The chickens are coming how to roost. . .

Dr. Deborah Birx was a member of the Trump Covid-19 Task Force. Facts are coming to light that tell us she was a loyal choice for the former president, but not so much for anyone else.

She has admitted to Dr. Sanjay Gupta during a CNN interview that hundreds of thousands of Covid-19 patients have died needlessly because former president Trump placed politics before science.  In the interview, Birx said she had conversations with him that made her feel very uncomfortable. She appears to be telling us that she had no choice but to do what she could and try to avoid those things she knew were not going to get passed the approval of the former president.  Her agenda was ludicrous!

It would be akin to Birx witnessing murders, but being afraid to reveal what she saw.  I distinctly remember reading somewhere that keeping your mouth shut makes you guilty by association.

If the medical scientists are now telling us the truth about the number of people who needlessly died, what are we supposed to do about it? 

This is astonishing information!  Did the former president, indeed, put the lives of all of those people over his personal need to stay in power?  Did he and his cohorts actually worked from that kind of a plan book? How many were involved in this murderous rampage?  What are their names?

Now that we have a new man in the White House, are we to just sweep it under the rug like it never happened?  I can't believe we've become this callous about  the deaths of these patients who died without family or friends at their bedsides.  They were only aware of doctors and nurses who held their hands until the end. 

If Birx is really telling the truth, America will never recover from this tragedy!  The stench of their actions will permeate across this nation for centuries!

We have never witnessed such a despicable tyrant as the former president, and it seems he had plenty of wretched loyalists to do his bidding, as well.

Those of us who supported - and continue to support - this man and his minions ought to all burn in the fiery pits of hell!

Ubuntu: "I am, because of we"

UBUNTU 

"I am, because of we"

An anthropologist filled a basket with delicious fruits and placed it under a tree. He then told a group of young boys from the African village to run to the tree and whoever reached it first could have the fruit.  He was totally surprised to see the boys join hands and walk to the tree together.  And together, they shared the fruit.

He asked one of the boys "why didn't you run to get the fruit?"

The boy replied, "Ubuntu."  Translated, it means, "I am, because of we."

I'm pretty sure we could gather up all of the knothead Republicans in the United States Senate and House, ask them to arrive at a solution to today's biggest problems, and never in a hundred years would they come to the answer,  "Ubuntu."

I won't accept the argument that the problem is with both parties, either.  The Democrats have been fighting to make life better for workers and others less fortunate in America for decades. It is the very definition of the word "liberal."  It this the very battle between Democrats and Republicans that has been raging for years.  It is the age-old, seemingly unworkable difference between liberals with open and wide-ranging  points of view versus Republicans with narrow and selfish capitalistic thinking.

What a nation we could be if we found a way to come together like those young boys in Africa.  They have found the solution at a young age:  "Ubuntu!"

We have been working on it for more than 200 years and we are further apart today than we've been in since the Civil War.  In today's political upheaval, I cannot even dream of the two parties joining hands and marching anywhere - not even to a free drinks and steak dinner!

If those little boys in Africa were given the solution by their elders and found it was a life worth living, we can do no less.  If they found a way to live by helping each other, how can we possibly do less?

Ubuntu!

The Treasonous Workings of the Dirty Dozen

THE DIRTY DOZEN

OF THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS

U.S. Senate

Mitch McConnell * Lindsey Graham * Ted Cruz * Ron Johnson * Mike Lee * Josh Hawley * John Kennedy

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIV

Kevin McCarthy * Jim Jordan * Matt Gaetz * Marjorie    Taylor Green * Lauren Boebert

These are the deplorables of our government.  They have committed atrocities that have amounted to treasonous acts against America, because they carried out their crimes as elected officials of our government. 

There are additional Republicans who barely missed mention here, and I am guessing they are as upset about their omission as the ones who made the list.  Many in their Party believe an honor such as "Dirty Dozen" would be a badge of achievement!

I consider all of those listed above as traitors to their country. They have carried out their activities against America in an attempt to overturn a presidential election in hopes of keeping their Party in power. They used what is now commonly known as "The Big Lie" to convince the American Voters that the former president won the 2020 election.  They each acted - in various degrees - to halt and reassign the electoral college's results to Donald Trump.

If this isn't treason, someone will have to explain to me what treason is.  Any elected official openly defying a national election that was certified to be without fraud by all fifty states is as bad as it gets! Their actions incited a mob of reportedly 10,000 White Supremacists, Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, QAnons, and others to storm our nation's capitol.  There were fatalities, serious injuries, damage to the capitol building's windows and doors, and destruction and theft to several offices.

