Congressional members with NRA blood on their hands

Rep. David Vitter

Recipients of cash from the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) (1988-2016) who refuse to pass gun control laws that would save lives, as reported by The Nation magazine. Call them today!

Congressman: Sen. David Vitter (R-LA)                                                                                                   Total amount received: $35,250                                                                                                  

Tel. Number: (202) 224-4623

Cry baby Trump just can't take criticism, is Twitter deranged

If Donald Trump was going to start World War III, and his mouth does have the capability of doing that, he most likely would announce it to the world on Twitter. This mentally challenged psychopath jumps on social media the moment anyone questions his...whatever he thinks he is. Okay, he is the President-elect, a mistake this country must now live with. Robert Reich, former secretary of labor in the Clinton administration now a professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, gets on Trump's case about the effects from his whining criticism.

When Chuck Jones, local Indiana union leader who is President of United Steelworkers 1999, criticized Donald Trump because he falsely claimed he had saved 1,000 Carrier jobs, a blubbering Trump replied on Twitter...

"Chuck Jones, who is President of United Steelworkers 1999, has done a terrible job representing workers. No wonder companies flee country!"

Following that, Jones received death threats.

You will remember the Boeing fiasco where Trump said out of the blue, "We want Boeing to make a lot of money but not that much money." That was a qualification to an earlier statement after the Boeing CEO lightly rebuked the President-elect for being against trade. After which Trump had tweeted...

"Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!"

The outset was that Boeing took an immediate hit, then we found out that Boeing did not even have this $4 billion order.

Donald Trump has used the power of his position and big mouth to intimidate people in the real estate industry, and now he has brought this same level of sleaze to the White House. And with the GOP control of Congress featuring some of the biggest morons in politics, we're in for a tough four years. Or, once again, maybe not?

Congressional members with NRA blood on their hands

Sen. Richard Burr

Recipients of cash from the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) (1988-2016) who refuse to pass gun control laws that would save lives, as reported by The Nation magazine. Call them today!

Congressman: Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC)                                                                                                 Total amount received: $35,700                                                

Tel. Number: (202) 224-3154

Just another example Donald Trump not serious about his presidency

The new President-elect is skipping intelligence briefings, blowing them off as if the security of the United States is not a priority to him. And maybe it isn't, as he continues to plan new Trump hotels in Taiwan; Russia is probably next. I've said from the beginning of Donald Trump's rise in the polls that he was doing it for one thing...Donald Trump. President Obama has ordered his daily intelligence to be given to Trump and Mike Pence to keep them abreast of the current status of our security and what the global situation is. Trump has schluffed off most, attending at best one a week.

But, then, why not have an uninformed President; all of his supporters were uninformed. He's not required to attend these briefings but Presidents in the past have welcomed the opportunity to have a heads-up on where the nation and world stands before taking office. Not Donald Trump. And if he does have his mind on things other than the US, like where his next hotel will go, well, a lot of us told you so. This hasn’t gone unnoticed, according to MSNBC...

"Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.), the ranking members on the Senate Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committees, respectively, noted they find it 'particularly troubling' that the president-elect 'has mostly declined to take the daily intelligence briefing' – breaking with what other presidents-elect have done for decades."

Former CIA Director Leon Panetta is concerned with the situation and when you consider Donald Trump's lack of experience in governing--zilch/nada--it should send up warning signs to everyone, especially those in the Pentagon, that this president might be AOL when those important decisions need to be made. Of course, the man has never been presidential and never will. Here's another MSNBC statement worth quoting...

".. it’s hard not to feel uncomfortable with these circumstances. The least experienced, least knowledgeable presidential candidate in American history – prone to believe weird conspiracy theories and disregard facts he finds inconvenient – is preparing to take office soon, and at this point, he seems passively indifferent towards security information."

The whole thing is alarming but what is even more alarming is that these uneducated rednecks that elected him knew he was not presidential material before they voted. 

