That person has a "Lot of Pussy!"

In our out of balance world a common rude phrase for someone who shows courage is to say "That person has a Lot of Balls" - referencing male genitals, of course, as if testicles were connected to courage.  But what the Trump atrocities have shown us is that most of those who have shown '"balls" are actually women:

• Cassidy Hutchinson, White House aid - witness against Trump
• Liz Cheney, former Republican Congressperson - co-chair of House Select Committee on the January 6 attack to overthrow the government
• Leticia James, Attorney General of New York - Prosecutor of Trump many years of fraud in New York
• Fanni Willis, Attorney General of Georgia - Prosecutor of Trump attempt to find fake votes in the 2020 Georgia count for president
• E Jean Carroll, successfully sued Trump for $83 Billion for rape and defamation of character
• Stormy Daniels, porn star who Trump paid $130,000 hush money to hide having sex with him

Wow.  These women are exhibiting real courage in standing up to Trump, and a vast majority of men in the House and the Senate all know that Trump is guilty as charged, and know he is batshit crazy and unfit for any position of responsibility,  but they are cowards and keep SILENT.

I don't mean to deny the courage being shown by the male judges and prosecutor in his criminal cases:

• Arthur Engoron in the conviction of New York financial fraud case
• Scott McAffee in the Fanni Willis Georgia trial on the fake votes case
• Lewis Kaplan in the E Jean Carroll guilty of rape and defamation verdict
• Juan Merchan in the financial fraud covering up the hush money in violation of finance laws case
• Jack Smith, Special Prosecutor for two indictments, attempt to overthrow the government put and violating espionage laws by stealing classified secrets

And a special honoring of Adam Kinzinger, former Republican Congressman also on the House Select Committee. 

The judges were assigned to their cases and are showing courage as well, but it is a bit different than stepping forward and volunteering to take on this demented and dangerous and pitiful little person.

I give a very big congratulations to the women who stepped forward to say the puffy orange Humpty Dumpty has no clothes. 

I suggest that we stop equating courage with men - look at these women!

They've got a "Lot of Pussy"!!

Whatever you are guilty of, accuse the other of the same thing

 One of the many horrible lessons on authoritarian/autocratic/fascist tyranny that we are being taught by the noxious Former Guy is a fundamental propaganda deceit that seems to stem from the Nazi propagandist, Goebbels - accuse the other of what you are guilty of.

• Is Trump guilty of trying to overthrow the government?  Accuse Biden of the same;
• Was Trump impeached? Have his House supplicants impeach Biden;
• Is Trump guilty of graft and corruption feeding millions and billions of dollars  to his children? Accuse Biden of the same;
• Is Trump fading into Alzheimer's dementia (like his father before him)? Accuse Biden of the same;
• Is Trump threatening to destroy the Justice System and use it to crush his opponents?  Accuse Biden of the same;
• Is Trump promising to end presidential elections?  Accuse Biden of the same;
• Is Trump guilty of violating the Espionage Act by stealing, hoarding, and possibly selling top secret military secrets?  Accuse Biden of the same;
• Is Trump the greatest threat to Democracy in the world?  Accuse Biden of the same;
• Is Trump guilty of etc. etc. etc. etc? Accuse Biden of the same.

A good rule of thumb is that Trump's accusations are actually public confessions.  It's nice of him to keep us up to date on his crimes and planned crimes.

The idea of the propaganda accusation lies is not to convince us on the other side that the lies are true - we know the propaganda is lies.  And it is not to convince the cult to believe the propaganda lies - they either don't care or they already believe the lies.  

The point of the lies is to confuse those who don't pay that much attention - who never follow politics and news - or who can't take it anymore and turn away from the endless, persistent, overwhelming flood of shit being sprayed on them every day - or who don't trust that they know enough to make good decisions.  So they say "What the Heck, this side says this and that side says the that, who knows?  Just a pox on both sides - there's probably something to it..."

Viola! you end up with a successful tyrannical overthrow of American democracy and the rule of law.  

But it will fail.  He and his avid cult are just too disgusting, I believe, to appeal to any other than themselves.

Make them submit

Sadly, what has Trump taught us about authoritarianism/fascism?

Lesson one - make each person submit. 

