Category Archives: national news

national news

More of the same trash from Trump

I won’t pattycake this issue with you … but so help me when I heard that Donald Trump had a big announcement to make during his prime-time TV talk I was hoping for something really spectacular.

That would be an announcement that he was quitting the presidency, that he’d had enough of the negativity surrounding him and his administration. Truth be told, I was hoping for a sort of an “LBJ moment,” that might remind us of the time in March 1968 when President Johnson announced on TV that he was suspending the bombing of North Vietnam and then dropped the biggest bombshell of all by declaring he “would not accept” the Democratic nomination “for another term as your president.”

I musta been living in a dream world. I get it. What we got from Trump instead was a warmed-over speech about unconfirmed and unprovable claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. What a crock of sh**!

Trump has no more ideas left in that vacuous, pointed skull of his. He is relying now on the raw emotion of the MAGA morons who have bought into his election theft rubbish.

He said he would release documents that never have been seen. That was his “major announcement.” Big fu***** deal, Donald!

If anyone on Earth is guilty of attempting an election theft, it’s Donald John Trump. And, brother, we had better wake up to the fact that the incumbent president is the thief in chief.

national news

ICE goons are back at it

The individuals who comprise the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency do not deserve to be called “law enforcement officers,” as they routinely break the law with actions that result in the deaths of innocent U.S. residents.

I’ll stick with terms I believe more closely describe the character of these masked, heavily armed and unidentifiable individuals.

You know, terms like goons, thugs, creeps, crooks … and toss in a**holes.

These ICE goons keep killing people they should never have stopped in the first place. At last count, I’ve heard 11 people have died at the hands of ICE thugs. This also shouldn’t surprise a single American patriot, which is that Donald Trump — the POTUS who elevated ICE to the front of our discussion on immigration — never says a word that is remotely critical of what we can know about the deaths of these victims.

ICE agents continue to run amok among us. They continue to pounce on residents hiding behind those masks while adorned with body armor and carrying weapons designed to inflict maximum pain on those who dare to resist. Many of them don’t bother to inform the arrested the reason they are being detained. Their task, seemingly as defined by the Homeland Security department, is to intimidate the public.

Nothing I say on this blog will change anything. Trump will continue to deploy the thugs to seek migrants from sh**hole countries. Just know that ICE only disgraces itself in the eyes of Americans who are repulsed by the behavior of individuals who break the law while pretending to enforce it.

local news, national news, political news

Lowering flags for this clown?

Someone will have to explain why flags all over Collin County, Texas, have lowered to half-staff … and I damn sure hope it isn’t to honor the memory of a piss-ant partisan who died over the weekend.

I have concluded that the flags are flying at half-staff because Sen. Lindsey Graham — a Republican from South Carolina — has passed away.

Now, I must ask: What in the name of politics has Graham done to benefit Texas, other than to fall in line with his Big Daddy, Donald J. Trump? Graham once had the balls to tell the truth about Trump … when he was running against him for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. He called Trump a “race-baiting” nitwit; he called the future POTUS an individual who is unfit for public office, let alone the presidency.

He fell in line about the time Trump secured the party’s nomination that year and has been licking the liar in chief’s boots ever since.

And for that — and virtually nothing else — he’s being honored with businesses, government offices and individual property owners flying flags at half-staff.

Give me a … break.

national news

Sen. Graham is gone, but damage is done

I wish I could speak well of Sen. Lindsey Graham now that he’s dead … but the hard truth is that I cannot in good conscience speak of him without tossing out a qualifier or two.

Graham was a South Carolina Republican who became one of Donald Trump’s fiercest allies in the Senate. And this was after he portrayed himself as one of Trump’s most ferocious critics. It makes me wonder: Which Lindsey Graham is the real thing and which one is the phony baloney fraud.

I will say this about Graham: He bucked Trump by becoming a close friend of Ukraine President Volodymr Zellensky, who had drawn Trump’s wrath because he had the temerity to stand up to Russian strongman/goon/thug Vladimir Putin’s illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine. OK, that’s one positive thing.

Graham, though, became a shill for Trump, even after declaring “I’m out” when it came to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the capital.

