Republicans paid millions by top polluters to dump Paris Agreement

GOP Congress 

The sleaziest of all, Senate head, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) was paid $1,975,245; Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas): $2,484,520; Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas): $3,031,956; Senator Roy Blunt (R-Missouri): $1,143,574. And the list goes on; view the totals for each Senator here. There is a question in my mind of what the difference in the impact of this group is over the White House nationalist, Steve Bannon, who supposedly spearheaded Trump's decision to exit the Paris Climate Accord. But politicians will take money for anything, regardless, especially Republicans.

In the Washington Post, Ishaan Tharoor made a startling statement: "If Trump quits the Paris climate accord, he will lead the U.S. into the wilderness." It was the headline for his article speculating that should Trump take that course, we, the United States, go against the rest of the world. And he did. And we have. What is most interesting is that local governments across the country have rebuffed DT's decision, insisting they will support the Paris Climate Pact. At the same time the nation's top CEOs say Trump is dead wrong in his decision.

Even the president's daughter, Ivanka Trump, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson were supposedly urging Trump to stick with the Paris agreement, according to Tharoor, but Tillerson's former company, Exxonmobil ranks #2 in historic greenhouse gas emissions. There are opponents including...

"White House chief adviser Stephen K. Bannon and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, a climate skeptic who has already set about dismantling Obama-era regulations on the U.S. fossil fuel industry."

Bannon, of course, is considered one of the architects of Donald Trump's decision to exit the agreement. The WP provides more background on the Paris agreement...

""Championed by the Obama administration, the Paris agreement created, for the first time, a single framework for developed and developing countries to work together and reduce greenhouse gases."

Former President Obama developed a network of countries that were interested in improving the ecology of the planet, including China, which is #1 in carbon dioxide emissions. The latter, in itself, was considered a major accomplishment because China had always refused to participate in any ecological agreements. The pact was signed by 195 countries, with only Nicaragua, Syria and the United States, #2 polluter, not participating. There's more fallout...

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla announced that he's quitting the president's business advisory councils because of the decision. He twittered, "Am departing presidential councils. Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world." Also, Disney CEO Bob Iger said he will step down "as a matter of principle" from Trump's Strategic and Policy Forum.

The Forum is a group of business leaders organized by Donald Trump, to give Donald Trump advice in protecting the planet. Apparently' the Oval Office moron doesn't listen to anyone, not even industry compatriots. 

More heads should roll in the Trump administration

Call my headline in poor taste but still considering all the negative media Kathy Griffin is getting, what she did reflects the total disdain for the lunatic who currently sits in the Oval Office. Her act is distasteful because the person in question is the president of the United States and you do not disgrace that office. While in the Navy I complained because I had to salute an officer for which I had no respect. The officer I worked for told me to just keep in mind that you are saluting the rank, not the man. I choose to believe Griffin had contempt for the man, certainly not for the office.

So, to move on, and, by the way, how do those of you who denounce my headline, know I wasn't taking about the recent firing of Mike Dubke, Trump's communications director? I wasn't. Whatever, let's move on to the substance of my headline, those who should be next in line to go, starting with Jared Kushner. We know Donald Trump gloats over his overrated family, whose accomplishments all seem to stem from the Trump name. And there would be no Trump "name" if DT's father, Fred, hadn't given him $14 million to start his real estate enterprise, plus all Fred's business connections.

Now Jared Kushner's father took a different course to success than Trump's; he was convicted of illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion, and witness tampering, and served time in federal prison on his way to his $1.8 billion fortune. And according to Sen. Al Franken, Jared "...may have broken the law with Russia communications." Franken said further...

"White House senior adviser Jared Kushner’s reported efforts to set up a back-channel line of communication between the transition team of President Donald Trump and the Russian government is a 'pretty bad breach,' one that could be against the law and should prompt consideration about a revocation of his security clearance."

Now this is the same thing we have been hearing about lately re. the fact that Kushner proposed a meeting with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. in order to establish a secret means of communications between the Kremlin and Trump’s transition team that would keep out the U.S. intelligence community. Apparently, Kushner failed to disclose his contacts with Russian officials. Franken commented, “This is a pretty bad breach. These guys, the administration, they're not acting like people who have nothing to hide.”

