Author: admin

Owner of Personal Computer Training.

Trump Economy

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Robert Reich is a Master of Communication. Mr. Reich served as Secretary of Labor for Bill Clinton from 1993-1997. Additionally, he served in one position or another in the administrations of four presidents, including Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Mr. Reich is currently Chancellor of Public Policy at University of California, Berkley. The Trump Economy is under scrutiny in this shared video.

I am a huge fan of  Mr. Reich. He has a great series of videos produced for the lay public. Mr. Reich understands public policy and the economy. His YouTube videos feature quickly drawn stick figures on giant white boards. With those two props Mr. Reich can explain anything, to anyone. He is brilliant.The video I am sharing is short and as usual incredibly informative. And if you just love Trump’s economic policies you really need to watch this.

Darlene

Trump Racism Is Bad For America-Part II

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TRUMP RACISM IS BAD FOR AMERICA-PART ll

The Dark Jester

By T.K. McNeil

Trump Racism is Bad for America. I ended Part I of Trump Racism Is Bad For America by wondering aloud if we were about to return to the dark days of death squads, concentration camps, and gas ovens. Trump racism is obvious for anyone with eyes, ears, or a Twitter account. We are rocked out of our beds daily by angry and racially inflammatory 6 a.m. Tweets. Trump uses a practiced, coded language of dog whistles and red meat taunts that he pitches regularity to his MAGA hatted support base. The intent, an obviously planned effort to keep them agitated and ready for action. If nothing else, Trump’s base seems willfully ignorant and obsessed by fear. If Trump senses any ebbing in support he orders an extra rally, or maybe two; re-news attacks on the press; berates his pathetic Attorney General; but most notably, he intensifies attacks against immigrants, NFL players, and women. That’s how Trump racism works.

George H.W. Bus Approved Vicious Race Fear Attack Ads Against His Democratic Opponent Michael Dukakis

George H.W. Approved Race Fear Attack Ads Against His Democratic Opponent Michael Dukakis

Trump racism dressed as law and order. Have people forgotten Trump opened his campaign with an unprecedented tirade against Mexican “criminal, drug mules and rapists?” Trump has revived nativist themes that have not been heard aloud since George H.W. Bush. In 1988 HW supporters used the image of a black killer/rapist Willie Horton to effectively sabotage his opponent Michael Dukakis. Until now, that ad campaign was considered a true low point in political racist tactics.

Jump to today. In a similar tact Trump is replacing the face of black man Willie Horton with the brown face of illegal immigrant, and convicted cop killer, Luis Bracamontes. Hammering the anti-immigrant theme Trump claims that Democrats will open the country to criminals. Trump’s vitriol is toxic, but Trump is convinced that it was just such rhetoric that secured him the presidency. Instinctively, he keeps pushing the limits of what passes for barely acceptable political discourse toward an ever-darkening place.

More evidence of Trump racism keeps emerging.  Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal attorney for over a decade opens up about Trump racism. On Friday 11-2-2018 Vanity Fair published a damning portrait of the president. According to Cohen, Trump made frequent racist comments, most particularly against blacks. Cohen claimed that Trump frequently used the N word and other demeaning statements made about black people, their intellect, their abilities, their communities and even their countries. Cohen confirmed to Vanity Fair writer Emily Jane Fox that language reported by Omarosa Manigault Newman in her book, “Unhinged An Insider’s Account of the Trump White House” was typically Trump. So, Trump doesn’t limit his hate; he hates everybody that isn’t orange.

Trump Racism Is Stoking Racial Fear And Hatred

Trump Racism Is Stoking Racial Fear And Hatred

Keeping the fire hot.  Trump has never stopped his campaigning. He has never become president of all the people. He is president of a core base and his goal is to keep them frightened and angry. He wants them fired up ready to attack whenever and wherever he points his accusatory finger. Trump racism is emerging more clearly as time progresses. Trump’s inflammatory language, reckless “otherism” and dehumanizing xenophobic attacks are clearly designed to divide the country.

Fear and Loathing is part of the performance.  It’s no surprise that we as a country have a scrubbed and shiny public face and a secret horrific Dorian Grey face.  That hidden-self, locked in the basement of our national identity is trying to come out of its imprisonment. All the while Trump, our Mad Hatter conductor, has had us on a head spinning ride of public debauchery, corruption and criminality. Trump careens from truth to delusion, to conspiracy theory, and back to racism all in blink of an eye.

Social Fears Are At The Root Of Trump’s Methodology.  That said, we all know that there is a portion of the American psyche that hates and fears immigration, that hates and fears the blacks, that hates and fears Jews, that hates and fears POC, that hates and fears the changing demographics of America, that hates and fears tomorrow, that hates and fears the unknown. Those societal fears are what Trump racism feeds on.