While various law enforcement officials have arrested - and continue to arrest - perpetrators of the mob, the true criminals are wandering the halls of congress. This is not right and we cannot let it continue!

We are either a nation of laws or we aren't. January 6, 2021 will always be a rallying cry for justice to be returned to our government. If these members of congress are allowed to escape prosecution, America can be considered a lawless nation.  

Think about the seriousness of this.  Think about how far down we have fallen as a democracy.  It is mostly true that the Republican Party would rather have something other than a democracy, but we are known around the world as the "shinning city on the hill" of democracy.  We welcome others to our shores.  We aid other nations to become a free democracy.  

Are we going to let this Republican Party change all of that because it doesn't fit their authoritarian world?  If we wanted to live under the rule of one solitary power, we probably would have stayed in England!

I'm sure there is a perfect spot somewhere on this planet for the Party to set up shop and live the life they choose.  

But it ain't here, folks!  Not anywhere west of the Atlantic, east of the Pacific, south of Canada, or north of Mexico.  Because that's where America is, and that's where America will always be!

 

The Gawd-Awful Truth About The GOP. . .

In no way does anyone even pretend to have the answer to what has happened to the Grand Old Party.  Political pundits on television will try to make you believe they know, but they don't.  Talking heads on FOX "news" will tell us nothing has happened to the GOP.  And if you go straight to the "horses' mouth," the Grand Old Party will tell you they don't have a clue what has happened to them.  (I personally believe it was something put into that punchbowl by the former president.)

All anyone knows is they have recently lost four big elections and they are meaner than than a junkyard dog about life in general. They are like a cornered wild beast and gnarling and gnashing and striking out at anything that makes a move toward them.  They are like a kid who has been told "NO" and is throwing a huge temper tantrum. Their actions are despised by most Americans, and the PARTY. JUST. DOESN'T. GIVE. A. DAMN!

To narrow down what I'm talking about, look at just one example of what 99.9% of America hates in that new, atrocious Georgia law: "The new Georgia Law says it is unlawful to offer water or snacks to someone who has been standing in a long line for hours just to vote."

Now, sit quietly for a minute or two and contemplate that one single item in the new Georgia state "voter suppression" law that was passed by both Houses, and signed by their governor, all within a one-day period, in a secure location, in the dark of night.  Oh, there is enough other nauseating crap in the 100+ page bill, but just consider that one, inhumane part about no water and food shall be offered by family or friends for voters standing in line and trying to do their civic duty and vote!

That, by itself, is the essence of what is wickedly wrong with the Republican Party of America.  

They are acting like they lost their last chance at survival and they are going to go out on a really, really, low note!  They are mad at the world and they are going to make us all pay for something we didn't really have much to do with.  Sure, they fawned over someone who was a con man and a liar and the media gave him a lot of grief for his character flaws. But they saw him just as the nation and world saw him.  So, why did the Republican Party keep following him to the hubs of hell?  

The Grand Old Party has two choices - the same as we all have:  Get back to working for a united America with the rest of us, or stick to your guns and go down with your ship.

America would welcome back 

the Grand Old Party. 

But the current GOP doppelganger 

might as well just stay on that sinking ship!

The Devil Went Down To Georgia - indeed!

"Bubba" Kemp
Governor of Georgia

It is only fitting that I am typing this blog in a "Georgia" type font.  While it's true all of my previous blogs were set in the same font, I will be changing to "Times" for all future typesetting. It is my small, humble way of expressing my  rant about the outrageous new voter suppression laws just passed in the once great state of Georgia.

They couldn't have passed worse laws if they brought back - and legalized - lynching!  What in the world are these Republicans thinking?  This new in-your-face voter suppression law sped through the Georgia House, Senate, and on the Governor's desk, all within 24 hours!  That's quicker than a hangman can fashion a noose from a stiff  new rope!

"Bubba" Kemp, Governor of Georgia, chose an "undisclosed location" to sign the bill that was away from prying eyes of the news media. One brave State House Member found the right door and knocked.  She was immediately arrested, handcuffed, and thrown in the pokey.  "Bubba" meant business when he said there would be no spectators except his close friends: Half a dozen old, rich, white guys stood by him as he - we assume - put his real signature on the bill.  (He probably thought "Bubba" Kemp was going a bit too far.)

The photograph (and no, we don't know who took it) of the VSS (Voter Suppression Squad) will go into the annals of Georgia lore as the "day that will languish in infamy." Grandkids and Great-Grandkids will look at their grandparents and ask, "Why in the heck did you let them do?"

