When Will It Ever Be Over?

If the past four years of living under the cloud of political madness has affected you like it has my wife and I, we sympathize hugely.

It must also be said that the past one year of Covid-19 hasn't helped a darn bit, either.

The coronavirus kept us indoors around the clock, with the exception of the wife running to the grocery store, pharmacy, and library.  She would don her mask and gloves and avoid anyone who even looked like they may get closer than six feet.  It's been pure hell!  No one should have to live this way.  We celebrated with great hoop-la when we got our first vaccinations last week.  

But, with the nation approaching 500,000 deaths and several hundred thousand struggling with the virus, I couldn't begin to compare it to the struggles we have endured with our country suddenly and swiftly making a ninety degree turn from democracy and heading straight into hell's version of the Star Trek Borg. They were a pseudo-species of cybernetic humanoids, or cyborgs, from the Delta  Quadrant knowns as drones. No single individual truly existed within the Borg Collective, as Borg were linked into a hive mind which connected all of them and allowed information from every drone who had been brought into the collocative to be shared.  

 

That was how the "Trump Collective" worked.  He was the "beginning and the end of all thought" for those who followed his every word. It was as evil as it was eerie!

It was excruciating to watch it all play out on our every minute of national news.  His worshippers believed all 35,000+ fact-checked lies he told.  He told them to ignore the rest of us for clinging to the values we were watching disappear.  We were the wrong-headed ones!  Day after day, we tuned in to watch the ugly  rallies he used to spread his lies, the gangs of anti-American pseudo-stormtrooper demonstrations in the streets, and the constant drumbeat of "the media is the enemy of the people."

It gets to you and you begin to wonder how much more you can take before you think about actions that you never in a thousand years thought you would consider.  Of course, you know you need to keep on keeping on.  It will end some day. We are resilient and we can take a little more of it.  But it's so hard to watch your country spiraling down the drain.

Well, he's out of office now.  There isn't much he can do to us now. But his followers?  Most of them are still as hell-bent on resurrecting him from the ashes as ever.  They still want him back! What is this all about?  What did he ever do for them besides a few moments of fame and  false power?  Where have they all been, before him, and how long has this been festering?  And most important, WHY? 

The answer may be simple.  He needed a base of support to prop up his coup attempt.  He needed a mass of people to tell him he was worthy of the position of leader for the new authoritarian government he was planning.  He needed to hear those screams of support, and they needed to hear a leader say he was taking them to the "promised land."  Maybe it was all just that simple.

But they're still here.  They didn't leave with him.  

And he still whispers into their ears in the dark of night:  "Stand down. Stand Ready."

When, dear God, will it ever be over?

 

Another Big Lie From Capitalists. . .

The Keystone Pipeline had 21 leaks from 2010 to 2019. The pipeline system extends 2,600 miles from Alberta, Canada, east into Manitoba, and south to Texas, according to TC Energy.

The pipeline carries Tar Sands oil.  Even the name sounds bad. And it is as bad as it sounds.  In fact, oil from the tar sands is the most destructive, carbon-intensive and toxic fuels on the planet. Producing it releases three times as much greenhouse gas pollution as conventional crude oil does.  

"The amount of land impacted by one oil spill in particular,  in North Dakota is almost 10 times larger than was initially reported, officials say.  The disclosure comes about a month after the Keystone 1 Pipeline leaked about 383,040 gallons of oil.

TC Energy, the company that owns the pipeline, shut it down on Oct. 29th after discovering that the oil had leaked from the pipe into the surrounding wetlands.  The pipeline was returned to service on Nov. 10th following approval by the US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, TC Energy says. Despite the initial identification of a 25,000 square yard leak, TC Energy did not update their website to reflect this number until later, after media reports of the large increase in impact estimates were released." (CNN-Nov. 20, 2019)

 

"This is exactly the kind of spill we are worried about when it comes to Keystone XL being built.  It has never been IF a pipeline breaks, but rather WHEN," Joe Braun, Indigenous Environmental Network frontline community organizer told CNN at the time of the leak.

There are widely different numbers attached to construction jobs in Montana for construction of the pipeline.  When TC Energy is asked, there is no response.  One report says a total of roughly fifty jobs may be available after construction is completed:  Thirty-five part-time and fifteen full time.

The Republican Party and Party faithfuls are screaming bloody murder because President Biden has stopped construction of this dreadful oil pipeline. 