What is the latest example? In the falsifying business records criminal case in the Manhattan Court, he has blatantly violated the Judge’s gag order by attacking the judge and the judge’s daughter - daring the judge to put him in jail.  

The Former Guy has one trick that he knows well and has been doing since he was a small child - make others submit to his will. He’s good at it. As soon as you give in on one thing he has you on his game board, and he will push on to the next, more meaningful submission. Until - he becomes your master and all resistance has been voluntarily given up. 

He violated the gag order. 

First, hit him with a massive fine.  Then, when he violates the gag order again -

Prison please.

Why isn’t Trump in prison?

 

Why isn’t Trump in prison for threatening violence against the sitting President of the United States of America?  He re-posted this photo of a hog-tied Biden in the back of a pickup truck.  One, or many, of his violent cult could well be taking this as an instruction, just like they took his instruction to storm the Capital, try to find and hang his Vice President, and overthrow the government. 

This is a sick, and terrified little person, descending ever lower into the fetid swamps of his sick little mind. 

Prison please. 

Can't you just shoot them?

 In case you forgot … Trump couldn't understand why he couldn't just shoot Black Lives Matter protesters and immigrants :

President Donald Trump wanted U.S. troops to shoot protesters during racial justice demonstrations in 2020, according to a new book from former Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

“Can't you just shoot them? Just shoot them in the legs or something?” Esper quotes Trump saying. 

And the border too...

“I think one of the ones that I think is the most grotesque is suggestions that instead, we should maybe just shoot migrants in the legs as they cross the border.

He was told NO last time.  If he is president again he will have only Trump Cultists under him and they will do whatever he tells them to do.  This is not hard to figure out.

What was Roe v Wade based upon?

 Roe v Wade - allowing abortions - was based on the Right to Privacy, right?  Well, sure, but I believe it was based on something even deeper and more important - the right of the Empowerment of Women.  It allowed women to determine their lives and not be under the tyrannical foot of theocratic religions.  The right to privacy was the doorway through which women’s empowerment emerged. 

Women, and couples, could decide for themselves whether to have a child.  A hard choice oftentimes, of course.  But one that brought women into the workforce as never before, and one that gave women a freedom that liberated their lives and their destinies. They could decide. 

So, the theocratic religious extremists who have taken that freedom away - watch out - women of both parties are voters.  And elections are going to move more and more in the direction of women's empowerment, or so I believe.

If one takes away such a fundamental freedom, one can expect a pretty angry blowback. 

Perhaps a fatal flaw of authoritarian extremism is the inability to understand those who are not in the cult, and a false belief that they can force those not trapped inside their bullying religion to obey their own fanatical dictates. 

I believe personal freedom triumphs over extremist dogma. 

Roe Roe Roe your vote…

Watch out

 Thom Hartman gives us a warning:

A.  The U.S. warned Putin that they had intelligence that a terrorist attack in a Russia was very possible.

B.  A horrendous terrorist attack killed about 130 civilians 

C.  Muslim ISIS claims responsibility in response to Putin’s barbaric slaughters in Muslim Chechnya two decades ago.

D.  Putin vows revenge against…Ukraine, claiming they were responsible

E.  Putin uses this “Reischtag Fire” pretense and massively escalates his slaughter of Ukraine - nukes?

F.  Why?  Because Putin’s subservient, Donald J Trump, is keeping his Trump Authoritarian Party (mistakenly called the Republican Party) from funding Ukraine. So Putin senses America will not be able to stop him  

G.  So Putin slaughters and conquers Ukraine with the help of Trump and his MAGA/Putin Cult. 

So, I extend this logic forward:

H.  Next step for Putin? The rest of the Balkan states - re-establish the Soviet Empire boundaries 

I.  Putin says “Thanks, Donny - now stay out of my way while I conquer Europe”, and Trump says “OK, I hate NATO anyway” 

I think that’s the plan, but I think Putin needs Trump to be in power in America, and I believe that is not going to happen, he is disintegrating before our eyes. Plus I think he is unelectable, dangerous, violent, but will fail in his next attempted coup. 

Plus, I think Putin is also disintegrating before our eyes, and Russians are getting sick of his war and his corruption. Time for Russians to end Putin’s war.

I hope. 

