Trump: In like a Lion, Out like Lamb Stew

It must feel to sensible Americans like ten years. Alas, President Trump has been tweeting and “stepping on his own d---” (an expression I learned in boot camp at Parris Island in 1968) for only ten weeks.

If the man wasn’t such a buffoon, you might feel sorry for him. But he is a buffoon, a sad fact, increasingly clear. Even many supporters think a grown-up should be put in charge to keep the President from tweeting stupid s---. He said he was going to repeal and replace Obamacare and he and the Republicans managed to actually craft a plan only 1/3 as popular as the plan they spent seven years reviling. Not only was their plan less popular than herpes, they couldn’t pass it anyway.

They controlled the House. They controlled the Senate. They had a President ready and able to sign.

They couldn’t even get a vote. And who was to blame for putting a match to their flaming pile of manure?

Trump blamed Democrats.

What else has gone wrong in just ten weeks? Trump agreed to settle fraud charges involving Trump University—which he insisted he would fight to the death while he was running for office—and hoped no one noticed. His travel ban was rolled out with all the skill you might expect if planning was done by the main characters in Dumb and Dumber. Then it got shot down by the courts.

Twice!

His National Security Adviser, General Michael Flynn, warned that Iran “was on notice” after the Iranians fired off missiles in the Persian Gulf. This warning was meant to scare Iran; but the President decided not to tear up the nuclear deal with that country, which he promised would be his first priority in office. Apparently, like health care, it dawned on him that dealing with Iran (and North Korea—which has also tested several long-range missiles) was harder than it looked.

Meanwhile, Flynn turned out to be a liar, and very possibly a tool of the Russians during the campaign. Now the man who chanted, “Lock her up,” in reference to Hillary Clinton is trying to cop a plea.

We can’t know yet what Flynn knows, but indications are that if the FBI or Congress or Judge Jeanine will only grant immunity, he’s willing to spill some beans. As his lawyer put it, “General Flynn certainly has a story to tell, and he very much wants to tell it.”

This leaves it to President Trump to keep tweeting in hopes stupid people will believe a sewer is a pristine mountain stream.

Something smells fishy.

If you’re old enough to remember the Watergate Affair, however, you are excused if you are already thinking: “John Dean.”

When a mysterious story about a burglary at the offices of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate Building broke in June 1972, President Richard M. Nixon’s press secretary scoffed at the idea of any link to the White House. “A third-rate burglary,” was all it was. Yet, in weeks to follow the press kept digging, leaks kept coming, including from inside the FBI (where top agents like Mark Felt, of “Deep Throat” fame, had ample cause to suspect a White House cover up).

By spring 1973 the spreading investigation was making headlines daily. Various participants in what would prove to be a giant cover up were sweating ways to save themselves—if nothing else to cut time they’d likely spend in jail. John Dean, Nixon’s White House counsel, was among the first to break. Once he began testifying in front of Congress, the story blew up completely. Dean had participated in, and had direct knowledge of the participation of others, in a wide-ranging effort to hide damning White House ties to the burglars. It was part of a campaign of deceit involving massive destruction of evidence, witness tampering, bribery and perjury on an epic scale.

So, no: There’s no realistic reason to think General Flynn’s willingness to cut a deal is good news for Mr. Trump.

The Tweeter-in-Chief came into March looking like a lion. He’s going out more like lamb stew.

These poll numbers suck! At least people think Congress sucks more than President Trump.

Donald Trump, Golfing Fool!

There are many questions to be answered at the start of President Donald J. Trump’s first term (and hopefully last) in office. Did members of his campaign team “co-ordinate” with the Russians to win the election? Will his climate policies make the whole world worse for generations to come? And does Melania really gaze upon him across a dinner table and think, “This man, that hair! So sexy!”

But the subject today is golf.

To be clear, I have nothing against golfers. If a president wants to play golf, he or (theoretically) she has every right. I do, personally, hate golf. I despise plaid pants and once shot a 17 on one hole.

Still, the golfing exploits of Mr. Trump may say something profound about the kind of man we elected and how he plans to rule—and I’m not just bothered because he resembles a tubby penguin waddling across a green.

I simply cannot tolerate hypocrisy.

You may remember, back before Candidate Trump began insulting Mexicans, Muslims and Little Marco—and Hillary, sure—when he aimed his heaviest Twitter guns at President Barack Obama. For five long, discreditable years he insisted the sitting President wasn’t even American. On one occasion, he went for a rare double play, informing right-wing radio banshee Laura Ingraham: 

[Obama] doesn’t have a birth certificate, or if he does, there’s something on that certificate that is very bad for him. Now, somebody told me—and I have no idea if this is bad for him or not, but perhaps it would be—that where it says “religion,” it might have “Muslim.” And if you’re a Muslim, you don’t change your religion, by the way.

It was classic Trump. Someone told him. He was only repeating (and you even had an ugly whiff of Muslim-hating). If he was wrong, how could anyone say he was responsible for spreading lies if all he was doing was moving his lips?

Then one day, during the campaign, Trump finally admitted. “The President was born in this country.”

Sadly, Trumpophiles barely noticed. But here’s a fun fact: Nothing in the U.S. Constitution bars a Muslim from holding the highest office. Who says? The Founding Fathers do! And even the most dimwitted right-winger should be able to grasp this fact because Article VI, Section 3, is abundantly clear. If you can give oath or affirmation to uphold the Constitution, you’re in. No “religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”

It wasn’t just the “missing” birth certificate that gave Citizen Trump ulcers, however. It really fried his fat buns to see President Obama take to the links. t made Trump so mad he repeatedly had to grab his phone and Tweet.