The screams, however, are purely political.  They have no merit, whatsoever, and they know it.  But, it won't stop them from screaming, because that is what they do when it involves some mega-rich oil company who wants to make a buck on the graves of innocent people, their lands, and wildlife.

It boldly identifies the difference between capitalistic right-wingers who worry about money first, as opposed to liberal folks who worry about people and our planet first!

The Enemy Within. . .

House Minority Leader
Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)

The nation is expecting this man to gather up his GOP, renegade, howl-at-the- moon, pack of hounds who were loosed on the U.S. House of Representatives, and put them back into chains. (When the laughter dies down, we'll continue.)

This man is Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.  A member  of the Republican Party, he has served in the House since 2007.  He represents California's 23rd congressional district.

Sometime next week, McCarthy is to have a meeting with one of the strangest ladies to ever step foot into the House.  Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) has managed to do and say at least two dozen outrageous things before she even found the door to the House's  little girl's room. As an example of how her "brain" works, she believes a "secret Jewish laser blast for space is responsible for the terrible California fires."  She has threatened many House Members, one who was assigned an office next to her, but has since asked, out of fear of the kook, to be moved.  There is a bound volume-sized report on her incredibly insane actions already, and she got arrived this month!

It will be interesting to see how McCarthy handles this.  Stay tuned.

Other thugs under his command are:  Matt Gaetz, Jim Jordan, Mo Brooks, and Louis Gohmert, to name a few.  These are hard core, obnoxious villains  who are still fighting the results of the 2020 presidential election.  Many are traveling the country and rallying against their fellow Republicans who did not support Trump in the last election.  Their goal is to get voters to elect new, more loyal Trump/GOP candidates next time.

One would think McCarthy has a tough job trying to keep these thugs in line.  One would think wrongly, however.  It appears he has no intention of keeping them on the straight and narrow.  The intense heat emanating from the fires of these knot heads seems of little concern to our man, McCarthy.  As a matter of fact, the nation sees and hears him, regularly, on national television ranting about the "stolen election" of his idol Trump.  So much for tamping down the hostility!

He took time out of his busy schedule, amid the raucous yelling and screaming within the House of Horrors, and jetted down to Mar-a-Lago this week to visit his old buddy.  It appeared he came home with new marching orders from "individual number one" to continue the coup with the stormtroopers who are "still at the ready." 

Folks, we know how to fight the enemy across the seas and we know how to fight the enemy 

that came ashore.

But we seem to be having a great deal of trouble fighting the enemy who lives

 in our own neighborhoods!  

A Nation Of Laws or A Nation Of People. . .

Are we a nation governed by rule of law or are we a nation ruled by people?  That really is the question, isn't it?

Rule of law has always been the answer.  There wasn't even much of an argument about it.  All people were considered equal under the law and no one - not even the president - is considered above the law.  That was settled fact for nearly 240 years, and if anyone wanted to test it, they could go before a judge and get their come-uppins real quick.

Around 2017, however, mere mortals of our nation decided to put it to a political test.  Men (mostly) of the Republican Party began feeling their status of elite stardom was being overlooked and decided "some of us deserve to be above the law."  They were of great wealth and hell-bent on getting more.  And, great wealth deserves great power. The idea caught on with others of similar ranking and soon there were enough to prosecute a coup on the Grand Old Party.  Men of like minds became "puffed up" on their status beyond anyone's imagination.  They were looking down on the great and wise men who fashioned our nation so many years ago, and they scoffed at the puny ideas and words that our founders put to parchment paper.  

Today, these scoundrels of the "new and terribly unimproved" Grand Old Party are thrashing around for identity and validation.  Sadly, it not only isn't coming, but it is being scoffed at as an evil form of domestic terrorism.  They are vocally thrashing our rules of law as they presume to administer their own.  If, in our congressional laws, they were unable to get their newly-imagined powers, they would simply make up new laws. Additionally, they have incited the mobs of such gangs as White Supremacist's, Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, QAnons, and various others. An insurrection was leveled on our Capitol by the mob and several of the "newly formed GOP" have been charged as being complicit in the coup. Five people were killed, many were injured, and congressional offices were trashed.

America now must decide - once again - that we are, indeed, a nation of laws and not of people.  No person is above the law and no law must be ignored.

This is what is called "settled law."

 

Bush v. Gore: How It Is Supposed To Work

In my opinion, the 2020 presidential election result was badly handled.  Let me explain. . . 

