GOP Eagerly Embraces Trump

EDITORIAL:

The GOP Embraces Trump

Trump is a criminal. He is dangerous man. Stop him.

EDITORIAL:

Corruption, Bigotry, and Intolerance 

The last thing America needs is another four years of Trump in the White House tweeting crazy ass nonsense 24 hours a day, indicting his enemies, attacking the media, and defaming private citizens from a seat in the Oval Office. Come on America, we are definitely better than this guy.

By D. S. Mitchell

 

The Last Thing America Needs

Donald J. Trump, the last thing America needs in public office, has seen his poll numbers skyrocket among Republicans, as his criminal indictments mount. Trump, the forever grifter, is making millions selling his mugshot on T-shirts. The Grand Old Party of Lincoln has collapsed. What we now have in its place is total acceptance of the unacceptable.  Gun packing white supremacists, torch carrying Neo-Nazi’s, vitriolic officials denying the obvious truth, Joe Biden won the election. When Republican politicians like Liz Cheney, and Mitt Romney can’t talk sense to these crazies, and instead leave the party to become unaffiliated voices; it just proves that today’s Republican Party is not the party of your father-or your grandfather; and certainly not Lincoln.

Against The Trump Plan 

When all the votes for the 2020 presidential election were counted, Joe Biden’s ballot tally totaled 81,283,098 votes, or 51.3% of the vote. Donald Trump only garnered 74,222,958 or 46.8% of the vote. Miscellaneous other candidates captured a meager 1.8% of the vote. In other words, Joe Biden, kicked Trump’s butt, besting the Mango Mussolini by over 7 million plus votes. Go Brandon!

In MAGA World, The Biggest Flag Wins

But, those numbers were obviously out of sync with Trump’s election plan. Trump demanded recount after recount, all the while inflaming his supporters, convincing them, falsely, that he was the victim of voter fraud, mostly in the black and brown big cities of the country.  Votes were counted and recounted and lawsuit after lawsuit brought by Trump challenging the election were dismissed. Everyone from the bloated and lawless Bill Barr to Cybersecurity Director Chris Krebs called Trump’s claims of voter fraud, “bullshit.” But, three years later, I still see signs proclaiming, “Trump Won!” usually accompanied by an oversized American flag.

On A Personal Note

I admit it, I’m angry. The MAGA election deniers have highjacked the American flag, as if it is their private property. Pre-MAGA I would fly the flag in front of my house every President’s Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day (my son’s birthday), the 4th of July, and Labor Day, I no longer display the flag on the above noted holidays, but instead I now keep my treasured flag in a drawer. The last thing I want is for anyone, at anytime, to assume I’m a Trumpie. I am furious that these MAGA lug nuts have so brazenly, as if they are the patriots, stolen the stars and stripes as decor for their civil disobedience. I am convinced these fake patriots are an existential threat to our democracy. It isn’t a far stretch to imagine Trump using armed militias to implement Bashar al-Assad tactics to hold on to power if he is ever returned to the White House.

As It Plays Out

Because of Trump’s lies, our country has grown even more painfully divided. Instead of the bloated orange fruit fly conceding the election, to Joe Biden, like every other loser before him has, Trump chose to create chaos, dissent, and mob violence. Authoritarians do that sort of thing, call the validity of elections into question. If Trump becomes the Republican nominee in 2024 I am sure we will see more armed election observers,  more lawsuits, more threats of violence, more white supremacist saber rattling, and more talk of Trump as a lifetime president.

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The Trump Crime Family Under Scrutiny

OPINION:

The Trump Crime Family Under Scrutiny

91 indictments should be enough to stop Trump's re-election, but so far the leader of the Trump Crime Family seems to feel political push back

OPINION:

The Scandal of the Trump Crime Family

The X-Prez has been the head of a crime family operating in full view and in defiance of law enforcement for decades. Time for the Trump Crime Family to be brought to justice. Let’s start with a Senate Investigative Committee; then we can have dueling congressional hearings. Way past time to ask tough questions about Ivanka’s patent hanky-panky in China, the Trump DC hotel, and Saudi Arabia’s billions warming Jared Kushner’s wallet.