Was Candidate Trump correct? According to The Golf Channel, which I would never voluntarily watch, unless I was laid up in isolation with Ebola, Mr. Obama did indeed like golf. During two terms he teed it up for 333 rounds, or 41 per year. This was nowhere close to a record. Woodrow Wilson played 1,200 rounds and still had time to win World War I. Dwight D. Eisenhower completed 800 rounds during his two terms in office.

Meanwhile, Trump promised fans he would do better. “I love golf, I think it’s one of the greats, but I don’t have time,” he assured a roaring crowd as recently as December. Obama, he sneered during the campaign, “played more golf last year than Tiger Woods. We don’t have time for this. We don’t have time for this. We have to work.”

He repeatedly assured supporters he’d be too busy working for them, working for the American people, to play golf. If he did play, though (but he wasn’t going to), he would use golf to make connections with lawmakers and cut deals and get legislation passed.

Then came Inauguration Day and he discovered health care was complicated (who knew!) and being President was hard.

Once upon a time, Trump wailed long and loud about all the days Obama had spent on vacation and the high costs of his travel at taxpayer expense. Now, on almost a weekly basis, President Trump packed his golf shoes and clubs and headed for his estate at Mar-a-Lago, Florida. He was there in February three weekends in a row and when he was it seemed he might have played golf.

How much? Neither Trump nor his aides dared say.

On one occasion, a spokeswoman admitted President Trump might have stepped out on his course to hit a few balls. “The next day,” the Denver Post reported, “a photo emerged on social media that showed Trump with professional golfer Rory McIlroy. McIlroy told golf website nolayingup.com that he played 18 holes with Trump.”

Okay, the spokesman soon admitted, there had been a change of plans. The President did play a round.

In weeks to come, the golf-course sightings continued. White House aides lamely insisted, “If the golf glove doesn’t fit, you must acquit.” Trump admitted to a round with Japanese Prime Minister Abe on February 11. No problem there. But the “fake news” kept piling up. Golf.com noted that Trump spent one weekend at Mar-a-Lago and managed to skip “over to nearby Trump International Golf Club for several hours on Saturday and Sunday.” Did he play golf? No one would say. The New York Times noted that the Trump Administration was going to great lengths to keep the President’s golfing activities from view. Doors and windows of the press room where reporters were holed up at Trump National Golf Club were covered in sheets of plastic so no pictures of Trump flailing away could “leak.”

The mystery thickened with each passing week. Was the Tweeter-in-Chief playing golf or was he hard at work for the American people, as promised? The Times reported again on March 19, a Sunday. The President spent seven hours at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach over the weekend. Had he played golf? “Very little,” aides claimed. On Twitter, however, a friend, Christopher Ruddy, chief executive of Newsmax Media “shared a photograph of Mr. Trump wearing a golfing glove, white polo shirt and red ‘Make America Great Again’ cap and giving a thumbs-up as he posed with two golfers at Trump International.”

In other words, if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and wears golf shoes, it’s President Trump on a golf course.

Reporters, The Times explained, were spending hours in a conference room at a public library “across the road from the ornate gates and view-obstructing hedges of Trump International, harboring suspicions” that the President was out there teeing it up. Once again, a spokeswoman admitted Trump might have stepped out at times to hit a few balls, “but I cannot confirm that at the time.”

There was talk about how the President was holding meetings at these clubs and busting his butt in the interest of the American people. Yet photos and comments from people who had just played with him kept leaking out. On March 20, CNN reported that he had been seen “multiple times” driving “up the 12th hole on his championship course at Trump International.” Five days later, Golf News Net reported that Trump had visited his courses twelve times during his first two months in office.

On March 26, The New York Times weighed in once more. Reporters noted that the President was staying close to home for the weekend. Saturday he headed for Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia. He was back in D. C. in time for dinner at Trump International Hotel that night. Then it was back to the club the next day. This marked the eighth weekend in a  row for the President to visit at least one of the properties he owned.

Was this all good for the American people? It was certainly good for the Trump Family bottom line. No less an authority than Eric Trump told reporters, “The stars have all aligned. I think our brand is the hottest it’s ever been.” In fact, the fee to join the club at Mar-a-Lago was doubled to $200,000.

You could buy a lot of Make America Great caps with that.

Still, the Administration refused to admit Mr. Trump was playing golf or even dreaming about playing golf. Then photos emerged again on social media, appearing to show him in golf shoes and out on the course on Saturday—and couch potatoing  on Sunday, not working hard for the people, but watching golf on TV.

So the questions grew. How many rounds of golf had our President played since taking office? How much did it cost taxpayers to pay for him and his entourage to head south almost every weekend?

Not even loyal lapdog Sean Spicer knew how often President Trump had played. Rather, as one TV reporter noted, citing “the President’s privacy, Trump’s aides are left trying to conceal the President’s frequent golfing.

So that’s where the matter stands. A serial-hypocrite bashes his predecessor for playing golf. Caught putter-handed, the hypocrite denies playing golf. “Mr. Trump, you’re standing on the seventh green, holding a putter. You’re playing golf, sir,” a reporter might theoretically say.

“No I’m not,” you can imagine Trump’s reply.

That’s what most worries me here. If you can’t tell the truth about playing golf, can you be trusted to tell the truth about anything else?

And do Russians play golf? 

 

Donald Trump Blames Healthcare Failure on the Whigs

This weekend, our star reporter caught up with President Trump on the sixth tee of his golf course, not far from Mar-a-Lago. Feeling glum in the wake of his health care defeat, the man who once assured voters they’d get tired of winning once he took office was willing to talk about losing.

His reasoning was soon apparent.

