-Vice Pence has cancelled his trip to Bozeman, Montana for reasons he does not care to mention.  However, we can mention that it might have something to do with that very large-wallet couple living in the Bozeman area who have given more than $200,000 to the Trump campaign and God only knows how much to Sen. Daines, Rep. Gianforte, and Rosendale. The couple are also very big in the QAnon cult.

You see, the QAnon is a rather soiled group.

And the Trump Republicans have been a bit too hasty in hitching themselves to the QAnon star that is about to go supernova.  To call them a cult is a bit too nice.  They are actually a leaderless conspiracy tribe of nitwits who were happy to gain the favor of the many Republican Party members who will pay attention to them.

However, it now appears the Montana Republicans are taking a second look at the tar pit they walked into and it evidently scared the heebie-jeebies out of Pence.  Hence, the decision for him to suddenly be too busy with another fake Covid-19 Task Force Committee meeting to come to Bozeman. 

Sen. Daines, true to form, has said through his spokesperson, of course,  "Sen. Daines doesn't even know what QAnon is."  I seriously doubt that.  Ask any voter who still has their head in the game and they can tell you about QAnon. 

This rally in the valley was probably doomed from the beginning, just like the cast of characters who it was hoping to bring together.  To use their fearless leader's words, "A bunch of real losers!"

Daines, Gianforte, and Rosendale...

...I just don't know how a state full of good, decent folks could have stumbled on to the likes of these guys!

 

   

Somebody needs to read the constitution again

 

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

A Montanans for Freedom sign was seen on the west lawn of the Montana Capitol building Sept. 11, 2020 that read:

"Children are being 

sold, raped, killed 

while you hide 

behind a mask."

The mask they refer to is a medical mask to keep us from further infecting others with covid-19.  This group, in case you are not aware, think this deadly virus is a government hoax and refuse to mask up.

This group is holding a two-day rally to protest what they perceive to be violations of their Constitutional Rights.  Helena conservative activist Tim Ravndal said, "We're using the Constitution to our favor."  Joell Tuttle of Sydney is a representative of the Citizens' General Congress.  He read to the crowd a declaration and list of grievances which included "taxes, the national debt, media conglomerates, and the military."

I am all for people gathering to peacefully air their views.  As a matter of fact, we probably don't do enough of that these days.

But, we need to be sure of our facts because these gatherings have consequences.  And one very large fact is this:  Our president, vice-president, attorney general, and others in this administration are the worst offenders of trashing our constitution in American history.  They seem to view this document as written in a "vague recommendation that if we don't like parts of it you can change it to suit our own fancy."

That is exactly what the president and the attorney general are doing these days.  The current attorney general is protecting his president as though he were a client instead of being the AG who is supposed to be working for the people.  He firmly believes the president has authority over all other branches of government, rather than being an equal branch, constitutionally.  He has stated this more than once, and that is not what our constitution says.

The president has forced his own rules numerous times...rules that go far beyond what the constitution gives him.  Time and time again, he rules as an authoritarian instead of the authority given by our constitution that has been set up for all presidents.

No way does the Montanans for Freedom understand any of this.  They can meet every week of the year and they will get no resistance from me.  But when they espouse rights that our beautiful constitution does not give them, then I must speak up.

However, what would we expect from a state like Montana that gives the president a seven-point lead over his opponent in a recent poll?  This president has created a catastrophe in his mishandling of covid-19, divided this nation like at no other time since our Civil War, given a voice to racists, bigots, and white nationalists, and turned our constitution into a pile of ashes!

And for what?  So this group can spring up and fight for their so-called rights as they believe they are outlined in the constitution?  

They are forgetting the most basic of our rights:  Freedom from catching the virus from their unmasked faces!

Give me a break.

For Want of a President, a Nation Was Lost

On September 11, 2001, early 3,000 lives were lost in America's worst terrorist attack in our history.  Today, we grieve for those people who were injured or died in the two World Trade Towers, in the Pentagon, and all of those First Responders who worked tirelessly to save lives.

Bob Woodward's new book, Rage, opens in the Oval Office, on January 28, 2019, where two top officials from the president's national security team are telling him that COVID-19 is a major threat to the United States and far worse than the flu. 

"This will be the biggest national security threat you face in your presidency," says Robert O'Brien, the national security adviser (Trump's fourth). "This is going to be the roughest thing you face."

Obrien's statement makes the president's head "pop up," but it is immediately seconded by O'Brien's principal deputy, Matt Pottinger, whom Woodward reports was also present. Pottinger is a China scholar and former intelligence officer in the Marines who had lived in China seven years and spoke fluent Mandarin.