In November 1999, an election for President of the United States between George W. Bush and Al Gore was thrown in chaos as "too close to call" was announced.  Skipping to the end of the story, Florida became the eye of the storm and ballots were inspected for "hanging chads" and other such meaningless election words were bandied about.  It became a media frenzy as Florida election workers were on everyone's television screens as they carefully inspected each ballot with eagle eye performance for the television viewer's amazement and delight.

Now enters the key to the dilemma:  Candidate George W. Bush has a brother, Jeb Bush,  who happens to be the Florida Governor.  In the midst of the final vote - where it is being reported that Bush is losing ground - brother Jeb suddenly calls a halt to the recount and sends the election results to the U.S. Supreme Court for a final decision.  The Court's  5 -4 split gave the edge to the conservative justices.  George W. Bush was declared the winner.

Funny thing about this is the huge mistake it caused.  The first error was when former Vice President Al Gore immediately called Bush and congratulated him.  And then went "quietly into that good night."

By today's standards, that should not have been the way to do things.  There would have to be a litany of lies from Gore that the race was stolen, domestic terrorists would have to be summoned to maim, kill, and trash the capitol, and endless months of unrest and violence would have to begin.  The country would go into shock and despair, and threats against public officials would run rampant.   

However, in 2000, game over.  All went back to normal in America and with a few grumblings heard around the country, all was well with the world once again!

But, that was how Democrats stepped up to the election "defeat."  That was how America handled it.

Today, the Republicans have another plan.  When they lose, they try to reverse a fair and final election with thuggery and domestic terrorism!

 

Divided, We Fall. . .

America is standing on the cusp of a fatal crisis. We are on the precipice of an unstable overhang and there is nothing but air for thousands of feet straight down.

To the left of us is a group of strong, hardworking people who are trying to stabilize our balance and keep us from falling.  They are the anchors of our democracy.  They have the constitution of our nation imbedded in their mind and heart. 

To the right of us is a group who has placed their political party and their individual futures ahead of our country.  They are in a free-wheeling state of mind and they will not be deterred form their goals to take back control of our government.  They have tried to decertify our last presidential election.  They have stormed our capitol, maimed and killed innocent people and, through mob rule, had plans to kidnap and kill elected officials of our capitol.  They hunted for the Vice President of the United States with plans to do him great harm, but he escaped to a protected bunker.  This mob consisted of White Supremacists, Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, and other vicious groups of radicalized domestic terrorists.  They were incited to do harm by the President of the United States.  He told them, over national television, "to go to the capitol and fight like hell, because if you don't, you are going to lose your country."

Many Republicans who are members of the U.S. House and Senate were complicit in this assault on January 6, 2021.  Many are still fighting the fair, verified elections in all fifty states.  The new Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate said today that, "the former president has acted in a reprehensible and treasonist way, the likes of which America has never witnessed."  A trial in the senate will decide his guilt or innocence.  However, it is evident that all but five Republican Senators may acquit him. Regardless, we will still have to contend with that mob of homegrown terrorists!

So, the cliff we are standing on as we stare down into that bottomless chasm is beginning to crumble.  There is little that can save us. Ironically, maybe the only ones who can are those standing to the "right" of us.

What will they do?  

What kind of political party have they become?

The Republican's Dilemma. . .

 

The former President  worked with extreme planning to seditiously perform a coup on the government of the United States of America. He is guilty of acts against our rule of law, our constitution, and outright acts of treason.  He incited, assembled, and gave the orders to "fight like hell to save your country" to the mob who ransacked our Capitol, injured and killed people, and scurried off into the night on January 6, 2021. 

 

Today, many in that mob has been arrested.  Sedition can carry imprisonment of up to twenty years.  In America's younger days, it could have meant execution.

Some of our unpatriotic Republican members of the U.S. House and Senate are nearly as guilty as the worst monsters in that mob. Some colluded with their president to overturn the election.  Some conspired with the mob to disrupt and decertify electoral votes.  We will soon see what charges - and what punishment - they will face.  Most of us already know it will definitely not be harsh enough, however.

Because of his part, the former president was impeached for this insurrection on our government.  We await the trial in the U.S. Senate to learn their decision:  Acquit or Convict.  

Since the impeachment, we have learned of the president's seditious actions to remove the Acting Attorney General, replace him with a loyalist, and begin the process of decertifying certain key state elections results.  Unbelievable actions by a power-hungry president who was willing to do anything to remain in power!

This traitor to his own country should be convicted and never allowed to run again for a federal office.  His monstrous acts cannot be excused - or forgotten!