“I blame Democrats for my failure,” he began, “Also, three million illegal immigrants voted in Congress.”

“Sir,” our reporter wondered, “didn’t you say repealing and replacing health care would be “so easy” during the campaign?”

“I didn’t say that,” the President countered. “Hillary Clinton said that. How can I be blamed if my lips are moving, but I’m quoting?”

“As Time noted this week,” our reporter tried a fresh tack, “a GOP-controlled U. S. House of Representatives voted fifty times to repeal the Affordable Care Act when President Obama was in office.” If your party controls the House and Senate and you are securely seated in the Oval Office, how can Democrats be to blame? Can’t the House simply vote for repeal again—a fifty-first try? Don’t you have enough votes to pass Trumpcare without them?

 “Well, I guess I’m right, because I’m president and you’re not.”

“You realize that isn’t even logical…”

“Obama did it. He tapped my phones—and my microwave,” Mr. Trump insisted. “Steve Bannon says Obama used mind control to stop lawmakers from voting for the bill. It was going to be the greatest health care plan ever. Americans would have received better health care for a small fraction of the cost…”

 “You don’t seriously believe Mr. Obama has power to control minds,” our incredulous reporter asked.

“You shouldn’t be asking me. I didn’t come up with the plan that failed. Paul Ryan did it. Blame him. Sad!”

“Mr. President, didn’t you call Obamacare a ‘complete disaster?’”

“Yes, I did. Terrible. And did I mention Obama tapped my microwave and my coffee maker?”

“Mr. President, didn’t you promise during your campaign you would come up with a health plan to cover everyone?”

“I ran a great campaign, if you didn’t notice. I won the greatest Electoral College victory in the last 10,000 years.”

“Sir, the Congressional Budget Office scored the Ryan bill and said by 2026, an additional 24 million Americans would end up without insurance. How does that square with your promise to cover everyone?”

“That is everyone,” the President replied.

“Perhaps I should repeat: The CBO said 24,000,000 would be …”

“All illegal immigrants! Also, member of ISIS. Did you know I have a secret plan to defeat ISIS as soon as I take office.”

“You are in office, sir. Moving on. Considering your stunning health care defeat how do you plan…”

“It wasn’t my defeat,” the President interjected. “In fact, I blame the Whig Party. We don’t win in America anymore. We need Patton and MacArthur to pass a terrific health care act. Frederick Douglass will help. I know it. He’s an example of somebody who has done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more, I notice.”

“Mr. President, Frederick Douglass died in 1895…”

“How should I know that? Sean Spicer said he was fine. I can’t be blamed if I repeat everything I hear.”

“Considering the fact only 17% of Americans approved of the Ryan plan, Mr. Trump, do you feel you need to study this subject in greater depth?”

“Everyone loves our plan. Omarosa loves it. The Russians love it. So do all Bannon’s friends in the white nationalist movement. Also, I had the biggest inaugural crowd ever. I had more people than Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Millard Fillmore combined. Twenty billion people watched me live on television. Every one of them loved my speech...”

“Mr. Trump, President Truman had a famous sign on his desk that read: ‘The buck stops here.’ He felt the final responsibility for what happened was his and he must take blame if anything went wrong. What kind of sign would you like to see for your desk?”

“I’m considering: ’What buck?’ That would be great. And I deserve a great sign because I’ve done more to start off my term than any president in history. No, more than all of them combined! Why should I get blamed for anything? When I said for five years Obama wasn’t born in this country, my lips were moving because Hillary Clinton made me say so. I might have been moving my lips when I said I grabbed women by the p----; but Billy Bush egged me on. Plus, I had the word ‘p----,’ in air quotations. That makes all the difference.”

Our reporter was fast approaching intellectual exhaustion. “Mr. President, I know this week has been a tough one for your administration. Do you feel you bear any responsibility for the fact the FBI is investigating members of your campaign to see if there was cooperation with the Russians to interfere in the recent election?”

“No.”

“You had to fire General Michael Flynn—after you made him your chief National Security Advisor. We now known he took at least $65,000 from Russian entities, that he was paid $503,000 by the Turkish government…”

“I fired him. That makes me best president ever.”

“If you appointed him…and he turned out to be linked to Russians…um…doesn’t that mean your judgement was flawed?”

“Nope. I blame Millard Fillmore.”

“Paul Manafort, your campaign manager, reportedly took $12.7 million from pro-Russian parties in the Ukraine…”

“Again! I fired him. That’s how smart I am.”

“Let me try one final tack, sir, because I’d like to get a sense of your devotion to the truth. You’ve heard the story of George Washington and the cherry tree. Had you been in his place how would you have responded when your father asked if it was you who had chopped down the beautiful cherry tree?”

“I would have said, ‘My hatchet might have been moving, but I blame the hatchet.’”

With that, our poor reporter tossed his notes high in the air and made a beeline for the nearest bar to pour out a few stiff shots of bourbon.

Did the Democrats sink Trumpcare? Or was it the Whigs?

Scott Pruitt, a Political Parrot, Now Heads the E.P.A.

Sometimes you just know you can’t trust a person. O. J. Simpson and Bernie Madoff come quickly to mind. For three decades major cigarette manufacturers insisted, “Hey, don’t worry. Smoke our products! You’ll never get cancer, not in a million years! And your heart will be fine!”

They were lying, of course, and millions died (and still do) from smoking every year.

