Just WHY???

I can’t wrap my mind around WHY anyone would support or try to defend the words, actions, inactions, lack of words, absurd behavior, rudeness, lack of tolerance, and blatant lies of Donald J Trump, our supposed “President” of these United States of America. I just am completely baffled by anyone who promotes this man and his hate-filled agenda. I see it occasionally from some people that I know on Facebook, and it just makes me cock my head in awe, and it makes me want to ask them directly “Do you NOT understand anything? Are you so blinded by his lies and deceitful tactics that you are willing – that you CHOOSE -to follow him like a stupid little, lost sheep? Would you jump off a bridge if he told you this was necessary for him to remain your president? Some of you would, I just know you would.”

No one likes Trump or his crew of evil doers. He is so concerned with “party” and not with “people” and it’s so very easy to SEE exactly where his loyalties and priorities lay – with the richest and his most wealthy donors. He has absolutely NO concern for the citizens of this country, or for the well-being of any part of this world – unless it directly correlates to his bank accounts. WHY is this so difficult for some people to see and understand? Do they seriously “believe” that Trump cares about them in some way??? Because, believe me – and all of the millions of others who see, understand and truly get it – he doesn’t give two shits about YOU or about “making America great again”…that’s not even HIS slogan, that was stolen from Ronald Reagan!!! Reagan is the one who used the “make America great again” in his campaign. Trump is nothing short of a total copy-cat. Anything he sees or hears that he can use, he uses. He has NO IDEAS of HIS OWN. It’s all just complete nonsense in his head!

Trump instigates Kim Jong Un, leader of North Korea, basically egging him on to do something that will give Trump the necessary reason to obliterate North Korea. Trump verbally threatened to “completely destroy North Korea” and I believe he fully intends to do just that because he thinks it will make him look “fabulous” and make more stupid people love his old ass.
Trump himself knows nothing about war or military service. He was a draft dodger, 3 times even! He didn’t have the fortitude, patriotism or guts to fight for or serve his country in the military. He only knows what he has watched on TV or in the movies, and he thinks it’s all glorious. He doesn’t consider the affect that a war of nuclear missiles will kill MILLIONS of innocent people – not just Kim Jong Un!

If Trump had ANY sense he would order a strategic removal of Jong Un…Obama did it to Osama Bin Laden, so we KNOW it is possible. But Trump can’t seem to do it with his buddy the “Rocket Man” as he calls Jong Un nowadays. Another “stolen” nickname originally given to Jong Un’s father by Newsweek magazine years ago. He’s just re-using other people’s words to make himself look good in some weird way. Like it’s very grown up and very “presidential” to call the leaders of other countries vile nicknames and speak of them in derogatory terms, yeah must make him feel REAL GOOD about himself.

Trump tries daily to convince his dead-brained followers that he has nothing to do with Russia. He claims Russia had nothing to do with our recent presidential election process. Yet, 16 security agencies of the US Government have VERIFIED this as a FACT. Trump does not even have confidence enough to believe his own security advisors. And THEY verified that Russia did INDEED interfere with our presidential election process. Whether this had any effect on the outcome is vaguely debatable, but it DID happen nonetheless. And how can you not believe all of the people who tirelessly work in our intelligence and security agencies who say this is a fact? All of them say it is so, and ONE man says it is not…and some people believe that one man? WHY??? I just don’t get it. It does not make sense.

And the new attempt by Trump to have Obama’s name removed from our healthcare is abominable. This “Graham-Cassidy” bill is the WORST suggested bill to date! All 50 state Medicare director has come out against it, the AMA is against it, doctors, insurance companies and most every health-related institution is against this bill. It is so horrendous that even some senators say they would not vote for the bill, except that they must because if they don’t they will lose the $$$ they get from their “donors” who are the ONLY ones who benefit in the form of the largest tax break for them in history if this bill passes. It is a very shameful thing when our elected officials choose “party” over “people”…just completely shameful. IF Trump is so fucking worried about Obama’s name being on the American’s Care Act (ACA) then just change it to Trump care and be DONE with attacking it and causing 30 MILLION people to worry about losing all practical healthcare and protections. IF they repeal the ACA as it stands the only ones who will be happy with the end result of a very, very poor standard of care for America will be it’s very wealthiest citizens, and no one else. Ordinary American’s WILL suffer and suffer very greatly.

Donald Trump is completely delusional. He is so focused on Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama that he can’t see anything else past his nose. He is SO envious of those two that it’s pathetic. He can’t get over the FACT that Hillary Clinton garnered MORE POPULAR votes than he did! FACT!!! He can’t get by the FACT that Obama did more in his 8 years than Trump could even THINK of doing in his however-many years…let’s hope it’s a VERY SHORT number of years!!!

IF you believe Donald Trump, he is the ONLY one telling the truth here in America. He claims that EVERYONE else – every media source, including Facebook, and every government organization – is telling lies about him and promoting “fake news” as he so readily calls EVERYTHING he disagrees with now. The man just can’t get over himself! He’s a blatant LIAR, yet a few very naive people seem to want to fall for his lines. I am very sorry for those people; they will surely be very disappointed when Trump goes down in flames. And it IS going to happen – in one way or another!

