Tag: Trump

Sunday’s Theme Music

Mood: Patientoptimism

Sunday morning brings us a dirty gray blue sky with a dirty white veneer. Air quality is in high double digits, so not too precarious as far as the readings go. Just looks off.

This is September 8, 2024. Currently 69 degrees F with smoke but it’ll climb to 92 F with smoke. Meteorological rumors has Wednesday’s high capped in the mid to upper sixties, with a 92% chance of a quarter inch of rain. We’re pretty jazzed about that in this Ashlandia household.

Peter Sage, a retired person who is now a political blogger has a post today, Easy Sunday: A word from a Trump supporter.

The beginning of Peter’s column gives the guest’s background.

Lynn Myrick is a Trump supporter. He is a retired Southern Oregon family law attorney. He practiced for 47 years and still serves as an expert witness on attorney ethics and billing practices.

Myrick is a regular reader of this blog. My critique of Trump’s criminality, his business frauds, his sexual crimes, and his seditious effort to overthrow the election did not dampen Myrick’s support of Trump.

Peter goes on, Critics may think he sounds drunk, stupid, willfully uninformed, profoundly biased, or worse. They may think Myrick is mired in the alternative reality of a religious cult led by a con-man guru. But Myrick is not stupid. This is what he thinks. Something along the lines of this interior monologue takes place in the minds of a near-majority of our fellow citizens. Read it as literature. Read it for insight on how it is possible Americans might choose to elect Trump.

I was hugely disappointed in Myrick’s post. Less of a word salad than Trump himself would present, it’s a right-wing talking points gush, without any context, historic perspective, or critical thinking. For me, it seems like he gets all his news from right-wing sources and challenges none of it. That’s a common perception, right or wrong, that I have about most Trump supporters; they’ve inculcated a narrow perception of the world and hunts facts to bolster that perception. Those facts are often wrong because the purveyors providing the false information are catering to the right wing’s need for false facts. The right wing is going through life with blinders on these days.

Worse, Myrick is like, ‘look how terrible Biden/Harris is’ without any contemplation of the alternative, Trump and Vance. Trump has rightfully earned himself a label of weird. Hugging the flag, claiming he wants votes and doesn’t want them, lying about everything and anything without any limitation. Add to that, he’s under several indictments and has been convicted. He is a felon. He tried overthrowing the election in 2020. That’s apparently okay with Myrick. He offers no comments at all on Trump. Just staunch, no Dem! Dem bad!

But then, that’s what the right wing chamber declares, along with ‘Trump good’, without offering evidence.

Myrich probably thinks he wrote a sharp, damning piece. And the right-wing probably agrees with him.

I guess from thinking about the GOP, which can be called ‘the other side’, caused The Neurons to summon “The Other Side” by Aerosmith to the morning mental music stream (Trademark dark). I remember this song coming out. I was already familiar with it, as it was released in 1990 as a single but it was from the album, Pump, which I’d already purchased. Holland–Dozier–Holland, the Hall of Fame songwriting team, threatened Aerosmith with a lawsuit because “The Other Side” had some resemblance in parts to “Standing In the Shadows of Love”.

Alright, on to other things. Smoke is getting worse out there. Over 100 now on the air quality index. You stay positive and be strong, and vote blue in 2024. Coffee has been swallowed a few times. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Thursday’s Theme Music

Mood: humordacious

It’s the first Thursday in September, the fifth day of the month in the common era year of 2024.

We awoke to chilly night air but guess what? Today’s projected high will be another 30 degrees above this current 70 degrees F temp, leveling out at 102. The air quality is not bad at 52 according to airnow.gov.

The light on these days where the temperatures enter triple digits always seems stronger and brighter to me in the AM. I don’t know if that’s a psychological thing for me or if there’s an actual meteorological explanation.

A local fire polluted us and put us on high alert yesterday. Started at about 11 AM. Hot day but not a whole lot of wind. A fire broke out at Exit 11 on I-5. The southbound entrance to the Interstate, it’s a couple miles past the town’s southern boundary, about three miles from my house in Ashlandia.

