Great News, America, Americans!

Found today, this morning, out on the interwebs.

Coming soon!

In this revelatory, authoritative portrait of Donald J. Trump and the toxic family that made him, Mary L. Trump, a trained clinical psychologist and Donald’s only niece, shines a bright light on the dark history of their family in order to explain how her uncle became the man who now threatens the world’s health, economic security, and social fabric.

Mary Trump spent much of her childhood in her grandparents’ large, imposing house in the heart of Queens, where Donald and his four siblings grew up. She describes a nightmare of traumas, destructive relationships, and a tragic combination of neglect and abuse. She explains how specific events and general family patterns created the damaged man who currently occupies the Oval Office, including the strange and harmful relationship between Fred Trump and his two oldest sons, Fred Jr. and Donald.

A firsthand witness to countless holiday meals and family interactions, Mary brings an incisive wit and unexpected humor to sometimes grim, often confounding family events. She recounts in unsparing detail everything from her uncle Donald’s place in the family spotlight and Ivana’s penchant for regifting to her grandmother’s frequent injuries and illnesses and the appalling way Donald, Fred Trump’s favorite son, dismissed and derided him when he began to succumb to Alzheimer’s.

Numerous pundits, armchair psychologists, and journalists have sought to parse Donald J. Trump’s lethal flaws. Mary L. Trump has the education, insight, and intimate familiarity needed to reveal what makes Donald, and the rest of her clan, tick. She alone can recount this fascinating, unnerving saga, not just because of her insider’s perspective but also because she is the only Trump willing to tell the truth about one of the world’s most powerful and dysfunctional families.

Not done there, either!  John Bolton's also critical if not scathing book is about to come out on and about the Trumpster! Two critical to highly critical to even possibly scathing books coming out on this disaster of a President---and BEFORE THE ELECTION!!

Hallelujah!

There's hope for us, for America, yet!

Breaking News Today

This just broke.

Bernie Sanders drops out of presidential race

So now it's on to November.

November 3, 2020.

VOTE BLUE

BLUE WAVE

We must, we have to get this very dangerous, greedy, selfish, reckless, self-serving lunatic and his toady minions out of the White House and out of power.

And this Fall, please, please do all you can to not just vote but to help all you can get out there, too, and vote.

We can do this.

Again, we must.

A twist on "A Christmas Carol"

In Thanksgiving

We return thanks to our mother, the earth,

which sustains us.

We return thanks to the rivers and streams,

which supply us with water.

We return thanks to all herbs,

which furnish medicines for the cure of our diseases.

We return thanks to the moon and stars,

which have given to us their light when the sun was gone.

We return thanks to the sun,

that has looked upon the earth with a beneficent eye.

Lastly, we return thanks to the Great Spirit,

in Whom is embodied all goodness,

and Who directs all things for the good of Her children.

--Iroquois

Happy Fibonacci Day!!

Yes sir! And ma'am!  Happy Fibonacci Day!

What is Fibonacci Day you ask?

And no, it's not an Italian noodle.

Here you are, ladies and gentlemen---

Fibonacci Day - 23rd Nov, 2016

November 23 is celebrated as Fibonacci day because when the date is written in the mm/dd format (11/23), the digits in the date form a Fibonacci sequence: 1,1,2,3. AFibonacci sequence is a series of numbers where a number is the sum of the two numbers before it. For example: 1, 1, 2, 3...is a Fibonacci sequence.

So git on out there and have a great fibonacci day!

And you're welcome!

Happy National Absurdity Day

It's Election Day!

Don't forget to vote!

One More Huge Endorsement For Hillary

Last evening, another Democratic presidential candidate got yet another historic, even unprecedented  endorsement.

Foreign Policy breaks with tradition to endorse Hillary Clinton

For the first time in Foreign Policy’s nearly 50-year history, it has endorsed a candidate for president: Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

“In the nearly half century history of Foreign Policy, the editors of this publication have never endorsed a candidate for political office,” the editors wrote in its endorsement. “We cherish and fiercely protect this publication’s independence and its reputation for objectivity, and we deeply value our relationship with all of our readers, regardless of political orientation. It is for all these reasons that FP’s editors are now breaking with tradition to endorse Hillary Clinton for the next president of the United States.”

The editors of Foreign Policy called Clinton “one of the best qualified candidates this country has produced since World War II” who is “unquestionably well-prepared to lead this country.”

