2016 Trump voters ignorant but not poor

Foreign Policy Magazine says what we already know, that Trump did win in 2016, but adds that he was elected because voters are "ignorant literally." And these poor souls who elected him aren't in the low-income bracket as some have maintained, their average income is $72,000 per year. U.S. median household income is $55,760. Although a Pew study of voters from both parties claims that Republican voters are more informed than Democrats, Foreign Policy states those who put this lunatic in the Oval Office are definitely uninformed. Findings from political scientists studying the issue for well over 65 years...

"Voters generally know who the president is but not much else. They don’t know which party controls Congress, what Congress has done recently, whether the economy is getting better or worse (or by how much)."

This is why we end up with morons like Donald Trump in the White House. Precisely why we also have the idiots we do in Congress, and we can't get rid of either. Yet. FP would have us believe it is not because voters are stupid--something I quickly disagree with, at least some of them--rather they don't do their research. And that in itself is stupid when it comes to the responsibility of voting, particularly in the shape this country is in under Republicans.  I'll leave you with this...

The great political scientist Philip Converse once said: “The two simplest truths I know about the distribution of political information in moderate electorates are that the mean is low and variance is high.”

Sean Hannity wishes Donald Trump beddy bye every night

I don't know if Hannity says 'cuddle up and sleep nice,' but he does place a call each evening at 10PM following his Fox News show at nine in New York. The Independent News calls this, "both laughable and worrying, considering the crazy stuff that pours out of Hannity’s mouth constantly, and undoubtedly into Trump’s empty head." This could account for some of T-rump's middle-of-the-night tweets that are completely off the grid. Apparently even Trump calls Hannity back sometimes holding conversations that don't disturb Melania since she sleeps in another bedroom.

Here's what Rob Reiner tweeted...

"We’re told that Trump whisperer Sean Hannity and the pathological liar engage in pillow talk every night. Comforting to know that the fate of democracy and the free world rests in the hands of a ventriloquist and his dummy."

Another said...

"I wouldn't be shocked to learn Trump's first question to Hannity every night is, 'What are you wearing?'"

Only a bunch of uninformed morons would support a president that pulls the crap that this man does. But the tragedy of it all is the idiots in Congress that allow it to continue. I no longer think November will be a landslide to the left, but I cannot believe there won't be a reckoning. I'll leave you with this commentary by Stephen Colbert you find here on Salon.

Scandal is Donald Trump's new middle name

Donald Trump-Stormy Daniels

Scandal forced Richard Nixon out of office, almost got Bill Clinton, but Donald Trump is the enigma of the political century. It started with the Russians, to influence the 2016 election, angled over to paying off porn star, Stormy Daniels, careening next to Michael Cohen's influence peddling. The Oval Office lunatic is either ignoring the uproar, or he really is too stupid to realize the deep shit he is in. Lanny Davis, the former Clinton attorney who now specializes in crisis management said...

"Usually in crisis management, you have a terrible week, and your first rule is to get it all over with. In the case of Trump, he seems to not care."

And the irony of all this is that special prosecutor, Robert Mueller, is not the predator, rather career prosecutors in New York, going after Trump through his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. USA Today reports that "At least 27 times over the past two weeks, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders and her deputies have referred questions about the controversies to the [personal] lawyers. So, does this mean that with time Trump's ratings will decrease and he will no longer be able to bargain with Congress? That could bring about more chaos in the GOP, which won't bode well for November.

Religious affiliation down as more elect to be "nones"

"Nones" of another variety than we're used to in the Catholic Church, and, of course, spelled different, are the driving force in religion as we know it today. They are either "atheist, agnostic, or “nothing in particular,” according to the American Family Survey Their numbers are 34% of all Americans with Protestants trailing at 33%, Catholicism 21% in this late 2017 study. I have said for years that the primary thing wrong with religion is the organized church and continue to believe it is precisely that which is creating this new important group.

Other factors accounting for the exodus are the strict disciplines that have often harsh requirements in order for the congregation to participate, like the Catholic faith, but then there is the latest barrier, an LGBTQ community that isn't welcome, especially by Evangelicals. Here are passages from the Bible re. homosexuality...

You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. (Leviticus 18:22)

If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. (Leviticus 20:13)

According to one source "The word “homosexuality” didn’t even show up in English translations of the Bible until 1946," so Bible thumpers can't really trace it back to the original scriptures. And that brings about another theory of mine, the Bible is a book written by men who, even if inspired by the holy events of the day, nevertheless were people like us. Prone to mistakes, which in many cases account for confusions found in translation after translation. But the obstacles against the LGBTQ group is only one problem for the church; with so many more, the "nones" are sure to proliferate.

International gun control gets in the act

Probably most of us have not thought enough about international gun control when the situation is so bad in this country, far surpassing those of other industrialized nations like the U.S. As an example, this country had 3.85 gun deaths per 100,000 population in 2016 compared to Japan .04, China .06, United Kingdom .07, and Germany .12. There's more but you get the idea. The international conference was about eliminating the trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons, but has several other aspects to its agenda...

• Exert greater control over ammunition
• Support women’s participation in small arms control
• Crack down on illicit trade in small arms and ammunition
• Strengthen legislation to disarm domestic violence abusers

They also want to address things like guns in the home, a problem very prevalent in the U.S. since 1.7 million children live with unlocked, loaded guns in this country. Did you know that 91% of all children who die from firearms in high-income countries across the world come from the United States. So, the high level of gun violence and the need to fix it is not debatable. And since the Mary Stoneman massacre, the right button seems to have been pushed, and the gun control movement has gained a momentum that just may be both deep-rooted and enduring.

New Jersey has a grip on gun control

The 2nd Amendment gun nuts are all in a dither over the release by New Jersey of federal information on "near-real-time firearms trafficking data." They refer to the 1996 Dickey Amendment, which forbids using the feds budget to do gun violence research. The NRA and its brainless membership have been dreading this for some time, knowing full well that, with the brutal facts out in the open, the American public might come to their senses and take up opposition to gun violence. What is so pitiful is it has taken so many gun deaths, including hundreds of children, to get here.

"Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy unveiled the data Tuesday as part of a campaign promise to strengthen New Jersey's already-tight gun laws." One of the facts" "77 percent of guns used in crimes in New Jersey come from out of state." Which would indicate they are bringing in guns from states with the loosest gun laws like Arizona, Kansas, Mississippi, or closer Vermont. New Jersey has promised to release this information from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on a monthly basis. More states should do this in line with enacting new gun control laws.

Did Facebook elect Donald Trump?

Typical Facebook 2016 Election ad

Headlines have proclaimed that thousands of ads were purchased by Russians, some posing as Americans, designed to elect Donald Trump in 2016. If the idea was to force the U.S. into chaos, then they accomplished their purpose. Facebook says they were actually purchased by the Kremlin and, even when considering 1st Amendment rights, it raises the question of whether or not this is considered an act of hostility against the American government. Of course, T-rump and his pathetic supporters would say no, it is just business as usual, in the good old Republican way.

Facebook even admits the ads were meant, "to sway public sentiment," and claims to be placing safeguards in place to prevent manipulation of future elections. But the question arises, is the American public so easily swayed, basically uninformed, so downright stupid that a Facebook ad could decide their vote? If so, this country has become a massive field of what I call apathetics, those who are completely out of tune, and really don't care. The most frightening side of the ads was their bent toward racism as well as to create unrest on gay rights and gun rights.

If Facebook did elect Donald Trump, we are in more trouble than we ever realized.