From that moment until today, September 11, 2020,it has created what is now the absolutely worst mishandled virus attack by a president in our history.  We have 4% of the world's total population and yet we have more than 20% of the world's deaths from this pandemic.  We have a president and his administration that didn't develop  a national plan to fight this virus, and they still haven't.  The president began by calling it a hoax, graduated his incompetence to say it would "just go away...soon," and finally began assessing blame to others for his inability to act.

The president was recorded by Woodward through eight sessions of interviews.  Today, Trump's only explanation for refusing to act was, "If Woodward thought the virus was so bad, he should have told someone - immediately."  The president cannot even face the reality that the responsibility was his, alone.

The moral of this tragic story is this:  As of January 28, 2019, America has been continuously lied to, deceived by, and tragically ignored by their President. According to medical experts across the country, "if the president (as other world leaders have done) had begun to lock down this nation when he was first warned of the catastrophe, we could have saved tens of thousands of lives."  But, to the president, that kind of "bad news" would be harmful to his campaign team,  his inner-circle, and supporters across the country.  Therefore, the re-election of this president is paramount - evidently even at the cost of lives!

For want of a re-election, countless lives were lost.  

For want of a president, consider the cost!

   

LIARS AND THE LIES THEY LIVE BY

I cannot believe this is the America I've lived in for so many years.

Sixty-five years ago, I sat in a high school class and learned about American History.  Not once did we hear about a plague of lies and liars hovering over our nation's capitol.  I don't recall it ever being discussed in our Weekly Reader.  I would have certainly remember if any of our presidents had to be fact-checked for over 20,000 lies!

Sure, everybody knows politicians tells fibs when they're running for office.  But back then, if they got caught there was usually hell to pay.  That is a far cry from what is coming out of the Oval Office, the White House, and Capitol Hill these days. There are lies filling the air like locusts at the height of their invasion.  And the liars are staring straight into national television cameras and just bustin' their buttons with pride!

There is only one reason for this plague.  

President Donald J. Trump evidently decided he was only going to get away with his frequent whoppers if he could show others that it was now fashionable - and beneficial -  to do so. His Vice President does it, his cabinet members do it, his family members who work in the White House do it, and you might say the only ones who don't do it are the birds, bees, and our news media, who, by the way, become the punching bags for the liars when they report the lies to the rest of us.

Lies and liars are the symptom of worse things to come. Corruption and crimes came fast and furious and deviations from our constitution quickly followed.  Even dirtier politics of an unimaginable level will come as sure as the sun will rise in the morning.  We know that foreign adversaries are working with our politicians to meddle in our elections and our current president  has done nothing to stop it.  As a matter of fact, he refuses to believe what every intelligence agency has told him and instead takes the word of Russia's Putin.  Lies break down the confidence our people have in their government.  Our nation's allies will look upon us with bewilderment...and eventually, disdain and suspicion. 

Prior to a Trump Rally in Michigan, a man was interviewed about his thoughts regarding Trump's lies about covid-19.  He said he didn't care about the lies because he will support Trump no matter what.  During that rally, Trump said, "You people damn well better vote for me because I brought you many car plants to this area."  The truth was only one car plant became active during the last four years and there is no proof Trump had anything to do with it. 

But, you see, that's the point.  These Republican followers don't care about facts.  Not one single bit!  They just know that if Trump is President, it's a win for their "tribe."  Period!

Nothing the rest of us can ever say will change their minds.  They have to decide to change it themselves!  We will never get back to normalcy until these people want to get back to normalcy, and that's a bitter pill for the rest of us to swallow. 

Lies don't just hurt - they kill, too!  And it is an absolute gawd-damn fact that due to Trump's lies and mishandling of the deadly covid-19 virus in the beginning - and since - have killed tens of thousands of innocent Americans!  

How do these followers sleep at night with that lie? 

 

Trump, Pence and QAnon Friends

Montana Politics, Bozeman Style

Just when you thought politics couldn't get any crazier in Montana, along comes "Pence-in-charge-of-Vice" with his gang of QAnon theorists to Bozeman for a Trump & Friends Sept. 14th Fundraiser.

The gala will be hosted by  a couple from the area who are huge fans of QAnon, Trump, Pence, Daines, Gianforte, and Rosendale.  

How's that for a line-up of Raucous Republican Rascals?

QAnon is a baseless conspiracy theory cult  that is gaining a strong foothold in the Trump Party.  The president has hailed Georgia congressional candidate Marjorie Taylor Greene, another strong QAnon supporter as a "future Republican star.  The Sept. 10 Helena IR newspaper says, "QAnon is a wide-ranging conspiracy fiction spread largely through the internet, centered on the baseless belief that Trump is waging a secret campaign against enemies in the 'deep state' and a child sex trafficking ring run by satanic pedophiles and cannibals."