Graham also maintained close friendships with politicians on the other side. He was dear friends with former President Joe Biden and the late Sen. Joseph Lieberman. Graham once declared that Biden was the finest man ever knew in politics. Then he would remain silent as Trump trashed Biden repeatedly. What gives with that?

So, Lindsey Graham is gone. History will record that he was a complicated man driven by complex motives.

Still, I will wish him a peaceful rest in eternity.

national news

Come clean, old timer

Mitch McConnell has a few million “bosses” in Kentucky who have every right to know whether he’s able to represent their interests in the U.S. Senate.

McConnell, who is more than 80 years of age, is hospitalized with an undisclosed illness. He’s been out of action for several weeks. His family isn’t talking about his condition. There actually has been some discussion that he might have died. I don’t think that’s the case.

But this matter brings to mind the issue of elderly men and women in public office and whether they are able to serve the public they were elected to represent. McConnell, the former Republican leader of the Senate, once was a formidable political figure who controlled legislative flow.

This matter spreads across party lines. You’ll recall how the late Diane Feinstein, a California Democrat, missed many months of votes in the Senate. She died from her ailments. Then we have the case of President Biden, who was running for re-election in 2024 when he stumbled badly during a debate with Donald Trump. Questions arose about the president’s mental acuity. Biden said he had all the snap he needed to govern, but he pulled out of his re-election effort.

McConnell’s condition needs to be dealt with openly by the senator. If he is incapable of speaking for himself, his bosses in Kentucky need to know. He is drawing a healthy six-figure salary to make decisions on behalf of the people of his state.

This matter won’t go away … until Mitch McConnell comes clean.

national news

Still waiting for that ‘atta boy!’ moment

I believe I once wrote on my blog that I would welcome the opportunity to offer praise to Donald Trump when the moment presented itself.

It might have been during his first term as POTUS. I’m still waiting for that moment.

Believe me when I say this, even though many of you might doubt my sincerity, but I truly want Trump to succeed at something, anything that advances the nation’s cause. However, the longer it goes without such an occurrence, the more difficult it becomes.

We’re now fairly deep into this individual’s second term in the White House. He promised it would be worse for many Americans than his first go-round. He vowed to be take revenge against those who have wronged him, that he would be the nation’s “retribution.” You remember that? Sure you do. Because he has delivered on that pledge. The way I figure it, that is about the only promise he made that he’s kept. The rest of ’em? Fuhgetaboutit!

Dude promised to end wars. He said he would end the Ukraine war on the first day of his second term. He said prices would come down immediately. He vowed to cure all our nation’s ills by executive fiat. During his first inaugural, he said the “the American carnage” on our streets ends “right here, right now.”

The guy is zero for whatever on his agenda.

Meanwhile, critics like me are waiting to offer him praise. Dang it, but it’s getting harder each week that goes by.

I’m a patient old man. However, everything has its limits.

national news

Miller takes the cake

I once rated FBI Director Kash Patel as the worst pick among Donald Trump’s inner circle of advisers … but I’ve changed my mind.

The new “leader” that category happens to be an individual who wasn’t confirmed by the Senate, but he sure has Trump’s ear. He is senior White House adviser Steven Miller. And the more I hear from this moron, the more likely he seems to be cementing his place among the infamous cabal of folks who are advising the POTUS.

Miller is reportedly working policies that demonize immigrants. Not just those who are here without documentation. But all of them. Every single person who is born in another country, but who comes to the United States voluntarily to build a life for themselves and those whom they love.

I take such policy bastardization seriously. I am the grandson of immigrants. All four of my grandparents settled in the United States not knowing a word of English. My maternal grandfather might be the lone exception, as he had been a merchant sailor and traveled the world. I am going to suppose he picked up a bit of English on his worldwide voyage. The rest of them? Not a word.

They didn’t make a fortune once they got settled in. My grandmothers didn’t work outside the home. They had their hands full keeping the families in order. Mom’s father ended up running a bakery in Portland, Ore. Dad’s father ran a shoeshine stand also in Portland. But they paid their taxes. They played by the rules and between both sets of grandparents, they produced 10 children, all of whom contributed greatly to this nation.

