January 4, 2018: President Trump Can't Find the Voter Fraud, and Doesn't Like the Right to Protest Much, Either

 

1/4/18: The president decides he can’t let an entire day go by without undercutting fundamental democratic institutions. So, he does what he does best. He studies policy. 

Of course, he doesn’t. 

 

Standing up by kneeling down? 

Did you know his Commission on Voter Fraud just disbanded? “Many mostly Democrat States refused to hand over data from the 2016 Election to the Commission On Voter Fraud,” Trump tweet-moans. “They fought hard that the Commission not see their records or methods because they know that many people are voting illegally. System is rigged, must go to Voter I.D.” (For the biggest case of voter fraud in recent memory, see: 12/4/18.) 

You may not remember, but last summer a “handful” of states, a mere 44, refused to provide all the information Trump and his enablers demanded...also the District of Columbia. Alabama did comply with the administration order which makes it even more depressing for the president to realize accused child molester Roy Moore still couldn’t get elected. 

Kansas also complied. Kansas is the state where the head of the Commission on Voter Fraud, Kris Kobach, got his start cleaning up all the rampant fraud in elections. He worked like a right-wing beaver, Kobach did. He scrubbed and he scrubbed, and managed to secure nine whole convictions for voter fraud, over the course of multiple elections, in a state with a population of 1.8 million.

 

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TRUMP TWEETS ONCE, then mulls his course. What to do next with his valuable time? He decides to flog a favorite target: Minorities. No, I mean, “kneeling NFL players.” They just happen to be almost all African American. 

In any case, he tweets again, this time providing a link to the picture below, from last September. His tweet reads, “So beautiful.... Show this picture to the NFL players who still kneel!” 

 

Let this blogger interject. Much respect to all who have fallen in the fight for freedom and to their loved ones who pay an almost unbearable price. 

As a patriotic American, who enlisted in the Marines in 1968, I can see why players protest. If I were to kneel during the National Anthem, would I be disrespecting the flag, or would I be standing up by kneeling down? I’m a huge fan of the right to protest and the First Amendment. You know who I think really, really disrespected our flag. I think it was Don Jr. and Jared when they met with Russians in hopes of getting dirt on Hillary Clinton. (See: 1/3/18.) 

 

As for minority players kneeling, Mr. Trump, perhaps they’re protesting this kind of symbolism and support for your positions, and your disinclination to condemn such individuals: 

 

Or it might be they’re protesting this kind of police abuse (and no, not all police are abusive):

 

Walter Scott, unarmed and fleeing, is shot in the back.

 

Again, all sympathy to that soldier’s poor wife (pictured above) and to the child who will never know its father. 

That doesn’t mean Walter Scott’s family doesn’t also have a grave to visit and to weep over too.

 

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THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR decides to open almost all U.S. coastal waters to offshore drilling. This plan, carefully crafted by Secretary Ryan Zinke, is a work of genius. (See: 1/9/18.) 

 

POSTSCRIPT: Lawyers for the president go to court to try to halt publication of the new book, Fire and Fury. (See: 1/3/18.) 

Because that’s what we do in Trumpistan. 

We ban books.

June 5, 2018: Sports Teams Refusing to Visit the White House

 

6/5/18: The NFL champion Philadelphia Eagles are disinvited to the White House after it becomes clear only a handful of players wish to come. 

____________________ 

He’s a charlatan who wraps himself in the flag.

____________________ 

 

The president tries to bend facts to fit a false narrative. “The Philadelphia Eagles are unable to come to the White House with their full team to be celebrated tomorrow,” he says in a statement. 

They disagree with their President because he insists that they proudly stand for the National Anthem, hand on heart, in honor of the great men and women of our military and the people of our country.

 

The Eagles wanted to send a smaller delegation, but the 1,000 fans planning to attend the event deserve better. These fans are still invited to the White House to be part of a different type of ceremony - one that will honor our great country, pay tribute to the heroes who fight to protect it, and loudly and proudly play the National Anthem. I will be there at 3 p.m. with the United States Marine Band and the United States Army Chorus to celebrate America.

 

This is news to Eagles players because they don’t disagree with Trump about wanting to “honor the great men and women of our military.”