The John Gotti rule

 John Gotti was a dumb criminal.  He was the boss of the New York Gambino Family Mafia.  The reason he was dumb was that he called attention to himself and became a public celebrity. The reason he was dumb is because his mega-maniacal ego that needed to be seen and "admired(?)” What I call the John Gotti Rule is that if you are a criminal just lay low, do not call attention to yourself, do not become a celebrity.  Do not become a blatant target to law enforcement.

Gotti was convicted of murder, racketeering, tax evasion, and extortion, plus some others.  He went into prison in 1992, died in prison in 2002.  Good riddance.

I think the same can be said of the most famous Mafia psychopath of all, Al Capone. Prison. Death (syphilis brain damage caused heart attack). Good riddance. 

So what?  Well, another dumb criminal is Donald J Trump. Another mega-maniacal ego in desperate need to be seen and admired/worshipped.  He has lived a life as a business fraud, a tax evader, a rapist, a money launderer, a deadbeat, a scofflaw.  So what does he do?  He becomes a celebrity. As long as he is just a TV showboat, who cares? But then he ran for and became president.  Dumb.

So, his business crimes have gotten him fined nearly half a billion dollars - three sets of financial books - overvalued books for better bank loans, undervalued books for lower taxes, real books (I guess) of his actual business. Crimes. 

His rape cost him $83 million (not the rape, but the defamation of E Jean Carroll the rape victim - ("sexual assault" victim - rape victim).  His financial fraud is costing him $460million.

If you do the crimes - shut the fuck up and stay out of the news, nitwit, and especially don't run for president of the United States of America.

Just dumb.  Thinks he "can do whatever the hell he wants" (dumb quote of a dumb person). 

He can’t. Prison please. 

The continuing attempt at Revolution

 For those who didn't know - Liberal Thom Hartman is hearing Republican plans to overturn the election results in November and install the mentally ill Donald Trump in the White House and capture the country.

After the November election results, the plan is to have the House of Representatives elect Trump and install Theocracy and Oligarchy.  How?

The Speaker of the House will refuse to certify enough Democratically elected Congresspeople ("irregularities").  Then the Speaker of the House will refuse to accept Electoral College Certificates from selected states ("irregularities").  

Then, golly gee, there aren't the needed 270 elctoral college votes to elect a president!  What to do? What to do?  Oh yes...

Then he applies the 12th amendment, where each state gets one vote to elect the president of the United States - viola! More states are Republican and the Republicans vote for the Republican candidate, who lost the real election but wins the 12th amendment phony baloney election. 

Tada!  

Say goodbye to:

• Future presidential elections
• The Rule of Law in America
• All abortions
• All birth control
• Any and all opposition to Putin's Russia conquest of Europe
• Gay marriage, gay relationships in public
• Black and brown voting
• Social Security
• Medicare and Medicaid
• Environmental regulations and protections
• Financial regulations and protections
• Anti-monopoly and anti-trust laws
• Clean air
• Clean water
• Government support of green energy
• Public transportation
• Affirmative action
• Unions
• Public Schools
• Public lands
• Pubic parks
• etc.

The Republican Party has been seized by an extremist Theocratic and Oligarchic revolutionary movement.  They have been planning their revolution since the fall of the Confederacy, or at least since the FDR New Deal, or at least since the Civil Rights Movement and Women's Empowerment Movement.  

This is the White-Christian-Rich-Men-Take-Over-Just-Like-They're-Supposed-To Revolution.

Trump is just their battering ram.  He is the most easily manipulated person I have ever seen - money, praise, blackmail, etc.  He will sell out America for anything that he thinks benefits Donald Trump, he is incapable of thinking of anything other than himself. Other than destroying the rule of law, helping Putin, and being king for life, he doesn’t give a crap about the other agendas on the above list. He'll just sit in the White House in his poopy diapers watching TV that praises him and feel smugly vindicated.  

And, oh yes, he will destroy everyone who criticized him - all the judges that tried him, all the prosecutors that prosecuted him, all the witnesses who testified against him, all newspapers and magazines that opposed him, all media that doesn't spew the propaganda lies of the revolutionary tyrants, anyone who captures his attention that he wants to hurt.  

He will get very rich, and his "friends" will get very rich - with no Rule of Law, who can stop them?

Welcome to the Putinization of America - if these fanatics succeed in their revolution. 

But I believe in the goodness of America.  I believe we will stop this abomination.  But please understand that these folks are very serious.