Drop the College and drop the 2nd Amendment

Never before have I seen a case made so eloquent for ridding ourselves of a "relic" bestowed on us by the Founding Fathers. We have a few but this is one that happens to be in the spotlight now as the bungled finish of the 2016 Presidential election becomes evident. For the second time in 16 years, the out-of-date Electoral College has given the White House to the person with the least popular vote. And this year it is significant: Hillary Clinton has scored over 2.2 million more votes than Donald Trump. John Nichols does an excellent job of making his case in The Nation...

"The Electoral College is an abomination: an antidemocratic relic of the unconscionable compromises made during America’s founding that should never have been allowed to linger into the 21st century."

Now I'll get to the Electoral College in a later post but this one is devoted to just how much Nichols' article applies to the 2nd Amendment. Read it again, but this time substitutiing the 2nd Amendment for Electoral College...

The 2nd Amendment is an abomination: an antidemocratic relic of the unconscionable compromises made during America’s founding that should never have been allowed to linger into the 21st century.

I hear the gun nuts coming out from under their rocks now but even the "antidemocratic" portion, above, can be defended. It is against my democracy to have to be in a public place with some guy or gal who feels it necessary to walk around with an assault rifle on their shoulder, a weapon that belongs only in law enforcement and the military. Yes, they have a right, but that should extend no further than their front door. But even the right to defend yourself in the home shouldn't include assault rifles. Individual rights go just so far and can be limited, as agreed by the Supreme Court.

The fight over guns will go on until enough of the "right" people are killed, and by that I mean those most verbal over gun rights that preclude any responsible  control at all. And by the lunacy of some of their rhetoric, I wonder if even then.

More on the Electoral College later.

How about concentration camps for racists?

Okay, too severe. Besides, you wouldn't want to collect that much lowlife together in one place, the smell would be horrendous. Think what it would do to insurance rates in nearby communities and the depreciation of homes.  Perhaps to harsh, or maybe not harsh enough for these mutants from humanity. It is impossible to describe these dregs of the earth without the use of words this bad. And it all stems from an organization originating from the South, where I was raised, the Ku Klux Klan.

This all comes from an article I read on CNN by Rob Crilly, who went to a KKK rally in Roxboro, NC, where the Klan was staging a rally that almost no one went to. They called it a kalvacade, organized by the group's Imperial Kommander, Amanda Barker, designed as a victory for the election of Donald Trump. Remember that basket of deplorables, apparently it overflows in North Carolina? Crilly commented that in Roxboro, he had seen "...the future of the alt-right."

And yes, come January 20, of 2017, the alt-right will reside in the Donald Trump White House in the form of Steve Bannon, former head of Breitbart News, a known racist, woman hater and anti-semitic. Bannon will be at the top of the totem pole in the Trump administration as the chief strategist, no doubt guiding policy in the alt-right direction which is to establish white nationalism in the United States. And Donald Trump regularly spewed during the election he would represent all people.

It is unimaginable to me how the American public made it possible for a man like Donald Trump to become President. I realize that concentration camps for these uneducated rednecks is a stretch, but I wonder how many out there today would relish the opportunity to get as far away from these lunatics

Congressional members with NRA blood on their hands

Rep. Paul Ryan

Recipients of cash from the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) (1988-2016) who refuse to pass gun control laws that would save lives, as reported by The Nation magazine. Call them today!

Congressman: Rep. Paul Ryan Speaker of the House (R-WI)

Total amount received: $36,800

Tel. Number: (202) 225-3031

Bernie sanders blasts Donald Trump's billionaire Cabinet

In an interview with Chris Hayes of MSNBC, Bernie Sanders was his usual self in describing President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet picks of billionaires and millionaires. Hayes showed a clip of Trump's rhetoric criticizing Wall Street, saying they wouldn't get away with anything. Well, they got away with the "golden goose" in the Cabinet choices he has made so far. See Matt Rocheleau's line up. Rocheleau comments:

"Collectively, the wealth of his Cabinet choices so far is roughly four times greater than President Obama’s Cabinet and nearly 30 times greater than the one George W. Bush led at the end of his presidency."

