Rage Against the Machine don’t be the Ghost of Tom Joad

I watch the news sickened by the greed of the people who must be getting paid by those with all the wealth in this country who are supposed to be representing their constituents who live hand to mouth. I have one thing to say in peaceful response to the profligacy. If you are a citizen in this country who can’t afford to fly on a private jet when you travel then you must vote every republican out of office at the next congressional or senatorial election. Then in 2020 you must vote them out of the White House period. This is not just a “liberal” issue. This is a matter of human decency and survival for every human being that religious people tout about having a right to life. Guess what? The lives being affected by the ignorance going on within the alt right and GOP are literally breathing air not waiting to maybe do so.

Here’s the simple fact of the “estate tax debate.” If the family that has more than 10 million dollars being left to them after the death of their parents cannot live on that amount of money or turn that (roughly) six million “after estate tax” dollars into much more money…they do not deserve to have a fucking cent of that money and someone who knows how to stretch a dollar or has the next billion dollar idea deserves that money.

I am not speaking as a person who has never been wealthy or well to do. No, I am speaking as a person who was (in her twenties) a millionaire. Albeit, the money wasn’t earned by legal means it was, nonetheless, earned and spent in its entirety because of my lavish lifestyle and expensive habits. Ergo, my point. I did not deserve that money. I did nothing to turn those illegal millions into legal mass-millions. I did not invest in stocks through a front operation. I didn’t, even, place the majority in a safe deposit box to be used as needed by living reasonably.

But, I was not greedy. I have never been greedy. That is why I am now a poor, physically-impaired popper. I traveled and threw parties and supplied all means of depravity to everyone I knew and many more whom I had no clue their names. Do I regret not being more “responsible?” Yes, of course I regret not being responsible and sensible with my money now that I am in the situation I have been living for several years decades after my millions were blown. That would be the epitome of the cliché of hindsight. But, do I regret not being “greedy?” Absolutely not!

You see, my circumstances having gone from wealth to middle, working class to poor and unemployed with many disabilities that could be solved with money created (out of necessity) an ability to live without many things that I once took for granted and became very accustom. Even in my poverty I find ways to give money to people and organizations. After all, what can you buy with a dollar in the present day? Not a damn thing. But, if you give that dollar to someone who is getting a dollar from many more people then it becomes something usable.

Sorry, I strayed a bit. I digressed now back to my point. These so-called people of the GOP and far right who are, supposedly, so “fiscally responsible” are nothing more than greedy assholes being bought by the highest bidder. Can I prove it? Not without the means to do so and in my current situation. But, come on people. Common sense. I called the so-called president (the twit, I mean, tweeter in chief) for what he was having never met him and before he was ever sworn into office. Call it street smarts, intuition, Spiritually gifted – I don’t really care… Point is that I can spot a piece of shit, used car salesman in an expensive, mismatched suit any day or night of the week then times that by infinity on the weekend. It is the reason I was never busted for the millions I made in my twenties. If you want details read my poorly-written book that was published after I got clean and sober prior to my college education.

Again, I digress. This “tax reform” bull shit is just that – bull shit. Sorry for being vulgar and speaking as if I have no education. I am excruciatingly pissed. These assholes writing this huge piece of legislation that should be used to wipe every one of their own asses so that they get papercuts where their brains reside is not in the best interest of the majority of the people in this country nor those who voted them into office in order to bend each working-slob voter over as if they were pedophiles in general population.

What’s sad or disgusting, take your pick, is the fact that the pretender-in-chief’s base is either so intellectually inept or apathetic about this issue because they finally have a racist, degenerate with all the intelligence and suave of Al Capone’s lowest thug who executes a hit on the wrong person then blames it on his gun misfiring. The man in the oval office is there because of his stupidity, gullibility and greed. Greed and ego caused him to run for president. Hatred, fear, ignorance, racism and manipulation by Russians and the GOP who fell in line thinking they could control crazy got him elected. The only intelligent people who helped him win the White House were the Russians. I do not say this because I like what they did or agree with it though; quite the contrary. I say it as a matter of fact. They knew exactly what they had on “the one hand” when they chose sides to cause this country to implode just as it has been doing with the right and left fighting, white supremacists and the rest of us, religious zealots and the rest of us and (if this tax abomination passes into law) the wealthy against the rest of us.

That’s just the tip of the ice-berg with this tax plan. We are so in debt as a nation as it is because of the fact that the wealthy control so many in the legislative branch and (now) own the executive branch that closing the loop-holes on the ultra-wealthy will not happen. In fact, we should be closing loopholes and policing their money for offshore safe-havens with the same vigor that the police, DEA, FBI and all the other branches of law enforcement (so repetitive) police the medically necessary use of opiate/opioid pain killers for patients who have actual, physiological problems that require narcotics in order to have any semblance of a normal life and all the other “drug problems” that could be eliminated if made legal to generate sales-tax revenue instead of incarceration and prosecution costs. Yet, the GOP who only wants less government when it comes to social programs that would assist the poor out of poverty or help the sick and disabled would never look at all the agency overlap with national security and law enforcement because someone might buy a fucking joint or do an internet search on Islam.

Even with corporations and the estate tax as it is right now – income tax for the entire population is higher. Granted, there is that one percent who is supposed to pay more than the schmuck who makes $55,000 a year, but guess what? The one percent doesn’t pay what they’re supposed to pay like everyone else has no choice but do so.  Even if they paid what they had to pay – they, still, wouldn’t feel it because it is the equivalent of me giving the dollar away that won’t buy me a damn thing.

**For the latest, factual data on corporate and estate tax compared to income tax revenue take a look at this simple graph put out by the IRS on their official site at IRS.gov (https://www.irs.gov/statistics/soi-tax-stats-irs-data-book).

 By the way, here's the YouTube video of Rage Against the Machine's "Ghost of Tom Joad" with lyrics...

Eminem Agrees with My Political Views AGAIN!

After the third or fourth song, Eminem tells England how he feels about the so-called president. He agreed with me about Bush number two and the war in Iraq. Looks like my mentor and I have more in common than just the way we rhyme. (For those of you unfamiliar with the nickname given to me by many writers within a professional writing group it was "female Eminem."

The Deplorables

I want to apologize for the fact that while I was writing the last piece I had posted on the blog there was a horrific event taking place in Virginia. Literally, as I was writing the first rant about our so-called president in a very, very long time, there was a protest march staged by the most despicable human beings on the planet. This travesty was taking place at the exact time I was writing about the multitude of stupid acts that the racist in chief carries out daily and the reason that I had taken so long to write anything was because of the enormous volume of stupidity and disgraceful acts carried out by the least presidential president in history.

In case I haven’t articulated the irony well thus far allow me to put it more directly. I had taken a very long sabbatical from writing anything about the disaster in chief because I happen to have a full-time job. Because this guy is a walking tornado whipping up disastrous, shit-shows wherever he may wander with whatever he may tweet I found myself unable to keep up with hitting the bullet points of his mistakes. So, I took about 1,000 steps back and just stopped trying to be a person covering the highlights of the many lows of our new president. Now, for the irony of what took place.