Donald Trump Uses The Flag And Other Symbols As Background Props For His Blatant Racism

Trump Uses The Flag And National Symbols As Background Props For His Blatant Racism

The foes of inclusiveness. The ability to whip the mentally susceptible and the White Supremacist extremist fringe into a frenzy of violence is easy to imagine. The increased racial and ethnic violence will become a growing problem as he continues to demonize the “others” in our society. This man has the biggest bully pulpit in the country and he is using it to inflame the worst elements of our society. He is using his position to promote fear and racial tensions as he divides the country with his Trump racist white supremacist agenda.

Ethnic and racial murder on the rise. The pipe bomb mailings, the synagogue massacre, the Kroger killings, the Portland light rail murders, the Heather Hyer murder are all separate crimes in separate geographical areas but with the same theme of racial and ethnic hatred.  There can be no doubt that Trump is pouring kerosene on the already raging flames of xenophobia and anti-immigrant sentiment that fueled his political rise. Violence is easy to stoke but the ability to tone it down is not likely to be found in Donald Trump. This should be of concern for all of us. Stability is what makes our great American life possible, and Trump with his firebrand demagoguery could potentially destroy that essential of our life.

The noise is so loud.  Since Trump’s election; historians, political scientists and psychologists have frantically been sounding alarm bells. How is it possible that after decades of progress the United States in the early part of the 21st century would become the epicenter of a growing firestorm of racial, ethnic and religious hate activity? It is important to remember that Hitler didn’t load the cattle cars and he didn’t personally switch on the ovens. He had his core of radicalized supporters to do that for him.

The Swastika was originally a geometrical symbol for divinity and the Nazi's turned it into a symbol of hate

The Nazi’s Took The Geometrical figure For Divinity And Morphed It Into The Most Terrifying Symbol On Earth

12,000 year old trinket. Twelve thousand years ago in a small Neolithic community in the Ukraine an early human carved a small ivory swastika and left it to be found by a modern team of archeologists. The swastika symbol has been found in archeological sites across the world from that cold Ukrainian dig to Celtic burial sites in Great Britain.

Pawns of a maniac. In a remarkable 15 year time span a geometrical figure representing  divinity and spirituality morphed into the symbol of the most murdering racist regime of the 20th century. A regime that was directly responsible for the murder of millions of human beings because they were religiously “different” than the majority. The six million dead; nothing more than pawns in a world shaped by racism and barbarism. A world where a demagogue manufactured an enemy through fiery hate-filled rhetoric.

Taking action.  A charismatic leader can point with raging illogical rants against racial, ethnic and religious targets making them the “enemies of the people.” Simply put the demagogue (Hitler in this case) convinced his followers that “his” enemies were “their” enemies. Sadly, Donald Trump incites similar reactions from his supporters. Wanting to help him, these angry, fearful, and malleable people begin to search for ways they can take action. Some will act as individuals, while others will join “militia groups.” Before long the supporters will turn the fiery hateful speech into hateful action. Getting people to hate “others” is all part of the Trump racism model.

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“Democracy Is Unquestionably The Worst Form Of Government”

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Winston Churchill Questions The Value Of Democracy

More Than T-Shirt Philosophy

“Democracy is, unquestionably, the worst form of government” (ever conceived in the mind of man), “except for every other kind that has ever been tried,” Unknown (re-quoted by Churchill in House of Commons, 1947).)

Absolute Power 

Critics of democracy and its often accompanying capitalism, have a sad tendency to overlook what has happened historically when other forms replace it. Fascist Italy and Spain are but two glaring examples. Both of which reverted back to flawed but greatly preferable democratic systems at the first opportunity. While single party, and even single ruler, states might have some attraction, particularly in terms of efficiency; for any form of governance to work, given human nature if nothing else, there needs to be enforceable controls on power. “Absolute power corrupts absolutely” is far more than a catchy tee-shirt slogan.

Democracy Needs A Population Of The Faithful

Democracy is an ideal. Liberty of thought and action, one person, one vote. We have representative democracy in the United States. The “ideal” is always a goal. As always, real democracy is obstructed by the partisan and the powerful, but even they give the ideal endless lip service. Democracy is more about faith. Faith, and attitude of mind that personal liberty is sacrosanct and that although the majority rules, there is a respect for the minority and their rights established by law.

Political Parties In A Democracy

One of the great advantages to democracy is the, at least ostensible, ability to limit the power of leaders particularly in terms of civil crackdowns and war, as well as the ability to get rid of leaders that prove too dangerous or criminally corrupt to keep in office. At every stage of an American presidential election from the primaries to inauguration, there are particular safeguards, mostly left to the political party brass, to keep the unfit and potentially dangerous from even seeking election.

Nixon Is The Only U.S. President To Ever Resign From Office

Is Impeachment A Possibility?