"And a red "T" should be branded on the forehead 

of any U.S. Senator who chooses to acquit, 

and remain for the rest of their days,

because they will share the guilt

of the president and his mob."

So My Happy New Year News Is Late. . .

TWENTY-TWENTY  WON

Or at least it feels that way to some!

As we look back at 2020, we have that nagging feeling that it may only look like it won. . . if we squint real hard.  We can all agree, however, that regardless of the fight, we have arrived in Twenty-Twenty-One.

The pandemic has taken the lives of more than 400,000 of our brothers and sisters here in America, and it's not through with us yet.

The political landscape is still in a turmoil and while we have a new administration in place, we seem to be having trouble defining and digesting the old one.  It is out of sight but not out of mind - yet!

Our nation is about as divided as it was in the 1860s - before and during our Civil War.  As a matter of fact, many will tell you today that we are in the middle of a new-and-unimproved, technological civil war with the same old hate but with new-fangled social media, whiz-bang. doohickeys like Facebook and Twitter to help us fight. God never intended for our thumbs and fingers to do the rapid-fire weapon-shooting work we ask them to now do.  They have become our weapons of choice to use on our political foes.

Here in Montana, however, the GOP has definitely Won!  They have our state covered like a big, wooly blanket...full of bed bugs, stickers, and fleas.  Nothing is sacred anymore.  Tax cuts are only for the rich, and a few handfuls of wheat that the combines left on the ground are for the rest of us.  They are disallowing trans kids from playing sports, which will cut federal dollars for our schools.  They have insulated businesses from being sued by employees who become infected with covid-19 while working on a job where the owner is negligent of workplace restrictions. A state-wide abortion ban is next up and they have their sights set on killing off unions, too.  So many people-friendly issues that are far from necessary in the minds of GOP/Business people. 

We can only guess what people-winning issues will be next, but we know they will include the GOP death knell of liberal-dreams-on-the-guillotine.  Perhaps they will cut the minimum wage to $3.25 per hour.  Maybe a 60-hour work week with neither overtime pay or regular pay beyond 40 hours. They might be considering that all workers must donate (by payroll deduction, of course) to a company-wide charity to help the boss pay for his backyard swimming pool.

  

It isn't unusual for voracious Republicans to think this way.

And believe me, Montana now has more than its share of those!

No One Hates The Grand Old Party. . .

Republicans in America are dead wrong about why Democrats greatly opposed the former president. It was absolutely not because he was a Republican.

It was because the man possessed a fatally flawed character that ruled his every word and his every action.  He will be as close as anyone will ever come in our lifetime to the likeness of the antichrist.  His drive to become the emperor of America was only exceeded by the twisted and ruthless ways he envisioned achieving that goal.  We are still learning of ways he manipulated people and laws to usurp our democratic rule of law. His goal was to untether our constitution!

The mistake Republicans voters across the nation are making is misreading his opponents.  At some point early in his term of office, it became evident that this man represented no political party.  He was representing his own party -  a "party of one."  Many Americans realized this and began their opposition to the president - not the GOP.  He could have been a Democrat, a Whig, a Federalist, an Independent...or even a Republican.  None of that mattered anymore.  The majority of the people were mad at the man!

Most Republicans in Congress were along for the ride.  It gave them "political capital" to be on his team, even if it cost them a bit of scorn for ignoring his tremendous character flaw.  And it was easy for them to blame the "hateful liberals" for picking on those flaws, too.

Today, as he sits in his palace in Florida, Republicans across America still blame Democrats for hating him for his GOP ideology. They are blinded by the fact that he is an authoritarian who needs no political party to guide him. Had he been successful in the now-obvious coup attempt, does anyone think he would have hoisted the GOP flag?  His actions were a shinning example of how the ends justifies the means.

He was as loyal to the flags of the Proud Boys, the KKK, the Oath Keepers, or the White Supremacists as he was to the flag of the Grand Old Party of the Republicans!

Republicans need to understand WHY American Democrats turned on this man. It was because he was against everything America stands for.  

If we are to unite our nation once again, his followers must join the rest of us in putting the past four years aside.  We can move forward as a united America once again. . . and make sure another presidential anomaly like this never happens again!

Montana Rules Are Just For Losers. . .

When the Montana Republicans step in it, they do it nearly up to their knees.

Their first criminal act out of the chute was to give the richest of our state a yuuge Trump-size tax cut.  As an after thought, they reached into the petty cash drawer and came up with a pittance for the rest of us.