After about four months of writing absolutely nothing about any of the plethora of mistakes he’d made I awoke last Saturday and began writing because of how he was handling the whole North Korea issue. My thoughts were that I’d better put something out there before his need to one-up and go tit for tat with a younger, Asian version of himself led us into World War III. I don’t know why I thought I’d have time to write a summation of catastrophic events carried out by the least qualified human being to take the oath of office as president before he’d outdo himself with despicable behavior. If I’d waited a couple hours to write and post “The Orangutan in Chief” I could have included the fact that America’s slimy underbelly of society had been organizing and spreading its diseased ideology while the majority of our country’s citizens had been making and embracing all the progress we were achieving as a society.

You see, while the majority of Americans are decent human beings who have seen, heard or read about all the atrocities committed by a certain, homophobic, Christian sect of white men against other races, women, people of different sexual orientations and those who belong to different religions – we thought we had brought about enough change and progress that we’d never have to see the KKK, Nazis, or white supremacists of all other names rear their ugly heads ever again. But, the fact is, when we came together as a nation and elected the first black president in 2008, it reignited the flames of hate and division that had never, truly, completely burned out. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that we shouldn’t have elected President Obama. Hell no! I voted for him twice and I would do it again today if I could. Truth be told, I wish I could do it again today.

No, I don’t regret voting for nor having President Obama elected as president in the very least. He is a great man and was a great president. What I am trying to say is that because the filth that is white supremacy hadn’t ever died out completely, rather, it had life breathed back into it with the election of the first black president during a time that our country had gone through the worst financial crisis since the great depression. Now, all of us who are sane, not ignorant and who have been paying attention with our eyes open wide along with our ears know that all of the extreme, income inequality has been brought to all of us by the same party (the GOP) that all these idiot, white supremacists vote for regularly. All of the disparity has been created by white men (and women) who run for and win elections as “republicans.”

Now, the fact that the liar in chief has done so many things prior to and during the election as well as after being sworn into office that are either racist or bigoted by their very appearance (at best) or are racists or bigoted literally (at worst) as well as the fact that he took office immediately after President Obama’s presidency ended created the perfect setting for all of this ugliness that had been festering to gain momentum. Then, when the asshole in chief had a chance to denounce this type of behavior and call it for what it was – domestic terrorism, he didn’t do so in the slightest. In fact, he went that extra little bit of obstinate (after doing whatever he was told to do to make things right two days too late by his chief of staff) and doubled down on his “wink and nod” to the most deplorable human beings on the planet. Remember all the shit that Hillary caught for calling his supporters out as the deplorables that they are inside and out? I hope the rest of this country’s voters can see now that she was right all along. Those who should truly be ashamed and forced to apologize to the people are those who condemned her for speaking the truth.

©August 17, 2017 – Tamara Imes-Nicholas 

The Orangutan in Chief

It’s been quite some time since I’ve chimed in about this country’s so-called president. The orangutan in a suit. I don’t like to say his name in print or aloud because it’s sort of like beckoning or conjuring some malevolent force that should and shall remain nameless. Nevertheless, he knows who he is and you all know who he is who shall remain nameless.

I feel as if everything I saw coming at the moment I knew he’d won the election has come into reality and at full steam right on schedule. This man never wanted to be president for any of the right reasons. He’s never done anything in his life for the right reason. I wish I could say that I don’t understand how he got elected when he was so obviously unqualified mentally and emotionally for the job of the most powerful man in the world. Frankly, the media (the real media) that he refers to, of course, as “fake news” has done a pretty fine job psychoanalyzing him as well as with reporting facts about him, his family, his administration and his campaign.

However, despite all the facts that are staring everyone who chooses to look with open and unbiased eyes, his base is unaffected by these things and continues to believe the most documented and proven liar to ever hold the highest office since Nixon. Frankly, he’s worse than Nixon because he lies for no reason whatsoever. He lies for the sake of lying and his narcissism is, literally, the worst case I’ve ever laid my eyes and ears upon. But that’s not even cause for concern anymore with the way things are unraveling at lightning speed. Yes, it is the underlying neuroses, but because we have been handed a president that was chosen by the minority of people in this country who are the epitome of what’s wrong with this country because they possess one or more of the following defects within themselves: uneducated, ignorant, prejudiced, and/or immune to facts… Because they chose the fate for the rest of this nation and, frankly, the world we are all in this shit show together.

What’s more, because the GOP continually puts party before country and have an unhealthy gang-like devotion to one another, we can’t hope for them to do the responsible thing of acting on behalf of and for the betterment of this nation and the rest of the world by taking steps to impeach this asshole. It’s like they’d rather go down with the ship taking the rest of us with them instead of doing the ethical thing of keeping their own integrity or, at least, honoring their own oaths to the constitution and the citizens they are supposed to be representing.

Sure, we see an occasional snippet from John McCain or Lindsey Graham where they speak sanely about something insane the toddler in chief does from time to time. But, I feel like, except for when John McCain gave the “thumbs down” vote on the last attempt to repeal and replace healthcare by the senate, that they only have these moments of sanity to keep their voters happy. What will really show true devotion to this country and all its citizens, by them and the rest of those in control of our legislative branch, can and will only be shown when they do the responsible thing and get the most dangerous and unstable person to ever hold our highest office out of the White House permanently.

I’m in complete agreement with Bill Maher when he said collusion was proven the moment that Don Jr. released his email about meeting with the Russians to get dirt on Hillary. But, because the GOP controls every branch within our federal government as well as two-thirds of all state governments, there’s only one of two ways “we the people” can expect to see the necessary changes come about. Both options do not offer the quick resolution needed because the two options are these: 1) The conclusion and findings of the independent counsel’s investigation, which everyone who knows anything about such endeavors agrees will take quite some time or 2) “we the people,” who have been trying to bring reality into the minds and lives of people who voted for the disaster in chief not because they had total love for him, but because they hated or couldn’t trust Hillary and saw him as the lesser of the two evils, continue our tireless work to rally the troops and come together in 2018 to remove the GOP from power.

See, unless the current legislators come to their senses and do the right thing; the obvious to everyone paying attention thing, we will be stuck with this train-wreck of a human being (let alone president) for way longer than is safe for the country or the world. Seriously, in six (very short) months he has managed to alienate our allies, start laying the groundwork for the United States to become a dictatorship by turning “his people” against real, factual news sources in exchange for his tweets (daily lies from the pathological liar and narcissist in chief) and (finally) get into a pissing match with North Korea. The last item on that list is and should be the biggest concern for anyone who doesn’t want to see what nuclear war looks like (not like there’ll be many left to tell the tale afterward).

I haven’t, even, touched on the multitude of other bullet points that give a clear and obvious outline as to why this man shouldn’t be president. Things like profiting from the presidency, the fact he has costed the American tax-payer more tax dollars than any other president before him by his weekly trips to his own golf courses and, after only six months of doing (literally) next to nothing in terms of governing, he’s taken his first vacation. I know most, if not all, of my liberal/progressive/Democratic peers remember all the shit he used to talk about our country’s last real president, Barrack Obama, regarding “golfing” and “vacations” and can quickly conclude what a gigantic hypocrite the nameless one has been.