The authorities responded fast. Some early evacuations were ordered because the wind was blowing northwest, which would push the fire toward one mountainous, isolated neighborhood. But the fire was contained within two hours and declared done after eleven acres went up.

My wife has been an energetic individual this week. She’s organized purchases of Harris – Walz bumper stickers and yard signs for her friends and fellow Harris – Walz supporters. They’ve also been buying Harris – Walz tee-shirts. My wife emphatically stated, “I want to publicize her support so people see how strong the blue wave is and feel more encouraged to add their support.”

I lost a bet. My healthcare system reached out to me and I have an appointment with an Ortho surgeon on September 26. I thought the appointment wouldn’t be for six weeks. I’m happy to have lost. I’d like something down about the foot/ankle, as it signals regular messages that all’s not well on my body’s southernmost regions. That’s how I look at it. My feet are my south, and my head is the north.

I read some posts and stories about Trump’s support among young men, especially when they’re white. Not real surprising to me. My wife has been fascinated by relationships between the sexes for years and updates me on what she reads and sees. One of the many facts she’s provided to me is that less men are pursuing higher education. More women are enrolling in college and universities these days. There’s fall out from that in several ways. One, men are increasingly less likely to land higher pay professional positions. Two, men are less educated, which makes them less attractive to women. That triggered the incel — involuntary celibat — movement among men, driving resentment and outright hatred toward women. Hence, young men are increasingly not dating women, not getting good jobs where women are succeeding, and feel resentful. Trump and Project 2025’s message speaks directly to them, that women need to be put back into place, at home, taking care of her family while the man brings home the bacon.

As women have said to that, we are not going back.

Today has The Neurons playing “Lola” by the Kinks in the morning mental music stream (Trademark muddled). The 1970 song infliltrated the stream after I read another’s blog. She wrote about “You Really Got Me” by the Kinks. The Neurons just started playing other Kinks songs. Then they settled into this terrific love song, “Lola”. The rest is history.

Stay real and be positive. Vote blue n 2024. Coffee has been sipped up. Here’s the music from over fifty years ago, about an encounter between a man and a man — at least, that’s what it might be.

Cheers

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The Full Agenda

Project 2025 has been on display enough that the gist has been assimilated.  Led by wealthy individuals and the Heritage Foundation, they pursue a theocracy dominated by white men. Women’s rights will be diminished, if not outright stripped. Black men will be tolerated as long as they toe the white line. If you think you’re something other than male or female as it says on your paperwork when born, forget about it. Your shall be male or female, as their god intended.

Under Project 2025, remember, too, that work is good. As they sit in homes and offices fantasizing about the American world, they want children back in the factories. Women, however, should be at home, giving birth, sexually gratifying their man, keeping the house clean and cooking and baking up a storm, cuz that’s what Jesus wanted.

Because, besides being about money, power, and their rights, it’s about forwarding their religion, even if they don’t practice it. They’ve gone from practicing what would Jesus do to what would Donald Trump do?

That’s what they pursue if Donald J. Trump is elected as POTUS this year.

What’s interesting about this is the cosmic political background.

On a Quora post, someone answered the question about whether Trump will win by pointing out that the conservative base is elderly, and they’re dying. The conservative base is also rural, and the rural population is shrinking. The young are leaving those small towns and agribusiness zones because the future is less than bright. They want adventure, education, or more meaningful jobs than what’s being offered in those little towns.

Bottom line for the conservatives, i.e., the GOP, that their potential base is getting smaller.

They’ve recognized this. They’ve countered by first, gerrymandering to favor conservative voters. Second, by making it harder to vote. Like Musk and Trump, they push the fallacy that mail-in voting is fraught with fraud. They insist the only safe solution is paper ballots with in-person voting with people presenting their government issued identification.

In doing so, Trump, Musk, and the GOP ignore the facts. That’s nothing new for them. They loathe facts. Facts often show how backward their thinking is.

But going on now, took, are several pincer movements to make Project 2025 feasible. The GOP has been attacking public education for some time. They’ve been doing this mostly through voucher programs but also by making it more difficult for teachers to teach. They challenge them wherever and whenever possible. Back in the early Tea Party days, the GOP went after the history and science textbooks. Advances and positive contributions by anyone but conservative whites, mostly men, was systemically removed from what was being taught.