So, for dipshits like Steven Miller to want to shut the door on future immigrants who want to settle in this land is to deny this great country the opportunity to expand on its greatness. Every president prior to the Numbnuts in Chief has recognized the value of the diversity that immigration brings to the United States of America. He is being fed a line of BS from Stephen Miller who insists wrongly that immigrants are to be shunned and not welcomed.

national news

Happy birthday, America!

Today we wish our country a happy birthday. 250 of them have come and gone since the wise men who founded the nation gathered to sign the Declaration of Independence from the English Crown.

The declaration in fact was a long list of grievances the Colonies had against the Crown. Thus, the nation was formed by an act of dissent from the edicts of another nation that governed us. And yet … we now hear from the current American government that dissent is an act of treason, that it’s not right to disagree with the pronouncements from the nation’s capital. Such a belief is totally counter to what the founders believed. Indeed, they produced a government with a tenet that declares that dissent is the most democratic and patriotic thing we can do as Americans.

The folks in DC have it wrong. The founders 250 years ago had it right when they declared that we were “endowed by our Creator” with rights that could not be abridged and trifled with. They included the rights to “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Well, I am one American patriot has lived a good life, I am liberated to the max and I am still pursuing happiness.

But I continue that pursuit against the current of rhetoric that comes from D.C. It comes from our current president, a man I happen to detest even though I accept with no sense of pleasure that he was elected duly in the latest presidential election.

I don’t want to make this brief salute to our nation about our current troubles. They’re going to work themselves out in fairly short order when vote for the next Congress in two years after that when we vote for president and yet another Congress.

The founders got it right when they built a governmental framework around a Constitution that was built to withstand the challenges if faces. They didn’t get it right. Indeed, the founders knew that perfection was impossible, as they wrote they were seeking a “more perfect Union.” We’ll continue that struggle through all the troubles we encounter.

They ended up with a pretty damn good piece of work. Happy birthday, America.

national news

How should I react to the Reflecting Pool?

You might know that I will be traveling to Washington, D.C., for an overnight stay as part of an Honor Flight celebration that pays tribute to veterans for their service.

The trip is set for Sept. 11; we’ll return to North Texas the evening of the following day.

Part of the trip will be to tour the various memorials and monuments along the DC Mall that, as you might have heard, features the Reflecting Pool that Donald Trump sought to turn American Flag Blue to honor the nation’s 250th birthday. It didn’t work out.

The pool turned green because of algae — or so I understand.

The question I am facing is how do I react when I lay my eyes on the Reflecting Pool. Do I do nothing? Do I make a loud, agonizing groan of disgust? Do I fake being thrilled to see it?

I am likely to offer a four-letter word or two to whomever is nearby when I utter it. I find the whole thing to be just one more hideous example of Trump’s unfitness to hold the office he will occupy for another two years. He didn’t need to spend taxpayer money to gussy up the pool. It was a no-bid deal went to a friend of his. And the idiot blew it!

I damn sure am not going to let the sight of that monstrosity ruin what I believe should be a wonderful experience for myself and the other veterans with whom I will travel to the nation’s capital.

The Honor Flight intends to shower us with love and respect. I intend fully to accept all of it with humility and pride.

Donald Trump, national news

Pay attention to what matters … Donald

This has been clear ever since Donald Trump took the presidential oath on his first tour of the White House … the dude has too much serious work to consider, which is why he wastes so much time lampooning TV comics, critics of assorted importance and all the little things he ought to let slide.

Barack Obama said it well recently when asked about Trump’s fixation with him, a predecessor in the White House. If Trump were seriously committed to working for us, President Obama said, he would have zero time to fire off social media messages at 2 in the morning. TV comic Stephen Colbert noted as well that “We’re just clowns.” Trump should spend a minute of his time wondering about the fate of comedians or what they’re saing about him.

Trump has exhibited zero interest or inclination to concern him with policy details or the effects of decisions he makes from the Oval Office. His unfitness for public service is on display ever waking hour of every single day.

He tears down the East Wing of the White House to build a ballroom; he decks out the Oval Office in gold ornaments; he drains the DC Mall reflecting pool in what is turning into the boondoggle of the year; he slaps his name on the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in a disgraceful display of disrespect for a slain president.

The man is an idiot. Pure and simple.