But we aren’t the people who need to be aware of all the obvious and provable contradictions coming out of his mouth. No, it is all those who were so quick to believe Hillary was crooked or that Benghazi was her fault and so on. It is those people who need to pull their heads out of their asses and stop watching Fox News and getting their news from sources who provide “alternative facts” (fancy way that perfectly describes “lies”) and completely fake news. Yes, there are fake news sources. Unfortunately, for those of us who know the difference, the people who use that term do so incorrectly more often than not.

Still, I haven’t covered all the shit that has amassed over the course of six (short) months. To do so would, literally, take days of typing and would be so overwhelming for me to put together as well as for anyone reading to take in and digest. Which brings me to the reason it has been so long since I’ve bothered saying a thing about this shit-show of a presidency. It’s just too much. The only, real, objective I had with writing this (long overdue) rant was to point out the fact that it has been, just, too much. So, the real question I put to everyone in the GOP – who should be worried as to if they will keep their seat (since they don’t seem to care enough about the country and its people) – is just how much is it going to take to become too much for any or all of you who could, actually, do something about this mess right now?

You’d, all, best figure it out and do it soon because if you don’t do the right thing I can guarantee that those of us with real values, morals, and concern for this country and the rest of the world will make that decision for you in 2018. Your time is now. Do what’s right now or pay for what you didn’t do right later.

©August 12, 2017 – Tamara Imes-Nicholas

A Conman and Common Criminal is President

There is a general consensus about the so-called president’s first 100 days as being “the worst first 100 days of any president in modern history.” I knew this would be the case as did all sane, intelligent (or non-ignorant) people on the planet. I didn’t need to utilize my “gifts” to be absolutely positive that this would be the case. All that was required to know this was going to happen is for one to be paying attention. The person elected into the office of president being a thin-skinned, narcissistic disaster of a human being combined with the fact that he is a pathological liar topped off with the fact that he’s had as many (if not more) businesses go bankrupt as those that succeeded didn’t equate to a successful first 100 days (nor an entire presidency). That’s not, even, taking into account the fact that he nor his entire administration was coming into office without any experience in government.

What I did know, without a shred of doubt, was trump would use his presidency for the profit of himself and his family and that would be his primary objective followed by being able to get the American tax payers (which doesn’t include himself) to foot the bill for his weekly trips to Florida – a cost that far exceeds the salary that he donates to charity. If you take into account the money he saves not having to pay for these trips himself, the money he and his family make by abusing the office of president and the money he is very likely getting paid by each one of the real billionaires he appointed to head the departments and agencies he appointed those rich people to run along with the likely kickbacks he’ll receive by special interests for any tax reform he and his greedy GOP legislators are able to pass…

Of course, the only thing that’s provable (at this point) about the previous paragraph is the fact that he is taking weekly trips to Florida on the taxpayers’ dime and the fact that he and his family are profiting by his being president. However, with the latter of those two facts, is it hard to imagine that the rest of what I said to be true? The only way we will ever get to the truth about whether or not I’m right about the accusations I’ve made is for every Liberal, Progressive and Centrist Democrat to show up in 2018 and make sure that the GOP and Freedom Caucus Teabaggers are voted out of office. Once the Democrats have taken back the House and Senate we can achieve the goal of getting his financial information investigated for any and all impeachable offenses as well as getting to the bottom of Russia-gate (if it hasn’t already been handled correctly).

This so-called president is nothing more than a conman who was born into privilege. He isn’t a brilliant businessman. His multiple businesses that have gone bankrupt are proof of that fact. His only real successes in business have been in real estate and contracting (building) of buildings and golf courses where he had strong-armed many land owners to get what he wanted. A son of a slumlord who was born entitled and became successful bullying and suing people with less money than he had, which gave him a disproportionate advantage in any and all lawsuits. He stiffed the contractors and subcontractors out of money and, because he had more money than any of those he ripped off, those who sued him for payment of the money he owed them were doomed from the onset because he could tie them up in court and attorney fees until they went broke trying to recoup the money he owed them. That makes him a thief. He is no better than a common criminal. The only difference is he has money. If he didn’t have money he wouldn’t get away with all the conman fraudulence and theft.

Anyone who sees him as anything more or better than what he truly is (i.e., what I’ve just described) is the reason he, now, the president of the world’s foremost superpower. Those who believed his lies. Those who made him president. Those who have given him carte blanche for personal gain by being president. Those who are gullible enough to fall for a narcissistic, applause whore of a conman who doesn’t pay taxes, uses our tax dollars to go golfing at a cost that far exceeds the salary he “donates to charity” as if we (those who didn’t vote for him, don’t believe his lies, know he’s a conman and common criminal) don’t realize that he is capitalizing on us and the sacred and powerful office of the presidency.

On behalf of all of us who didn’t vote for this Insane Clown and the Posse he appointed – fuck all of you Juggalos and fuck you too Donald. You’re not my president. You’ll never be my president and I can’t wait until 2018 when sanity is restored and you get impeached. With any luck, you’ll be prosecuted and put in federal prison with people who have done far, less heinous crimes against humanity, but have a whole lot of rage for being sent to prison for simple possession. People who have had nothing but time on their hands to lift weights, get into shape, and think about the inbred, KKK grand wizard who you appointed as attorney general and his very, narrow-minded views about marijuana. You’re already a whiney, little bitch (Donald) so I’m sure you’ll make one of those guys a real good prison bitch. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

Write about it Now and Regret it Later

A while back I wrote a piece about fake news called, “Fake News and Social Media.” The inspiration for the article wasn’t anything being reported on any of the network news or news network programs although the issue that inspired my piece was, finally, being reported on these news mediums. Let me clarify what it is I’m talking about specifically. You see, while scrolling through my Google+ feed, I saw a comment posted by someone whom I don’t really know. I don’t, even, recall exactly what it was that this person had written and posted. All I remember is that I disagreed with whatever it was that this person had posted so I “replied” to the post with my own commentary and views about what I thought regarding their comments.

This person (again, whom I didn’t know then nor do I know now) had “followed” me, but I don’t recall (actually) returning the favor and “following” them. I’m not saying that it’s not possible that I did so because I used to follow people who followed me when I, initially, set up my Google+ profile, which I was prompted to do when I created my Gmail account. At any rate, the “why’s” and “how’s” are irrelevant. The only thing that is relevant is the fact that I do not know who this person is or is not within the real or cyber world. In fact, I don’t (even) recall the name of the person I’m referring to and there’s no way for me to go back and attempt to find the person’s name because I wound up blocking them because I believed that the individual wasn’t “real” – meaning, I believed that the profile and name created by whomever created it was fake. Keep in mind, all of this took place prior to what is now being reported by the legitimate news outlets regarding Russia-gate and the more than 1,000 Russian paid, internet trolls pushing propaganda/fake news.

