Clueless

Posted on May 16, 2019 by admin

This just in: “I need to stop getting into situations where all my options are potentially bad.”
― Jack Campbell, Dauntless

As a country … We need to stand for something. We need an identity. We need to have an overall Truth about who we are.

And…we need a plan.

Lewis Carroll famously said, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”

This pops into my head almost daily now; driven by the insanity of what our government has become.

We impose tariffs on China and our allies with no plan. Trump doesn’t know how tariffs work so he makes something up that no economist anywhere agrees with. The bigger problem is that he has no idea what he wants to achieve. Saying “China has been very unfair to us” means nothing. Our entire national economic strategy is created and implemented by the fictitious mind of a D student sitting in the Oval Office.

Now, we are beating the drums of war in Iran’s neighborhood. None of our allies understand why. No one in Congress knows why. Only Trump and a couple of advisers seem to be aware of a threat; a threat that they can’t define or share. So, we go to war because we have nothing else to do on a sunny spring afternoon.

Alabama wants to ban abortions for everyone. Why? Because a bunch of men said so. It doesn’t matter that only 21% of Americans agree with them. What’s next? Women that show too much ankle in public should be stoned? Women than don’t obey their husbands or that dare to drive a car should be burned at the stake?

Let’s take these three issues: Tariffs, Abortion and Iran. Tell me what the endgame is. Tell me how our current actions achieve that endgame. Tell me how these issues directly reflect the wishes of the American public.

The fact is, that we are wondering through the forest and chopping down trees because….Trump likes to be in the news.

That’s it. Trump wants to be in the news.

There is no plan for our economy, our military or our morality. We are all over the map; following a leader with a destructive form of Attention Deficit Disorder. He flitters about, sold on the last idea that passed in one of his ears and out the other. He has no discernable moral position other than, he should do whatever he wants at any time.

We, as a nation, are lost in the woods. We are lost because we are following a leader that has no idea where he is going, much less how to get there even if he did know.

Alas…

I suppose I must go and save the world. But, I must say…I’m losing my motivation.

Up, up and away…

Jim

Putin’s Spanking Room

Posted on July 9, 2018 by admin

This just in: Trump is headed to Europe to meet with NATO, the UK and Putin. I’d like to share a few thoughts and predictions about this.

But first, let’s look at Trump’s achievements while in office thus far. Perhaps this will tell us how high or low to set the bar for this week’s expectations.

First of all, we must remember that he is an expert Deal Maker. If you are not sure, just ask him.

Deals he has backed out of…

The Trans Pacific Partnership whose purpose was to increase markets overseas for U.S products.
NAFT whose purpose was to increase markets in Canada and Mexico for U.S. products.
U.N. Human Rights Council whose purpose is to monitor and address Human Rights around the world.
The Iran Nuclear deal whose purpose was to eliminate Iran’s ability to create a nuclear threat to the world.
ON the verge of exiting the G-7 economic summit because they hurt his feelings.

Deals he has made…

Under his congress, he passed a tax law that adds trillions to our national debt in exchange for…nothing other than millions of tax cuts for the wealthiest people in the country.
He claimed to have made a deal with North Korea and even announced that his 2-hour meeting with Kim -never missed a meal- Jong Un resulted in a complete end to the nuclear threat. Notable is that North Korea seems to disagree with this completely.

Major accomplishments…

For no apparent reason, pushed for the separation of immigrant parents and their children as they sought to flee violence in their own countries.
Refused to support a “Breast Feeding is Good” resolution at a World Health Assembly; stunning the rest of the world. His rationale….”Baby food makers are people too.” Never, ever underestimate the power of the Baby Food Lobby.
Everything else he has done has been through Executive Order, including the tariffs that are set to cripple to Global economy. He has also dismanted of nearly every regulation put in place to protect our environment.

Now….About his overseas trip that starts today…

He meets with NATO in Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday. He has managed to alienate nearly every member in this organization. NATO is the single most successful peace organization in the history of the world. Trump, on his very own, has created an atmosphere where they fear even meeting with him. They know he is Putin’s boy and fear that any plans they make will be relayed to Putin when he and Trump meet a few days later. My prediction: Trump will continue to alienate NATO. He will boast about how well everything went and then ignore it when other members claim he is a turd.

