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Showing posts with label Alternet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alternet. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 10, 2021

A Question for All Republican US Senators Just Now

 

How could you, as a US Senator, Democrat or Republican, sit in the Senate chambers--that were just attacked January 6--and listen to the evidence on both sides of this impeachment trial, knowing you yourself had to take cover and hide from the insurrectionist attackers, and then vote that Donald J Trump didn't incite them, invite them to do so, time and again, even that very morning of January 6, right there in Washington, on video?

Political power for your political party and for yourself is that much more important? 

More important even than your own safety, which was threatened that day? 

More important than your nation's safety? 

And election?

Really?

Links:





Sunday, January 10, 2021

Things We Americans Can All Now Thank Republicans For

Herewith, just that, a list, incomplete as it is, of all the things we have Republicans and their Republican Party to thank for.

--Senator Joe McCarthy and his attacks, repeated, on fellow Americans

--Richard M NIxon, who famously/infamously quit the office of our Presidency because he illegally had his own men break into a room of the Watergate Hotel to get information on his opponent(s) in the Democratic Party

--Ronald Reagan and his dismantling of the middle class what with cutting taxes on corporations and the already-wealthy and then his additional attacks on Unions across the nation

--The very illegal Iran-Contra affair of, again, Ronald Reagan which was when "Senior administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to the Khomeini government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which was the subject of an arms embargo."  (Source: Wikipedia)

--George W Bush, who also famously/infamously ignored his Presidential Daily Briefs warning us of a pending attack on the nation

--The 9/11 attack, see above, in which 2,977 very innocent Americans lost their lives

--The squandering of our national budget by, again, yes, George W Bush who took that budget surplus we had under his predecessor, Bill Clinton, and blew right threw it

--And the way "Dubya'" blew through our nation's budget surplus was by, of course, using 9/11 as an excuse to attack not just one but two nations, Iraq and Iran

--Then there's the way Dubya' flew TWELVE BILLION DOLLARS, in an airplane, to Iraq. And let it disapper. Yes. True. Really

How the US sent $12bn in cash to Iraq

--The intentional disenfranchising of at least hundreds of thousands, if not, in fact, millions of taxpaying citizens by using "voter ID" laws all so they, Republicans, could either get or stay in government office

--The denial of fair and true representation in our government due to gerrymandering which either puts or certainly keeps their own members in government office, instead of the rightly-elected

And now:

--Donald J Trump.

--Immigrant children in cages at our Southern border

--Immigrant families separated at our Southern border

--Immigrant children lost in our governmental penal system, away from their parents, because they were separated at our border and with no clear way to rejoin them, the children to their families

--Some of the greatest wealth inequality, today, in our entire nation's history

US income inequality jumps to highest level ever recorded

--Large tax cut after large tax cut for the already-wealthy and corporations all the while ignoring or denying the people's true needs, fairness, decency, equity and/or the nation's debt

--The worst national response to the worst international, killing pandemic in the last more than 100 years resulting in our nation's death toll from it all is the worst in the world, literally. The "world's wealthiest nation" with nearly 400,000 citizens dead from COVID-19 and still counting

--An insurrectionist, treasonous, traitorous attack from a President's supporters, on our nation's Capitol

--Pipe bombs, during that same attack on our Capitol, by this President's followers, at the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee Buildings

--Feces and urine left behind on this same treasonous attack on our nation's Capitol

--Threats from more of those same treasonous, traitorous people following a/this President to do it again, that is, attack our nation's Capitol again, this time on January 17, January 19 and/or January 20 because their leader told them he didn't lost an election which he really did decisively lose

--The legitimately most scandalous, scandal-ridden presidency and President in the nation's historycomplete with obstruction of justice, perjury and collusion with our known, sworn international enemy, Russia, to get himself elected. (That last part verified by our own FBI and intelligence agencies

So there you are, fellow Americans. An ugly, ugly and yes, keep in mind, very partial list of what Republicans have done and are responsible for in our nation and our nation's history. And keep in mind, this is still with 10 days left to go in this President Donald J "Jenius" Trump's presidency.