See, the GOP knew their elderly, rural, uneducated base was shrinking. The answer, of course, is to re-establish that base. To do that, they politically divide the country. That’s what keeps Trump propped up in the current movement: he is really good at spewing hate and threatening the Democrats. It’s been taken to the point where MAGAts have been quoted as trusting a Russian more than they trust a Democrat. Shit is made up and thrown on liberals, progressives, and Democrats. If something sticks, than that becomes the attack mode.

We’ve seen this in action before. “Shows us the birth certificate.” “Lock her up.” “Biden is too old and feeble.” Now Trump et al is hunting for the handle to attack Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party nominee for POTUS, and her running mate, Governor Tim Walz. They’re trying everything, hoping to find something that sticks.

Meanwhile, the GOP is also working hard to get books removed from schools and libraries, along with any curriculum that teaches anything negative about white people or the history of the United States. Their goal is clear.

When young people currently graduate, they tend to be liberal. So, while the conservative base is declining – death, rural population shrinking, people growing more educated and capable – the liberal base is growing.

Therefore, the GOP must undercut education in order to stop young people from learning. Their goal is to increase young conservative voters, people who will reliably toe the conservative line.

Conservative leadership, abetted by a conservative base, are an insidious group. They do not care about the concept of the United States as a bastion of freedom, justice, and equality. That’s just for the propaganda brochures and videos. They want a power base with themselves in charge, encouraging ‘good old-fashioned hard work’ for slave labor wages while the wealthy grows wealthier. That’s how they see the United States: a grand revenue stream with low taxes for the wealthy.

It’s an old, old story. They’re just adding fiendish twists to it. Just as they knew they couldn’t legitimately overturn Roe v. Wade, with Mitch McConnell’s ‘leadership’, they denied President Obama’s SCOTUS nominees and packed the court with Trump conservative appointees. The greatest issue with that is how those nominees danced around what they would do with Roe v. Wade and then overturned it with the flimsiest possible reasoning as soon as the opportunity arose.

I didn’t provide any links to my claims, but I can find them if needed. Cheers

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Thursday’s Theme Music

Mood: Uptempo

August 29, 2024, crept into our world as clocks finished a round of counting.

It’s Thursday, so named for the day of the week when the poor were served free drinks at ale houses and taverns. Don’t look it up, because I made it up.

We’re expected a high of 97 F plus this afternoon. For now, though, the windows are closed because it’s a chilly 58 F in my environs. Air quality is marginally good. Blue sky reigns o’er most of the valley, but some hazy, formless clouds have popped up on the northern and western horizons.

Reviewing news, I see talk of Trump’s ‘campaign’. That agent of chaos is spreading more disinformation, still lying about the 2020 election results, spinning accusations out of air, and trying hard to disrupt intelligent discourse on anything except maybe the askance wondering, WTF is he doing?

Take the Arlington National Cemetery kerfluffle. This was an event planned for the families of thirteen service members killed earlier this year. They wanted it private. Trump, true to his tone-deaf self-centered character jumped at a chance to show that he really does support and respects the military and its members. That’s despite his claims that he’s smarter than generals. Or that military members, especially injured or dead ones, are losers. Or his sniveling that the Congressional Medal of Honor given to military members is less worthy than the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His audacious reasoning was that soldiers and their medal is ‘worth less’ “either in very bad shape, because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets, or they’re dead”.

What brilliant logic.

Meanwhile, there is Trump’s photo op. Grinning like an idiot, giving a thumps up.

Such respect.

What was sadder was how his supporters jumped to protect his actions. One wrote in comments that ‘at least he was there to honor them.’ Yeah, idiot. Number one, that’s not why he was there, and that’s obvious to us all outside of the MAGA circle jerk. Two, the families resquested that this not be politicized. They wanted privacy to grieve. Trump turned it into a circus. The MAGA commenter showed that they’re as tone deaf and out of touch as their master. CORRECTION: Two families had invited the Trump show. But that doesn’t change that it’s against policy and practice to desecrate Arlington with politics and campaigning.

Moving on.