The Bozeman couple who are hosting this shindig are Caryn and Michael Borland of the Bozeman area.  They are big into QAnon with its logo and slogan "Where We Go One We Go All" found throughout their social media.  They label the Black Lives Matter movement as "terrorists" and Borland has made his own threats to shoot protesters, according to a June 25 post.

I have often asked what they are putting into the water in Bozeman that spawned the likes of such Republican Politicians as those who are being touted next week.

Well, evidently QAnon likes the cut of their jib.

DAINES  -  GIANFORTE  -  ROSENDALE  -  TRUMP

*********************************************************

VOTE FOR THESE INSTEAD

BULLOCK  -  COONEY  -  WILLIAMS  -  BIDEN

*********************************************************  

Unfit, Dangerous, and No Moral Compass

An Opinion By
John Watson

You would have to be deaf, blind, and dumb to approve of the corrupt workings of this president.  And yet, his followers are fully prepared to go to the ends of the earth to support him.  

It is a "done deal" that this president will one day be no more.  He will either be voted out of office or he will leave of his own accord, but he will be gone. America - sleep better, knowing that! 

What, then, will happen to his followers?  Will they patiently wait for another one to come along and tell them racism, bigotry, white nationalism, corruption, and pathological lying will be okay again? Will someone tell them to link arms and lay siege to America? Will it again be okay to blanket our streets with hate and carnage? Will another authoritarian rise up and call his minions to do his evil bidding?  Evil begets violence, and more violence begets more evil.  America has seen their worst nightmare in 244 years and we can only hope we have learned from it.  

America was given a nearly perfect blueprint for a nearly perfect union.  We cannot be the generation that misuses, mistrusts, or mishandles their dream.  And we cannot let those among us who wish to do harm to that dream every gain another foothold!

Stefanie Lindquist of Arizona State University has written, "After his joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, President Trump was barraged with criticism from both friends and foes.

 Standing next to Putin, Trump repudiated U.S. intelligence that the Russians interfered with the 2016 election.  Some have since questioned the legitimacy of his presidency, forcing Trump to backtrack several of his statements."

Thomas Friedman, A New York Times columnist, claimed that "President Trump's interactions with Putin were a violation of the president's oath of office."  In a tweet, former CIA Director John Brennan reacted by claiming that "the president's performance 'rises to and exceeds the threshold of 'high crimes & misdemeanors.'  It was nothing short of treasonous."

The most precious thing we can leave to the next generation is something better than what we found.  We are living in a wicked nightmare that we must resolve.

I will fight with every fiber of my being to not leave this for my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to deal with.

This president's corrupt administration will end.  Hail to the new president!

Pandemic Politics...

The Jefferson County Health Nurse received an email that she was relieved of her job after fourteen years of dedicated duty.  There was no reason given since she was a contract worker.  That, in itself, should give us pause.  Why would an employer take such a course of action?  Well, I'm pretty sure most of us already know the answer to that question.

You see, we're talking about a group running Jefferson County that leans to the right of Genghis Khan in right-wing politics.  And as right-wing politics go, this covid-19 pandemic is as dangerously political as anything America has seen in decades.  We are told to "move along folks, nothing to see here. We don't want to hurt re-election chances for the president."

We all know that excrement rolls downhill and in this case it comes from the very top of that hill:  the Oval Office.  And just like those guys with the brooms in the game of curling, the nation's Republicans have kept the hillsides swept clean and smooth for GOP thinking all the way down to places like Jefferson County, Montana.

The Jefferson County Health Nurse was "guilty" of saying this pandemic is a serious health risk and the county should take precautions.  ALARM!  That would be the wrong thing to say in a very "red" county. "We ain't gonna' close down no rodeos and such." 

The problem that arose in this small Montana County is a microcosm of what is happening in America.  If you can't look at the problem through the eyes of the president and his political party, then you are looking at it wrong.  Don't be looking at the millions of cases that didn't have to happen.  Don't be looking at the 185,000+ deaths.  Don't be looking at the millions of healthcare workers who are being worked beyond their limits.  Don't be looking at any of that right now, because we Republicans have elections to win!

Mask Up, America...like the outlaws who run Jefferson County.

The Bozeman Body-Slammer...

Rep. Greg Gianforte is trying to buy his way into our Governor's Mansion.  He is a neo-politician who also bought his way into the U.S. House of Representatives two years ago.  This is his total experience in legislative work.  He threw a second million dollars into his obsessive drive to win the Governor's Office.  He is a very rich guy.