There are SO MANY fucked up things going on here with Trump and his family and his cohorts that I can’t even scratch the surface. From the RNC funding the Trump family’s legal fees to Price taking government planes to watch the eclipse…it’s all so corrupt and illegal that it stinks to high heaven! And so many other things too! But, I shall leave you here with these paragraphs to ponder about what is going on with Trump and America right now.

Peace. ~MB

PS…as I was writing this Trump sent US fighter jets over the airspace of North Korea…now we wait for North Korea’s response – or World War Three – not quite sure just yet!

Chaos and Disruption in America

Hello world.  It’s another Monday, my least favorite day of the week.  I wanted to blog last night but Lulu was insistent on licking my computer screen…so I had to put the computer away and tried to sleep..with no luck.  I’ve been having some evil sleeping problems, I just can’t seem to turn off my thoughts and fall into a peaceful slumber.

I worry a lot now about my country and our horribly chaotic political landscape.  Trump is driving us into the ground.  It’s just insane, and it seems to get WORSE every day that goes by that he is still in office.  I’m actually a little bit surprised that he has made it this far (6 mos) without either  being booted or killed.

The level of violence in the USA has risen to all new heights.  Trump’s being elected to our nation’s highest office, with all of his hate, bigotry and discrimination, seems to have given new life to violence.  Some think it’s the answer now.  The police in the US are gunning down criminals at an alarming rate – I personally have NEVER in my life experienced a year like we are having.  Not a day goes by that we don’t hear of a police involved shooting somewhere in this country.  We have had a few of them locally.  It’s astounding to me, cops never used to kill people like this.  They would find ways to take them into custody without taking their lives.  I’m not sure if the Trump administration has given some underlying directive to tighten up and take less prisoners or what.  That is certainly what it feels like.

This scares me because the police are supposed to serve and protect the people.  And with this very strange, violent, unpredictable administration in DC I am afraid of some sort of Marshal law being instituted.  They have already given judicial directives to start trying ALL drug crimes to the maximum penalties.  This is not the answer to stopping illegal drug trade in the US.  Imprisoning people for small amounts of drugs is a waste of time and money, yet that’s what they (Trump & Co.) want to see happen.  The answer is to educate, provide treatment programs and to work to stop the demand.  The drug industry is completely fueled by supply and demand.  If we could somehow teach people how NOT to reach for drugs as an answer to problems then we would slow the demand, making it inevitably less profitable to deal drugs, and less appealing.  Sounds simple huh?  Too bad it’s not. Take it from a drug addict, curing addiction is a bitch, and it’s so easy to reach for that thing that kills the pain, makes one happier for a little while, and is so easy to get.

So, I fear the police now.  I’ve always had a healthy respect for the law enforcement of this country, and I have had my dealings with them on a few levels over the years.  But now it’s different.  I fear being stopped in my vehicle, fear reaching for my wallet – maybe I’ll become another statistic of  the “….I thought she was reaching for a gun…” defense.  It seems that it happens so frequently now.  There was an Australian woman in Michigan recently that called the cops because she heard a woman in distress in the alley, as she was standing outside the cop car talking to the cops the cop on the passenger side shot through the driver’s window and killed her.  She was holding a phone.  She had called them…she needed their help…she ended up DEAD.  And STILL the cops are remaining silent, they won’t say WHY they killed her!!!!  THAT is an ATROCITY.  That is the kind of stuff we now fear from our own law enforcement here in the USA – land of the free, supposedly a safe country.  Things are changing.  My country is morphing into a place that frightens me, especially as a Butch lesbian.

Trump and Company are in loads of legal troubles lately.  They are all lying so much about their involvement with Russia and Putin that it’s pathetically obvious.

I could rant on and on about all the horrible things that Trump and his cronies are proposing to do to the USA.  The list is pretty much endless.  He’s attacking any and all programs that help people live. He’s attacking minority communities.  Doing away with all reference to the LGBT community, attacking HIV/AIDS programs, Social Security, Medicare and our food supplement program – which feeds millions here.  His idea is to do away with ALL of these programs as soon as possible.  He will create even MORE poverty, more suffering and more hatred.  Many Americans, most of us, are upset, angry and afraid for our future; for the future of America as a unified country.  But what to DO about what is happening is very confusing and feels out of reach.  Even our representatives in government are not all speaking out against all that is happening.  A few brave politicians ARE, but the majority are remaining silent; afraid for their own political futures if they “go against” the sitting president.  Yes, he has our country in a choke hold, and somehow we don’t seem to be able to yet break free.

Personally, I am trying to hold on to my pride in my country; trying to hang on to some faith that we will come together and put our country back on the right track.  We can once again become a country that cares for all, not just some of the people.  The American people are very caring and devoted people.  Taking care of our own should be our first priority, and yet this new administration thinks that taking care of only the rich and powerful is important, and that the lessers can fend for themselves in all ways.  They see women as property and as breeding machines without the ability to govern their own bodies and lives.  This has been made obvious by various statements made by several men in the Trump administration over time.