 

By D.S. Mitchell

News Alert

Attention! For those in the country that haven’t gotten the news: Trump was voted out of office. Joe Biden kicked his fat, orange, ass. Trump lost by nearly 8 million votes. Period. Dot.

Disqualified

If Trump is allowed to appear on the ballot and potentially gain a second presidential term it will encourage him and others to continue their attack on our democracy, most likely ending the American experiment. Trump has declared repeatedly he will suspend the U. S. Constitution, he has also suggested women should face criminal charges for obtaining an abortion, and his threats to jail his “enemies” is chilling. The unhinged threats of the head of the Trump Crime Family cannot be ignored. The weaponization of the IRS and the DOJ will allow Trump to destroy the lives of anyone he choses. That’s ‘effin scary. Think about what Trump has said about judges, prosecutors, war heroes, and average citizens; seriously endangering the lives of those he targets. WTF? Since when is it okay for a man with the presidential bully pulpit to attack election workers? It’s clear. Trump’s concept of the presidency is similar to the North Korea model.

91 Felony Charges, to date

Holy shit. Trump is the first president of the United States, in 234 years, to be criminally indicted. 34 felony counts in New York, over allegations that he falsified business records to conceal hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, a porn star. 40 felony counts in Florida for hoarding classified documents and obstructing government efforts to collect them. 4 felony counts in D.C. related to his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. In Georgia, the Fulton County DA has indicted Trump on 13 counts of election interference in that state. These are criminal charges, Trump is also facing multiple civil lawsuits. My goodness, folks, Trump is a walking crime wave. He is totally unfit for office and a group of people are trying to keep this lawless king pin off the ballot.

Groups in Multiple States

Groups in multiple states, both Republican and Democrat, are making efforts to block the twice impeached former president from running for office ever again. The basis of the strategy is to use Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to prevent Trump from running for office. The 14th Amendment is post civil war legislation intended to deal with insurrectionists in the aftermath of the Civil War. Insurrectionists and anyone who had given aid and comfort to insurgents were legally barred from running for office.   How fitting for this Twenty-First century insurrectionist.

Conclusion

Stopping Trump should be the major job  of every democracy loving American. We don’t need an indicted criminal running 0ur government for his personal and family profit. No to Trump. No to MAGA. Save Democracy, vote blue, vote Joe Biden and Kamala Harris 2024.

OPINION: Trump A Criminal Candidate

OPINION:

Donald Trump, Criminal Candidate

Trump desperately wanted to hold onto power despite substantial loses at the ballot box.

OPINION:

Donald Trump, Criminal Candidate

D. S. Mitchell

The Biggest Flag Wins

When all the votes for 2020 presidential election were counted, Joe Biden won 81,283,098 votes, or 51.3% of the vote. Donald Trump won 74,222,958 or 46.8% of the vote. Miscellaneous other candidates captured a meager 1.8% of the vote. In other words, Joe Biden, kicked Trump’s butt, besting Trump by over 7 million votes. But, those numbers were obviously against Trump’s plan. Votes were counted and recounted and lawsuit after lawsuit brought by Trump challenging the election were dismissed. Everyone from the bloated and lawless Bill Barr to Cybersecurity Director Chris Krebs called Trump’s claim’s of voter fraud, “bullshit.” But, still you see signs saying, “Biden Lost!” usually accompanied by an oversized American flag.

As It Plays Out

We should be celebrating that more people turned out to vote in the 2020 election than at any other time in history. But, we aren’t. In fact, because of Trump’s lies our country is more divided than ever. Instead of the bloated orange fruit fly conceding the election, to Joe Biden like every man before him has, he chose to create chaos.

More Violence and More Lawsuits

In 2016 the Trumpers told us “elections have consequences” as we progressives huddled in our fetal positions, terrified of a Trump presidency. It is now 2023 and those same Trumpers are telling us that despite Trump’s staggering loss both in the Electoral College and the popular vote we libs should sit down and shut up, ‘because it’s obvious Trump won’. If Trump becomes the Republican nominee in 2024 I am sure we will see more armed election observers,  more lawsuits, more threats of violence, more white supremacist saber rattling, and more talk of Trump as a lifetime president.