Trump just keeps paying for the legal fees of those he sues and loses to

In case you didn't know:

Trump is ordered to pay legal fees after failed lawsuit over the Steele dossier

Trump lost that case and has to pay attorney fees of $338K.  Just like he had to pay about $400K attorney fees to the New York Times for a frivolous lawsuit against the paper that reported his history of deceptive and fraudulent business practices.  

Dumb person who has a decades long history of overwhelming small pocket plaintiffs with endless legal costs is running up against people who are not caving in to his cruelties.  And he not only loses the court cases but has to pay the legal costs of defending themselves against this bullying fraud.

He just keeps on losing.  

Prison soon is coming, I do believe.  He has been indicted for criminal activity, not "just" civil suits.  He is counting on corrupt judges and a corrupt Supreme Court to rescue him, but I think his end by date is coming soon.

Isn’t it past your jail time?

WAY past his jail time!

 

 

Give ‘em hell, Joe!

 State of the Union - Give ‘em hell, Joe!

Trump's court cases

 In case you don't know.... Trump has four court charges against him, and he has already lost one other.  Thomas Edsel summarizes:

"A Jan. 30 to Feb. 1 YouGov survey asked voters whether they knew 

a) that Trump has “been charged with falsifying business records to conceal hush-money payments to a porn star,” 

b) that he “has been charged with taking highly classified documents from the White House and with obstructing efforts to retrieve them,” 

c) that he “has been charged with conspiring to overturn the results of a presidential election” and 

d) that he “has been charged with attempting to obstruct the certification of a presidential election.”

Of those surveyed, 20 to 25 percent said they did not know, and 20 to 25 percent said they were “not sure” what the charges against Trump were; in other words, nearly half of those surveyed had little or no comprehension of the array of allegations against him."

In addition he has already been found guilty of decades of business fraud in his New York businesses and has been fined nearly half a billion dollars.

Why are so many uninformed about Trump's crimes?  Because they are locked into propaganda media to get their "news", and the right-wing extremist propaganda media don't tell them the news, just the distortions and lies.   Proof of this is that Fox News had to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787 Million for deliberately lying to its audience (in order to keep them from switching the channel) and telling them that the election had been stolen from Trump and the Dominion voting machines were rigged.  It was a lie. They knew it was a lie. It was proven they knew it was a lie.  They were sued and paid lots and lots and lots of money as a result.

It amazes me how uninformed so many "Republicans" are.  But so it is. It is the way extremist authoritarians overthrow a democracy.

One of the many dangers of a Trump presidency

In case you didn't know...

Miles Taylor, the Department of Homeland Security's former chief of staff, has issued this firsthand account of trying to brief the Former Guy about national security - like talking to a five year old:

"What we saw week in and week out, for me, after two-and-a-half years in that administration, was terrifying," he recalled of his years serving as a Trump appointee. "We would go in to try to talk to him about a pressing national security issue, cyberattack, terrorism threat…he wasn't interested in those things."

And, oh yes, if you live in a blue state?  no federal assistance for you for disasters: 

"...Trump intentionally withheld funding from California to support its wildfire response because it is a traditionally Democratic state."

And Republican voters have just given this dangerous lunatic the nomination for President.  There is no Republican Party.  It disappeared in 2016, any other thoughts are dangerously naive and delusional.  

Some good news

 What do you know? France has said no to theocratic extremists in their country.  

"French Lawmakers Enshrine Access to Abortion in Constitution

Legislators passed an amendment giving women the “guaranteed freedom” to end their pregnancies...""

Thank you, France.  France gives Women empowerment to control their own lives rather than submit to theocratic dictates of times long ago.

To all those who think that they should not have abortions - don't.  But don't force others to live by the beliefs of your minority religions.  Please.  The first amendment promises freedom OF religion and freedom FROM religion.  In America, the Constitution is above the beliefs of any religion.

Thank you France.  America is about to speak this November, and we will be speaking about women's empowerment pretty clearly, I most certainly hope.

Putin is destroying America via Trump and Johnson

 The United States of America is being destroyed by Validimir Putin.  Just like he wants to.  

That is, the United Sates of America is being destroyed by Donald J Trump.  Just like Putin is telling him to.

That is, the United Staes of America is being destroyed by the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, White Christian Nationalist Mike Johnson, just like trump is telling him to.