Some of the things you hear and read are so incredible that you just cannot believe that anyone “really” said them!  Things like that God is punishing people by making them disabled.  That women are meant to be raped.  That men are entitled to rape.  That we do not need a supplemental food program in a country where 1 in 4 have food instability.  That we do not need preventative medical care.  That we do not need a healthcare policy.  …and on and on…just incredulous statements and ideas!

We know that several things go on when someone wants and intends to control a country’s people.

The news media is discredited and people are told to only believe the government’s words.

Education is cut, because the less educated the people are the less trouble they can cause.  Keeping people in the dark.

Scare tactics are used.  People are made to fear the police, their government officials, attacks from abroad and each other.  An air of distrust is created to keep people on edge and seeking some kind of protection for themselves and their families.

Groups of people are marginalized, like the LGBT community, the African American community, Latino/a community, Muslims, Mexicans, Asians, and anyone not white, well educated and rich.  This keeps us separated so that we in turn fear not only them, but one another in many ways.  This keeps us from coming together and fighting the real enemy of the people.

These are all tactics used by the powerful to keep the people under their control, and to keep chaos in the air.  This is exactly what Hitler did in Germany.  This is what Trump is doing to America.  Think about it.  These things, plus more, are being done on a daily  basis.  Look at the programs he has condemned to shut down already – including our American Healthcare program, our department of Education, the Environmental Protection Agency, Planned Parenthood, Women’s advancement programs, child welfare programs, wildlife protection programs, and more.  He’s dismantling all that is good about America, one program at a time.

If this stuff doesn’t frighten – or at least concern you a lot – then you really don’t get what is about to happen here.  It has to be stopped before it’s too late.

Some Republicans are beginning to see that Trump is NOT good for America or the American way.  Those few will grow in number over time.  I just hope it is soon enough.

Peace.  ~MB

Shame and Embarrassment

Today our country, or most of it, came to a sort of 3 hour stand still while we were all riveted to the television watching James Comey testify in Washington DC.  Everyone wanted to hear what he had to tell us about his meetings with Trump, about his being fired by Trump and anything else he could tell us about what the hell was going on with Trump and Russia.

What I took away from listening to Comey was that we are going to be dealing with a “he said, he said” situation here.  It’s his word against Trumps.  We know one is an outright liar here.  One is NOT telling the truth.  I find it very, very hard to believe that a man who has served 3 presidents now, and who never had any problem until he started investigating the Russian interference in our elections would be the liar.  No, I believe that it is our current President that is lying through his teeth to the American public, to his constituents and to the whole world.  Comey says that Trump claims to have tapes of their meetings, I hope that he does and that he produces them, I want to hear those tapes.  So does everyone else I am sure.  But I suspect that those tapes have long been destroyed or hidden.  Trump will not chance producing them now.  He knows he will be caught in the lies for sure.

Half of Comey’s testimony was behind closed doors, in a classified environment.  We didn’t get to see or hear that.  But one thing that came out of it was the revelation that Jeff Sessions, our current Attorney General, had a 3rd meeting with the Russians….this guy is going to resign this week…betcha.  He is dirty; very dirty.  And he knows it.

Comey also confirmed, with no doubt at all, that the Russians DID INDEED interfere with the 2016 Presidential election, and other elections as well.  And they did it in a MAJOR way.  This has been confirmed by 17 security agencies, including the FBI.  THIS is something that we all need to be the most concerned with, because they will do this again with the 2018 and 2020 elections as well.  Comey tried very hard today to make that point very clear.  And he would know this information for sure, as he was the head of that investigation until he was fired.

It’s very hard to be an American citizen right now.  And I have always been a very proud American; proud of my country and of our standing in the world.  But right now we have become the laughing stock of the world.  Great Britain won’t even host our President for a visit, saying why would they roll out the red carpet for someone who has such opposite views and who is insulting their people, like Trump did to the mayor of London after the other day’s terrorist attack?  I don’t blame them one bit, I wouldn’t give the guy any special treatment or welcome him into my home either.  He’s made me ashamed to be an American who is represented by such a hateful, ignorant, and pompous ass.  He has made us look selfish with his “America First” rhetoric and policies.  He pulls us out of the Paris Climate Agreement and puts us in a category with countries like Syria and Nicaragua…yeah, just who we want to be classed with.  He pushes his way to the front, shoving other world leaders aside so that HE can be in the front and center of any pictures being taken.  And he has treated Angela Merkel with such rudeness that it’s so embarrassing that I want to write her a letter of apology.  I lived in her beautiful country for 2 years, and I was always treated so well by the German citizens that I had contact with, and Trump treated her like dirt.  I think he is completely threatened by her because she is a woman and she is in a position of power – he HATES that.