I should mention that I have the ability to check stats for all of my blogs. Within the content of those stats is the country/countries viewing my blog. Next to the United States, Russia is the country with the second highest number of visitors. After Russia it varies a lot. But, along with many in Western Europe (I love you Europe), I have many Eastern European visitors. So – since my Google+ account automatically posts every article I write for “The New World Disorder” and every poem or article I write for “Are You Serious?” it makes sense that Russian paid trolls would have targeted me.

Now, back to the point of what unfolded as a result of my response to this person’s comment. When I made whatever comment I made in response to whatever this person (whom I believed, at the time, was a “made-up/fictional profile”) posted she (I don’t remember her name, but I do remember it was a female profile) replied with the most bizarre thing I had ever heard in my life. Though I don’t recall what she said at the beginning of her response I, do, remember her wild allegations about (then) candidate Hillary Clinton running a human trafficking organization out of a pizzeria and referred to this so-called scandal as “Pizza-gate.” Keep in mind, this is before the mainstream media/legitimate news organizations were reporting about “Pizza-gate” because this online exchange occurred prior to when the gun-wielding man entered that pizzeria intending to “take down the bad guys.” That incident, of course, led to a follow-up report with the man who fabricated that fake news story that earned him something like $8,000 (if memory serves me correctly).

I wish I had done some digging on the same day that the, literally, unbelievable slew of bull shit was given to me during that online back and forth with a person I was (immediately) told by my intuition wasn’t real (meaning, she – who was likely a “he” – was a fabricated profile/person). I don’t know that there would have been any, actual, facts about the Pizza-gate scandal at that time since the story hadn’t been investigated properly until the man with the gun entered the restaurant seeking justice. As a side note, the fact that someone who was gullible enough to believe such an obvious fabrication is able to own a gun should be added to the many other equally disturbing facts supporting the need to reform gun legislation. I’m not saying we should do away with the right to bear arms. I’m just saying that we need to enforce the laws that are already in place as well as make some additions such as “mental health screening” and (in light of this situation and others, which are similar) the need for IQ testing.

Anyway, it seems as if things happen to me or that I’m privy to prior to those exact things being reported or receiving attention by other, much more influential sources in a prodigious way. Just before the man with a gun goes into the pizzeria – an insane, fictional person tries to sell me on Pizza-gate and a search engine that I should use rather than Google (or other search engines that produce factual, research type results) called “GoodGopher” dot com (I don’t want to enter in an actual link). Then, because of the close call that could have resulted in many, innocent people being killed by the gun-toting man, the story breaks about writers being paid to fabricate and publish (online) stories then pass them off as legitimate news. When that story broke and was televised by MSNBC I, then, wrote my piece about fake news (mentioned in the opening line above). But, it wasn’t until very recently that the reality of internet trolls pushing these fake news stories via social networking sites became public or known widely (if you’ve read my “Fake News and Social Media” article you’ll know why I don’t like to say, “social media”).

When I write anything (and I, do, mean anything) nowadays I tweet out the link to whatever article I’ve written. It’s not to bring myself any notoriety. It’s not, even, to generate ad revenue from my blog. Because, believe me, although I have ads on two of my blogs the total revenue earned from both sites is $1.27 and that is from my other blog “Are You Serious?” That blog began running ads in 2013. So, in four years’ time, the total revenue generated is $1.27 and that money is held, without being deposited into the blogger’s bank account, until there’s a minimum of one hundred dollars. That means, although I’ve earned a whopping one dollar and twenty-seven cents in four years’ time, I will most likely be dead by the time I’ve earned enough money ($100) to actually be paid.

So, my point is that my linking everything I write into my tweets is done to bring attention to things that may, otherwise, go unnoticed or to bring a different perspective to an issue that’s already being discussed or reported by the legitimate news outlets. If anyone’s ever paid any attention to the links I put out in tweets they will notice that my first tweeted link is addressed to @msnbc with additional recipients, usually, being @maddow, @chucktodd and @billmaher. In some cases I’ve included @realdonaldtrump, but (usually) when I send him anything it isn’t an article I’ve written because there are way, too many facts for him to believe. Usually, when tweeting the so-called president, I just send him an insult like the one a few weeks ago (after hearing how much money he’s been spending to go to Florida every weekend). I tweeted him a note that said something along the lines of, “How can you go golfing in FL every weekend while gutting programs for the poor/needy? You entitled prick!” The last line was verbatim, but the first may have been – I’m not sure, but it was the gist of what I said.

That’s all for now. I just felt I should “put it out there” all of the things that have happened with which I’ve been aware prior to those things being “put out there” for the multitudes of people that are now aware because of those things being put out there. From now on, as soon as I get a whiff of any hidden stench or my gut (intuition) tells me that something’s not right – I will be sure to write about it first and be glad about it (or regret it) later.

  

The Hypocritical President

It should be amazing, to me and others, how hypocritical the so-called president and his GOP counterparts are with respect to everything they’ve stated when talking about the Democrats. But, in this new age of extreme dysfunction, it isn’t surprising nor amazing with the way they have accused Democrats of being wrong for invoking things like the filibuster and other tactics that they (the GOP) did in such excess during the Obama administration, which caused the senate Democrats to change the rules in order to allow former President Obama to get anything accomplished. During Obama’s presidency, the GOP (openly) stated that they would filibuster anything presented by Democrats in order to make President Obama’s presidency and agenda fail. In fact, the GOP in the senate held more filibusters during the Obama presidency than had ever before been seen. But, now that senate Democrats have proposed doing so it is suddenly the worst thing to have ever happened.

During so-called president trump’s campaign, he continually harped on Hillary Clinton as being “corrupt.” He and General Mike Flynn continually chanted, “Lock her up” and made accusations that the people receiving immunity (in connection with Hillary) must have done something illegal or they wouldn’t be seeking immunity. Now that Mike Flynn is in the hot seat, trump tweeted that Flynn should, “…seek immunity…” and it appears that Flynn is doing just that now that he was caught up in the Russia scandal and is going before Congress to testify.

I stated, all along, throughout trump’s campaign that, “Whenever trump speaks he is talking into a mirror.” That statement was made because it was so apparent that every time he was making accusations directed at Hillary Clinton those accusations were more applicable to trump himself. Unfortunately, that behavior exhibited by trump throughout his campaign hasn’t stopped now that the election is over and he is in the White House. He continues to make wild assertions about Democrats and the mainstream media that are more applicable to him, his administration and the “fake news” (Russian propaganda news sources and trolls as well as media outlets like Breitbart) that he, himself, has supported and promoted.

Every time Sean Spicer gives a news briefing, he (like his boss, so-called president trump) never takes responsibility for their mistakes. Rather, just like trump, he places blame on anyone and everyone other than their administration – the parties who are actually responsible. President Obama always took full responsibility for any mistakes made by those people or departments under the Executive Branch of government. Even when the mistakes made weren’t made by the president (Obama) – if they were made by anyone or any department that was within the Executive Branch, which he headed, he took full responsibility. That’s what grown-ups do. That’s what mentally stable and people fit for the enormous responsibility of being president of the United States do when mistakes happen within their branch of government. I (nor has anyone else) have yet to see so-called president trump take responsibility for anything other than things he views as success. He, even, takes credit for successes that were the result of the former president’s policies and work that would have happened regardless of who the next president (after Obama) would be.