Steve Bannon

Another one who should go who seems to be holding on by only his relationship with Trump, is Steve Bannon, who hasn't been in the news lately. Until yesterday, when Trump announced the United States will withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord, a decision most likely provoked by his chief strategist, Steve Bannon. The nationalist won, the U.S. and the world lost. Some say the Paris deal would have hurt the U.S. economy, but Dozens of CEOs have been lobbying President Donald Trump to stay in the deal. China, world's largest carbons polluter stayed in the Paris agreement.

The U.S., second largest carbons polluter, exited the agreement. There were 197 participants, 147 ratifying the agreement. But apparently Steve Bannon's whiteboard explains Donald Trump's climate decision, plus a number of other priorities on the nationalist's agenda that we can look forward to in the future. That is, if he isn't dumped with Kushner. Even the Southern Poverty Law Center says that Bannon has no business in the White House. "We're the platform for the alt-right," Bannon said in July, using a term that is really just a rebranding of traditional white nationalism.

Kellyanne Conway and friend

And then there's Kellyanne Conway...what can one say. Here's what Mika Brzezinski of MSNBC said, "White House counselor Kellyanne Conway is not credible anymore, and won't be booked in the future on “Morning Joe.”  The woman can't help lying...look who she works for. If Trump should dump her, there is the possibility that she could replace Kathy Griffin on CNN's New Year's Eve show. Anderson Cooper is going to be desperately in need of someone who can make him laugh as much as Griffin. Conway's stupefaction is classic on all fronts.

If my headline has offended anyone, well, that's life under the Donald Trump administration.

Bigotry, racism and hate in Donald Trump's presidency

Mark Potok, Editor of the Southern Poverty Law Center Intelligence Report, said in the Spring 2017 issue...

"The campaign language of the man who would become president sparks hate violence, bullying, before and after the election."

He was, of course, talking about Donald Trump who had adverse effects on the lowlife of our country even back in 2015. The story goes, two guys left a Red Sox ballgame late one night and ran across a homeless Mexican immigrant sleeping outside a commuter rail station. They proceeded to beat him with a metal pipe, punched him repeatedly, urinated on him and called him a “wetback." Elated with what they had done, Guillermo Rodriguez was left with cracked ribs and broken fingers plus other injuries. Arrested just a short time later,  one of them, 38-year-old Scott Leader said...

“Donald Trump was right. All these illegals need to be deported.”

In another incident in Portland, Oregon, a man stabbed three people when two of them attempted to stop a man who was ranting and raving and shouting anti-Muslim insults at two young women. It was n a light-rail train where the attacker stabbed and killed the two men and seriously injured another. There were witnesses and police were able to capture 35-year-old Jeremy Joseph Christian, of north Portland. The Southern Poverty Law Center had Christian in their records that indicated he held racist, white supremacist and extremist beliefs. Trump/Bannon related? Who knows.

It is noteworthy that Donald trump had kicked off his presidential campaign just two months prior to the attack, above, on a homeless Mexican man, with a speech describing Mexican immigrants as rapists and drug smugglers. In his article Mark Potok takes us from the attack on the Mexican homeless man through Trump's inauguration. One of the first things he did was call for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the country. He attacked a Muslim Gold Star family, insinuating that Khizr Khan, whose son died in Iraq, was a terrorist sympathizer.

Here's more from Potok's SPLC article...

"He had retweeted utterly bogus claims that black people were responsible for 80% of the murders of whites. He had cozied up to some of the country’s hardest line gay-bashers. He had retweeted anti-Semitic memes and called many immigrants “not well.” He had attacked a debate moderator by insinuating that her tough questions were the result of her menstrual cycle. And his earlier boasts about grabbing women by the genitals had been revealed."

Wow! We had just elected a real gent, huh? But there's much more...