And this is just half of the Cabinet so far. Bernie points out that, not only is Trump not criticizing Wall Street, he is appointing its insiders to help him run the country. The Bern deemed it sheer hypocrisy and laughable in the following video...

Chris Hayes talks about how happy Wall Street must be with only billionaires and millionaires so far to determine the future of the middle class. I hope those uneducated redneck supporters of Donald Trump are looking at this and realize what a momentous mistake they have made. Something tells me these people may never realize just how bad they are being screwed. There are more Cabinet members to be chosen but there is no reason to think it will change.

As Bernie Sanders said, we have elected a fraud and a phony.

The new President-elect just can't keep his mouth shut

President -elect Donald Trump

Just coming off a major diplomatic faux pas by taking a call from Taiwan's President--a no-no since Beijing is recognized by the U.S. as China's head--Donald Trump has now "...accused China of keeping its currency artificially low and of military posturing in the South China Sea -- home to a tense territorial dispute." Here's Trump at his best...

"Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the US doesn't tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I don't think so!"

CNN reports there has been no reaction from Beijing yet on either issue as I reported earlier. But according "...to the People's Daily -- the Communist Party's official mouthpiece --"the call set a bad precedent." The spokesman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lu Kang, says China is only interested in U.S. policy, not Donald Trump's style. The People's Daily also said, "China will not take it lightly.

This has to be the first time a President-elect has started a "war," with a foreign power before they even take office. I am, of course, speaking of a war of words. Chinese international relations expert, Victor Gao, said, "...that Trump could say what he liked as President-elect but his comments would have huge global consequences once in office." Sounds like a mandate to me from someone who is an expert on U.S.-China relations.

Congressional members with NRA blood on their hands

Rep. Sam Graves

Recipients of cash from the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) (1988-2016) who refuse to pass gun control laws that would save lives, as reported by The Nation magazine. Call them today!

Congressman: Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO)
Total amount received: $37,100                                                                               Tel. Number: )202) 225-7041

Nancy Pelosi should have gone down with Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Nancy Pelosi

I have been an adamant supporter of Nancy Pelosi since she was Speaker of the House. There have been moments when she shined, like standing up to George W. Bush when he wanted to privatize Social Security. But the downside is the spot the democrats are in now and have been for the last several years. The GOP focused on states to build a base of Republican legislatures and governor's offices that have allowed them to control state governments for some time.

Pelosi isn't the only one responsible, however, Debbie Wasserman Schultz , chairperson of the Democratic National Committee, was in the trenches while all this was going on but did nothing. After helping to throw the Democratic nomination for President in the 2016 Primaries to Hillary Clinton, thus, defeating Bernie Sanders, she has been sent to the showers, disgraced for pulling the rotten shenanigans against Bernie.

W.S. is gone but Nancy Pelosi remains, with the hope that at least Keith Ellison will be the newly elected DNC chair, with a Progressive agenda that Pelosi can at least follow. Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan did challenge the reelected leader of House Democrats but lost. Ryan, 43, who represents the blue-collar town of Youngstown, Ohio, promised a new vision with a new generation of leadership. Ryan was even accused of pulling a publicity stunt to elevate his position.

A fellow Californian, Rep. Adam Schiff said, "We need the very best to lead us ... No one is a better tactician than Nancy Pelosi." If Pelosi was that good a tactician, she would have seen the Republican take-over of state legislatures and governor's offices. This move occurred over years and will take the Dems years to overcome the deficit. Or maybe the left is giving in to the fact that we are currently in a "Republican" cycle with, in fact, no strategy to fight back.

With both Houses of Congress and the White House firmly under GOP control, the outlook is dim. But you should never underestimate a Progressive and with all this Republican power and self-assurance, that might just work for the left.   