Yes, we Americans are embarrassed and ashamed right now.  And we are very much STUCK with this guy.  Our Republican party of politicians is protecting him, the Russian government is protecting him, hell  somehow he’s become sort of bullet proof.  He seems to be able to do ANYTHING he pleases without recrimination or punishment of any kind.  He once said that he could stand in the middle of the street in NYC and shoot someone and no one would do anything about it….I am seriously beginning to BELIEVE that that is true!!!  I do NOT understand WHY he is so protected and bullet proof.  I don’t understand WHY our representatives cannot seem to do anything about his horrible behavior and lack of manners, about his ignorance about government and policy or about his committing treason without consequences!  Ryan said today that he’s “new at this” and “has a lot to learn”.  You would have thought that they would have chosen a candidate that didn’t need full on schooling to do the job.  But they nominated and elected this reality TV bozo who is dumber than a box of rocks!

The people of America, the majority of us, are NOT in agreement with Trump.  He was NOT elected by popular vote.  The election was compromised by the Russians, and it was stolen.  This is unprecedented in American history, and we do not know how to deal with it at all.  We protest, we speak out, we protest some more, there have been riots, and confrontations.   Hate crimes here are on the rise…they are happening daily now.  It has become a hostile atmosphere.  Trump and his crooked Republican constituents are WRECKING America day by day.  They are trying to keep the press from reporting, trying to keep people from exercising their right to freedom of speech (which is protected by our First Amendment – something that Trump wants to change)  and trying to restrict our freedom to peacefully protest.

It’s only been 139 days….God help us. I pray that more brave souls like James Comey and the woman who leaked the RSA document, Liberty Leigh Winner, will come forward and be as patriotic as these two have been.  I hope we can survive this horrible corruption of our government, and attacks on our personal freedoms before it is too late.  And most of all I hope that we can all stand together, united, and weather this storm.

With any luck Trump will find a conscience and resign.

Peace.  ~MB

 

 

Trump PROVES He’s a Total Idiot.

Yes, as if he could get any worse, this imbecile has gone above and beyond stupid.

And it only takes him a mere few hours to make himself look stupider than EVER!

Remember, it’s ONLY TUESDAY morning and so far he has:

called our Constitution “archaic” and “bad for the country” – meaning it’s bad for him because he can’t fully extend his totalitarian rule with the Constitution standing in his way.

Wishes to change the 1st Ammendment of our Constitution so that no one can criticize him.  Says “no one should be able to protest” him at all.  This is his attempt to silence the press – a VERY NAZI move and the move of a fascist.

Says he would be “honored” to meet with Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea, and that Un is “smart”…yes, a dictator with blood on his hands, the killer of his own brother, he’s some “smart” alright, and just who I would like to see meeting with the leader of my country – NOT.

Invites a mass murderer to the White House – Duarte.  Enough said.

Has put into action the dismantling of Michelle Obamas healthy school lunch program.  And is ending her “Let Girls Learn” program as well.  He just cannot stand anything that was anyone elses idea, especially if your name is Obama.

Praised Andrew Jackson up and down, saying he “didn’t want the civil war” to happen.  THEN he finds out that Jackson had been DEAD for 16 years when the Civil War started, so he changed it to “wouldn’t have let it happen”.  Of course. Jackson was a slave owner, he forced Native Americans from their lands, thus starting the “Trail of Tears” and was an ignorant fuck.

THEN the Idiot in Chief says “Why did the Civil War happen?”  WTF???  He doesn’t even realize what he says anymore, or understand basic US history.  The Civil War happened to stop people from owning other people; to stop slavery.  It’s pretty simple, but he wouldn’t get it even if you tried to explain it to him.  He WANTS to own other people and thinks it’s perfectly alright.  Asshole.

I am just beside myself.  Just what HAS to HAPPEN before Americans wake up and get this fool out of office?  When will he get irritated enough with not being adored and admired by all, and RESIGN?

I do not fully understand what is happening with my country or my government.  We have this Orange Buffoon in charge who is trying to hold a coup and flip us to a dictatorship.  Yet, I see NOTHING being done politically to get him out of office or get control of him.  Republicans are cowed to him completely.  They just choose to ignore him, because as long as they have ANYONE who will identify as a Republican as their leader they will deal with the guy being a fool.  They don’t care about the American reputation or the American people one fucking bit.

It’s very early on Tuesday morning here, so we have the day to see what else will happen with this guy and his posse in DC.  I don’t predict that it will be anything good at all.  More of the same hateful rhetoric and destruction of the American life.

That’s your update…pray for us!

Peace.  ~MB

Politics again…lol

I worked this morning and hid away all afternoon, trying to nap but with no luck in doing so.  I relegated myself to just staying quiet, cuddling with the dogs and doing much deep thinking.

Tonight I caught up on social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.  I get a lot of my news blips from those places too…I’m always interested in what others find interesting in the news.  Of course 99% of what I read is about Trump and his cohorts.  I cannot understand how we are allowing him to continue on as President of the United States.  It just makes NO sense.  Every day he comes up with something new to destroy.  He hops from topic to topic, and never really give anyone any idea of what his REAL policy is on any one thing.  A POTUS with NO known real policy, no known “real” agenda – other than creating complete chaos across the board.

