Promises and Misses

Wake up, America!

With only a few weeks before the 2020 election, Donald Trump is busy making promises:

• US vaccine approval by October.
• enough doses of a Covid-19 vaccine for every American by April.
• $13 billion in additional aid to Puerto Rico
• promise to eliminate the payroll tax
• a health plan to replace the Affordable Care Act that’s “all ready”

As he makes these promises, the talking heads totally miss the point.

They talk ad nauseam about how Trump's promises will not and/or cannot be kept before election day and remind us of Trump's false promises of things (his health care plan, releasing his taxes, etc.) that “will happen very soon.”

Once again, they’ve been distracted by the words of a con artist, words which are never substantive, but rather manipulative.

Trump knows full well that most votes will be cast by mail long before November 3. He is making these promises to lock in as many votes as possible of people currently leaning toward him before more shit hits the fan and they change their minds.

I don't think...

With those words, Donald Trump, began his denial of facts about the fires in California.

37% of our nation follows the Tweets and believe the suggestions (I'm being kind in using that word) and unsupported opinions of a man who does not speak or deal in facts.

Pay attention to what he actually says, not what you think he might know because of his position, and you'll see that he responds, not with facts, but with opinions based on nothing but what he wants reality to be and you to believe.

Consider two statements, excerpted from the article below, which are his responses to facts about climate science:

"It'll start getting cooler. You just — you just watch,"

Sure, it will get cooler, but only because summer is ending. The cooling we'll see is a change in the weather, not the climate. Neither you, I, nor anyone else, scientist or politician, can see climate getting cooler unless we watch for decades. If you think, you'll understand this and recognize his con.

"Well, I don't think science knows, actually,"

Like the infamous word, though, tacked onto the end of his attempt to pressure the President of Ukraine into lying for him, that appended actually is problematic. Is Trump saying I don't think science actually knows or I actually don't think science knows? One is a comment on science, the other on his thought process. In Trump's mind, there's probably no difference. In the minds of people who care about the country, there's a big difference.

When the president, any president, speaks to us about the problems facing our nation, facts matter, not what he or she thinks, actually or not.

Donald Trump doesn't want you to think; however, if you care about our country, you should think before you vote in November.

'I Don't Think Science Knows': Visiting Fires, Trump Denies Climate Change

September 14, 2020 5:47 PM ET

ALANA WISE

President Trump speaks Monday during a briefing on wildfires in McClellan Park, Calif.

Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

link to source

With wildfires devastating the West and a hurricane bearing down on the Gulf Coast, President Trump, who has for years mocked and denied the reality of climate change, was briefed on Monday on the status of fires in California. 

During his briefing, which included California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, officials repeatedly invoked climate change and its impact on the state's ability to manage the raging infernos. 

Still, even as more than two dozen wildfires roared across California alone, Trump declined to acknowledge the role climate change likely played in fueling the flames.

"We've had temperatures explode this summer. ... We want to work with you to really recognize the changing climate and what it means to our forests and actually work together with that science," said Wade Crowfoot, California's secretary for natural resources. "That science is going to be key because if we ignore that science and sort of put our head in the sand and think it's all about vegetation management, we're not going to succeed in protecting Californians." 

"It'll start getting cooler. You just — you just watch," the president said.

"I wish science agreed with you," Crowfoot said.

"Well, I don't think science knows, actually," he said.

Trump visited the area to cheer on first responders and emergency managers, holding a ceremony to honor California National Guard troops who rescued trapped campers. 

He also said better forest management is the key to preventing the state's fires. In recent days, he has criticized California officials, but most of the state's forested land is federal or private. 

On the other side of the country, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden addressed these disasters and others, and their link to human-caused climate change. 

"With every bout with nature's fury, caused by our own inaction on climate change, more Americans see and feel the devastation in big cities, small towns, on coastlines and farmlands," Biden said in prepared remarks. 

Speaking outdoors on the grounds of the Delaware Museum of Natural History, Biden stressed that climate disasters are affecting blue and red states alike. "It's not a partisan phenomenon; it's science," he said.

Biden called Trump a "climate arsonist" and turned the president's campaign warnings about at-risk suburbs around: "You know what's actually threatening our suburbs? Wildfires are burning the suburbs in the West. Floods are wiping out suburban neighborhoods in the Midwest. And hurricanes are imperiling suburban life along our coasts."

Biden has focused much of his campaign on fighting the battle against climate disasters and has vowed to boost funding for clean energy initiatives and to create domestic jobs in the sector. 

This is in stark contrast with Trump, who has dismissed or diluted dozens of federal environmental policies since taking office. A major pitch of his 2016 campaign was to appeal to coal industry workers, vowing to restore the industry.

Deputy political editor Benjamin Swasey contributed reporting.

Best Snide Story

American Voter

(written and performed by George A. Denino

with apologies to Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein)

link to video

Dear 2020 voter, you gotta understand,
Trump is a bullshit floater, a tweeting one-man band.
His mother didn’t want him, his dad sent him away.
But he owns the GOP today.

American voter, the handwriting’s plain.
With Trump the Constitution’s being flushed down the drain.
He holds up a Bible, but owns a white hood.
Deep down inside him, he’s no good.

He’s no good, he’s no good,
He’s no stinkin' good.
Like his Senate allies, he’s no good.

(Spoken) That’s a scary story.
Gotta tell it to the world! Better yet, I’ll post it on the web.

Addicted Facebook readers, The Donald is a tool.
He works with bottom-feeders who tell him that he’s cool.
They kiss his ass to please him, but if they dare to stray,
Just like clockwork, they will hear him say,

“He’s a loser. I hardly knew him. He only worked for me for a short time.”

