Ammunition for thought: Las Vegas change things?

What is it about the citizenry of the U.S. that can overlook a gun massacre like the one in Las Vegas and not come rushing to the steps of the Capitol to demand that a clueless Congress do something about it? Screw the NRA! It's a terrible thing to say but maybe these staunch gun nuts should experience a similar event involving them and their families. Then they would see the horror of what they have protected over the years. From Sandy Hook to Las Vegas, none of these gun violence tragedies has done anything to significantly change the public's mind about controlling guns.

Las Vegas concert massacre...

Cub Scout kicked out of den for advocating gun control...

Gun control advocate Amy Schumer uses gun in new film...

Arizona's Sen. Jeff Flake leaving Senate

Jeff Flake-What the GOP says

I have never thought Jeff Flake contributed to the U.S. Senate, nor to politics at all, even in the House. But today I did some solid research and uncovered this. In 2006, three out of five mayors in his home district opposed his re-election because, according to Flake, he did not "bring pork barrel spending" to the mayors' cities. In his swan song (leaving end of this term) he lambasted Trump's reckless, outrageous, and undignified behavior, joining Tennessee's Bob Corker who is also leaving the senate. However, he did not once use Trump's name.

SEE: Arizona's Jeff Flake leaving Congress...

SEE: Trump's critique of Trump, impeaching him for divisiveness,moral bankruptcy, and lack of leadership...

SEE: Corker Trump at each others throats...

Racism is here to stay

Racism hasn't really changed over the years

You can talk about the strides that have been taken since the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but, in a nutshell, they haven't worked. I said in an earlier post that since 1964, radical racism has simply gone underground, with those who practice this vile lifestyle, playing in the shadows, putting on the good-guy front. Until Donald Trump. Until the White House loaded up with racists, white nationalists, and a bigotry that isn't disguised, rather, put right there in the open for all to see. Steve Bannon is proud of his white supremacist label, flaunting it regularly around Washington. And Donald Trump is quick to tell you, Steve Bannon is his man.

Donald Trump afraid to offend white nationalist supporters

After days of not repudiating white nationalists and the Ku Klux Klan after the murder in the Charlottesville demonstration, T-rump finally denounced the KKK and neo-nazis. This was his statement...

• "Racism is evil, and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups."

The media made me do it

Daily Progress reports that the only reason Trump changed his tone--it is widely known that he does not adhere to political correctness--is that the media made him do it. What a pathetic moment in history when it takes outcry from the media to make the President of the United States do a duty that should have been his top priority the moment that woman was killed by James Alex Fields' car. But that would have insulted Donald Trump's base of double-digit IQ bigots. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said, "From the beginning, President Trump has sheltered and encouraged the forces of bigotry and discrimination." Why would we expect more just because of a death?

Sports personalities criticize Trump

LeBron James, basketball star, said, “Hate has always existed in America. Yes we know that but Donald Trump just made it fashionable again!” Steve Nash, another basketball great said...

• “To defend white supremacists and then slang his [crappy] a— grape juice pretty much sums the man up.” Nash was referring to Trump’s remark that he knows “a lot about Charlottesville” because he owns “one of the largest wineries in the United States,” located there.

Seth Meyers on Trump Charlottesville news conference...

Even the Jews were included in Charlottesville protest

Charlottesville "Unite the Right" rally was universal in its appeal with anti-Semitic lines like “Jews will not replace us”? Also heard, “This city is run by Jewish communists and criminal niggers,” one demonstrator told Vice News’ Elspeth Reeve during their march. The Atlantic reported, "As Jews prayed at a local synagogue, Congregation Beth Israel, men dressed in fatigues carrying semi-automatic rifles stood across the street." There was more, "In the minds of white supremacists like David Duke, there is a straight line from anti-blackness to anti-Judaism." I learned from the deep South, when you learn to hate like these people do, there are no bounds.