When will so-called president trump grow-up and start acting like an adult? When will he start behaving like a sane and responsible individual? In this viewer’s opinion (from what has gone on and on and on so far) it would be easier to eliminate terrorism off the face of the earth than for Donald Trump to become a grown-up, responsible, sane individual who is capable of handling the awesome responsibility of being president of the most powerful country in the world. He, in the very short time he has been president, has alienated our closest allies, created a perception of the United States and the awesome power of the presidency as a “laughing stock” around the world – from our allies to our enemies – we are, now, the punch-line to every joke in every language around the world.

At this point in time, GW Bush would be a welcomed change to the irrevocably insane trump presidency. That statement should communicate, very clearly, the level of horror felt by most Americans at present. Most Americans, meaning all Americans with common sense, intelligence, sanity and an open and analytical mind. Those excluded from “most” are a small minority of Americans who are gullible, insane, closed-minded, opposed to facts, unable to tell the difference between legitimate, factual news and fake, propaganda, fictional stories that should never be referred to as “news.” But, unfortunately, because this so-called president and his staff creates and promotes such lies as news and his “base” gobbles it up like Thanksgiving dinner – the era of misinformation is likely to continue. And, if such an era continues, the division in this country is likely to follow suit.

No "Extreme Vetting" for Mike Flynn

Every day that I choose to watch the daily press briefing from the White House given by Sean Spicer I hear something (usually more than one thing) that fills me with outrage. Today was no different. Sean was asked about former National Security Advisor Flynn’s working with Turkey while serving as the president’s NSA and the answer given by Spicer was incredulous. I will paraphrase the answer that Sean gave to the press regarding Flynn as, “it wasn’t up to the transition team to advise Flynn on his disclosures.” Spicer was making the statement that each individual is told to “seek outside counsel regarding their paperwork…”

Let me be very clear when I say that it is more than an outrage that someone at the highest level of our government isn’t subject to the same background checks and verification that an average citizen seeking employment for a private (or government) job goes through for (even) the most menial position. Even people who are seeking housing through government housing programs or to lease an apartment are subject to criminal and credit background checks that prevent them from obtaining said housing. When seeking employment for both private and government sector jobs in this country the background check process looks at both credit and criminal background history that prevents many Americans from obtaining employment of any kind – even the lowest of low paying/no benefit jobs.

How is it that someone serving at the highest level of government for security clearances is just “taken at their word?” That is abhorrent. Especially from an administration that has stated the U.S. government needs “more extreme vetting” for immigrants coming from predominantly Muslim countries. I have known people from Palestine and Jordan who were so bogged down by the vetting process that is in place currently (post 9/11) that they completely abandoned their dream of coming to the U.S. to build a better life. These people had family who had immigrated to America to vouch for them and they were educated in high tech fields (like computer engineering and other engineering specialties) and were unable to get, even, a work visa.

I, myself, have gone through the arduous process of losing jobs due to my background information (that is more than twenty years old) coming back to haunt me. That was before employers started waiting to get background check results before allowing a person to begin their employment – even in a “right to work” state like the one where I live. That is why this information is so damn infuriating to me. Hell, had I known all I needed to do was bypass trying to work for the VA Hospital or any other field besides substance abuse and hone my resume to be an advisor to the president and, bam, I’d have a job…

Even to maintain my employment in substance abuse (a profession where I was hired two weeks into my internship) I had to attend a hearing held by the Department of Human Services/DHS at which point the “judge” who heard the case looked at the opposition and said, “Why are you wasting my time with this? She is clearly rehabilitated and well qualified.” Still, I had to go through that process to get “cleared” to work in a field that I had both extensive personal experience and education. That is far more than, apparently, took place with the Trump transition team when clearing a person to serve as the highest national security counsel to the president of the United States. Astonishing!

Repeal and Replace or Cut, Copy and Paste?

The speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, gave a PowerPoint presentation today to explain the GOP’s replacement for the ACA. Before I go any further, I need to give clarification to my readers. I have over a decade of work experience in the healthcare field for, both insurance companies as well as healthcare and behavioral healthcare providers where I worked with a vast array of insurance companies, on behalf of patients, doing everything from verification of benefits to obtaining prior authorization and concurrent review for continuous authorization to arranging continuation of care for patients discharging from inpatient care.

All of this professional experience in the healthcare field, where I dealt “hands-on” with insurance companies for patients being treated by providers (whether working for an insurance company in Utilization Management or working for providers of service – hospitals, Long Term Acute Care/LTAC facilities or residential substance abuse facilities) gives me a comprehensive understanding of how insurance works – or doesn’t work – for patients.

So, when I heard Speaker Ryan’s presentation of the ACA replacement plan, I wasn’t hearing it as a layman, average constituent or (even) as a journalist who may not possess this knowledge while at a press conference without the help of producers or correspondents. I heard it as someone who knew, exactly, what he was talking about so I want to break down and clarify some of the bullet points he touched upon.

First, the only thing good that he presented was the items that are already in place with the ACA like: coverage for those with pre-existing conditions and parents able to keep children on their insurance until age 26. He mentioned that there would be “help” in the form of credits for certain folks – I don’t believe they are credits to offset premiums, deductibles or Out-Of-Pocket (OOP) maxes. However, the dollar amount wasn’t specified for these credits in today’s presentation. I heard mention of what that proposal was, yesterday morning, with Ari Melber’s breakdown during his program on MSNBC. If those figures are the actual dollar amounts to be issued as such “help” for patients they don’t make sense and are grossly inadequate.

Second, Ryan’s proposal that a HSA (Health Savings Account) will offer transparency for healthcare costs is (not only) untrue it is (just) asinine. Health Savings Accounts have been around for quite a long time. All they are is an account that employees “opt into” in order to put away money for healthcare costs like deductibles, out-of-pocket maxes, prescriptions and co-insurance (patient portion of services such as when your insurance covers 50-90% of services leaving you responsible for 10-50% or “the balance”). The money that goes into the HSA is deducted from the employee’s paycheck prior to tax, FICA and Medicare deductions.

Don’t be misled when you read about HSA’s online or in other information materials when that information states that, “it’s a pre-tax contribution made by your employer…” or “the contribution comes from your employer…” Your employer doesn’t give you money – your, pre-taxed, salary (your money) is put into the account by your employer. Money given to you by your employer for healthcare cost offsets isn’t a Health Savings Account; it is a Health Reimbursement Account (HRA). HRA’s are great. They pay for co-insurance charges, deductibles, OOP maxes, labs, pharmacy co-pays and over-the-counter medications.