Taiwan Pres. calls Trump

Okay, Donald Trump broke protocol with mainland China by even taking the phone call from Taiwan's President, Tsai Ing-wen--if, in fact, she did call--something that quickly came to the attention of China's President, Xi Jinping. No repercussions yet, but the political experts believe China is laying low to try and figure out the new U.S. President-elect. Good luck on that one. But most feel they will make their move and it might not be pleasing.

But what should be noted here is the fact that even weeks before this mysterious call, a "businesswoman claiming to be associated with Trump's conglomerate made inquiries about a major investment in building luxury hotels as part of the island’s new airport development." The woman reported as Ms. Chen arrived from the U.S. to meet...

"the mayor of Taoyuan, Cheng Wen-tsan, one of the senior politicians involved in the Aerotropolis project, a large urban development being planned around the renovation of Taiwan’s main airport, Taoyuan International."

The above in September, and then in November, Nicola Smith of the Guardian reports...

..."a Chen Si-Ting, a US citizen of Taiwanese origin, had given a speech at a Friends of Trump banquet in central Taipei. Chen claimed at the event on 1 November that Trump’s company was interested in investing in Taiwan and that his son, Eric, would visit the island before the end of the year."

Coincidence, or strategic planning by the Trump family? Of course the man isn't yet President, his promise to leave the Trump organization behind was after he became President, but this looks like a clear use of the American Presidency, even significantly breaking diplomatic protocol to do it, to further Donald Trump business interests. Separately...

"...Anne-Marie Donoghue, who describes herself as the global head of transient sales and Asia at Trump Hotels, was confirmed to have been in Taiwan in October."

C'mon now, where are all the Republicans asking for an investigation of this possible egregious conflict of interest?

Congressional members with NRA blood on their hands

Rep. Greg Walden

Recipients of cash from the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) (1988-2016) who refuse to pass gun control laws that would save lives, as reported by The Nation magazine. Call them today! 

Congressman: Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) 

Total amount received: $37,250

Tel. Number: (202) 225-6730

Has Donald Trump made a major diplomatic faux pas?

China Pres, Xi Jinping

Donald Trump exclaimed with glee that he was putting all his business interests aside because it was more important that he run the government. And then he "innocently" accepts a phone call from the President of Taiwan, breaking a protocol dating back to 1979 when mainland china was recognized as China's government. But hold on, what about that new hotel in Taiwan that had been in the works weeks before the mysterious phone call.

Lawrence O'Donnell, on MSNBC, in covering the Taiwan call, also mentioned the fact that Trump was in contact with Rodrigo Duterte, Pres. of the Philippines, noting that he had called Barack Obama a "Son of a whore" again. O'Donnell continued that Duterte was the "craziest and possibly most dangerous elected politician in the world...as of now." The emphasis is my own but put there to question whether it might be predicting a future Donald Trump.

In consideration of the breach of protocol alone, Trump or his incompetent minions may not think it is important that they have in effect held Beijing in disrespect, but you can bet China's President, Xi Jinping, is watching every move Donald Trump makes and will take appropriate steps. Jinping was educated in the U.S. and is well aware of our customs here but the President-elects Taiwan move caught the country off guard:

"Breaking decades of American diplomatic practice, he caught the Chinese government off guard by lunging into the most sensitive of its so-called core interests, the 'One China' policy agreed to by President Richard M. Nixon more than four decades ago."

So much for diplomacy with a nation that we need to keep on the good side of not only for trade, but in the interest of a more stable world. But the real story here is the fact that political pundits question whether a major reason he took that call from Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, was to firm up their relationship in order to obtain more favorable arrangements for building a hotel in the country. That would of course be a major conflict of interest which is my next post today.

Congressional members with NRA blood on their hands

Rep. Ken Calvert

Recipients of cash from the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) (1988-2016) who refuse to pass gun control laws that would save lives, as reported by The Nation magazine. Call them today!