Is It That Bad?

A majority of Americans,  especially Black, Brown, Native Americans, Asians, and other marginalized communities, who are at the mercy of this country’s historic, systemic, police abuse and seemingly incurable racism, voted Donald Trump out of office. I want us to celebrate that so many Americans voted to oust his criminal ass, but there is much need for introspection and intense soul searching about those who continue to feverishly support him in his fight to propagate the big lie. My god the brazen fucker is running for president again.

A Cup Of Coffee

I’m ready this morning to have a cup of coffee, eat an apple and reflect on why more than 74, 000,000  Americans would chose a man like Donald Trump to lead this country? His incompetence and stupidity is legendary. We’d already seen the chaos in operation, day after day, over four years in office. Some close to him have called him a “fucking moron.” These words come from those who know him best, yet these voices are ignored by his minions. Or should I be calling them cultists.

Nothing Moves His Base

For the last several days I’ve scoured old newspaper and magazine articles putting together a list of the known criminal activities of Donald Trump. Although well-known to his followers, his criminality seems to have no effect on their loyalty or their intoxicated enthusiasm. Monster flags whipping off the back of pickup trucks advertise their loyalty to Trump, not the United States. Wake up guys. Trump is a fraud and you, his small donors, are his biggest suckers. Recent reports indicate $40 million dollars of donor money has been spent so far this year on Trump defense attorneys. Get real, please, Trump and his whole crew belongs in Sing-Sing, not the Oval Office.

The Habit Of Corruption

Trump is no stranger to corruption and criminality. He has been embedded in it his entire life. As President, he took it to a new level. The Trump administration was without a doubt the most corrupt presidency in American history. No wonder he keeps screaming “fake news” when responding to reporter’s questions. Trump desperately needs to undermine the legitimacy of the fourth estate.  Donald John Trump has so much to hide.  If his devout followers would listen to the information that is available everywhere, they would drop him like the proverbial  hot potato. But, for some reason they are both deaf and blind to the truth. Truth matters, and Trump couldn’t find truth with both hands. Just to refresh the reader on Trump’s criminal history:

It All Started With Daddy Trump

1.) Donald and his father blatantly participated in housing discrimination against people of color and they were sued by the Justice Department.
2.) The Mafia and Donald worked together through the construction trades in New York city.
3.) He hired undocumented Polish workers to rehab the Trump Tower and then refused to pay them.
4.) Trump was fined $750,000 for anti-trust violations during his attempt to take over a rival casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

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Looking Back At Trump

Looking Back At Trump 2017

A man living in an alternate universe of madness wants another change to ruin the government

Looking Back at Trump 2017

 

By D.S. Mitchell and Sallie Lester

Editors Note:

The Trump Town Hall on CNN the other night, had the hair on my arms standing up and I felt a deep visceral anger and disgust I haven’t felt since Trump was president. With that disgust of everything Trump renewed, I was prompted to go back and revisit numerous calamitypolitics.com articles from Trump’s first few months in office.

Listen folks, all you need to do is read the newspaper to know Trump is a bad dude. He is a shameless narcissist, a fake and a liar, a sexual predator, a grifter, a tax fraud, among many other proven things, but most importantly he is a real threat to our democracy. Now here he comes again, after fomenting an insurrection, asking us to give him a second chance to bring down the  damn government. It’s happening in Israel, Hungary, and Turkey. It could happen here. We must stop Captain Chaos. Donate to the re-elect Biden-Harris 2024 presidential campaign.

Back in 2016

Millions of people across the country were deeply disturbed and shocked in 2016 after the Electoral College determined Donald J. Trump to have been elected president of the United States. Many protested in the streets, some like me took to the computer to Resist the insanity of a TV huckster and an absurdity like Donald Trump becoming president.