We have to remember that Trump lives in a world that exists only in his mind. There is no “Better and Cheaper healthcare.” There is no “Denuclearization of North Korea.” There is no “Better Trade deal that is more fair.” He’s claimed all of these and yet, all are demonstrably false.

After NATO, Trump goes to the UK where he is universally hated. He will mostly avoid London where protesters will be filling the street. There will be a giant balloon of Baby Trump flying over the city. We have to remember, the U.K. is our biggest and closest ally…and they hate the president of the United States. My prediction is that he will do whatever it takes to piss of the UK even more. He can’t help himself. Making others angry or fearful makes him feel strong.

This brings us to Putin…

Trump and Putin will meet in Helsinki a week from today. Reportedly, Putin has set up a Spanking Room where he will administer whippings to a fat cheeto dressed in black leather.

Eventually, he and Trump will reach an agreement where Trump tells him everything he knows about NATO and Putin tells Trump how to behave on a wide range of issues going forward.

So, there you have it.

Trump’s experience tells me that my Expectations Bar needs to be set very low. In fact, I think I’ll just lay it on the ground.

Up, up and away…

Jim

Basking in the Glory of “Words”

Posted on May 24, 2018 by admin

This just in: I see that Trump allowed himself to get played by North Korea; today, stepping out of the proposed summit so that “He could do it before they did.”

Just in case you missed it, Trump has accomplished virtually nothing since taking office. Yes, some things have happened but nothing that would (or should) be considered an accomplishment.

Trump is very big on making a bold promise and then basking in the adulation. Here’s the deal…he actually doesn’t do anything other than say the words. I’m going to post a list of things that Trump has claimed credit for doing simple because he “says he’s going to do it.”

First, a couple of footnotes: (1) Trump recently told Leslie Stahl of 60 minutes that he calls news fake so that people will not believe it when bad stories are written about him and (2) In his book, The Art of the Deal, he says you can lie to people and then do whatever you want to do.

Here is my list….

Trump promised better healthcare at a much, much lower price. “The best healthcare you have ever seen.” He got lots of applause for this on the campaign trail…then did nothing. That’s not quite true. He actually made it worse by eliminating the “individual mandate”; a move that is supposed to add $1,000 to the average medical bill next year.
Trump promised to cut taxes which will bring jobs back to America, lower the debt and spur grow “like we’ve never seen before.” He claimed, without evidence, that GDP would grow at a rate above 5% under his plan. Again, people ate this up on the campaign trail believing that Trump could turn water into wine. As it turns out, he had no plan. This allowed the GOP to cut taxes for their billionaire donors, leaving the rest of the 99% to foot the bill of the largest deficit ever.
Trump promised to deal with North Korea. So far, his strongest action has been a tweet calling the leader of North Korea “rocket man.” On his watch, North Korea has developed the ability to strike North America with a nuclear tipped ballistic missile.
Trump said he would deal with the Iran threat. Instead, he reneged on a treaty with Iran and 5 other countries; opening the door for Iran to once again pursue the development of nuclear weapons.
Trump claimed that he would renegotiate the TransPacific Partnership trade deal. Instead, we dropped out and the deal moved forward without us; effectively reducing our ability to trade with about half the world.
Trump claimed that he would renegotiate NAFTA. Instead, both Canada and Mexico are looking for trading partners to replace us with.
Trump claimed he was going to “deal with China”. Instead, China claimed the South China Sea as their own. Economically, they have outplayed him in every way. China knows that Trump responds to flattery and bribes so they use both to great effect.
Trump claimed he would build a Mexico wall and have them pay for this. His supporters (those that fear we will become a non-Christian, non-white country) loved this idea. Mexico has told him to pack sand.
The biggest one is simply Trump getting on television and saying, “We have been the most productive administration of all time.” His followers believe this and applaud wildly.

Sadly, this too is just words. He brags. People hear what they want to hear. He retains his power.

Sad.

Time to save the world.

Up, up and away…

Jim

Plan B? We don’t need to stinkin Plan B!

Posted on May 14, 2018 by admin

This just in: When we live in a world devoid of facts, we shouldn’t be surprised when our actions, based on fantasy, give us less than optimal results. This is why it’s important to have a Plan B.