The Devil went down to Georgia, he was looking for a soul to steal

He was in a bind, 'cause he was behind, he was willing to make a deal.

When he came across the Governor who's vote stealin' just turned hot.

The Devil jumped on a hickory stump, and said, "Let me tell you what. 

I guess you didn't know it, but I'm a vote stealin' monster, too.

And if you care to take a dare, I'll make a bet with you.

Now you're pretty good at stealin' votes, but give the Devil his due.

I'll bet my gold against your soul 'cause I'm the best you never knew.

The signing of this sick bill was March 25, 2021, late in the night. It may well become the date that will remind us of April 12, 1861, early in the morning hours, when Ft. Sumter was fired on - to begin the "first" Civil War."   The Republican Party of America has been itching to start the "second one" for years, and they have finally picked up their "assault muskets" and made the first dramatic move.

The Devil Went Down To Georgia - indeed!

Blame it on those technology killers

The last twelve years of my newspaper career was spent as a publisher of a relatively small daily community newspaper in eastern Montana. 

The economy was fairly good for my time spent there.  It was from 1988 to 2000 and we had a full staff, advertising revenue was good and circulation of the newspaper was as good as could be expected.

I might even say we were in "fat city" compared to newspapers today. The stories being told about America's small and middle-sized newspapers are dramatically different.  In the last fifteen years, roughly 2,000 newspapers have disappeared in the country.  It can almost entirely be blamed on not enough advertising and circulation revenue to pay the bills.  Communities are losing their voice, their identity, and their finger on the pulse of what's happening in their corner of the world.

The reasons are obvious.  Our children are being programmed at a very young age to accept mainly what is available for them on a device that has an obnoxious screen.  Whether it is something to hold in their hand, hold on their lap, or set on a desk - it will give them everything they need to know.  The trouble is, it will also eagerly give them information that is false and misleading.  They are told that the information their parents received through reliable, time-honored newspapers is false, biased, and the product is the enemy of the people.  Some newspaper, some where, may deal in bias journalism, but every newspaper strives to get the facts right in their news stories.  It is an absolute creed of good journalism.  Readers still have the legal right to sue if they think the newspaper has deliberately and intentionally supplied false information.

Compare that to today's social media which has become a source of gossip and outright lies. It is used to win elections for some candidates and drive the last nail in the coffin of others.  Today's news junkies of electronic jibber-jabber must be the most confused readers/viewers on the planet.  How do they know what to believe? So, they take the path of least resistance and believe what they want to believe.

The community newspapers are left in the cold.  They are ready and able to give factual news, advertising, entertainment, and a chance for them and you to sound off on the opinion pages.  They are ready to give you everything, and they have been for more than two-hundred years here in America!

But we have a nation full of people who will only accept what comes up on those little screens.  We also have a world full of advertisers who will only buy space from where the readers of those screens are watching and reading. Eventually, newspaper circulation suffers. The price of a paper goes up to compensate for the loss of subscribers. When the price gets too high, the reader gives up, drops their subscription, and buys a new, faster, fancier device with a bigger screen.

And they still don't get the factual news they should be getting!

One newspaper started feeling the pinch and began serving their employees - after hours, of course - a morale-building "Bloody Mary Monday" to liven the otherwise down days in the week.  The publisher finally realized their week was needing a lot of "Bloody Mary Mondays."  After 121 years of publishing, they had to give it up.  Some of the subscribers wanted to know how they could help and so they sent text and voice messages to the publisher.

Yeah, on those little hand-held, newspaper-killing, gawd-awful device things!

My advice:  Buy a subscription to a newspaper near you and rejoin the real world!  I guarantee you, you'll be glad you did.

THIS IS JUST PLAIN SICKENING. . .

The former president came very close to overturning the 2020 Presidential Election in America.  We all know the details of how he carried it out, but let's quickly recall the process.  

First, he had to get the ball rolling by proclaiming the voting was knee-deep in fraud. Then he began his assault on key battleground states to get their election results overturned by each governor, secretary of state, and election officials. Let's look at Michigan and Georgia, for starters.  He invited Republican Election Officials from Michigan to the White House to twist their arms.  One yelled "okay" and went home to try to overturn the results.  The other said "no thanks" and went home to vote to leave the results alone. The election results were NOT overturned!

In Georgia, the former president called and "threatened" the Secretary of State to review the election results and "find him the exact number of votes needed to declare him the winner."  The Secretary of State told him to go to hell. Then, the President's Chief of Staff made an unannounced visit to Georgia to "oversee" the counting of ballots by Georgia Election Officials.  He simply stood in the doorway and glared at them. Senator Lindsey Graham (R) also made a "threatening" phone call to the Secretary of State in Georgia to aid his President in overturning the election.