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Trump Stuck in the Mud

OPINION: 

Trump Stuck in the Mud

Trump put on a disgusting show last night at the CNN Town Hall

OPINION:

Trump Stuck in the Mud

By D.S. Mitchell

A Real Train Wreck

Anyone that knows me knows my total disgust of anything and everything, Trump. So, some may wonder why I would waste an hour watching the CNN Donald Trump Town Hall last night.  Frankly, I just wanted to confirm that all the character traits that originally made me loath the man were still applicable. I didn’t need the hour to confirm my original assessment, but I hung around, just because as with all train wrecks it’s hard to look away.

Friendly Audience

He had a handpicked pro-Trump audience in New Hampshire. The crowd laughed and cheered at his attacks on E. Jean Carroll who had just the day before, won a $5 million lawsuit against the ex-president for sexual assault and defamation. Hopefully, Ms. Carroll isn’t done yet because this guy hasn’t learned anything about defamation. I believe she has grounds for a second defamation case against the disgraced, twice impeached, pro-sexual assault, ex- president.

A Vivid Reminder 

If nothing else, last night gave us a vivid reminder of what another term of a Donald Trump presidency would look like. I don’t know about anyone else but I’m way, way, past the chaos, shame, hatred, cruelty, lies, corruption, and total dysfunction this man brought to the White House. I’m ready to see this aberration gone into the dark night, never to be seen or heard from again.

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Carlson In My Rearview Mirror

Tucker Carlson In My Rearview Mirror

Fox said goodbye to Tucker Carlson. Time will tell whether Carlson fades into oblivion like Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly other past Fox rabble rousers.

Tucker Carlson In My Rearview Mirror

By D. S. Mitchell

 

$787.5 Million For Dominion 

The Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit cost Fox (News?) $787.5 million big ones. If it sounds huge, it is. In fact, it is by far the largest defamation settlement in the history of the planet. Prior to the Fox-Dominion case, the largest defamation payout was for $177 million, in a 2017 case between ABC News and Beef Products Inc., a South Dakota meat processing company.

Five Factors To Prove Defamation

Five factors must have occurred to prove defamation. 1.) Publication of false information. 2.) The person, or in this case entity, Dominion Voting Systems, was specifically identified by Fox and its commentators. 3.) The remarks had a negative impact on the person or the entity’s reputation. 4.) The information disseminated (by Fox) was false and they knew it was false (reckless disregard). 5.) The defendant (Fox) is at fault, having published the lie for public consumption.

What Exactly Did Fox Do?

First and foremost, Fox and its on-air crew (Carlson, Hannity, Ingraham, and multiple others) repeatedly lied to their viewers. Despite information to the contrary, day after day, night after night, they repeated the lies, claiming Dominion Voting Systems had switched or credited votes illegally to Joe Biden. An intoxicated, red faced, Rudy Giuliani, a mentally disturbed Sydney Powell, and that weirdo Pillow Guy were on Fox every night pushing the lie that Donald Trump had won the 2020 presidential election with zero pushback from the commentators.

Nasty Secrets Revealed

As the trial date drew near, the cable news airwaves were filled with jaw-dropping leaks of emails between the folks at Fox. The texts and emails from the king of bullshit, and Fox’s biggest star, Tucker Carlson, stunned me. The shock came when I realized this SOB was even more disgusting in real life than I had imagined possible.  Behind the scenes Tucker was like a rabid dog going after everyone from Donald Trump, to his boss, Rupert Murdoch.

‘Antifa Kid’

The large number, and the toxic content of Tucker’s emails were truly outrageous. In one particularly egregious email he “prayed” for the killing of a protester being attacked by a group of white supremacists. Now that is sick. On 1/7/2021 Carlson sent a text message to his producer telling him about his visceral response to the video. In the video three or more white men were filmed attacking an ‘Antifa kid.’  Carlson said he wanted the victim to be killed. After some thought Tucker decided that was ‘deeply wrong.’

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OPINION: What’s In A Name?

OPINION: What’s In A Name?

OPINION: What’s In A Name

The Brett Favre legacy is not looking good, as he faces scrutiny over welfare fraud

By D. S. Mitchell

Say His Name

What do you think of when you hear the name Brett Favre?  Until a week ago, I never thought of Brett Favre one way or another. I’m more into basketball, myself. I knew he had played in the NFL for the Green Bay Packers, and I’d obviously seen pictures of the old dude, he was a football icon.