Let’s look at a couple of actions that are either (1) not turning out as expected or (2) probably won’t turn out as expected…

We moved the U.S. Embassy for Israel to Jerusalem. I accurately predicted that people would die because of this. Today, more than 50 did just that. Now, this seems to be a bipartisan issue. Democrats and Republicans think this was a good idea (I don’t). The problem is that they all also agree that this move essentially puts an end to any attempt at peace between Palestine and Israel. If this is not the end, what is the plan? What is plan B?
Iran’s nuclear development program was stopped and dismantled. In return, we let them have access to their own money and lifted other sanctions. Everyone agrees that Iran was in compliance with the deal. Trump pulls us out of the deal in spite of this. My guess is this has something to do with his National Security Advisor, Bolton. Bolton is a fellow draft dodger, along with Trump. It has been his long standing position that the idea of war with Iran gives him an erection. So now, Iran can go back to building nukes. If Europe tries to enter a deal with Iran without us, Bolton has said we’ll impose sanctions on Europe. So, when these things happen, what is our Plan B? There was no crisis in Iran and now there is…now what?
The Republican Party spent 8 years chanting “Elect us so we can repeal Obamacare and create great insurance for everyone.” So, the last budget cut out the individual mandate forcing people to buy insurance or pay a penalty. This is a cornerstone of Obamacare and without it, we can expect to see millions more uninsured and prices shooting up. So, they broke healthcare and have absolutely no Plan B.
The tax cut passed recently gives the average person almost no relief in taxes. The top 1% and corporations are raking in billions. Meanwhile, our national debt is soaring at a rate never seen before. Essentially, we passed a tax plan that says, “Borrow $1 trillion a year and give it all to the richest people in the country.” Early data is showing that the economy is no better than before the tax cut. Yes, unemployment is down but it has been dropping steadily for 8 years. The tax break had no impact on this. So, now that it’s clearly not working…what is Plan B?
We are rolling back every environmental protection program we have. Faced with the fact that Global Warming is going to change everything for our kids and grandkids (and not for the better) what is Plan B? How will we save Florida when it goes underwater?

Asking for a Plan B is a must with Trump. Why? Because he revels in boasting about what he just did and the results that exist only in his mind. He does this because we let him get away with it. We forget about lie number 3,002 because he is already basking in the fake outcome that is lie number 3,003.

Trump exists because we don’t hold him accountable.

The Republican Party exists for the exact same reason.

Time to save the world.

Up, up and away…

Jim

Iran: Manufactured Crisis/Diversion

Posted on May 9, 2018 by admin

This just in: Yesterday, Trump pulled the United States out of the Iranian Nuclear Deal. On a completely unrelated note; Trump’s attorney, Michael Cohen, took in millions of dollars from Russia, AT&T and a Pharmaceutical company. He took it in through a shell company and speculation is that he was selling influence and access to Trump.

Getting out of the Iranian deal basically tells the world that the United States does not feel obligated to hold up its end of the bargain. I’m sure North Korea is watching this carefully.

I would like to make three points.

First, Iran has been in complete agreement with the accord. They have been off the nuclear threat map since the deal was cut.
Getting out of the deal is not the United States breaking a deal with Iran. We are breaking a deal with all of the participants of the deal which includes the UK, France, Germany, China and Russia. All of these countries told the United States to stay in the agreement.
The deal was cut with Iranian moderates. That is to say, we were able to sit at a table with the less-crazy people from Iran and eventually cut a deal. Now, we will be dealing with hardliners who would just as soon nuke Israel as not. Getting out of the deal has strengthened the position of these hardliners who have said all along, “The United States cannot be trusted.”

There is virtually no support for this move. It hurts U.S. credibility abroad. It hurts U.S. relations with its allies. It allows Iran to once again become a nuclear threat to the world.

Furthermore…there is no Plan B. We have no plan on how to deal with Iran outside of the agreement.

So…why did Trump do this?

Two reasons: First, his National Security Advisor and fellow draft dodger, John Bolton, has always wanted to go to war with Iran. Secondly, If we are looking at Iran, we might not notice that the Mueller Probe is starting to look like it will result in Trump dying in prison.