Oh, bamboozled voter, you’re certainly square;
You think Trump’s gonna help you, but he just doesn’t care.
It’s not a neurosis that oughta be curbed.
He’s psychologic’ly disturbed!

He’s disturbed, he’s disturbed, he’s the most disturbed,
He’s a narcissist, and he’s disturbed!

In the opinion of this blogger, Donald J. Trump is a disaster as president on account he only cares about Donald J. Trump. But you don’t have to take my word for it. Here’s what he says about himself.

“Let me tell you. The one that matters is me. I'm the only one that matters. Because when it comes down to it, that's what the policy is going to be.”

But when asked about his policy decisions on the COVID-19 pandemic, he said,

“I take no responsibility. I’ve been right all along. We’ve done an amazing job.”

I’m pretty sure that one hundred-eighty thousand dead Americans would dispute those words if they could. Instead, I'll sing a plausible, fictitious testimonial from another nation's leader.

Dear kamerad Trumpke, Im so proud of you;
You follow my agenda, but what else can you do.
There’s no other option, for you no escape,
Because I have the pee-pee tape.

He’s owned; there’s no disputin’. We see it in his tweets.
He takes his cues from Putin, and then he gladly cheats.
If he is reelected, the rule of law is gone.
Voter, get that Trump sign off your lawn!

American voter, I’m begin’ you, “Please!
Don’t give our country four more years of Donald Trump sleaze.”
The nation’s survival depends upon you.
American voter,
Vote Blue!

Juvenile Delinqency

The juxtaposition of a four month old comment by Donald J. Trump with an even older comic strip is a damning indictment of the mind of the juvenile delinquent who currently befouls the Oval Office.

The Comment

(April 8, 2020)

Donald Trump admitted on Monday that making it easier to vote in America would hurt the Republican party.

The president made the comments as he dismissed a Democratic-led push for reforms such as vote-by-mail, same-day registration and early voting as states seek to safely run elections amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Democrats had proposed the measures as part of the coronavirus stimulus. They ultimately were not included in the $2.2tn final package, which included only $400m to states to help them run elections.

“The things they had in there were crazy. They had things, levels of voting that if you’d ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again,” Trump said during an appearance on Fox & Friends.

Donald Trump in the Rose Garden at the White House on Sunday. 

Photograph: REX/Shutterstock

link to source

The Cartoon

link to source

Fifteen minutes after I published this post I came across another cartoon that validates the initial comparison.

Bonus Cartoon

link to source

Paint Your Wagon Blue

The Donald Is A Liar

(a parody written and sung to by George A. Denino with apologies to Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe)

link to source

Oh when you vote November third the stakes can’t be much higher.
Joe Biden is an honest man, The Donald is a liar
The liar blows the facts around and sets his base a-flyin’.
The liar makes corona sound like no one’s out there dyin’.

A liar, a liar, The Donald is a liar.

Before we knew the liar’s game, we heard his wailin’ whinin’,
We thought that voters used their brains, but on red meat they were dinin’.
Republicans have lost their souls, a narcissist they follow,
And now the rule of law is gone and the Constitution’s hollow.

A liar, a liar, The Donald is a liar.

November third we have a choice; it's truth or more confusion.
So if you think your vote won’t count, you’ve bought a false illusion.
We’ll get the leader we deserve, we voters are the choosers.
Joe Biden’s truth, or Moscow Mitch and Donald’s cheatin’ losers?

A liar, a liar, The Donald is a liar.
A liar, a craven liar! Fuck the GOP.

Going Postal

Ode DeJoy

(written and sung by George A. Denino, with apologies to Ludwig von Beethoven)

He’ll delay your mail-in ballot
Slow things down so Trump can win.
Your prescription? Not his problem.
Tell it to your next of kin.
He’ll force you to vote in person,
Catch corona, maybe die;
Such a tiny sacrifice so
Louis can support the lie.
Though you may die,
He’ll never cry.
And your death will surely validate his campaign buy.

link to source

Coming To Terms With Religion in America

Christianity or Sanctimonious Cultism?

Definitions:

freedom of religion: The right to choose a religion (or no religion) without interference by the government. Freedom of religion is guaranteed by the First Amendment (see also First Amendment) to the Constitution. (See separation of church and state.)

Christian: Etymology - The Greek word Χριστιανός (Christianos), meaning "follower of Christ", comes from Χριστός (Christos), meaning "anointed one",[13] with an adjectival ending borrowed from Latin to denote adhering to, or even belonging to, as in slave ownership.[14] In the Greek Septuagint, christos was used to translate the Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ (Mašíaḥ, messiah), meaning "[one who is] anointed."[15] In other European languages, equivalent words to Christian are likewise derived from the Greek, such as Chrétien in French and Cristiano in Spanish.

cargo cult noun: any of various Melanesian religious groups characterized by the belief that material wealth (such as money or manufactured goods) can be obtained through ritual worship 

The American Constitution grants and guarantees freedom of religion to its citizens, a majority of which profess to be Christians. Yet one would hardly recognize the political policies and cultural actions embraced by today's evangelical Christians as in any way consistent with the words and actions of the Christ they claim to follow.

The anointed one of the New Testament is the exemplar of the bleeding heart liberal today's evangelical Christians mock.

He gave His life for others. They proclaim the superiority of conservative values and trickle-down economics in order to begrudge every penny collected and spent on those less fortunate than themselves.

Misled by wolves in shepherd's clothing in a church aligned with a political party whose policies are shaped by greed, the sheep of America's self-righteous right have turned Christianity into little more than a capitalistic version of a cargo cult with Donald Trump as their messiah.