Monthly Archives: September 2019

national news

Trump’s lying might be overtaking him … finally!

Donald Trump’s lying is boundless, endless, bottomless.

He lies about big things. Little things. Important things. Trivial things.

The president recently said that Alabama was in the path of Hurricane Dorian. The weather forecasters said, um, no … it wasn’t. Did the president own a mistake, a misstatement, a slight bit of confusion? No. He made it worse.

He produced a map with a Sharpie line drawn beyond the official boundaries showing the impact that Dorian would have on the southeastern United States. Who put the line there? Who thought to include Alabama in Dorian’s path? Was it, oh, Donald Trump?

He then blathered on about early “models” showed Alabama in line to be clobbered by Dorian. No. It wasn’t. It never was part of the impact zone.

So this brings me to a critical point. Why does the president continue to lie even when a simple mea culpa would clear him even with his most ardent critics?

There is a growing line of thought that the president’s “pathology” forces him to lie. He is pathologically incapable of telling the truth. He cannot speak with any semblance of honesty on any topic at any time.

He has lied about how he made his zillions. He lies about what he witnesses at the time of national crisis. He has lied about attending funerals of “friends” who died on 9/11. Has lied about his father’s place of birth.

On and on it goes.

He lies about every single issue one can imagine.

The Alabama lie is just the latest. It also just might start to reveal even to his most ardent supporters that he cannot be trusted to tell the truth about anything at all.

That prompts another question: How do these Trump fanatics justify their continuing to stand by this pathological liar?

national news

Trump robs Pentagon trough to pay for The Wall

If there was a signature promise that Donald Trump made in 2016 while campaigning for president of the United States, it was this:

I am going to build a beautiful wall and Mexico is going to pay for it.

He made the promise countless times while campaigning for the office. Has he delivered on that one? Hah! Nope.

Mexico has said “no way” will that country pay for it.

Instead, he has just ordered the diversion of $3.6 billion of money already appropriated for the Pentagon to, that’s right, help fund construction of The Wall along our southern border.

Let me see if I have this right: The president is so intent on building The Wall that he is willing to sacrifice funds targeted for actual military construction projects. Is that a form of weakening our national defense network?

More critically, is that even legal, given that Congress has the authority to appropriate money for executive branch functions?

Trump is playing with our money. He is seeking to build that “beautiful” wall with funds set aside for national defense. Yes, the president considers illegal immigration to be a national security concern.

However, what in the name of campaign rhetoric has become of that signature promise he made, that Mexico is going to pay for The Wall?

local news

This ‘life experience’ will last forever

I am not inclined to publish blog posts such as what I am about to post today, but given that I note that High Plains Blogger includes “life experience” among its topics, I thought I would share this experience with you.

It goes like this.

I had just returned from the Army the previous summer of 1970. I enrolled in college, wanting to restart the civilian life that was interrupted by induction into the military two years earlier, and which included a tour in Vietnam.

One day I was sitting in the student union, taking a break from my studies. Then I saw this girl. I decided in that moment that I wanted to meet this young woman. As luck would have it, that opportunity presented itself in short order.

We found ourselves sitting at a table with a mutual acquaintance. He amused us both. We made eye contact, winking and chuckling at the stories this fellow was telling.

I introduced myself. She did as well. We liked each other right away.

We dated for a time. Our relationship matured and developed rapidly. It evolved quickly into a loving relationship. Then we decided to get married. The marriage occurred on Sept. 4, 1971 in a small Presbyterian Church in southeast Portland, Ore.

The preacher who married us told us the ceremony would take 22 minutes. It was — dare I say it — the quickest 22 minutes of my life. 

Just like that, we were husband and wife. Our sons would come along soon.

It has been the greatest ride imaginable. Neither of us could have imagined the places we would see, the things we would do, the path our combined life would take.

It all happened 48 years ago.

What is the life experience I learned? I tell young men a simple fact, which is that you shouldn’t go looking for the girl of your dreams. She will appear when you least expect it.

I am living, breathing proof of that fundamental truth.

Happy anniversary, Kathy Anne.

International news

‘Congratulations,’ Poland … on being invaded and brutalized?

Donald Trump’s lack of historical perspective is astonishing in the extreme, such as what he displayed today when given a chance to comment on the 80th year since the start of World War II.

A reporter asked the president if he had any words to offer to Poland, where he was scheduled to visit this week to commemorate the launch of that massive and bloody conflict. He stayed home to “monitor” the progress of Hurricane Dorian.

