The Disruptor's Four Years of terror...

To be a disruptor is to create a way of doing things which displaces the normal activities. Disruptors are generally outsiders, and idealists rather than insiders or specialists.

A disruptor is also a person who interrupts an activity or process by causing a disturbance or problem for his own benefit.  To a disruptor, the ends will justify the means.

The best way to define the four-year term of President Donald J. Trump would be to say his primary goal was to disrupt the normal way America has generally operated since 1776.  To him, it was - and still is - with a great deal of pride that he could turn America on her head and become the political contrarian.   If policy was good for 141 years, he would go another direction - just to show us he was "his own man."  He did it "because he could." It reminds me of the famous Yogi Berra quip, "I came to a fork in the road and I took it."

The people's utter disgust with the disruptor was immense, but he had his pocket of followers, too. And if his carnage wasn't enough, his Republican enablers in the U.S. Senate and House followed his lead and seriously compounded the situation.  The totality of their lies and misdirected messaging caused the people to distrust their media.  They were told to disbelieve what they saw and heard with their own eyes and ears.  This was the disruptor's constant message to the masses...it was paramount to the success of the disruptor!

At the end of his rampage of rule, he lost the popular vote by more than seven million and he lost the electoral vote by much more than enough.  As he viewed his lost, The Washington Post quotes his as "chanting like crazy King George, I won!  I won!  I won!"

But still he refuses to concede.  The numbers are verified and there is no evidence of fraudulent ballots, although he insists the race was stolen from him because there was widespread fraud.  

History will not look kindly on him, and it will not look kindly on our nation, and our democracy.  And our ability to have a sane and secure election is gone forever.  

We have allowed this man to fold, staple, and mutilate our American Dream beyond recognition.

And for that, we will all suffer immeasurably!  

 

A Little Traveling Music, Maestro...

Grandpa, was that guy really that crooked?

I awoke this morning with a wonderous epiphany.  A realization that I had the answer to what happened to America four years ago.  It was so clear.  We should have known that the way things had been going in America it was bound to happen, and we should have been watching for it.  

The disaster was right in front of our faces and we just couldn't seem to avoid it.  The screaming from the Right said, "No more politicians for president.  What we need is a good, solid businessman."

They were insistent.  They were looking for the "first coming." They were hoping for a business messiah to lead us out of the political wilderness and into the world of milk and honey of business thinking.  He would be good for everyone!  In the end, he was none of those things.  He wasn't even a good businessman.  There was a long trail of failed businesses and numerous bankruptcies in his sorted past. 

Well, they promised a lot.  They sold him to us as something great. But what happened was the greatest "bait and switch" of all time.  "See the nice businessman?  He's gonna' con you, then he's gonna' rob you, and then he's gonna' steal your dreams." And whether their antihalation  of our American way of life was planned or not, it was a complete success. The Right opened the flood gates and the new unqualified and questionable businessman-turned-president brought into the swamp the richest of the "richy-rich" as his "people."  They were mega-rich and mega-selfish.  They worked for no one but themselves and they drained our nation of resources that someone will be investigating for years.  It was a catastrophe of gigantic proportions!

The work of these con artists will be written and talked about for decades.  Hopefully, it will be in history books for our great-grandchildren and beyond to read about and learn how the time from 2017 to 2021 was known as the "Great Lies and Theft of Our Democracy."

More sinister than any of that is the seventy-plus million voters who wanted it to continue!  They still believe in the "Art of the Deal" and the "Art of the Liars."

It was a time when Americans cast three million more votes for the losing presidential candidate, but lost to the electoral votes through reported hacking of votes in the dreaded "battleground states" by none other than Russian cybercriminals. Our U.S. House impeached the president after looking at the evidence, but the U.S. Senate - remaining true to their loyalty to the "big guy" - let him remain in office by voting that they saw nothing, heard nothing, and knew nothing.

Many books have already been written about this blight and embarrassment on America's brief four-year march toward another often mentioned  Civil War nightmare.  Many more are undoubtedly headed to book publishers, also.  

These books should serve as a blueprint on what not to let happen again.  That is what "history" is supposed to teach.

We'll see. 