Next, they went to the GOP vault of horrors and dusted off their many umpteen-thousand abortion bills that have been collecting dust.  They just can't help themselves when it comes to getting between a Montana women and her doctor.  I don't have a tally on how many women are on that committee, but I'm saying if there are more than two, I'll challenge the governor to  a body-slamming fist fight - his anger management issues be damned.  It appears  that this bill will virtually stop all abortions in Montana.

And to show their evil doesn't stop there, they have been caught red-handed violating the open-meeting rules.  They deliberately worked over the rule that says if you have more than half of the caucus members present you cannot shut out the press.  Their big idea was to tell the caucus members that there must be at least one less than half of the caucus to show up.

If there is a way to skirt the rules, the Republicans will find it.

  After all, rules are just for losers!

This, Montana, is your scurrilous 

GOP lawmakers in action.

 

The Jackals are Inside Our Gates!

Charles Schultz, cartoonist and creator of the comic strip "Peanuts" said it best through the words he wrote for good ol' Charlie Brown:  "Good Grief!"

My words would be, "Who loosed these Hounds of Hell?"

We have all been painfully aware of the hostile, unpatriotic Republican  desperados in the U.S. House of Representatives for some time now.  And, they are also active in our U. S. Senate.  Their contrarian, obnoxious, and overtly hostile actions in those hallowed halls have been televised for the whole world to see  - which I assumed was their  intention.  One casts aside his jacket, rolls up his sleeves, and wants all of us to know he's "the boss" of the shindig as he does his rapid-fire demeaning of anyone within earshot.  Several others interrupts and bark back at witnesses giving testimony like the proverbial junk yard dogs of the House. They consider themselves not just House Republicans, but the House "Super Republicans." They are opposed to such pesky things as:  rule of law, Capitol decorum, mission statement of the Grand Old Party, and our democracy, in general.  To most, they aren't really Republicans at all, but rather a horde about to spawn another political party.

These individuals have crawled out onto the ledge of sanity and are screaming at we Americans in the dark of night.  Their judgement has sprung from the likes of their idol, the former president, or from their own warped and wrong-headed sense of dishonoring our nation's long, rich heritage. 

What are they really about? No one has asked these unpatriotic devils to rewrite our constitution, tear apart our bill of rights, or reshape the equality of our branches of government. Take, for example, a newly elected upstart Representative from Georgia, Marjorie Taylor Greene (R).  She came to the House just days ago, packing the papers to begin the impeachment of President Joe Biden. Cute.  This is the kind of Republicans that are being elected these days?

You know a few more of these unpatriotic elected officials by their names:  Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Lindsay Graham, Sen. Josh Hawley, Minority House Leader Kevin McCarthy, Rep. Jim Jordan, Rep. Matt Gaetz,  and Rep. Louis Gohmert. But there are several more.  Some of these are being investigated for questionable actions they may have taken in the Jan. 6th insurrection on our capitol.  The Speaker of the House said any who are found guilty will be removed from office.

While we all want the bad taste of the past four years to go away, we cannot allow elected members of both houses of our congress to escape our laws.  What kind of a legislative body would we display to our nation - and the world - if we allowed them to skip punishment for crimes we would not waive for our citizens?

Good Grief!  What have we become?  

A horde of treasonists 

from our  executive and legislative branches?

  

The Grand Old Party We Thought We Knew. . .

"In the midst of World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt included the following in his 1944 State of the Union Address:  "One of the great American industrialists of our day - a man who has rendered yeoman service to his country in this crisis - recently emphasized the grave dangers of the 'rightist reaction' in this nation.

"All clear-thinking businessmen share his concern.  Indeed, if such reaction should develop - if history were to repeat itself and we were to return to the so-called 'normalcy' of the 1920s -  then it is certain that even though we shall have conquered our enemies on the battlefields abroad, we shall have yielded to the spirt of fascism here at home."

"Trump's Grand Old Party loyalists prove the Republican Party is now the anti-democracy party, trampling all over their own treasured legal principles of conservative constitutionalism: originalism and federalism." 

                                                   

There are seriously scary stories being circulated among the loyalists within the Grand Old Party.  They center around the metamorphosis taking place in the hallowed halls of the Party.  It seems there are strong moves to come out of the closet, and flat out announce that they want democracy in America to be on its way out the door. These Trump Loyalists are overtly letting the nation know that they are ready to prosecute a civil war in order to get things their way.