When a lunatic or warmonger does happen to slip through (*cough* Nixon *cough*), there is always the possibility of impeachment. Except, really there isn’t. I do not want to  rain on anybody’s protest movement but the chance of Trump being removed from office by impeachment is inthe negative numbers.

Laws Are Fallible 

You are probably thinking, something like, “but that is what impeachments are for!”  You are correct; that is what the impeachment process was created to do. Unfortunately, rules and processes only work when applied correctly and as written. Sadly, rules are as fallible as the  mortals who create and enforce them. As such, no sitting American president has ever been successfully removed from office as the direct result of impeachment.

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His Walls Don’t Go All The Way To The Top

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Contractors Build Wall “Samples” For Trump To View

“Build The Wall!”

“Build the Wall!” became a poplar chant of the 2016 campaign, along with, ‘Lock Her Up’. While both have all the real world meaning of ‘Gabba Gabba Hey!’, only the former has actually been carried over as presidential policy, having some very interesting effects on cross-border relations both to the south and the north. Even so, the rhetoric about a border wall has a special form of crazy and stupid related to it, greater than nearly anything else Trump has ever said, except perhaps describing “Falling in love” with North Korean dictator, Kim Jung Un.

Berliners Celebrate the End To The Berlin Wall

Very much aside from the assertion that the Mexican government is going to be footing the bill for a wall meant to keep its citizens from cross-border travel, the other challenges are cost and topography, while daunting, are far from insurmountable. Trump’s wall if it extended the entire southern border would crawl across the deserts of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas for a total of 1,957 miles. To put that in perspective, the Berlin Wall is 87 miles long, 11 feet high and three feet thick.

Berlin Wall

Building a similar wall between the U.S. and Mexico, while extremely expensive, and needing to be built up mountains and over rivers, is technically possible. Homeland Security estimates the cost at $17 million dollars per mile. Gulp. Do we really have the national will or financial wear-with-all to build such an absurdity, when we are facing a pending infrastructure collapse, a faltering health care system where care is denied to millions of citizens, as well as a staggering and ballooning foreign debt? Just doing a reality check, folks.

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Sex, Lies and Science

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Sex, Lies And Science

By T.K. McNeil

Well, Brett Kavanaugh has made it to the Supreme Court, in what might prove to be the most controversial appointment since President Hindenburg was pressured into naming a new Chancellor in January of 1933 (hint, the appointee’s surname rhymes with Shmitler). Old ghosts of partisan divisions arose again, each holding to the Party Line. Daily Wire mastermind Ben Shapiro, in characteristic too-much-coffee hyper-speed banter, spent over an hour arguing that the whole thing was a set-up. Sure Ben, and the moon landing was an elaborate hoax (sarcasm detected).

The Left, honestly, was not much better. While saner voices tried to be heard, others were yelling about how appointing Kavanaugh was, essentially, the same as legalizing rape (which no one has or would) and the more extreme end literally calling for riots if Kavanaugh was appointed (the images of burning limousines after Trump’s inauguration still sharp in my mind). Meanwhile officials seemed be flip-flopping like decked salmon and Trump was carrying on his tradition of self-contradictory statements, seeming to forget what he had said merely days before. Let’s all just take a breath for a minute. Deep breath in. Good. And now out. Continue reading

The Kavanaugh Hearings Divide A Nation

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Kavanaugh Hearings Divide A Nation

By Megan Wallin

A Country Divided

More than anything, the hours we spent focusing on Judge Kavanaugh and Dr. Blasey Ford were a testament to how divided we are as a nation. It isn’t a matter of party lines; it’s a matter of narrative. The narratives are destructively short-sighted and cutthroat.

Democrats think you must believe every person who comes forth with a horrendous account of rape or assault, because possible disbelief of an honest person is too high of a risk to take. The Republican side thinks political motives are the only incentive behind an otherwise credible story due to the timing of the accusations and the accused’s position of power.

A Matter Of Inconvenience

It was inconvenient for Republicans to address the credibility of Blasey Ford’s testimony, and it was inconvenient for Democrats to concede that the timing did seem all but miraculously in tune with the changing of the tides. With #MeToo changing social dynamics, our job is to find the threads of reason within both perspectives and grasp that thread, using it to pull us closer to the truth and to each other.

More Scrutiny Is Needed

There is nothing wrong with questioning a person’s claim, especially when the alleged act is so heinous as sexual assault. In fact, the higher the gravity of the accusation, the more scrutiny is required. It’s not a sign that we don’t believe someone, but a sign that belief is not to be taken for granted simply due to our emotional response to the despicable behavior described. But here was where we failed. After the circus of testimonies and the drilling of both Blasey Ford and Kavanaugh, Republicans allowed almost no time for this information to be thoroughly investigated.