More recently, Volkswagen rigged computer software in diesel engines to fake out emissions testing equipment. So what if increased pollution meant more kids developed asthma! Takata marketed airbags they knew tended to explode and spray deadly shrapnel. At least eleven Americans were killed and dozens injured. Major pharmaceutical companies have been sued and defeated in court for all kinds of sleazy practices and in the ten biggest cases forced to pay $13 billion in fines. And don’t forget Donald J. Trump. Our President once claimed he handpicked every instructor who taught at Trump University. When students complained about lousy courses and the high tuition fees, Trump was deposed as and couldn’t name a single instructor at the school. Shown a mix of pictures of instructors and non-instructors, he couldn’t pick anyone out of the “lineup,” except maybe Oscar the Grouch. As a candidate, he promised he’d fight the charges to the death once the election was over. Then he settled for $25 million in damages. Sometimes, you just know in your heart, “These people are lying.”

If you wonder what this has to do with Scott Pruitt and the EPA, keep this in mind. Pruitt has long been a useful stooge of the Big Energy companies. As Attorney General of Oklahoma he insisted for years that fracking had nothing to do with a rise in earthquakes in that state. (See the perfectly titled story in The Hill: “Scott Pruitt Heading the EPA like Putting Custer in Charge of Indian Affairs.”) The Big Energy companies—which “invested” hundreds of thousands in his campaigns—loved Pruitt. They loved him so much they sent draft letters to his office. Pruitt loved those hundreds of thousands in campaign donations so much he took those draft letters, did a little “cut and paste,” and sent those same letters on State of Oklahoma letterhead to EPA officials in Washington, D.C., to members of Congress and President Obama. Excessive federal regulation was harming the good citizens of Oklahoma, Pruitt said—or rather, Big Energy said, and Pruitt repeated, word for word, not unlike a political parrot.

Only this parrot was lying.

Given a choice to believe a letter written by Big Energy companies and transferred to State of Oklahoma letterhead to disguise its provenance, or to listen to reasonable voices and scientists, call me a “sucker.” I’m willing to believe a report in National Geographic, based on a few actual facts: “In parts of Oklahoma, this wastewater injection [from fracking] has increased five to tenfold. At the same time, earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 and greater spiked from fewer than 100 between 1970 and 2009 to almost 600 in 2014, and a whopping 907 in 2015.”

I had to read that twice to catch the import. From 1970 to 2009 roughly 15 minor quakes occurred per year, but still strong enough to crack buildings and worse. After fracking there were 907 quakes in one year.

But, hey, don’t worry! Have a cigarette! It will calm your nerves.

Meanwhile, a recent story in The New York Times, citing scientists doing actual science, makes clear how dangerous Pruitt is. President Trump may be vowing to keep us safe from terrorists, and Mexican rapists, and reporters who want to ferret out the truth. But where climate change is involved—and all of us are going to pay a price, and our children a larger price—and our grandchildren are going to rue the day we did so little—Pruitt is a disaster.

In a stunning pronouncement during a recent interview with CNBC, Pruitt denied CO2 was a major cause of global warming/climate change, basically standing accepted science on its noggin’.  “I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and there’s tremendous disagreement about the impact, so, no, I would not agree that it’s a primary contributor to the global warming that we see.”

He’s right about one aspect. There is disagreement. Scientists agree CO2 is the main problem. The Big Energy companies, and people like the Koch brothers, who stand to make more money, want to bamboozle the public with false claims,. at least that part of the public too lazy to study actual science.

Just for fun, consider the idea that scientists might be interested in establishing, um, well, scientific facts.

The EPA has long insisted (although this may change once Pruitt and the deniers take charge): “Carbon dioxide is the primary greenhouse gas that is contributing to recent climate change.”

The International Panel on Climate Change, representing 2,000 scientists from round the globe, reports that it is “extremely likely” that more than half of human-caused climate change since 1951 is a result of CO2 buildup in the atmosphere.

Who agrees?

Those “lying” scientists at NASA! You can check out their explanation yourself—how the earth is a giant greenhouse—how increased CO2 in the atmosphere traps heat and warms the planet. NASA’s assessment is blunt: “Humans have increased atmospheric CO2 concentration by more than a third since the Industrial Revolution began. This is the most important long-lived ‘forcing’ of climate change.”

And yet, Pruitt doesn’t get it. Big Energy tells him what to say and he repeats it: “Squawk! Nothing to worry about! Squawk!”

What does the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration think? More “lying” scientists!! The two degree increase in the earth’s temperature since the end of 19th century represents “a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere.”

Who else thinks our children and grandchildren will be screwed? The “lying” scientists at the World Meteorological Organisation! The WMO reports that 2016 was the hottest year on record—breaking the record set in 2015—which broke a record set way back in 2014. The damage being done is also clear. According to WMO executive director Petteri Taalas, “We have also broken sea ice minimum records in the Arctic and Antarctic. Greenland glacier melt—one of the contributors to sea level rise—started early and fast. Arctic sea ice was the lowest on record both at the start of the melt season in March and at the height of the normal refreezing period in October and November.”

In the end, it’s not at all hard to grasp this concept. Those who stand to make money by following a given path, however illegal or unethical, will often do their best to follow that path. Big Energy wants to keep piling up the cash. Charles Koch is worth an estimated $48.1 billion, according to Forbes magazine. Clearly, he’s been frittering away his money because brother David is worth $48.6 billion.

Together, they are happy to bankroll as many climate deniers as they can find under various pseudo-scientific rocks.

Unfortunately, future generations are going to pay in a far different way for inaction today.

Scott Pruitt, President Trump’s choice to head the EPA will be remembered, along with his delusional Commander-in-Chief, by future scientists and historians for the role they played in making the climate change situation far worse.

“Squawk.”

Our children and grandchildren are going to pay in the future for inaction today.

Does President Trump Understand Basic Math?