A few of these GOP desperados are: Kevin McCarthy, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz, Mo Brooks, Louis Gohmert, and Donald Trump. . . to name but a few.  They appear to have decided our democracy needs to be tossed into the dustbin of history.  Many of these congressional "enemies of the people" need to be expelled from their jobs.

 

Several of these characters are under investigation for being deeply involved in the insurrection that took place at our capitol on Jan. 6th.  Their involvement, if the allegations are proven, would make them outright traitors to not only our democracy, but to our constitution and our national security, as well.

We hope the investigation doesn't fall through the cracks of the political brouhaha that is taking place in Washington these days. It's getting harder to separate the good guys from the bad guys without a program and constant monitoring.

We have a chance at a new beginning today.  Let's make the most of it and come together under the words and vision of our founding fathers.  Now is not the time to begin carving up our nation to fit the greed of a few!

 

The Meek Are Supposed To Inherit The World, Aren't They?

If you are a white male who was born in America  and living the life of an affluent  member of society making more than $100,000 per year, you are probably a charmed Republican. You probably  have a membership in a golf course and eat in the swankiest dining establishments. And, you undoubtedly live in the preferred sections of town.  You would prefer that we don't take in any more immigrants from those poop-hole countries and you would likely try to ostracize the ones who are already here. You were not too keen on letting women worm their way into politics, either.  And people of color or a different religion than yours was strictly taboo in politics, as well.

In short, friend, you are looking at a Neanderthal when you look in the mirror.  They weren't too keen on those homo erectus critters moving in on their territory with all of their strange differences, either.  

If you are not living the charmed lifestyle outlined above, you still have no reason to feel down-and-out, pilgrim, because you are in good company.  You are one of the Ninety-One percenters in America!  Only nine percent of Americans have an income of $100,000 or more annually. Their power, however, is unimaginable! 

Pew Research gives us the following breakdowns from 2018

        Total Registered Voters    153.1 million

        Men                                    71.7 million

        Women                               81.4 million

            Independent                        34%

            Democrats                          49%

            Republicans                       44%

           White Voters                          67%

           Age 50+                                 52%

           Christians                             64%*

            (*Down from 79% in 2008)

Personal Income in America...

"The aggregate income measured the combined income earned by all persons in a particular group. In 2018, the total personal income earned in the United States was $17.6 trillion.  In 2008, all households in the United States earned roughly $12,442.2 billion.  One half, 49.98% of all income in the US was earned by households with an income over $100,000, the top twenty percent.  Over one quarter, 28.5%, of all income was earned by the top 8%, those households earning more than $150,000 a year." Pew Research 

It all boils down to the horrible way our nation has allowed a huge chasm to develop between the haves and have-nots.  We have a handful of our richest and most powerful citizens calling the shots for the rest of us.  A mere handful of people in America own more than 50% of the total wealth.  That would not normally be a problem, until we allow them to buy politicians, let them start rewriting our laws to suit themselves, and then watch them turn our democracy into an autocracy or authoritarian rule.  The rich, when left to their own devices, will always find a way to rule over the rest of the people.

We, the greatest democracy in the world, will not survive this catastrophe.  Greed begets money, money begets more greed, and more greed begets more money, and more money begets power, and power begets total power!

The Ninety-One Percenters need to decide it isn't in the best interest of the country to let the Nine Percent ruin their democracy!

Can We Now Say It's Finally Over?

On a January dreary, while we nestled in, so weary

of the lies and past corruption, tormented by the interruption

of a man bent on destruction.

Four long years of evil lying, is there anyone still buying?

Hateful rage and  evil  fright,  fires to light his evil night.

 Can his soul withstand the fight?

He tells us all he won't be quiet, not without a vengeful riot,

But his rage is dying out,

He's left with but a boyish pout,

and memories of his winless bout.

Now a new dawn rises slow, beaconing the one to go,

Our hopes begin to dawn anew,

all the nightmares won't come true.

Can we now just say it's through?

 

by John Watson

 

Corporations Are NOT People, Too!

There is plain ol' hypocrisy and then there's political and judicial hypocrisy.  The conservative movement in America founded an organization called "Citizens United" behind a veiled mission statement that, through a combination of education, advocacy, and grass-roots organization" seeks to "reassert the traditional American Values of limited government, freedom of enterprise, strong families, and national sovereignty in America.