We are close to war in several places around the globe.  Trump is beating the war drum, he thinks he can just do anything he wants to do.  I seriously think he’s going to get us in to a war with North Korea first, and that will anger the Russians, the Chinese and others.  Soon he will have most of the major dark side world powers all lined up against us.  It may be a war that we lose.  I know that is something the US doesn’t think can happen, but in reality it CAN happen.  Right now I see no diplomatic negotiations taking place with any of our “enemies” like Russia, N. Korea, China or Iran (yeah now Iran is angry too).  It’s really fucking scary.  I dread the morning that we all wake up to the news that we have either attacked or been attacked by any one of the aforementioned entities.   It will be a very bad day.

When will we ever get to making some decisions here in America?  All we have done for the last couple of years is fight over things.  Nothing seems to be getting done or resolved.   Washington is locked up in partisan politics.  We have a very ineffective leader.  We have ineffective representation in Congress and the Senate.  It’s going to take a complete change of the guard to rectify this whole situation and that’s going to be one super nasty fight.  Our next mid-term elections are going to be very tell-tale.  I suspect that you will see more money than ever before being poured into the political coffers of many candidates.  And if we are to elect effective candidates it’s going to take a hell of a lot of real grassroots campaigning.  It certainly will be interesting.

Next week, when Congress returns from their vacation, they will be faced with dealing with the national budget.  If they cannot get it together then we are going to be facing a government shutdown by next Friday.  This shutdown will totally be the fault of Donald J. Trump.  Trump is insisting that there be $1billion for the construction of his famous wall on the Mexican border – that wall that he promised that Mexico would pay for – and if there is a government shut down I predict it will be over this issue alone.  He will let our government shut down over his idiotic idea of the wall.  I think he’ s THAT MUCH of an asshole.

Alrighty, that’s enough political shit for tonight.   For more specific stories you can always check out my daily paper on Paper.li “Relevant Times”  It gets tweeted out on my Twitter account daily, and is a composition of what’s happening on the political scene, the LGBT scene, and in the lesbian enclave of the world.  It’s kind of interesting.

I am considering upgrading my WordPress account to be able to post videos here as well.  You have to upgrade to a paid account to add videos.  Right now I use YouTube, but I am not completely happy with that venue at the moment.  Especially with some of the anti-LGBT stuff that has gone on with Youtube’s rules lately.  And Instagram videos are just too limited, I use that mostly for quick pics and to follow my younger friends’ posts.  I hope to have time this coming weekend to work on all of this.

Peace.  ~MB

 

Just in One Single Day…

It has been a long, strange day in American politics.  There were a few – a FEW – major fuck ups that happened today.  Most of which just show how fucking stupid some politicians can BE when they open their mouths.

Sean Spicer….oh, Sean!  yes, he’s done it again.  He cannot get Bashar Al Assad’s name right on ANY given day, and today was no different, but today he tried to compare Assad to Hitler.  Saying that Assad was WORSE than Hitler.  It turned into a huge deal.  He seemed to be saying that Hitler didn’t gas his own people….like DUDE, did you NOT take world history???  Hitler gassed upward of 11 million people in his gas chambers — which, GET THIS — Spicer called “Holocaust Centers” today.  Once again, this guy should NOT be talking outloud, let along trying to be the spokesperson for the White House of this country.  He tried to walk back his words, repeatedly.  Then afterwards he issued no fewer than 3 written “clarification” statements all within 19 minutes…he kept changing the words, he kept using the WRONG words.  Yes, Sean, talking is hard.  Very hard.  He really needs to resign this job, and we need someone who doesn’t make us look like fucking idiots on the world stage.  Sean Spicer can’t talk his way out of a paper bag.  It’s been an issue since the beginning with him, but today just took the proverbial CAKE.

For more on this please watch Rachel Maddow’s presentation here.  She explains it perfectly.  I am sure you’ll be just as embarrassed by his ineptitude.  Also, this is a good clip on what a moron Spicer was today.

The second biggest story here in America in the last couple of days has been United Airlines and their decision to remove a passenger from a flight so that one of their crews would have room to fly.  Perhaps you haven’t seen the video footage…it’s appalling, let me warn you.  These 3 police officers, that’s what they called them, literally drag this poor Asian man off the flight, as he freaks out.  The poor guy didn’t understand what the hell was going on, you can tell.  He’s a 69 yr old doctor, of Asian descent and he’s been singled out for removal from this flight – supposedly by some sort of selection based upon connecting flights and arrival times.  Bullshit.  United did NOT handle this very professionally, and they are paying the price  – losing $250M the next day in the stock market value.  PLUS now everyone is saying here that they will NOT fly United again.  I know that I won’t after seeing this.  United removes passenger.  Scroll down for actual video footage of removal of this man.

Our “president” Donald J. Trump has been in office not even 100 days yet…and yet he has spent 17 days golfing.  Golfing.  This is the man who claimed he would have “no time” to golf because he would be too busy staying in the White House doing America’s business.  What a bullshit lair he has turned out to be on just this ONE thing.  Check this out

Those are just a FEW of the things that happened politically today here in the USA.  It’s fucking scary how much happens in just one day lately.  It’s like we are on this out of control slide into total chaos here.