How?  By destroying the confidence of America’s allies in the ability and willingness of America to honor our commitments and protect them against invasion. All of NATO is watching Putin/Trump/Johnson refuse to send $60 billion of military aid to Ukraine. China is watching too. Taiwan is watching, I am sure.  Not to mention history is watching. 

Is this the end of Pax Americana?  Do Republican politicians watch Russians kill those on the front lines defending democracy and resisting autocracy and root for Putin?  So far, that is what it looks like to me. (None of this has anything to do with the border, “the border” is just the cover story- this is about helping Putin and turning America’s back on its honorable commitments)

Everyone in Ukraine knows Mike Johnson’s name and how the pro-Putin Trump is telling him what to do.  Ukrainian morale is being harmed, and as we know Ukraine has always been overmatched but successful because of their fierce fighting spirit. So Putin is clear that breaking the spirit of Ukraine is his key. Trump knows it too. As does Johnson. But they are on Putin’s side. Johnson because he sees Putin as an ally in hating gays and controlling women. Trump because…Putin says nice things about him. 

By the way, most the money for Ukraine goes to Americans who manufacture the weapons for Ukraine.

It is up to the Republicans in the House to force Johnson to allow a vote which will pass with both Democrat and Republican votes. Are there any Republicans left in the “Republican Party”.  Or are they all just MAGA zombies and cowering hypocrites unable to just say no to Putin/Trump?

CPAC extremists vow to destroy American democracy

 For those who don’t know, here is the heart of what used to be the Republican Party - at the CPAC meeting:

“ Alt-right conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec vowed to finish what rioters began on Jan. 6 by working to “overthrow” democracy “completely.”

Posobiec made the comments during the opening day of CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, in Washington, D.C., Wednesday.

“Welcome to the end of democracy!” Posobiec declared. “We’re here to overthrow it completely. We didn’t get all the way there on January 6th, but we will endeavor to get rid of it and replace it with this right here,” he said, holding his fist in the air. “That’s right, because all glory is not to government, all glory to God.”

The White Christian Nationalists have given up on democracy because they are repulsive theocratic authoritarians and cannot win outside of deep red enclaves. They have been preparing for their violent overthrow of America for decades. And here they are. Trump is just the current battering ram. 

But actual America will defeat these fanatics who collect in extremist huddles and pump themselves up with bravado. 

Alabama to prosecute make-believe abortion BEFORE impregnation

 It’s not just Trump who crushes individual freedoms in America.  Christo-fascists are showing us who they are. In their extreme anti-abortion fanaticism they are actually impeding pregnancy in deep red Alabama - preventing women and couples who desperately want a baby from in vitro fertilization:

“ Alabama’s largest hospital paused in vitro fertilization treatments Wednesday …”. 

What?  

“ It has become standard medical protocol during in vitro fertilization to extract as many eggs as possible from a woman, then to fertilize them to create embryos before freezing them. Generally, only one embryo is transferred at a time into the uterus in order to maximize the chances of successful implantation and a full-term pregnancy.”

So now the fanatics are charging murder BEFORE impregation?

Extremism ends up having no limits. It just keeps relentlessly inflicting more and more domination and cruelty. Of course, cruelty by a tyrant is the point, is it not?  You must submit totally to the will of the “superior”.  Or else!

Good grief. 

Short summary of the Republican Party

 

1860 to 2024.

The end…

Russia takes key Ukrainian town Avdiivka because House Republicans refuse to arm Ukraine

 Putin orders Trump to stop arming Ukraine, so Trump orders House Republicans to stop arming Ukraine, so House Speaker Mike Johnson refuses to bring the Senate funding bill for a vote, and Speaker Johnson sends the House home. They go home. Go home. 

Ukrainians die defending their country, defending Europe, defending democracy, defending America. 

Republicans went home. Ukrainians are dying. As Trump said, to MAGA cheers “Russia can do what the hell it wants”. 

The Republican House did not do this because of the American border. That’s just the cover story. The Republican House did this to help Putin conquer Ukraine. Because the Putin/Trump wing of the Republican Party has figured out how to win total authoritarian control over the House, and thus control the foreign policy of America, and they are on Putin’s side. 

So, Russia has conquered a key Ukrainian town. 