Unlike President Trump, I’m a fact-based guy. I don’t believe everything on the internet and never consult Breitbart. 

I don’t believe millions of illegal immigrants voted in the past election. 

I don’t believe Michael Jackson is still alive, either.

Now we learn Trump suddenly believes monthly government job numbers are correct. The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows an increase of 235,000 jobs last month. When asked about Trump’s previous criticism of the Bureau, Press Secretary Sean Spicer could only laugh and lamely respond. The monthly report, he explained this week, “may have been phony in the past, but it’s very real now.”

How “phony” were past numbers? According to Candidate Trump, totally phony! In February 2016, for example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 237,000 jobs had been added to the U.S. economy.

Now, for anyone like Trump and Spicer and regular readers of Breitbart who might have trouble with math, that means:

President Obama:      237,000 jobs added; February 2016

President Trump:      235,000 jobs; February 2017

                                   + 2,000 for President Obama.

But go back to March 12, 2016, when those February 2016 numbers had just been posted. Candidate Trump exclaimed, “The numbers are phony. These are all phony numbers. Numbers given to politicians to look good. These are phony numbers.”

The job numbers nineteen days later turned out to be good, too: 225,000 jobs added in March 2016.

Trump kept insisting statistics were fake.

The job numbers were solid all year; and in June they were excellent: 297,000 jobs added. July was equally stellar: another 291,000.

Trump could only whine on August 8: “The 5 percent [unemployment] figure is one of the biggest hoaxes in modern politics.” He insisted the real unemployment rate might be as high as 42%. (You had to be devoid of economic sense to believe that figure; but Trump and many of his fans did.)

The claim of 42% unemployment won a Pants-on-Fire rating.

Meanwhile, he was promising Mexico would pay for a big beautiful wall, and it would get ten feet higher every time they said no, claiming he could offer medical coverage to more people and do it cheaper, which has quickly proved impossible, and assuring cranky old white people he’d make American great again.

As in 1953, prior to Brown v. Board of Education.

Then, last September, Trump boasted that he would offer up the best economic plan ever hatched from the fertile brain of man. “Over the next 10 years,” he promised one audience, “our economic team estimates that under our plan the economy will average 3.5 percent growth and create a total of 25 million new jobs. You can visit our website, just look at the math, it works.”

So let’s do the math and see if it does: 10 years x 12 months = 120 months, divided into 25,000,000. Now to apply pencil to paper:

In other words, Trump was promising to add an average of 208,333 jobs per month for ten years.

It could work. It could. 

Come to think, you know who had done pretty much the same, once the Great Recession was tamed? President Barack Obama! Starting in October of 2010 the U. S. economy added jobs every month, 76 times in succession, counting January 2017. That works out to 199,908 jobs added monthly.

And it didn’t require massive tax cuts to accomplish that result.

You remember the Bush tax cuts! They were going to create a booming economy for sure. Then the economy collapsed.

Now President Trump and the Republicans are trying to resell the same pound of fiscal baloney, calling for huge tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and tax breaks for Big Corporations. These are the same Big Corporations who gleefully shipped millions of U.S. jobs to Mexico and overseas during the last thirty years. (Meanwhile, they hid trillions in profits in offshore accounts in the Isle of Man, the Cayman Islands and in Swiss banks.)

Trump was still complaining about rigged numbers even after he won in November. When unemployment was announced in December at 4.7% he told reporters, “The unemployment number, as you know, is totally fiction.”

Four months later, those exact same kind of numbers, issued by the exact same Bureau of Labor Statistics, using identical formulas—now those numbers are real!

Congratulations are in order for President Trump, delivered by his biggest fan. “I’m doing the best job ever,” he assured himself recently, before nodding agreement. “I have created 235,000 jobs in one month. No one else has ever created jobs like me!”

“I have reduced the unemployment rate to 4.7% according to the latest reports. I did it all by myself.”

Obama?

Nope. He left behind a mess. 

Who said Trump inherited a mess? Trump said he did and Trump believed every word Trump said, and nothing else mattered.

Not math.

Not common sense.

***

Know who actually inherited a mess when he took office? That would be President Barack Obama. If you live in reality, as I do, feel free to look it up.

What Kind of People Protest Today? And Are They Paid!

The day after Donald J. Trump spoke to Congress (and actually made a modicum of sense) I posted on Facebook: 

“You know how President Trump and the boys and girls of the GOP say we’re all being paid to protest. Could I get some of my liberal friends to agree to let me use a picture, and you give me one sentence about who you are, and I’ll combine them?”

I knew my wife—who hates any turmoil—wouldn’t get involved; but a healthy sampling of people agreed to take part. So here’s a profile of ordinary Americans who currently oppose the policies of Donald J. Trump.

(Also, if you stick with me, you will meet at least one kind of right-wing nut.)

First protester to respond was Mike Hudson, like so many in the thread to follow, a former student of mine. He wrote: “I’m a programmer from Ohio and I marched for free.”

Mike, right, is a Bengal's fan.

John Curry was next: “Retired Educator/Law Enforcement Officer.”

Darn commie! John, reads to a grandchild.

Stephen E. Ball: “I’m a retired Middle School math teacher. I marched in Cincinnati because, at the time, we needed just one senator to switch his vote to prevent Betsy DeVos, a lifelong opponent of public schools, from being confirmed as Mr. Trump’s Secretary of Education. No one paid me to march. I carried two signs: one that said ‘Smart Trumps Stupid’ and the other said ‘Strong Public Schools Empower and Unite.’ I was extremely disappointed that my Senator, Rob Portman, admitted that he was inundated with calls to vote against Ms. DeVos, but chose to ignore his constituents and confirm her.”

