Why I think Kavanaugh is lying

Posted on September 28, 2018 by admin

This just in: I don’t care what Kavanaugh did 35 years ago; at least not nearly as much as I care about what he is doing right now. Right now, he is lying to Congress and that is a felony crime.

I think he is lying for a couple of reasons I’m going to lay out right now.

Reason #1: He is acting like he is guilty. If I’d been accused of the type of conduct he is being accused of, my first action, as an innocent person, would be to insist on a thorough investigation. Anything short of that would leave lingering doubts about the type of person I was.

Saying there have been 6 Background Investigations is nonsense. If a BI was so conclusive, why would there ever be a 2nd one, much less 5 more. When conditions change, a new BI is warranted.

Saying, “We have signed notes from a couple of people” is about the same as saying, “I climbed a tree and nearly touched the moon.”

Reason #2: Kavanaugh has skin in the game; a lot of skin in the game. He will get the job of a lifetime if he is appointed so there is a lot riding on this. Additionally, anything short of his getting the job will leave him tainted as “The man that lost the job because of a 35 year old sex offense.” His reputation is on the line along with the job.

Reason #3: The woman has nothing to gain. In fact, she has already lost a lot. She’s lost her privacy. She’s exposed herself to death threats and hate mail. She is demonstrably non-political.

Reason #4: The Republican Party is rushing this through. Why? Because where there is smoke, there is fire. The longer he is sitting on the hot seat, the more stuff about his past is likely to be exposed. They act like it’s important to fill this seat on the SCOTUS as soon as possible. This ignores the fact that they just allowed a seat to be left open for several months so that Trump, not then President Obama, could fill the seat.

Those are reasons I think he is lying.

Here are a couple of reasons I think he should not get the job:

His opening statement yesterday made it clear that he is going to hold a grudge against the Democrats. So much for non-partisan judges.
He will end up Judging Trump which means that Trump is picking a SCOTUS justice that will get him off of the hook.
He is emotionally unstable as demonstrated in yesterday’s hearing.
He is lying to Congress.

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

What Grinds My Gears

Posted on March 15, 2018 by admin

This just in: I have beliefs and political opinions that may differ from you. I’m fine with that. What I’m not fine with is (1) people lying and (2) people believing those lies without question.

Let’s go through a few examples…

A couple of days ago, a Democrat won a special election in Pennsylvania over a highly favored Republican. Trump won that district by 20 points which is huge. The Democrats say that this shows how people have turned against the Republican Party, in large part because of Trump. This is just their opinion. The Republicans say he won because he has the Republican stance on abortion and gun rights and he likes Trump. This is demonstrably false. There are videos of the guy saying he stands for the exact opposite of what the Republicans say he stands for.

How about this one…

Abortion is murder or abortion is a woman’s choice. I prefer the later position but I can see the other side. However, making abortion illegal does not stop or even slow down the rate of abortions. It just drives them into the ally where the woman is put in great danger. So, don’t make that argument with me – the argument that making it illegal will stop it from happening. Instead, tell me God said it was bad instead. I might roll my eyes but still, you get to believe what you want to believe when it comes to God.

And there is this one…

Tax cuts for the rich will create jobs. Really? There is zero evidence that supports this. There is a lot of evidence that it makes the rich even richer. You can tell me that the rich deserve that extra money and again…I will roll my eyes. However, you get to have your own opinion.

What you don’t get to have is your own set of facts.

Others? How about Paul Ryan saying our debt is due to entitlements like Social Security. This, just weeks after passing a tax cut that will cause a 1.4 trillion dollar debt over the next 10 years. He’s lying.

How about “Obamacare is in a death spiral.” Again…a lie.

How about “California is begging for us to build a wall.” A lie.

I can’t start listing the Trump lies. Not enough ink in my computer to do that.

Gun control is the same thing. Republicans (funded by the NRA) will tell you there is no support for stronger gun control or research into gun violence. Demonstrably false.

But, while I’m on the “lying pisses me off” train, let’s look at what’s new at Fox News.

Fox used to have the slogan F”air and Balanced”. This is a lie, of course.

They now have a new slogan: “Real News. Real Honest Opinion.”

This is the same as saying, “We tell the truth except when we are not.”

As an example…let’s take Bill O’Reilly and Jon Stewart. When they appeared together and Stewart rightly pointed out that O’Reilly was putting out false news as if it were fact, O’Reilly responded with, “I’m an opinion guy not a news guy.” In other words, he got caught lying and went to plan B which was, “I was just expressing my opinion.”

I would love it if Fox had a headline that ran across their screen that would say, “What is now on the screen is made up” or “What is now on the screen is fact.”

Time to save the world.

Up, up and away…

Jim