 

They Shall Have No Other Idols...

 

Hell hath no fury like the fury of a cult scorned.

After the fall of the craven idol in Donaldville, what must we think of the future of his cult called MAGA?  What vengeance will they wreak on America for voting their towering icon out of office?  Will they all go peacefully, or will they demand the civil war they so fervently want?

We must be vigilant and not expect to see the MAGA cult go quietly into that good night.  Many experts in the study of cults have told us our serious problems may just be starting.  The advent of this particular cult was spawned by the former President of the United States.  His definition of the horde was "followers" or "base," but they are a cult by every measure of the word.  

Cult:  A system of devotion directed toward a particular figure or object.  A group of people who have beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister.  A misplaced or excessive admiration for a particular person or thing.  A cult personality surrounding the leader.

The MAGA cult has shown no signs of disbanding.  They seem to relish the call from their dethroned leader to "stand back and stand ready."  Whether he will beacon their return to action for his possible run for office again in 2024 -  or some other evil enterprise he may be hatching -  they will be standing tall and awaiting his orders to march.

Of course, since they are always anxious to show their dislike for our form of government, they may find a new leader and prosecute a march on our capitol.  Their lust for recognition, power, and glory will serve them well in a Second Civil War.  It will not necessarily be the south and north squaring off this time but rather their White Supremacist overlords versus the rest of us.  It will, of course, be over quickly, but it will be bloody, and the winner will exact a heavy price for the cult's foolishness.

Let's find a way to nip that tragic idea before it is hatched.

Their leader has a great obligation here.  He sired their ideas, he urged their responses, he gave the cult life, and he is now responsible for their future actions.

This morning, in Lansing, Michigan, a CNN woman reporter was trying to tell television viewers how Michigan law will work in assigning electoral votes to a presidential candidate.  There was a crowd of his "base" with bullhorns trying to shout her down not more than ten feet behind her. Their chants told the whole story about how upset they are with Michigan's choice for president. Biden had easily won their state, but winning, it seems, is no longer important.  We are now in a new era of radicalization, and losing is no longer acceptable. 

So, how this president should handle the defeat is how we have handled all election defeats:  Calmly, with dignity, grace, and a thoughtful exit.  

However, he is far from allowing that to happen.

And the cult he has spawned is not helping us one damn bit!

   

 

  

Look Quick, The 'Last Best Place' is going, going, gone...

When someone opens his personal checkbook and pays millions to buy a job that will pay a small fraction of it back, you can bet there is skullduggery afoot for ordinary Montanans.

Such is the life of Montana's rich and powerful Republicans.

Multi-millionaire Governor-elect Greg Gianforte will cash in on a variety of schemes. and you can bet at the top of the list will be the sale of public lands to his rich friends.

Another victim within his perview will be our public school system.  He and Office of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen are drooling at the thought of carving out a huge slice of that budget for private schools in Montana.  Along with the "red tide" of election winners, Arntzen beat out Melissa Romano, who was far and away the most qualified person in the race. Such can also be said about Gianforte's opponent, eight-year Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney, and Steve Daines's opponent, eight-year Gov. Steve Bullock.  It was an election of big money and power vs. ordinary Montanans... and the ordinaries lost big time!

It is, however, the scene in Montana.  The voters chose Trump and every Republican they could find on their ballot.  

It was not pretty, but, as they say, "it is what it is."  

We ordinary Montanans will get a front row seat as the show of greed, power, and personal monetary gains are featured in center ring of the biggest travesty of justice circus in the state.

And, the "red tide winners" will do their best to convince their followers that it will be good for them, too. (wink, wink, nudge, nudge.)

In the end, it will be bad for true Montanans...and even worse, bad for "the last best place," too.

Montana Republicans - You've Done It Again

Governor-Elect Gianforte has pulled on his Trump Trousers and is showing us what he's really made of.  And folks, it ain't gonna' be pretty.

He has added a name to his team that will be tasked to find a new leader for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks.  And that person will undoubtedly signal a leader who will send shivers down the spines of every Montanan who cherishes our public lands and wildlife.