Let's hope it doesn't get any worse.

Additional link:

50 Reasons You Despised George W. Bush's Presidency



Wednesday, July 1, 2020

Two References to the US as a Possible "Failed State" in 24 Hours


Yes, ladies and gentlemen, within the last 24 hours, I've seen two--count them, two--different references to the US either being or questioning whether we are just that, a failed state. Here's the first one I saw yesterday from the website AlterNet.


And here is the 2nd reference I've seen to this within 24 hours and my you, I'm not searching this out.


And truth be told, the 2nd article at TomDispatch is an expansion on the first article which was  written by Rebecca Gordon. Still, it expands on the idea, question and theme. I thought this part important.

"What Is a Failed State?

People use this expression to indicate a political entity whose government has ceased to perform most or all of its basic functions. Such a condition can result from civil war, untrammeled corruption, natural disaster, or some combination of those and more. The Fund for Peace, which has been working on such issues for more than 70 years, lists four criteria to identify such a country:

--Loss of control of its territory, or of the monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force therein
--Erosion of legitimate authority to make collective decisions
--Inability to provide public services
--Inability to interact with other states as a full member of the international community'”


3 out of four, presently? Or all four, already?

The fact is, we, the United States, 

--have more cases of and deaths from this killing international coronavirus pandemic than any other nation
--have a President that has completely, totally ignored a bounty put on American soldiers in the field in Afghanistan by Russia to the Taliban to kill American soldiers


--have a President that is going forward with his plan to take 9500 American troops out of Gernany shortly
--have no universal health care---the "richest nation in the world", or so we tell ourselves
--have millions of Americans out of work due to the pandemic and so, with no health care whatever
--have amassed a huge national debt--partly due to gross overspending on military which actually weakens us but also due to tax giveaways by the Republicans to the already-wealthy and corporations and then, again, this pandemic and
--have a President who has pulled us out of nearly all, if not all international cooperation agreements like the World Heatlh Organization, etc.

Oh and this broke this morning.


And that's just a short list, a very short list of some of our worst current predicaments.

Meanwhile, a Senator is working to have us buy Russian made weapons, unbelievable.


The U.S. could be permitted to purchase the Russian S-400 missile defense system from Turkey under a Senate amendment proposed last week.

Under the amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021 proposed by Senate Majority Whip John Thune, the U.S. Army would be able to purchase the S-400 missile defense system from Turkey, provided the country certified that money from the purchase would not be used to buy equipment deemed "incompatible" with the NATO alliance.


We're the largest manufacturer and seller of weapons in the world---and we need to buy yet more, these Russian and from Turkey?  Really?

And then finally today, this.


(CNN)  The Senate will incorporate the annual intelligence policy legislation into the National Defense Authorization Act -- but only after stripping language from the intelligence bill that would have required presidential campaigns to report offers of foreign election help.

Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Tuesday that Senate Republicans forced the removal of the election reporting provision as a condition to include the intelligence bill on the must-pass defense policy legislation.

So our government officials CAN, if this passes, not only accept money from foreigners or from foreign nations, which by itself would be bad enough, but they would also NOT HAVE TO REPORT IT.

Isn't that terrific?

Thanks, Republicans!

Failed state?  Failing state?

How much farther down are we going to let or have this President and his political party drag us, America?

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Sunday, June 28, 2020

Seriously, Honestly, For Whom Is This Republican Party President Donald J Trump Working?


I ask again, for whom is this President working?

I'll show and post 3 different examples of just why I ask. First this. This President Trump proposed this in August last year, 2019.

Trump Again Pushes For 

Russia's Readmittance To G-7


The other nations of the G7 don't want Russia and Mr. Putin in the group but Mr. Trump is working for it. Our known, self-declared, public enemy but he wants them in the group. 

Alrighty, then.

Next up, the President proposed this in early June this year.

Trump Directs Pentagon to Pull 9,500 Troops 

from Germany


Who, exactly, is that going to help but Russia and their leader Vladimir Putin?

And understand, this is from me, a guy who has said we need to shrink our defense budget drastically and it would still actually strengthen our nation.

