Remember the Donald as you Get your Shot

Donald Trump wants us to remember him as we get our covid vaccines. So lets review:

Donald Trump ignored pandemic response plans left by the Obama administration, and fired most of his own team members who attended a pandemic response exercise set up by Obama’s transition team

Before Trump’s inauguration, a warning: ‘The worst influenza pandemic since 1918’
Politico, 2020-03-16

Donald Trump cut CDC staff in China, including the epidemiologist responsible for detecting outbreaks

Trump says China “should have told us” about coronavirus. He removed the official meant to do that.
VOX 2020-03-23

Donald Trump ignored coronavirus briefings from his own intelligence officials

Trump Received Intelligence Briefings On Coronavirus Twice In January
NPR 2020-05-02

The first company to produce a vaccine, Pfizer, turned down research and development funding from Trump’s Warp Speed program so they would, according to their CEO, liberate their scientists from bureaucracy. Their vaccine is also the most effective

Pfizer Vaccine’s Funding Came From Berlin, Not Washington
Bloomberg 2020-11-09

Do not appease Republicans or fall for their bullshit

Marco Rubio suggested that they could impeach Hillary Clinton if we convict Trump

Rubio’s question did not mention Clinton by name, but he alluded to the “Lock her up!” chants targeting Clinton that Donald Trump encouraged as a candidate in their 2016 presidential contest.

“Is it not true that under this new precedent, a future House facing partisan pressure to ‘lock her up’ could impeach a former secretary of state, and a future Senate forced to put her on trial and potentially disqualify from any future office?” Rubio asked the impeachment managers and Trump’s attorneys.

In response, Rep. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Md.) noted that Trump was impeached while still in office for conduct while he was the president. The hypothetical, he said, “has no bearing on this case.”

Trump attorney Michael van der Veen disagreed, warning that voting to convict a former president would lead to impeachment proceedings against other ex-officials.

“It could happen to a lot of people. And that’s not the way this is supposed to work,” van der Veen said

The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/02/12/trump-impeachment-trial-live-updates/

Trump was impeached while he was president of the United States. The Senate is now trying him because the Constitution says the Senate has the authority to try all impeachments. While I don’t know if it’s possible to impeach someone while they are out of office, Jamie Raskin is clearly correct is saying that such a possibility is not related to this case.

Rubio’s question was a threat. It certainly wasn’t asked to find information because even Rubio isn’t that ignorant. If we convict Donald Trump for the crimes that everyone knows he committed, Republicans will continue to do what they have been doing for more than two decades, which is trying to convict Hillary Clinton of something.

Folks, they’ll do it anyway. Republican are enemies of the United States and we should not think that appeasing them will make them relent.

What if Russia did Release a Pee Tape?

First, Trumpers would deny it was real

Then they’d say it was part of Trump’s plan to get Putin to trust him, revealing how far Trump would go because he loves America so much

Then they’d say it’s nobody’s business what Trump likes

Then there would a huge increase in demand for Russian mail order brides, especially in Alabama, Arizona, and Texas

So Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to release the pee tape. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our lonely conservative gentlemen

The military vote

I wish I was more pundit-like. Maybe if I was smarter I would understand why Trump still has so much of the military vote. Maybe I would understand why there are people out there who don’t understand why someone in the military would vote for Joe Biden. But I don’t.

Here’s what I know. I don’t have to be main stream media junkie to know these things. These should be indisputable

• Trump took almost two years to visit the troops overseas. He finally planned a trip when the pressure was too much for him to ignore.
• He skipped visiting the American cemetery in France, and blamed it on the weather. When he got home he skipped visiting Arlington on Veterans day, saying he was too busy making phone calls
• Trump got into a public argument with a Gold Star family. When the father of Captain Humayun Khan said that Trump never sacrificed anything, Trump said, “I think I’ve made a lot of sacrifices”
• Donald Trump lied repeatedly to America’s military. He said he said they didn’t get a pay raise in ten years before he became president.
• He declared an emergency so he could use money from military projects to pay for his wall
• He threatened to veto a military pay raise over Confederate base names
• He fired Lt. Col. Vindman
• He repeatedly fired military leaders and insulted them afterward
• Young Donald Trump joked about getting out of Vietnam. He thought it was funny that real soldiers died in his place

This is not a man who respects the military.

I don’t care about whining Trump supporters

Every now and then I have the urge to waste my time and look into an accusation that Trump supporters make about Democrats playing unfairly. They’re making accusations now to justify their attempts to stop the count of legally cast votes. Occasionally, their accusations have some grain of truth.

But I remember birtherism. I remember Ted Cruz boasting about shutting down the government and then denying he did so. I remember that Donald Trump is the most dishonest and corrupt president in American history, who has told thousands of lies while profiting from his office. I remember Trump’s central campaign promise that Mexico would pay for the wall, and how when that didn’t happen Republicans supported him declaring a bullshit national emergency so he can steal money from the military to build it. I remember him breaking an explicit promise to the Dreamers because he wasn’t happy with how many American tax dollars were going into his fucking wall. I remember how Republicans blocked hearings for Merrick Garland over a bullshit rule that they made up about not seating a Supreme Court justice in an election year, and how they broke that rule with fanfare and glee by pushing through Amy Coney Barrett, one of the most unqualified Supreme Court justices in recent history only a month before an election so she can support Trump if tries to win by cheating.