"After a Black Lives Matter activist was beaten at a Trump rally in Birmingham, Ala., he told Fox News that “maybe he should have been roughed up. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he urged supporters to 'knock the crap' out of protesters, adding, 'I promise you, I will pay your legal fees.' When a backer at a Fayetteville, N.C., rally sucker-punched a black protester being led away by police — an act described by the local sheriff as 'a cowardly, unprovoked attack' — Trump told two national news outlets that he was looking into paying the man’s legal fees."

Mark Potok has done a great job of documenting Donald Trump's bigotry, racism and hate ranting. But Donald Trump throughout it all remains oblivious to how terrible what he is doing and saying, and even makes this unbelievable statement following the beating of Guillermo Rodriguez. His reaction was, "While the attack was 'a shame,' Trump’s main conclusion was that 'people who are following me are very passionate.'" It is impossible to figure out what kind of blood runs in the veins of this lunatic or just how his brain synapses operate...or don't.

And finally...

"In the immediate aftermath of the election, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) noticed a dramatic jump in hate violence and incidents of harassment and intimidation around the country. At the same time, a wave of incidents of bullying and other kinds of harassment washed over the nation’s K-12 schools. The SPLC decided to make an effort to document all of this in real time."

Thanks to the Southern Poverty Law Center for the great material and I suggest you visit their site and make a donation: Southern Poverty Law Center 

Looking past Trump...How do we dispense with Pence?

The Koch Bros. were the kingpins behind the Tea Party. Mike Pence is and always has been one of its staunchest supporters. Do we want Charles Koch controlling the Oval Office? Backing up, Donald Trump is either at the point of implosion, or, any day now he will make the most awesome and dangerous mistake of his presidency and the numb nuts in Congress will finally do their job and impeach him. In either case, we end up with Mike Pence and, as you can see from the above, that could be even worse. But maybe not as bad as Paul Ryan?

So, what do we do once we are saddled with another lunatic in the Oval Office, one, by the way who is afraid to be in a room alone with a woman other than his wife.? To start with, it seems to me that the latter is an indication of some form of instability, one that does not complement the job of President. But there is much more starting with Pence's claim that...

"...he did not know of former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s work on behalf of foreign governments until he learned of them in media reports."

Rep. Elijah Cummings reaction, “Either he's not telling the truth, or he was running a sloppy shop.” Now this sounds like he is mirroring Donald Trump. Like President, like Vice President? Geeez, you would think that these dufuses would at least try to come up with something original. Cummings even sent a letter to Pence as the President of Trump's transition team last November regarding Flynn’s ties to the Turkish government. The Representative's office received a receipt for the latter. Thus, the statement that Pence is either not telling the truth, or running a sloppy shop.

Cummings marveled over the fact that when you pass along information like this about someone Trump has nominated, and eventually took the office of National Security Adviser, the number one guy with America's secrets, and who was also connected to a foreign government, hundreds of red flags should go up. Thy did and Flynn was fired. Through all this Pence stood by his earlier statement-sound like someone else in the White House? It was, perhaps, Karl Rove that perfected the use of dirty politics, including lying, under George W. Bush and the GOP has just improved it.

The Washington Post expands on the Flynn allegations of lying or just dumbing down, with Pence's explanation of the James Comey firing. His version is that his boss did it on the recommendation of the deputy attorney general and the attorney general adding...

“There is no evidence of collusion between our campaign and any Russian officials. That's not what — let me be clear with you — that was not what this is about. That's not what this is about.”

Just one day later, Trump told "NBC News's Lester Holt that he had already decided to fire Comey and would have done it regardless of the DOJ's recommendation." WP asserts...

"Pence could argue that Trump technically did accept the recommendations of the Justice Department. But, again, that would be highly misleading, based on Trump's own comments that he had already made up his mind."

The long and the short of Mike Pence's statements to defend the Trump administration indicate a combination of the fact that he will say anything to protect the administration, and/or, he is just so far out of touch with Trump and his advisers, he really doesn't know what's going on. In either case, if Pence had to assume the presidency in an emergency, it could be even worse than it is now. So back to my headline, "How do we dispense with Pence?"

Coming up in future posts...Your comments are welcome!