Finally, there was this that broke this week from and in the New York Times.


A foreign leader and again, a known enemy of our nation, put a cash bounty on the lives of members of our American military. The administration knew about it...and did nothing.

"Benghazi!", my *ss.

Following that report were these responses.


Naturally, his response.


Not only did they---he, President Trump--do nothing about this information but even after this story broke, to this minute, Trump has done nothing about it against that foreign enemy, Russia.

And then, stunningly, stunningly, there is this.

So again I ask---just who, exactly, is this Republican Party President Donald J. Trump working?

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump shake hands during a bilateral meeting at the G20 leaders summit in Osaka last year

This President doesn't take any time to take action against our known enemy paying out bounties to kill our American soldiers in Afghanistan but he does take time out from his busy week to retweet this.



Republicans?

Would you answer that for us?

And maybe get some control on your boy there?

Finally here today, whether you agree or not, this is how Germany's Der Spiegel pictures our own United States presently, under this leadership so here's an international take.



Links:





Saturday, September 1, 2018

What Most Americans Don't Know About Our National Defense Budget--But Should


There is an excellent, even important article out presently at Alternet I wish all adult, voting-age Americans would read. It is this.

Image result for obscene defense spending

How to Blow $700 Billion and Lose Wars

A Guide to America's Exploding Defense Budget and Military Failure
Step 1: Buy the most expensive weapons in history. Step 2: Don’t use them, since they mostly don’t work

And before any military patriots or just disbelievers dismiss the article, out of hand, before reading it, they should know it's written by a Veteran and who served in Iraq, on the ground. It's not from some "Left Wing" "librul" they can or should dismiss.

A bit from the article:

This year, President Trump signed the largest defense budget in our history: $700 billion. The budget includes $13.7 billion for 90 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, which according to CNN are “in service and mission capable only 26 percent of the time.” Not a single F-35 jet has yet to see combat duty.

The budget will provide $4.5 billion for the construction of a new Ford class aircraft carrier, $450 million for three Littoral Combat Ships, $4 billion for two new guided missile destroyers, $5.5 billion for two new Virginia Class submarines, and tens of billions more for upgrades and repairs on various aircraft and naval vessels. Two of the guided missile destroyers already in service were involved in deadly collisions with cargo ships in the western Pacific last year. A Navy investigation revealed that for all of the hundreds of billions spent on defense, there was apparently not enough in the budget to provide for adequate training in standing watch and driving Navy combat ships...


He finishes the article perfectly, to me. It's something I've been saying for some time.

Fifteen years in Iraq. Seventeen years in Afghanistan. There is no end in sight.

From 2011 to today, 2018, we more than doubled our national defense budget from 354 billion dollars to 700 billion.

We have no new enemies. No new group has attacked us or is attacking. Or is going to.

We are weakening, actually weakening our nation with all this absurd, obscenely expensive and very wasteful spending.

Understand this:

Our defense budget is very huge, very bloated and very wasteful and is actually making the nation weaker.  Not stronger.

What are we going to do about this, America?

Links:




Note this next article is from the American Conservative magazine:





Wednesday, October 25, 2017

How Pathetic and Desperate--and Wasteful--This Republican Congress is Presently


The Republicans in Congress are so desperate to take the nation's attention off their/our bumbling President, they're resorting to old tricks. Nearly unbelievable. Check this out.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., center, speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill after a weekly policy luncheon. From left are, Sen. Roy Blunt, McConnell, Sen. John Thune, Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn of Texas. | AP Photo

House Republicans launch new probes into Obama-era Uranium One deal, FBI handling of Clinton case


They investigated Hillary Clinton over and over in Congress, each time coming up with absolutely nothing, nothing illegal, wasting thousands of manhours and millions of dollars and still they want to do this all, one more time. Again.

But just yesterday, they did this.

Senate Overturns Rule That 

Helped Customers to Sue Banks


So they're legislating more and yet more for business, in this case, the banks, the big banks, and so, against the people, against you and me, "Mr. and Mrs. America", so to speak. They're also setting in motion yet more wasteful investigations. Then, trying to deflect our attention from the boob that is the defacto head of their political party, our President at the moment.