Let me begin his resume with this:  Montana State Representative Kerry White is a personal friend of Gianforte. That will tell you a bunch.  He has been long rumored to become a part of Gianforte's administration and has spent the past few days on Facebook calling for "Democrats to be hanged over the 2020 election."  He has called Vice President Harris a "hoe" and has also been ranting deep state conspiracies."

This man's addition to the team is especially threatening to all who value the "last best place - Montana."  "The total team includes Republicans who are foes to public lands, and value wealthy and politically connected landowners over everyday Montanans," said Montana Conservation Voters Director Jake Brown."

We can probably expect to see Gianforte's big dream come to fruition as public lands are sold off to his "wealthy and politically connected" friends.    

Gianforte believes he has a mandate to ravage our beautiful state. Perhaps he gained the necessary votes to believe he has that approval, but he will find that most of those voters "knew not what he is capable of doing."  Mistakes are made, like the president who his political party gave to the nation four years ago. 

This new governor will be completely wrong for Montana, and worst of all he has anger management issues.  And that, my friends, is a terrible combination for anyone - especially as our Governor!

An Opinion By John Watson

 

Cow Dung On Millionaire Boots...

What in the world were you thinking of Montana GOP?  How did you let the worst of the worst grab hold of the reins?  Why did you let them shove the moderates aside and foist these bad hombres onto the state?

There is not a level-headed thinker in the bunch.  As we gaze across the state, you have dropped the hammer on some great candidates and dredged the bottom with the likes of Gianforte "the body slammer," Daines "the shadow of Trump," and Arntzen "the worm in the teacher's apple."  You also did yourself a great disservice with a smattering of hellbent-on-Montana-destruction folks in the State Legislature.

In short, you really stepped in cow dung 

up to your knees this time, Republicans!

Brady Wiseman, a former state legislator, said, "We have elected the most reactionary governor in 30 years.  And the Legislature?  The Republican legislative caucuses have self-selected the most extremist, right-wing membership for two solid decades, driving out the moderates among them.  These are not your Main Street, country club Republicans.  This is an ideologically driven wrecking crew.  They will interpret their victory as an undeniable mandate to bust out their sledge hammers and spark up their cutting torches.  Plainly speaking, we are about to be governed by the most extreme faction among Montanans at large."

We are in for a wild ride.  Most of the state Republican voters will freeze in their tracks when they see the most radical office holders in decades begin swinging that wrecking ball.  The voters will wonder what evil they have  wrought...and what miracle will be needed to undo the mess.

President Trump's wickedness has permeated across the country and, thanks to Sen. Daines, even to Montana.  Daines is still insisting that Trump will win a second term of office.

Tread lightly, Montana.  Gov. Gianforte and his horde of radical Republicans are on the loose!  Anything worth while to ordinary Montanans will be tossed aside like last week's news, while the affluent, the white, and the powerful will bask in the evil glow of far-right thinking.

The rest of us, not so much.

 

 

 

Welcome Number 46...

Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. is an American politician and the president-elect of the United States.  Having defeated incumbent Donald Trump in the 2020 United States presidential election, he will be inaugurated as the 46th president on January 20, 2021.

Education:  College of Law - Syracuse University (1968), University of Delaware (1965), Archmere Academy (1961).

Born:  November 20, 1942 (age 77), Scranton, PA.

Children:  Hunter Biden, Beau Biden, Ashley Biden, Naomi Christina Biden.

Spouse:  Jill Biden (married 1977)  Neilia Hunter (married 1966 - 1972)

Previous Offices:  Vice President of the United States (2009-2017), He was elected at age 29 by the Delaware voters and served in the U.S. Senate from 1973 to 2009 and was on two key committees as both ranking member and chairman:  The Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Family:  Married to Jill Biden, father to Hunter, Ashley, and the late Joseph Robinette "Beau" III and Naomi.  Biden's first wife, Neilia, died in a car accident with their baby daughter Naomi in 1972.  Beau Biden died in May 2015 of brain cancer.

Little Known Fact:  As a child, Biden struggled with stuttering, which he overcame with public speaking.  It is rarely audible. 