Trump mentioned that the vice president, Mike Pence, was going to “represent me” and the United States at event in Poland marking the event.

And then … he offered a word of “congratulations” to Poland. Yes, congratulations. For what? For being invaded and brutalized by the 20th century’s most despicable tyrant, Adolf Hitler? Or, for being attacked as well from the east by the Red Army, which operated under a non-aggression pact signed by Hitler and Soviet tyrant Josef Stalin?

Trump then offered his customary ignorant platitudes about Poland being a “great country” with “great people,” compliments he could apply to virtually any country on Earth — with the exception of the “sh**hole” nations that produce all those immigrants who seek entry into the United States.

The president’s lack of knowledge of — or empathy for — the suffering of others is manifestly evident to me when he makes observations such as what he offered today.

Disgraceful.

national news

‘No one cares’? Yes, we do care

Ed Rendell is a fierce Democratic Party partisan and an acknowledged supporter of former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign for the presidency of the United States.

He also is mistaken when he says “no one cares” about the gaffes that keep flying out of the former VP’s mouth on occasion.

Rendell, the former Democratic national chairman/Pennsylvania governor/Philadelphia mayor, has written that the only folks who give a hoot about Biden’s misstatements are the media and politicians. Hmm. I believe he needs to rethink that.

Rendell has written a column about it for The Hill. See it here.

I will agree with this assertion, however: Biden’s gaffes are not nearly in the same league as Donald John Trump’s continuing full frontal assault on the truth.

Biden does have this annoying tendency of mangling his facts, as he did when he sought to tell the story of a warrior who he said was awarded a Silver Star for valor. Military officials and witnesses to what Biden said occurred contend he got some of the details wrong, that he conflated events into something no one recognized. Biden stands by what he said.

Is this the same as Trump making preposterous declarations that he uses to glorify himself and inflate his role any event imaginable? Not even close, man!

Ed Rendell’s allegiance to VP Biden is understandable in this regard: They both have Pennsylvania roots, as Biden was born in Scranton, but moved to nearby Delaware as a young man and served the neighboring state in the U.S. Senate for 36 years before being elected as vice president in 2008.

However, Americans do care about Biden’s misstatements. The ex-veep needs to sharpen up his message and avoid these kinds of mistakes, which I believe he is capable of doing.

As for Trump, well … he’s a lost cause.

environmental news

Meanwhile, the Amazon forests are burning

Americans are rightly worried about the damage that Hurricane Dorian is likely to bring to the eastern coast of the United States.

I am, too.

I also am worried about the damage being done to our planet’s atmosphere by those wildfires along the Amazon River watershed. I have heard the region called the “oxygen chamber” of the planet. However, many millions of trees are destroyed by the fire, exacerbating the climate change that is plaguing Earth.

The Amazon fire story has been shoved aside for the time being, thanks partly to the rain that fell on much of the region in recent days and also because our attention has been diverted to the peril Dorian is bring to the east coast.

It’s kind of a karma thing with me. I had written a blog post just a few days before the world was startled by the immense Amazon forest fires. I remain deeply worried about the impact that deforestation has had on changing climate worldwide. That worry only deepened when we heard about the fire that incinerated so much of the forest.

We all know of the value of that forest land. It produces oxygen to replace that atmospheric compound being consumed by living creatures that inhabit Earth. With fewer trees the less oxygen is generated to counteract the carbon dioxide poured into the atmosphere.

Yes, the result is dire. It results in a warming of Earth’s atmospheric shroud and it produces dramatic and potentially catastrophic changes in our planet’s climate.

It’s never a good time for vast stretches of forest land to go up in smoke. In this period of time, as Earth’s climate is changing, those fires present a clear danger to the survival of the only planet we have.

Climate change? It is no hoax!

national news

Stay focused on the crisis, Mr. President

If only you hadn’t popped off so brazenly when Barack Obama was serving as president of the United States, Mr. President.

But you did, accusing the president of playing too much golf while the world was spinning out of control.

So, what are you doing playing all that golf while the eastern coast of the country you were elected to govern is getting set to be hammered by a monster hurricane named Dorian.

I get that you canceled your trip to Poland to “monitor” the storm as it approached the United States. Yes, I wondered whether you were more concerned about Mar-a-Lago than the citizens of the country, but I’ll give you credit at least for staying in this country while the storm strengthened.

But for criminy sakes, Mr. President, you castigated your immediate predecessor for playing gold. You said you would be too busy making America great again to play any golf while you served as president. But your golf-playing schedule has gone far and away more than anything President Obama did.