“Were she to be elected as this country’s first woman president, not only would it be historic and send an important signal about both inclusiveness and Americans’ commitment to electing candidates who have distinguished themselves on their merits, but she would enter office having already put down one great threat to the United States of America — the grotesque and deeply disturbing prospect of a Donald Trump presidency,” the editors wrote.

Meanwhile, in sharp contrast, is the Trump campaign, historic in its own, very opposite way.

Not a single newspaper has endorsed 

Donald Trump for President

Mr. Trump is going to take an electoral drubbing, folks.

Links:

Another conservative newspaper editorial page 

just endorsed Hillary

USA Today Makes Presidential Endorsement 

for First Time Ever

A newspaper that hasn't endorsed a Democrat for president in 7 decades shreds Trump as 'not qualified'

Hitler Keeps Learning About Donald Trump

I love these things. They began these "Hitler learns..." YouTube videos some years ago, just after the movie came out. I haven't seen one I haven't enjoyed. They're on a whole variety of current social, political and sports topics and events, at least.

So they did one on Hitler learning Donald Trump was the leading candidate for president in the Republican Party and true to the meme, it worked. It's a stitch.


Then, this one just came out since the release of the tape of The Donald being so disgusting and disrespecting of women. Horrible as his comments were and are, the video skewers him wonderfully, rightly and unmercifully.



Enjoy your beautiful, comfortable Autumn Sunday, y'all. I know I am.

Springfield's News-Leader Gets Senator Blunt Just Right

Springfield Missouri's local newspaper, the News-Leader, printed an editorial opinion piece on Senator Roy Blunt and boy, did they get him just right.

Blunt cares about Blunt, Inc. 

– not Missouri

The article, in its brief but important entirety:

Roy Blunt was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1996 and to the U.S. Senate in 2010. He rose swiftly through the ranks in both chambers, attaining the positions of majority leader in the House and chairman of the Rules Committee in the Senate. In these positions, he has been useful to the lobbying activities of his family. In his third term in the House, Blunt is married to a D.C. lobbyist. His wife, Abigail, and his son, former Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt, are active lobbyists in Washington. His other son (and campaign manager), Andrew, is an active lobbyist in Jefferson City. It would not be inappropriate to assign the following title to Roy’s family: Blunt, Inc. A Governmental and Lobbying Corporation.

When professors of political science teach a course on pressure groups, they describe the most powerful lobbying operation as one that includes one member sitting in either the House or the Senate. The Blunt family fiercely denies any connection between their lobbying work with one another. They would like you to believe that family talk is about sports, television, movies, travel and so on, but each one keeps secret from the others their own lobbying activities and never, under any circumstances, exchange any information that would be useful to the work of other family members.

An article on the front page of the June 18 News-Leader is an account of the strenuous (or one might say frenzied) fundraising activities of Sen. Blunt in defending his seat against Democratic challenger Jason Kander, Missouri’s current secretary of state. In the article, it mentioned his fundraising schedule in Washington last week that included a Tuesday evening fundraiser by the Beer Institute, a Wednesday morning fundraising breakfast for Missouri Republicans and two Thursday evening events hosted by major governmental contractors General Dynamics and Siemens. So, in the space of 48 hours he was raising money for the Missouri GOP, from which his campaign will benefit and from three organizations that have business before Congress.

It is fair to say that Blunt’s life is based in Washington. This statement is reinforced by the fact that the Blunts’ Springfield home is a condo which he uses on his occasional visits (usually at holidays) or when in town for Greene County Republican Party events. The condo also serves as his official Missouri residence.

Blunt’s contact with the general public is limited to his occasional “tours” of the state, which is rather remarkable for a person who represents the state. In these tours, he is very unlikely to meet any Missourians except those who are active members of the Republican Party. When he has meetings in Springfield they are usually closed to the general public, which makes him unavailable to those who might hold different opinions.

His connection to Missouri is very slim and tenuous. The real focus of his life is to serve as the congressional base for Blunt, Inc.

And yes, it was from last July but it's important to keep in mind, right up to and including November 8, election day.

Another great thing about the article, besides that they got him so dead on and that they printed and distributed it, is that it also got picked up by USA Today so it went national. Another important thing to keep in mind is that it is from his home area and that home is decidedly Right Wing, Conservative and Republican. If ever there were a time and a person for getting the old, tired politician, in it for himself, it would be this Missouri Senator, Roy Blunt. And that time is now. If ever there were a person who fit the definition of a "career politician", it's Senator Blunt.