The Internet

From the internet I found the following statistics. In the 15 years spanning 1992-2007, Favre was synonymous with the Green Bay Packers and was their most legendary quarterback. During that time, he led the team to two Super Bowls and became the first and only NFL player to win three consecutive AP MVP awards.

  • 3× Associated Press MVP (1995, 1996, and 1997; the last shared with (Barry Sanders)
  • 11× Pro Bowl pick
  • 6× First- or Second-team All Pro choice
  • 1990’s NFL All Decade Team
  • NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team
  • Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame (2015)
  • Pro Football Hall of Fame (2016)

Lots of It

I then looked up his financials, on the internet of course. It is estimated from his player contract days with Green Bay alone, Favre earned more than 140 million dollars. This apparently, does not include money from other teams he played for, or endorsements and licensing fees. His net worth today is estimated to be well over 100 million dollars. So why does a guy with buckets of money need to steal from welfare recipients? The answer of course is that he did not ‘need to steal’ money from anybody. But, Mr. Favre with a 100 million dollars in the bank decided it would be okay to steal from starving kids in his home state of Mississippi.

Conclusion

Put away the Brett Favre jerseys and the Green Bay Packer pendants from his glory days and call out Brett Favre for what he is, a cheat, and a liar, and possibly a criminal. Brett Favre used his power and influence to redirect money from Mississippi welfare recipients to the construction of a new volley ball stadium, at his alma mater, Southern Mississippi. Just so you understand this, Brett Favre, millionaire football icon, decided it would be okay for a bunch of impoverished kids in Mississippi to miss a couple meals, so his daughter could play volleyball in a fancy new stadium.

**Mr. Favre states he repaid the 1.1 million he diverted from poor kids. But, he didn’t pay back interest. If the scam had not been uncovered, I’m sure Mr. Favre would have not repaid  a nickel. I think it is time that the U.S. government hold states accountable for delivering welfare money to those most in need, not rich football icons.

OPINION: Merrick Garland On A Mission

OPINION: Merrick Garland On A Mission

OPINION: Merrick Garland On A Mission

By Dani Davis

High Profile Prosecutor

The 86th Attorney General of the United States is Merrick Brian Garland. Garland was born November 13, 1952, in Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from Harvard law and in 1989 began his illustrious career as a federal prosecutor. His first headline grabbing case was that of lead prosecutor in the cocaine possession case against former Washington D.C. Mayor, Marion Barry. Garland became Deputy Assistant AG during Bill Clinton’s tenure.  The two biggest trials of the decade, that of Ted Kaczynski, the “Unabomber,” and Eric Rudolph, the 1996 Olympic Games bomber, were led by Merrick Garland. In 1997, Bill Clinton nominated Garland to the D.C. Circuit. He served on that court from 1997-2020, the last seven years as chief judge.

Disgusting Mitch

In 2016, then president Obama nominated Merrick Garland to fill the associate justice seat on the Supreme Court vacated by the death of Antonin Scalia. The obstructionist right-wing GOP controlled Senate, led by Mitch McConnell, refused to even take up Merrick Garland’s nomination. Unheard of behavior. This obstructionist activity continued until Garland’s nomination expired in January 2017 when Obama left the WH. McConnell’s despicable conduct opened the door for Donald Trump to make an alarming three (Federalist Society) appointments to the Supreme Court in four years; the first, EPA hater, Neil Gorsuch, the second, beer boozing Brett Kavanaugh, and finally, the perpetually pregnant, Amy Cony Barrett.

The Ex Guy

It seems pretty clear ‘The Ex’ and his allies attempted to overturn the 2020 election. Sedition is very serious stuff and any hint of it must be investigated. If there has been criminal wrongdoing it must be punished. I can barely keep up with all the Trump plots. In Georgia, I guess Trump just wanted 11,780 more votes to corruptly appear. In Arizona it was about fake electors replacing the legitimate ones. On 1/6/21, afraid that the other plots might fail Trump dispatched armed rioters to the Capitol to terrorize elected officials; and prevent them from certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory. These things didn’t just randomly happen, someone was pulling the strings, someone was paying expenses, it looks like at least one of those someone(s) was Donald John Trump.