Other  things of significance to note…

• Jeff Sessons spoke about the “Trump era” of immigration from the Mexican border.
• Trump tweeted about taking on North Korea with or without Chinese assistance.His Tweet:  “North Korea is looking for trouble. If China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them! U.S.A.”
• Trump poked again at China…His Tweet “I explained to the President of China that a trade deal with the U.S. will be far better for them if they solve the North Korean problem!”
• The US has sent war ships to the Korean peninsula, which is VERY SCARY .  That story is here:  US Dispatches War Ships
• And, sadly, J. Geils was found dead in his Groton, MA home earlier today.  RIP.  That story is here.  J. Geils Band

Yes, we are certainly headed for something here, I’m not sure if it’s war or just more testosterone fueled posturing.  Trump got a “taste” of it with his attack on the Syrian airport, and now he’s vying for more.  I’m afraid of what this man will start, and afraid of what our enemies may do if he does start something.  It’s becoming very scary indeed.

And THIS my friends is why I don’t always sleep well at night!

Peace.  ~MB

Trump’s Latest Anti-LGBT Move…

Roger Severino has been given the position as chief of the Office for Civil Rights in the Health and Human Services (HHS) department of our government, working directly under HHS secretary Tom Price.

THIS, dear friends, is NOT good for the LGBT community.  This is a direct threat to all of the rights that we have fought so damned hard for, the major one coming to mind is marriage equality.  Severino and Price are BOTH historically anti-LGBT in their rhetoric and actions.

Putting these two people at the helm of the ship when it comes to all civil rights is a very dangerous thing to minority groups.  Of the LGBT in particular Severino and Price do not believe the discrimination is an issue for us.  Really?

These appointments are more fine examples of how inconsiderate, hateful and trigger happy the president and his administration are.  Who appoints someone who hates gays to an office that has the duty to investigate and possibly prosecute the abuse of LGBT civil rights?  Someone who hates us to begin with: Donald Trump.

Yes, the great old orange idiot did this to us.  If you are an LGBT Republican and you voted for this guy I hope you are happy now.  Or will you be happier when they strip our right to marry away?  They’re going to try to do it, just you wait and see.  Either way, these appointments send dangerous signals that they would bring someone to protect our rights to the table that so adamantly denies there are problems and the we even need protection.

“Severino won’t be able to roll back protections overnight, and his office will still be required to look into every civil rights complaint. But he will have some discretion in terms of deciding what to prioritize, and what kind of resources to invest. (HHS Secretary Tom Price also has a history of opposing LGBTQ rights.”  Huffington Post, 3-27-17

 

 

Our Child-like President

Alright, I’ve admitted that I am a news junkie…but I am particularly obsessed with this illegitimate president we have occupying the White House part time, yeah Donald J. Trump.  I watch and read news stories regularly, and most of what I am reading/watching lately is stuff about him, his budget suggestions, his health insurance plan, his cabinet picks, and his child-like behavior in office.  As much as I have read/seen it STILL amazes me that this freak is still in office after 58 days.  Yes, it’s been 58 days since he took office on Jan. 20, 2017 and began to set the country on it’s ear.  Fifty-eight days of stupidity.

Trump changes the topic every week.  Sometimes a couple of times a week, depending upon his mood and how mean he feels that day.  His Tweets have shown how childish and self-centered he is.  His cabinet choices show me that he is lining us up for a complete hostile take over of our government.  He says he is trying to make America great again…then he does things to tear our country apart; to divide us and to cause us anxiety and harm.  He does not engage the citizens.  He hides from us; from the press and from directly answering any question.  He takes responsibility for nothing and continually blames others for any problems he encounters.  Like now he is blaming Fox News for his “wire tapping” Tweets, saying it was a report from one of their journalists – that he obviously believed – that he was referring to in his Tweets.  “Don’t ask me, go ask Fox.”

This man is pure evil.

I  watched Saturday’s press conference, with him and Angel Merkel, leader of Germany, and was horrified at how he presented himself and represented the USA.  He literally disrespected her on national television with the whole world as witness.  He ignored her handshake request at the podium, and wouldn’t make eye contact with her.  His posture was child-like and very weak looking.  He sat in the chair like a little boy being scolded.  It was very difficult to watch, I felt uncomfortable for America.  He did not do us justice.  He did not look or act or talk like a world leader, like the leader of the free world…and Merkel appeared just as surprised, perhaps even a bit insulted to be forced to stand next to this pathetic man-child.  Yes, I was embarrassed, and he should have been too.  He was ill prepared to host this great leader of Germany and it was very obvious he did not know how to act or carry himself in a stately manner.  He was very uncomfortable, and it showed.

I don’t understand HOW he is staying in office.  Trump might be a great guy in another context, but as a president he is not.  He knows only the life of the rich and famous, he doesn’t “get” what it’s like to actually have to struggle and earn a living in America.  He doesn’t understand how to talk to people, how to converse and exchange ideas.  He only knows how to give orders and bark commands – like a BOSS, not as a president.  He doesn’t seem to know how to ask for things, but certainly knows how to demand them.  The difference is that he is an actor, a TV personality, a reality show host, and NOT a politician who is schooled in proper etiquette and on how to conduct oneself in situations like yesterday’s press conference.  He knows how to boast about himself, and how to condemn America as “carnage”…constantly patting himself on the back and saying how people think he’s so great.  The man is DELUSIONAL.  I believe he is actually mentally deficient, or at least socially inept.