Think about how close we came to seeing our democracy go down the drain.  Think about how close we came to watching our presidential election being overturned and given to "the loser!" Think about how this all began with the President of the United States! His last effort happened on Jan. 6, 2021 when he incited a mob to attack the capitol of his government to stop the Electoral College's certification of the election.  Five people were killed and many were injured.  The nation was - and still is - in disbelief at the lengths this man went to in order to stay in power!

This actually happened.  It is frightening!  And it is going to happen again because the Republican Party of this country has picked up the idea from their former president and have seen to it that more than 250 bills in 43 states are suppressing the votes of millions of Americans.  Please go on line and you will find the details of each one of these sickening bills!

Last night, Governor Kemp of Georgia, signed the most corrupt voter suppression bill ever devised. The signing took place  in the dark of night at a secure location with no press allowed!  Worst yet, the bill made it's way through the Georgia House, Senate, and on the Governor's desk IN ONE DAY!

One item in the Georgia bill is most sickening:  It is now unlawful to offer water or snacks to people who have been standing in long lines for hours to vote!

The Governor of Georgia signed the voter suppression bill at a secure place Thursday night.  When a female elected member of the Georgia House found the location of the signing and knocked on the door, she was immediately arrested, handcuffed, and thrown in jail. The video was on MSNBC.  She was later released on bail and is being charged with a ridiculous crime.

We are at a very dark place.  There is no doubt in my mind that people are going to take desperate and deadly actions as a result of these unbelievable bills. The Republican Party is completely out of control and out of their minds, and have no sign of stopping their dangerous actions!  When Americans are denied their sovereign right to vote, they will take things into their own hands. Maybe this is what the Republicans are waiting for. I hope they've thought it through and are ready for the consequences.

Minorities, the elderly, and the young will find a way to vote, and when they do, only then will the Republican Party finally reap the whirlwind of their ignorant and arrogant thirst for power!  

The treasonous men within

America would do well to heed the words of past statesmen. There is much wisdom that can be whispered into our ears if we but listen.  

Cicero, Roman statesman, said the following in 42 BC:

 

"A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious.  But it cannot survive treason from within. For the traitor appears not a traitor.  He speaks in the accents familiar to his victims, and he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of a city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist.  A murderer is less to be feared."

We have men today who hold elected offices and have treason in their hearts and authoritarianism on their minds.  They are of the mistaken belief that we are their servants, when the fact is they were elected to be servants to us.  We elected them to serve our needs.  Somehow, this concept in our democracy has been lost, and we need to find it and put it back into motion.

It is treason when members of a political party attempt to overthrow a duly elected President of the United States.  It is treason when elected members of congress conspire with a mob to commit insurrection against its own government.  It is treason when a political party attempts to stay in power by criminal means.  It is treason when a political party carries out a plan to suppress the vote of the people in order to win elections.  It is treason whenever political party members carry out illicit acts to subvert the power of our nation's judicial system.

We are heading for even bigger problems if we do not now stem the tide of the treasonous actions of the Republican Party!

 

Gianforte: How Much More Damage Can He Do?

Montana GOP Legislators
Worst of the Worst

Montana is in a dark place right now and it's getting really frightening to just pick up a newspaper or turn on the TV!

The Helena Independent Record recently ran a "Guest View" from Brady Wiseman, a former member of the Montana House from 2005-2010.

Since I will assume many of you across the state did not get a chance to read this excellent report on what the current governor is up to, I want to quote some of his salient points.  

"The leaders of Montana's new Republican government have been fond of saying that the are going to change how business is done in Helena. Who could have guessed that what they meant was corrupt, self-dealing legislation, political slush funds, and naked power grabbing to pack the courts?

The raft of self-dealing legislation is head-turning. Let's start with Speak of the House Wylie Galt, who introduced several bills to grant large landowners a 10-pack of out-of-state elk tags for them to sell.  Being that Mr. Galt's family is one of the largest land owners in the state, he is quite simply legislating cash directly into the own wallet.

In my experience, an organization's culture starts at the top, so we should not ignore the fact that our new governor's highest political priority for 15 years has been a tax cut for himself, which he has now arranged.  And finally, we have the court-packing bill that Sen. Regier of Kalispell has passed to permit the governor to directly appoint judges to vacant district court and Supreme Court seats.  This eliminates the current nomination commission that has been in place for more than fifty years."