The conclusion, folks?

Vote Jason Kander for Senate

 Link:  Even in a do-nothing Congress, Roy Blunt stands out for his absences

The Real Eric Greitens, Part IV

And this may be one of my, to date, favorite "real Eric Greitens" videos out there. It's not good quality video since it's video of a video on someone's television but it gets the message across.


To borrow a phrase, "I'm lovin' it."

The Real Eric Greitens, Part II

Here's more of the real Eric Greitens, as promised, Part II. This is from a radio show with a Navy Seal, giving the lowdown on the man.

The Right Wing Learns The Donald Is Waffling On Immigration

I love this meme.

Notes and Observations of a Republican National Convention, Night One

Monday, Night 1

According to one of the panelists just now on PBS, Melania Trump doesn't want Donald to be president, either.

Suddenly I like her.
___________________________

Good God. Tom Cotton.

If there's a bigger, more empty demagogue, I don't know them.
___________________________

Tom Cotton, a nearly bleached white boy from Arkansas, saying we're all born equal.

If he were any less informed someone would have to tell him how to breathe.

___________________________

"No enemy the American military can't defeat....."

Well, except Vietnam.

And Iraq.

And Afghanistan.

___________________________

For the Republicans, at this political party convention of theirs, to bemoan the shootings in our nation of late when they and their blinding support of guns and the NRA and their constant blocking of required background checks for mental stability and criminal history all got us to where we are is nearly maddening.

___________________________

Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, bitching about not enough jobs in America. Not one Republican in Congress all the way back to 2008, ever wrote, proposed or tried to pass a jobs/infrastructure bill for those jobs, improved infrastructure and a rejuvenated economy.

Then he goes on to say "Donald Trump will kill Obama trade."

What?

He wants more jobs but then he wants to kill "Obama trade"?

What the hell is Obama trade?

What is that old fool rambling about?

___________________________

"Thank you to the Cleveland Police Department for protecting us!"

---Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani

But we are not honoring your request to deny open carry of weapons at our convention!

___________________________

How rich is that, for Republicans, now, to claim Hillary is a liar?

Compared to Donald Trump?

__________________________

"Donald Trump loves all people!"

--Rudy Giuliani

Yeah, just not Muslims. Or Mexicans. Or gays. Or women. Or the poor. Or the disabled or physically-challenged.

_________________________

If the Republicans didn't want the power and the White House back again, they would be embarrassed. Embarrassed by this candidate Donald Trump. And they would know they should be.

_________________________

I hope the Democratic Party doesn't miss out on the opportunity to hear from an underwear model and their opinion on this campaign for the leader of the nation for at least the next 4 years.
_________________________

Stephen Colbert is savaging The Donald on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert just now. It's pretty wonderful.

_________________________

The Republican National Convention, 2016.

The gift that keeps on giving.

Republican Senator Roy Blunt, Then and Now

In November, 2006, The New York Times ran an article about the Republican Party and our very own representative Roy Blunt and what he means and represents in Washington, DC and this country. I ran a post on it then, all those years ago. It's still true, very true, right up to today.

 Some excerpts from that article on this man, what he is, what he does and how he represents us and more to the point, just who he actually represents:

Roy Blunt embodies the insidious, half-legal corruption that has permeated the G.O.P. majority since 1995. Blunt’s election as minority whip, by a 137-to-57 margin, was a defiant Republican rejection of calls to clean up their act. Warnings by Blunt’s challenger, John Shadegg of Arizona — “We ceded our reform-minded principles in exchange for a ...tighter grip on power” — went unheeded.

  In 2004, Blunt turned his lobbyist team loose to win passage of a bill eliminating a $50 billion corporate tax break that the World Trade Organization had ruled in violation of international agreements. These lobbyists inserted $143 billion worth of new corporate tax breaks, turning the bill into a Fortune 500 Christmas tree.

  Blunt...is bland, unctuous and adept at keeping a low profile. But there is plenty to see. After divorcing his wife of 35 years to marry a tobacco lobbyist, Abigail Perlman, he cleared his second marriage with the House Ethics Committee to get “a waiver of the limitations of the gift rule to allow me to accept gifts in connection with my wedding.” 