T-rump again reverts to bad taste

Donald Trump created an analogy between his re-tweet that was eventually pulled, where the Trump train collides with a person from CNN News (logo across face) obviously killing them. He did this just three days after the white nationalist drove into the Charlottesville woman killing her. Trump literally sanctions violence; remember when he wanted to punch the Black Lives Matter protester in the face? He also recently told a group of Long Island police that they shouldn't be too nice with criminal suspects. That drew fire from people all across the country, including police departments. There is no end to the Oval Office lunatic's lunacy.

Why are people still racist? A terrifying answer

The Washington Post recently asked, "Why are people still racist?" They go on to answer using a scientific point of view. The answer...

• “In some ways, it’s super simple. People learn to be whatever their society and culture teaches them. We often assume that it takes parents actively teaching their kids, for them to be racist. The truth is that unless parents actively teach kids not to be racists, they will be."

That is scary as hell, especially when you consider the fact that Donald Trump is President of the United States, espousing his rhetoric of bigotry.

"TRUMP LIED" James Comey denounces and indicts Donald Trump

James Comey

James Comey exclaims you can't trust Donald Trump to tell the truth. I watched his testimony and thought Comey looked, well...Presidential. The man was ultimately prepared--don't think he ever had to look at notes--and he handled himself extremely well as the professional he is. He seemed to have the respect of most of this bi-partisan Senate panel, except for Arizona's John McCain who veered off on inane questions re. Hillary Clinton's emails. The outset of the hearing is the fact that it will take the special prosecutor, Robert Mueller, to get to the bottom of all this.

Although Comey would not say if he felt Trump had obstructed justice, he did have the following to say...

“I know I was fired because something about the way I was conducting the Russia investigation was putting pressure on [Trump],’’ Comey said.

James Comey is a former federal prosecutor and knows the way witnesses react to save their butts in statements and testimony and said...

"...that he took detailed notes of his private talks with the president — a departure from his practice with Trump’s predecessor, President Barack Obama. Comey said he did so because he was 'honestly concerned’ that the president might lie about what had been said in their meeting. He said the two spoke in private a total of nine times before Comey was fired, he said."

Folks, this is the President of the United States that Comey is talking about lying. What does this tell the other countries of the world? If a top U.S. government official thinks Donald Trump is a liar, what might Angela Merkel of Germany think of her dealings with Trump? Or the other nations out there. To me, it sounded like Comey made it clear that, although Trump prefaced his comments to the FBI Director with "I hope," Comey took it as pressure to do what was asked of him. This from the President's comments, "I expect loyalty, I need loyalty."

For once, or, at least, not yet. Donald Trump has not used Twitter to vent his unbalanced reactions. He let his attorney do it and the following is interesting...

"The President likewise never pressured Mr. Comey. The President also never told Mr. Comey, 'I need loyalty, I expect loyalty' in form or substance."

Here's the "incoherent" questioning of Comey by Arizona's Republican Senator, John McCain:

The interesting part comes from the fact that James Comey has said he fully welcomes any tapes that might have been recorded of the conversations between the two men, and this isn't likely unless he expects them to prove him right. Trump also says he welcomes the tapes, but then this con man is known for his bluffs to get what he wants. Comey, on the other hand, has proven himself a reputable member of government service who tells it like it is. So, what's missing in all this? As James Comey said in his testimony several times, Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller must now put all the pieces together. And James Comey has no doubt that he can get the job done.

How long will the Trump meltdown continue, before...

London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Trump

Here's the latest headline from the Washington Post: "Trump is out of control." It is an opinion written by respected journalist, Eugene Robinson, which, in and of itself, almost worries me more than the content of his words. Someone of his stature has come to the conclusion that the leader of the free world has gone berserk. And he sits in the Oval Office where he could bring about a series of disasters that could...well...not something we want for our children. Here's Robinson's opening paragraph...

"The statements President Trump issued on Twitter in recent days lead to a chilling conclusion: The man is out of control."

Again, it's the Twitter thing this narcissistic lunatic has used repeatedly to ply his need to receive the approval from a group of double-digit followers that, with all this maniac's recent bizarre activity, must have stuck their heads in the sand. It is purely ridiculous to me that anyone, regardless of their intelligence, can't see that this man is moving this country to the point of collapse. Just like George W. Bush did with his financial crisis of 2008. In the WP article, Robinson documents many of Trump's outlandish tweets that is worth the read.