But, back to my point about the fact that HSA’s aren’t going to magically bring transparency to medical costs. The only time a patient will get a definitive cost breakdown for medical care is if they are paying cash. The reason that there isn’t a way to “shop around” (as Speaker Ryan put it today) like a consumer at a retail establishment is because of something specific to insurance companies called “contractual agreements/contracted rates.” Insurance companies have an entire department (usually called “provider relations”) that is dedicated to establishing contractual agreements with providers of service. A provider of service can be a hospital, a doctor, a lab, a physical medicine and rehabilitation facility, a skilled nursing facility, a home healthcare and hospice provider, etal.

That is why (if you read your bill from any provider or your Explanation Of Benefits/EOB from your insurance company) you will notice “billed charges, contractual adjustment, amount paid.” The billed charges are the charges the provider bills (in general) which would be applicable to cash pay patients or patients who are seeing an “out-of-network provider” (non-contracted provider or non-participating provider). The “contractual adjustment” is the difference between what you’d pay in cash and what the provider agreed to be paid as part of their “participating provider” or “contracted provider” agreement.

But wait, it gets more complex. If you’ve ever had insurance you’re aware that you have an “ID number,” right? But, many people are unaware that they have a group number as well (unless they’re meticulous about looking over their insurance card or unless a provider asks for it). The group number is specific to your employer’s contract with the insurance company. That group number tells the insurance company a whole lot about everything. Every group goes to an underwriting department within the insurance company to determine how much the insurance premiums will be for that group. The underwriting is done to determine risk and profitability.

Also, each group will have contractual agreements for the different providers of services. So, if you work for company X and your husband works for company Y and both companies offer insurance from only one insurance company (let’s say Aetna) – company X’s premiums for the employee (alone, employee/spouse or family) will be different than company Y’s premiums for the same. Also, even though they have the same preferred provider network, the contractual agreements for each provider of service will (usually) be different as well.

It’s because of the contractual agreements that makes Paul’s statement of “having HSA’s for everyone will bring transparency to healthcare costs…” completely untrue. That means one of two things. He either blatantly lied to the press and American people or he (truly) has no idea about what he’s talking about and if the latter is true – he has no business being the “man with the replacement plan.” However, if he’s been working on healthcare reform for twenty years (as he has stated multiple times) then he has to know that what he said was complete bull shit that he knew would go over the heads of most Americans since most Americans don’t possess this knowledge.

Also, he has blamed the Obama administration and legislative Democrats who created and passed the ACA of creating an “over-complex piece of legislation that was made with special interest groups/lobbyists…” From what I’ve heard, so far, from Paul Ryan’s plan and the fact that he stated, openly, that he met with the CEO of Aetna who told him that, “Obamacare is in a downward spiral…” (I’m paraphrasing a bit) and the fact that the information he gave in his presentation was not truthful begs the question of “Who’s, really, pandering to lobbyists and trying to sell the American people a plan that will greatly benefit the insurance companies at the expense of the American citizens?”

The ACA isn’t perfect, but it is very fixable. If the GOP’s real concern is for the people of this country who need healthcare that they can afford and afford to use then it’s a pretty easy fix. The ACA eliminated the pre-existing condition exclusion, lifetime caps and booting kids off their parents insurance at the expense of the insurance companies – yet the insurance companies are still making billions of dollars a year so it didn’t drive them into bankruptcy as was the argument for allowing them to get away with rules such as those in the past. All that’s really needed to fix the ACA in order to make it work for everyone is to limit the deductible amounts insurance companies can charge for individuals and families as well as the out-of-pocket maxes. Also, it should encourage companies to offer both HSA’s and HRA’s.

I work for a very large company and they offer both. The HRA dollars are earned by engaging in “health promoting” tasks that, once completed, earns you dollars that go onto a debit/credit card that’s issued through an outside company that manages these health promoting assignments and education. It’s all done online and is very easy to do in your spare time. My deductible (as an individual) is $1,000 per year and I’m able to earn up to $500 a year in HRA money. So far I haven’t had to pay for any prescriptions or office visit charges to my primary doctor, the two specialists I see nor for any labs I’ve had done. It’s awesome and if the GOP was truly interested in making healthcare work for the poor, working poor and middle classes they’d take notes from my employer and others like them.

Trump at CPAC

Not a day goes by that I am not repulsed by this country’s president and his administration. Even today, so far and surprisingly, despite the fact there were no new scandals. That’s not to say that any of the previous, core scandals have been resolved or gone away magically. But, today (again, so far) no new scandals to report. However, Trump is giving his typical election speech at CPAC this morning and I am repulsed by watching both him and the crowd of Juggalos cheering him on.

For anyone who's new to my blog, I am a liberal with an education in social work so I am, by all accounts, a tolerant and non-judgemental person. I am an open-minded individual who realizes that diversity and differences makes for strength and progress. But, while listening to Trump give his speech I found myself saying aloud, “He is such an applause whore.” I don’t like to be judgmental nor do I like being judged by others, yet I find myself (at least) sounding as if I'm judgemental towards this narrow-minded, backward thinking president, his staff and his base. 

All I saw today while watching Trump speak to a crowd of “Jethro’s” was a man seeking applause and approval from a safe crowd – his supporters. All I saw in the crowd (with the exception of two or three people) were a bunch of “Jethro’s.” You remember the television series, “The Beverly Hillbillies,” right? Well, if you’re familiar with that show you’re familiar with the character “Jethro.” Jethro was the extremely stupid nephew of “Jed Clampett” who struck oil while shooting at a “varmint.” Yeah, the show was about a family of hillbillies who found fortune from the luck of “shooting at some food.”

So today, while watching Trump relive his campaign by giving a reproduction of his former campaign speeches to a group of people who were shown on camera from time to time, all I got out of this waste of time was “Trump is an applause whore” and “he’s talking to a bunch of Jethro’s.” Oh yeah, there was one other message that was conveyed to me by his speech. That was, “He’s taking us backwards.” That thought came when he started preaching about bringing back coal mining jobs. Of course, when he made that statement he was met with a standing ovation. What do you expect from a bunch of Jethro’s?

Maybe that's part of why I am so repulsed whenever I see him speaking to his base with his closed-minded rhetoric to a group of closed-minded individuals. He, his staff and base (Juggalos) are all the epitome of what was wrong in the past, is wrong now but will (hopefully) be wiped out of existence in the future as far as "social issues" and "society" is concerned. We had enjoyed an eight year victory where progress had been achieved in so many social areas that had previously been unattainable. After so much progress had been achieved we find ourselves going backwards instead of forward and that is always the wrong direction for every aspect of humanity. 

His fanatical views founded upon religion and "nationalism" (cough **bullshit - racist** cough) are outdated and have proven to be destructive rather than constructive. So, yeah, I guess I am making a judgement, calling bull shit, or forming my educated opinion based upon analysis of his words and actions. Frankly, I don't care how anyone perceives what I am saying about this guy - this so-called president - his staff or his base (Juggalos). I know what I see whenever I watch his actions and I know what I hear whenever I listen to his words and none of it is good for anyone who is trying to strive for progress. 