I won’t even get started on his proposed new budget.  It’s another piece of hate-filled legislation that he will try to ram down the throats of Americans.  I am hoping and praying that the Congress will look at his suggested budget and realize that it is just his desire, and that they will put together a budget that will be more reasonable.  It’s up to them to make and ratify the budget, his proposal is only that – an outline of what he wants to see.  And his ideas are very much right leaning.

I have been very active on Twitter and Facebook in voicing my opinion of this president and his administration.  I will continue to voice that opinion, I will continue to resist.  I think that he will ultimately dig his own political grave with one of his immature Tweets at some point.  Let’s hope it is before he gets us into a war with North Korea or China.  Let’s hope it’s before he decimates the economy, destroys our culture and alienates all of our allies.  And let’s hope it’s before the end of the year.  I predict that it will be, because after only 58 days he is gaining more and more opponents every day.

Peace.   ~MB

 

Snowmageddon 2017…Another Nor’Easter

I am hunkered down at home today, weathering out a super duper bad Nor’easter.  It’s snowing heavy and the wind is whipping at 40+mph, gusting as high as 80mph.  Yes, this is as bad as it gets here!  And it’s become so common place that we all joke about it now.  Everyone on my Facebook friends list is posting pics of the storm from their homes, or pictures of sunshine from other parts of the world.  It’s been a real active day on FB, everyone is stuck inside with not much else to do.  The power keeps flickering on and off here, I am waiting for it to go off for an extended time at some point, which means no heat or internet.  I am praying that that doesn’t happen because this is my main source of entertainment for the day!

My dogs are even a little stir crazy today.  They are leary of all of the wind noise, and the shaking of the house in some of the gusts.  Yes, it is blowing hard enough to literally shake the house.  I live in a mobile home, so it’s more susceptible to hard wind gusts.

I’ve been spending a good amount of my time alone lately and doing quite a decent amount of writing.  I am still in total denial that Trump is really president.  Although I do not dispute that he has invaded the White House with all of his corruption and his cohorts in treason.  I’m very disappointed in Congress…they ALL have no guts.  They will not stand up to Trump; they won’t call him on his bullshit, no matter how bad it gets they dare not cross him or do anything that would upset or anger him.  Anyone who is watching can see how nut-less this governing body has become.  It used to be that Republicans wanted everything done by the book, and wouldn’t stand for anything that smelled of corruption or lies, but this new Congress – under Trump – is just as complicit as he is.  Just as guilty.

The new health insurance bill that the Republicans have presented is anything but good.  First, it’s nothing new.  It’s basically just ripping all of the good stuff out of Obamacare and adding in more tax breaks for the rich while leaving millions and millions uninsured.  They keep throwing around the word “access”…saying we all have “access” to health insurance.  Well, right NOW we all have access to it, you can go out and buy health insurance any time you want – IF you can afford the premiums.  So “access” is NOTHING NEW.  And removing Medicaid and Planned Parenthood funding is NOT what Trump promised while he was campaigning.  He specifically promised to protect Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.  This new health insurance bill would eliminate Medicare funding for millions.  Thus, once again, leaving millions without any alternative than to use the ER for their primary care needs. I am hoping that there will be many revisions to this new plan, that Congress will not just pass it “because” he said it was to be.   Trump has said that it “will pass, one way or another” which indicates to me that he is not shy about using executive privilege to force this bill into law.  It’s just sad that Americans have to fight tooth and nail to get good health care, and for it to be affordable.  America should be better, we should have the best health care in the world and it should be readily accessible and affordable to all Americans.  Period.

I find it interesting that Trump has remained so quiet all week.  Since his stupid “wires tapped” Tweets he hasn’t said two words really.  Some WH lawyers must have jumped in and stopped him from Tweeting, that’s the only thing that makes sense.  When directed to provide PROOF of his accusations by yesterday, he declined to do so and sent Spicer to face the press.  Poor stupid Spicer.  The guy is just short of a full stack.  You would think that Trump could find a better WH spokesman.

And Kellyanne Conway….her and her “microwave” surveillance comment has really gotten her into the Twitterverse this week.  Hell, I even suspiciously eyed my own microwave….hehe.  She is just a looney tune.  Half of everything she says is just air facts, the other half doesn’t make ANY sense.  She’s another WH spokesperson who needs to fade into the woodwork and NOT be allowed to speak.  Even her voice grates on my nerves.

I am writing other blogs, just trying to find the words at the moment.  Thank goodness I have my writing as an outlet.  I do get mighty lonely here….it’s high time I change that, and very soon!

Be kind.  Peace.  ~MB

“Access”

So, Trump’s stab at the ACA (also known as Obamacare) is pretty pathetic.  He claims that his plan will give everyone “access” to health insurance coverage.  Well, we all have “access” to caviar and champagne too.  But that doesn’t mean we all have it because most of us cannot afford it!  Same with health insurance, it’s pretty unaffordable here.  I just went over a plan with my friend here, and the premiums and deductibles were very high, more about that later.