They challenged campaign finance rules after the FCC stopped it from promoting and airing a film criticizing presidential candidate Hillary Clinton too close to the presidential primary.  In a 5 - 4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court said that corporations and other outside groups can spend unlimited money on elections.

We all came to hear and hate their mantra stating "corporations are people, too!"

Hypocrisy at its worst!  Their mission statement stresses grass-roots thinking, reasserting "traditional American Values, and strong families," while promoting big money from big corporations to give to conservative candidates so they can pass bills to shove "families" to the back of the line, behind big money and big corporations. They have no throbbing interest in American Family Values nor in American Families!  Their only concern is for corporations, corporate-bought politicians, and money to buy everything they need to satisfy their power and greed.

It stinks to high heaven.  

The Supreme Court ruling in favor of Citizens United must be overturned.  The results of such a ruling have brought money, corporations, and power players into our elections and the offices are going to the highest bidders.  Money is the name of the game and their laws are plowing common folks underground.  Money and power beget more money and more power.  Citizens United isn't anything like what it touts in its mission statement.

But Citizens United fooled enough conservative Republicans, in both houses of congress and in our highest court, to vote for their hypocritical - and unamerican - shenanigans!  It's time to "storm the gates!"

 

 

Antifa: Defined For Dummies. . .

We need to put one crazy, nagging problem to rest now: When the far-right refers to liberals as Antifa, they have no idea what a dictionary is.  If you are a member of Antifa, you are one who is opposed to fascism.  Anti (against) Fa (Fascism)...see how that works? Evil men from the past who were fascists were Benito Mussolini of Italy and Adolf Hitler of Germany.  Who cannot be against them? 

Who cannot be against fascists?  Well, today's conservative right-wing authoritarians cannot be against them.  They are practically first cousins.  Some are practically siblings.  

ANTIFA is a political movement compromising autonomous groups affiliated by their opposition to fascism and other forms of extreme right-wing ideology.  

FASCISM is a form of far-right, authoritarian, ultranationalist characterized by dictatorial power. (Anything sound familiar here?)

When Donald Trump became President, he spewed lies by the truckload, referred to our national media as "enemies of the people," and spawned horrific hordes of fascist and fascist-type gangs as his preferred base of support.  They included White Supremacist's, KKK, Proud Boys, White Nationalists, and others.

Fascism begins and ends with a liar, his lies, and those followers who believe the lies - to the bitter end.  When the world learns the truth, it will expose the fascist.  It's that simple.

George Orwell, author of "1984," wrote, "The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears.  It was their final, most essential command."

Donald Trump said, July 24, 2018, "Just remember, what you are seeing and what your are reading is not what's happening."

We have suffered through four long years of a modern day fascist who nearly brought our nation to ruin.  The best we can feel about his criminal intentions is this:  We will remember him well, and should another like him venture our way, we will, hopefully, be able to steer clear of his evil.  

Additionally, our hope is that of those who were snared in his trap will see the light and come back to America, the greatest democracy on the face of the earth!  A democracy where no one is supreme to another, regardless of their color, race, or ethnicity.

Wake up, America!  Look around.  We have so many more likenesses than differences.  Why don't we try living like our founding fathers outlined for us?  It was a pretty good plan, and they intended for it to be a work in progress. . . but not in the direction it's currently headed!

 

This Investigation Will Be A "Killer". . .

If you thought we had seen the worst of this administration, let me give you a peek at what is yet to come.

We are about to learn why America is still waiting for their covid-19 vaccine shot in the arm. The latest numbers show about 10.6 million people have received at least one dose, and that about 1.5 million have been fully vaccinated.  That is far short of the goal federal officials set to give at least 20 million people their first shot before the end of 2020.

Why, you might ask?

There is a pesky little piece of information that is alarming: Most of our governors have been lied to about not only how many doses they will receive, but when they will receive them. They built their plans on how to begin giving shots based on those two critical pieces of information.  But, alas, our crack team of federal distributors, inaptly called "warp speed" failed and outright fabricated numbers and times.

How are these mental midgets answering the questions?  Well, if any of them were still around, we could ask them.  But, most have resigned, and their boss, the liar-in-chief, hasn't been in his office much for about...well, since Nov. 3, 2020. He's been busy trying to overturn a fair and lop-sided election he lost. Ironically, he just might have answers for us, but he is most likely at the root of the false information our states have been receiving. 

When he is official out of office, this nation is going to hire thousands of attorneys to dig into the myriad of crimes he and his thugs have committed.  