Wiseman goes on with several other corrupt and self-serving pieces of legislation from this herd of rogue elephants, and concludes with this:  

"The reactionary right wing has failed for decades to elect Supreme Court Justices to decree their fundamentalist, corporatist agenda. . . This is what "changing how business is done in Helena," means.  Majority needs to rise up and put these characters on a leash before they break something we can't fix."

The rot in our 2021 Legislative Session started at the top and and has permeated down through the ranks. Every corrupt bill that has been passed - and those yet to be approved - have the governor's messy, grubby fingerprints all over them.

A lot of damage has already been done, and we can be pretty sure he isn't finished yet.

He's a body-slammer with an anger management issue, and because the media came down hard on him about it,  he's mad as hell and looking for vengeance!

It is downright terrible character flaws for a governor.

 

Give us justice. . .

AMERICA DESERVES JUSTICE

Laurence H. Tribe is an American legal scholar who is the Carl M. Loeb University Professor at the Harvard Law School of Harvard University.  He is a constitutional law scholar and co-founder of the American Constitution Society.  He is the author of American Constitutional Law (1978), a major treatise in that field, and has argued before the United States Supreme Court 36 times.

This is what Professor Tribe says about Donald J. Trump:  

"It is my opinion that he is guilty of sedition, treason, and insurrection.  He directly gave aid and comfort to an insurrection against America to prevent the government from functioning and to prevent the installation of a new president. This crime is punishable by up to ten years and permanent disqualification from ever holding office.  As for Georgia's election in 2020, he tried to steal that election through strong-arming extortion of officials."

We are at a crossroads in our justice system.  We either have one or we do not.  We either adhere to it or we do not. 

America is at a critical point in how we prosecute the crimes that have been committed against America by the former president and several members of the Republican who are still serving in the U.S. Senate and House. 

We must make sure there are judicial sentences handed down for these crimes.  If we fail to do so, it will only be an invitation for others to do the same in the coming years.  No one is above the law. Not the President of the United States, United States Senators, United States Representatives of the House, attorneys, officials of the President's Administration, their family members...NO ONE!

It will be the only way to clean up the mess of the former administration and put it all behind us. . .and leave it for the history books!

Otherwise, why do we have a judicial system?

Why do we have any laws at all?

How do we then justify prosecuting just our citizenry? 

Why do whites have to be "supreme" over others?

WHITE SUPREMACIST

Definition: A person who believes that white people constitute a superior race and should therefore dominate society, typically to the exclusion or detriment of other racial and ethnic groups, in particular black or Jewish people.

Their belief favors the maintenance and defense of white power and privilege.  White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine of scientific racism, and was a key justification for colonialism.  It underlies a spectrum of contemporary movements including neo-Confederates, neo-Nazism, and Christian identity.

White Supremacist thinking has been with us for many years. As an example, in an editorial about Native Americans and the American Indian wars in 1890, author L. Frank Baum (author of "The Wizard of Oz") wrote: "The Whites, by law of conquest, by justice of civilization, are masters of the American continent, and the best safety of the frontier settlements will be secured by the total annihilation of the few remaining Indians."

 

We are all painfully aware of the hostility whites have held toward people of color and ethnicity. 

 

The America we know today is in the struggle of its life as it fights to understand how White Supremacists have been able to make so much progress, so deeply into our society, and into the critical workings of our government. 

It is like a snowball rolling down the hill, picking up more snow, and adding to its mass as it rolls and assimilates more "voices" to the cause.  People want to be recognized and accepted into groups they have covertly wished to be a part of for years. When the former president gave White Supremacists and others the green light to proceed with extreme aggression, they eagerly, and effectively, did so.  

Those who believe white people are naturally superior to all other races and ethnicities have, for the most part, been living their lives in the shadows.  It took but one small spark from one individual in the highest office in the land to set off the explosion of hostile behavior.  Anyone in America who believed they had a "score to settle" with the United States Government made tracks to the "Big Rally."  Regardless of the distance, they would travel to it in their full regalia of camos, boots, banners, Confederate and Nazi flags, guns, and ammo clips!  They were hunting for vengeance across many avenues of their hate.

Such is America's number one problem, and such is America's newly named number one enemy:  Domestic Terrorism!

We now know the "enemy within."  

But do we know how to deal with them?

 

 

 

 

 

White Supremacists are Domestic Terrorists. Period!

Not your typical Sunday Afternoon Parade in Hometown America

 

It's hard to believe what the United States of America has become in four short years. Sure, it had its problems, like any other years.  But the wheels came completely off the tracks this time.  Today, we are divisive, angry, selfish, and tribal.  And many are finding it easier to side with not only our worst adversaries, but they are picking up the banner of someone we fought and thought we destroyed way back in 1945.  The Confederate Flag and the Nazi Swastika Emblem seem to be alive and well in America.