Progress in the way we treat each other. Progress with the way we respect and appreciate the planet. Progress with every aspect of being human beings on a living planet that provides all aspects of life for every form of life upon her. Going backwards instead of forwards only ensures that life for us, the planet and all other life upon her will end sooner rather than later. Especially if he follows through with initiating another nuclear arms race. For fuck's sake man, we have better technology than that now. There is no need to engage in upping the ante of nukes trying to outbid Russia - a country led by a man who's a legitimate psychopath. You can't reason with crazy and if crazy is trying to reason with crazy then that is not a solution of less crazy it is a solution that equals crazy squared.

My advice to Trump is stop campaigning – you already won. Do start governing and do so fast. I know it’s way outside your comfort zone, but it is what you signed up to do so do it. You may have the Jethro’s of this country fooled but, let’s face it, that’s not a hard thing to accomplish. It’s much like convincing your cat that your hand that you’re moving underneath the sheets is “prey.” For that matter, it’s like convincing your cat that a piece of cloth tied to the end of a shoestring is prey. For those of you who have never had cats, believe me when I say that getting a cat to attack either of those two things is the easiest task in the world.

Trump's Chaos

The “so-called” president of the U.S. has created so much chaos within such a short time. We all knew this would happen. Those who supported him believe it’s because he’s keeping his promise of “draining the swamp” and “shaking up the system.” Those of us who are sane realize it’s because he hasn’t a clue of how to govern and that governing the most powerful nation in the world isn’t like the celebrity apprentice. It’s difficult and the media will report facts. So, for a man who continually refers to factual media as “fake news” and fake news as factual media this is a tough time.

This is a man who won because of the massive ignorance and enormous frustration with the difficulty of making ends meet. The cost of living rises higher and faster than wages. We, the sane, know that when he says, “I inherited a mess,” he is full of shit. Sorry for the vulgarity, but this man is vulgar. He is not presidential. He is not sane. He is not in touch with reality. Those are facts. There are numerous ways to verify those facts – just watch what he says at any given moment. You don’t have to have a degree in psychology to know that this man is not right in the head. Because if he truly believes the things he says he is insane. If he knows he is full of shit every time he opens his mouth – he’s pathological with his attempts to lie.

He did not inherit a mess. He inherited an economy that had been turned around by his predecessor; a real president. President Obama inherited a mess. Trump inherited a pristine, clear water lake. Then he came in and dropped a boulder of petrified shit into the center; himself. That ripple effect has created a mess and he is to blame. He continually refers to his campaign victory at the most inappropriate times when asked questions about serious issues that have nothing to do with the number of electoral votes he won. That is insane. His inappropriateness and detachment from reality is insane. His hatred for any news organization who reports the truth is insane.

I find myself wanting to tune out everything now. I find myself wanting to disconnect from watching this circus because it’s just too much. I feel terrible for the real journalists and news anchors who have to cover his minute-by-minute, shit show. There isn’t enough Valium, Xanax or Ativan in the world to help them nor me during this disharmonious and dysfunctional time in U.S. history. But before I take my sabbatical I want to point out something that speaker of the house Ryan said today during his press conference about repealing the ACA. Paul Ryan said something that we’ve all been speculating about for a while and his saying it makes me believe there’s no need to speculate. Either that or he’s trying to cover up the mess that Trump is making so quickly.

Paul Ryan told a reporter (and I’m paraphrasing because I didn’t DVR the interview) something to the effect of “we’ll do this and then there will be more chaos that you guys will have to report about.” Again, that isn’t verbatim because I didn’t record the interview. But think about the fact that he was announcing repealing the Affordable Care Act while being asked a battery of questions about the Flynn debacle. When he made that comment I remembered two days ago when the news was breaking about General Flynn’s resignation. Speaker Ryan and a bunch of his republican comrades were giving a press conference to announce the repeal of Obamacare. There were three or four republican congressmen that were speaking about taking away healthcare for millions of Americans followed by Paul Ryan wrapping up the announcement and as soon as he started taking questions he was hit with nothing about the repeal of Obamacare. Not one question about the fact that millions of people will lose their health care coverage without a replacement.

Yes, you read that right. The “ticker-tape” underneath their faces that was broadcast on television said, “congress moving to repeal ACA.” I listened to every one of them make their statement and not one of them said a thing about a replacement. I was stunned with the thought of a repeal only move and thought to myself that this freak show taking place with Flynn is a gift to the GOP who has taken heat in their districts for wanting to repeal Obamacare. I live in one of the reddest states in the country; Utah. Jason Chaffetz (one of many here in Utah I hate) was met with heavy protests and anger at a recent town hall where they were protesting the repeal of the ACA. Do you know how happy the GOP is with the amount of crazy coming out of the White House right now?

I am here today to remind people to “keep your eye on the ball.” I know that it’s like trying to keep your eye on one, particular gum ball within the gumball machine to see if it is the one that drops down the shoot when you put your quarter in and turn the knob right now. But pick one issue and focus people. However, with the numerous number of very, important issues it is hard to pick one. So, maybe, pick your top five. The average human being can retain five things within their short-term memory. Once a person memorizes five by repetition those five things will penetrate into the long-term memory of the brain. Once the initial five issues have entered into the long-term (permanent) memory you can pick five more. But only after you have permanently memorized the first five issues most important to you. 

Things you don’t want trump to destroy (like healthcare, the environment, public education, women's choice, civil rights, etal). In my opinion, we should be pursuing the release of his tax information, investigating illegal and impeachable offenses regarding Flynn as well as the numerous ways in which there can be (and likely has been) pay-for-play/conflicts of interest type offenses via the businesses in which he hasn't divested. 

Then we need to continue to bombard our congressmen and senators with calls, letters and email as well as showing up to townhalls. We all need to unite and send the GOP home in 2018 (just like we did in 2006). We need to unite with our demands for the investigations making it, perfectly, clear to legislative republicans that they need to follow through with these investigations - if not for us - for their own self-preservation. Those of us on the left have always known that the GOP doesn't have any real care or concern for "us," the citizens who make up the 95-99% of those who aren't wealthy. Their care, which is shown with their policies, is for corporations, lobbyists and the wealthiest one to five percent. They talk a good game to their voters because their voters believe things that are just not true. Their voters watch Fox News, listen to Rush Limbaugh and believe fake news stories passed along social networking sites like Facebook, Google+ and Twitter (mostly the first two).

Let's face it America, the only reason that the GOP has united behind Trump is because they believe they will be able to use his (obvious) ignorance about how government works along with his narcissism (by giving him constant praise) in order to make him their puppet. It's this delusion of the majority of congressional and senate republicans that has brought upon their sudden approval of a man that they despised (openly) until he was elected. 

Let's keep up the resistance. Let's use our voices to ensure this "so-called" president is impeached. Then let's take back the House and Senate in 2018 and the White House in 2020. We may not be able to change the minds of conservative voters because they are made up of a populous that denies science, facts, believes lies as truth and are (primarily) closed-minded individuals who believe things like sexual preference is a choice, etc. But do not despair about the fact that you can't have an intelligent argument with the ignorant or that you can't reason with crazy. We, the Democrats (liberals and progressives) make up the majority of the population. Also, every generation (for the most part) improves in intelligence and open-mindedness. The Baby-Boomers were more liberal than their parents. The Gen Xers were more liberal than the Baby-Boomers. The Millennials - more liberal than Gen Xers (and so on and so on it goes).