Following the terrorist attack on the London Bridge, London's Mayor Sadiq Khan said: "Londoners will see an increased police presence today and over the course of the next few days. There's no reason to be alarmed." To illustrate Donald Trump's stupidity when it comes to diplomacy, the dunce tweeted this in retaliation: "At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is "no reason to be alarmed!" He took Khan's last sentence completely out of context, and proceeded to use it to promote himself and his U.S. travel ban. 

The apparent new White House spokesperson, Sarah Huckabee Sanders (supposedly Sean Spicer has been dispensed to cutting the White House lawn) said when asked if the president’s tweets were being vetted by lawyers or aides...

“Social media for the president is extremely important,” Sanders said. “It gives him the ability to speak directly to the people without the bias of the media filtering those types of communication.”

Meaning precisely what WP opinion writer Eugene Robinson stated, "Trump is out of control."

White House advisers were full of inane comments justifying Trump statements and Tweets like they simply aren't listening to what their boss is saying. Better yet, they're just afraid to open their mouth in rebuttal. Christopher Ruddy, a close associate of Trump and president of Newsmax Media, a conservative news organization, said...

"He’s rightly frustrated, and he isn’t always checking with his lawyers about each tweet. But he’s getting his message out there. He is relying on himself to be the messenger.”

This just proves how ludicrous the conservative media can be when referring to another conservative.

Donald Trump's ratings are tanking amid a group of White House staffers who have actually turned on him, but which are offset by party leadership and senior advisers in the West Wing, where many remain supportive of Trump’s combative posture, but are unable or unwilling to usher him toward a less incendiary approach. Interpreted, that means those that might be able to do something about Trump's imbecility have decided it is in the best interest of the country to allow a maniac to proceed, almost without any restrictions. Until what...total calamity?

Trump even worse than Nixon says John Dean

Yeah...Sure!

Watergate is the political conspiracy scandal against which all others are measured, claims John Dean, who served as President Richard Nixon's White House attorney in the 1970s. In the beginning Dean worked to protect Nixon, but then, "...flipped and helped sink Nixon by revealing the president’s involvement in the cover-up." The Los Angeles Times reports...

"As part of a deal with prosecutors, he pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and served four months in a federal safe house. He was barred from practicing law in Virginia and the District of Columbia, moved to his wife’s home state of California and made his livelihood as an investment banker and regular on the lecture circuit."

John Dean is back, but this time his interest is in Donald Trump, and as the Times put it...

"He hasn’t been in this great a demand since his call for President George W. Bush’s impeachment — for condoning torture, among other perceived abuses of power — and, before that, as a ringside commentator during the Clinton-era Monica Lewinsky scandal."

Dean states something that is painfully obvious to the rest of the world now, the fact that Richard Nixon was better prepared to serve as President than is Donald Trump. This, of course, is laughable at this point, but Nixon's former attorney adds, although they both had an authoritarian persona, Trump is by far the most narcissistic and transparent. As an example of the latter...

"Unlike Nixon, 'Trump is surprisingly candid about himself,' Dean said. The president’s admission that he fired FBI Director James B. Comey to relieve the pressure of his investigation into Russia and the 2016 election was, to Dean’s mind, 'basically confessing obstruction of justice.'”

A Politico poll taken at the end of May shows that, "Forty-three percent of voters want Congress to begin impeachment proceedings...up from 38 percent last week." That's a significant increase, five percentage points in just seven days. The 46% who earlier were against impeachment has dropped to 45%, no big deal, unless the slide continues. Along with all this Trump's approval rating hit a new low, "...46 percent of voters approved of Trump’s job performance, and 47 percent disapproved. Much of this comes from the fact that Americans are concerned over the GOP health care bill.

If Congress is not ready to launch impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump, there are a growing number of cities and towns around the U.S. putting pressure on Congress for that reason. Politico reports...