This extremist, authoritarian, pro-Putin MAGA Cult is killing Ukrainians. Why?  In order to end Pax Americana.  To push the world into The control of Authoritarian rule by those that the MAGA Cult admires and wants to be like - Putin, Xi, all the new Caesars. They want to be just like them, just like Putin. 

 I believe some of them are compromised (blackmail bribery etc.) and under the control of Putin’s GRU - starting with the Former Guy. Some are just fools, have been fooled. Some are active agents of Russia.  Oh well. 

These folks are going to lose in 2024. By a lot. Blowout coming. 

Putin's America - coming fast

 Two related stories today.  The first is the terrible news that Putin opponent Navalny died in prison - he was killed by Vladimir Putin.

"Aleksei A. Navalny died in prison, the Russian authorities said. The anticorruption campaigner rose to become the most prominent critic of President Vladimir V. Putin."

To state the obvious, Putin's Russia is a deeply corrupt police state with no real Rule of Law, only Rule of Fascist Tyrant.

The second story hits closer to home - threats of violence against judges and prosecutors in America.  

"US Marshals Service Director Ronald Davis sounded the alarm on a dramatic increase in the number of threats aimed at federal judges and prosecutors, telling lawmakers that the development "constitutes a substantial risk to our democracy."

Our Putin wannabe Former Guy, Donald Trump, is already damaging the Rule of Law in America.  How?  Authoritarian/autocratic/fascist threats and violence against the legal system that has the temerity to hold this lifelong criminal to account.  And this is while he is out of office! 

What happens if he is re-elected?  Welcome to Putin's America.  Can anyone doubt that if the Former Guy lucks into the presidency that he will imprison the judges and prosecutors who charged him with his crimes?  How about the witnesses that testified against him, from Michael Cohen and Mark Meadows to Cassidy Hutchinson?

Not only will the Rule of Law disappear in America, but it is already under serious, sustained, threat of violence.  The "Republican Party" has disappeared.  It has been replaced by the MAGA Cult, by extremist White Supremacist Christian Nationalism, by Oligarchic deregulation of polluting and corrupt BigBidness.

My deepest hope is that the very few real Republicans left in the "Republican Party" realize their political party long ago disappeared and had been taken over by Steve Bannon revolutionaries, Evangelical Paul Pressler evangelical "prophets", and polluting Oligarchs and addictive pill pushers.

Summary - Trump and his extremists are destroying the Rule of Law in America.  Please understand that.

Please step aside Joe

President Biden has two jobs - President and Candidate for president. 

He does his job as president quite well, from vaccinating America and stopping the Pandemic, to passing the infrastructure bill, to taming the pandemic caused inflation, to creating record breaking jobs, to coordinating the free world to fight the Russian invasion, to promoting American computer chips industry, to reestablishing American alliances and world leadership, and perhaps more accomplishments that are not on the top of my head. 

His popularity tanked when he carried out The Trump initiated, and Biden desired, withdrawal from Afghanistan as we saw the Taliban extremists drive us out humiliated. His popularity never recovered. 

His second job, his more important job now, is to be candidate for president. And he is terrible at it. Although he runs his administration with authority and competence he looks like a bumbling, confused, fragile elderly man who has lost more than one step.  

I want him to step aside, very very soon, and announce he will not seek and will not accept the presidency in 2024. 

The biggest myth in politics is that the Democrats don’t have anyone behind Biden who can beat Trump.  Are you kidding?  There are many very talented and energetic Democrats who would wipe the floor with the mentally ill, stupid, insecure, terrified, mentally declining old man Trump.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. 

Illinois Governor, JB Pritzger.  

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. 

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. 

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear.  

California Governor Gavin Newsom.

There are probably others that are not on the top of my head. 

The stakes in this election are the highest since Lincoln ran in 1860 - the very survival of American Democracy and the American Constitution. The Former Guy has already announced he will destroy the Constitution, destroy the Constitutional balance of power, and he has promised to never leave the presidency. 

There are no policy issues that are worth ending American democracy and the American Constitution. 

I am afraid that Biden is not up to the most important job since Lincoln ran in 1860 - the job of Democratic Candidate to defeat the most dangerous threat to America since South Carolina seceded upon Lincoln’s election. 