Eagles players did kneel in prayer during the season.

Fox News had to apologize for using this photo to attack the team for "protesting."

 

They disagree because he’s a charlatan who wraps himself in the flag and tries to pretend that he never called players who were protesting against police brutality “sons of bitches.” NFL players don’t want to hang out with the man who says if they take a knee maybe they should get out of the country. No player on the Eagles knelt during the NFL season. They weren’t protesting before. Now they are. They don’t like Trump’s stomp-on-the-First Amendment stand. 

Sure, you can stand for the Anthem. 

You can also stand on principle. 

 

POSTSCRIPT: Lebron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors make plain. No matter which team wins the 2018 NBA championship, “no one wants an invite” to the White House. 

Nobody on either team knelt before a game this year. They just don’t care to kneel to Mr. Trump.

What Should Scare Us More than NFL Players Kneeling?

PERHAPS YOU’VE NOTICED. Right-wing thinkers love to spread the bullshit and stoke paranoia among the right-wing unwitting.

Remember when Obama didn’t have a birth certificate—and then, after five years, suddenly Donald J. Trump admitted he did? 

Remember Jade Helm? (Federal forces were going to come pouring out of tunnels under old Walmart stores and invade Texas.)

Remember Pizzagate and the fool who went in, guns blazing, to save the imaginary, enslaved kids? 

Remember when gay marriage meant marriage as we know it was dead, whereas Newt Gingrich and Rudy Giuliani and Donald J. Trump (three nuptials each) were going to stand as a bulwark and save the sacrament somehow?

Remember when Obama was going to take all our guns? In the eight years he was in office the right-wing unwitting ran out and stocked up on another 150 million weapons.

Just to be safe.

NOW WE HAVE BEEN WARNED—in twenty Trumpian tweets—that NFL players kneeling during the National Anthem are an existential threat. According to President Trump, who supported the flag personally, back in the 60s by racking up five draft deferments and avoiding serving under that banner, the player/protesters are sons of bitches. They deserve to lose their jobs. They hate America. They hate our soldiers. They hate our flag. They dropkick puppies at halftime for fun. I think he hopes the right-wing unwitting will rush out and by more guns.

And they probably will.

What’s the problem with players kneeling in the end? They’re not violent. They’re not insulting our military at all. They’ve made that abundantly clear. 

See, for example, the patriotic statement issued by the Seattle Seahawks team. That statement read: 

As a team, we have decided we will not participate in the national anthem. We will not stand for the injustice that has plagued people of color in this country. Out of love for our country and in honor of the sacrifices made on our behalf, we unite to oppose those that would deny our most basic freedoms.

And just because you don’t pay attention to what the players say, that doesn’t mean the president and the chuckleheads at Fox News are right.

FOR THAT REASON, in hopes of bringing perspective to this discussion, here’s a list of people and problems that I think should worry us more than NFL players kneeling in protest. You know: exercising their First Amendment rights.

1. How about these guys? They’re not only disrespecting the flag, they’re big fans of violence.

1. How about these guys? They’re not only disrespecting the flag, they’re big fans of violence.

Fledgling Fascist?

Also, this guy:

2. You shouldn’t trust anyone, like Hannity, who thinks only those who agree with his (or her) side have a right to protest and free speech.

Even despicable Nazis have a right to protest—peacefully, as determined by the U.S. Supreme Court—if they want.

Congressman Tom Marino; at least he had to resign his seat.

3. How about this guy, Tom Marino? He’s the dude who helped slip language into legislation to make it harder for federal agencies to staunch the flood of opioids in America today. He probably has more blood on his hands as a result than all the NFL players who ever lived—and that would include O.J. 

WHO AND WHAT SHOULD worry us more than NFL players kneeling?

4. O. J. out on parole.

5. An asteroid hitting Trump Tower.

6. Climate change and a president who can’t tell the difference between weather and climate. 

For example, if it’s cold one day, climate change can’t be real. A typical Trumpian tweet on the topic from July 28, 2014: “It’s late in July and it is really cold outside in New York. Where the hell is GLOBAL WARMING??? We need some fast!”