Congressman: Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA)

Total amount received: $40,550

Tel. Number: (202) 225-1986

Bernie Sanders exposes more of Donald Trump broken promises

President-elect Donald Trump has been waving flags over how he is going to keep Carrier jobs in Indiana from going to Mexico, how he would end up slapping a 35% tax on any Carrier products coming into the U.S. Well, it ends up being his typical bullshit that he typically never follows up on. Instead of heavily taxing Carrier, he's giving them a $7 million tax break. And folks, we haven't even had the inauguration yet.

It all started out with 1,100 jobs leaving the Indiana plant for Mexico when our new blowhard head of the nation said he would save all of them...or else. Or else turned into, OK, you can send 300 jobs to Mexico and keep 800 in Indiana. As it turned out at the time, another Carrier plant planned to send 700 more jobs south. MSNBC's Chris Hayes brought in Bernie Sanders, whose Presidential platform was to keep jobs in America, who basically showed Trump up as a fraud.

Bernie also commented on United Technologies, who own Carrier, and their $6 billion in defense contracts that he said Trump should have threatened taking them away rather than giving the $7 million tax break. Sen. Sanders thinks Donald Trump is setting a very dangerous precedent in his approach and calls for laws that would require American companies to be patriotic corporations by continuing to make their products in the U.S., not shipping jobs overseas.

The bottom line is that Carrier will move some 1,300 jobs to Mexico, keep 800 in the U.S., Paying Mexican workers $23 less per hour with a potential income loss in Indiana of $67 million, a total loss of $108 million to the surrounding area. Now folks this is only one company in one state throughout the United States. You can go here for a complete list of companies moving jobs overseas. Does Donald Trump plan to visit each company? Yeah, sure.

Congressional members with NRA blood on their hands

Rep. Sanford Bishop

Recipients of cash from the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) (1988-2016) who refuse to pass gun control laws that would save lives, as reported by The Nation magazine. Call them today!

Congressman: Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-GA)
Total amount received: $40,650

Tel. Number: (202) 225-3631

Trump inherits great President Obama economy

President-elect Donald Trump said that Barack Obama has been very cooperative with him and his transition team, scary as it is, in turning over a government that was rescued from George W. Bush's calamitous eight years as President. Bush almost put the country in the toilet, but Obama has brought things back to a stability that can be built on. All the time with a GOP Congress that resisted virtually every move the President made.

Unemployment, at the lowest level since 2007, home prices at all time highs, with the middle class getting a pay raise. These words from CNN Money where they quote Paul Ashworth, chief economist at Capital Economics, saying, "The 'Obama economy' deserves a 'B or B+' grade." It's not an "A" but many think it should be, and the the President, in defense of his administration commented:

"Anyone claiming that America's economy is in decline is peddling fiction."

 Wages are stagnant, have been for some time, not responding to a cycle where they usually rise when unemployment goes down. One of the reasons is, rather than pay higher wages, companies are going overseas for cheaper labor. But with no inflation, workers at least keep a status-quo, which could change soon if the feds up the interest rates. What matters is that the economy is going in the right direction under Pres. Obama. We'll see where it's going a year from now.

If anyone could f*** up the VA more it's Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin

Once again it's payback time and this time Pres.-elect Donald Trump has thrust his hand to the very bottom of the barrel to make a selection. It's Sarah Palin for a Cabinet post as Sec. of the Veterans Administration. These veterans are dying and going without proper care now and I cannot envision what VA hospitals will be like with her in control. To begin with, her government experience is being mayor of a dinky town in Alaska, and shortly as the state's governor.

And then there was John McCain who amazingly picked her for his running mate in 2008, when the two of them were beaten in a landslide for the presidency by Barack Obama. They're both losers but Palin is the epitome of deadbeat politicians who keep appealing to more deadbeats who, if they would bother to get informed, would realize what a deadbeat she is. It is beyond me how politics have evolved into individuals like Sarah Palin, Donald Trump, Joni Ernst, etc.etc.