My theme for the week still centers on songs with time in the title. Up to the challenge, The Neurons leaped forward with “Time for Me to Fly” by REO Speedwagon. It’s playing in the morning mental music stream (Trademark timed) like it’s playing on the radio in 1978.

Stay positive and be strong. Lean forward and vote blue in 2024. Coffee is wending through my systems with its magic fingers. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Bravo!

Guess who came to dinner?

Keith captures my thoughts on it. The difference in values and optics between the Republican and Democratic conventions is striking, highlighted by the current and former Presidents appearing and giving rising speeches, along with notables such as Oprah Winfrey, Pete Buttigieg, Wendell Pierce, Josh Shapiro and Andy Bashear, and a performance by John Legend with Sheila E. to introduce Gov. Walz. Then Gov. Walz spoke about true American values of service, community, and inclusion. We’ve worked hard to become inclusive as a nation. The GOP now want to tear it down.

Former President Obama captured the essence in the difference the two parties and their visions. Trump’s MAGA-dominated GOP is interested in outing people, excluding those not like them. They use hate and fear as their tools to manipulate voters. As Barack Obama noted, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz and the Democratic Party will work with you, even if we disagree with you.

And that, friends, is a significant difference.

Vote Blue.

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The Conman

All Don Old Trump can do is con and grift. He shows it once again by using AI generated deep fakes of Taylor Swift supporting him.

What a sad loser.

Fortunately, social media like X immediately identified as fake and took it down. Yes, that is snark. You know they can’t be trusted to take down Right Wing disinformation.

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Reminder

It was almost five years ago when Donald J. Trump, a self-proclaimed ‘stable genius’, made these remarks. And this is who the GOP chose as their party leader?

This is the person some support as the next President of the United States?

Remind them, this is what he said about windmills.

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Sunday’s Theme Music

Mood: coolbreezin’

It’s a rarity for us, an overcast summer day. Sunday, August 18, 2024, is also cool. No blue sky and diffused sunshine. Good air quality. Fresh, cool air is a glorious combo.

It’s 59 F now at my house, 71 F inside. Little more rain is expected, and a high of 78 degrees F is forecast.

The cats are lovin’ it (cue that music from those commercials by Mickey D, thanks to The Neurons). Didn’t like it yesterday. Well, Papi didn’t like it. It rained, the wind jumped up, and thunder rolled, cracked, and grumbled. First sound of thunder, Papi was in the house, hanging out in his safe space, which is the bathroom of our bedroom. Tucker, though — ha. Wind was blowing, thunder is adding loud noises, rain is falling, and Tucker is under his bush sleeping space in the backyard, wondering what’s going on. Finally got up, stretched, and sauntered over to the patio, sat, and washed. I petted him; yes, he was wet. He can be a mellow kitty.

More and more polls have Vice President Harris leading Trump. Demonstrating his amazing leadership skills, honed in the playground of his mind, Trump responded with name calling and claims that he’s better looking. As to the latter, no; just no.

Although Hurricane Ernesto didn’t strike the U.S., another house fell into the house in the Grand Banks and NYC closed its beaches due to the currents. That’s the seventh house in four years falling into the ocean in that little NC community, BTW.

Trump had a rally and confused the state he was in. Mentioned North Carolina when he was in Pennsylvania. The headline is, “Donald Trump ‘Confusing’ State He’s In At Rally Raises Questions”. Really? That raised questions? His claims about the airports being captured during the American Revolutionary War didn’t raise questions? Jan 6 didn’t raise questions? Walking out with an upside-down Bible didn’t raise questions? Referring to President Obama when he was supposed to be talking about Ms Clinton didn’t raise questions back in 2023, along with other confusion, or the more recent time, when he confused Willie Brown and Jerry Brown and made up a story about a scary incident didn’t raise questions? His 34 convictions didn’t raise question?

Let’s face it: there will be some who never raise questions about Trump. It seems to include a large portion of the media, and most of the GOP, and almost all of the MAGA base.

Trump also once again disrespected military members. This time he made a ridiculous comparison between the Medal of Freedom and the Medal of Honor. Trump’s claim is that the Medal of Freedom is “much better”. But what do you expect from a coward and bully like him, someone who lacks empathy and brags about how brave he is without ever facing danger?