It’s time for me to stop giving a fuck about the accusations of Trump supporters any more. It’s time for me stop wondering if there’s a grain of truth in their lies. We’ve had more than four years of non-stop lies, corruption, and some of the dirtiest tricks ever played by an American political party. Some Republicans have been so disgusted by their own party that they’ve turned on Trump and his supporters. Those Republicans still have some credibility. Trump supporters have none.

Truly Orwellian

The absurd untruths in Kavanaugh’s opinion regarding Wisconsin, along with the thousands of lies told by Trump and the flip-flopping of Senate Republicans regarding their bullshit rule about seating of a Supreme Court justice during an election year strongly suggests that dishonesty is more than just a necessity for Republicans to do business. It’s a feature.

Each time their supporters agree with their blatant lies, they further cement their loyalty. They show that they’re willing to follow Republicans along any path as long as they appeal to their anger and nationalism.

We’ve reached a point where Republicans would have fewer supporters if their lies were more believable.

This is truly Orwellian.

Presidential Salary

The presidential salary is $400,000 a year. Trump gives that away every year.

According to Forbes, Trump’s net worth is $2.5 Billion. The presidential salary is 0.016% percent of Trump’s net worth.

The medium net worth in America is $97,300 according to MarketWatch. 0.016% percent of that is $15.57

Imagine a middle class family giving $16 to charity each year, and spending the rest of the year bragging about it.

Can’t decide between believing Trump or the media? Think about what you know

You know Trump got out of serving in Vietnam and then belittled those who served with a joke about his “personal Vietnam”

You know nobody in Trump’s family served

You know Trump insulted John McCain for being captured

You know it took almost two years for Trump to visit the troops overseas

You know Trump got into a public spat with a Gold Star family, saying to the father of a fallen soldier, “I made a lot of sacrifices”

You know that after the capture of Bin Laden, Trump criticized Admiral McRaven, saying he should have done it sooner

You know – or at least should know – that Trump lied to the troops several times about their pay

You know Trump questioned the patriotism of Purple Heart recipient Lt. Col. David Vindman

You know Trump still hasn’t said a thing about the report of Russian bounties on U.S. Troops

And you’re still having trouble believing Trump called U.S. servicemen and women “suckers” and “losers”? What more do you need?

An audacious display of criminality

Imagine your neighborhood is being taken over by a gang. The leader of the gang commits crimes in front of witnesses, then denies having done so. One day he shoots down a rival in broad daylight, then shrugs and says, “Someone call an ambulance! This guy just shot himself the head!”

The point isn’t to convince anyone that the rival killed himself. It’s to show that the gang is so powerful they can get away with anything.

Holding the Republican convention at the White House is the most audacious display of illegal activity by a president that this nation has seen, and the defenses of that crime which fail to mention 18 USC Section 595 may be suitable to convince some, but for most it’s only meant to show that anything Trump does will be justified.

The Hatch Act was the wall standing between the government’s might and candidates. Tonight a candidate tore down that wall and wielded power for his own campaign. Citizen Trump is no longer presenting himself as a candidate. Now your government is telling you who should rule you.

— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) August 26, 2020

At least Nixon tried to cover up his crimes. Trump flaunts his criminality and expects to be treated as if he’s innocent anyway.

"The only thing that will stop Trump and his crew are legal consequences. They don't mind being caught: they enjoy flaunting their criminality. They just don't want to be punished. It is critical that people grasp the difference." — @gaslitnation https://t.co/DXXrJikHy1

— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) April 23, 2019

It might still be an exaggeration to say Trump could kill someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose a single voter, but we’ve reached a point where a large number of his supporters would deny it happened, and others would justify it or explain why the president is except.

Trump is a gang leader and our nation has been taken over by a gang. They commit crimes in front of everyone and causally declare that they did nothing wrong.

Some of the bravest people in the world are those who fight gangs. If my analogy is correct, then the rest of us can get a small taste of that bravery by voting against Trump, and being vocal about doing so.

Pre-Pandemic Economy

Remember, the economy was getting better from 2009 to 2017, at a rate Obama’s critics called “anemic”. When Trump took over the economy improved at the same rate, but the deficit had been going down under Obama and skyrocketed under Trump, plunging us into record-breaking debt.  Trump spent money to bail out farmers and industries hurt by his trade war while he cut taxes for the rich.  That was not sustainable.  That was before the pandemic hit.

Pre-pandemic articles comparing Obama’s economy with Trump’s:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/08/20/trump-v-obama-economy-charts/

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/9-charts-comparing-trump-economy-to-obama-bush-administrations-2019-9-1028833119#