Liz Ball, his wife, added: “Retired, mother, daughter, grandmother, teacher’s wife. My homemade protest sign:”

I used this for both Steve and Liz Ball.

Jean Meyer Purdy noted that she would not be protesting, “too many people, too much hate from the other side.” She was “just going to sit back and watch the show, eventually he is going down.”

Okay, not a Trump fan.

Kathy Fleischmann Stemmer responded with a quote from Bodie Thoene: “Apathy is the glove in which evil slips its hand. Anonymous.”

Kathy Fleischmann Stemmer always stands up for what she believes.

(I will add most of the other pictures at the end.)

Randall Bird added his voice: “Retired but still engaged.”

Tracey Bridge Baker: “Friend of Special education students in the best public school EVER.”

Mark Sherman: “Retired teacher and full time progressive. For free.”

Harry McIntyre: “I am a union steel worker who has been to rallies in Columbus and Washington DC and never paid a dime! Protesting because he cares about the county. Take that GOP!”

Terrie Puckett:  I’m in...perhaps a line like ‘simply—because it’s the right thing to do.’”

Jim Viall: “Retired Railroader.”

Ernie Richman (an old high school friend): “Use my picture—play fair.”

Chelsea Chase: “31-year-old Democrat in a family of Republicans who is lighting up her representatives’ email frequently!”

Tom Powell, a conservative friend, questioned my premise: “Sorry, you’re stretching it again. Nobody said you were all being paid to protest, but the organizers are. You need to ask for your cut!”

(I told him I’d take him to lunch when I got paid.)

Kathy now sent a description: “Retired educator, protestor, letter writer, phone caller, town hall attendee, boycotter, tweeter, newfound activist and patriot. I do these things for democracy, women’s rights, LGBTQ community, immigrants, for the America I love and the rights I enjoy.”

Joey Caylor Spencer: “We are protesting via phone, email, and snail mail. A disabled stay-at-home mom, married to a redneck liberal Navy vet, parents to a disabled autistic son, and future nasty woman, neuro-typical daughter.”

Renee Thielen Elliott: “I support a free America. Trump is not the way to go. He’s clueless. Count me in.”

Kim Jackson Weber: “I’ve protested and will continue to do so. January was the first time ever, and all unpaid. I believe the majority of the people and the spirit of this country are not aligned with the decisions and the rhetoric coming out of the White House.”

Kris Goodfellow: “I’m an Ohio kid who followed the rules, worked hard and grew up to be an executive at a small, self-funded software company.”

Faith Langenkamp (another conservative friend) simply replied: “Whining liberals!” I assume she’s a Trump fan. 

Claire Cavell Hale: “My husband Jon and I went to our local town hall meeting this past Saturday to stand up and actively oppose legislative decisions made by our S.C. senator, Tim Scott. Over 500 constituents waited in line for admittance into a venue of only 200 and unfortunately we were about 20 people away from ‘getting a ticket.’ We waited outside during the event and joined others in urging the senator to come outside and face his additional constituents. There were rumors going on inside that the people outside were paid protestors being compensated $1500 a week. It was at that point that I felt the need to wear a badge that read ‘I am not a paid protestor.’”

Jane Renaker Simmons: “We protest because there is too much at stake to remain silent.” Her daughters Olivia (also one of my old students) and Amy went along.

Later, Olivia explained why she marched: “For the future of the earth, and for humanity.”

(Man, I liked having that young lady in class. See Amy, Jane and Olivia below.)

Then her older sister chipped in to explain: “My name is Amy Donnenwerth. I am a music therapist and a long time social activist. I protest because all social injustice issues are intertwined. Oppression in any form cannot be tolerated or ignored. We are all connected. When any group of us is marginalized, it is our duty to rise up, stand up, speak up and make sure our voices are heard.”

Mary Fitzpatrick: “How can I get paid to protest? I could use the money. Photo is me at Woman’s March with my cousins.”

Jeanne McCoy Bautista: “Long time listener, first time protester. I was a substitute teacher for six years and am now an administrative assistant and contact support...Definitely no one is paying me for my phone calls to my senator, nor will they pay me for participation in the March for Science…”

(The March for Science is coming up on April 22.)

Milla Lorelei Mélomane: “I have never been paid to protest.”

Timmiera Lawrence: “Mother of three, public educator for 25 years—unpaid protestor!”

Jill Lytle Beitz: “Our son was a college student when he was diagnosed with brain cancer. Without Obamacare he would have been thrown off of my insurance. I give Obamacare credit for the additional time it gave him and for the fact that we did not go bankrupt. I march for others who deserve this care (and oh so many other reasons.)”

Ryan Ascolese: “I really hate large crowds…but I’ve been braving them to protest the president.”

Gary Ruther: “…teacher in El Sobrante CA and a Marine and former soldier.”

Nancy McMichael: “Warrior princess must protect all the children!!”

Susan Michael Moore Craig: “Mother, wife, union unpaid protester. Our students and children deserve the best.”

David Simms: “I remember saying a few months back exactly what would happen if Trump won and how misguided you have to be to vote for him. I remember getting hate messages saying this and that.”

A liberal will now try walking on water: David Simms.

Chad Russell is also a former student, but he’s of a conservative bent. He dived into the contest, asking me: “So are you saying you do not believe anyone is getting paid for protesting?”

I said no one I knew got a dime.

Chad explained that he didn’t think Trump was hurting us at all, that “there are companies that pay people to protest Kroger or P & G,” so it wasn’t “far-fetched” to think some were now being paid, “particularly when the media feels like they are being left behind...(ha, ha, LEFT behind). I kill me.”