But there is really only one important thing we all need to know about Mr. Gianforte.  And we need to remember it when we vote.  He has a big character flaw.

He is a man with obvious anger management issues.  Not a good sign for anyone, but especially for the highest office in our state. He was once asked a question about his thoughts on the Affordable Healthcare Act and he grabbed the reporter and body-slammed him to the ground.

He was fined and ordered by the judge to enter anger management therapy.  One other detail at his arrest was the fact that not only does he have problems controlling his anger, but he lied about what really happened, as well.  (This guy is also a fan of our president, who displays similar character flaws.)

The question by the reporter, as witnessed by those at the event, was a mundane, typical AHA question that all reporters were asking all candidates at the time.  To lose you temper over it is beyond good sense.  

It displays a character flaw that is dangerous for anyone to carry around, but especially for someone who wants to be our governor.  

Because of that body-slamming episode, alone, he should have been disqualified to run for the Office of Montana Governor.

But, here he is.

Now it's time to right the wrong and vote against him.  His experience in Montana legislation, people skills, and leadership is practically non-existent.  

He is just another rich guy who wants to buy some power!

Can You Handle The Truth?

I have read many attempts by writers to explain what is happening in Conservative Republican politics and the following is the best I have found.  The right-wing phenomenon is bewildering... and out of control.  Their true colors show through when their backs are against the wall and determined to win another four years of carnage.

"To understand the corruption, chaos, and general insanity that is continuing to engulf the Trump campaign and much of the Republican Party right now, it helps to understand the predicate embraced by many Trump supporters:  If Joseph R. Biden Jr. win the the presidency, America dies."      - The Atlantic

"During last week's Republican Convention, speaker after speaker insisted that life under a Biden presidency would be dystopian.  Charlie Kirk, the young Trump acolyte who opened the proceedings, declared, "I am here tonight to tell you - to warn you - that this election is a decision between preserving America as we know it and eliminating everything that we love."  President Trump, who closed the proceedings, said, "Your vote will decide whether we protect law-abiding Americans or whether we give free rein to violent anarchists and agitators and criminals who threaten our citizens.  And this election will decide whether we will defend the American way of life or allow a radical movement to completely dismantle and destroy it."  And in between, Americans were told that Democrats want to "disarm you, empty the prisons, lock you in your home, and invite MS-13 to live next door" and that they "want to destroy this country and everything that we have fought for and hold dear."

These are the words from Peter Wehner, contributing writer at The Atlantic and senior fellow at Ethics and Public Policy Center.  There is no better description of what is residing in the minds of the President, the Republican Party, and many of their followers today.  

Go back and read this again.  It is absolutely important.  It is factual.  It is frighteningly shocking!

And it is some strange, grotesque version of what was once the Grand Old Party of America.

Can you handle the truth?   

Better yet, can they?

Arriving at the election... at full tilt...

Tilting at Windmills:  A metaphoric expression alludes to Miguel de Cervantes's Don Quixote, who rides with lance at full tilt (poised to strike) against a row of windmills,, which he mistakes for evil giants.

Such is the adventure of each and every American Voter during these last days of  what will be known for generations as "The Great American Election."  It puts our Presidential Candidates and Voters in an untenable position.  There seems to be no issue that can be ably defended by either candidate.  All allegations are lies and all lies are justifiable.  It is the new alternative to what used to be the old truth.

Supporters of the president are in the Don Quixote mode of "pursuit of that vain goal" where no truth is to be found.  Their vanity prohibits them from admitting they have crept out beyond the waves and are now in over their heads.  Turning around and stating the obvious is no longer an option.  They are doomed to figuratively go down with the ship and its corrupt captain.

Tilting at windmills is a human foible.  It is the stuff of those who live in a world of fanciful dreams for something they will pin their last best hope on achieving. Such are the supporters of this president.  In their efforts they seldom see the carnage.  By their unreasonable and adamant stands against normalcy, they have created gigantic cracks in our rules of law.  The hallowed words of our constitution have been placed in real jeopardy.  And still, they march onward...  

...Tilting at those "evil giants" of democracy.

We live in an ever-changing world - one that, at times, just makes no sense.  From pandemic disasters, to terror in our streets, hate crimes and unmentionable acts of violence, we get the in-depth report from every news outlet in the United States.  And, we watch these special reports, trying to find some kind of reason for the craziness, some perfect explanation for why these things happen and who is responsible and how can we make a difference.  And while we never get all the answers on this side of eternity, we know that as Christians, we are called to trust God, share His love, and pray.

Vote for our normalcy 

Vote for our nation  

Vote for our neighbors

An Opinion By

John Watson