Here's the MSNBC coverage:

Dr. Sam Foote blew the whistle on the VA in 2013 after 24 years as a physician in a Veterans Affairs hospital. He worked at the Phoenix facility and when he revealed the devastating details of what happened, the hospital director, Sharon Helman, was fired and a judge sentenced her to two years' probation for receiving gifts illegally. I live in Phoenix, and, as a veteran, followed all the media coverage hoping something very positive would happen from this. It didn't.

And now Trump wants to put a bush-league, would-be politician with no experience in charge of something that is already a fiasco but will certainly get much worse with her at the head. But the bombshell here is the fact that she is closely tied to Steve Bannon, Donald Trump's chief strategist, who was accused of being racist, sexist and anti-Semitic, whose comment "darkness is good" should have given the Pres.-elect a clue. It didn't.

Palin is just more of the kind of judgment it took to pick Michael Flynn, clearly a loose cannon, for national security adviser. And, as one observer pointed out, Trump's transition team "reads like a who's who of some of the worst political villains of the last 40 years." We can only wait and hope but it is very likely that in the next four years--or maybe less--there will be hundreds, maybe thousands of 'I told you so.'

Congressional members with NRA blood on their hands

Rep. John Kline

Recipients of cash from the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) (1988-2016) who refuse to pass gun control laws that would save lives, as reported by The Nation magazine. Call them today!

Congressman: Rep. John Kline (R-MN)

Total amount received: $40,750
Tel. Number: (202) 225-2271

Trump's presidential run one big bait & switch

Is Donald Trump neurotic?

Donald Trump has reversed himself on many, if not most, of the major issues of his run for president. The poor uneducated redneck souls that so loyally supported him must be seething over these reversals. Considering the vitriol with which he delivered these promises, the Academy Awards should set aside a special Oscar for him this year. Or is the man neurotic and devious enough to have just convinced himself and a portion of the voting public?

Any way you look at it, it is a classic case of bait and switch. Republicans were sure they had lost the Party to an ego maniac who was interested only in national attention for him and his businesses. Well those three factors haven't changed but Trump, for some reason even many political experts haven't figured out, has changed course aligning himself more along party lines. Like his Cabinet picks that "...hew closely to what Republicans have advocated for decades."

He campaigned on the premise that he would be an "unconventional president capable of taking positions all along the political spectrum." It's not clear whether the GOP establishment scared him, if that's possible in Donald Trump's mentality, but what is clear is the fact that this man is now playing ball with the Republican Party, whether he knows it or not. Not only that but he is playing by many of their rules that he so vehemently disparaged before the election.

"David Brooks of The New York Times said that Trump is a threat to the party loyalty that has dominated American politics. 'He is hostile to the Republican establishment,' Brooks wrote. 'His proposals cut across orthodox partisan lines.'" Most think Donald Trump's intentions are to undo most of what the Obama administration accomplished. He'll certainly have a partner in the Senate's resident idiot, Mitch McConnell. Speaking of McConnell...

 "The transportation secretary-to-be, Elaine Chao, the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, had a solid, anti-union record when she was secretary of labor under President George W. Bush. Chao is well-networked in the most "establishment" Republican circles of Washington."

God help us! 

Trump goes haywire over Clinton's popular vote

Donald Trump harried

And here is another prime example of Donald Trump's instability; he continues to be riled over the fact that Hillary Clinton is more than 2.3 million ahead of him in the popular vote. Instead of enjoying the fact that the Electoral College deemed him President--although that is currently in contention--and going on with the job of planning his presidency, he broods like some second grader who lost his crayons on the way to school. Here's his tweet:

"In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally."

To begin with, he didn't win the Electoral College in a landslide (306 to 232). Barack Obama won in a landslide in 2008, 365 to McCain's 173. And there is absolutely no evidence the 2016 popular vote was "illegal," although Jill Stein has embarked on a crusade if there were mistakes made or anything intentional favoring Trump in her state recounts. In 2012 Trump made this statement:

"The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy."