These ugly visual displays are out in full force and marching with other antigovernmental tribes such as: Trump's MAGA, White Supremacists, White Nationalists, Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, QAnon, and a few names we probably haven't even heard yet.  Some of these mobs have been around longer than four years ago, but they have all crawled out of the swamp since the former president welcomed them to his rallies.  He gave them fame and fortune and they are not about to go away.

But the worst side of this story is to come.  America can send these domestic terrorists packing, but they are being encouraged to stick around and are being given aid and comfort to none other than the Grand Old Party of Republicans.  Those right-wing members of the U.S. House and Senate are solidly behind these terrorist mob tactics - some are even participating!

The Republican Party of America has been manhandled, disrupted, and manipulated by Donald J. Trump until it is unrecognizable. They are a shadow of their former self and appear to be quite satisfied with their leader.  Even though his thuggery is gone, several make frequent trips to his Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida to kiss his ring and rump. Unbelievably, many still look to him as the head of their mangled and heading-for-the-cliff band of nitwits!

Until the GOP decides who they really are, America is in a world of hurt.  We not only have to contend with these domestic terrorists but we must also deal with the Republican Party of Trump.

My hope is this:  Bring back the Grand "OLD" Party and get rid of those in Congress who are scaring the hell out of everybody!

Of course, the Republicans have a few newbies who have been recently elected and are scaring the hell out of America, too! Hopefully, they are an anomaly. . . and not a trending thing.

An Autopsy on the Grand Old Party. . .

Let's perform an autopsy on the Republican Party while  it's still alive, but in a comatose state.

Elephants are reported to live for years and years, and display excellent memories.  Well, the ones who stomp around Washington D.C. have lost out on both of those qualities.  They ain't long for this world and they can't remember one thing that once made them great!

So, turn on the overhead lamp, drag out the scalpel, and we'll see what's killing 'em off.

They have been in a downward spiral since Nixon. He was the crook of all crooks.  He really thought being president made him above the law and just about anything else he could think of.  Then came the great communicator, Reagan, who tried to sell us on  some cockamamie story about "trickle-down economics." Yeah, we didn't bite on that, either!  Then we wound up with a second Bush.  Junior was rather short-changed in the grey matter, if you know what I mean.  The Party compensated, however, and assigned a guy named Karl Rove to be Junior's "brain."  I don't think it helped much, though.  Then, horror of horrors, we were hit broadside with the con man of the century - Donald Trump.  He tied this nation in knots for four painful years and there are many who are still trying to nominate him for sainthood. 

As Shakespeare wrote, "To sleep, perchance to dream; aye, there's the rub. . ."  Yes, the "Great Orange One" has had that sickening "rub" on all of us  -  even the smittenest of his Grand Old Party, if they would be honest with themselves.

But Humpity Trumpity is gone.  Why isn't the Party moving on?  Why are they finding it so hard to cut the umbilical cord? 

Even worse, Trumpity has left them with a terrible disposition.  They are ready to fight the world at the drop of a hat!  Their attitudes closely resemble a wounded water buffalo in heat and no mates for miles.

To make it even worse, they are taking their hostility out on anyone who comes close.  They strike out with the most outrageous ideas and try to jam them down our throats.  If we say "white," they say "black."  If we say "up," they say, "down." And their excuse:  "It's their God-given right and nobody can say it ain't."  If we want to have everyone wear a mask to save lives during the pandemic, they say, "Hell No!"  If we want to get everyone vaccinated, they say, "Hell No!"

Psychiatrists say a child will rebel when you tell them they must be reprimanded.  Especially if they know they've done something that warrants a reprimand.

We are seeing this happening in the U.S. Senate and House every day.  These supposedly intelligent people are acting like children.  They see "lies" and say it's "truth."  They see "good" and find a way to make it "evil."

I'm no psychiatrist, but I know a political party  that has a boat load of juvenile delinquents running up and down the halls and using cuss words and sounding like Class A bigots!  They are rebelling because they foisted the biggest con artist on our nation and they don't like being the ones who not only did it, but hoisted him onto their shoulders and marched him around the parade grounds like he was the second coming!

And then, one day they found out who he really was.  He was even capable of turning on them, too!  Then the attitudes took a sharp about-face, looked into a mirror, and saw all of the egg on their faces.