Hey, I don’t actually begrudge your golfing holidays. I know that you’re always just a phone call away from the center of the storm — pun intended, for sure.

However, you keep talking about how things look, how they affect your standing. I do not believe the notion of your enjoying a round or three of golf while millions of your fellow Americans are hunkering down make you look good.

Not at all, Mr. President.

What the hell. I want you out of office after the next presidential election as it is. If only you would understand the damage you do when you say one thing and do something else.

You don’t understand anything. That’s the problem, Mr. President, with your holding that office in the first place.

environmental news

Huh? Trump hasn’t heard of a ‘Category 5 hurricane’?

This won’t require a lot of space on which to comment, but I am baffled/confused/astounded at one of the president’s latest pronouncements.

As monstrous Hurricane Dorian bears down on the East Coast of the United States, Donald John “Environmentalist in Chief” Trump said he isn’t sure he’s ever heard of a Category 5 hurricane.

Really, Mr. President? Are you fu***** serious?

How does the guy who says he knows “more about anything” on Earth make such a claim?

He calls himself the world’s No. 1 environmentalist. He says he knows “more about ISIS than the generals, believe me.” He calls himself the “king of debt.” He says he knows how to wheel and deal with the best of ’em. Trump calls himself the best, most knowledgeable, most coherent student of any field of any kind.

So he said he doesn’t think he’s ever heard of a Cat 5 storm.

Is this individual out of his mind? Don’t answer that question. I think I know.

national news

Happy Trails, Part 167: Now … to Plan B

EUGENE, Ore. — It helps to have a bit of good luck on your side.

Such was the case when we pulled into an RV park where we had made a reservation. I won’t tell you the name of the joint. I will say that it was in a sh**ty neighborhood. And …  I will tell you that the spot we had reserved was what the attendant at the office called a “curbside site.”

We pulled in. We grabbed the paperwork off the office door; the place was closed for the Labor Day holiday. We found our site. We tried to pull in. We couldn’t get close enough to the curb, because there was an RV-truck assembly in front of us. The lane marked at the rear of our RV made it extremely tight for us to unhitch the truck and remove it from our fifth wheel.

Then we made a command decision. We ain’t staying. We had the “luxury” of walking away because we didn’t put a deposit down.

We looked through our RV directory and found another site. We called. They were open! The lady at the desk said “Sure, we have a spot for you.” We made the arrangements and drove in.

So, what’s the moral of this brief tale?

I guess I need to check the “rating” of every place we select before calling ahead; we also need to be sure we can find a backup in case the first site is as unsuitable as this one turned out to be.

Hey, no harm, no foul.

Our good luck is holding firm.

crime news

Sen. Seliger thrust into middle of national debate

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A Texas state legislator, a fellow I know well — and someone I have supported strongly in this blog — finds himself at “ground zero” of the national debate over how to cure the scourge of gun violence.

State Sen. Kel Seliger of Amarillo, whose sprawling Texas Senate district covers Odessa in West Texas, has spoken for many Americans while commenting on this latest spasm of violence, which left seven people dead and dozens more injured.

According to the New York Times: “We’re not nearly past El Paso and then here it happens again,” said … Seliger, a Republican whose district includes Odessa and who is a former mayor of Amarillo, a city four hours north of where the attack unfolded. He said the attack forces people into the position of “not thinking to ourselves, ‘If this is going to happen again?’ but when it’s going to happen again.”

Seliger is not one to run from his political alliances, but I am struck at this moment by the TV ad he ran while seeking re-election in 2018; in the ad, he pulls away in his pickup while sporting a National Rifle Association sticker on the truck’s rear window. Yes, Seliger is proud of his NRA membership and I don’t for a moment believe he is going to renounce the organization in the wake of this latest massacre.

Seven people died in the slaughter in Odessa. Police killed the gunman in a fire fight.

I am wondering about the pressure Seliger is going to feel now as a senator representing a community victimized by this latest gun violence tragedy.

Seliger is my friend. I have tremendous personal affection for him; I also respect the service he has performed on behalf of his Senate district.

However, I do not want him to dig in with the NRA’s traditional mantra of keeping hands off of any effort to legislate a potential remedy to this kind of gun violence insanity.

I want this good man to stand strong in favor of working with legislators and members of Congress who ought to look for those legislative remedies and, yes, remain faithful to the Constitution’s Second Amendment.

I truly believe there’s a way to do this.