Then, a week after the election:

"The Electoral College is actually genius in that it brings all states, including the smaller ones, into play. Campaigning is much different!"

Unstable on the one hand and indecisive on the other. Excellent qualities for a president.

Congressional members with NRA blood on their hands

Rep. Hal Rogers

Recipients of cash from the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) (1988-2016) who refuse to pass gun control laws that would save lives, as reported by The Nation magazine. Call them today!

Congressman: Rep. Hal Rogers, (R-KY)

Total amount received: $41,400
Tel. Number: (202) 225-4601

Trump's tantrums could start World War III

Daisy Girl

It was the "Peace Little Girl" political ad that gave the election to Lyndon Johnson in a landslide against Barry Goldwater, indicating that Goldwater could not be trusted with his finger on the switch that would unleash "the bomb." The idea was that the Arizona Senator's temperament was not stable enough for the presidency. Did you people who voted for Donald Trump even give this a thought? God knows, he's shown several signs of instability during the election.

Even after winning the Electoral College vote, Trump is steaming excessively over the fact that Hillary Clinton is ahead in the popular vote by over 2.3 million. He even says he would win the popular vote if they deducted the millions of illegal votes; which no one in his campaign can confirm. But that still didn't keep him from going...

"...a little berserk, publishing a series of bizarre tweets pushing back against accurate reporting the president-elect found inconvenient.

This. Is. Not. Normal."

The above, an observation from Steve Benen on MSNBC, who continues with his concern that Donald Trump has yet to mature for the presidency, with his inauguration fast approaching. Benen adds:

"If the pressures of the transition are causing Trump to flip out in response to accurate reporting, I shudder to think how unhinged he’ll be once he bears the burdens of an actual president."

Barry Goldwater would be aghast at the thought of Donald Trump as the next President of the U.S., wondering if his beloved Republican Party had gone mad. In 2016 Hillary used Monique Luiz, who did the original "Daisy Girl" ad and now living in Arizona at age 52, in a version of the original. It pointed out the same possibilities but apparently with no results. I can hardly wait until No. Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, pisses off Trump.

Trump's transition team worse than even imagined

Rudy Giulini in anticipation

"Trump's transition team read like a who's who of some of the worst political villains of the last 40 years." This from The Nation that's been trying to make sense of an election that doesn't make sense. Here's the lineup:

• Kris Kobach, acclaimed vote suppressor and co-author of Arizona's 1070 ant-immigrant law
• Congressman Lou Barletta, best known for effectively criminalizing immigrants as Mayor of Hazleton, PA
• Florida Atty. General Pam Bondi, who sacked career prosecutors working to indict attackers for fraud and accepted an illegal $25,000 from Trump Foundation at the time at the time she decided to stop an investigation of Trump University 
• Ken Blackwell, as Ohio sec. of state prevented enough Democratic voters from casting ballots in 2004, to hand the state to GWB

These words are taken directly from the The Nation, and this is but a few of the many scoundrels they bring to task that make up Trump's transition team. When you consider these very scary individuals will assist in ushering in the new administration of Donald Trump, it is easy to see how Progressive publications like The Nation would be concerned, even alarmed. It would appear that Trump has gone out of his way to gather political outlaws around him.

Candidates for and those already selected for Trump's cabinet are another horror story entirely. People like Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, John Bolton, Sarah Palin, Rick Scott, the infamous former Arizona Sheriff, Joe Arpaio, Stephen Hadley and Ben Carson. In each of these individuals' cases, there is a history of radical conservatism that is not in the best interest of this country. Collectively, you have political Armageddon.

In The Nation's words, "This isn't just the swamp, it's the muck dredged up from the bottom." Donald Trump can execute his promise to clean up the "Washington swamp" by starting in his own backyard.