Continuing with a theme of colors in song titles for my daily theme music has The Neurons excited. “Red!” they shouted today. “Red Rain. Little Red Corvette! Lady in Red! Red Rubber Ball!” I’m sure there are more but a contingent of The Neurons managed to get “Red Red Wine” going in the morning mental music stream (Trademark redlined).

Neil Diamond wrote “Red Red Wine” and performed it, but I enjoy UB40’s 1983 reggae style much better. That’s the one The Neurons are playing in the mental stream.

I’m already drinking me precious — I mean, my coffee. Be strong, remain positive, and vote blue. Here’s the video. Cheers

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Well Done!

Holy Cow!

The ad is based on a poll question:

“A recent poll of swing state voters from The Bullfinch Group recently asked a question that gets to the heart of the ad’s message: Which candidate would you feel comfortable babysitting your kids? Harris was the clear favorite, with 45% picking the vice president, and only 20% choosing Donald Trump.”

Of course, we really want to know who had the other 35%?

Vote Blue.

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Friday’s Theme Music

Mood: Friliberated

Went out doing chores this morning while it was cool and the air was fresh, so I’m late to posting duties. Bac then it, was in the mid to upper sixties. Now we’re at 77 F. It’s sunny, with a few clouds coiling up from the earth to the troposphere’s upper reaches. Today’s high will probably be about 85, 86 degrees F. Depends on where you’re at in Ashlandia. The air is mostly clear of smoke for now. But the smoke is rising. We’re into the moderate zone. Bleah.

Went and saw a great performance at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Green Show. Forty-five minutes long, the free Green Shows bring in all manner of performers. Last night was a regional favorite, the Rogue Suspects. They put on a superb display of style and ability with their performance of Tina Turner songs. Regaling us with “Private Dancer,” “Nutbush City Limits,” “Missing You,” “Simply the Best,” “Addicted to Love”, “The Bitch is Back,” they finished with an energetic rendition of “Proud Mary”. You ever get the chance to see them, come and do.

Then, my wife and I left the Green Show and headed over to the bandshell in Lithia Park to see the last of the Ashland City Band’s final summer concert. With the air clear and the temperature dipping into the upper seventies, it capped off a terrific evening of music.

Saw that D.J. Trump is asking the courts to postpone sentencing for his conviction until after the elections. Hope that doesn’t happen. Treatment being given to him keeps broadening the idea that he’s part of a class of people above the law, unaccountable for the shit storms they cause, IMO. It’s really screwing up the already strained sense of justice in the United States.

Someone has pointed out that Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation document setting forth the ways conservatives went to twist and malign our nation, wants everyone in a school receiving Federal funding to complete the ASVAB. That’s the test aspect of the military recruiting system. Interesting that public school attendees will be doing that. Easy to paint a scene where students of wealth attending private schools are more and more exempt from military service while impoverished and lower middle-class students enlist and serve. Just part of conservatives pursuing their goals of setting up a nation of have-nots to serve the wealthy and powerful. Meanwhile, the conservatives love pushing the idea that the liberals are the ‘elites’. They are such a duplicitous group these days.

Meanwhile, down in Florida, led by the mini-Trump known as Gov. DeSantis, universities and colleges are removing books and trashing them. Not selling them, donating them, or giving them away; they are sending the books to landfills, throwing them away. What a waste.

Today music remains true to the dance theme. While ruminating on the theme, The Neurons fired up Justin Timberlake with “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” from 2016 in the morning mental music stream (Trademark rising). Technically, it doesn’t meet the standard of having ‘dance’ in its title, except The Neurons kept insisting to me that the title is “Can’t Stop the Feeling! Dance, Dance, Dance.” I called bullshit on them but the song is about dancing, so I gave them another pass. Part of that is just to appease The Neurons, because they’re prone to sulking and pouting, and then quit responding me, which reduces me to an idiot. I already have enough trouble with looking like an idiot, so I gave in to them.

Stay positive, be strong, and Vote Blue, okay? For extra credit, practice saying, “The first female President of the United States, President Kamala Harris.” Because people need to get used to it.

Coffee is being consumed. Here’s the music. Cheers

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