The new plan, TrumpCare, or the AHC Act of 2017 would in essence do the following plus more:

• Offer less coverage overall
• Result in higher out of pocket costs
• Increase insurance premiums across the board
• De-funds Planned Parenthood, devastating women’s healthcare.
• Penalizes for lapses in coverage by up to 30%
• Is less accessible for Seniors and the poor
• Eliminates the Medicaid expansion, resulting in loss of mental health and substance abuse treatment/programs (Medicaid covers 72 million Americans, approximately 1/3 of who have mental health or substance abuse care needs.)
• Gives tax breaks to the rich

I am perplexed that our GOP is so cold and heartless as to present a bill that would cause millions of people to lose their health insurance, due to an increase in premiums that they can’t afford or to a pre-existing condition or a lapse in coverage for over 60 days.  They claim this is “reasonable”, that reducing access to subsidized health insurance isn’t cruel, that it’s some form of “tough love” -without the love – in which people are forced to make good choices instead of bad ones.  This is patronizing and a big misreading of the actual outcome of this new bill.  One guy, I think it was saying that, and I am going from memory here) that maybe someone would “have to not buy that new iPhone” in order to afford their insurance. That is really stereotyping us!  Isn’t this guy really saying that Americans are just stupid?  Hell, it would take quite a few iPhones to cover the cost of a year’s insurance premiums on someone my age, single and with a pre-existing condition or two.

Many of the GOP are also against this new AHCA (American Health Care Act of 2017) or TrumpCare.  Some call it ObamaCare Lite, or ObamaCare 2.0.  I think it would be cool to call it something after Obama, he is the one who got us established with the Affordable Care Act and does deserve most of the credit.  We wouldn’t be discussing health care right now if it weren’t for his pushing the ACA through.

I am really concerned with the elimination of the Medicaid expansion.  Medicaid is administered by each of the states.  Every state has it’s own program, and if you cut or eliminate funding many people will be at risk.  I am very concerned that any poorly implemented or poorly timed change in the current funding structure in Medicaid could result in a reduction in access to life-saving health care services. And will certainly result in the loss of mental health services and to substance abuse treatment.  It will also result in the de-funding of Planned Parenthood, which means the loss of free mammograms, pap smears, birth control and family planning services for those most at risk.  Access to mental health and substance abuse treatment is vital in my opinion and cannot be compromised.

It’s all about money in the end.  Conservatives want everyone to just pay for their own health insurance out of pocket.  Who is rich enough, in the real world, to do that?  Congressmen and Senators, that’s who.  Rich cronies of Trumps, that’s who.  But not us regular hard working citizens.  I listen to people who make a lot more money than I do complain that they can’t afford the premiums of their health insurance policies, so they either don’t have insurance or are carrying the bare minimum required by the 2015 ACA law.  I know many people who just don’t have health coverage.  Some even need care and cannot access it due to the cost.

For instance, a policy with a $500 deductible, a 15/30/60 prescription co-pay for a single 55 yr old white woman is about $67.00 per week.  That’s $3484.oo per year.  (I just went over this policy with a friend, that’s where my numbers come from here).  That is A LOT of money when you only make $400 a week, they take taxes and SSI out of you, leaving you with about $320, then subtract the health insurance premium and you are left with $253.00 to live on.  You have to pay rent, electricity, heat, water and everything else….leaving one behind the proverbial 8 ball quite frequently.  Not to mention you have to meet the yearly $500 deductible before coverage kicks in, and you have pretty high co-pays on medications to deal with monthly.  It’s crazy.

Personally, I am lucky.  I am on Medicare…which they haven’t yet attacked and eviscerated.  I have good coverage, and it’s a good thing with my pre-existing conditions.  I also have Medicaid to help me with prescription costs.  Currently I pay for my mental health care and substance abuse treatment out of my own pocket each week as the program I am in isn’t yet covered by my insurance, although the medication IS covered.  So for now I feel like my own health insurance is stable.  I pay $130 per month for Medicare and $68 per month for Medicaid coverage.  THIS is more reasonable than the $290.00 per month for the policy I spoke of in the last paragraph.

These are the basics on the newly proposed Republican AHC Act of 2017.  I am opposed to the implementation of these new laws on health insurance until they fix the short comings above.  We need a health care act that provides access and availability of affordable coverage for all Americans.  It’s just plain common sense.  Protect the most vulnerable, protect our seniors and our sick and poor too.  Money should not be an obstacle when it comes to getting proper care for yourself.  If it is, there should be programs to help defray the costs so that people can stay healthy, be treated and feel safe in this aspect of life.

We’ll see what happens.  I am following this very closely and will update my thoughts as this issue is hashed out in Congress and the Senate.  Trump’s wild card is to just not make any changes and let Obamacare fail on it’s own….I’m not sure if it would fail, but they seem to think that it would if left alone as it is.  The failure of the program would be a loss of health benefits for millions…it just can’t happen.  But Trump is saying it’s this new plan or none at all.  Bastard.  He doesn’t care about anyone but himself.  That’s obvious.