Please step aside Joe. You were a great transitional president. You did the most necessary thing in my lifetime, you beat the Former Guy in 2020. You got 9.4% more votes than that sad little overgrown child. 

Thank you. 

Reduce oil based plastic with cork?

 Fossil fuel based plastic lasts forever, destroys oceans, creates mountains of ugly waste, gets into our food and into our bodies.  It was wonderful when it was invented, and has, like so many good things, become a problem because it is now everywhere and is damaging to the environment and to our bodies. But...

There are alternatives.  It seems that people have figured out how to use cork - cork! - to replace plastic.  

"Now cork is experiencing a revival as more industries look for sustainable alternatives to plastic and other materials derived from fossil fuels. The bark is now used for flooring and furniture, to make shoes and clothes and as insulation in homes and electric cars. Portugal’s exports reached an all-time high of 670 million euro ($728 million) in the first half of 2023."

And the cork trees are not cut down, just the bark is stripped off and regrows in about 9 years.  So, the trees still pull carbon out of the atmosphere.

I believe in the resilience and innovation of our human species and I celebrate advances in sustainable technology.  California just experienced Climate Change driven massive floods and wind.  Earlier the wandering winter jet stream brought an arctic winter into the Northern states and down into parts of the South.  

But many people are dedicated to reducing our carbon pollutions into the atmosphere. And I am glad to see examples of them. 

On the verge of total collapse?

I think the Former Guy may be about to have a total public meltdown.  He has no center - there is no "there there".  He has no internally based self.  One much wiser than I has said that if we want to build our self-esteem, we must build upon internal qualities - like honesty, integrity, responsibility, self-trust, don't consciously hurt people, and be real. These internal qualities are built by ourselves and cannot be taken away.

The Former Guy has none of these internal qualities.  Indeed he is deeply dishonest, has zero integrity, only blames and never takes responsibility, manipulates and threatens rather than trusts, deliberately and consciously hurts people, and is only a show, a pretense, an image, a "brand" - not real at all.

So, what does he do?  His entire life is built around insatiably needing outside validation.  He proves that he is valuable by having money.  He has no self-esteem, so he demands the worship of others - he is a slave to his rallies with adoring fans of his celebrity.  He demands that people submit to him and kiss his ring.  He cannot admit a mistake.  He cannot apologize.  He cannot be seen as "weak".  He cannot be seen as human.  He has created a super-image of a semi-god. To be rich, to be worshipped, is what it means to him to be valuable - an insatiable need of outside approval, outside worship, outside validation.

And he is about to lose lots and lots of money.  And thus, he is about to lose his Brand of Being Rich, his brand of being what he thinks as being a "winner'.  I think that there may be a point that he crosses where he has a total melt-down. He seems to me to be disintegrating daily.  His speeches are becoming more disconnected and bizarre and demented.  There may be a "Caine Mutiny Trial" moment that is so mentally ill that the "conservative" voters finally just turn away. (See the excellent Humphrey Bogart movie) Those turning away can pretend that they never really liked him much anyhow.  And his political career, and his  pretend business success all comes crashing down.

And he will be, like Captain Queeg of the Caine Mutiny, looked at with pity rather than fear. And he will be, like Senator Joe McCarthy, shouting into an emptying room "Point of order...point of order!"

Just turn away, my dear "conservative" friends.  You just made a mistake in voting for him and admiring him.  Just let this sick person go.  Like his father before him who ended his life with Alzheimer's, he is disintegrating before your eyes.  Let him go, Please.

Summary of British disgust of Trump

The Former Guy is many disgusting things.  This writeup from a British wit says it so concisely.  I just show it in directly, no comment needed, other than a hearty you-betcha!:

 Someone on Quora asked "Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?" Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England wrote the following response:

"A few things spring to mind.

Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem.

For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed.

So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump's limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.

Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever.

I don't say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman.

But with Trump, it's a fact. He doesn't even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.

Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers.

And scarily, he doesn't just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.

There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It's all surface.

Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront.

Well, we don't. We see it as having no inner world, no soul.

And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist.

Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that.

He's not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat.

He's more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.

And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully.

That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead.

There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down.

So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think 'Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy' is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:

• Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.

• You don't need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.

This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss.

After all, it's impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum.

God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid.

He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart.

In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump.

And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish:

'My God... what... have... I... created?

If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set."