January 6th

Putting everything else aside, Donald Trump’s actions on January 6th are easy to document and present in a pretty package for a jury. He and his minions called militias to D.C. with a promise of something ‘wild’ going to happen. Trump, Mo Brooks, Rudy, and others whipped up an armed and already agitated crowd and pointed them to the Capitol. While VP Pence and other elected officials were running for their lives,  Donald Trump was in the West Wing cheering on the rioters, calling them patriots.

Refusal To Act

For 187 minutes, Trump refused to call off the mob or reach out to law enforcement or military leaders to try to stop the violence. Without a doubt a dereliction of duty. Trump’s refusal to act in the face of an insurrectionist mob makes him culpable for those who were injured and those who lost their lives that horrible day. Using violence and intimidation Donald Trump attempted to stop the peaceful  transfer of power. That must be investigated and Merrick Garland has promised us that. Our AG was recently quoted  “We intend to hold everyone, anyone, who was criminally responsible for the events surrounding January 6th…accountable.”

White Hot

You would think with all this going on in Trump’s life he wouldn’t be setting any more fires, but you would be wrong. It turns out that for the last 18 months Donald Trump has been holding government documents, many marked top secret, in unsecure boxes at his beach club in Florida.  It’s been nearly three weeks since U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland approved the search and seizure of documents being held illegally by former president, Donald J. Trump, at Mar-a-Lago. While multiple stories were forthcoming from the ex-president, once the dust settled none of Trump’s bombast made any sense.

Off The Deep End

In full battle formation, the Republican Party now demands we defund the FBI, squash the IRS, impeach both AG Garland and President Biden. Kevin McCarthy is sending notice that when he takes over as Speaker of the House, he will start investigations into everyone in the Biden administration. In fact, Marjorie Taylor Greene has already gone so far as to file articles of impeachment against our Attorney General. Such waste of paper,  will go nowhere as long as Nancy Pelosi is Speaker of the House. This is a big reason to prevent the Republicans from winning the 2022 general election. At this point the American people need to take to the polls like never before. It will take a blue wave of extraordinary proportions to overcome historical trends, state directed gerrymandering, voter suppression, and unethical behavior by the MAGA extremists.

From The Sidelines

Lindsey Graham has been warning of riots in the streets if Trump is indicted under the Espionage Act for theft of government documents.  Graham has yet to make the same threats if the EX-Prez is indicted for wire fraud and other crimes related to ripping off his donors with his SAVE AMERICA PAC.  After paying for Trump’s legal fees to defend against multiple crimes the RNC has said they will not pay Trump’s legal fees for defending his theft of government documents. It seems that even the RNC has established limits when it comes to defending Trump’s corruption. According to multiple sources the RNC has had enough, and has told the former guy that he needs to pay his own legal bills when it comes to the investigation of stolen government records that Trump has had stored at his club in Florida since leaving office, eighteen months ago.

Paper Packin’ Librarians

I believe Merrick Garland will hold steady to his promise to make wrong doers accountable, no matter their station or, former title. Meanwhile the Republican Party has declared AG Garland, the FBI, the DOJ, the IRS, and of course the paper-packing librarians at the National Archives, to be their newest targets of hate. I accidentally landed on FoxNews the other night and listened to an earful of propaganda. Move over Dr. Fauci, you have competition for the Public Enemy Number One Spot.

Conclusion

I believe Mr. Garland will fearlessly pilot the Justice Department’s examination of Trump’s involvement into the 1/6 riot, his theft of government documents, his rip-off of his own donors with his SaveAmericaPac, and numerous other sketchy actions by the ex-president. I say, let the chips fall where they may, “No one is above the law.”

 

EDITORIAL: Another Big Lie-Plastic Recycling

EDITORIAL:

ANOTHER BIG LIE-Plastic RecyclingRecycling is a big lie pushed by fossil fuel companies and consumer goods suppliers such as Amazon

EDITORIAL:

ANOTHER BIG LIE-Plastic Recycling

By D. S. Mitchell

When you see the familiar triangle with its chasing arrows on a product you’ve been programmed to think, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.” Well, folks its all a lie. My grandson told me recently on our weekly visit to the county recycling center I was wasting my time and other valuable resources (water rinsing out cans and bottles,) gasoline (driving to and from the distant recycling center) by participating in the big bamboozle.