(Since my original post, 2017 has been added to the list of ten hottest years, 

coming in second or third according to slightly different measurements. 

In fact, the 20 hottest years on record have all occurred since 1995.) 

6. I’d also suggest we worry about Scott Pruitt, Trump’s handpicked fool and Big Oil tool, who currently heads the E.P.A. He’s doing his very best to eliminate regulations aimed at blunting the dangers of climate change. NFL protesters aren’t going to harm the future of the planet, the future of our children or the future of our grandchildren.

Pruitt very well may. 

(Since my original post, Pruitt has resigned from office, in part because he was the subject of at least 13 different investigations into unethical and potentially criminal behavior while serving as head of the E.P.A.)

Other far more worrisome individuals and trends:

7. Harvey Weinstein around women

8. Bill O’Reilly and Roger Ailes around other women

9. Lots of angry guys with guns: Stephen Paddock, Henry Bello, Emanuel Samson, Esteban Santiago-Ruiz, John Robert Neumann, Jr., Cory Godbolt, Jimmy Lam and Spencer Hight (all in 2017)

10. Really stupid individuals with guns. (See Pizzagate, etc.)

11. Terrorist assholes (I think we can all agree.)

12. Our trade deficit with China (I think they’re going to use our money to build up their navy and upgrade their air force.

13. U.S. companies that ship jobs to China (including Donald J. Trump and daughter Ivanka Trump).

14. Vladimir Putin and all his Trump administration friends—Paul Manafort and General Flynn, for sure; possibly, Carter Page, Roger Stone, Michael Cohen, Jared Kushner and Don Jr., too

(Since posting this: add Rick Gates and George Papadopoulos, who both pled guilty, to the list; also 25 assorted Russians indicted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his team.)

15. Kim Jong-un.

16. People who think Trump should bomb the shit out of North Korea and don’t think anything can go wrong. 

See, for example: Korean War; Vietnam War; Iraq War.

17. Ezekial Elliott: He’s Jerry Jones’ boy; and Jones is the one NFL owner who says if any Dallas players kneel they’ll ride the bench. Elliot? Domestic violence! No problem. He can play—as long as he stands.

18. The Pittsburgh Steelers (a pet peeve of mine), because they keep humiliating my team, the Cincinnati Bengals.

I love veteran's myself. I am one.
I respect Alejandro Villanueva, who served in Afghanistan.
When all the other Steelers protested by skipping the National Anthem he stood alone 
at the mouth of the stadium tunnel, hand over heart.
It's a free country either way, protest or not.

19. The Koch brothers, Charles and David. Even the ancient Greeks knew you had to fear oligarchy.

20. Finding a half-eaten spider in my Cheerio’s.

AND THE LIST of potential threats only grows longer:

21. Judge Roy Moore (now running for the U.S. Senate) a man who believes gay behavior should still be criminalized. He’s a big Bible man. I worry that he’ll dive even deeper into Leviticus and decide we need to stone adulterers again.

(So much for Bill Clinton, Donald J. Trump and many others.)

(Moore was defeated; although the president backed the alleged pedophile in a special election.)

22. Killer bees.

23. Killer sharks.

24. Killer wildlife, generally speaking.

25. Bigfoot getting me someday.

26. The whole Westboro Baptist Church. (See photo below.)

27. Tiffany Trump. (Has she been kidnapped by terrorists? When was the last time you  spotted her in public?)

Even jerks enjoy First Amendment rights.

28. Right-wing nut job Alex Jones as a dad.

29. Former cabinet secretary Tom Price. I wonder what he’s doing now that he has to pay for all his own charter flights.

(Recently, the Inspector General at Health and Human Services, where Price once worked, 

has ruled that the government should ask Price to repay at least $341,000.)

30. Ann Coulter, as she fades away. I worry that she’s still a virgin. After all, don’t all good conservatives save themselves before marriage? No wonder she’s always in a shitty mood. She’s not getting any younger. She’s 56 and never married. 

She has to be wondering, “What’s coitus like?”

31. Mitch McConnell, just because he’s inept.

32. The “War on Christmas”—also a fake right-wing threat—and may I say right here and now, Merry Christmas to all!