Tag: England

Trump’s Flawed Thinking

We’ve witness Trump’s flawed thinking and ignorance so many times. Was it when he claimed that one reason the United States won the Revolutionary War was because the colonies took the non-existent airports.

I don’t know. I think that gets edged out by his spurious grasp of how tariffs work, especially who pays for them.

Trump renamed Lake Ontario. In so doing, he cited Constitutional authority.

He does not cite anything in the Constitution for that authority. Basically, show me what statute gives the executive branch that power, and does that statute constitutionally authorize this particular action?

Trump — and the GOP — can’t, because nothing gives Trump that power.

A majority of Americans don’t like the name change, but that’s never stopped Trump; his guiding principle is that only he matters. Otherwise, Trump probably have an overall net disapproval rating in every major poll except those specifically done by Republicans or conservatives; none give Trump more than a +10 approval rating.

Trump employs spurious reasoning for changing the lake’s name in his press release about it:

“As I announced in Executive Order 14172 of January 20, 2025 (Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness), it is the policy of my Administration to recognize the extraordinary contributions of the American people and the rich heritage of our history by naming great natural landmarks for our shared achievements.”

Lake Ontario’s name predates the United States by more than a century. Europeans documented Lake Ontario in 1641; the Declaration of Independence was in 1776, and the United States Constitution wasn’t adopted until 1787. Additionally, the United States recognized and agreed to use the name Lake Ontario in three important documents: The Treaty of Paris (1783), The Treaty of Ghent (1814), and The Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909.

Things like this aren’t just summarily dismissed to satisfy one arrogant person’s inflated ego. And if you apply Trump’s reasoning, Canada — who owns 52% of Lake Ontario’s coastline — has as much right to change the lake’s name as Trump asserts. In fact, using Trump’s rationale, based on how important oceans are to their history, many nations can just change the name.

But they’re above that. Because they’re not Trump and recognize that rule and order have a place in this modern world.

1

Watchin’, Waitin’, Etc.

I’m watching a 2019 television show called Years and Years. Terrific cast, led by Emma Thompson and Rory Kinnear. British, it’s set in Manchester, England. I’m watching it on Netflix.

They set us up in the first episode. Things are swinging to the right. Donald Trump, POTUS, is in a pissing contest with the Chinese. On Trump’s last day in office, he launches a nuke.

That sounds so Trumpian, it’s plain damn scary. I can see Trump doing that and then crowing about being strong and manly, a peace president who is only killing 40,000 to 45,000 to show the Chinese who is boss.

Right-wing ugliness, inflamed with financial instability, spreads around the world. Banks fail. Recession blooms like flowers in a warm wet spring. Along the way, a daughter decides to become trans. Not transexual or transgender, but transhuman. Another daughter is a spirited protestor who ends up with radiation sickness after filming the nuclear strike.

Refugees, torture, intolerance, hate, and spite are on display, along with differences of opinions, treachery, hope, and humanity. It’s a pretty amazing, compelling brew of life.

If it just wasn’t so damn prescience about what could happen with a madman like Trump holding the controls to a nuclear arsenal.

0

I’d Like to Tune In

News That Will Drive You To Drink

Channel 4 to Mark Trump’s U.K. Visit With “Longest Uninterrupted Reel of Untruths Ever Broadcast on Television”

Channel 4 is welcoming Donald Trump to the U.K. with a special program: an unbroken catalogue of over 100 falsehoods, distortions and inaccuracies he’s come up with since taking office in January.

The U.S. President will come to London for a second state visit this month, and the British channel has vowed to put a spotlight on his “prolific oeuvre of untruths.”

On Sep. 17 from 10 a.m. local time, Channel 4 will broadcast Trump v the Truth, the longest uninterrupted reel of untruths running over several hours. The statements will be punctuated by “brief text-based fact-checks, offering viewers the truth behind the tweets, speeches and soundbites.”

Of course, watching this would require me to watch and hear him. That’d be like the tenth circle of hell, TACO’s own circle, combining the worse elements of the circles of fraud, greed, treachery, lust, gluttony, and anger.

But I admire Channel 4. Go, Brits, go!

5

Thoughts

I spent over twenty years in the military, 1974 to 1995. The Cold War was underway. The U.S. and U.S.S.R. and the allies of each were constantly ready to fight a war. Stationed in Germany for several years, we used to practice wearing our hazmat suits and gas masks, taking shelter as we were attacked. I did the same during war games in Korea and Egypt.

Wearing the suits and masks wasn’t fun. That experience rendered it much easier to wear masks during the pandemic. These masks over our mouths, attached to our ears, are much easier to wear.

I’ve just finished reading The Splendid and the Vile. This book by Erik Larson covers Winston Churchill’s first year as Prime Minister. World War II had begun six months before. The London Blitz began that first year, 1940. The tales of deprivation are stunning. Larson uses multiple sources to weave a narrative not just about Churchill, England, and the Blitz, but about Hitler, Goering, Goebbels, Hess, FDR, and the many people around Churchill coping with him, helping Churchill, and hunting for the way forward.

Imagine those times in the United Kingdom as bombers flew overhead through the night skies, dropping incendiary devices, and then bombs, feeling the ground shake with violence as buildings were shredded and people were killed. Imagine being one of those people in London and other cities, enduring as food and tea was rationed, gas, electric, and water services were interrupted, fighting fires, worrying about unexploded bombs if you survived the raid, then going to work. Imagine sleeping in air raid shelters in squalid conditions. Imagine the black-out demands where lights were left off, forcing all to stumble through darkness.

And so many here, in 2021, complain about social distancing. They won’t wear a mask, because fake news. Freedom.

They know nothing. They should have been in London or any of the other cities around the world that experienced these conditions. Then maybe they’d realize what sacrifice means. A mask? Six feet apart?

Really. It is nothing.

Wear the mask. Stay positive. Test negative. Get the vax.

0

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