“What?” I asked, momentarily stunned.

“The only reason I continue to do this with you is because I haven’t wanted to dash your delusions. I know you think you are doing something good, but it is all a scam, a myth devised in the 1970’s to trick consumers into believing that recycling was an actual, ‘see it work’ solution, for the explosion in single use plastics.”

“Where did you get your information?” I asked soberly.

“GREENPEACE,” he said, his eyes twinkling.

“Tell me more,” I said, relieved to hear he hadn’t been dragging the internet for ‘secret’ information.

Kyler, with a big smile, said, “I was doing a term paper on, what is really recyclable. While doing the research for the assignment I found out a lot about Plastic Resin Identification Codes and the truth about what actually might be recycled. Just because there is a symbol on the item does not translate to recyclable. The number inside the triangle tells the consumer what they need to know. When we get back to your place I’ll explain.”

Once back home, Kyler sat down with me at the dining room table and started talking truth about plastic’s big lie.

1: PETE or PET Polyethylene terephthalate: soda bottles, water bottles, polyester film, snowboards, boats, for food, jars, fibers for clothing.

2: HDPE or PEHD High-Density Polyethylene: detergent containers, plastic bottles, piping for water and sewer, snowboards, boats.

3: PVC or V- Polyvinyl Chloride: window frames, plumbing products, electrical cable insulation, clothing, medical tubing.

4: LDPE or PE-LD-Low-Density Polyethylene: shopping bags, plastic bags, clear food containers, disposable packaging.

5: PP-Polypropylene: laboratory equipment, automotive parts, medical devices, food containers.

6: PS-Polystyrene or Styrofoam: CD and DVD cases, packing peanuts, single-use disposable cutlery, trays.

7: O or N/A-Other: baby feeding bottles, car parts, water cooler bottles, sippy cups.

“Remember, Nana, the number inside the triangle tells you what you need to know, and targets the hard facts about plastic recycling, according to Greenpeace, “Most of the plastic items you are encouraged to wash, sort, and put in blue bins usually end up in landfills or incinerators, if not polluting the environment.”

At this point he handed me a piece of paper, “According to a Greenpeace comprehensive survey of plastics recyclability in the United States.

A.) Only some PET #1 and HDPE #2 plastic bottles and jugs can be legitimately labeled as recyclable in the U.S. today. (Note however that many full body shrink sleeves on PET #1 HDPE #2 bottles and jugs make them non-recyclable.)

B.) Common plastic pollution items, including single-use plastic food service and convenience products, cannot be legitimately claimed as recyclable in the U.S.

C.) Plastics #3-7 have negligible-to negative value and are effectively a category of products that municipal recycling programs may collect but do not actually recycle. Plastics #3-7 have waste collected in municipal systems across the country is being sent to landfills or incinerated.

Items for which reprocessing capacity is low to negligible and there is not a reasonable likelihood of recycling into new products include:

Plastic clamshells   (PET #1, PVC #3, PS #6) , plastic cups (PP #5 PS #6, other #7), plastic trays (PET #1, PP #5, other #7), plastic bags** (HDPE #2, LDPE #4), EPS plastic (foam) food containers (PS #6), plastic lids and caps (PP, #5, PS #6), plastic plates (PS #6), plastic cutlery, straws, and stirrers (PP #5 PS #6), plastic food wrappers and pouches (multiple types and layers of plastic).

After five decades of lies and misinformation from deceptive industry marketing, it is becoming more and more clear that we can’t recycle our way out of the plastics problem. It is evident that over 90% of plastic is not recycled. They can’t lie forever, it is becoming clear that we need real solutions to the plastic pollution crisis-and it is just that; a crisis. For the sake of our communities, our environment and our oceans we must take action. Greenpeace suggests we move away from single use plastics totally and completely. It is time to develop sustainable refill and reuse systems on a global scale. The future of our planet is at stake.