(That was a really weak conservative pun.)

Lisa Sullivan: “48-year-old feisty liberal photographer, mother of two.”

Jean Frost Paul: “Never paid to protest injustice! It’s an honor and a privilege to be able to fight for what is right and good.”

Suddenly, the thread got a bit weird. Some angry conservative, a friend of a friend, opined: “Idiot get a life!!! Your a loser.” He added six emoji thumbs downs.

A liberal, with a penchant for English, corrected: “you’re”

This really hacked him off: “Your an idiot, into the fiery pit you go loser.” (I’m not sure whether he meant I was going to hell, or the person who corrected his spelling was, or whether both of us were going to be needing asbestos undergarments.) For fun he added six more emoji thumbs downs.

He got corrected again: “you’re.”

The angry conservative responded again: “Duh..guess you never learned spelling!!! I can spell idiot and loser!!!

I try not to insult people on Facebook; but this a little much. I replied: “You are also good for comic relief.”

He wasn’t feeling it: “Liberal idiots are losers, Trump proved that last night [in his first speech before Congress]. You are all going to be thrown into the fires.”

Four more thumbs down.

Me to Angry Emoji Man: “You must be quite the theologian.”

Chad and Kathy continued arguing. The former wondered how any of us thought Trump was hurting America. “Why, because he wants current laws to be upheld? Because topics of what bathroom you will use have merit?”

He wondered if we didn’t like Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos because she wasn’t “from the union. Let’s face it our educational system isn’t what you think it is. It’s pretty crappy in fact. And let’s just keep parents from being accountable...it’s insulting and doesn’t work.”

I chipped in with a joke: “Ack. DeVos just said black colleges started because people wanted ‘school choice.’ I think she’s seeing Frederick Douglass.”

(She did say it was all about school choice. Apparently, she’s never heard the term “Jim Crow.” And that’s no joke.)

Kathy provided an excellent list: “1.Trump signed three executive orders to benefit oil pipelines and remove Obama environmental protections. 2. Reinstated the anti-abortion global ‘gag rule,’ which will increase the number of unsafe abortions around the world. 3. Signed an executive order voiding President Obama’s mortgage cost reduction. The .25 percent cut to federal mortgage insurance, set to take effect today, would have saved new homeowners roughly $500 a year. The rate drop would have benefited first-time and lower-income home buyers. 4. Began plans to build the big, stupid wall and other nods to his base of anti-immigrant hysterics on taxpayer $. 5. Removed IDEA helpsite from Dept of Ed website. 6. Rolled back transgender protection. 7. Allow crap to be dumped into rivers in the name of coal jobs. 8. Start dismantling ACA with no plan. Proposed a budget that will blow current deficit out of the water. 9. Embarrassed us across the world with his bullying. 10. Embraced fake news calling it real.

Chad and Kathy kept up the debate.

At some point, I responded again to the insults of Angry Emoji Man: “Oh, my, someone who communicates by emojis thinks I’m an idiot. How can I possibly match a person of such astute thought? If only I were 1/100th as perspicacious as you.”

 “Your a complete jerk with a Skelton key to hell!!!” he replied.

(See update at end for the return of Angry Emoji Man!)

Salvador Ki Sanchez (one of my students at Leaves of Learning last semester, and another great young man) joined the fray: “High school freshman who wants to stay educated in what’s going on around me.”

Chad asked why he didn’t like Trump.

Salvador: “I think he is not fit for his position, both from an experience standpoint, and a maturity standpoint. Many of his policies affect people I know and care about in a negative way, and I think some of the actions he has taken both in and out of office have been inappropriate.”

Kathy continued explaining to Chad why she opposed President Trump: “You like sludge in water, you like a liar in office, then he’s your guy...I definitely don't like Trump…Don’t like the rich getting richer. Don’t think Trump can fix it. Not a nationalist but am a patriot. Don’t think we need more military. Don’t want my taxes to fund a wall, rather fund healthcare. Don’t like bullies, ergo Trump.”

Dwane Shelley (another former student and a well-known conservative thinker) wanted to know: “Am I included?”

I said yes.

He said he was protesting, “but in reverse.” He’s a Trump fan. Keith Armstrong (also a former student) agreed.

“Involvement is always better than sitting on one’s posterior,” I replied.

Janice Shankel (a huge, huge Bernie fan) joined in: “Mother, grandmother, former sub teacher, designer and salesperson for Xerox, am happy to do anything to get my voice heard. Trump must go!”

Gina Young: “Save our parks!”

Shannon Woods Hall: How can I help?! I’m involved in multiple women’s movements. Raising my boys to think for themselves. Gearing my writing to reflect the era. Pushing against the haters.”

Finally, it was J. Selden Napier’s turn: “I do not get out much being quadriplegic; however I do know how to burn up social media. The American health plan appears to have some flaws in it. I’m looking to see what the real deal was.”

The Napier family, Jay left, looks like a pretty cool clan.

And that, my friends, conservative and liberal, and everywhere in between, is a pretty fair sample of those of us who don’t like the policies and personal behavior of President Donald J. Trump.

***

After I posted the above to my blog, Angry Emoji Man returned to channel Trump and add a bit of wisdom to the thread. First, this:

“Your an idiot and loser John Viall.... and stupid. Your gonna wear yourself out for the next eight years. The republications have control and will be there for many years thanks to all you stupid prostesters!!”

John Curry, one of the “prostesters” replied: “----, did you pass Fifth Grade grammar and spelling?”

Angry Emoji Man: “You must be a liberal idiot too!! Loser John Curry.”

Curry: “Keep on writing, ----, you’ll get a fine chance to show us even more of your lack of intelligence.”