These con men who have found out they were conned too, are stinky mad and taking it out on us.  Kids with names like Graham, McConnell, Johnson, Cruz, Roy, Jordan, Graetz, Greene, McCarthy. . . you know all of the names. . . they are all absent from work and making life hell for the rest of us.

That's about it for the autopsy. It's time to either wake up the patient or sew up the cadaver.

Elephant, what's it gonna' be?

 

The Gianforte Gestapo is still in Session

There are some people who enjoy being mean and there are even some who take great delight in being downright nasty. But then there are some who go out of their way to show just how evil they can really be.

Montana Republican Legislators fall into the latter category. While they haven't reached the level of Hitler's Gestapo yet, it isn't from a lack of trying.  They have gone out of their way to cause pain and disruption to the Montana way of life by passing bills that completely make no sense. They go about their work day as if they are fulfilling a long-held, deep-seated vendetta against the world.

The latest is HB 337.  This is how these gnarling and gnashing twits view women's rights!  They define the start of life at conception and outlaw ALL abortions.  Also, there are no exceptions for rape, incest, or situations where the life of a woman may be at risk.

What part of that makes any sense?

I'm pretty sure those old white, right-wing men who voted for this in the Montana House really didn't spend more than five seconds contemplating the insanity of the bill.  It came from a "brother of the brood" and therefore needed their "yup, you betcha' vote."  It comes as natural to them as putting on their MAGA cap for breakfast.  It is as Republican as screaming "socialists" while depositing their Covid-19 Relief checks.

This HB 337 bill is the epitome of everything a Republican radical ever said bad about abortions. It could only come from the twisted mind of a Republican!

The troubling thing is: Gianforte's Gestapo isn't through yet.

There are more dastardly thoughts rolling around in those otherwise-empty skulls yet to be dumped out onto the Montana House and Senate floors! 

My computer keyboard is just getting warmed up.

 

Bubba and the Gov'mint Check. . .

Bubba's done gone to the bank to cash his gov'mint checks.  He ain't fixin' to let nobody git ahead of him in line, neither!

When it comes to this free gov'mint stuff, he fergits all 'bout that red neck trash talkin' he does. Socialist stuff is alright, in it's place...if the place is his bank account!

Poor Bubba!  He wants government off of his back, but it's okay if they want to get into his wallet.  He normally wants more freedom and less government, but he wants the freedom to collect certain handouts, too.  He insists government is the problem, but when they want to give him some money, he says, "No Problem!"  And, he wants to shrink government, but not before they give him all the stuff he has coming.

Bubba is a typical Republican white supremacist who is celebrating the freedom the Trump Cult has given him.  He is sitting high in the saddle and honking his horn for everybody to get the hell out of his way.  His tribe is going to ramrod the roundup and drive into the corral all of the freeloaders, namby-pambies, minorities, and those who ain't partial to the opposite sex!  He doesn't cotton to minorities, middle class and lower, and all Democrats getting a chance to vote, either.  "There just should be a law against it," he says.  

People call Bubba a lot of things.

But nobody had better call him late for his gov'mint check!

Sirs, Have You No Shame? Have You No Shame At All?

America is left with the remnants of a hostile and dangerous former administration that is still haunting us.

The real culprit, however, is not the one hunkered down in his palace in Mar-a-Lago, Florida and extending his ring finger for good ol' "Boys of Bastardsville" to kiss. The real villains here are those who are doing the kissing.  They are the out-of-their-mind Congressional Republicans from the United States House and Senate  and their counterparts in various corrupt and vindictive states! 

The House and Senate Democrats are trying to get a bill passed that would give all registered Americans the right to vote without forcing them to jump through insane Republican hoops. 

Republicans know what they are doing and they are doing it without shame or remorse.  We have watched the rapid and steady decline of their behavior since the Trump Administration told them it was okay. Their intensions could be no more clear than if they announced it on television every thirty minutes:  "We want everyone to know that we are going to steal every election by stopping minorities from voting!"

They have lowered the bar to this:  They have actually passed a law that says "it will be illegal to give water or snacks to anyone standing in a line to vote - regardless of the number of hours they have been standing there?"

That, in addition to countless other unnecessary hoops a voter will need to jump through, is how the Republican Party expects America to vote from now on.  For example, minorities and low-income folks are expected to hunt down and pay a notary public to notarize papers before they can vote.  Frivolous and insane new laws are being passed in 43 states so far to inhibit voters from carrying out their most basic right in this country.  Mail-in ballots are very popular across the country, but it is the first item Republicans are going after. Their reasoning is simply - mail-in voting is fraudulent voting.  Of course, they cannot produce a shred of evidence to their claim. More than sixty cases were brought to court and not one was even acceptable to judges - even judges Trump had appointed himself!