So, for no clear reason, Trump has made the world a more dangerous place.

Why? Who knows. It could be a distraction. It could be that he is just not that smart.

I suspect both.

Time to save the world.

Up, up and away…

Jim

The Art of Donald Trump’s Con

Posted on May 8, 2018 by admin

This just in: Trump has failed at nearly every business undertaking except for real estate. If he had taken his dad’s money and just invested it in a Stock Market Index Fund, he would be worth more than 3 times what he is reportedly worth today. He has declared bankruptcy several times. Within the last decade, he has found that banks in the United States would no longer loan him money. He turned to Russia and now appears to be cash-rich. He started buying properties at market price and then, without making any improvements, sold those properties to Russians for huge profits; a practice most often associated with money laundering.

Take all of this in and then ask yourself, “Is Trump a genius or a con man? Is Trump laundering money with help from Russia? Is there a link between Trump’s benevolent attitude towards Russia and his financial dependence upon them?”

Let’s put all of that aside. Forget about it.

I now have a new question: Is Trump a genius negotiator or an idiot? In other words, is he a legitimate president or just a con man?

Let’s look at the deals he’s been involved with since taking office.

Healthcare: He promised much better healthcare at much lower prices. It turns out that neither he, nor the Republican Party had a plan. In fact, Trump has no idea how healthcare works. He claimed he was going to fix it without knowing what he was talking about.

NAFTA: Trump calls this the “worst deal ever,” and claims he will negotiate a much better deal for us. It turns out that his threats to back out of NAFTA have caused two of our top trading partners to look elsewhere for goods. Trump has never given any indication that he understands what is even in NAFTA.

TPP: This is another deal Trump calls “the worst deal ever.” He says this without once mentioning a single thing he does not like or would change. He apparently does not understand TPP any more than he understands NAFTA or Healthcare. He calls previous deals “the worst deal ever” so his followers can nod in agreement and pretend, along with Trump, that he has a plan.

Paris Climate Accord: Another deal that is the “worst ever.” Trump has demonstrated that he has no idea what is in this agreement saying, “He wants to negotiate a fairer deal for the United States,” even though everything in the accord is voluntary. If we want to participate less or pay less, then we can.

The Iran Non-Nuclear deal: Again, “the worse deal ever.” Trump has been saying the Iranians violated the deal by testing missiles. Clearly, he didn’t understand that Iran is free to test missile within the bounds of the agreement. Every other country that joined with the United States on this deal has urged Trump to stay with the agreement. Instead, Trump is stepping away.

All these deals were already made. The United States had already agreed to them. What Trump has done is renege on these deals without understanding even the basics about the deals and having no alternative. Why? So he could pretend that he could fix things.

But let’s continue…

Trump is imposing tariffs without understanding the very basics about such an action. He appears to know less about Economics than someone who has just completed their first week of Econ 101.

Trump supported a tax reform plan that gives virtually nothing to the middle class while enriching the top 1% of the population. In this instance, I’m not sure if he doesn’t understand the tax break or if he did this on purpose. Notably, there was a last minute “pass through” issue that basically enriches anyone in the real estate business…like Trump.

The Con continues as Trump takes credit for progress between North and South Korea. He does this expecting us to believe that his tweets about “Rocket Man” have brought the North to its knees. He has done nothing to help in that part of the world. Even North Korea says Trump has had nothing to do with the denuclearization talks going on now.

Trump has the Black Midas Touch. Everything he does make things worse. His EPA is dismantling itself; allowing for the rapid rise in nearly every area of pollution. He’s weakened consumer protection. He’s alienated NATO allies. He’s shown racist tendencies and legitimatized the rise of white supremacy. He’s actively supported the NRA while calling for “thoughts and prayers” and armed gym teachers as solutions to violence in schools. He thinks saying “don’t do drugs” will cure the opioid crisis. He thinks telling teens “don’t have sex” will lower teen pregnancy.

Notice all of this exists in addition to the Russian Collusion allegations or Trump’s constant lying.

This guy is a train wreck…and we put him in charge.

Just sayin…

Gotta run. It’s time to save the world.

Up, up and away…

Jim