Lindsey Graham behaves Like An Emotional Buffoon

If both sides cared so much about the truth, then this would have played out differently. We would not have watched as the person simply coming forth with a story of sexual assault was questioned about why she remembered the incident itself but not the logistics of how she arrived or departed from said event. We would not seek to tear down her credentials, as many tried, claiming that she lied about her job title. We would not take her less seriously than Lindsey Graham, who behaved like an emotional buffoon. If both sides cared about the truth, then we would not watch as a judge dodged questions left and right rather than answer candidly.

Life Time Appointees Need To Be Above Reproach

If both sides cared about the truth, no one would be wondering why an accusation with the power to delay such an important political appointment resulted in such a brief investigation. There was no further questioning of the two key people involved. Furthermore, multiple people claimed the FBI refused to take statements from them. A thorough and complete investigation would be welcome. If a man is innocent, let his name be cleared. If he is not innocent, he should not be considered for a lifetime position in the United States government.

Trump Forever Partisan

Shortly following Blasey Ford’s testimony, our openly partisan president stated that he found her credible. That of course begs the question, “What are the defining traits of credibility?” And it is no easy task to decide what makes someone believable when the circumstances of the crime scene are no longer available for investigation. Of course, within a day Trump went from finding her credible to mocking Blasey Ford at his rallies. Continue reading

Rough Trade

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Dark Jester

T. K. McNeil

The Trump trunk of disgusting pronouncements is so full that it is damn near impossible to pull out any  one thing President Trump has said in the first 630 plus days of his term that could lead to his undoing. There is just so much to choose from! Although politics is famously unpredictable, his chestnut about how “trade wars are good and easy to win” just might be the spark that incinerates his presidency. Trade wars and tariffs have brought down other administrations.

Puffing And Blustering To Make MAGA

In addition to being laughably incorrect by any logical standard-countries who hate each other (France and Germany for instance) regularly enter into flawed but necessary trade agreements, precisely because trade wars are universally recognized as the greater of the two evils.  On the face of it Trump’s election campaign was about the re-invigoration of the American economy, but truly it was a campaign to convince US voters the world image of the United States was in tatters.  MAGA is all about the Trump voter self-image.The MAGA hat was like Popeye’s can of spinach, it puffed up the wearer’s ego just like spinach puffed up Popeye’s muscles.

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Witch Hunt

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Witch Hunt

D. S. Mitchell

Donald Trump The Victim

Historically, “witch hunt” referred to the persecution of the weak and powerless by the powerful.  Usually, when the term witch hunt is used, it is meant metaphorically, referring to a period in the past. Today the term has been turned on its head. Under Trumpism a belief has developed, a dark corrupt suggestion, of a ‘deep state’ persecution of him.

Narcissists thrive on enemies, and Trump is no exception. In fact Trump brings a new finesse to the      age-old blame game. All those pre-election assertions of a ‘deep state’ have hardened since he became president. He believes, and vigorously promotes the idea that he is under siege from all quarters; the Mexicans, the Muslims, the immigrants, the Democrats.  Trump merely points and everyone looks toward the new enemy. Then his red capped crowd of pitchfork carriers goes after his newly declared target. Believe me, there is no end to his enemies list, in fact, it is a growing thing.

Today, instead of calling out Trump and his extremist “witch hunters” for crimes against immigrants, Muslims, POC, women, and the press; the greatest perpetrator has become the greatest complainer.  In this newly created world, Trump is the martyr. A contortionists’ twist on reality, but a “truth” that Trump hammers out daily on Twitter.

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EXPRESS YOURSELF

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Calamity Politics.com does not sell any items. These are suggestions of what you can do as a Resister to let those around you know how you feel.

There Is One Born Every Minute

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There Is One Born Every Minute

Trevor K. McNeil

Is There Really an ‘American Dream’?

The promoted mythology holds that anyone in the United States can achieve greatness through vision, persistence and hard work. Sadly, as Hunter S. Thompson bluntly put it after narrowly losing his run for Sheriff of Pitkin County, Colorado “I,unfortunately proved what I set out to prove … that the American Dream really is f**ked.’

One of the great myths of the ‘American Century’ is that of the ‘Self-Made’ man. Statistics counter that claim, suggesting almost no one born poor in this country ever achieves staggering wealth; and those who do rarely achieve it by ‘hard work’ within the established system. Think lottery.

Donald Trump first hit the national radar during the glitzy big hair days of the 1980’s and 1990’s.  It began slowly, with small mentions in the gossip columns of Palm Beach and New York. By the end of the 90’s Trump had become a staple in New York society columns and the tabloids. In fact, the tabloids and reality TV created the Donald Trump persona we know today.

Everything was over the top for the future president. He had a big airplane with the Trump name emblazoned on its side. He was a billionaire businessman playing himself on a weekly reality TV series. Being seen at the right places with a harem of plastic barbies on his arm came easy and he did it all with a  Gordon Geko-esque swagger (ask your parents).

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