Angry Emoji Man: “John Curry hahaha loser! You can attempt to rattle me all the day long and for the next 8 years and then some and you will only offend yourself. To think you voted for Hillary Clinton gives me shivers!! Lol no wonder your stupid!!!”

Curry pointed out a variety of spelling errors.

With that, Angry Emoji Man laid out the most logical case he could muster: “Kiss my ass, dumb ass!!! Your the one that’s crying!!! Loser...”

Eventually, I replied to John to be sure he knew the post had been updated to include these responses. “We all need some humor,” I said. I refuse in almost all cases to insult others on Facebook. I will, however, poke fun.

Angry Emoji Man got me again: “It’s updated dick head.”

Two liberals admonished him for name-calling. He refer to the first as “just another loser.” Then to the second, he said: “…your a crybaby loser. I am dying of cancer, at least I know my grandchildren will grow up in a Great America. Five months after the election and your still crying. I have a great President, you don’t have Hillary ‘Thieve’ Clinton!!!! Hahaha.”

At that point, I started feeling sorry for the man. I know I want my children and grandchildren to grow up in a great country, too. My “dick head” response was this: “Sorry to hear you’re sick; never good for anyone. I guess I’m just someone who thinks anyone who has cancer should have health care. Go figure.”

Finally, the angry fellow posted: “I am in a nursing home and well covered.”

I hope he is. I hope all people who need health care get it at a price they can afford or with government aid. I’m a liberal, see; and I don’t mind paying taxes to insure people with cancer receive help. 

I read what my angry foe said, and simply hit “like.”

***

Here’s a gallery of photos representing almost all of the “paid protesters” who responded to my original request.

Renee Thielen Elliott, looking beautiful after cancer care.

Randall Bird, left, with his son. And are those Christmas trees I see?

Shannon Woods Hall (apparently she forgot liberals were supposed to make "War on Christmas.")

Mark Sherman, retired teacher. (Also missed the War on Christmas memo.)

Harry McIntyre. Don't we all want what's best for our families?
Conservatives, too!

Terrie Puckett. (Probably not for Trump.)

Joey Caylor Spencer and the whole Spencer clan.

Kris Goodfellow, right, takes on a Michigan fan.

Mary Fitzpatrick (purple scarf). 

She will be helping organize the March for Science on April 22.
(She'll do it for free.)

Timmiera Lawrence and her youngest daughter.
I can tell you from teaching what a cool family she has.

Jill Lytle Beitz: her family had to worry when her son developed cancer.

Gary Ruther served with the Marines. Semper Fi.

Nancy McMichael and her family. Her daughters were cool to have in class.

Janice Schankel: a Bernie supporter, for sure. She also takes good care of my brother.  

Kim Jackson Weber can protest and dance, either one.

Jean Frost Paul: Not getting rich from protesting, folks!

Tracey Bridge Baker, left. Yeah, she's ready for Medicare.
(Also a Democratic program, fought originally by the GOP as "socialized medicine."

Jim Viall, a distant relative, center. Will protest for free.
Can serve as minister.

Couldn't resist this adorable shot. Ernie Richman, an old high school friend.

Couldn't resist the youth look again: Chelsea Chase (Chelsea Hamm) in 1993.

Two protesters for the price of one: Claire Cavell Hale and husband John Hale.

The elusive Milla Lorelai Melomane may be behind that protest sign.

Ryan Ascolese (one of the best writers I ever had in class.)
 Willing to protest even if crowds make her nervous.

Breaking the bank, Susan Michael Moore Craig (front)
and friends get "paid" to protest.

Lisa Sullivan a few years back. A creative young lady in my class.

Salvador Sanchez; I was lucky to have him in class recently.
A young man who can think for himself and doesn't need to be paid.

Another youngster who was in my history class; but maybe not last year.

Gina young is like me: she wants a government that will protect national parks.

Do I really need to be paid to protest if I think Trump and the GOP will rape the land?

***

A late addition from Rod Jackson, who saw my post: I am 66 years old, retired from the Air Force and Federal Civil Service. I have a Master’s degree in Education. My wife is 64 and has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology (helps her deal with me). We, along with my daughter, granddaughter (6-years-old, no college degree) and two very good friends both college educated, marched in Washington, D.C. on 21 January. None of us were paid to do so. I have to tell you, protesting is hard work. It took me several days for my old bones and muscles to get over walking for nearly eight hours. Having said that, we will most assuredly do it again. I would posit most of the folks making the claim that Liberals protesting are paid do so because the Right cannot gather enough folks to make a difference. However, if they use the same math that Trump uses to estimate crowd size they most likely believe their crowds are at least as large as ours.

And the wife!

This one, from Jude Wood, also came in late: I am 69 years old. Married (to the same guy) for 50 years. Hubby served in the Army 1965-1968. Dad served in WWII and came home with a Purple Heart and Bronze Star. Daughter-in-law served 1997-2001. Son has been in (Chief Petty Officer) 20 years and will return to middle east for the fourth time in July. I am a retired nurse/paralegal. I live in Tennessee so I am a proud liberal living in a sea of red. I marched in January. Rod is right. It costs money to march but I will do it again. When not marching, I send at least four postcards every day. Lately, they have been to our two senators, my representative, Nunez, and Burr. These guys will have my name memorized and I figure I will probably end up on a list somewhere. Don't care. I have three young granddaughters. I don't want them growing up thinking their grandmother thought it was acceptable for any man with power to molest them with impunity and then be elected to be the leader of the free world. That is just one of many reasons I am fighting Trump. I am the one in the pink blouse. Resist!

I love that one.

Jude Wood is on the right.