"Brookline, Mass., became the 10th and latest local government Thursday to pass a resolution calling for impeachment, a step designed to add pressure on the state’s congressmen to launch a formal investigation that could ultimately lead to the president’s removal from office."

Already on the move are Cambridge, Amherst, Pelham and Leverett. And then there's the liberal playground of California where, "The Los Angeles city council in early May overwhelmingly passed a measure asking for impeachment proceedings to begin. Richmond, Alameda and Berkeley did the same." Not to be outdone, Chicago is drafting an ordnance for impeachment. This isn't the first time for this action; it also happened in 2006 when...

"...a group of towns in Vermont, and later the state’s Senate, passed resolutions calling for George W. Bush’s impeachment, saying he misled the country before going to war in Iraq."

According to another Politico poll, 43% of Americans want Donald Trump impeached regardless of whether or not he has committed acts of high crimes or misdemeanors, required by the Constitution. If close to half the country wants this man out of the Oval Office, based entirely on the fact that his behavior as President has been unfit for that office, good God!...what more does it take. The answer to that is a Congress that finally realizes it must do the right thing and put the good of the country ahead of the good of the Republican Party. Will that ever happen?

Bigots and racists can't fault Kathy Griffin

How can the radical right take offense at Kathy Griffin's severed head picture, considering the way Ted Nugent unleashed his numerous hateful comments against former President Barack Obama? Griffin was punished for what she did. Nugent became the White House guest of Donald Trump. Nugent is also a gun nut who, "...went on a rant onstage during a concert and said vile things about both Obama and Clinton, using expletives to refer to both. This lowlife said at a NRA convention in 2012, “We need to ride into that battlefield and chop their heads off in November.”

Back in October of 2012, a North Carolina Tea Party racist hung President Obama in effigy, and took his presentation on a tour around the country, ending up in New York city. I conversed by email with VR Phipps, who was a Command member of the Tea Party from Faison, NC, who denied everything he had done. Including even being a Tea Party member. North Carolina also has concentrations of active hate groups, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, including Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazi, Racist Skinhead, Neo-Confederate, Black Separatist, Anti-LGBT and Anti-Muslim.

But Griffin had this comment re. the Donald Trump bloody head photo...

"...the photo was intended to be in protest of Trump’s sexist words to journalist Megyn Kelly during a 2016 Republican presidential debate, in which he said the former Fox News host had “blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever” when she asked him about his past comments regarding women."

That's not a photo, but it's about as graphic as it gets in terms of text illustration. In Peoplepolitics, Alec Baldwin, who has made a recent career of lampooning Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live is in full support of Kathy Griffin...

“Kathy… f— them,f___them. F— them all,” Baldwin, 59, wrote. “No one believes you meant to threaten Trump. Trump is such a senile idiot, all he has is Twitter fights.”
“Ignore him,” Baldwin continued. “Like the leaders of all the other countries in the world. Ignore him.”

AMEN!

Kathy Griffin is now taking a great amount of flak from Donald Trump and his family, and she says they are trying to ruin her career...

"As a result of the first family bullying her, she has been vilified, getting death threats, fired from multiple jobs and had multiple events canceled," Lisa Bloom, her attorney, said.

Okay, let's get down to the nitty gritty of this whole fiasco. Kathy Griffin posed with a bloody, severed head of Donald Trump, and everyone, including the Secret service goes ballistic, somehow assuming a threat against DT's life. Ridiculous, of course. But a Tea Party nut can hang Barack Obama in effigy while he is still in the Oval Office, parade this around the country including New York city, hardly drawing major attention. Ted Nugent denigrates both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and is rewarded with an invitation to the Oval Office by Donald Trump.

Kathy Griffin commented, "This is a woman thing," as is much of what Donald Trump's past problems have been. No one will forget his most famous comment about what a "star" could do to women...

"I'm automatically attracted to beautiful [women]—I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything ... Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything."

The upside to this whole thing is that Kathy Griffin has promised not to be intimidated by all this; rather, that she will continue to use Trump as fodder for her comedic material. "I'm going to make fun of him more now," she said.

Right on, Kathy!