The Grand Old Party has left the tracks, plowed into the embankment, and there will be few survivors.  

And that is about the only good news in this story!

McCarthy and his thugs head for the border. . .

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is as crooked as a dog's hind leg.  He also gets his injection of Trump lies every time he hops down to Mar-a-Lago Club for ring-and-rump kisses afternoon with the big guy!

A few days ago, he and a gaggle of like-minded cult members from the U.S. House journeyed down to the border for a look-see at the "terrible crisis" Biden has fomented with those dastardly "illegal aliens." 

Of course, the real purpose of the junket was to have a good time and jot down some talking points to throw at the president.  They wanted to see if he was throwing kids into cages like their president did.  Maybe get a few photo ops with one or two of those "aliens" who might be hopping mad at the fact there is no Embassy Suites motel rooms available.

This excursion was a hatchet job from the get-go!  

Instead of looking for ways they could make things better for these destitute people who are escaping all kinds of hell back home, they were looking for ammunition to fire at President Biden.  Instead of doing their jobs as representatives of our United States House, they spent a lot of time and money looking for trouble!

The Republican Party has been a cluster of hate for years and they are wandering through the wilderness looking to spread evil wherever they go.  They no longer represent the American People - they only represent their Party and the destruction of our democracy. They have nothing left but a desire to replace our government with an autocracy, and the only way they know how to go about that is to destroy that which is in their way.  

McCarthy and his House wreckers are arrogantly open about their goals.  They have proudly announced their memberships in the "Brotherhood of the Bell" Trump cult. Nor can we  forget their brothers and sisters in the Senate who have also sold their souls to the Trump Cult. They all dwell in a large and evil tent! 

When it comes to these treasonous traitors, the "big guy" might be out of their sight, but he is rarely out of their minds.  

We need to take names 

and kick their butts out of office!

 

 

El Grego the Magnificent: The Judge Maker

 The Judge Maker

Governor Gianforte wants to pick his own judges in Montana.  He didn't look too kindly on a nominating committee to supply him with a few names.  No sir! He wants to chose from his own list! And a fine list it is.  Not one liberal, not one middle class monkey, and not one socialist.  Just fine, upstanding, rich, white, mostly male conservative scoundrels on that list!

And he will make the choice from the comfort of his home, where no one will be looking over his shoulder.  The hell with what Montanans want.  El Grego is in charge and he is the owner of the Trump Playbook!

For longer than anyone can remember, judicial vacancies - including the Montana Supreme Court -  have been filled by a nominating committee turning over a list of prospects for the governor to peruse. It has always worked well, too.

Until now.

El Grego the Magnificient wants to do it ALL by hisself!  

Direct appointments, he calls it.

Political Power Grabs, I calls it!

If you find this as insulting, arrogant, and obnoxious as I do, call your representative today!  The guy has let power go to his head!

This Time the Good Gal Won and the Montana Junior Senator Lost!

Deb Haaland, newly confirmed Secretary of the Interior
First Native American to hold a Cabinet Position. (D-NM)

When all the trees have been cut down, when all the animals have been hunted, when all the waters are polluted, when all the air is unsafe to breathe, only then will you discover you cannot eat money.

   - Cree Prophecy

In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.

   - Iroquois maxim

Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children.  We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children.

   -Ancient Indian Proverb

Together we can end the holocaust against the environment.

   -Haida Gwaiil Traditional Circle of Elders

The Great Spirit is in all things.  He is in the air we breathe. The Great Spirit is our Father, but the Earth is our Mother.  She nourishes us.  That which we put into the ground she returns to us.

   -Big thunder (Bedagi) Wabanaki, Algonquin

The relationship between Native nations and their environment is sacred.  It is the foundation of their cultures and worldview.

   -U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Akaka

Steve Daines, Montana Junior Senator (R) did everything possible to stop Deb Haaland's nomination and confirmation from moving forward. When it was finally time for the confirmation vote, he placed a hold on it.  In the end, the "manservant of the oil and gas moguls" lost his fight and America will now have a person who knows how to treat our land better than anyone!  And Steve Daines will slither back to his office and await the moguls to beacon him once again. 

The Native Americans have taught each of us how to take care of our land, our water, and our air.  Too many have refused to listen. Some have taken the advice as an either/or situation.  They saw no way to both conserve, protect, and defend our land, water and air -  while at the same time drilling into the land, polluting the water and dirtying the air we breathe. With proper planning, both could have been accomplished, but greed and power has always won the day for guys like Daines!

...EXCEPT FOR TODAY!