The slime (Koch) Bros.are at it again

Koch Bros. slogan

I watched a recent video of Charles Koch playing the "philanthropic entrepreneur" who claims to do what he does for the good of America. But he and his brother, David, do what they do entirely for the sake of Koch Industries' bottom line. They are pouring more money into the 2018 election and particularly to, "...drive Trump's tax plan through Congress." USA Today reports that James Davis, a top official in Koch's Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, says, "The group plans to throw 'the full weight of the network' behind the campaign with the goal of passing a tax overhaul this year."

Translated, that means this group will shore up every Republican that is beholden to this family already, having done their bidding since put there by the Kochs, to make sure they are reelected in the midterms. It takes money, and they have it readily to spend to make sure they get what they want, and will do just about anything to get the job done. Back in 1989, "Investigators told a special Senate committee that a Wichita, Kan., company (Koch Industries) has been stealing oil from Indian lands for at least the last three years." Total value was $31.1 million. Just one example.

This is only one of several devious and illegal shams these brothers have pulled on the American public. If you are really interested in their illicit activities, read Sons of Wichita by Daniel Schulman. I couldn't put it down once I started. It reveals a trail of congressional investigations, and "Under the nearly five-decade reign of CEO Charles Koch, the company has paid out record civil and criminal environmental penalties," according to Rolling Stone. And here's one of the worst...

"...in 1999, a jury handed down to Koch's pipeline company what was then the largest wrongful-death judgment of its type in U.S. history, resulting from the explosion of a defective pipeline that incinerated a pair of Texas teenagers."

Yet following an incident such as this, Charles Koch will go on TV with his syrupy shit professing he can't imagine why the American public could think anything but the fact that the Koch brothers are just magnificent benefactors to all. Either this man is too stupid to realize what he does is wrong, or else he doesn't give a damn. Probably a combination of both. The Kochtopus is one of the most influential of the conservative gangs with grassroots minions in 36 states and backup operations in data processing. There are 550 ultra-wealthy donors that finance the goings on.

USA Today says they "...plan to spend $300 million to $400 million on policy and political campaigns ahead of the 2018 elections." Progressives say, we have to counter that with people who will vote for the good of the country, not for billionaires like the Koch brothers. There are only three companies that rank among the top 30 polluters of America's air, water and climate: ExxonMobil, American Electric Power and Koch Industries. Its subsidiary, Georgia Pacific alone, dumps more pollutants into the nation's waterways than General Electric and International Paper combined.

Although the Kochs deny direct funding of the tea Party, they, especially Charles, are known to be the kingpins behind the movement. Rolling Stone says it this way...

"The Koch family's lucrative blend of pollution, speculation, law-bending and self-righteousness stretches back to the early 20th century, when Charles' father first entered the oil business."

When Charles Koch took over from his father, the business flourished, because he didn't hesitate to bend or even break the law to make a buck. It was cheaper to let the Texas pipeline go without maintenance, explode and horrendously kill two teenagers then pay a court charged fine of $296 million. The Kochs appealed and later settled out of court. The dirty dealings of Charles Koch are well documented in Daniel Schulman's book, Sons of Wichita, and the Rolling Stones article, above. It will take a massive Progressive movement in 2018 to stop the Kochs and all conservatives. 

Why Memorial Day?

Saigon evacuation

Officially, Memorial Day is the day we remember all those members of the active armed services that died in a war. That would be many...

World War One-17 million
World War Two-416,800
Korean War-36,914
Vietnam War-58,220

World War One was billed as the war to end all wars. It didn't. It seems more like it set the mold for future generations to build from. Folks, this was when they fought face to face in the trenches and often, the method of killing the enemy was with a bayonet. Now that is up close. My father was in that war and he brought home a German rifle, bayonet, and two German helmets, one an enlisted man, the other an officer. He never told me exactly how he acquired them. This war started from the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, then spread around the world.

World War Two was started by a dictator, Adolph Hitler, lasted for six years, and ended with the U.S. dropping an atomic bomb on the Japanese. As Wikipedia put it, "It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries in a state of 'total war.'" Japan surrendered and today is one of our closest allies. Before Hitler there was Benito Mussolini, then there was Stalin. Dictators have ruled from the beginning of time and will continue to as long as power is concentrated and there are people who succumb to deceptive promises.