It's because of each generation progressing and surpassing its predecessor that we were able to make so much progress with the rights of the LGBTQ community and the legalization of (first) medical marijuana and (then) recreational marijuana. It's sad that it took the civil rights movement so long to progress, but it did eventually (although there are still areas in demand of more progress in the areas of racism and equal rights/equal pay for women and minorities). Also, it's very disheartening that the progress made for the LGBTQ community has regressed, which many of us expected to happen with the confirmation of Jeff Sessions. 

That's why it is so important to send our message loud and clear to the legislative republicans that their jobs are on the chopping block if they continue to go along with this unpresidential president's agenda and if they don't act quickly with the multiple investigations and hearings they should be conducting. Investigations and hearings that will inevitably impeach this "so-called" president. Investigations and hearings they would already be conducting if Hillary Clinton was the president refusing to release tax returns, divest, placing a political analyst in her security council and having a national security advisor entangled with Russia as well as having won her presidency due to hacking that she instigated by a foreign government; Russia.

Trump knew about Flynn Talking to Russia

I just heard a question to the president from MSNBC reporter, Kristen Welker. She asked him (the president) if he directed Flynn to talk to Russia about the sanctions and, if not, is that why he (Flynn) was fired and he said, “No I didn’t. I fired him for what he said to Mike Pence…” He went on to say that he could have talked to Russia and other countries, “Mike was doing his job,” and it “would have been okay with me.” Then he said, “I would have directed him to talk to them if he wasn’t talking to them.” Did you catch that? He just answered that he didn’t know that Flynn had talked to Russia immediately following with “I would have directed him to do it if I thought he wasn’t doing it.”

“If I thought he wasn’t doing it.” He didn’t direct him to talk to Russia, but he would have directed him if he thought (knew) he wasn’t talking to Russia. Do you see what I’m saying, rather, do you see what the president just said? That means he knew that Flynn was talking to them. He either directed Flynn to talk with Russia or he knew that Flynn had talked to them about the sanctions. He just admitted it on television. Rewind that tape MSNBC. Rewind that press conference and watch (all the way through) when Kristen asks her question and the president answers. Watch the entire answer and his face and body language in “real time” as it was aired on television to the American public. He lied to Kristen and to America – that is the answer. You have it on tape.

Frankly, the entire press conference was a freak show and was terrible. You could see how disorganized and chaotic and (often) combative this so-called president presents himself. I was, further, stunned when another reporter (April Ryan who happens to be black) about the CBC being included in conversations with respect to inner-cities… He said to her, “are you going to set up the meeting?” It’s not only what he said, but how he said that (very) insulting question to this reporter that blew my mind. This man (as I’ve said all along) is not presidential. He is not cut out for this job and he is unhinged. If the GOP were smart, at all, they would quit trying to think of him as their puppet and start working with Democrats to investigate him. I guarantee they will find enough evidence to impeach this man soon if it doesn’t exist already. I believe it exists already.

I included the YouTube video of that press conference. Unfortunately, the video has a lot of ads. But, what's worse is the fact that I couldn't find MSNBC's version so you can't see Kristen standing up with a microphone asking her question. It's not the same quality as what I saw broadcast on air by MSNBC. This version seems to have been edited and (likely) posted by either a member of the Trump Insane Clown Posse or by the Trump team itself. That is why I am imploring NBC to release their version of the conference. I want everyone to see (and catch) what I saw very clearly. Keep in mind that I've had a lot of professional and personal experience with "reading people" and catching liars. I wish I would have been in that room so I could have called him on his shit.

Disgust is all I Feel Today

The level of crazy, inappropriate and unethical moves that the “so-called” president of the U.S. has displayed in his first three weeks is an assault on every citizen of this nation. He is supposed to represent the American people and, although his behavior may represent a portion of our population it (most certainly) does not represent me nor the majority of the people within the U.S. He isn’t just an assault upon the persona of president he is an insult to everyone who is ethical, has strong morals and values, is intelligent and sane or all others who aren’t deplorable.

Everyone who paid attention to this man’s unhinged behavior during the election (including myself) knew he would be an absolute disaster if elected president. I hoped to be wrong and happy rather than be right and miserable, but as with every time I watch the news and hear the anchor or interviewee say, “We hope” or “I hope,” I say back to them, “put hope in one hand and a pile of shit in the other then tell me which hand is heavier.” Do you know how disturbing it is for me, a Spiritual Advisor with an education in social work and counseling, to say something that fatalistic in tone? When is this clown going to realize the awesome and serious nature of his job to lead America and quit treating the presidency like a fucking reality television horror show?

I am beyond disgusted. Equally as disturbing as the “Clown in Chief” is everyone supporting this train-wreck of human indecency. That means everyone in the White House (Kellyanne “the woman every other woman and man would like to punch in the face” Conway etal), all the republicans in the House and Senate (Mitch “the human turtle from Bugs Bunny” McConnell and Paul Ryan etal) and every person who voted for this man. Yes, those of you who saw his unpresidential behavior during the primaries and said, “I don’t like him” then voted for him anyway (my parents, etal).

I want everyone to stop lying to themselves, right now, and deal with the reality that this man will never be presidential. He will never do the right thing for everyone in this country. He will always focus on the stupid, irrelevant, little things and abuse his power at every opportunity to do so. For God’s sake people – he hasn’t (and will never) shown his tax returns nor has he completely divested from his companies. The republicans in D.C. need to stop calling the rest of the country “sore losers” and realize that we aren’t screaming because we lost – we’re screaming because he won; the reality television guy and cyber-bully. Yes, we’re pissed off because he’s doing exactly what we knew he’d be doing with the most important job in the world. It’s time to stop making excuses for his deplorable behavior and impeach the insane-clown along with his entire posse.

Every republican in the House and Senate needs to do the right thing right now or realize that they will lose their seat in the next election – period. Also, since the Electoral College was designed to prevent stupid people from choosing who became president and this election’s results, clearly, showed that it accomplished the exact opposite, when the Democrats regain control they need to do away with the Electoral College. Never again should the majority of the populous be determined by the insane, ignorant and/or hateful minority.

In closing, since Kellyanne likes to throw out inappropriately unethical (and immoral) statements promoting a billionaires' brand during news interviews I would like to match her in kind by taking off my armor of morality and invite her to meet with me in person. (Now I'm speaking to her directly.) You can sit with that smug grin on your face that says, “I have no moral fiber, no ethics or personal values whatsoever. Yes, I would (and likely did) get down on my knees for a high-profile position in the White House. Even if it meant shaking hands with and blowing the devil – as long as I got what I wanted it’s worth ruining everyone else’s existence because I’m more important than everyone else.” While you sit there smiling I will let you see the absolute disgust in my face. The look that says, “If I was a piece of shit like you I would reach across the table and choke the living, shitass grin right off your face and smile as I saw the light leave your soulless eyes.” Oh, yes, and have a blessed day.