 Blunt unblushingly told the Heritage Foundation this month that Republicans “have allowed our efforts to defend traditional values to be defined as little more than a politically driven effort to appease ‘family groups.’ ” 

 For Blunt, the blurring of boundaries is a family tradition. His son Matt is the governor of Missouri. Another son, Andrew, is one of the state’s top lobbyists. Almost all Altria subsidiaries — Kraft, Miller Brewing, Philip Morris (remember Abigail Perlman) — hired Andy Blunt, along with other financial backers of Roy Blunt. (Bold font added for emphasis).

 In Blunt, House Republicans have kept on display a top official reminding voters why they cast ballots for Democrats on Nov. 7. After winning the post of minority whip last week, Blunt declared that the Republicans had “come together ... frankly, to get rid of the bad habits that we may have developed in 12 years in the majority.” This is precisely the opposite of what they actually did, which was to affirm their bad habits. The burden on the Democrats will be to make the elusive Blunt a nationally recognized figure.

 All reasons why we need to get Roy Blunt out of our government and with all due, deliberate haste.

 Link to original post:  Same Old Party

The Shameless Catherine Hanaway

Catherine Hanaway is rather famously running for the position of Missouri governor this year. She's backed by moneybags, government- and legislator-buying, St. Louis billionaire Rex Sinquefield and her latest TV ad is just, as I said above, shameless.


She's back to the same, old, very tired Republican campaign tactics of running a fear-based campaign and it's not just disappointing, it's disgusting.

It's also a lie.

Missouri is not, in fact, in any way "lawless" or getting close to devolving into any state remotely resembling lawlessness. Not even close.

The ad mentions rioting in Ferguson, totally ignoring the fact that an American was killed, needlessly in that city and that the area is shown, statistically, to have police incidents that target blacks for arrests and prosecution.

Justice Department finds racial bias 

in Ferguson police

Ferguson Police Routinely Violate 

Rights of Blacks, Justice Dept. Finds

If there were any true "lawlessness", it might well be in the Police Department itself. And if not lawlessness, then certainly not just injustice but gross injustice.

I wrote about this some time ago, Rex Sinquefield and his clear, even blatant attempts to buy this political race and election, outright, as well as other legislators and elections:

Missourians, you and your government 

are being bought---and sold

Not satisfied to merely buy---and own---Missouri's governor, Mr. Sinquefield is also trying his utmost to also buy himself his own---our--Lieutenant Governor:

Missouri's big money man gives 

$1 million to 2016 lieutenant governor

Here's more of Mr. Sinquefield's political handiwork:

At $37 million and counting, mega-donor 

Sinquefield says he's not going anywhere

So let's be clear here, Missourians, let's be aware:

--First, our state is no way devolving into anything remotely close to "lawlessness.

--Second, these are just ugly, in our face fear-mongering tactics on the part of Ms. Hanaway and it's very typical, Republican campaign tactics we should no way fall for;

--Third and finally, Rex Sinquefield is, again, trying to buy his own government representatives and so, our government, our legislators.

Let's not fall for any of it, Missouri. It's shameful, again, all of it, ugly, and very clear attempts to scare us into voting Ms. Hanaway and people like her into government office.

Links:

Hanaway ties University of Missouri events, Ferguson and murders

 Missouri, a Best Example of the Worst in American Politics

Pay-to-Play Politics: How Money Defines the American 

Democracy

What Are We Celebrating This Month?

Here they are, ladies and gentlemen--all the things we're celebrating here in America in this new October month:

Adopt A Shelter Dog Month
AIDS Awareness Month
American Cheese Month
Antidepressant Death Awareness Month
Bat Appreciation Month
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
(World) Blindness Awareness Month
Caffeine Addiction Recovery Month
Celiac Disease Awareness Month
Celebrating The Bilingual Child Month
Children’s Magazine Month
Christmas Seal Campaign (10/1-12/31)
Church Library Month
Church Safety and Security Month
Class Reunion Month
Co-op Awareness Month
Cut Out Dissection Month
Down Syndrome Awareness Month
Dyslexia Awareness Month
Eat Better, Eat Together Month
Emotional Intelligence Awareness Month
Emotional Wellness Month
Employee Ownership Month
Energy Management is a Family Affair-Improve Your Home Month (10/1-3/31/13)
Financial Planning Month
Feral Hog Month or Hog Out Month
German-American Heritage Month
Global Diversity Awareness Month
Go Hog Wild – Eat Country Ham
Halloween Safety Month
Head Start Awareness Month
Health Literacy Month
Home Eye Safety Month
Italian-American Heritage Month
International Augmentative & Alternative Communication (AAC) Awareness Month
International Starman Month
International Strategic Planning Month
International Walk To School Month
LGBT History Month
Long Term Care Planning Month
Month of Free Thought
National Animal Safety and Protection Month
National Apple MonthNational Applejack Month
National Arts & Humanities Month
National Audiology Awareness Month
National Bake and Decorate Month
National Book Month
National Bullying Prevention Month
National Caramel Month
National Chili Month
National Chiropractic Month
National Cookbook Month
National Cookie Month
National Crime Prevention Month
National Critical Illness Awareness Month
National Cyber Security Awareness Month
National Dental Hygiene Month
National Dessert Month
National Disability Employment Awareness Month
National Depression Education & Awareness Month
National Domestic Violence Awareness Month
National Ergonomics Month
National Fair Trade Month
National Family Sexuality Education Month
National “Gain The Inside Advantage” Month
National Go On A Field Trip Month
National Kitchen & Bath Month
National Liver Awareness Month
National Medical Librarian Month
National Orthodontic Health Month
National Pasta Month
National Physical Therapy Month
National Pickled Peppers Month
National Pizza Month
National Popcorn Poppin’ Month
National Pork Month
National Pretzel Month
National Protect Your Hearing Month
National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month
National Reading Group Month
National Roller Skating Month
National RSV Awareness Month
National Sarcastic Awareness MonthNational Sausage Month
National Seafood Month
National Spina Bifida Awareness Month
National Stamp Collecting Month
National Toilet Tank Repair Month
National Window Covering Safety Month
National Work and Family Month
National Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Awareness Month
Organize Your Medical Information Month
Pear and Pineapple Month
Photographer Appreciation Month
Polish American Heritage Month
Positive Attitude Month
Raptor Month
Rett Syndrome Awareness Month
Rhizomes and Persimmons Month
Rhubarb Month
Right Brainers Rule! Month
Self-Promotion Month
Spinach Lovers Month
Squirrel Awareness Month Link (Different Than Squirrel Appreciation Day in January)
Tackling Hunger Month
Talk About Prescriptions Month
Vegetarian Month
Wishbones for Pets Month (10/15 – 11/30)
Workplace Politics Awareness Month
World Menopause Month

What will you be celebrating?

Brownbackistan Gets Yet More, Very Deserved Bad Press

More blistering--but fair--criticism from and in the Washington Post this week on Kansas and their self-created woes:

The dangerous 'red-state model'  

By Katrina vanden Heuvel

A bit of the article:

“My focus is to create a red-state model that allows the Republican ticket to say, ‘See, we’ve got a different way, and it works,’ ” Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback said in 2013.

Brownback was talking about the massive supply-side tax cuts at the center of his policy agenda, which he had promised would provide “a shot of adrenaline into the heart of the Kansas economy.” Instead, it led to a deep hole in the state budget, a downgrade in the state’s credit rating and weak economic growth compared with neighboring states. As top income earners and business owners pocketed their tax cuts, Kansas’s poverty rate went up.

The failure of Brownback’s plan has made headlines not only because of its consequences in Kansas but also because of its potential impact on national politics. Brownback explicitly intended his plan to inform the policy debate in 2016 and beyond, but his gambit didn’t work as planned. As The Post’s editorial board wrotelast year, “Mr. Brownback’s Kansas trial is rapidly becoming a cautionary tale for conservative governors elsewhere who have blithely peddled the theology of tax cuts as a painless panacea for sluggish growth.”

The article goes on to describe the really awful rules of Medicaid for Kansans and how few residents can qualify for it as a result.

What's horrible is that the good Guv was going to use Kansas and his office and this financial experiment, no doubt, as a launching pad for his presidential campaign. As it turns out, it's failed miserably---very miserably---for and on Kansas and its budget and its middle- and lower- and working-class families and homes across the state and now on the schools, too. 

You have to ask, though, at what point, do Kansas voters learn and vote all these boneheads out of office, out of Topeka?

It can't happen soon enough.

Republican Presidential Candidates, 2016

Beware.

And be afraid. Be very afraid.

Wait for it...