Korea was ruled by Japan from 1910 until the end of WWII, when it split into two regions, each with separate governments and claiming to be the legitimate government of all of Korea. The war had its ups and downs for both sides until an armistice was signed July 27,1953, creating the Korean Demilitarized Zone to separate North and South Korea. There were several leaders in North Korea following the war but in 1994, Kim Jong-il took control and ruled until his psych son, Kim Jong-un took over. Here's how he runs his regime...

“Kim Jong-Un has picked up where his father and grandfather left off, by overseeing a system of public executions, extensive political prison camps, and brutal forced labor,” according to Human Rights Watch.

Unfortunately, there is no Memorial Day for these deaths and others like them...

The Vietnam War was fought against America as the aggressor, and produced, perhaps, some of the worst horror stories of any before it. No one will forget that picture (above) of people trying to get on one of the last helicopter evacuating Saigon, which transported more than 1,000 Americans and more than 5,000 Vietnamese out of the city. I had a close friend, until his death, who related to me his chilling experience. He and other American soldiers were attacked by hooded Vietnamese with knives; he shot and killed two. When he removed the hoods, one was a young girl.

As they say, war is hell but currently we are stuck with a "potential" situation that won't go away. No. Korea's present leader, Kim Jong-Un, persists in rattling his swords of war and dares the United States to call his bluff. President Obama seemed close to some meaningful negotiations in March of 2016, but it all tanked when the U.S. demanded No. Korea's nuclear weapons be a part of the talks. And Kim Jong Un just tested a missile capable of carrying a large nuclear warhead. But now Donald Trump has decided to shoot down a simulated North Korean ICBM intercontinental-range missile.

I am using Memorial Day here to point out the unneeded wars that have been fought and to illustrate the fact that we just might be headed back into another one with a dictator on one side, and our very
own oligarch on the other. Will it ever end? I will leave you with a list of fatalities from all U.S. Wars and Conflicts...

American Revolution (1775-1783)                4,435 War of 1812 (1812-1815)                              2,260 Mexican War (1846-1848)                          13,283 Civil War (1861-1865)                               620,000 Spanish-American War (1898-1902)               385 World War I (1917-1918)                           116,516 World War II (1941-1945)                         405,399 Korean War (1950-1953)                            36,574 Vietnam War (1964-1975)                          58,220 Gulf War (1990-1991)                                      383 Afghanistan War (2001-present)                   2,381 Iraq War (2003-2012)                                   4,500 Happy Memorial Day!

Trump tells poor to go screw themselves

Mike Mulvaney

The White House budget was released last Tuesday and just as Bernie Sanders predicted, Donald Trump threw the poor and needy under the train, telling them to get a job now or lose all their benefits. That includes food stamps, tax credits and welfare payments, and this will be accomplished by reducing spending on these programs by $274 billion over a decade. Here's what Mike Mulvaney, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, said to this group...

“If you are on food stamps and you are able bodied, we need you to go to work.”

Okay, there are some deadbeats out there but doesn't this mindless bureaucrat think that most of these unemployed people are already desperately looking for a job and there just might be some reason they aren't connecting. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 211,000 in April, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 4.4 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. There are 7.1 million persons unemployed, more when you consider those no more looking. Yes, Donald Trump inherited an economy on its way up from near disaster caused by George W. Bush.

Instead of Mulvaney showing these unemployed folk the street if they don't find a job, his maniac boss should get busy with some of the jobs programs he promised. Instead, his budget proposes a 40% cut in job training programs. And then Mulvaney said,  “There is a dignity to work, and there’s a necessity to work to help the country succeed.” Can you believe this? Cut job training, then talk about helping the out-of-work. This is all insane and if we don't get rid of the source of all this chaos soon, it could be too late.

Later Mulvaney said, “We believe in the social safety net. We absolutely do. What we've done is not to try and remove the safety net for folks who need it, but to try and figure out if there’s folks who don't need it that need to be back in the workforce." The keyword here is "try," which provides great latitude in what they really end up having to do.