The major criticism heard from his opponents:  He is a 47-year career politician.  Gee, is that worse than a career businessman with countless bankruptcies, unpaid taxes, pathological lying history, numerous extramarital affairs, and years of cheating contractors and subcontractors out of wages?  Additionally, we can't forget how he never had a clue how to "run" the government of the United States of America, but he was proficient at appointing people to "run" it into the ground. 

Let's remind ourselves about president-elect Joe Biden's qualifications as a 37-year U.S. Senator and 8 years as Vice President.

We can certainly rely on Biden's acumen to take our nation back to respectability and honor in the world.  That comes from his 47 years of knowing what makes America great.

After four years of nightmares from the phony "Art of the Deal" businessman...I'll take a career politician anytime!

WHO LOOSED THE HOUNDS?

 Who loosed the hounds?  

We tremble in fear.  Shall we exposed the culprit?  Who called the "hounds" forth?  Who gave them a voice?  Who gave them a stage upon which to show the world their identity?  Who gave them a free pass to bring out their venom?  Who gave them the right to turn our democracy on its head and widen the chasm already dividing our nation?  Who gave them permission to rise up against our rule of law?

Who, indeed?

None other than our current, but soon to depart, president - that's who!

I don't intend to characterize these folks as "hounds."  Most were probably decent God fearing folks who - along with the rest of us -  had their complaints about some things with our burdensome government. Okay, their personal likes were a bit over the top, such as White Supremacy, Racism, Bigotry, liberalism, KKK...things like that.  But when they were given a stage, a very large microphone, and television exposure, they went berserk!  They played it to the hilt and they got their long-awaited attention.

Their self-proclaimed and long overdue "forty-eight months of fame" were celebrated with nationwide whoopin' and hollerin' as they paid homage to the man who delivered them from their lives of shadows.

However, now that the one who delivered them is moving back into his own world of shadows,  what is to become of them?  Will another step forward and feed the "hounds" that have been loosed?  Will another supply such a generous stage for their enlightenment?  Will their free passes to live life from the dark side still be revered?  Will they still be free to divide and exploit our people?

I suppose it would be too much to ask the one who is departing to yank their passes of hostility and admit it was all a game he played on them.  They were only a means to his end, so to speak.

Yes, I suppose this gigantic problem is all ours to work out.

Good luck to us.

     

The End Times?

An Opinion
by John Watson

If we live long enough - and I think I have - most of us will learn one very important lesson in life:  How to find the lowest common denominator of what makes people tick.

Some of us, however, are unable to see the signposts. Whether it was our intent or not, we have created a society that benefits the wealthy, rewards the selfish, heralds the corrupt, accepts the unprincipled, and casts aside the disposable.

While our capitalist friends savor the majestic documents our founding fathers handed down to us, they are quick to bend - and even break - them if it suits their personal needs.  In short, they have become adept at turning a blind eye to make the ends justify the means. 

Such is the predicament we find ourselves in today.  Our current president is testing a theory that if you lose an election, you may need to simply declare it was rife with fraud and then make someone prove it wasn't.  We all learned at a young age that it is next to impossible to prove a negative.  The president, however, is stalling for time - and heating up his "base" by pouring gas on a fire that doesn't exist.  Whether he actually has a plan in mind or not, he has neatly put our nation - and to some extent- the world on hold.

Under normal circumstances, the people would see the scheme and dismiss it out of hand.  But that would be under normal circumstances.  Today, the president has those seventy million voters who are with him until the cows come home and whether they see the scheme or not, they are attached to him at the hip.  He yells, "jump" and they say, "how high?" 

The scheme has place our national security in jeopardy because nations around the world are wondering what the hell is going on with the superpower of the world, created panic across America, and widened the political gap between us that was already far too wide.   

There are literally no winners in this tragedy.

The incoming president will start with one foot in a hole and weeks behind time. The current president's political allies in the U.S. House and Senate who have refused to stop this madness will eventually wear the stain of a selfish inability to come to the aid of their constituents.

And the current president, who started this den of iniquity, will slink away into our history books as the evil of evils. 

"A resemblance of an Antichrist will stride to a church while his warriors clear a path with clubs and pepper spray.  He will stand before the church's gate and raise a bible above his head.  It will be held upside-down.  The people will jeer at his mockery."