But the most pressing of these crimes against Americans will be:  Why did so many people have to become infected with covid-19, why did so many have to die because the president did not see that Americans got the truth, and why didn't the states got their vaccine when promised?

That will be the fatal blow to this president's long list of crimes.  Wait and watch for the answers.  It may be just one more nail in his coffin, but it will be as big as a railroad spike!

 

The Horror Of January 6, 2021 Must Have Consequences. . .

Opinion By
JOHN WATSON

It's getting kind of tiresome to hear from Republican U.S. Senators and Representatives who have seen the error of their ways and beg our forgiveness.  It seems the horror created by the mob that injured, killed, created senseless carnage, and threatened the lives of countless people on Jan. 6th is beginning to wake up the damage done by these right-wing traitors.

They were definitely complicit in their arrogant and bullish attempt to convince the Americans who already knew the truth about the official results of the 2020 Presidential Election. Their all-out support of the president backfired and now they are running for their political lives.  

The full and unabridged truth was in plain sight for any to see. The version these Republican Senators and Representatives chose to see did not exist.  They, like their president, believed if they yelled the "big lie" loud enough it would become fact. All it did was enrage the president's "mob base" to such a point that when they heard his invitation to "come to the Capitol and fight like hell," they came.  Five people lost their lives, more than fifty were injured - some seriously - and our Capitol was in shambles and chaos.  People were in fear of their lives and Americans watched their television sets in disbelief.  We had, at that moment, become a true "banana republic."

And now, we have a president who takes absolutely no responsibility and Republican members of both houses of congress who want us to forgive them for their treasonous participation. 

The goal of the mob (with the obvious order from the president and the blessings of the congressional members complicit in the action) was to disrupt the congressional vote of approval of the electoral college's final tally of the presidential vote count: 306 Biden -  232 Trump.

Since there is evidence of complicity, and more coming out each day, we now have the "running of the elephants" to tweet their "I'm so sorry" messages from the safety of their homes and offices.

We cannot in any way allow them to neither escape from their crimes nor hide from their shame.  This was an act of treason. It turned our nation's Capitol into a battlefield. Our allies around the world are shocked and our adversaries are elated beyond words.

America's greatest democracy - the shinning city on the hill - is in ruins.  Enormous security is planned for the presidential inauguration next week.  More combat soldiers are stationed around our Capitol than we have in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria combined!  All fifty state capitols are under threat of mob violence.  All because of those who propagate the "big lie" that our election was somehow rigged!

And the current president and more than 150 senators and representatives are in this mess up to their necks!

They all must be punished! 

From Montana's Last Best Place to Montana's First Worst Place

Let's see what shook out of the 2020 Montana GOP election goodie bag:  A mega-rich, once- convicted body-slamming governor with anger management issues, a bald-faced liar as US. senator, an anti-public school system superintendent of public instruction, an attorney general who is standing way too far out in right field, and a newly elected US representative who doesn't have the brains God gave a goose.  Plus, he's determined to help Trump overturn the 2020 election, or get expelled trying.  

That should be enough grief for any  Montanan to  endure.  But, as the guy says, "Wait!  There's more!" So far, that only gives us Gianforte, Daines, Arntzen, Knudsen, and Rosendale. We still have a dump truck full of legislators to review. And I mean a dump truck load of 'em.  The new Legislative Session is reeking with Republicans - from wall to wall and from floor to ceiling!

 

The Montana Republicans have the state by the tail on a downhill pull and those of us who count ourselves as "common folk" are in for four years of ungodly hell and damnation.

Governor Gianforte and the criminally-elite members of the State GOP Legislature announced masks would be optional before they even found the way to their little desks.  Gigantic tax cuts for the rich are to be given, and a wee small pittance of relief for the rest of us will be promised from the petty cash drawer.  Of course, a state-wide ban on abortions has also been promised.  They can't forget something that's for the good of their loyalists.

Perhaps you find my crystal ball forecasting a little cynical and pessimistic.  I'll concede that I am holding back a little. After all, the coven has only been operating for about a week. Their caldron isn't bubbling yet and the order of wings of bats and eyes of newt haven't even arrived. Good times are promised.

There will be plenty of time for them to get down to their really evil stuff.

Right now, about all we can do is sit back and roll our eyes at the GOP's version of Montana's "Last Best Place" that will soon  become Montana's "First Worst Place."

 

We are about to find out exactly who is the real "enemy of the people."

Keep your screens open to the "Montana Troublemaker."