This is no way to run a nation.

What little they're doing, folks, is patently not for you and me and the nation overall.


Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Sh*t Republicans Say


Related image

Forgive the suggestion of the expletive in the title today. It's taken from a theme, a meme, if you will,  people have been using for the last year or two at least.

But I saw yet another nearly unbelievable thing a, you guessed it, Republican said and it inspired the post. Here it is.

Trump White House Says Diabetics Don't Deserve Health Care


Really. They did.

They said because of the way some diabetics get the disease---I guess with poor eating habits?---they didn't deserve health care.

It comes on the heals of this one. The person who said it is running for office in Georgia for a seat in the House of Representatives.


And then there was this recent beauty.

To make it worse, the above, that sick people don't deserve health care, was said by Alabama Representative Mo Brooks as well as President Trump's Budget Director Mick Mulvaney so we got a national "two-fer" on that one. They doubled-down.

Then, we all remember our infamous, wonderful Republican Representative Todd Akin and his quote about women and rape.


How these people are even elected to their government offices but then, how they keep them, is beyond me.

Links:






About Planned parenthood


Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Welcome to the "It's All About Me" Presidency



Our new President (it still stuns me to say that), Mr. Trump is still, still, to this day, pushing the outrageous and proven untrue idea that millions of illegal immigrants voted against him, else he'd have won the popular vote.

We're only less than one week into this Administration and already he's inflicting turmoil in Washington, across the nation and world, in fact, with his paranoia and insecurities.

Undaunted Trump seeks probe of 

debunked voter fraud claim



Here's the ugly, even scary truth of the matter:

Trump’s disregard for the truth threatens his ability to govern


Apparently, this helped get him riled.

White House sources say Trump was ‘visibly enraged’ at the size of the Women’s March


It must come from his TV viewing.


White House Sources Say Trump Was 'Visibly Enraged' at the Size of the Women's March: Report


He wouldn't take intelligence briefings, prior to becoming President but he would, apparently, watch lots of television.

Terrific.

Meanwhile, he's far too slick for our national news media and he's getting off easy.


In fact, this is starting to look Fascist, no exaggeration.

Four More Journalists Slapped With Felony Charges for Covering Inauguration Unrest


And look what he's doing to our own EPA.


'It's Day 4 and It's Already Happening': Rachel Maddow Sounds the Alarm on Trump's Science Gag Order


And here's Mr. "Small Government", Conservative, "Get Government Out of Your Life" Republican President Trump:


What, exactly, does "send in the Feds" mean? Isn't that martial law? Really? That's what you want?

And due to Mr. Trump's bravado, China is now arching its back and bristling their fur.


It's going to be a long and, I fear, scary, turbulent four years, ladies and gentlemen and it's only just begun, we're only less than a week into it all.

As I keep saying, God help us.

As ever and always, Tom Tomorrow has it right.



Friday, June 19, 2015

Kansas and the Guv All Over the Internets


Check out all the press Kansas and their glorious leader are getting lately:

No law will be safe when Brownback is in office. Or at least the ones he doesn't like, anyway.

From Yael Abouhalkah at the Star:


That cackling sound is GovSam Brownback having last laugh on Kansans

From Barbara Shelly at that same local Star:

Only in Sam Brownback’s Land of Oz is a $400 million tax increasenot a tax increase


More nationally, there's these two from Salon online magazine:

From "Talking Points Memo"

Also from TPM:

Alternet:


Here's some about his latest scheme to attack the Judiciary and make it Right Wing and partisan. This from Barbara Shelly at the Star again:


GovSam Brownback and Kansas Legislature mount breathtakingassault on judges’ independence

While this one is from Slate magazine:

The Kansas Supreme Court Has Only One Option: Sue Gov. SamBrownback

Finally, from the Ottawa Herald rather sums it up for the rest of us:

How long until Kansans end this?



Read m
ore here: http://www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/yael-t-abouhalkah/article23827357.html#storylink=cpy